Our last evening at the MTC

Our last night here at the MTC.  The temple training was the most special for us with Elder and Sister Pinegar. It was hard to say goodbye and thank them for all that they gave us this week.  Another experience I enjoyed a good deal was getting to know our fellow senior couples here with us preparing for other temple service.  Far greater sacrifice has been made by these folks with their various challenges.  Colds, congestion, and bugs continue to move through the ranks of the seniors. Meetings are punctuated by coughs and colds. Nothing as serious as Zion's Camp though.

We were given instruction by the managing director of the temple department and told of the continuing effort to make temples available to the members of the Church throughout the world.  The work continues and we are happy to be be apart of it in Peru. Few people can retire in 3rd world countries and often work well into their seventies, hence the need they have for us to help with keeping the temples functioning.

The suitcases are about packed and I have some cleaning to do while RA finishes folding the laundry. We are happy to be leaving for Lima in the morning.

A Day of Instruction

Today was another great day with Elder and Sister Pinegar in the Provo Temple.  I had asked Elder Pinegar if he would talk about his experiences of traveling with President Kimball in Brazil during the early 70's and events that lead up to the Sao Paulo Temple announcement as well as the 1978 Revelation allowing all worthy members the priesthood blessings of temple attendance.  He said he would and told us in detail about it today.  It was very touching and moving, likely the highlight of my experience here at the MTC.  It is hard to measure that exactly as there are many things we will treasure and cherish such as one dear Philippino sister who essentially has spent her life savings to finance her mission to the Manila Temple.  Friends and family are helping and her ward in Texas. She receives no support from her two children so it is very difficult for her but she has remarkable faith. She has taken to heart something Elder Pinegar shared with us the first day, D&C 31.  I suggest if anyone is worried about a senior mission they do as Elder Pinegar suggested and replace Thomas Marsh's name with their own.  We are satisfied our "little ones" will be looked after. This includes all of our children and grandchildren.

We are packing our bags tonight and received an email from some fellow workers in Peru about a welcoming party Saturday PM La Molina.  We are anxious to be going finally, though tomorrow is our last day in the temple with Elder and Sister Pinegar.  I am so grateful we could be tutored by them as tomorrow is their last day after 3-1/2 years also. They have such deep roots and experiences with those who have gone before whom we have loved so much.

Day Nine, two more to go...

Another day in the Provo Temple and further instruction from Elder and Sister Pinegar. Just a note to any who are contemplating a senior missionary assignment and I suppose it would apply to the younger missionaries as well are how many coughs and runny noses there seems to be in our group of temple missionaries.  Perhaps the close quarters and 10-12 hour days together spreads these rhino viruses.  I suggest you be careful, wash often, and shake hands less if possible. Apparently, several years ago hand shakes were banned in the MTC because of flu bugs here. In any case the instruction was superb from the Pinegars and others.

We also had opportunities to study our individual languages which was helpful. This afternoon we are returning to the temple for further study. We are enjoying our last days here.

Transition Day at the MTC

We are happy to be transitioned to the temple portion of our training for our last four days here.  We are being instructed by a number of people but are especially enjoying the tutelage of Elder and Sister Rex D. Pinegar.  He was a Seventy in the First Quorum for 29 years and then President of the Mount Timpanogas Temple. For the last 3-1/2 years he has been here instructing and training the senior missionaries going off to one of the many temples around the world.  This is their last week.  They are to be replaced with Elder and Sister Melvin Hammond formerly of the Washington DC Temple and an emeritus Seventy.

We also picked up our new name tags en Espanol so we feel we have made a great transition today. I am certain and several of the young elders here have confirmed my suspicions that Espanol is the predominant language at the MTC, no hay duda! We are happy to identify with our friends, elders, brothers and sisters here.

