FIVE MONTHS!  REALLY, FIVE MONTHS???  I can't believe that almost a quarter of our mission is over - it's going too fast!
We've had such wonderful experiences here - we've "adopted" some wonderful kids that we feel are our own, and have had a chance to share with others that which we love the most - the gospel of Jesus Christ!
We've had miraculous answers to prayers - those that we have been praying for have called us and asked us to teach them!  We now have six people that we are teaching weekly!

We are helping a young man who has had to say good-by to the future that he had with someone he loved dearly.  He's finding answers to prayers and learning how much the Lord loves him and is seeking for more faith in his journey.

We adopted a young couple, baptised this last year, who are expecting their first child - and wanting to raise him in a gospel-centered home.  They want so much to learn how to do this.

And another beautiful girl who has a troubled marriage and wants to make the right decision about where to go with it - she wants to learn what the Lord would have her do.

A young family, the mother is in the Navy, and they have such sweet spirits, wanting to know more about Christ's love for them.
We've experienced heartache as we have helped a young couple through the death of their second child, having also lost their first child.  But we've also watched the miracle of their hearts being changed and desiring to be sealed as a family for eternity!  The strength of these two wonderful people have really touched my life, as has this little Preslie!

We love these beautiful people and are glad we can be of any small help!

I've felt a refiner's fire in my own life while on this mission - a peeling away of some layers that I've never really liked about myself.  I have quite a few more to go, but this has been good for me - to know that I can cast off those things that can pull me down!

On a more temporal note - I have introduced Brad to Indian food - he's not too keen on it, but I was in 7th heaven!  I now know where to go when I do a "get away" by myself - oh yeah, we can do that!  Sorry all of you young missionaries out there!  

It has killed me to be so close to the beach and not be able to go on a daily basis.  In fact, the summer is almost over and we went very few times.  It is so beautiful and therapeutic!!!  

My favorite time of the day is in the morning when I have a quiet room, a clear mind, and my scriptures for a whole hour!  This is such a luxury, I feel spoiled!!! The exercising and eating right is going really good right now - a few lapses, but they don't last long!  On the whole, I'm feeling great spiritually and physically.

I do miss my family terribly, but I love the Lord and His work comes first right now:  

I love my Lord, Jesus Christ!  I love His sacrificing Atonement so that people like me can find peace and joy through repentance and service!  I know that He loves all of us and wants us all to have joy in this life.  And we can find that joy through His grace and Atonement!!!

ELDER DEBOW HELPING WITH MISSIONARY TRANSFERS

We've been on our mission for three months now - time is going fast!  The month of July flew by!  Brad was in charge of a Stake Military bus trip to the Washington D.C. Temple at the first of the month.  I had a wonderful experience on the bus trip with the Lord directing me to talk to a man about some needed  answers considering some scriptures that were not making sense and that were challenging my faith. We spent the 3 hour trip to the Temple with him answering all of my questions.  I later found out that Brother Shapoule is one of the scriptural scholars in our Stake - and the Lord directed me to tap him, a stranger, on the shoulder and ask him for his help.
I've spent a lot of time with Priscilla, who lives in the nursing home.  We are either working on her genealogy, or I am reading the Book of Mormon to her and answering her many questions about the Church.  We go with the Elders to teach her the discussions, too.  Just yesterday, she promised to pray to find out if the Book of Mormon is truly God's word.  She's an awesome woman and I feel privileged to have her as a friend!
We spoke in Sacrament meeting in one of the Wards and are speaking in another one this next Sunday.
We're now teaching the lessons to not only Priscilla, but a 39 year old Navy guy who joined the church because of his fiance.  His fiance broke it off with him, so now he's real confused.  We challenged him to learn more about this church that he has joined, and he's agreed.
Other than that, we are still teaching a young wife who's husband is deployed, and babysitting and helping other deployed families.  Out of the 109 military families that we have, we have been in more the 3/4 of their homes - our goal this month is to have visited all of them.  Now we visit some of them on a monthly basis, some on a weekly basis, and some we just call to make sure all is well.  We love visiting in their homes - I get to play with the kids and get a Grandma fix!
We're also helping with a Sister Missionary who is having a difficult time with her companionship right now.  So we take her with us one day a week.  She's so sweet and willing to serve.  Just young and far away from home.
The best part is finding people who haven't been to church for a long time.  When we invite them to listen to the lessons, you can see a glimmer of hope in their eyes - hope for something that they've missed for a long time.  And as they read the scriptures with us and listen to the gospel, you can feel the spirit enter again into their lives and you can see that hope grow into faith and peace.  It's such a wonderful thing to experience!

