Week 2

Yay!  He sent pictures! Looks a little crowded in their room, but Chris says they are having fun. 

 

Chris loves his companion!  They seem to be getting along very well.

We think this is Chris' District.

At the Provo Temple

We didn't get a lot of new information from him, but he is very happy, cheerful and positive.  The end of his letter said:

"I miss you guys and remember that this is a very short time away in the span of eternity. I can't believe I'm starting week 3 tomorrow! It's going to go by in the blink of an eye."

The Long First Week

On Tuesday (Aug 21) we FINALLY got an e-mail from Chris and on Thursday (Aug 23) we got letters from him.  It was a long few days...we didn't know what day his P-Day was.  For those who might not know, P-Day is short for Preparation Day.  It is the day that missionaries are allowed to write letters, wash laundry, and other similar tasks.  It will generally be the only day each week that he can write letters/email.  We are already anxiously awaiting this coming Tuesday's letter.

This week we found out that he has five roommates, including the other missionary from our ward.  He really loves his companion, who is a very friendly, outgoing guy.  Chris describes him as a "spiritual giant."  Four of the six will be serving in Taichung.  One is going to New Zealand and the other to California but all six are studying Mandarin Chinese. 

Chris is already able to say short prayers and bear his testimony in Chinese, after only one week!  There are a few other sentences and words that he knows, too.  He says that "Chinese is super hard.  It is coming to me, but it's slow.  I know I'll be great at it in 11 weeks, though!  I know more now than I did the first month in high school Chinese."  He signed his letter "Wu Jiang Lao" which roughly translates to Elder Wolf.

Surprisingly, Chris has joined the MTC choir!  There are about 520 choir members.

He told us there are currently about 2,600 missionaries at the MTC and the day he entered there were about 600 other newbies. 

Chris told us that he wants to lose 20 lbs while in the MTC.  We are afraid that if he does, his pants won't fit!  Hopefully, all the treats he's being sent will keep the weight loss at a reasonable level.

Hopefully Chris will get the memory card reader we sent him before he writes again.  He has promised to send pictures!  We can't wait!

We sure miss Chris, and the last 12 days have seemed much longer than that.  However, he is where is supposed to be and we know he will be blessed for his selfless service and sacrifice.  We are very blessed to have a missionary out there!

Oh... and he did sign his letter with "Shake my vanilla!"

Inside the MTC

Kristie found a great video that KSL did about the MTC.  Kind of shows what Chris is experiencing...

An Army of Faith: Inside the MTC

The Drop Off

Well, the day finally arrived and we took Chris to the MTC today.  It was rough, but we know he is where he should be.  He was nervous and excited and ready to go. 

We will be updating how Chris is doing and what he shares with us about his time in the MTC over the next 11 weeks.  Then it is on to Taiwan!

For a long time we have had the tradition of  taking a picture of the boys at the front door on the first day of school...figured it was a good thing to do today too.





We took some pictures around the MTC right before we dropped Chris off.  This sign made us laugh and Chris said he was in the mission field before he got to the MTC!   ;)





 






Chris by the Provo Temple (right above the MTC)

Chris leaving and starting his adventure!

Setting Apart

Last night Chris got set apart as a missionary for the LDS church.  It was a very emotional time for all of us.  Our Stake President knows the Mission President and his wife in Taichung, so that was kind of cool!  They are also from Springville too!

Mission Farewell

On Sunday (August 12) Chris had his missionary farewell...along with his friend Tyler who is also entering the MTC on Wednesday.    It was one of the best sacrament meetings ever.  All 3 speakers were great and the musical number was beautiful.

His topic was "Developing Christ Like Attributes".  He started out by speaking a few words of Chinese and had everyone's attention right from the start.

We actually have 3 missionaries from our ward entering the MTC this week.  Another friend, Corbin, is actually going to the same mission as Chris.  It is very unusual for 3 from the same ward to go in on the same day, but it is even more unusual for 2 of them to be going to the same mission!

We are so excited for all of them!

Mission Announcement in the Daily Herald

You can see Chris' Mission announcement here.