What a difference a Week makes/MTC experience.

A week ago we were set officially set apart as missionaries

Our family was there and it was a special time for us.

All our fine young sons,except Ryan, were there to stand

in as Pres. Clegg set us apart.

Then, we really made it to the MTC. It has been really wonderful. I finally have a minute to blog. It's been such a busy time and so much has happened. We did have one last hurdle when Linsey’s keys got locked in house as we were leaving. Luckily she had left a window open and so we had to take the screen off and send Sunny through the window. Luckily Dad had wanted to be the first person there so we were not late. But it was the last obstacle. So, we made it.

The senior missionaries are treated like special people here and it’s so fun to see all those wonderful sisters and elders.We did get the prize for the most crazy mission, although they are going all over to do all kinds of things. There are 12 senior couples and two single sisters going to work in offices, seven going to visitors center missions. Three couples going to Africa, but both the others are going to South Africa.
We've loved our MTC experience. The spirit was strong, reassuring and very motivating. It's just something you can feel and almost see. It's such a place of learning & comfort & encouragement. We loved every minute of it & came away feeling like we could do whatever was asked of us. We had a great group of friends who we learned to love & who were very inspiring to us. We loved the senior couples. They were so full of faith and had such willing hearts. It was a privilege to be with them. All this grey hair is going all over the world to do all kinds of things & it was just wonderful to share a week with these great people. I think that anybody who has not served a mission is really missing out on one of the great experiences in life.

The Final Word

We got the Ok from the Doctor just now. So...................

We will head out to the MTC and then the Congo on Saturday.

We have preached taking a leap of FAITH and now we will do it.

Stay tune for further word from Kinshasa and Lubumbashi and beyond!

SITTING ON OUR SUITCASES

We are supposed to leave for the MTC and then the Congo on Saturday.

The goodbyes have been said. The tears have been shed.

The excitement for our adventure ahead and the blessing of serving is in our hearts.

The bags are almost packed and everything is in place.

The extra ties have been given away.

Now the Doctor says that Brent's sinus infection may delay

our departure as he may require surgery.

It's a most frustrating experience!

So, We're sitting in the middle of the suitcases, just waiting for the final word.

So...............................what's the verdict?

Two days to go and still no final word!

If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear

I have decided to try talking about our mission experiences on our blog site. We will have computers and internet in Africa, but they are supposed to be about 20 times slower than here. So, sending group emails with pictures is pretty difficult. We will blog about general mission life stories and then send an email to family and friends letting you know we have a new blog.

We are trying to get life in order so that we can head out on Aug. 29. We will spend five days in the MTC and then be off to ???????????????????. We got travel documents for Douala, Cameroon. That seemed strange since Camroon, although in our mission, is 1,5000 miles from the city where we will live--Lubumbashi. Then we were told that we probably wouldn't go to Cameroon after all. So, it's just another question about what our life will be in the months to come.

We found out that we will spend our mission in a city that is in the far South DRC (that's what you call the Democratic Republic of the Congo when you don't have all day to write or talk). It's called Lubumbashi. It is a city of over a million and half people and one of the two or three of the fastest growing areas of the church in the world. We hear that the people are open and embracing the gospel in amazing numbers and the retention is also amazing, but they are all very new to the church. They love to talk about Christ and respect religion in general.
Lubumbashi is over 1000 miles from the mission home and also from it's temple, which is in Johannesburg. Much of the rest of the mission is in the Ghana temple district, but not Lubumbashi. However, travel to the temple is not within the reach of most of the people of our mission,even many of the young missionaries (120 of them-17 of whom are not African) have not had the opportunity of going to the temple.

Thanks to the Wassums, a missionary couple who lived in Lubumbashi, we have pictures of our new city already.

This the guest house on the property.

They called it the little cozy house.

This is the big house.

You can also see our truck in the driveway.

This is our guard/gardner, Robert and Sister

Wassum at the "barrier".

We are going to be living here for the full 18 months, although we will be doing some traveling.

Here are a few more pictures to give you a feel for the city.

A great bakery in town. They have French bread and

pasteries in Lubumbashi. It will probably be one of our

favorite places.

Nice little fruit stand in Lubumbashi. You will notice that woman do not wear pants in the Congo.

Gas station/restaurant

We are in for quite an adventure. We are packing all kinds of things that are not available in the

Congo, even a suitcase of "travel food" for when we have to travel. It's a good thing that we know the Lord wants us to be there and of that we are sure. Going to a new world is exciting and frightening too.

I just try to remember that everybody who's gone to Africa has called it the most wonderful experience of their lives. So, we are excited and eager to move forward.

And I just keep saying "if you are prepared, ye shall not fear." So, this is our time to prepare!

Can you say CRAZY!

We received a mission call today. It's a pretty long story that began right after Dad died in Jan. Brent and I felt a great urgency to look at the possibility of a mission and began to work on going. We first contacted the mission president in Geneva who we met two years ago. He had told us that when we put in mission papers, we should contact him. He said that he had a 90% chance of getting a couple to his mission if he requested them. So, we contacted him. He told us that he needed a senior couple in Lyon, France for the Institute outreach program. Quite a stretch for me to learn French, but sounded good. It looked like something just right for us. So, we sent in our papers with our request, his request and letters from our Bishop and Stake Pres. to go to Geneva. I started studying French seriously. The other thing that I forgot to tell you was that the mission Pres. told us was that "if the Lord had other plans" then we would be part of the 10% who didn't get the call to that mission.So, we should be prepared for that. Well, we weren't.

To made it short, we report to the MTC on Aug. 31 for a mission to The Democratic Republic of the Congo Kenshasa Mission (that's Africa). This mission covers 6 countries. Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Burundi,Gabon and Cameroon. We are stunned and excited and willing and we hope able and TERRIFIED. We don't have a clue why we are going there and not to Lyon as we thought, but we know there is a reason we're in the 10% and it's very reassuring.

We will go and do... whatever..... We know we are in for a great adventure and hope to be up to the challenges! But mostly,we know that the Lord is in charge!!

The Farewell Tour

It's funny how things all become important

when you are going to be leaving them.

So, you have to say farewell to many things.

Sat. night we had the farewell tour of the

GRATEFUL DADS!

We all had a great time!

Even the "Moms" showed off their dancing skills!

Eva was amazed by it all!

So, we packed the drums away and we're heading out!

Haven't had the heart to blog since Jan, but I do have to say

THE '52, OLD BLUE IS REALLY COMING HOME. YEAH!!