We got to go on a cruise tour of the bay near the Norfolk Naval Base - what an experience!  Besides all the ships and tour of the area, we were hit by a nasty storm with lightening, and sheets of water coming down.  It was exciting to say the least!

We've had a wonderful month of visiting Military families, teaching lessons, service projects, and enjoying Virginia!
We have about 100 military families, some moving in, and some moving out.  Our goal is to visit in each military home.   We've gotten to know about 2/3 of these families so far.
We have weekly visits with some families:  families of the deployed, and people who want weekly gospel lessons.  We've had some good success with reactivating some people, and are working with some who are still not sure if that's what they want.  The Spirit is strong when we work with these families and it is such a comfort to know that we aren't in control, but that the Savior knows these people and is teaching them through the Spirit.
We are still visiting the family with little Jonah and Caleb.  I promised Riley I'd post pics of them:

Jonah was a 23 week preemie - so has complications because of that, but he is sharper than a whip!  I sang a song once to him, and a half hour later, he's singing it word for word.  He wanted me to read him the story about Nephi building a boat - then he got frustrated with the way I was telling it, and he told the whole story, word for word out of his Children's Book of Mormon book.  Then he reminded me that someone else built a ship - Hagoth.  I had to look it up, because I didn't believe him!  Caleb is just a cute, little munchable kid that I can't get enough of, too!  Their mom is awesome - carrying quite a load while her husband is deployed!
We're also teaching a wonderful woman in a nursing home.  She and I are working on her genealogy and she's very sharp - I spent 4 hours with her today and enjoyed every minute!!
Brad is enjoying his cat - but the birds who built a nest in the roof of our little patio are not!  While the cat sits leisurely on our table, looking out the window, these birds are standing guard on the railing, cussing like crazy at her!

We're still not liking the traffic around here, but we're getting a little used to it.  We do A LOT of driving every day - hope Brad's old car holds out!!

We had a marvelous experience last week, when they split the Richmond Virginia Mission and created the Chesapeake Virginia Mission, which we are now a part of.  Our new Mission President and wife are wonderful, wonderful!  Also, we're expecting 22 new missionaries this week - the work is increasing and it's so awesome to be a part of this.  We love to see peoples' hearts touched and lives changed as they listen to and accept the Doctrines of Christ.

AND - yes, I'm homesick for Karl, our dog!  We went to this house and I couldn't keep my hands off their dog - Karl look-alike!

My only excuse for not blogging is that we've been delightfully busy!  Here's a run down of some of the stuff we've done this last month.

1.  Attended Church meetings for 5 congregations and their Leadership meetings called Ward Councils.
2.  Make calls to visit Military people of our faith.
3.  Visited Military people.
4.  Helped with Single Military Sunday dinners.
5.  In charge of Military Women's Support Group help 3 different times a month.
6.  Service to families with a deployed parent:  Yard work, baby sitting, painting.
7.  Making lists of where our attention should be focused:  babies to be born, families with deployed parent, illnesses, etc.
8.  Helping the young missionaries any way we can.
All I can say is that we are extremely happy and fulfilled.  Serving others is our drug of choice!!!

We've had some good times with family and friends.
Joe and his family came to say stay for a few days before they finish packing and move to Utah.

Then Jenny and her children came to stay with us before they finish packing and move to Idaho.

