And so it Begins ...
Our first official day as full time missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was Tuesday, June 24. We met at church headquarters in Salt Lake City for OGC (Office of General Council) orientation. Three other couples joined us and it was great.
The folks we were with are going to Africa. Two couples will be in Nairobi, Kenya. The third couple will be in Ghana. The couples going to Kenya met via Zoom before orientation. Good idea. The husbands will be working together. The wives are already friends. That’s what happens when you are engaged in a work bigger than yourself. Nearly instant connection.
The orientation was thorough and so interesting! However, we never felt overwhelmed with information. When a speaker was done, they would ask if we had questions. They answered questions and if they still had time? They gave us a longer break.
We also had lunch with the presenters. It showed us that they wanted to have those casual moments to further answer questions. They were also incredibly good natured and funny.
In one particular session, I brought up my one concern. Mike and I have been working from home for so many years, the idea of getting up Monday-Friday, dressing professionally and going to an office is tough. When I did work full time, I got to the point where I kept telling myself I HAVE to do this. One of the other women suggested that, instead of seeing it like getting up and getting dressed professionally, thinking I have to do it, think that I choose to do it. She was so right! I have chosen to do this. So wise and definitely helpful. With this change of how I saw things, even getting up early was easier.
Although we’ve been told that we are going to be very busy, we were cautioned about the effects of travel, etc, and how we need to take a little time to feel settled before we take on work. They don’t want anyone to burn out before they even get started.
We entered the Missionary Training Center (MTC), in Provo, Utah on June 28. The actual training started on Monday and it sounds like we will be running into our new friends there as well and we did!
We were organized into districts, four couples. All of the men were lawyers. Our afternoon teacher, Sister Williams, was a little intimidated by that. It didn't help that one of the men teased her by saying something like, "Be careful. We have taken depositions" when she asked if we had any questions. It didn't take her long to see that we were all there to learn and she had no need to be intimidated.
The week we spent at the MTC was well paced but there were a lot of activities, each equally informative and helpful than the previous.
You know how Disneyland and Disneyworld are referred to the happiest place(s) on earth? Well, I love almost all things Disney, but ... the Provo, Utah, MTC is the happiest place on earth. Every morning, we were greeted with "Good morning" and beautiful smiles. Young people held doors for us without being asked, let us go to the front of the line when getting food and just in general, were kind.
Every meal we went out of our way to sit with young missionaries. We met kids from all over the United States as well as some from the islands and heard a couple of Australian and British accents.
One young man was going back to get ice cream and we asked him to bring us some. He smiled brightly and said, "I'll be right back with your order". Sure enough, he was right back. So cute and kind.
We flew to Buenos Aires on July 4. It was sad to miss Independence Day activities but the flight could not have gone more successfully. The customs officer was great. We were told that they sometimes separate couples to ask their questions but they didn't do that to us. They were not particularly busy so I guess he was chill.
Our new friends flew to Kenya at the same time as we headed to South America. Their flight was much longer than ours. It was great to run into them at the airport security area.
The fourth couple in our district, the Harris's, are flying to their assignment in London after they receive OGC orientation this week.
Going forward, the four men will see each other on a monthly Zoom call and we look forward to renewing those friendships.
Our apartment is on a busy street in a quiet family-type neighborhood. Obviously it will take some time to get settled and there is a national holiday coming up. Sounds like since Buenos Aires is the capital of the country it will be very busy later this week.
We have been very warmly welcomed by the senior missionaries already here and look forward to our first Sunday at church tomorrow.
Stay tuned. If you have questions, feel free to ask.
Love you all!
M&M Goulding
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