The Road to Louisiana Day 2

The purpose of this blog is not to be a travelogue, but when you're spending hours in a car & covering hundreds of miles a day there's a lot more going on than missionary work & spiritual experiences. So for now it's a travelogue.

First stop--New Mexico Welcome Center

The New Mexico flag--Land of Enchantment isn't on the actual flag but is the state motto. We loved learning about the flag. The yellow field & red symbol are the colors of Spain. There are 4 groups of rays with 4 rays in each group. This is an ancient sun symbol of a Native American people called Zia. The Zia believed that the giver of all good gave them gifts in groups of 4.    

4 directions--north, south, east, west                                                             4 seasons--summer, fall, winter, spring                                                      
The day--sunrise, noon, evening, night                                                        
Life itself--childhood, youth, middle years, old age.
All of these are bound by a circle of life & love without a beginning or end. 

End of today's philosophy. Marc wanted a picture with an outlaw who's story has always fascinated him--William Bonney or Wm McCarty aka Billy the Kid. It's believed that this pic of billy is the only authentic one. Billy carried this 2x3 tintype. When he died his friend took it & passed it down through his family. It was sold in 2011 for $2.3 mil--7th most expensive picture ever sold. 

Only in NM. I love it!

          We made it to Amarillo Texas!

                      

The Road to Louisiana Day 1

Busy travel day filled with more tears, fun and laughter!  We left our room at 4:30 am to take a shuttle to the airport for an 8:22 flight. Hm!! Kimberlee, Jaie, Calli & Danielle met us at the airport & transported us to the house where we gathered some last minute things, finished packing and were on our way. Danielle & Kimberlee are "chauffeuring" us to LA!

Kimberlee (also will be referred to as Tia) is determined that none of us will experience deep vein thrombosis so she makes sure that we walk regularly. After a beautiful drive through the Cedar mountains & Kanab we arrived at the Glen Canyon Dam & walked across the bridge over Lake Powell.

Next stop--The Grand Canyon! The sun was going down but we got the breathtaking view of the South Rim & literally ran up Watchman's Tower as it was already past closing time.

View from Watchman's Tower

Flagstaff, Winslow, Holbrook, bedtime!

Day 5 MTC

This week began in tears and will end in tears but for 2 very different reasons! I can't even begin to express my feelings for the remarkable week we have spent here. We push ourselves every day in classes trying to learn how to be effective missionaries. We've loved our instructors & classes but they've been challenging as we role play & try to put ourselves in the shoes of members & non-members. The more we work, the more we learn, and the more we learn about what we need to learn. Did that make any sense at all.

Today we had two senior couples share experiences & talk to us about their experiences and also worked with us on finding ways to help without taking over.  

When I'm at the computer and not the phone I'll be adding some of my notes from these classes--not because anyone wants to read them but because this will be my journal for the next 18 months.

Our assignment will be as member-leader support (MLS). We've been assigned to a small branch in Marksville which is about 1 1/2 hours north west of Baton Rouge. We think our responsibilities will include working with the young elders and investigators, visiting less active members & probably doing our share of speaking & teaching. But until we meet with our mission president on Jan. 9 we won't know for sure. 

This evening we had the opportunity to attend the Sacred Gifts exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art. They have some Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hofmann & Frans Schwartz paintings on display. Some of the Bloch paintings have never left Denmark and will never leave again. So this was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity unless I happen to find myself in Denmark, which is highly unlikely! 

This is one of the paintings on display. "The Sermon on the Mount"

Happy Day!  Our summer daughter and Heidi's roommate from BYU days, Tori Morrison, came to attend the exhibit and bid us farewell. We don't get to see her very often so it was a wonderful time. Love this girl forever!

Now it's off to bed as we leave tomorrow at 4:30 am. 

Day 4 MTC

I love it here more and more every day. It's just so sad that we have to leave some very special friends. 

This is our wonderful, delightful & enjoyable MTC district. From left to right they're serving in France, Philadelphia, Baton Rouge and Mazatlan. 

We've been doing a lot of role play which us challenging but is showing me what areas I need to work on, but we've received some nice evaluations. A pat on the back is always well received. 

This picture is Elder Pike. He's been the most delightful, humble, powerful teacher. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he's a large version of Bronson.

             

We had a newly hired teacher observing our class today. She returned from her mission in Russia in October. We had a few minutes during the break and I found out she's a sign language major. She'd studied it before her mission & thought she'd be called on an ASL mission so was surprised to receive a call to Russia. In her first area there were 20 deaf members so she learned Russian sign language. No, it isn't the same as ASL. Now she speaks & signs Russian & ASL. The first person she taught and baptized was deaf. No coincidences!

We decided to do the laundry today. This is half of the facility!

Now that's a laundry room!

Day 3 MTC

Happy New Year!  Is it really New Year's Day? You'd never know it at the MTC. Business as usual. Tons of new missionaries arrived, as always, on Wednesday.  They're so young and some had that "deer in the headlights" fear in their eyes. Somehow the Rose Parade made it down Colorado Boulevard without me watching, or even thinking, about it and the Bowl Games were all played without Marc and his running commentaries.

What an amazing and wonderful experience this has been. Every day is filled with new challenges, outstanding teaching and delightful people. We've loved our classes but the "teaching appointments" are a hurdle I've yet to conquer. Funny how you can know something for decades but when it comes time to teach it to "investigators" everything goes blank. That's when I nudge Marc to take over. 

The couples here have been so enjoyable to get to know. One is from San Luis Obispo. The wife grew up in Pico Rivera and knew the Chitwoods (Ginny burningham) and the Carlsons (Glen C and Sue Gardner).  Another has a son & daughter-in-law in Danielle's ward. They're actually related by marriage to Ashlyn's family, for those of you who know that story. Their daughter-in-law and Ashlyn's mom are sisters. It really is a very small world. 

Now it's companion study time in "Preach My Gospel". I should manage to get about an hour in before dropping into bed. Yes, that will be 8 pm!  

Day 2 MTC

I've debated about this next entry and whether or not to write it. But since it will forever be a part of my mission memories it should definitely be included. Lest anyone thinks that this is a 100% spiritual activity this should cause you to think twice. If you aren't familiar with the Hallelujah Chorus story this is it in a nutshell. The choir was about to begin singing at church so I promptly stood up. My skirt didn't.  So here's the MTC full story. Fortunately it was still dark as we left after breakfast. We were between buildings & dad said no one was behind us. I hope he wasn't lying. I guess the elastic gave way and my skirt started to slip. I grabbed it as fast as I could but unfortunately I did NOT have a slip on because I hadn't packed the white one & my black one was too long. Now I have one skirt for 4 more days & I'm completely paranoid about wearing it! I did make a small purchase to allow use of said skirt until I'm reunited with my sewing machine.

Now were off to a devotional with a General Authority but don't know who. I'm sure the last part of my day will be more rewarding than the first.

Day 1 MTC

Our first day at the MTC was pretty incredible. We were lovingly shepherded every step of the way and have met some amazing people, young and old. There are close to 50 senior couples who came today and we are literally going to the 4 corners of the world. Those of us staying in the US are definitely in the minority this week. Some of their destinations are Iraq, India, Uganda, Cape town, Nairobi, Congo, Serbia, Romania, Lithuania, Philippines, Fiji, Polynesian Cultural Center, New Zealand, Adriatic, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Asia area, Paris, Europe area humanitarian, Alaska & all across the United States. Amazing! Did anyone even know we have missionaries in Iraq?