We were able to take them to the Beach a couple of times, to a Carnival, playground, and a Movie Cafe.  All great fun!

Then last monday we went to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to see where the Wright Brother's flew for the first time at Kitty Hawk.

You can tell we are crazy busy in that I haven't gotten on here to report.  Here's a list of what we have done since my last blog:
1.  Gone to Sunday meetings for 5 different Wards, plus their Leadership meetings called Ward Councils.
2.  Helped with the Single Military Personnel Sunday dinners.
3.  Call to make appointments to visit Military families of our Church.
4.  Visit Military families.
5.  In charge of Military Women's Support Group held one morning a month and one evening a month.
6.  Paperwork - making lists of special needs:  when babies are due, families who's parent is deployed, illnesses, etc.  Making sure we visit and call them regularly.
7.  Teaching the gospel to those who want to know more about the gospel because they've been away from church so long.
8.  Painted shelves for a woman who's husband is deployed, did yard work for another one.  Helped another woman clean house and yard work.  With their husbands gone, and no family nearby, they are so appreciative of our help!

This work is very rewarding!  Nothing brings greater happiness than helping someone out!!

We've had some good family and friends time, also.  Joe and his family came and stayed with us for a few days before they finish packing up and moving to Utah.  Then the next week Jenny and her children came for a few days before they finish packing up and moving to Idaho.  We went to the Beach,  to a Carnival, and to a Cinema Cafe.  So much fun!

Last Monday we went down the North Carolina Outer Banks to where the Wright Brothers launched the first flight at Kittyhawk!  It was such a good day.  I even ate my first soft shell crab!  Mmmmm

Wow!  I can''t believe it's been a whole week - that went fast!!  We've been so busy and loving every minute of it.  No wait, that's a lie!  HATED last night while we sat in traffic for 2 hours waiting for an accident of 4 cars in a tunnel to be cleared out!  Other than that, all is going fantastic!  Our visits with military families are picking up now that we have most of the lists done from our wards.  We've met some wonderful people, some sad people, some interesting people, and some who need our help.
Today we took a beautiful young girl to church to introduce her to the Young Woman's program.  She's 17, was baptized at age 11, but didn't go enough to understand much, except she remembers how wonderful she felt at the time of her baptism and wants to get involved again.  Her mother, who used to be an active member of the Church ended up being highly addicted to pain meds, and is now wasting away because she won't accept that she has a problem.  Her husband comes home from Afghanistan in two weeks, so we'll be spending a lot of time with them helping clean the place - she's a shopping hoarder - this is going to be challenging!
We met with a wonderful family, Coast Guard, who are expecting their 4th baby.  While there, I helped fix a dress that she wanted made for pregnancy pictures that her husband had been trying to remake to fit her.  What a guy!  He was grateful that I could figure it out.
We had a wonderful temple session at the Washington DC Temple yesterday - went with the Norfolk Ward.
I'm so grateful to be on the mission - I love teaching the gospel and helping those who are in need.  We're loving Virginia, too (I can say that because we have central air and an air-conditioned car!)

We've been in our apartment a week and a half now and are finally totally unpacked (except where the heck did Brad's "plethora" stash of scissors go??? (>an amount or supply more than sufficient to meet one's needs<)  Since we  couldn't find them, he was very eager to buy me a new pair!  What a sweetie!
He finished cleaning the office room last night, so his big reward was to go to (guess)....come on, you know the answer!  A FLIGHT MUSEUM/AIR SHOW!!  This is the message I just got from him:
1.  It quit raining
2.  I didn't know this place was part of this facility.  I've flown in planes they refurbished.
3.  I'm in heaven on earth.

Hmmmm - he doesn't say that about my cooking....what's wrong with this picture!

We love this apartment - roomy and light and it has the newest and more comfortable furniture than I've ever owned!

Our living room/dining area is spacious - we tend to use the dining table for a work table - I love sitting near the windows!!

