Life at the MTC (Mission Training Center)

This is a photo of us by the map with our new missionary nametags!

Wow! What a busy, busy 3 days! They keep us going in classes from 8:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night. We do get a lunch hour and a dinner hour. However, that is when we do things like go to the bookstore, doctors appointments, shots, etc. But the days have flown by! Tomorrow is our last day of classes. Saturday is P-Day (Preparation Day) and we will do laundry, run to the mall, go to Pam's and repack for the flight, and maybe celebrate the 4th somehow.

We start each morning out with an early walk up around the temple. We are out for the sunrise!

Each day we have classes with the 36 other senior couples that are here for the week for 2.5 hours in the morning. We have had some great speakers on what to expect on a mission. Then we split into small groups of four couples until noon, where we learn how to give the 3 basic lessons of (1) The Restoration, (2) The Plan of Salvation and (3) The Church of Jesus Christ. Even those of us who aren't Proselyting missionaries, can give lessons once we are out. After lunch we meet again with the small groups. We then go over to a room in the nearby chapel and they have volunteers from the neighborhoods (usually old... Grandpa used to volunteer when he lived in Provo). They pretend to be investigators and we have to practice on them... giving the lessons. We have learned a lot! At 4:00, we meet with everyone until 5:00 for a special speaker. We then get our hour for dinner and then end the day with two hours of French classes. At 8:00 we are ready to go back to our dorm room and read our 30 pages of homework to get ready for the next day. It has been lots of fun, as well as a special spiritual experience.

We are learning to bear our testimonies in French, for tomorrow night's testimony meeting. We are really enjoying the French lessons!

I think my favorite thing is just looking at the 2,000 young missionaries that are here, who are giving up two prime years of their lives. They still humble and amaze me!

These are some of the elders in the cafeteria lining up and building a tower with the salt & pepper shakers.
The food is ok. Actually they have a great salad bar and I'm loving it. Ed is pickier than I am, but seems to find plenty to fill up on. I just love to watch the crowds of missionaries in the cafeteria. They are so fun and full of energy and bursting with the desire to get out into the mission field.