A Little Detour in Tennessee

Monday  we left Edmund and drove to Memphis.  we stayed overnight there, after we went to a restaurant for some Memphis Barbecue.  the barbecue was delicious, but the rolls were out of this world!  They were kind of like small baguettes, with a crispy crust.

In the morning, we headed to Knoxville, TN, where we stayed with my nephew, Ryan and his family.  They took us to dinner at a place called Sullivan's.  They know the owners, and I think they must be regulars, because everyone in the place seemed to know them.  The food was amazing...especially the fried corn on the cob!  (It seems that I am obsessed with food,  but that will all change when I start doing all the cooking at the apartment!)

When we got back to their house, Ryan helped us upgrade our GPS system and our iPads and iPhones.  He is an amazing computer geek!  

It was so fun to visit with Ryan and Heather and their two children.  I wish they lived closer to us so we could see them more often.  Well...I guess they live closer now!  They're only about 4-5 hours away!

Danny and Dalena, Grandchildren, and Amazing Food

The drive from Grand Island to Edmund, OK was only about 7 hours.  We arrived just after 4:00.  It was so great to see our family again!  The younger kids are going to change so much while we're gone! I try not to let myself think about that too much.  

Magda has to be one of the busiest little girls ever!  She played with blocks, colored, fed her dolls and all her animals dinner, and went shopping.  Dalena saved two shopping bags with handles on them for Magda's shopping.  She shops from the pantry.  :o). She also helps Dalena cook.  Saturday night's dinner included fresh tortillas.  Magda had her own tortilla press and made several tortillas that really looked pretty good!  (Magda is only 2 1/2 years old!)  

Bronson is a chunk!  He's pulling himself up to things and walking around.  He's a pretty happy little guy, and oh, so handsome!

There was also a pot of beans simmering on the stove.  It's the cutest little pot ever!  It's made of clay, but it's very light.  I wish I had taken a picture of it.  For dinner we had quesadillas, carne con su propio jugo, beans, fresh pineapple slices and Braum's ice cream for dessert.  Sunday, Dalena made, from scratch, shepherd's pie and potato rolls.  For dessert, she made grilled home-made pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream.  She is amazing!

It's always hard telling family goodbye...especially the little ones, because you know they're going to change so much...and you just hope they even remember who you are.

First Leg

We were on I-15 by 10:00.  We drove straight through to Grand Island, NE the first day.  I was running on 3 hours of sleep and Jack on 4.  He drove most of the way, and was okay with it.  Late afternoon, he said he needed me to take over.   I wondered if I could stay awake even for 30 minutes...long enough for him to get a short nap.  Luckily, as soon as I began driving, there were angry black clouds in the distance.  It didn't take long  to reach them!  When I hit that blinding rainstorm,  my adrenalin kicked in.  I was good for the rest of the night!  The rain subsided while I was driving and a beautiful little rainbow appeared.  It was like a message for me.  Psalms 46:10. 

We drove till almost 11 PM, Utah time.  We had called ahead and booked a motel.  When we got there, we did nothing but get ready and go to bed!  I don't think with of us moved all night.  It felt so good to sleep 7 1/2 hours!

Home Again

Most of the people in our office training group were leaving for their missions after lunch, so we decided we would too.  We packed up and drove straight home (with a Parson's Bakery detour in Bountiful), arriving there about 3:30.  We continued gathering the things we planned to take with us to SC.  At 7:00 or so, Lisa called from the gym.  She needed a ride home, because she wasn't feeling well.  When we got back, our street was lined with cars.  Most of the family had come over to see us one last time before we left.  There was no packing done while the kids were there... But that was okay!  I was so glad we were able to hug them and tell them we loved them one last time.

We pretty much finished packing Thursday night.  In the morning, we stopped at the Boli's to give Gus his birthday card and gift.  Funny story about the card...We ran into Lee's Market to choose and buy a card.  While I was standing there browsing, the inter-com music caught my attention.  The song was James Taylor's "I'm Going to Carolina in My Mind."  How cool was that?

Then we went to the Barbers' to say goodbye.  Justin had gone to work, but he had stayed up to finish the blockheads for us.  The pictures on them were so outdated...now they are current and WONDERFUL!  Hugged all the kids...even little Jed, who usually doesn't like hugs from us.  He had to give us a kiss as well.  Bless his little heart!

Last stop was at Dad's.  He was a little emotional.  I can't let myself go there.   I sure love my Dad!!!

Ready...Set...GO!!!