Isn't the kitchen nice - it's best feature is Brad doing the dishes!  OH YEAH!!

The two bedrooms, one of which is Brad's sparkling clean office - look at it now, cuz it's never going to be that clean again - - unless another Air Show becomes available!!

To make it really HOME, we invested in pots, soil, plant starts, and "Vwa-La"  my own vegetable garden!  tomatoes, red, green, and yellow peppers, mint, oregano, basil, cucumbers, parsley, lettuce, onions, and garlic! 

We were also able to go out and serve this week: 

 Helped a young mother who's husband is deployed.  She has two adorable children, one of which reminds me of our little Tommy.  As it turned out, we helped her on Tommy's birthday!  Jonah was born at 23 weeks and has some difficulties because of it - but he has Tommy's same sweet smile and I can't help see that he is what Tommy would have looked like at 4 years old!  I'll post a pic later, because we plan on going over there at least once a week and giving her a hand.  The little boys took to us right away.

Helped a young couple who moved here 6 weeks ago, but because of illness was having a rough time finishing unpacking.  So we helped them finish putting stuff away, then this week we went back with a dinner to share and had Book of Mormon study with them. (They are newly baptized!)  We'll continue our study with them once a week.

Other than that, we've been busy putting together complete lists of the military people who live in the 5 Wards in Virginia Beach that we are over.  The Carters gave us a nice list, but it was missing quite a few.  Today I am busy putting their emails and phone numbers into my phone and computer!  (Actually, I'm not doing that right now - procrastinating by writing this blog!)

Last Sunday we attended 3 of our 5 Wards - tomorrow we'll attend 2 more Wards plus some of the Bishop's meetings in the Wards.

We've enjoyed the exercise room they have here - we REALLY love our morning routine:  

1 hour personal scripture study

1 hour exercise

clean up and eat

1 hour couple study

10:00 a.m. dressed and out the door to GO AND DO!!

Well, back to the tasks at hand.  We're happy serving the Lord - there's no man made drug that could ever get us to feel this high!!

Moving in day!  We are so tired of living out of suitcases and are excited to finally be in our apartment.  It's a very nice and spacious two bedroom apartment, one room being used as an office.  But we plan to put another bed in there.  We are on the ground floor (YES!) and this is our little front porch.  We actually enter the apartment by a back door.

There is a club house with a pool and exercise room - so no excuses on not exercising anymore!!

We've officially started our mission, having made a home visit to a Navy and wife and her daughter (the Carters took us there to meet them).  The Carters have turned over their lists of names of people we will be serving and helping - military people from 5 wards!!  It's a long list and I'm excited to meet all of these people!  

Yesterday, we helped with an LDS Navy Wives meeting - learning the ropes.  These women are delightful and resilient!  My old Navy wife days are coming back to me as I talk with them.

Oh, and the Carters took us on all of the bases around here - this area has A LOT of military bases!  We got to see the BIG ships that are in harbor right now - it was awesome!!!  We don't have any clearance to go on base by ourselves - we hope to arrange a way to do that with the Chaplain so we can visit our people who live on base.

P.S.  Last night we went out to the Hibachi Buffet with the other Senior Missionaries here to say goodbye to the Carters.  I was able to stay with my healthy eating, granted I ate more than I usually do (curse you Buffets!!!), but Brad went on a Mormon drunk - 3 full plates of pretty rich foods.  This morning the poor guy is suffering a whopper of a food hangover!  He says he doesn't ever want to go back there again.  Yeah, right!!!

It's an overcast, misty and cold in the 50's(for Virginia) day in Norfolk, VA.  We drove from Richmond to Norfolk on Thursday and got set up in our hotel room.  It's not the nicest hotel, but it has a fridge, and since we're staying here a week, that is a big bonus!  We got a toaster oven from the Mission Office before we left, so I was able to cook up some chicken for our meals tomorrow.  I tried eggs (can't boil them in the hotel) and, yeah, yeck - that didn't turn out.

