Finished at the MTC

We can't believe we are finally off to the MTC!


Us with Kate at the airport to fly to Utah


Walt, Me and Kate at MTC - Sunday Eve

On Sunday evening, Walt and I entered the MTC      (Mission Training Center).  It was an amazing   experience!  Our group is referred to as "Senior Couples."  Walt and I got a lot of comments how we didn't seem to qualify due to our youthful looks and actually age.  Senior couples usually don't go until they have retired (age 65 or older).  Walt's careful planning for retirement allowed us to get started early. Serving a mission for the Lord has been in our plans for years.  Our group was a record setting one.  There were 144 missionaries in our group;  71 couples and 2 sisters.  Because we were such a large group, there were not enough accommodations for all of us.  There were about 15 couples (including us) who stayed at the nearby Courtyard Hotel.  At first we felt slighted, but soon realized we were at an advantage with a king size bed and someone who cleaned our room every day.  
Day One

Taking a break between classes - Day 3

Each day we got up at 6 am (yikes!) to eat and get to class by 8 am. By the last day, we were exhausted.  It was well worth the hours of instruction and lack of sleep.  Our large group was divided into "districts" to allow for smaller group discussions.   Our district consisted of 10 couples, another record breaker.  It was a wonderful district; full of wisdom, good gospel knowledge and lots of humor.  All of our teachers were returned missionaries (people that had already served a mission of their own).  They were all wonderful; full of enthusiasm and patience. 


Our District with Am teachers - Bro McLeary and Sis Eames


Our District with PM teacher - Bro Andersen

Enjoying a view of the mountains


























We learned a lot about helping others come unto Christ.  This is the main purpose for our mission.  It starts with having faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement.  This leads to wanting to make changes in our lives that bring us closer to the Savior (repentance).  This is in turn leads to baptism and partaking of the Sacrament; which allows us to have the Spirit/Holy Ghost with us.  This leads back to our increased faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement.  It's a beautiful cycle and so simple.
Elder and Sister Martin - the couple we taught
We had several opportunities to teach someone in our group and also a volunteer that we didn't know.  They were amazing experiences.  Every time we sought the guidance of the Spirit before we started.  Sometimes, we weren't sure what to say, but the Spirit guided us and led us into a very heartfelt experience.  Hearts were touched and many times tears were shed.  It just amazed me how letting the Spirit guide us made the experience so special -  all of us feeling so close to the Savior through it all.

 The week seemed to end all too quickly.  We made so many new friends and want to keep in touch to see how all our missions are going.  There were couples going to all parts of the world and covering 6 continents. (Alaska, Louisiana, Tennessee, Montana, Washington State, New York, Washington DC, North Carolina, California, Arizona, Utah, Alaska, South Africa, New Zealand, Japan, Australia, Korea, Ireland, England, the Baltic, Portugal, Spain, and Russia (to name just some).  It's an exciting adventure for all of us.
An amazing picture - Parting of the Red Sea.  Notice the dark to light.

Friday, Kate picked us up and we had dinner with her and Drake (boyfriend).  Then we met up with some dear friends that we grew to love while in State College, PA.  It was great to catch up with everyone.  Saturday, we headed home to PA.  The flight went well.  Then it was a speedy departure home to get there before the snow storm caught us.  We had to drive directly into it, to get to Greencastle.  We only had to drive half of the time in the snow, but made it home safely.  
Dinner with our State College friends

 Tonight is our final dinner with our family.  :(.  Tomorrow is packing the car and leaving our home in good condition.  Then off across the country.  We're still trying to decide which route to take.  Having less days to drive would be great, but don't want to get stuck in any bad weather.  We'll trust the Lord to guide us.  He has never let us down.

 We are so excited to go to Montana (our home will be in Newcastle Wyoming).  We are anxious to get started, meet the people in the town, and start loving them and sharing the love of the Savior.  We know we will be blessed and so will our families.  We have been promised that, and have seen it happen when Kate served her mission in Romania.

 Feel free to email us, write or even send us a card/letter every now and then.  We'd love to hear from you.  All the addresses are on the main page of our blog.  We'll see you all in 18 months!

 Lots of Love,
 Elder and Sister Vann

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