MTC and Salt Lake City - Second Week

The Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City, Utah. A high school choir is singing Christmas carols from the balcony.

Over the weekend I helped Nancy by making a invitation for Morgan's surprise 16th birthday party for later this month. Nancy is having a disco theme and we ordered 100 4x6 prints. There is her basketball team and her volleyball team, the Young Women and more friends at school. Nancy hopes that they will all come in disco attire and have a great time together. It will be at the church on the Saturday night before her birthday. Best wishes Morgan!
We enjoyed our CES training today. I asked about the name change to S&I and learned that CES is the larger (including the universities and other things) organization while S&I is just seminaries and institutes. The teachers we have are personable and skilled and they taught us great principles and had activities that not only gave us a chance to practice but were at least as fun as they were stressful. They told us there are two imperatives: 1. Teach by the Spirit and 2. Love your students. Elder Scott said, "Truths presented in an environment of true love and trust qualify for the confirming witness of the Holy Ghost." He also said, "It is worth great effort to organize the truth we gather into simple statements of principle." We need to do that and help our children and students to do that also. Then we can apply the principles to our own lives.

We went to our mailbox and along with finding the name tag that Lewis ordered there was a Christmas card and letter from Alan and Carolyn Barnard. It was fun to receive a Merry Christmas greeting and learn about their family. Our Christmas will be different without our children around us but we will have a wonderful Christmas. I don't yet know what it will be like but we can celebrate our Savior's birth anywhere and without any props. And we will still get to communicate with our family.

On the second day with the S&I guys who work in the Church Office Building we learned that the scriptures are a mirror or a well depending on what we bring to them. We need to get to the bottom of the pool to find the treasures. Put students to work in the scriptures. They suggested:

• Use words and testimonies of the Brethren
  
• Ask questions that cause students to analyze truth and ponder its meaning and significance
• Invite students to consider truth in the context of their own experiences - then invite them to explain, share and testify of what they know and feel
• Use stories, illustrations, examples
• Encourage writing
• Offer sincere, heartfelt invitation to apply truths learned
• Bear testimony
  

Are you a "Sage on the Stage or a Guide on the Side" What would our children/students prefer? I hope we can put the skills we have learned to good use on our mission and in every teaching situation.

Elder and Sister Craig Zwick spoke at the devotional fireside held Tuesday night. They were both very impressive. Their theme was the importance of coming to know and trust Jesus Christ and they told several personal stories of their mission experiences to illustrate. Sister Zwick told us about her first day as the mission president's wife. Their first phone call was from an elder who was calling from a pay phone wearing only his companion's overcoat. He said that they were at the church and several "terrorists" with guns forced him to remove all of his clothes in front of the Seminary class then poured floor wax on the clothes and burned them. He asked, "What would you like us to do now?" She told her husband, "I don't think I can do this with our four little kids." The 9 year old said, "You can do it Mommy, Heavenly Father will help you."

Elder Zwick told us that when he was young and on his first mission he had a very scary three weeks in Argentina and then the mission president asked him and three others to go to Bolivia and build a meetinghouse in one of three small mountain villages and convert the people. He and the three other missionaries and the four horses they took with them in a boxcar until the end of the line. Then they had to find their way to the villages by swimming rivers and following a single track through mountains 12,000 ft high. They worked with the people in their fields by day and taught them the gospel by candlelight at night. They made adobe bricks and purchased the other building materials in a small city up in the mountains. They rented 12 burrows to carry the supplies on wooden "saddles" they made and began the trek back. There was a huge storm while they were on a high mountain pass. The mud caused the burros to slip and one fell to his death in the river below. They knelt on the edge of the cliff and asked for help. They were able to get back, they did finish the building and baptized 500 people to fill it. All in 15 months. (One of the companions was a rodeo champion and Elder Zwick had lots of building experience. Nephi, Ammon, Abraham and Alma (the horses) helped with the labor and provided the only transportation they had.) Exciting stories for the Zwicks but all of us live our own experiences and hopefully learn to trust in the Savior and come to know that He trusts us as well. I have no desire for scary adventures but I do desire to draw closer to the Savior and learn to trust in Him always.

On our last day at the MTC we finished up our S&I training and had a testimony meeting. Everyone was short and sincere. It is amazing how close you can feel to people in such a short time. We will probably never see any of them again until the next life but many would be best friends if only we had time to get to know each other and spend more time together.

We bought two "wedding bands" so our gold rings would not be temptation in Ecuador. We got stainless steel and mine feels different but I still feel married so all is well.