The day before we drove here, Wednesday, we went into Richmond (at the suggestion of our Mission President) and toured through the Confederate White House and living quarters of the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis.  Plus we went to a Confederate War Museum that was awesome.  Then we toured the Virginia Capital Building - enough touring - now time to get to our mission!

The day we arrived (Thursday) we went exploring a little - found the beach, pretty close to where we're going to live and had a wonderful dinner out on a pier - Brad had shrimp and I had crabcakes - THE BEST!!!

Yesterday we dressed as Missionaries and went to Zone Conference - wonderful!  Then out to lunch with the Carters, whose place we are taking (that's why we're in a hotel - the Carter's don't leave out apartment until Wednesday, which is great, because we have a whole week for them to fill us in on what they do and where!)  They drove us around, showing us ALL the military bases around here and the Ward buildings.  We'll actually be working with military members of our church in 5 different wards!  There's a lot of need around here for moral, physical, and spiritual support with our military members.  After traveling around, we went back to the Carters' apartment (soon to be ours) and unloaded everything that was packed in our car - the Carters graciously let us put our stuff  in early!  

Then we were treated to a wonderful dinner by the Stake President who is over all the Wards we'll be working in (Ward is another word for Congregation)  They presented the Carters with a card of thanks and a beautiful Virginia blanket.

This morning we're just taking care of business, getting stuff done.  Then out again for the afternoon with the Carters.  Tomorrow we attend Sacrament meeting in 3 of our Wards!

It is Day two on our mission - and I was taught a very good lesson by a born-again Christian!

To catch up on my blog - Friday, we flew out from Salt Lake at midnight, after a full day that began at 4:30 a.m.!  We spent Friday in Salt Lake at the Church Office Building, learning more about the military side of our mission - a lot to take in!  Then we went to Temple Square, loving the flowers, the buildings, and the Spirit of those around us.  Ben picked us up at 3:30 and took us to his place to change clothes and get our luggage packed right.  Then we went to a Greek Restaurant!  Mmmmm- good!!!  He dropped us off at the Salt Lake airport later that night.  We got to the Charlotte Airport at 6 a.m., with a 6 hour layover there.  Since we couldn't sleep on the cramped plane, or in the airport, we were exhausted when Joe picked us up at the Lynchburg Airport at around 3 p.m.  We went to a fund-raiser spaghetti dinner that Mychelle and her Young Women's group were having at their church - that helped keep us awake till bedtime.  Saturday night we slept for 12 hours!!!  Sunday we went to the Gretna Branch for Church to see all our wonderful friends that we had made over the winter!  We were greeted with open arms and a lot of love.  Sunday night, we had dinner with Joe and Mychelle and boys, then Jenny and her kids came back home from Kentucky, so we visited quite a bit that night, saying good-bye to Joe's family.  We got up at 6:30, to leave for Richmond, Virginia at 7:30, saying good-bye to the last of our families!

Now for Day one on our mission - yesterday.  We had a very wonderful meeting with our Mission President, only to find out that we won't be able to get into our apartment until next monday!  So they are letting us stay here in Richmond at a very nice apartment that is empty at the moment.  We asked what we were supposed to do for a week, and he suggested we get some sightseeing in - Richmond is very rich in Historical sights and museums.  So we got ourselves settled into this apartment and bought groceries, and collapsed for the night.

This morning I was super gung-ho to go do some research at the Library of Virginia while Brad went to see battlefields, museums, etc.  I honestly felt that the Lord had blessed us with this "week off" of our mission so that I could get some genealogy done - I have a few lines that end here in Virginia and I want so much to find the parents of these ancestors.  The Library is wonderful!  And I did get to see a very old (1700's) document of one of my ancestors, but no parentage listed.  After that I found some wonderful books that I found land records in, but no break throughs.  As I was going through the books, a man next to me kept talking to me about his ancestors and the area around here.  He was interesting, but I really wanted him to quit talking so I could get some work done.  He kept grumbling that he didn't like doing genealogy - it was a waste of time, but people kept asking him to look up so-and-so for them, since he lived right there near the Library.  Finally, he got real frustrated and said, "There is something very wrong with sitting in a Library looking for dead people!  I'm a born-again Christian, and I could be out there doing something useful, like teaching people how to find happiness through knowing Jesus!"  He packed up his papers and left......left me with a heart and brain bursting with his message - I'm supposed to be on a mission for the living right now - I'm not supposed to be finding records for people who have already had their work done - it is not the season for that right now.  I went back to search through another book, and it was like I hit a brick wall in my head -"NO!  Go about your mission, Karen!"