Another thing we learned is about the hastening of the work.  Last fall there were 58,500 missionaries.  Since President Monson's announcement last October, there are now 76,000 in the field.  By the end of this fall, there will be 85,000.  We were told that this time will go down in church history as the largest expansion of missionary work in history!  It is EPIC!  So happy to be a part of it

MTC Week 2 - Office Training

The second week at the MTC was good, but very different from the first.  While the first week was centered on "Preach My Gospel," the second week was mostly on office procedures.  I learned a lot!  I hope I remember it all, but I know I'll get a chance to practice once I'm in Columbia.   

Jack has always been the one to use Exel.  He makes spreadsheets for everything!  Now I know how to make them too.  We also worked in IMOS...International Mission Office Recording System.  That tracks all the information on all the missionaries all over the world.  pretty important when there are over 75,000 of them out!

We learned how to do newsletters  in Word, and group correspondence, and a whole lot of other things.  They also talked to us about the importance of our relationship with the young missionaries.  They are SO young now...just kids, really.  We can console them and encourage them.  We can be their grandma and grandpa.  I hope there will be senior couples in the Philippines and in Paraguay, for Ty and Justin.

Brother Russ Foutin talked to us the last morning we were there.  He is over a large area of the world as a fleet manager.  Worldwide, the church has over 20,000 vehicles in its fleet.  There is a brand new software program to manage fleet the world over for the church.  Brother Foutin is really excited about it.  It's called CARS!  How cool is that?  It stands for church automotive recording system.  :o)

Brother Foutin stressed the two following points.

1.  Stay anchored to the approved program.

2.  In everything we do, we are representatives of The Lord and His church.  We need to remember that in our dress, our speech, our actions, how we take care of our apartment and our vehicle.  

We will have our own vehicle in the mission field, but others, including the young Elders and Sisters will be driving church owned vehicles.  Brother Foutin said repeatedly that everyone who is authorized to drive a church owned vehicle MUST remember that the cost of the vehicles and their maintenance comes from tithing money, and it is sacred money.

One of the men in our group asked about cost effectiveness - the price of cars and their maintenance vs. the number of baptisms.  Brother Foutin said that a member of the Twelve (he wouldn't say who) said, "If it takes one car per baptism, it is worth it."   D&C 18:10

After learning about the responsibilities of the vehicle secretary, can I just say, I'm glad I'm not one.

MTC - A Veritable Missionary Factory!

Thom Rothey and his cute wife!  Thom was in my home ward, and Dad was his scout master.  :o)

When we arrived at the front doors of the MTC Monday morning, we were greeted by a service missionary we knew well...Elder Thom Rothey!  After we checked in and got our name tags, we parked and were ushered to our room in Senior Missionary housing...a building just behind the main building.  There were probably 20-30 young missionaries with HOST badges clipped on their name tags who carried our luggage and showed us where to go.  Such handsome and courteous young men!  Their mothers would be proud!  We went to an orientation meeting at the chapel right next to the MTC.  That's where all our classes are held.  In that first meeting, we had introductions.  There were 127 senior missionaries who arrived on September 2nd.  The record for arriving seniors is 128.  Most are senior couples, but there are a few single sisters too.  Most of us are housed in the dorms, but since there are so many here right now, the overflow are being housed at a Marriott Hotel in Provo.

We meet every morning at the chapel for a hymn and prayer, then we're in class till noon, when we go to the cafeteria for lunch.  The MTC cafeteria is a wondrous place!  They feed about 3,500 missionaries within a span of 2 1/2 to 3 hours!  There are basically four food lines - a salad/wrap line, a burger line and two different main entree lines.  There are at least three drink lines, where you can get sodas, milk, juices or the favorite of most missionaries...chocolate milk.  There's always fresh fruit and all kinds of desserts.  Missionaries can eat all they want of everything they want.  Tyler said today that he and his companion have both gained 10 pounds over the past 5 weeks!  The cafeteria is a fun place to go to watch all these beautiful young people.  They are so kind and courteous!  Every one of them seems so dedicated, and happy to be here.  We hear a lot of them chatting in the languages  of the countries they're going to.  Not sure, but I think there are about 28 different languages taught here.  Oops!  I stand corrected!  50 languages are taught here!  http://www.mtc.byu.edu/themtc.htm 

After lunch we have 3 more hours of class and we are done for the day.  On Tuesday night, however, we attended a devotional at the Marriott Center.  There were over 3,000 missionaries there that night!  Quite a sight to see!  As we exited the building, an extraordinarily TALL Elder passed us in the hallway!  He was 7'6" tall!  I thought sure he was being sent to Japan on his mission, but nope!  He's going to Ventura, CA.  :o)

It has been great fun to be here with Tyler this week.  He and quite a few Elders and Sisters in his zone are leaving early Monday morning for the airport.  They will fly from SLC to Portland,  to Tokyo and then to Manila.  Then they will be bused to their destinations.  Ty only has a 2 1/2 hour bus ride.  Some of the others will be riding up to 11 or 12!  I can't even imagine!