MTC Experience

January 30, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, the adventure begins! We left Rexburg at 5:30 a.m. so we could report to the Missionary Training Center on Monday morning, Jan. 24^th, at 10:00 a.m. After dropping our bags off at our dorm room, we went to the initial orientation meeting, picked up our packets at the bookstore, had lunch, then a welcome meeting with the MTC presidency and all of the other Senior Missionaries. There are 31 couples new this week, assignments all over the world and ranging from Member and Leadership Support (Prostelyting) (That’s us!), Church Educational Systems, Office and Family History, Military Relations, Church Service, Humanitarian, etc. We found one other couple going to our mission in Alaska to coordinate seminary and institute programs. They will be stationed in Juneau, and we’ll be riding on the same ferry with them most of the way. We also met a couple who had recently completed a mission in Alaska, and it was fun to find out a little bit about what we might be in for. They were stationed along the Aleutian Chain, opposite where we will start out in Whitehorse. But we don’t know where we will be assigned as the work progresses. Many of the couples are going foreign speaking, so will be there another week, but we were only there through Friday. We then reviewed all of our medical information, talked about safety concerns, and the general mechanics of missionary service.

We were then organized into districts that we will be studying and working with while we are here. There are four couples in each district, and ours included (R to L) the Neibuhrs that worked in the China Teacher’s Program with us while we were there, and we went on several tours with them (Small world!), the Hintons on their way to England, the Harrops on their way to Panama, and Sis. Rodriguez, our afternoon teacher. She is from Texas, and is really a ball of enthusiasm!

In the evening we were given free time to get settled in our apartments and prepare for our first presentations to be given tomorrow morning!

Tuesday morning we got up and went to breakfast at the MTC cafeteria. It is an amazing place where they feed all the missionaries in a very short time. It is a study in efficiency. You swipe your card as you go in, and you can have your choice of whatever you want to eat! They have three main serving areas that have individual entrees plus fruits, salads, desserts, etc. One night we had Alaskan Salmon with all the trimmings, another night Chicken Fried Steak with veggies, mashed potatoes & gravy. Or if you prefer, you can go to another area and they will make you wraps with whatever you want in them, plus salads, desserts, ice cream, etc. You can pile on as much as you want of anything you desire. Some of the Elders really did! We were VERY careful to eat wisely, as we didn’t want to come home any bigger than when we went! (It worked.)

Anyway, after eating, we went to meetings again, had another large assembly where we talked about the Message of the Restoration, then divided into our districts where we learned about preparing to teach. We did a lot of role-playing, and practiced trying to use concepts from the lessons in Preach My Gospel. I had no idea what an amazing book that is! It’s pretty intimidating to think about teaching people you don’t even know. I struggled a little with the role-playing, as I don’t like group interaction very much. However, I got used to it, and it turned out pretty well after all. We were assigned to prepare a 45 minute lesson to present to an “investigator” in a role-play situation. They have people who are usually recent converts to the church who come and pretend to be investigators and actually have you teach the lesson to them again. We had a girl from Texas who had joined the church in March and had come up to school in Provo. She had such a sweet spirit about her, and was so excited about her membership in the church. She was very patient with us! The experience was wonderful, as we could see what we need to prepare as we go forth to teach.

That evening after dinner we went to a general fireside for the missionaries at the MTC. We listened to a great talk by Elder David Evans of the 1^st Quorum of the Seventy. He talked about personal experiences and interactions his family has had with President Monson’s family. It was really good, and spiritual. I guess they lived in the same ward as President Monson for many years, and told stories of family experiences as they watched him progress from Bishop, Stake President, to General Authority, and finally Prophet and President of the church. It was really good, quite informal, and not the generally published kind of information. Another amazing thing about the fireside was sitting in an auditorium with thousands of other missionaries including young elders, sisters, and senior missionaries. You could definitely feel the sprit there, and the strength of the priesthood! The MTC choir was amazing.

Wednesday morning we prepared a lesson on the Book of Mormon, discussed the experiences we had the previous day, then taught each other how to use the Book of Mormon and invite people to make commitments to read and study it, and to pray and prepare for baptism. It becomes a little less intimidating as you learn to become more comfortable with the scriptures and the ways to present them. One of the things I have found most interesting is how much it strengthens our own testimonies as we teach others of the beauties of the Gospel, and realize how much we take for granted as we go about our daily lives! Maybe we needed this experience for that reason, if for none other.