So I called Brad, who was driving around trying to figure out where to go next.  We both feel like we need to be serving the Lord, not our own self-interests!  So we got back to the apartment, called the Mission Office and told them we're ready to work and to serve.  Wow!  I feel so much better - not so confused!!!

Wow - we're almost done here!  I can't believe that we'll be flying out to our mission in two days!  This week (after a wonderful Sunday of worship and devotionals), we had Monday and Tuesday all day classes on teaching Gospel classes - it was a lot in two days and I learned sooooo much!!!!  Today and tomorrow is our military relations training - there's a lot to learn here, but I'm afraid my brain isn't going to fully make it through tomorrow night - I can hear it sizzling and sputtering as I sit through these classes!
Friday, we go to the Church Office Building to learn about paperwork and records (will my brain be available by then - I don't think so!  I'll have to take good notes!)  Then a "luncheon" to finish it all off.

We've been trained by such excellent instructors (they are the young men in white shirts and ties).  This was the group we trained with last week - the other Senior Missionaries in training are such wonderful and humble people - it's a joy to be with them.

P.S.  The food here is out of this world - but Jenny warned me about it ahead of time, so I've done real good picking out the healthy stuff, while everyone is groaning about how much weight they most likely have gained this week.  Not bragging - just proud of myself for eating healthy.  I knew I'd need good health and energy to make it through these two weeks!

P.S.  Okay, maybe I'm bragging a little bit.....

Yesterday, Friday, was our last day of "Preach My Gospel" training.  Can I just say "WOW"?  Double WOW"?  I wish everyone could take that one week training.  My whole spiritual being has been enlightened and edified and I am so ready to share the gospel!

Today, Brad is in the laundry room (OH YEAH!) and I am catching up on some emailing, etc.  We have to go into a mini lobby on our floor to get the internet, or pay $10 a day to get it in our room.  We're going to the Provo Temple this afternoon - I can't wait.

The Boston Massacre bombing is such a sobering thing to watch.  My heart weeps for those who were innocently slain and maimed.  There is so much evil in this world, but there is also soooo much good - I saw the pictures of videos of those who didn't run away, but ran toward the danger to help and assist.  "If ye have done unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

Next week we have two days of CES training, which is instruction on teaching scriptural and gospel classes.  Then we have three days of military relations training.  On Friday, Ben will pick us up (LOOKS LIKE WE END UP IN SALT LAKE ON FRIDAY, BEN - I'LL CALL YOU!) and he will take us to the airport Friday night to fly to Lynchburg, Virginia (WE'LL EMAIL YOU THAT INFO, JEN)

I'm sitting in the laundry room at the hotel, while Brad sits in the hot tub.  We've had another full day, practice teaching - can I just say that the Spirit is so strong I could just bust!  This has been our 4th day here and I don't feel weary or worn out.  I'm so disappointed when our classes are over -

I'm starting my Couch to 5K program tonight.  I've been walking on the treadmill every evening, but I'm so full of energy that I'm going to start incorporating spurts of running - it's a great 9 week program.  Oh knee-ees - testing, testing, one, two, three!!!

       GOD'S WHOLE PURPOSE - HIS WORK AND HIS GLORY-IS TO ENABLE EACH OF US TO ENJOY ALL HIS BLESSINGS.
        Agency, or the ability to choose, is one of God's greatest gifts to His children.  Our eternal progression depends on how we use this gift.