RA is in front and facing the Provo Temple. The flowers and gardens are beautiful.  Watching  a DVD of a talk by Hugh Nibley in our apartment on Saturday he said that early on in the construction of this temple he wrote a letter to the Brethren making it clear the architect had ignored an important aspect of temple design.  The major axis of the Provo Temple does not correspond with the cardinal points of the compass like the other temples do and dating back to antiquity. Apparently, the architect rotated it some to "better" position it on the hill. Brother Nibley did get over it and several other points he shared with the Brethren.  He has written in multiple places the Provo Temple was his favorite in all of the Church.  We learned they are open here during the week at times until midnight accommodating the numbers of patrons needing to attend.

Estamos muy feliz! (We are very happy!)

Days 6 and 7 at the MTC

Days six and seven have been and are about the young elders and sisters here. Saturday was our chance to get the laundry done, walk to the main campus book store, and get our passports scanned to email to Lima Peru.  A counselor in the presidency and others are securing our apartment for us and needed copies for the landlord.

On our way to the bookstore we passed through the "Wilk Center." It used to be called the Wilkinson Center. My how times have changed and what would President Wilkinson think about this slight to his full name.  We walked by RA's first apartment in Heritage Halls. (It was on the way.) Nice to have a tour guide who knows her way around even if it has been 42 years. I have to note we further taste tested Cougar ice cream in the Wilk Center and there is no question Aggie Ice Cream is better. Even Farr's next to the Ogden Temple exceeds the BYU Creamery in quality, taste, and smoothness. Maybe like the BYU football team the creamery is in a rebuilding year.

We had more than a couple opportunities of interacting with companionships and groups of young missionaries.  We took on the role of investigators and were committed by them to do better in our preparations for becoming better speakers of the language and of course listening to their messages.  One elder asked if I had heard of Joseph Smith before and I could not resist by answering that my great great grandmother married him when she was 23.  I did not go into other details however. Those are largely for the family.  I thought of Uncle John and Uncle Irvin.  Maybe they would have wanted me to disclose more but I resisted. One companionship tried out their wings for the first time with their 'Preach My Gospel' first lesson overview. One elder came to a roadblock mentally and asked his companion to proceed.  He was working very hard and so concentrating. We assured them they would be fine and wished them well on their missions. You just want to reach out and hug these young men as they are so intense and so eager to learn and do what they have been asked to. Mothers somewhere should know their years of efforts in teaching and love have not been in vain.

This morning we had a fast and testimony meeting with several districts. One fairly large group is going to Madagascar.  They spoke in their new language. It was impressive for young men to be so committed and willing give up the prime time of their youth, freedom, and friends to go to such a far away place with little more knowledge about it before they came here than a Pixar movie.

More meetings this afternoon and tonight then next week we are in the Provo Temple for more specific training.

Day 5 at the MTC

Our best day though I admit I started the day by learning to say "Yo estoy feliz que es Viernes!" I practiced it on our tutor Elder Vasquez and he laughed. I have also learned some other really good Spanish: " Podria apagar su telefono celular." Please turn off your cell phone.

I am impressed with the other seniors here whom we have had met and worked with including a few who are going to temples in Spanish speaking countries. We see much greater sacrifice among these folks for their missions. I will not write about them here as I do not want to break confidences and disclose very special and private conversations. Needless to say some have made huge sacrifices with their family, have health challenges and financial challenges. Our sacrifice is small by comparison.

We have had enjoyable experiences with the young missionaries here. The newly arrived Elders this week studying Spanish like to yell out "Holas" as they walk by and are a bit taken aback when we respond similarly with an added "Tenga buen dia" or something like that. We have had a couple discussions given to us as we have been walking around.

One thing we would do differently next time would be to bring a car. This for a couple reasons, and if we lived closer, we would stay at home and not be in the senior housing at the MTC.

Next week we are in the Provo Temple so that will be different than this week of "Preach My Gospel" study.

