Hanging Out in Salt Lake

 We are making the most of our time as ‘Visa Waiters’ or as the Mission President here at the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission likes to call us, ‘Visa Workers’.

Enjoying the last snow we are likely to see for the next 18 months.

I love it!

Shopping by bus

I have to remind myself that I don’t need to buy the super jumbo packs to try and save money.

We have to carry it all back to the apartment and hopefully we won’t be here very long.

Honestly, it hasn’t been bad!

The Utah TRAX system is handy too.  We made a trip to Walmart on the train.

We discovered that a lot of people work late in the church office building.

It’s the tall building in the back.

Photo taken at 8:00 on a Friday night.

Here is my handsome companion by the Conference Center.

I am lucky to have the same companion for my whole mission.

No companion changes allowed!

We enjoyed a performance of ‘The Lamb of God’ which was performed by an interfaith choir and symphony.  Sixteen congregations from Baptist to Catholic had participants in the performance which told the story of the last days of the Savior’s life through beautiful music.

It was held in the historic Tabernacle on Temple Square.

Our hearts were touched and our faith in Jesus strengthened.

On Sunday morning we again went to the Tabernacle to hear a live broadcast of ‘Music and the Spoken Word’.  This weekly devotional program is one of the longest running radio programs in the world, having aired every week since July 15, 1929. 

Such beautiful, faith prompting music.

We loved it!

Last night I invited the other Visa Waiters to join us for dinner.  It wasn’t your normal dinner party.  Since each missionary apartment is furnished with just enough for 2 people, my invitation included the unusual request, ‘come for dinner and bring your own plate, bowl, chair and someone needs to bring their table.’  We all have basically the same supplies so everyone understood.

And since they are our neighbors in the same hallway it wasn’t too awkward.

By me is Elder Flowers and sitting in front of him, his wife, Sister Flowers. They are from Texas and are waiting for a visa to Peru just like us. Next Elder Coleman and his wife in the blue shirt in front of him. They are from Vermont and have been waiting for 2 months for a visa to go to Jamaica.  The last couple are Elder and Sister Jané, also from Texas and waiting to go to Spain to that most wonderful of cities BARCELONA!

Today the Flowers and the Janés were notified that their visas had arrived.

Happy Day for them!

We are still waiting!

And trying to do it patiently!

Land of Fire and Ice

 Iceland is known as the 'Land of Fire and Ice' because it is a country of extremes.  From steaming geysers and mud pots to sparkling glaciers, we found Iceland to be country of dramatic landscapes.

11% of Iceland is covered by glaciers and 269 are actually named.  The largest is the Vatnajokull glacier  which covers more than 3127 sq. miles.  That's 3 times the size of Rhode Island! 

When parts of the glaciers break off, they make some beautiful icebergs in glacial lagoons.

Smaller pieces break off during the journey to the ocean to give the appropriate name of 'Diamond Beach' to one of the black sand beaches.

As to the 'fire' part of the nickname, Iceland has 600 hot springs and 200 volcanoes.  

Here we are at one of the beautiful dormant craters.

You've probably heard of the Fagradalsfjall Volcano that started erupting earlier this year.  When we were there in October, there was no visible flowing lava so we didn't make the hike.  Earlier this year our friends who are serving a mission in Iceland, did see the molten lava and even roasted marshmallows in  it.  I've borrowed a couple of her photos because they are just so fun! And really illustrate the 'fire' in Iceland.

You might remember the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano which caused severe travel disruptions for much of the world when 20 different countries closed their air space because of volcanic ash in the jet stream.  George was traveling from Portland to India and had to adjust his route.  Several of the guides we talked to said that everyone in Iceland was amused at listening to foreign newscasters say the name of the volcano - Eyjafjallajökull - 'because it really isn't that hard to say."  Right!!!

Roughly 85% of primary energy use in Iceland came from renewable resources.  Geothermal accounts for 66% of Iceland's primary energy use.

Here's one geothermal plant in the north of the country.

If you are driving by and happen to need a shower, no problem! And yes the water is warm enough to shower.

Our word 'geyser' comes from the Icelandic word, 'geysir' which means to gush.

There are also hot pots and steaming, bubbling lakes plus that rotten egg smell you may recall from a visit to Yellowstone.

Safety rules are a bit different from Yellowstone however!

Best of all, every town has its own heated swimming pool.  This one was more of a spa and the water contains a large amount of minerals, is alkaline and very healthy for your skin. A perfect temperature for totally relaxing after a long day of hiking!  The only hard part is getting from the dressing room to the warm water when it is really chilly outside - or downright cold, some might say.  And just like what you read, you MUST take a full naked shower before getting in the pool.  I had showered but was careful not to get my hair too wet and the attendant thought I hadn't showered and she stopped me before I left the dressing room.  I am glad that I could tell her that I had taken a shower.  

