Missionary Training Center, Provo UT August 11-15 2014

We left every morning from our Draper home and drove down to the Provo MTC and then came home every night and slept in our own wonderful bed! Our schedule was 8am-4:30pm, oh how I miss this home!

Of course, we had to take a pic in front of the world map at the MTC.

This is the place where we received our week long training for Senior missionaries.  It is called the Stadium Chapel (or affectionately the "Senior Chapel) it's is just North of the MTC and is right outside the locked MTC north gate.

We would walk through this locked gate onto the MTC campus to the MTC cafeteria and MTC bookstore with all the young Elders and Sisters. If you want to feel old, walk into the the MTC cafeteria with all the wonderful, young Elders and Sisters! (By the time we figured out where the good MTC lunches were, it was Friday)

The chapel is used exclusively for training senior missionaries during the day and then converts to a regular church building at night and weekends. So all our desks and equipment were on wheels and a crew moved our desks out in the parking lot to this storage center each night.  Although the building is dated showing a lot of use, we made some wonderful memories and made some new friends too.

 There were 35 couples and 2 sister missionaries in our training group for the MTC week. We were the only couple going to South America, we felt a little lonely!
Picture #1  From left to right, Elder and Sister…
Atwood, Gilliand, Beckstead, Sebring, Nish, Olsen, Porter, Reed, Joy, Sister Diane Killpack, Sister Nanette Arnold, Clifford, Chipping, Powell, Snell, Hymas, Bielamowicz, Wheatley, Reagan, Colton

Picture #2  From left to right, Elder and Sister…

Lee, Hayward, Dever, Hill, Madsen, Graff, Jepperson, Norton, Price, Kearl, Glauser, Wright, Sayer, Hart, Fowers, Porter, Scott.

 The second day they divided our group up into districts of 8 people.  In the mornings we had a sister trainer and a brother trainer and in the afternoon we had a brother trainer only. Alan was our district leader.

Our district comprised the Wheatley's, Bielamowicz's, the Porter's and the Cliffords. Also pictured are two of our MTC teachers. Brother Bellingham and Sister Marht (below)

In our training we role played a lot, a lot, a lot.....

  Another picture of our district with Brother Carver (our third instructor) in the middle.
The faith demonstrated by members of our little district was awesome.  This was the Clifford's second full-time mission. Brother Porter had a stoke a few years ago and is learning how to talk again.  Although he struggles a little putting his thoughts across, he has an awesome heart and a fearless attitude.  He kept saying, "We can do this, we can do this".  Brother Bielamowicz has been a member just under a year!  We felt pretty average.

Additional thoughts, comments, insights, and feelings:

We attended a devotional with all the MTC missionaries (about 2500 or so) half of them were in the choir.  They sang "Called to Serve" and blew the dust out of the rafters.  Very moving and powerful.

We are not called to teach lessons but to teach people instead.

We learned that the spirit can touch souls even in role-play situations.

A positive thought is a 'prompting' unless proven otherwise.

The videos from "the District" are awesome training tools.

About the Book of Mormon: "No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded by God to do so".

Be loving and patient!  Leave every place you go better because you were there.

Teach simply!

Did you know that Lehi had a pet?  (The Lord told Lehi to take his family and flea into the wilderness)

Why did the Lamanites have sore knees?  (Because of all the Knee-phites)

Who was the first Prophet to go thru the MTC?  (Moses.  He went thru the EM-PTY-SEA)

Our MTC Mission President, President Nally gave us a simple instruction: "Now,  just go and do good"