7 Years Ago

It has been 7 years exactly since I went on my mission. On this day in 2000 I was having my first day at the missionary training center in Provo. It doesn't feel like it's been 7 years.

My first day at the MTC was interesting. I had no idea what to expect. I was set apart as a missionary a few days before and flew from St. Louis to Salt Lake City. I stayed with my sister until entering the MTC. When I got to the MTC, they gave me my black name tag and put an orange dot sticker on it...which indicated to everyone else that I was a new missionary. Cammy was the one who dropped me off there. Before she left, they had a large meeting with all of the new missionaries and their families to explain more about missionary work and show a short video. After the presentation, we said our goodbyes and then Cammy left.

I was then introduced to my first companion, Elder Bone. After a little time to unpack, we went to our first class to learn Tagalog. The MTC keeps all missionaries on a very tight schedule. There is not much free time. Most of the time you are in class with other missionaries learning a language or more about the gospel. It is amazing how fast you can learn when there are no distractions...and when you have the Lord's help.

Anyway...this being exactly 7 years to the day of when I went on my mission, I thought it would be a good opportunity to share some of my experiences. I think I would like to go through all of my mission journals over the next 2 years and post once a week sharing a little bit about what happened 7 years ago that week. I'll try to keep it up. It's fun remembering that time in my life. I would have to say that up to that point in my life, it was the biggest life changing event for me.

Other news... AnaBelle is now over 10 lbs. She had her 2 month checkup this week. She is doing well.

Also this week...I got my new laptop...finally. For those of you who do not know the story... let me fill you in.

I ordered a new Dell laptop on July 11th. They told me the laptop would ship by July 29th. Then they delayed that ship date until August 13th..and then told me it wouldn't be here until August 29th. Well...after much complaining to their customer service...they gave me a free wireless mouse and laptop carrying case. They also gave me a $75 coupon to use on their website. So...I did get some compensation for the 1 month delay. I am satisfied with the quality of the laptop. It is much better than my old one...and a lot more mobile.

That's all for now.