Today is 5 October 2009, but I have had such a hard time blogging that I am going to go back and try and get up to date.

Last Monday at the MTC we started with our office training. The church has a brand new program that we are using. It is very efficient and covers everything. So new that another new part came online on Thursday and they had to put that part on our flash drives. Well, to say that it was a full week would be an understatement. For four days we were learning how to pay bills, put the proper amount of funds onto missionary cards, doing referrals, learning about vehicles, newsletters, emails, transfers, incoming and departing missionaries It was a whirlwind and some of the things we just went through once. I was in tears on Thursday. Yes, real tears but not happy tears. I actually got up and went to the ladies room and tried to get control. It was awful. So now you see why blogging has been so hard for me. Thursday afternoon we were reviewing and Dad and I sat together and went over a lot of stuff. I just pray that my mind will be opened when I get to the mission and I can be an asset to the mission.

We had another wonderful devotional on Tuesday night. The speaker and wife were great and Dad knew him. They were in school together when Dad lived in Idaho Falls as a young kid. Probably 14 or 15 years old. His name is Steven Nadauld. He gave a wonderful talk. Such a feeling to be in that auditorium with all of those missionaries and sing with them. You have to be there to know the feeling.

Each morning that we were in the MTC, we got up at 5:30 to begin our walk. We had to walk around the perimeter 5 times to get our three miles in. It was a nice walk. One morning it was raining hard and so we went to the gym which has a track around the top where I walked and Dad got on an eliptical walker or whatever they are, and we did our time there. But what I wanted to say was that the whole way to the gym we were walking on covered sidewalks. Most of the walkways are covered so that you don't have to be out in the weather. It is amazing.
But two of those mornings, there was a bus at the entrance of the MTC. A line of missionaries in their suits, pulling their suitcases to the bus for their ride to the airport. We both just broke down and cried. It is quite a testimony to see those young men (and some of them look almost 15 or 16) and women leaving to go all over the world. More missionaries leaving for Russia and Mexico than anywhere else.