September 19,2011 Mission Training Center

Left to right: Forinashes, Philippines, member

support--Kites, New Zealand, FH Centers over-

sight--Eberhards, Washington D.C. Temple--
and Flynns, Scotland Records Preservation.

Since the MTC was constructing new housing for the senior couples, some were assigned to the Marriot Hotel in downtown Provo. Oh, Darn! We were one of the ones who had to sacrifice:) Everyday there was a shuttle back and forth to the MTC and we enjoyed getting acquainted with our fellow travelers.

We loved our MTC experience, the food, the companionship, the instruction, but mostly the Spirit we felt so often each day. We were close to tears many times as the Spirit touched us.

One of the most inspiring stories we heard was of a couple sent to Tahiti for two missions. One time they were sent to an island many miles away. After traveling on a little freighter for many hours of sea sickness, they arrived at 2 a.m. and were picked up by the branch president 2 hours later. He said he couldn't find the key to their apartment, so they'd have to sleep on the drive-way for the rest of the night. So sorry... When they went to their first church meeting the branch president showed up 45 minutes late, spread the sacrament, blessed it and announced that the meeting was now over. He shooed the couple out and locked the door. There was one other member there beside themselves. They had no list of members, but went out looking anyway. As they walked through the neighborhoods, people would say to them, "Oh, I know a member of your church. They live over here" and would show them the house. The couple kept at this until one day they approached a house and the mother of the house screamed and yelled at them to never come back and to get out of her yard. This went on for several weeks, with the missionaries coming back over and over. Finally she let them in and of course, eventually returned to activity in the Church. When they had been on the island 2 months, they were able to send an email to their children and receive their emails. One daughter had written, "Where in hell are you??" I guess they had reason to worry, having their parents disappear off the radar for a time! When the couple left the island several months later, there were 120 attending sacrament meetings. I guess if this very elderly couple can face these kind of trials and have such success stories, we ought to be able to do our part!

One quote from the MTC we liked is, "You made the decision to serve, now go get your money's worth."