Lots of Laughs at the MTC

We have had lots of good laughs. On the 2nd morning here, Ed got dressed in his suit and went to put on his black shoes that he had brought here from Pam's to the dorm. This photo shows that we had a problem with them. Pam saved the day and brought over the matches to the 2 shoes and some macaroons to tide us over in our dorm room.

Ed also forgot to bring his exercise clothes over from Pam's house, so he bought some new shorts and an MTC shirt. He was just glad there was a pair that didn't say BYU on them.

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.

Yahoo! The big day has finally arrived!

June 28, 2010

We are really finally here. Our cute sister Pam ran us around getting our last minute errands completed and then took us to the MTC. (Note Ed showing his missionary socks.)


Here we have Ed showing the distance between Greece and the Congo....

And here we have Kriss and Ed doing the traditional MTC picture... and being excited to be going to the Congo!

This photo is of Ed trying to lift and weigh Kriss's 70 pound suitcase... before he carried it upstairs to our 2nd floor bedroom.


And now we are ready to check out our room.....

TA DA! A great room with our own bathroom! The paper I am holding is our immunization record. I can't believe how many shots we have had... and now they want us both to have 3 more. But that's ok. We don't want to get sick over there.

We had a great day being introduced to the other couples who are here for the week. There are 36 of us. 80% are going stateside. We are the only Africans, so we are getting lots of questions. We are looking forward to a great week!

The day before we enter the MTC....

June 27, 2010 Sunday – One day until the MTC
What a wonderful day we have had. We are very, very excited! This morning Ed woke up and said… “Today is the first day of 18 months that I will wear a white shirt and tie everyday.”
We had the opportunity to go the home of the former mission president of the DR Congo mission today, and spend the day with he and his wife… President and Sister Livingstone. They drove us up to Tremonton (abt. 2 hrs north of Provo) to attend the homecoming of Brother and Sister Baxter. They are the couple we are replacing in Point Noir in the Republic of Congo. The mission was just opened in Point Noir 18 months ago by these 2 great couples and 4 elders. These 2 couples know more about Point Noir than any other adults in the church. It was wonderful to hear their stories about the people and the culture, and know that this is going to be a fabulous 18 months.
They say it will be very difficult to try to explain to you, our friends and family, what it is like to serve in the Congo. However, we are starting to get a glimpse of just how special this mission is going to be, to serve with the great saints in the Congo, who have a simple, yet devoted love for their Father in Heaven and their Savior, Jesus Christ.

Brother and Sister Baxter are in the 2 pictures below. Sister Baxter is wearing her dress the Congolese women made for her, and Brother Baxter is wearing his matching tie! Ed wants to know if they make socks out of that material. The Baxters are a wonderful couple and are thrilled to have us taking their place, so they don't need to worry about the missionaries and the members of the church in Point Noir, Congo... where we will be living for the next 18 months.

Packing on Pam's Lawn

From Pam:
Here they are...packing one my front lawn, the last time before they enter the MTC Monday morning at 10 with 8 checked bags and boxes and carry-ons.

Kriss is on the phone to Chuck while he makes final updates to their trust...with material requests coming in from the children. Sewing machine? Golf clubs? U of U paraphernalia? Who makes the cut?

We will miss the excitement they bring to all of us and will pray for their success and safe return.

We love you Kriss and Ed.

15 DAY COUNTDOWN!

We are very excited... Congo here we come! We finished packing inside the house yesterday. We hope to finish the garage and laundry room tomorrow. Big Job but it feels great to get things organized. We are so on a roll. The DI has been here 3 times and is coming again on Wednesday. Our goal is to be ready to leave before we go to bed on Wednesday... and then go on a relaxing trip for a week.

These pictures are of our last weekend together. (I stole these great pictures from Chuck's blog-Thanks honey.) The top left is the kids washing their feet at their own foot party after the corn roast. The upper right is a funny picture that we found that I had made into a poster years ago. The lower left is a photo of the kids going through all their special memory boxes from High School... and the last is a fun shot of us at the corn roast. (Except our cute Ashley and Mike McBride and Hawk, who were greatly missed.)

Actually Char and Tiffany are teaching us to blog, so this is our trial. Stay tuned for the real updates.