Teaching practice today.  I made a lot of teaching mistakes, until I quit trying to control the lesson and let the Spirit do all the talking.  It's hard to explain how that happens, but when you're teaching things of God, you really need to let God do the teaching - it's amazing how many pure truths you learn as you are teaching with the Spirit.
By the way, Brad is an awesome teacher - I love being his partner.  Oh, he can still be irritating, but I'm just as irritating, so it evens out.  We really are having fun together.

700 new young missionaries entered the Missionary Training Center today - it was like a wave of energy and excitement and a blast of spiritual oxygen!  I couldn't get enough of them!

Has this been only the second day?  I feel like I've been here for at least a week with all of the wonderful stuff I have learned!  I thought I knew so much already, but I've found that what I thought I already knew was just a shadow of what there is concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ!  The Spirit is so strong here and my ability to learn has been heightened beyond belief!  Not only am I learning, but I'm feeling confident about remembering what I've learned - no kidding!!

Another revelation:  Brad is awesome at teaching the gospel.  I was expecting me to be a big mouth, blathering all the wonderful wisdom that I thought I had, while he would be timid about saying anything (after all, I am more learned....aren't I?)  But I'm finding I don't say much because my mouth is dropped open with wonder at what is being taught, and Brad is raising his hand and contributing great insights about what we are learning.  It's a side of him I didn't know about!

We had a Devotional tonight with Apostle Richard G. Scott teaching us about prayer - talking with God.  He gave a wonderful talk, then we sang a hymn, then before the closing prayer could be said, he got up once more and said he had more to say (like an encore - although we couldn't clap our hands, he must have felt that we wanted more!!!)  He said that we missionaries were called to succeed, not to fail.  He said that we will discover things about ourselves that we never knew:  strengths, an unlimited capacity to love and serve, gifts of patience, faith, and the gift of prayer.  The Lord will fit our ability to the task - we need to have faith in this.
There were thousands of missionaries in the auditorium with more in an overflow area.  When I saw all those missionaries in training all in one room, I couldn't help weep with gratitude for such youth.  I was wishing I could recognize someone from Rexburg, when I looked in the row in front of me, and there was a young man from my Ward!  I didn't even know he was leaving on a mission - Andrew Johnson!  We were so glad to see each other!  The fact that in that huge Auditorium stuffed with people, Elder Johnson and I were sitting so close to each other!  Meant to be!!!

A full 12 hours of learning - and I'm not even tired or brain fried!  This is awesome!!!

Yesterday we went to church, then we drove to Sandy, Utah, where Anna dropped us off at Ben and Jennilyn's house for the night.  We had a wonderful visit there, then this morning Ben took us out for the traditional "before MTC" breakfast, then on to the Missionary Training Center, where he dropped us off for two weeks of training.

We have our meals at the MTC Cafeteria with all of the wonderful young missionaries - what a powerful sight that is - all these clean-cut young men and women (they almost look too young!), and the spirit is so very strong, even in the cafeteria!  What a privilege it is to mingle with these choice youth that have dedicated a very large chunk of their young lives to teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Our classes are held in a chapel building next to the MTC campus - there are so many youth being trained for missions, that we have to have our classes elsewhere.
And because of the many youth, we are being housed in the Marriott in downtown Provo, being shuttled back and forth every morning and evening - talk about POSH! Ben, Fred, Joe and Jen - don't be too envious!

Tonight we were set apart and given personal blessings by our Stake President as Full-time Missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It seems so surreal - it's something I've wanted to do all my life and now it is happening.  We said our good-byes to some of our children and grandchildren tonight - will say some more good-byes tomorrow.  Then Monday morning we will go to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah for 11 days.  After which we will fly to Virginia to get our car and belongings, say good-bye to more children and grandchildren, then drive the rest of the way to our Mission in Norfolk, Virginia, where we will serve and teach the gospel to men and women who are serving our country in the Navy.  I'm so excited I could bust!