Day 5

Well I promised you last night the answer to the Sisters Mystery.  So here it is!

Can you see it is NOT California?











Look at those faces, both surprise and joy.

They have been called to the Family and Church History Mission in Salt Lake City, Utah.  They were ecstatic.  When asked by their bishops while putting in their papers they both said they would love to go to the FHL but that they would go anywhere they were called.  What is so cool about this is, if the call had come to the FHL they would not have come to MTC because the FHL has it's own training program and you go straight there.  We would not have met them and they would have not participated in the Preach My Gospel training.  The mentioned that now they would have the best of both worlds.  They left this afternoon to stay with Sister Heath's sister in West Valley City and will report on Monday to the FHL.  Now you can't tell me that was all coincidence!

 One more of the medical personnel that will train with us next week.  These are the  French's.  They are from Indiana, Indianapolis.  She is an Licensed Clinical Psychologist who up until May had a large practice in Indianapolis. In their spare time they were Church Service Missionaries in that area.  They ran a substance abuse program for a couple of years and lately they had been running the church's Marriage and family counseling programs after work and on the week ends.  She turned 50 years old on the day they got their calls so, as she said, they are the "Babies" of the class.  They are wonderful and so excited that they have this window to serve and are so surprised to be serving in the Philippines.   She will be covering 19 Missions.  We feel pretty puny next to that.  They are hoping to rent their home and it has been a race to close her practice and get out of their house and get to Provo on time.  They have a married child living in SL that they will stay with next week, while we all attend the SL training.  There is a new AMA going to the Philippines  also, a Dr. Jackson, who will be going out with them and will be doing dad's job.  We haven't met them yet but they are the last of the Medical People and we will get a picture of them next week while we are in SLC.

This is our afternoon teacher, Bro. Albertson.  He has been home 3 years and is married and has a 1 year old daughter.  I know, don't even go there.  He has been working at the MTC since he returned 3 years ago and is working toward a degree in Physical Therapy.

These young people are wonderful and wise beyond their years.  But then that's what we have always said about you guys and your friends.

We had an incredible experience with the Smith's this morning.  We were to meet with an "less active" couple this morning and then prepare a 30 min lesson and go back and teach it.  Yesterday we were to decide on a family member or an acquaintance that is less active and each of us would have the opportunity to role play the missionaries and then to play the less active.  Sister Smith has a brother that she loves very much who served a mission in Japan then went to BYU then to Harvard for a law degree.  While at BYU he met a young lady from Japan who was getting her masters degree in English.  She wasn't a member but she did join the church and then they waited to marry in the  SLC temple.  They have one child a boy/man who lives in Japan with a wife and child.  Anyway it turned out that they were to play the the less active and we were to be the missionaries.  We went in and got to know them and then went back to prepare.  We were some what concerned about this but dad felt really strongly that we needed to remind this gentleman that he had made covenants when he got the priesthood any way it did not go well.  He became very defensive and we were all surprised, even them.  We tried to bring it back and things did end pretty well but the crux of this whole story is 2 things.  1. Brother Smith was surprised and taken aback by the anger that he felt as we tried to read the D and C scriptures with him.  2. Dad had an epiphany and understood how people could just slide into inactivity.   In the Q and A after in the large meeting they both stood and explained their feelings and how it was a surprise for both of them.  Immediately after the role play experience and before the large meeting Elder Smith expressed to us that he himself had come to a place in his career where he had to make a decision as to whether he would keep moving up and possibly be confronted with Sunday work or whether to move laterally and choose family and church over money and prestige.  They are very sweet people and will be wonderful missionaries in Guatemala.

Well, it is Friday night we are finished with the 1st week.   I didn't melt away with tears, or implode because I was blubbering.  Dad and I managed to deal together for two sessions of teaching and have even better than reasonable results.  The knees didn't come completely apart, I had a few fake outs but everything held together.  We thoroughly enjoyed our District, we are the only ones left of that group every one else is either gone to Salt Lake or will be headed to the Philippines tomorrow.  Amazing how you can feel so close to people and then they are gone out of your life forever.

Thanks to everyone for the comments.  Thanks for the prayers on our behalf, and please keep it up.

Love to all, MOM/Kathleen