CHARISOL ON A MISSION

NO ROOM AT THE INN

For the second week at the MTC we had to move into a nearby hotel to make room for the new senior missionaries arriving. We loved staying at the MTC but the hotel had one great surprise. When we took a shower we were blown away by all the water coming from the shower head. At the MTC it was merely a slow drizzle. Mary could never shower at the MTC. She has way too much hair.

OFFICE TRAINING

We went to classes all day for three days to learn all of the office functions. Luckily for us, we were two. So we could split up and learn all the stuff. Carol learned about mission secretary stuff and I learned finance and cars. We both got a very very brief introduction to housing.It's all pretty simple really. We think we'll be OK.

On Thursday they did some review and then wanted to have a testimony meeting. Since we were already having two devotionals a day most of the 11 of us had already born our testimonies. Needless to say, it was pretty painful. Carol was a real trooper. She went first. I sat solidly on my hands until they decided to just end it. We were grateful for the principle of mercy.

One day the head of fleet management from SLC came to talk to us about cars. OH MY! The stories he could tell about missionaries and cars. He reminded us that the missionaries are only six years out of primary and had only been driving for two years. He told us that missionaries are required to present their driving record when they arrive in the mission. If a missionary has had more than one preventable moving violation (speeding ticket) they cannot drive on their mission without a special dispensation form the mission president and remedial driving lessons. It was all really interesting. He told several horror stories about missionaries being harmed or killed because they did not follow the driving rules.

One thing he said that was really good is that the missionaries thing they are invincible like strippling warriors but they forget that the strippling warriors were 100% obedient in all things. The missionaries are protected but only if they are following the rules.

The MTC was really great because it gave us a real view into what a huge deal the missionary program of the Church is. So much is required to take care of the Elders and Sisters and to make sure they can be as effective as possible in inviting others to come to Christ. We are so grateful to be part of this great work.

TRAVELING

The MTC training ended on Thursday at noon so we were able to leave early and drive to Denver Thursday night. We spent the weekend in Denver with Amy and her family. It was so nice. We went to Grandparents Day at the kids school. We wore our missionary clothes. One man said he felt under dressed. We also got to go to the Cave Concert that Amy organized for her musician friends. It was fantastic.

Monday we drove to Topeka. It was kind of fun to be there. We drove past the house that Bill and Janelle lived in when they were there. We had lots of good memories. We stayed at the Hampton Inn there. More shower surprises. The water was SOFT! If felt so good.

Today we drove to the mission office. It is about 4 hours from Topeka. Our duplex unit is really roomy and nice. (not soft water, thought). We have spent the evening moving in and getting settled.

We had dinner with President Strong and his wife tonight. They seem really nice. More on the actual mission will come next week.

CLOSING

We are happy to finally be here. We are much needed and are anxious to go to work.