THE MTC EXPERIENCE

This picture is out of order, and I couldn't move it, but I wanted to show you the dining hall. It was amazing -- 3 meals a day, serving 1,500+ people. We could choose from bagels, cereal, hot cereal (oatmeal for Ron, yeah!} eggs, pancakes, all kinds of juices, fruit, french toast, biscuits with gravy, hash browns, etc for breakfast. Lunch and dinners: soups, salads, hamburgers, pizza, casseroles, burritos, chicken fried steak, salmon, rice, ham, almost everything a young person longs to each. Yum! (except their chicken nuggets are hard as rubber} And missionaries from all over the globe -- I met a young man today in the laundry who was from Scotland, assigned to Paris France. It is so fun to walk around and listen to the various languages being spoken. We asked two Korean boys where they were from and they said 'Taejon'. When we told them we had a son who served there, they beamed with pride and wanted to know his name.

Our journey begins on a beautiful spring day in Ogden Utah. May 19th we awoke encompassed by Utah's majestic mountains, the sun shining and beautiful blue skies.

Clyde, Ron's brother and his wife, Yvonne, were our hosts. Clyde got into the spirit of the moment by wearing his old missionary badge.

We don our badges and our smiles -- now we are ready to drive from Ogden in the North to Provo in the South. Look out Provo, here we come!

Where in the heck are we going to put all this luggage?

Do you really need all this stuff?

Are you kidding? --serving 23 months in Russia requires a lot of stuff

Senior compartments consist of a bedroom with desks and closets and a bathroom. Pretty small, but we are happy to be here

However, if we had to spend all this 'togetherness' more than the 9 days assigned, we probably wouldn't look so happy.

Ok, everyone, this is where you can find us . Yekaterinberg Russia, deep in the heart of the Motherland. We will be eating bortsch, potatoes, and cucumber and tomatoe salad.

Our days were scheduled with things to do from the time we got up, usually around 6:00 am. First we went to eat -- an amazing experience! We then attended classes centered on the 'Preach My Gospel' book, where we participated in discussions, saw videos, and listened to uplifting talks. We had the opportunity to work in the call center one afternoon, talking calls from people all over the United States who wanted free materials sent to them. I talked with a lady from Kentucky. Fun!! We met with our Russian tutor, Katya, in the evenings after class for a 2 hour language lesson. She was really patient with us and we actually learned a lot.

We will not be traveling by bike, nor car, but likely by bus or the metro. Most likely, our two feet will carry us across Yekat. I loved this bronze

sculpture of two missionaries with their backpacks and determined faces.

The MTC is so amazing! -- 400 new missionaries arrived on Wednesday and electrified the air. With bright smiles (and some sad faces), but for the most part eager to begin their new adventure just like us. The MTC is a city unto itself, with post office, laundry, seamstress/tailor, barber/beautician, cleaner, bookstore, doctor, cafeteria, lodging, computer center, classrooms, concert/assembly hall-- everything you might need is here.

It isn't unusual to walk around and find young missionaries practicing their preaching skills. These young people we practicing in German. Then they broke out in song, "I Know My Redeemer Lives", it was breathtaking!

Holding a 'street meeting in German - Jaren and Scott I know you would have loved it.






We had about 25 couples in our group of senior missionaries and 2 single sisters, one a widow and the other divorced. These are really remarkable and intelligent people. Coming from all over the US and going to serve all over the world. One couple are serving their 3rd mission in Africa, they just love the people; the widowed sister told us she has all of her valuables in her two suitcases and is going to serve her forth mission -- pretty humbling. Some of the countries that will be served by these great people are: Canada, Nigeria, Uganda, England, Switzerland, Mexico, United States, Spain, Germany, Guam, and of course Russia. They are people from all walks of life who feel a need to give back to the Lord and to serve his children.

We will be leaving our retreat on Wednesday morning, May 28th to fly to Russia. Our trip will last about 36 hours, but when compared to the pioneers trip across the plains I guess we can't complain. At least not too much. We have loved the beginning experience and look forward to many more within beautiful Russia.

I wondered what life was like behind these walls each time we dropped one of our five children off to begin their journey, and now we know.