Today we met in the Joseph Smith Memorial building with Brother and Sister Coombs (pictured here) who was mission president in the DR and then the first president and matron of the temple in Santo Domingo. It was a great day. We were on the 10th floor with huge windows to look down over the city. It was a very gray day that looked like it might snow but it was still impressive. Sister Chavez was there. She was in our MTC group and is going to Mexico City to the Service Center there. Brother and Sister Shaw are going to the Employment Resource Center in Lima. And Franklin will be the new PEF Coordinator in Africa West. I was very impressed with the presentations we received. Rex Allen told us that they are trying to prepare for the future. Currently the church has about 14 million members. 7.5 million live in the United States and Canada. 7.5 million live in the rest of the world. The church is trying to be ready for when there are 100 million members. Perhaps 20 million will live in the USA and Canada and 80 million will live in the rest of the world. The USA and Canada cannot carry 80 million people. Every part of the world needs committed and skilled Priesthood leaders, self-sufficient members with everyone contributing to the tithing that pays for the buildings and all of the work of the kingdom. The church is rich in people. We all need to improve ourselves and be willing to serve. Now PEF is providing more hope and the opportunity to progress. Teaching doctrine and principles will provide the needed motivation to break the cycle of poverty. The time was right, the people were ready and the PEF was revealed to President Hinckley. This year $3.3 million dollars was paid back into the fund by participants. Lives are being changed for the better. It was a wonderful day to see the broad picture of PEF and how it helps individuals, families, counties and the church.

In the evening we went with the Evans to Legacy elementary school to listen to the 5th and 6th grade choir. It was all Christmas music and very fun. Hannah was our favorite singer.

We received Emily's Christmas card in the mail here at Nancy's house. The photo is precious! We are going to miss those two little boys. They will change a lot before we get back home. But that is OK. We can love them bigger just as well.

Our last day of training. We were in the Church Office Building. We saw Elder Scott as we came out of the cafeteria. He smiled at us. We were in a computer lab today and learned more about the computer programs that help us do our work. It is such a privilege to get to know the people who work full time to make PEF happen all around the world. They obviously love what they do even when things don't go smoothly. Tom Rueckert is one of our favorites. He deals with requests and problems all over the world and treats every email like you are his only priority. He gets just a bit choked up when he talks about the PEF participants. He deals with reports and numbers most of the time but he is doing it for the individuals.

This is a photo of Sister Chavez. We wish we could take her to Quito but Mexico City needs her too. One of our small class members is a young man from Ghana. He joined the church six years ago and has been working with the employment office. The PEF program has grown there in the Africa West Area and they qualify for a 1/2 time paid position. So Franklin will work 1/2 time with Employment and 1/2 time as the PEF Coordinator in his Area. His wife is named Nancy and he has two little boys just like Emily. I now know two people from Ghana: Franklin and Tomas, who was the Los Cristianos Branch president when we arrived in Tenerife. Isn't it cool to know people from other parts of the world?

We repacked and weighed the suitcases again and labeled all of them and tied shiny, curly red ribbon on the handles. Here's hoping that we and all of our stuff get to Quito at the same time.

Provo Missionary Training Center - First Week

First day at the MTC for our mission to Quito, Ecuador. There is construction going on and the snow was falling so it was a bit of a trick to park and get settled. There were several young missionaries to help us carry luggage into our room. We knew the drill so things went smoothly. We met lots of very nice people from all over the USA and going all over the world. There is only one single sister who said she would be working with PEF. Today was just orientation and getting supplies and getting organized. We had lots of homework to get ready to dive into Preach My Gospel tomorrow through Friday. The food is good in the cafeteria and it is so fun to see so many beautiful sisters and handsome elders who will be teaching the gospel all over the world. Things have got to get better even as they get worse in this old world. We look forward to getting acquainted with out peers as we learn and teach together. We checked with Travel and our visa has arrived in SLC. There will be no problems waiting for a visa. And...there is now wireless internet access in our rooms! Yea! I'm grateful to be here and look forward to our MTC experience and our mission in Ecuador.

We had a great second day. Taught the first discussion and learned about great teaching principles. Found out that the only couple with a Spanish surname are living in Boston where David E went on his mission, the husband is from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and the wife is from Ecuador. Another couple we met this afternoon will be in Santo Domingo, living in the "Casa" next to the temple and working in the Area Office. We need to talk tomorrow so I can tell her how wonderful it will be for them there. I wanted to whisper to her while we were listening to our teacher.

On Tuesday night there is always a devotional with a great speaker. Julie Beck (Relief Society General President) spoke to us. Of course it was wonderful. She told of growing up for five years in Brazil with her 10 brothers and sisters. (One of her brothers now lives in Melba.) They sold everything and moved to Brazil as if it would be forever. There was no set term for mission presidents then. It took two months to get a letter to the US and no one telephoned unless it was an emergency. She said they played missionary growing up because they always had 6 or 8 living with them and missionary work was their life. She said her father drew the line when they tried to baptize her 2 year old sister in the font in their backyard. She said that there were 2000 members and no church buildings and now there are over a million members and I don't know how many missions and temples and buildings. The growth has been incredible within her lifetime.