Thursday we had a Bro. & Sis. Burns come in and talk about different ways of finding people to teach, and how we can share the gospel with them. They together talked about the logistics of keeping track of who are in your district, how to approach them, how to keep records of their progress, their responses, and how to map the areas you are working in to save time and avoid duplication. It is definitely something we need to develop and use! They also talked about working with new members, less active members, investigators, and EETNL. (Everyone else that needs love). Then we broke into districts again and prepared lessons to give to “investigators” on the plan of salvation. This afternoon we went to the Teaching Resource Center where we were assigned to “homes” (rooms) with “investigators” in them. We knocked on the doors, introduced ourselves, then taught a lesson on the Plan of Salvation. It was again a great experience. When we finished, we visited with the brother (Bro. Haun) we had taught (about our age) and he had recently returned from serving in Alaska, also. He was excited for us, and told us that his experience there was wonderful, and they were sorry it was over. We would have liked to have visited more, but the next group of missionaries was coming in to teach, so we had to leave. After dinner we returned to our apartment to study our lessons and prepare for the coming day.

Friday morning we had an EXCELLENT group presentation by a couple (Bro. & Sis. Hart) who had served several missions, They also talked about how to work more effectively with the local leaders of the church. The most important time in a new members or returning members life in the church is the first few months after they are baptized (or return). They are making such a dramatic change in their lives, it is often difficult for them. They have lost many friends who don’t understand why they have made such a change, plus they are trying to assimilate into an entirely new culture with its own terminology, language, way of life. Often they don’t understand why things are done the way they are, plus they are still learning new aspects that they didn’t fully understand when they were baptized. They need a good support group! Our job is to keep in constant touch with them, make sure they have their questions answered, explain new things to them, teach them all of the missionary discussions again. But most important, help them make friends and feel needed. Then we broke into our small districts again and we talked about working with less-active members, new members, and investigators in our areas.

This afternoon we had another group presentation by a Bro. & Sis. Rawlins who talked about working with local leaders, and how to coordinate our efforts with the ward, stake and mission leaders. We will only be there for a limited time, but if we work well with the local leaders, new people will have a strong support base even after we are gone. Wise counsel!

Part of our district class was presented by a Sis. Faust, who has severed three missions with another single sister. She talked about how to work with people in difficult areas. She told about being sent to an area with her companion that was considered the “armpit” of her mission. No one would talk to them, the people would avoid them even to the point of walking on the other side of the street when they saw them coming. So the sisters prayed as to how to get the people to accept them. She talked about the importance of doing whatever the Spirit directs. They were prompted to join Weight Watchers! So they did. It opened many doors to them, because the people began to see them as regular people. They ended up spending their entire mission there, and had resounding success in an area that had been considered “tracted out.” She also talked about sharing the work with the local members and how to get them involved. She also gave us an awesome motto:

“Obedience is the price. Work is the commitment. Faith is the Power. Spirit is the Key. Christ is the reason.”

We then worked together to consider how to solve some “case study” problems that were commonly encountered in missionary work, and talked about how to handle them. It was very good. It will be really interesting to see if we can incorporate them into our actual missionary experiences.

Finally, we met together again as a group to discuss our experience in the MTC. It was fun to hear the other couple’s impressions. We weren’t the only people who struggled some of the time! And many of them had to try to learn a foreign language along the way! Thank the Lord for small favors! It’s amazing how you can make friends with so many people in such a short time, and sad to realize that we’ll probably never be together again as a group in this life.

At 5:00 p.m. we turned in our keys, had one final MTC meal (pizza and salad), then checked out, gassed the car up, and headed home. Got back to Rexburg at about 10:30. Warren and Rachel were still up, and we got to share some of our experiences with them before we finally went to bed. The queen size bed at the MTC was pretty good, but there is nothing like sleeping in your own bed with your favorite pillow. Definitely going to miss that! But Warren and Rachel will enjoy them!

