And we're off!

Well, family and friends, here we go again!    Once you 'press the button' on submitting your mission papers, the process is in motion.   And after what seems like an eternity, the call arrives and things begin to move rapidly.   And soon, your home is entirely cleared out and it's time to leave for the MTC!   And time for the traditional 'here's where we're going' shot from the map in the front lounge.  So, 'here's where we're going': the California Modesto Mission.

We met 55 other wonderful senior couples who came in on our Monday.  One third of them are about to serve 'home based' missions, being assigned to work within their home stakes.   The rest of us were going everywhere!   The couple below were the most interesting, serving their third mission to Ghana.  The first was by assignment, the second by choice (each two years).   This time they've been requested to return because the Church is forming the first Stake there; he can hardly wait to get back and help.  They LOVE the people there.

The most interesting part of our training were the two mini-sessions where they taught us to use our 'apps'.   They did a great job walking 111 'seniors' through Gospel Library and LDS Media Library.   We were encouraged to use talks, videos, music, etc. in our lessons.   The only reasons the seats in back are empty is that they took all the Android people to another room to teach (smart).

Just one more MTC shot - our 'district'.   These are the people you sit with, role play with, and get to know pretty well after five days together.   They were great people.   Our teacher, Brother Echo Hawk, is Elder Larry Echo Hawk's grandson!

No, just one more shot after this, because sometimes you meet people who are 'kindred spirits' during the week.   We were asked to find out about one of the other couples during the week and prepare to teach them according to what we have learned about them.   We absolutely connected with the Gowers from the moment we met them and had two wonderful times alone with them in a classroom teaching each other short lessons.   I'm going to try to write to them, since the MTC gave us all an email list of our seniors.

Well, that's it for the beginning.   I may try to make one more entry before we go back to our house, because we are at the Sonora Chapel where they have internet.   But that's another whole story!!