Once upon a time, a very long time go a little gray wooden lamb appeared in my life. I honestly can't remember how she came to be, but I vaguely recall Katie receiving her in a Young Women's activity with a reminder, "Ewe are Special". Fast forward the turbulent teenage years and "Lambie" disappeared and was forgotten. Then suddenly one day she reappeared and the game was on! For the past couple of years Katie and I have made it a practice of secretly passing Lambie back and forth from one house to another. Lambie has been mailed, hidden in drawers even secured in tasty treats.
Long story short, it has now become a family affair with Steve as well as Lucas, Mason and Jill taking part. So we decided what better way to detail our travels than by including Lambie on our adventure...
Day One-leaving from our home sweet home in Sacramento
passing through Oregon.........
arriving 10 hours later in Meridian, Idaho.
We spent 4 wonderful days with our daughter Andi, husband Brian and grandson's Dax, Cale and Jett. We even found time to enjoy a delicious dinner and play catch up with friend's Dave and Janie . We celebrated Brian's birthday at Red Robin's, picked out light fixtures for Andi's newly painted house, played on the Wii and rode quad's (much to Dax's delight :))
Sunday, March 3, 2013 we arrived in Orem, Utah and spent the night with cousins, Greg and Jan prior to reporting to the Mission Training Center. To our surprise we actually had the opportunity to visit with even more Utah cousins, Sandy and Bruce and Eddie and Mary. It was so unexpected I honestly forgot to pull out my camera and record this Kodak moment, sorry.
March 4, 2013
Mission Training Center (MTC)
Provo, Utah
Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation.
Orlando, Florida by March 20th!
Just a brief overview of our first day at the MTC. The weather was a crisp 36 degrees this morning with patches of snow on the ground. We were actually told by the natives here that today was one of their warmer days, brrr!
There are approximately 78 people in our group. 14 couples have been assigned to serve in temples across the globe. Washington, D.C, Mexico, Canada, London, the Philippines and Japan. 7 other couples and two single, senior sisters were called to serve as family history record preservationists. Two couples were called to serve at Church historical sites, the Independence, Missouri and Wyoming Handcart Mission. One couple from Idaho has been called to teach farming to the Navajo Indians on a reservation in New Mexico. The remaining couples, including us, have been called to serve in places near and far, Cleveland, Ohio, Lansing, Michigan, Eastern Europe and Russia just to name a few.
Most of our group are from Utah as expected, but two couples are from Los Angeles and one other couple, Elder and Sister Leach, are from the Rosemont area in Sacramento, who are called to serve in Sweden. The funny thing is that Steve actually knew them, so it truly is a small world. One third of the couples in our group have served at least one previous mission so we are surrounded by wisdom, experience and a great love for the work.
It has been a busy day filled with fun, facts and inspiration. Missionary orientations, special speakers, and making new friends. We were actually divided into smaller "Districts" composed of 3 other couples at the end of the day so we look forward to getting to know our District couples better.
In Matthew Chapter 19:29 it says: And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, (or grandchildren), or lands, for my sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
If you were to ask us how we felt about our first day at the MTC I think Steve would agree with me, it was better than we had ever imagined it could be!
Tomorrow we start our training classes and have a special devotional in the evening by a General Authority of the Church. We can't wait!!!
OMG I love that Lambie made it into the blog post. I have tears in my eyes, because I was laughing so hard. You guys are great. I can't wait to show the kids!
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