1 May - 6 May 2012

I didn't get the other family stories done as I had hoped.  Life got really busy there for a while.  Maybe I will be able to write them later.  They are worth telling.

Our adventure has officially began.  On 23 April we entered the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah for one week of intense training, basically in how to teach effectively without offending or being offensive.  We were able to spend the nights with Elaine's sister, Margaret, and the days in study.

The MTC is a unique experience and environment.  It has to be lived in to be understood.  I expected everyone there to be serious and long-faced and totally focused on gospel subjects.  Instead I found a place with a lot of good-natured laughter and smiles, easy friendships, and an environment open for learning.

Of course, the traditional pictures needed to be taken.

             

In the main hall there is a large map of the world, where the missionaries love to stand and point at the places where they are going,.  We had in our group people going to Cambodia, Viet Nam, parts of Africa, Europe, the USA, and even to Hong Kong.

The pictures above are Sister Welling and myself pointing to our place - Maccau, SAR, China.

Our Study Group

Senior Missionaries This Week

The main group would eat together and have some general instructions, then we would break into smaller study groups to practice and learn more about the specific duties we would be called to fill.  It's hard to realize that we'll probably never see most of these people again.  They were great.

As we were walking across the campus one day, we met up with a young elder from our home ward who is headed for Mexico.  So of course we had to get a picture of him with us.

With Elder Walker

And that about wraps up the week.  I am writing this from Maccau, SAR, China.  For some reason my computer thinks I have become Chinese so all the directions for entering information are in traditional Chinese script.  That has made doing this really interesting!  We will be getting the internet in our apartment hopefully next Saturday, so I should be able to write more frequently.  In the meantime I just want to say how much we are enjoying this place and these people.  We have been here almost a month now.  I can hardly believe it.  I'll try to write about the people and the differences as I see them before they become too familiar and I no longer notice.  Until then, joi gin.