April 30, 2011

When we woke up this morning this is what we found.  It's beautiful but we are anxious to get to Romania so we can warm up!



Kara, our angel of language.



We completed our language training last night with our tutor, Kara.  She has been home from her mission to Romania for less than a year.  We know lots more than we did a month ago, that's for sure. Just how many different endings can one verb have? And just how many i's, and le's and ure's, and ul's can you stick on the end of a word and still have any hope of pronouncing it, let alone understanding what they are all supposed to mean without forgetting what the original word meant?  By the end of the day our jaws ache.

When we get there we should be able to pray, share our testimony and ask for directions. She helped us develop an "in field" language study plan so hopefully we can teach a lesson and carry on a conversation with our young adults soon. She assured us they will be excited about helping us speak the language.  

Word to the wise.

There will be no picture with this entry.  Just use your imagination.

When you are living in a place (let's just call it the MTC) where most of the inhabitants are male and you decide to get a haircut before you leave for your mission because you don't know how long it will take you to find a hairdresser, you should probably not get your hair cut at a place called a "barbershop" even when the paper you signed up on was pink.  I'm just saying........

Aniversare Fericita!

We are spending our 45th anniversary in the MTC.

For our 35th anniversary Brent took me to Hawaii.

.

(insert picture of us sitting under a palm tree in Maui)

For our 45th he's taking me to Romania.



"Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come...........D&C 31:3

We arrived at the MTC at the appointed time.

 

Young elders greeted us and carried our luggage to our room.

If you lived in the BYU dorms during the 60's you will recognize the style.

We then had lunch with hundreds of our newest friends.

Even though the food is cafeteria style it is surprisingly good
and the cookies are foarte bine!

 

We started our mission preparation with a greeting from the MTC President, we were divided into districts (5 couples) and we were off to our classes. They are very kind about giving us seasoned citizens breaks but we are all exhausted by the end of the day. There are  over 40 couples from all over the United States and one couple is from Novia Scotia.  They are going to London and when they told us how much their rent is going to be, we were even more thankful for our call to Romania!  Most of the couples are going to be missionaries at Center's for Young Adults, Military Relations or Member and Leadership Training missionaries.  There are two couples going to work with the Perpetual Education Fund.  This group has missionaries going to Romania (that's us!), Russia, Brazil, Denmark, Netherlands, South Africa, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, England, Domincan Republic, Australia, New Zealand, the Philipines and many states in the US, including Alaska and Hawaii (sigh).  Last night we had a testimony meeting with the 9 other couples who are learning a language here at the MTC.  Even though we couldn't understand each other the spirit was so strong there were many tears. 



Pre MTC Weekend.....

We (and our 8 bags) arrived in Utah on Saturday afternoon.

Todd was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and help us with our bags.

We were greeted by loving and enthusiastic grandchildren.

Thanks for the great message.

We then spent the day in mission worthy activities.

Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU

Visit to the new BYU Creamery



I think we're going to need a bigger car.......



La Revedere - Parte Trei

Todd's beautiful family in South Jordan, Utah

Todd will be taking us to the MTC.

Brad and Anna - in a French pastry shop, of course!

We were able to spend a short time with Brad when he got

home from Afghanistan.  We were so grateful to see him home

safe and whole.  We honor those soldiers from his unit who were not so fortunate.

Oops!  How did this get in here?  Oh, well.  I'm sure he wishes us well.

Chef Adam

We wish he could come with us and cook for our young adults.

He's amazing!

Kent, Stacy and Jonas

They came up from Albuquerque to say goodbye.

Maybe when we get home they will be back in Colorado.

Taryn and Jason

They lived in our home for over a year before buying their own home so they

definitely know how to make themselves comfortable when they are visiting.

Moose

All I did was lean over to say goodbye and he gave me a sneak smooch.

Missionary Food Clearance Event

We didn't want to waste food storage because of expiration dates so those who were here for our final Sunday at home parceled out what was in our pantry and on our food storage shelves.

We have said our goodbyes and are ready to take this show on the road!

La Revedere - Part Doi

We'll miss our Ogden relatives.



 Wayne

Bryan and Carolina

Mother of our two oldest grandchildren.

Carolyn

Our dear friends and great missionary examples.

Richard and Sharon Jeppesen

Second oldest grandchild and student at Utah State University

Eric



La Revedere - Parte Unu

We knew that we were getting ready to send in our mission papers and invited the whole family for Thanksgiving so we could give them all hugs and kisses before we left. Everyone was there except for Brad who was in Afghanistan, Christopher who is on a mission in France, Eric who is going to school at Utah State University, and Kobe who was in Illinois.



Grandma Margaret came for a few weeks at Christmas.  We made her play games and she was a great sport.  She has been quite a traveler in her day and is very excited for us.



My sister Shawn and her daughter Kate came through in March on their way to Utah.  I will miss her!

Eu iubesc pe sora mea!