Saturday we got up and Russ came over to finish putting the engine in Zach’s pickup. ReNee had good LONG visits on the phone with Teresa and Amber. Ed came over a little later, and Russ, Ed, ReNee and I picked up Julie and we went to McDonalds for breakfast, then ReNee and Julie went to Idaho Falls shopping and we boys finished up the engine in the pickup. Had to put the steering gear back in, fix a water leak, exhaust leak, brake line leak, bleed the brakes, etc. Then we took it on a trailer down to Rigby because it wasn’t licensed or insured, dropped it off, used a borrowed scanner to diagnose an electrical problem in Russ’ van (It wouldn’t start, wasn’t getting power to the computer), fixed it, then took the trailer on to Idaho Falls to pick up the car Zach has been driving while his pickup is down. It had overheated and won’t start, so we trailered it back home and unloaded it in the back yard where I got the pickup stuck in the snow that’s about 18’’ deep back there. We unhooked the empty trailer, got the pickup turned around, then Ed and Russ muscled the trailer around, we hooked it back up to the pickup and pulled it up where it’s supposed to be parked. About then Scott Peterson dropped by with his wife and brother to visit for a few minutes, so Ed and Russ went home. I visited with Scott for awhile, he used to be one of my students at BYU-I, and I have kept pretty close to him. He is storing a ’57 Ford Ranch Wagon in my field for awhile, and we both have a long interest in restoring and driving vintage cars. He showed his brother my collection of ’55 Ford sedans, my ’55 convertible, my three ‘59 Edsels, my three ‘57-’58 Chevy pickups, the ’66 Mustang, and all the other junk I have around. It was fun to talk about them. He wanted to know if I wanted to buy a ’61 Ford shortbox stepside pickup, but I told him I’d have to wait for any more projects until after our mission. I don’t think I’ll miss working on cars for awhile, but I’m sure going to miss working with my boys!

Today is Sunday, we’re looking forward to visiting our ward one last time before we leave on Wednesday to drive to Bellingham, WA, to catch the ferry to Alaska. The ferry doesn’t sail until Friday, Feb 4^th, so we will get to be home for a few days to distill our stuff and decide what we really want to take with us. We are driving our ’07 Toyota Sienna van because it’s all-wheel drive, and they have a lot of snow in Whitehorse. Yet it should give us room to transport people we work with as we need to. We land in Skagway, then will unload off the ferry and drive up to Whitehorse. We have found after talking to our mission president that we will be spending the first few months of our mission in Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory of Canada. After that they’ll probably transfer us to somewhere in Alaska, as our Canadian visas are only good for 6 months. Guess we’ll see as time goes on! The mission president (Pres. Dance) said we could talk to the branch president to find out what he wants us to do, and we can meet Pres. and Sis. Dance the next time they come through. It’s about 700 miles from Anchorage. We are moving into an apartment that hasn’t had missionaries in it before, and is mostly unfurnished. We don’t know what will be there, but suspect it won’t be much. We’re taking a lot of kitchen setup stuff, plus office and living stuff. And of course enough clothes to last us for hopefully the whole 23 months. My part is easy—two suits, lots of white shirts, and two pair of shoes. Plus a few P-day clothes and a few tools. Plus some cold-weather clothes because it’s Alaska! Of course ReNee has a wider choice of what to wear, so that takes a little more room and time. Plus her cold-weather gear and her P-day stuff. And several pair of shoes. And her sewing machine, wheat mixer, etc. etc. Maybe we should take the pickup after all? J There is already a set of Elders in Whitehorse, and they may send in another pair after we get there. Whitehorse and the surrounding area include about 30,000 people.

Well, I’d better be getting ready for church. Fortunately, we are on the 1-4 schedule this year, at least for today. I have no idea what our schedule will be in Whitehorse. Guess we’ll know by this time next week! We’re pretty excited, though a little apprehensive, about this new adventure, but we’re really looking forward to this missionary experience. We hope that we can learn to become at least a little more profitable servants to our wonderful Heavenly Father who has blessed our family so richly. After church we’re going to have Ed and Russ’s families over for banana splits so we can see all our close grandkids once more before we leave. We’re really looking forward to it.

May God bless you all!

Elder and Sister Powell.