Originally sent Sat, Dec 9th, 2006.
Our first day at the MTC started on December 4, 2006 and it was one of the greatest days of our lives. Our life at the MTC began with a tearful goodbye with Uriah and Charity, who drove us here. For those of us that have never served a mission before and have been looking forward to it our whole lives, getting our own name tags in the Indonesian language was as touching moment as I can remember.
We are part of a larger group of senor missionaries. There are 32 couples and 4 single missionary sisters of which we were among the youngest. We all had the look of being rather ordinary and no-one would take notice if we passed them in the shopping malls. But as we introduced ourselves and said where we were going to serve, it became clear that the Lord had called us to participate in a most extraordinary experience. We were all heading for different places that dotted the globe: Indonesia, India ( Delhi ), Republic of Georgia, Slat Lake City, India ( Bangalore ), the Marshall Islands, Moscow, Arkansas, Perth Australia, Dominican Republic, Mexico City, Australia, Boston, New Zealand, South Africa, California, Nigeria, Nashville, Italy, Florida, Guatemala, Croatia, Germany, Uruguay, Madrid, and London. It was an astounding experience as we listened to these wonderful people talk about their assignments with enthusiasm and great hope. It was one of those rare moments in life where you know that you are in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time, doing exactly the right thing, with an amazing group of people. Wonderful; people off on one of life's great adventures in the service of God and man. Our sense of enthusiasm and gratitude felt like it would burst out of us and it was a losing battle to fight the tears. Traudi and I were the only senior missionaries not from the USA.
As it turned out, one day was no better than another here, they were all spectacular. On the second day we met sweet Sister Mazerole and her son in the administration building as she was dropping off her son, who is going on his mission to Australia. She used to be part of the Ottawa Stake and was a visiting teaching companion of Traudi's. It was a brief but wonderful encounter.
There is another mission couple here who is going to Indonesia as well, Elder and Sister Pier and who are real go-getters, we were supposed to fly to Indonesia with them on Dec. 29th. Elder Pier is not the kind of man that sits around idly and he was able to get on the computer and find a flight to Indonesia on December 19. He ruffled some feathers in the travel department but we are all now able to get to Indonesia on the evening of Dec. 19 th. God bless Elder and Sister Pier as our training finishes on the 19th. missionaries here.
We got to go to a devotional where Bishop and Sister Edgely ( Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric ) spoke to us. It was a great event and we got to sing " Called To Serve " with two thousand other missionaries. We love being here with the young missionaries. We love to eat with them in the dining hall and to speak with them . They come form around the world to learn to teach and spread the message of the restoration of the gospel of Christ. It is a great privilege and thrill to be able to be here and to be a part of this incredible work. I am so grateful to have my wife and to have her strong testimony as a support. She is an amazing person and she has been the source of immeasurable blessings in my life. She is the best companion in the world and I look forward to working with her in the mission field.
We found a young sweet sister, who works here at the MTC part time and who is a student at BYU, who was willing to allow us to use her password on the BYU internet so we can use our laptop computer to access the internet. We can now send and receive e-mail.
I cannot adequately express how much we love having the privilege of being full time missionaries. We cannot wait for out flight to Indonesia that will be routed through Korea and will last 34 hours. We are sure that we will be exhausted at the end of that great journey but we cannot wait to get in the harness of service.
Throughout the week we have been trained on " Preach My Gospel ", a remarkable book designed specifically for missionaries. We had the most amazing class in the world on the Book of Mormon and its power to touch hearts and change lives. It was taught by a Brother Pinegar who carried the Spirit of the great work in every word he spoke and every gesture he communicated. We then had the chance to test this out for ourselves in a discussion that we had with a member of the church, who brought us a real life problem that he had with his own family. We had the chance to visit with him and to discuss his concern and use the Book of Mormon as the instrument of revelation and conversion as he worked through what he needed to do to resolve this problem. It was a moving experience as he expressed his appreciation and all we did was point him to the Book of Mormon Index and watch in awe as he found his own solution to a problem that was troubling him deeply.
In the afternoon we got to sit in the Call Centre and take calls from people who were phoning in to receive the free offer that is offered through television and the media. My first call was from a 38 year old mother of two children from Louisiana, who wanted a Book of Mormon. She was willing to have two missionaries come around to deliver it and she was willing to gather some friends to meet with them when they came. It was my first call and it was of the thrills of the day. Her name is Juanita Coco, a black lady who has been a Baptist her whole life. When that phone call ended I just about floated off my chair with joy. we could talk to the young missionaries from around the world. I love every meal with them.
I am quite amazed at how well Sister Kane is doing with all of the assignments. I had no reason to believe that she wouldn't do well but it is a real joy to see how she loves the people and how well she does at everything. She is the best companion in the world.
We have grown to be very close with the other senior missionaries and a bucket of tears have been shed as we have listened to their sweet stories. The blessing of being here is overwhelming and we are so thankful to be a small part of this great plan. Life is magnificent and full of hope and gratitude when viewed through the eternal lens of the Gospel of Christ. What a blessing it is to be married to my companion and to be able to share this extraordinary experience with her. It frightens me to think of the many excuses that we could have found to have missed this experience. Every senior missionary couple that is here had a life full of reasons why they could have stayed home. I am so thankful for their faith, commitment and enthusiasm. We ask that you keep us in your prayers and commit that we will render the same service for you.
Over the course of my life, I have read many books about many things. I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon and it spectacular influence on anyone that will read it with even the slightest interest and curiosity to know if in fact it is true.
Be safe ! Be happy ! Be grateful.
Elder & Sister Kane enter the MTC - Dec.4 2006
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