This week end was very special and spiritual in our lives. On Friday, March 13, our youngest son, Scott, received his Patriarchal Blessing. In preparation to enter the Missionary Training Center we were set apart by President Bill Young, the President of the Utah Orem East Stake. We were set apart on Sunday March 15, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. President Young gave us many wonderful and marvelous blessings as he set each of us apart. It was a very emotional and spiritual experience and one that we will always remember.
Also on Sunday, Brennen spoke in sacrament meeting about the priesthood. Later that evening Wayne was privileged to ordain Scott an Elder. What a great blessing in our lives to have the Priesthood of God in to perform those sacred ordinances and blessing for the benefit of man.
The week before entering the MTC we called the Missionary Travel Dept. in SLC to check taking Nita’s oxygen concentrator with us on the flight. They gave us our itinerary for our flight. They told us that we would fly out of Salt Lake City on March the 20th. Originally we were expecting to fly out on Monday the 23rd. This meant that we would lose Saturday and Sunday to finish up some final details before flying out. Panic time!!! We adjusted our schedule to meet the Friday fly out date.
We entered the MTC on Monday March 16, 2009. What a great and marvelous experience. The spirt is so strong there. As we received instruction you could feel the spirt testifying to the truth of the Gospel.
It was impressive to see the number of senior missionaries that had served several missions. They told us that once it was in our blood we would also want to serve several missions. There is such a great need for senior missionaries in the field.
One of the highlights was the Tuesday night devotional where Elder L. Tom Perry spoke to the missionaries. He talked about companionship. He told of his experience with his first companion and how they grew to love each other and served some time together. As they were completing their missions the war was going on and they decided that they would both join the Navy with the chance that they could serve together. As Elder Perry went to sign up to join the Navy he said that he saw those white bell bottom pants and said I can’t wear those. Then he saw a man walk through wearing a Marine uniform. He joined the Marines. During basic training Elder Perry requested time to attend church services. As he walked into the building he saw his former missionary companion that had also joined the Marines. Elder Perry said that a few months ago his son invited him to his home to visit with someone. That someone was his mission companion that had cancer. While visiting with him they decided that they would also serve together in some capacity on the other side. Elder Perry then talked about building a strong and loving relationship with companions in order to be effective and serve the Lord.
Thursday we had two great presentations. In the morning Brother & Sister Burns spoke to us about reactivation. They talked to us about not pre-judging and being persistent. They talked about some of their conversion stories. It was very inspiring. In the afternoon Ed Pinegar spoke to us about the spirit.
On Tuesday we called the mission president and left a message that we would be there on Saturday at 7:55 a.m. On Wed. we received a message that he had called and ask us to get our International Drivers License. We had to leave Thursday afternoon to get the license. We checked out of the mission home Thursday evening and slept at home to get ready to go to the airport Friday morning.
We arrived at the airport an Nita had her first missionary experience. As we were unloading and taking baggage in there was a lady that appeared to be from India that asked if we were missionaries. Nita said that she was. The lady asked if we could pray for her son who was dying and she did not know if they would arrive at their destination before he died. Nita told here that she would pray for them. "You Never Know".
We presented our to check in and they told us that they did not have a reservation for our flight. They checked a little further and found that they had us flying out on Monday the 23rd. and that the church had changed the flight. We found our lost weekend. In reality it is a blessing. We get to rest up before the big flight to Argentina and we also had the opportunity to attend the Draper Temple Dedication on Sunday.
Our next update will be from Argentina.
