Missionary Training Center, Provo, Utah

After so many months of waiting and preparation we checked into the Missionary Training Center (MTC) on Friday afternoon, April 24th (one day before Connie's birthday).What a wonderful place.  We are surrounded by hundreds of other missionaries (both young and senior) who all exude happiness.  Joy seems to abound What fun it is to observe all the young missionaries with their youthful exuberance, energy and excitement to do the work.


View of the Wasatch Front from Provo, Utah

All the walkways at the MTC are covered

Dining at the MTC with the Chamberlains and


On Sunday we drove to Heber City, Utah to attend church with Morris & Nancy Christensen. They are great friends from 25 years ago when we were raising our boys in Tempe, Arizona.  After church we went to their home for lunch and had the added pleasure of visiting with their daughter, Jill, her husband Ben and their children.

Upon return to the MTC we attended a "devotional" meeting where we pleased to hear from Vai Sikahema.  He was a football star on the BYU team that won the national championship.  He also played several years in the NFL and was honored to be selected to play in a couple of NFL Pro Bowls.  He is now a news anchor for a Philadelphia TV station and is also serving as a Stake President for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He gave a very entertaining talk on missionary work in which he shared several personal stories that were very interesting and impactful.

Public Affairs Training

April 22-24 we were fully engaged in Public Affairs training in Salt Lake City to prepare us for our mission.  There were four other couples in training with us:  The Chamberlains who will serve in Hong Kong, the Walkers who will serve in Frankfurt, the Davenports who will serve in Los Angeles and the Laus who will serve in Toronto.

These couples all have had amazing life experiences that have prepared them well to serve.  Elder and Sister Larsen, the Senior Public Affairs Missionary Coordinators, were awesome.  They provided great training that included the sharing of actual experiences which made the training not only very interesting but also extremely valuable.  At the conclusion of the training, heartfelt,  powerful and moving testimonies were shared by all. 

The meeting culminated with the presentation of our missionary badges.

 

When we received our mission call it seemed like we had so much time to get everything in order before we left for South Africa.  Now we are coming down to the wire, and we still have what seems like too much to do.  

So many of the things that need to be accomplished seemed so very simple, and yet they have been fraught with difficulties, roadblocks, delays, etc.  Whether its been fingerprints, new eyeglasses, address changes, immunizations, bank auto-payments or whatever, we have run into a myriad of problems and delays.  Thankfully, we now have almost all of that "stuff" taken care of.  

The next problem is how to get 80 pounds of clothes, shoes, etc. into a 50 pound suitcase!!  We have yet to figure that out.  We would welcome any and all suggestions.  We somehow have to go through all of our "essentials" and figure out what to leave home.  Its our latest dilemma. 

Nevertheless, we are super excited to get on our way and be able to experience the "heaven-on-earth" atmosphere at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.  Our sons had the privilege of training there some years ago before serving their missions, now its our turn to enjoy that special place.

Moses Mabhida Soccer Stadium
Durban, South Africa

In The Beginning...

Our Mission Call Has Finally Arrived

For many years Connie and I have had a goal of serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We submitted our paperwork last year and received a calling last fall to serve an 18 month mission as Public Affairs Missionaries in South Africa.  We will report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT on April 27, 2015 and will fly to South Africa on May 4.  Our apartment will be in the Durban, South Africa metropolitan area, but we will be traveling quite a bit in both the Durban and Capetown Missions in addition to Lesotho and possibly Swaziland.  Our supervisor will be the Southeast Africa Area Director of Public Affairs.  We will be trained to be a bridge between the church and community leaders, political leaders, media,  interfaith groups, etc.
     One of the main purposes of Public Affairs is to establish effective communication channels and good working relationships with all of these important people to help them better understand the Church and to help the Church better understand them.  By doing this we will seek common goals and work toward their achievement.  We have a lot to learn!!
    We have been busily preparing for many, many weeks.  We have made numerous visits to optometrists, physicians of every kind, immunization clinics, etc., in addition to months of shopping to get all the proper clothing, electrical adapters, cameras, flash drives, shoes and the list never ends. Just getting fingerprinted, getting a FBI clearances and obtaining a South African visa was a challenge.  Trying to think of everything we will need for 18 months is not easy.  We are told that even though Durban is a cosmopolitan city (3.5 million) and has great shopping, there is difficulty in finding the brand names that you are accustomed to.
    We have received great information and advice from the missionary couple that we will be following and other missionary couples in the area.  There will be many new and different things for us to get used to.  Time after time we have been told how wonderful the South African people are and how much we will love them.  We are very excited to be able to stand among these great people and to have the opportunity to serve them.

Africa Southeast Area