We read that some parents take their children to the pool every night for a shower followed by a relaxing soak, put them in their pjs and take them home all mellow and ready for bed.  Because energy is so cheap and abundant, Icelanders are known for their long showers and if the room gets too hot, they are just as likely to open a window as to turn down the heat.  

Land of Fire and Ice is spot on : a frozen landscape set right on top of a volcanic melting pot!  If you haven't been I highly recommend a visit.

Pelmeni

When we took our cruise on the Volga River, my sister-in-law Katherine and I went to a cooking class and learned to make pelmeni, which are Russian dumplings.  The meat filling is wrapped in a thin, non-leavened dough.  As soon as we got back from our trip, I ordered a pelmeni mold but it has just been sitting in my cabinet for the last year and a half.

My excuse for breaking it out and actually making the pelmeni was Emma Larson's mission call to the Baltics Mission where she will be serving in Estonia.  I've known Emma since she was a cute little two year old and it was great getting to know grown-up, confident, talented and strong in the gospel Emma. Interestingly enough she will be the only missionary at the Mission Training Center learning Estonian.  It isn't a very big mission and there are only 6 sister missionaries there right now.  Another fun thing is that Emma has the voice of an angel and has been a standout in several choirs.  Guess what?  Estonians love choir!  Choir is a required course in all Estonian schools.  They are going to LOVE Emma!

 Since a lot of Estonian food is actually Russian food, pelmeni seemed like the perfect dinner to share with the Larson family.  

You make a fairly basic dough, roll it out very thin and then place it on the pelmeni mold and roll your rolling pin across it so that the shapes are distinctive.  The filling is a mixture of raw ground pork and beef with some grilled onions..

 After you have the filling placed on each shape, you put another thin sheet of dough on top, toll again until the shapes are definite. 

Then you just press them through,  crimp the edges, and boil. 

They can be topped with just about anything from catsup to sour cream to mushroom gravy.  We loved the gravy!

Missionary Training Center

Our family feels a special connection with the Provo Missionary Training Center because George's Dad and Mom's house is directly behind the facility.  You literally walk down the driveway, across the street and there is the back gate of the MTC.  My kids remember talking to the missionaries over the fence, watching pizza delivery through that back gate, passing out cookies, and one memorable day when a group of elders snuck little Johnny into the building just to look around. On the 4th of July the missionaries hung over the fence to watch our fireworks.  Of course Johnny spent a month there being trained before his mission to Argentina.  

Mary and I were excited to go and visit the beautiful new 6 story addition to the MTC Campus.

The whole building is filled with sunlight and has uplifting art on the walls. c

With the additional building, 3700 missionaries can be there at one time  If a young man or woman is going to be sharing the gospel in their native language they spend about 3 weeks living and studying in this facility.  If they are learning a language they stay longer - up to 9 weeks for the more difficult languages.  That is quite the miracle - imagine learning Mandarin or Vietnamese in 9 weeks!  I lived in Spain for 5 years and never became totally fluent!  In all 55 languages are taught in this MTC.  It is the 2nd largest language training facility in the world, 2nd only to the Department of Defense's Language Training Institute in Monterey, California.   The young sisters and elders who greeted us were on their way to Hong Kong or Taiwan.  

Not only do they learn a language here.  It is also a place to bolster the faith they will need to rely on to sustain the rigors of missionary life - from 6:30 a.m. wake-up calls to 10:30 p.m. lights out. No dating!  No movies!  Very limited, controlled access to social media and that is only in certain missions.   The expectation is that they will work hard all day, everyday for the duration of their mission.   And the great majority of them do.  The Huffington Post has referred to the MTC as an Elite Boot Camp!

Young men can serve missions when they are 18 years old.  They serve for 2 years and during that time the only contact they have with their families is through weekly emails and twice yearly phone calls - at Christmas and Mother's Day.  

The young men hold the office of an Elder in the priesthood which explains their names during their missions.  On his mission our Johnny was "Elder Lewis" just like his father and grandfather before him.  Young women can serve when they are 19 and serve for 18 months.  They are simply called, "Sister + their last name" and have the same restrictions as the Elders concerning family contact. We truly believe that they are 'called to serve God' and their fellow man. 

When a missionary arrives they are assigned a same sex 'companion' who is with them 24/7....and they will have such a companion for their entire 2 years.  The companions change but they always have one.  These two were cheerfully studying and also greeting the guests. 

