Week #1

MTC Oct. 2022

 After a couple of years home from our abbreviated(due to Covid) mission to Fiji, Colleen and I got busy submitting our papers for another mission. We were not thrilled about going out while Covid was raging and having to wear masks, be isolated, etc. so waited until Covid restrictions had abated before we got serious about going out again. Also, a bout with surgery had me laid up for a while.

We got the doctor's clearance to submit our papers in July 2022 and received our call the first part of September. We had listed our "Top Ten" choices as requested in our application and Missouri was not on the list. But when we opened our call the assignment seemed right to me. Our report date was Oct. 24 so we had a couple of months to get prepared.

We were not particularly excited about spending another couple of weeks in the MTC but ended up enjoying the experience; most probably due to a better attitude this time around. 😁 The first week was learning Preach My Gospel and there were eight of us in our district. The second week we received training on what our particular assignment would be in the mission. I was instructed on Fiance and Vehicles while Colleen learned all things secretarial. Once in the mission field I found out I won't be doing much with vehicles which doesn't break my heart. I have been given the assignment as Financial secretary which suits me just fine although the learning curve is going to be greater than what I anticipated. 

Our 1st week District plus instructor

We quickly decided that we weren't going to eat all our meals at the MTC cafeteria. The first day's lunch wasn't too tasty so we opted to bring lunch from home and then eat dinner at home. This was the first mission that we stayed nights at our own home and traveled to the MTC each day. It worked out great plus saved us some money. Tuesday evenings we stayed late so did eat lunch in the cafeteria but mostly ate salads.

During our first week with PMG we had a better experience of "teaching" a lesson to an investigator than we had previously. This time we were given another senior couple and they were much less stressful to teach. In previous times, volunteers were brought in to act as investigators. Before our mission to Russia we taught an investigator who acted belligerent and it was not a good experience. This time we were also given the opportunity to approach a couple of young missionaries and give them a 5 minute lesson. Collen and I gave a First Vision lesson to Elders Bigelow and Stoddard. They were sweet and kind. They are going to Tahiti and have to learn both Tahitian (four weeks) and French (two weeks)! Oh, to have a young brain. We bought a bag of Oreos and some caramel popcorn and left it at the front desk for them. 

During our two weeks of training, my niece Deanna was in town training for her new job at Kneaders. She was fun to have around and visit with. We haven't seen much of her in the past years so it was fun getting to know her better and develop a stronger relationship. She'll do great at her new job.

Deanna

Our trip to Missouri was thankfully uneventful. We were concerned with snow storms as Utah had storms the previous week and one predicted the day we departed. We must have outrun it as all we got was a light rain and fog and that was only for a short period. We did get a good downpour in Nebraska but it didn't last long. We listened to books on tape the whole way so even the driving went by quickly. We stayed Monday night in North Platte, Nebraska. It was an older motel and I wasn't too sure as we drove in but it ended up being just fine. And I was really pleased at the $60 fee. 

We arrived in Independence about 1:30 in the afternoon on Tuesday November 8th. We were just in time to help with the office staff in moving back into the regular office which had had a new carpet installed and a paint job. After helping for a while we decided we had better get moved into our apartment. A couple of Elders helped up unload the car (which was packed) and we've spent the rest of the week getting settled. Of course, mom had to clean EVERYTHING before we could put anything away. We also spent a bunch of money Saturday on food and apartment things. As everywhere else, food is not cheap.

We attended stake conference this Sunday and the place was packed. A new stake presidency was installed with the old first counselor (nine years) being sustained as the new stake president. Poor guy. Elder Ryan K.Olsen presided. They had a couple of great choirs. I think the first one was some sort of community choir as they were dressed in white. Mom and I thought we got there early but the place was full when we arrived so had to sit on the folding chairs in the back. Not our favorite place as too many people were going in and out.

The weather has turned cold here so we have had on our winter things already plus bought more at Costco on Saturday.

I'm tired. Enough for this week. I'll try to remember to get a picture of our apartment and the mission office included in the next blog. 

Romans 8:28 (scripture on our missionary plaque)

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.