Day 4 At the MTC - Making Connections

Some discoveries today -- First, watch where the Polynesians queue up for their dinner. There is an area toward the east of the cafeteria where they have yesterday's menu selections and lots of rice. Not always, but at least half of the time the toppings for the rice are better than the current main course.

Another discovery we made, and connections are always happening here of where you are going, where you are from and do you know so and so...? We met a senior couple from Richfield and it turns out his Grandmother Moss and my Grandmother Fisher were sisters. They were both daughters of Evan Jones. He reminds me a lot of the Orderville Fishers and is definitely kinfolk. The Moss's are going to Indiana. They are member and leader support missionaries.

We had another day of Preach My Gospel and learned a good deal of information. Tonight we are off to language class with our tutor Elder Vasquez from Honduras. Tomorrow is our last day of this study and regimen and next week we are in the Provo Temple.

Day 3 at the MTC

It is 8:00 PM and we just finished two hours of Spanish language instruction and the last hour was with a native Peruano. We were able to review temple vocabulary and dialogue we might encounter at the recommend desk or clothing issue. Our day started after breakfast at 8:00 AM learning the second Preach My Gospel lesson and practicing the nuances of delivery, simplicity, and commitment with each other, our class teacher in our district, and with a volunteer.

Following the conclusion of our missionary instruction we went to the MTC health services and both received vaccinations for yellow fever and I got a hepatitis/Twinrix shot. There was quite a line of senior missionaries needing various vaccinations not completed previously in our home health departments. We were prepared, and maybe it is by design, for this by having creamery quality ice cream at lunch and dinner. Both inoculations and ice cream just coincide on Wednesdays.

Tonight we can study and prepare for lesson #3 of Preach my Gospel or we can prepare for Spanish dialogue we might encounter in the Baptistry. Guess which one we are going to work on more?

Day 2 at the MTC in Provo

We accomplished a good deal of training today, (in English), of the new missionary approach called "Preach My Gospel." I compare it to the Brother Brown dialogues I memorized 40+ years ago and find it eminently superior in every respect. It may not appear to have direct relevance to our call as temple workers in Lima, but it does have application for other aspects of our call and preparation for the mission field and life after. I am continually comparing this experience to my first in the old "Mission Home" on Main Street in Salt Lake. Some attitudes still remain such as adverse reactions to role playing and theater. Overall, it is a much more satisfying experience.

We should note that Espanol seems to dominate the conversations of many young Elders. I can't say for certain if it is greater than the English speakers, but there are lot of missionaries who are studying that language. For some reason they greet us with 'Holas" as we walk about the MTC here. We respond of course which seems to delight them.

As mentioned previously there are a number of senior couples here preparing for temple missions elsewhere around the world. We have discussed their assignments and what they know about their soon to be temple experience. We are very delighted to hear that the guidelines we have been told about for the Lima Temple seem to be widely and universally practiced at all of the other temples where our MTC friends have been called to.

"Are we in Peru yet?"

Today we drove from Centerville to the MTC in Provo. As we got closer to the MTC our three year old grandson (shown in the photo with us), asked, "Are we in Peru yet?" Later he asked if we would be coming home after his play group on Friday AM. It is hard to answer those questions of a three year old. We checked in and have about a 9'x12' cubical for a room. It relates to something like a small motel room in a rural area of Utah or Southern Idaho. Contrary to rumors and instructions they do have a few hangers in the room.

We have a relatively fast internet connection here, thank you BYU, and have some amount of latitude and leeway while here. We can leave in the evenings and go out to dinner with friends or family if we so desire. Having said goodbye once is enough however to both family and friends.

We were delighted to learn we will have three days of Spanish language instruction for two hours each evening. That seems to be new as our predecessors indicated it was pretty much on a personal basis. We are having companion study per instructions of "Preach My Gospel" in English each night and focus on that during the daily activity.

I want everyone to know I have an awesome companion here in the MTC. I think we will get along just fine. We seem to have a lot in common and enjoy a lot of things together. Sister Fisher is really cool!