Our First Day at the MTC

Monday, November 10, 2008

Our first day at the MTC went like this, We got checked in by 12:30 pm and had to rush to say good-bye to those who came to the MTC. It was a big help to have help with the bags. Dan said it reminded him again of his MTC days. Coby had to get back to work which was understandable as we made everybody wait for us to check in not knowing what the procedures were. We rushed through lunch and it is a large dining hall with many choices of food. WE still haven't met the dietician who is supposed to help us with gluten-free. So far, so good.

At 1 pm we attended a meeting with the MTC presidency and all twenty-five couples entering the MTC for this week stood and introduced themselves and had to answer five questions: Your names, your home town, your mission, your assignment, whether you have served before. Well, the people in the room were from all over the United States. No one else was going to Mendoza or Argentina, but one couple, the Fenns were going to El Salvador. I immediately recognized the name and thought his brother might have been an Elder from my old mission.
After the first break, we went to the bookstore to get materials we needed but there was too big a line so we went back to a second hour of meetings this time a worker told us our schedule for the next eleven days. AFter that break, we walked back to the bookstore only to find out we couldn't get our materials without a certain paper which was back at our meeting room, so we rushed back to a third hour and this was a missionary health class. they should us some ingenious ways to purify water. After that, we did finally get to the bookstore with our paper in order to retrieve materials and mail for today's classes.
After that a fourth hour was conducted by our branch president, the Alsops, wherein I was called to be district leader over two single sisters and two couples. I had to get with them after the fourth hour and take down their room umber and cell phone number and they got mine in order to have for emergencies. We are able to go anywhere in Utah County without permission, but out of the county we need to obtain permission.

After the fourth hour, your mother attended a language training orientation and her language classes go WEds, Thurs, Fri from 6- 8 pm. Tonight we have a general authority coming to speak to us. Our rooms are small with just the bare necessities.

We sat at dinner with the Fenns. He is just two years younger but lived with his family when he was a youth in ARgentina while he dad built chapels for three years. One of the chapels was in Tucuman where I was a zone leader. That chapel has since been torn down. It was on a street called Mate de Luna (must have been a last name of some war hero).

Elder Fenn's older brother was in my mission and I think I have pictures of him which I am going to try to retrieve from my Gorton reunion CD. Elder FEnn himself did not serve a mission as he married in high school to a girl he converted to the church in Lake Arrowhead California. They since moved to Montana, to Kalispell where they worked until coming on this mission.

So you get connections. Another single sister named Sister Romney also approached us as she lived in the Rock Creek Ward up until ten years ago. She wanted to know everything about the ward since she left and I told her I could only tell her about the last couple of years.

Today we start classes at 8 a.m. I have to assemble my district into a classroom at night at one of the buildings. We are taught in small groups during most of the day.

Love Mom and Dad

P.S. We were told by the MTC president:

There are three kinds of sins:

Sins of comission

Sins of omission

Sins of no mission

Going on a couple mission is better than sitting at home watching your birth certificate expire.

The Lord will supply all the losses caused by leaving behind your family

In the gospel the Lord has one sure way of letting you know when your service is over.