On our way!!

After long preparation and waiting, the day before and the day of, finally arrived and our journey truly has begun!!

Sunday was the last time we will see these adorable bubble bunnies in our bathtub. We will miss them soooo much! 

  The night before we left for the airport in Saint George to fly to Salt Lake and take the shuttle to the MTC in Provo was another of many sweet goodbyes. This one was really the last!  We had dinner with Dwight's brother and Donna, Connie, my mom, Rachel and her family.

 Rachel and Garrett and their adorable children took us to the airport in Saint George and the reality of our leaving finally hit.  We will miss our children and their families so much.  We are excited to go, but pray that all of the people we love will be watched over and protected in our absence.

We left warm and sunny Saint George prepared for the snow and cold at the MTC.

 Notice the icicles behind Dwight's head walking through the airport in Salt Lake to get our baggage. We have long adjusted from Chicago weather!  It was freezing!

 

Arriving at the MTC.  A little shocked!  Notice the snow and my winter boots!  We are sending them home with our son.  Needless to say we won't be needing them with our sandal attire in the West Indies. 

 The traditional map photo!

 This is kind of crazy.  These people, Elder and Sister Miles were our neighbors 33 years ago.  They lived four houses down the street on the other side and our kids played together. They are in our district and we had no idea they were going on a mission.  We had lost track of them over the years.  This is their second mission! A surprise and unexpected reunion!

 Here is a picture of our district.

 Here is the map of the missions of the church.  There are 347!  We have loved the MTC!  The spirit is so strong, we have learned so much and we are getting really excited to go!   We will be taking a shuttle from here next Monday at 4:00 am, boarding a 7:30 flight and arriving in Trinadad at 10:30 pm.  We love learning from Preach My Gospel and the fabulous BYU returned missionaries that have been teaching us.  Our son, Ben, taught here after his mission so we can see the impact he had and the spirit they bring to this work. It has been awesome to walk the halls, eat in the same dining hall and sit in the same classrooms that our three children who served missions did some years ago. The sea of young sisters and elders we pass every day is awe inspiring.  This work is lead by the Lord.  We are humbled to be a part of it!  Tonight for our closing meeting Elder and Sister Tree from Sandy Utah came and spoke to us.  They have served four missions.  The last one after she had a stroke and he a pace maker.  They drive down every Thursday and have for the last three years since their last mission to speak to the senior missionaries.  On their last mission to Tahiti, they told about finding less active members.  One woman chased them away screaming at them to never return again!  Two days later they visited again, with cookies this time.... again and again and again......Two months later when they left that area, she had been called as the second counselor in the relief society. We have been practice teaching mock investigators for the last three days.  We are starting to feel a little more relaxed and very grateful for the teaching and training that is so full of the spirit!  The food is certainly plentiful!  The bed is full size but we are so exhausted every night, we've hardly noticed! 

  Preparing for tomorrow's lesson in our room.
Our next post will be from Trinadad!