Studying is the order of the day.  In fact they are in class 9 hours each day.  With the new buildings there are now 200 additional classrooms.  Each 'district' or group of missionaries live, eat, exercise, learn and study together.  There is a gym and time allotted in their schedules for exercise.

With that many 18 and 19 year old young men, the cafeteria is busy and popular place.  It seats 700 missionaries at a time and serves a whooping 1.6 million meals a year, plus snacks.  Especially popular are cereal and chocolate milk!  You may notice that not everyone is a 'young missionary'.  Senior couples also spend time here before serving their missions as a couple.  I have friends who just returned from missions in Las Vegas and in Italy.  My cousin Scott and his wife are currently serving for a year in Madagascar!

The rooms for the young missionaries are 'dorm like' and quite nice. 

These sweet sister missionaries were studying outside on a beautiful Provo summer day. 

Here a whole district prepares for their afternoon teaching experiences.  One young man I talked to said that he was teaching an investigator in Chinese on his 3rd day at the MTC!  Wow...just wow! 

After taking the tour, I am sure these words are true....the MTC is holy ground.   

Another Missionary Story

Another of my seminary kids is serving a mission in Poland. After spending her first 7 months in Warsaw she was transferred to Gdansk which is located way up on the Baltic.  Perfect to spend the summer in this fairytale like city!  Missionaries are assigned to different cities by the Mission President who has been called to preside over the mission.   They might stay in a city for only a few weeks or up to many months.  The president prayerfully decides where each missionary should serve.    Each missionary is also assigned a companion with whom they spend every minute of every day.  The companions are also assigned and changed by the mission president. Talia is now training a new missionary fresh from the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah where she will have spent the last 8 weeks studying Polish before flying off to serve her mission. 

I love this story from Talia's recent transfer.




 Here is Talia's story in her own words. She entitled it, "Smile More" and Sara Bareilles"

I was feelin' the stress of traveling to a new city with 6 pieces of luggage and training. I was sitting on the train and reading a language book and just couldn't seem to shake these nervous/stressy feelings. So, I said a prayer. I needed to know God new about the feelings I was having and that He was there for me. And you want to know what happened within the next 5 minutes? I looked over to the man across the aisle on the train from me. In that moment, he took off his sweatshirt and his t shirt read, "Relax, smile more"....and then seconds after that, his ringtone went off...it was "Brave" by Sara Bareilles. Now, they may have seemed like little things to everyone else...but those were little, simple ( and even cheesy!) reminders that God is aware of us and our needs and that He listens & answers our prayers. 

I love this work.  I love Gdansk.  I love my district. I love the members.  I (am learning to) love Polish.  I love my little companion. I love this gospel and I love you!

And I love Talia!  Her last name is Beem and she is truly 'beaming' in every one of her mission pictures.  Talia is the happy girl in the maroon shirt! 

Perks of Having Been A Seminary Teacher

I loved the years I spent teaching seminary.  It's just icing on the cake to receive invitations to weddings of my former students!  Plus Mondays have become my favorite day of the week because that is the day I get emails from my missionary students.

Here I am with sweet Abby and her brand new husband Ethan!  I was lucky to have been Abby's teacher for several years.  Watching her grow into this beautiful young woman has been a pleasure.  I hope this young man knows how lucky he is! 

Thought I'd share this fun story from another sweetheart student who is serving a mission in California. 

In Ally's own words:

We're knocking on doors and a man answers and says, "What are you selling?"

Us: We aren't selling anything sir, we are the sister missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."

Him: "Oh, the Mormons...nope I'm good"

Us:  "Well is there anything we can do for you today?"

Him: "You can get me a Big Mac, fries and a coke from McDonalds"

Us:  (awkward laughs and slight confusion) We wish we had one to give you but unfortunately we are fresh out."

Him: (awkwardly laughs back) "It's ok.  You ladies have a great day!"

Door shuts

The next day

Me to my companions:"I really feel like we should go get that man a Big Mac.

My companions: "You are so weird"

Me: "Seriously"

Them: "Alright" so we get in the car go to McDonalds and order a Big Mac combo with a coke and drive to the man's house.  Knock on door... and he answers

Him: "Weren't you here yesterday?"

Us: Yes we were but we brought you a Big Mac this time."

Him: "That was a joke."

Us: "We know but we wanted to spread some joy and hopefully this time share a message"

Him: "You really do know how to brighten a day."

We go inside and share a first lesson...he is now a new investigator!

Isn't that a great story?

That's my fun Ally in the middle in the red shirt!  Way to spread the gospel...one Big Mac at a time!