After months, weeks, a long time it seemed...of anticipating, preparing, packing, and fretting, we entered the Provo Missionary Training Center on Monday, March 11th! ...on our way to Japan.
It was a whirlwind experience for sure. We came that Monday morning with many other "senior missionaries" from all over the country and were all bound for places all over the world.
We enjoyed the amazing Spirit of the MTC surrounded by new missionaries - young and old (mostly young) from all over ... it was thrilling to see the enthusiasm on their faces. We did not interact with the young missionaries in our training, but we saw them in the cafeteria three times a day.
We did our first week of training doing an overview of Preach My Gospel and a focus on the importance of the Book of Mormon. We were with three other couples and our instructors were two very special "returned missionary" sisters.
We also had some special devotionals, including one by Elder Cook! The MTC leadership made an extraordinary effort to share inspirational messages and teach us all how to invite and feel the spirit as missionaries.
We felt relatively "young," but we enjoyed meeting our fellow "senior missionaries," from so many different places and backgrounds.
During the second week, we were put together with eight other couples that were all going to be Military Relations Missionaries like us. They were going to Japan, Italy, D.C. North Carolina, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, etc. Our instructors were Elder and Sister Swift (who work at Church HQ and oversee all of us) and Elder and Sister Bye. Both the Swifts and the Byes had been MRM missionaries and both had a lot of special experiences ( and good advice ) to share.
We wrapped up our MTC experience on Thursday at Church HQ, 24th floor, with the Military Relations and Chaplains department. It was a very special day, concluding with heartfelt testimonies shared with each other. I should also mention that we also spent time packing, repacking, and "adjusting" our "stuff" so we could make our 50 lbs. weight limit for each of our suitcases...
We left Provo Friday morning (March 22nd) stopped at Kourtney's to do a final load of laundry, squeezed a couple of grandchildren one last time, then took our car back "home" and then on to one last night at a hotel closer to the SLC airport. Our son Bret picked us up EARLY Saturday and took us the the airport and we began our journey to Japan... to become Military Relations Missionaries in the Japan Tokyo South Mission -- assigned to Camp Zama and NAF Atsugi Ready or Not!!!
