MTC Second Week

We have completed our second week at the MTC and are excited and apprehensive about our departure Tuesday morning for what awaits in England. Four days of the past week have been spent learning our office duties. Most of the programs specific to mission offices were not too complicated, but the thought of producing a mission newsletter, a task not at all daunting to many of my generation, is a real concern to me. Perhaps the fulltime office sister will love doing that. Jim was most concerned about the responsibility for mission vehicles, driving safety and maintenance. The brother from the church department over vehicle fleets really put the fear into him about this. The church is much more restrictive about granting driving privileges to missionaries now than they were in the past. I’m glad for this because I can imagine the accident rate for American missionaries in England, driving on the left side of the road for the first time in their lives. Yikes!
One fun thing about our office training was that we got to snoop into the records of our own missions and look at the pictures of and data about "our own"missionaries. This will give us a leg up on recognizing a few of them when we meet them. We virtually looked at the organization board and practiced making transfers of missionaries. We were assured that our finagling had no bearing on the actual mission assignments, but it made me feel pretty weird to be picking a new AP and new zone leaders. Since we actually did lose an AP last Wednesday, I am interested to see if my new choice was an "inspired one" when we arrive there on Wednesday.
I took the opportunity to sing with the MTC choir for Tuesday night’s devotional. I didn’t have much to add with my shortened vocal range, my lack of breath, and an allergy-induced raspy voice, but I did enjoy hearing the surround sound of several hundred male voices as they sang the first verse of Mack Willberg’s arrangement of "Lead, Kindly Light." They sang as one, and it was a glorious sound. Every Tuesday night there is a devotional with a speaker from among the general authorities. We heard from Elder and Sister David Evans the first week we were here. It was a particularly touching meeting as he shared personal experiences his family had with Pres. Monson. Pres.Monson had called Elder Evans’ parents on a wonderfully appropriate mission as the father was beginning to fail with Alzheimer’s. Several years later, when the father had failed to respond to family members for a considerable time and in fact could no longer hold his head up properly, Elder Evans was called as mission president to Japan. Pres. Monson told him that when his father died, he was to remain in the field with his missionaries but that his wife could come home for the funeral. Pres. Monson counseled Elder Evans to visit with his father about the call and these circumstances just as he would have if the father were not so ill. Elder Evans thought this strange counsel but decided to act on it. As he finished explaining to his father, he concluded, "Are you okay with this, Dad?" His father righted his head and clearly responded, "Yes, I am." Immediately his head fell to the side and his lucidity was again gone. Elder Evans counseled us not to dismiss Pres.Monson’s talks as merely sweet folksy stories but to act on them.
Next post from England if we can find a dry internet connection. We will let you know how we are faring with understanding the Queen’s English and the lefthand lane driving. Can you imagine if we were to get a standard transmission car–shifting with the left!