As I am writing this we are on the plane on our way to Ghana, West Africa. We have had a great and busy couple of weeks before getting on the plane this morning. Leaving our home this morning was a little hard I am not going to lie. ... We have entrusted our home to Shane & Shara while we are away. We are sure they will enjoy Alpine . :)
I am going to try and summarize what we have been doing. Oh, and let me preface this by saying, I am not the best at writing, but here we go...
We have been called as Perpetual Education Missionaires for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
On September 8th we had the opportunity to speak in church about what we would be doing in Accra Ghana West Africa. Thank you to all who have shown so much love and support to us as we embark on this new adventure. We had some of our family that were able to be there with us. ( Shane, & Sean and their families, ( we missed Halie & Kylie and their families, we did feel their support ifrom Texas & Indianana )in-laws of our children , Lynn's mom, cousins, nephews, sisters, childhood friends from California, friends from Texas , friends from the BYU ward ( where we served in three years ago) our friends we motorcycle ride with, everywhere we looked we saw a smiling face. We could not have asked for more support spanning 38 + years of our lives. We did feel loved.
September 9th we started our training at the MTC in Provo Utah . We would go over to the MTC every morning 8 until 4 Monday through Friday . We were taught how to be a missionary, answering questions about the church. We were with a group of 120 " senior" missionaries who all started the same day as us. Lynn & I were the only two going to Accra , but 4 others were going to a different area in Africa and others were going Samoa, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, London , Ireland , Peru , Ecuador, Japan , California , Georgia . Of these missionaries there were 20 of us that were PEF , others were over member leadership training , support, or office help etc. On Sunday we began our Perpetual Education training which was a great learning experience. We learned about a new program the church is just starting to put together with PEF, it is Self Reliantiance. This is where we will be helping with coordinating with teachers who we train in Career Workshop, Self-Employment, and Planning for Success Workshops.
On Sunday afternoon we began our Self Reliance training with Elder Sataki , we were able to be with him for a few hours. Elder Sataki is actually from Nyrobi, Kenya and one of the pioneers of the church in Africa . A very kind man, as we talked he said he had been to SugarLand on church business and had met and knew a few of our friends. Small world in the church.
Monday we were back over to Provo, then Tuesday up in Salt Lake, for training with Mike Murray,
And a wonderful thanksgiving feast for lunch, with Elder Sataki and others with the PEF program of the church. What an amazing week we have had, we feel very blessed to be called to this mission, and look forward to what is coming next.
This is our "district " with the teachers at the MTC . One couple to my left are the Singleys' they are going to Thai Bangkok to work on wells in Laus, then the Greers' to Equador humanitarian, us, then The Roos , going to Ventura CA.
