We entered the MTC on Monday, June 1, 2015. We entered with a group of 41 couples and five single sisters. We enjoyed getting to know most of them during our time there. It is a pretty impressive group of people and we enjoyed many spiritual experiences together.
Here we are with part of the group. They took four group shots to fit us all in.
Here we are with part of the group. They took four group shots to fit us all in.
In the afternoon of the first day we were divided into districts of four couples. We were blessed to be in a district with three other couples: The Camerons were called to serve a "Stay at home" Member and Leader Support (MLS) mission in Lehi Utah. We were touched by the incredible power that accompanied their testimony of the gospel. The Gunnersons are from our same stake in Washington, Utah where he served as the Stake Patriarch and are headed to Nagoya Japan as the mission office couple. In addition to being our District Leader, they kept us cheered up and positive. The Merricks are headed to the California Oakland mission where they will work with a Samoan Ward. Sister Merrick is Samoan and they met and married there. They are dedicated workers with strong testimonies and we know they will be a great blessing to the members and the ward there. We enjoyed every second we spent with these great couples.
We can truly say that we never had a discouraging moment at the MTC. Our morning instructor was Brother Gubler from Santa Clara. We were thrilled to learn that he is the son of Shandon and Sue Gubler. He served his mission in the Alpine German Speaking mission. He was organized, efficient and spiritual and we learned a lot from him. Sister Lane was our afternoon instructor. She served a mission in Japan and taught us a few Japanese words to get us over our fear of the role play situations. She is a new instructor, but brought energy and dedication to the group.
We also had an inspiring devotional with Elder Christofferson on Tuesday evening. We enjoyed singing with the young missionaries in the MTC choir. On Thursday evening, we were blessed to see a recording of another devotional given a couple of years ago by Elder Bednar.
At the MTC, we were surprised to see the sister of Chrystaline Lim Dalumpines on her way to the Hong Kong mission. Her lovely companion was on her way to Viet Nam and knew Sister Caldwell's cousin Lewis Hassell on his way there the week before. We also saw our grand niece Sister Sarah Oliphant (Kendall's daughter).
Our son picked us up on Friday afternoon at 3:30 and we headed up to his home in Bountiful. Our daughter-in-law suggested that we go to the food trucks for dinner. That turned out to be an inspired decision since we ran into my wonderful cousin Julie Oder and her two children and grandchild. That was an unexpected blessing.
After dinner, our son loaned us his car and his son (our grandson) so that we could visit Bonnie's sister Marilyn in the rehab facility. We had a lovely visit and were delighted to see her doing so well. As usual, our grandson Tait was charming and interested in his great aunt's health and welfare.
Saturday morning, we went to the airport to check in for our flight to Amsterdam and drop off our baggage. We then went to see Bonnie's aunt Farrol who is in her late 90s. She is a lovely lady with great wisdom and a great sense of humor. We always come away blessed and uplifted and this visit was no exception. She told us that she had more energy because she had the battery replaced in her pacemaker.
We were able to join two of my sisters and brother and their families at Chuck-a-Rama for a farewell luncheon. Both of our children and their families were there as well. It was wonderful to be together for a few minutes. It did make leaving a bit harder knowing that we were going to be gone for 23 months.
We headed back to the airport for our flight to Amsterdam. Our Delta non-stop flight from Salt Lake to Amsterdam was easy, if a bit cramped. As usual, Bonnie did not get a lot of sleep on the flight, but we arrived in Amsterdam at about 10:45 AM. The Amsterdam airport is undergoing renovation, so things were a bit disorganized compared to previous visits there. We cleared immigration, collected our baggage and were then met by President and Sister Robinson and President van der Put. It was wonderful to see President Robinson after more than 40 years.
From the airport, we went directly to the Soetermeer Ward. Soetermeer is the location of the temple and the previous building was torn down to construct the temple. For many years they met in an office building that was difficult to reach, but are now meeting in a beautiful new building. It was ward conference and we enjoyed the speakers and the music. We were able to understand everything said during the meeting and also to converse comfortably with the members, so I guess we haven't lost too much of our Dutch. We do have a fairly heavy accent that we hope to lose again soon.
We stayed in the Golden Tulip hotel across the street from the mission home. On Monday morning we walked to the mission home and began the process of immigration, driving training, etc. We also had a lovely interview with President Robinson. Elder and Sister Robison, the mission office couple have worked tirelessly to take good care of us with the able assistance of President van der Put. We are so grateful for their many efforts and hard work on our behalf. It makes us even more determined to work hard in the service of the Lord and the mission.
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