She told a story about her daughter's mother in law who was in the audience right in front of us. They are Oriental and were living in Korea and she was enthusiastic about missionary work. The full time missionaries asked her to talk to an investigating family cause they would not accept tithing. Sister Chin said she would be happy to help them understand. She told the couple, it is not just the 10% tithing you are expected to pay. There are also fast offerings and she explained that was and how it is used. She said you should consider donating to Humanitarian services as well and you must begin to save money so your sons can go on missions when they are 19. She told them it is not just the 10% but the Lord expects your whole heart and it is a privilege to give your all. They accepted tithing and baptism. I loved every minute of listening to Sister Beck and to hear all of the missionaries singing Called to Serve is worth the price of admission.

As we left the Devotional this evening the center of the complex is alight with Christmas lights in the trees. Christmas has arrived. It is beautiful.

We started our training Wednesday with a visit with an "investigator" in order to teach the first discussion. Volunteers come in and role play. Previously we had this experience where they came into our room but now there is a training center where little living rooms are set up and there is a video camera. A little more pressure but since I didn't have to watch our video I'm hoping no one else did either. Our investigator was a great actor or he really was a crusty old man who was realizing that he might have missed something very important because he didn't want to give up his coffee. He married a Mormon and his children went on missions but he never participated himself. He kept asking questions that did not fit into our agenda but I think we answered him and accomplished our purpose. He agreed to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and meet us at church on Sunday.
We talked more about how to teach and will have another similar experience tomorrow with the second lesson. It is a good experience and we are learning useful skills and how to work together in a teaching situation. That comes up often on a mission and in real life.

A new batch of missionaries came to the MTC today. We saw lots of suitcases and some less confident missionaries in the cafeteria. They continue to feed us well and we learned that there is ice cream every Wednesday to celebrate. It is a good day of the week. Two more days of working with Preach My Gospel.

Today at the MTC we continued our process of being taught and teaching others. We taught a volunteer again in the Training Resource Center. He told us he had lost his wife in the last week and his eyes leaked tears for 45 minutes. He was a great actor or maybe it really happened. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation and it went pretty well. He agreed to meet with us again and asked us to come tomorrow to teach him more. It is fun to get to know more of our fellow missionaries. One couple told us that they spent 35 years of their marriage not going to church and here they are on a mission. Don't neglect those who are not interested. They might change their minds.

I had salmon for dinner. I don't get to do that very often. I lost my coat earlier today because someone else thought it was theirs. Fortunately it showed up again on the coat rack and I am no longer cold. We got an email from Brother Samuel Gomez, our boss, in Lima, Peru. He is aware that we are coming and hopefully someone will come to pick us up at the airport.

Today was our last day of training in Preach My Gospel. We learned about how to work with less actives and part member families and also with ward councils. It is a little sad to realize that these great couples that we are just getting acquainted with are leaving and we will never see them again...except for the ones that have Seminary and Institute training with us next week. And we will meet many wonderful people in Ecuador!

We came to Nancy's house at the end of the day. She is enjoying a dinner out and a volleyball game with a friend visiting from Idaho Falls. We will get to see her tomorrow. The girl's bedroom across the hall has a least one mouse in it so there has been lots of excitement to see if one has been caught yet. Not yet. (In fact, before we left for Ecuador it seemed that the mice had outsmarted the people so far.) I bought a 1 T external hard drive at Costco tonight. My smaller external hard drive has been making suspicious noises. I suspect that on sale at Costco is a better price than anything in Ecuador. Gotta keep the photos of the grandchildren safe. Here are some of the Evans children. We are grateful that Morgan always lets us use her bedroom when we visit.

Our next mission opportunity begins

Dear Family and Friends,

We have received our mission call and wanted to share the news with you. We have been called to serve in the Ecuador Quito Mission as Perpetual Education specialists in the Ecuador Perpetual Education Fund Country Office for 18 months. We are to report to the Provo MTC on November 29th, 2010.

We are excited and pleased to work with the PEF again. We have seen how this program can allow young adults to help themselves become prepared to serve their families and serve in the church and in their communities. We look forward to learning to love the people of Ecuador. This is the same mission that my brother David served in many years ago. Lewis is pleased that the altitude is high enough that he won't roast in tropical heat.

We are finishing some apartments renovations that Lewis has been working on. We need to pack our missionary bags and then move out of our apartment. We are fortunate that we can store our things in the basement of this apartment building. We will stay with Susan for the last couple of weeks so we can paint and rent out the apartment we have been living in. I think we will enjoy Thanksgiving day with the Idaho group and then spend the last couple of days with Nancy in Utah. We have had such a wonderful time visiting with all of our family since our last mission. It is time to go elsewhere and again serve our brothers and sisters who enjoy fewer opportunities that we do in this country. After a year and a half we will be anxious to return and be with you again.

Love, Jeri and Lewis Pettingill