Christmas Week

On Tuesday Elder Archibald and I drove down to the MTC for a devotional. We have been missing the special spirit that we felt during the week we stayed there. Tonight Elder Neal L. Anderson spoke to us. His wife spoke first and then they had their grandchildren sing a medley of Christmas songs. This is one thing I have been missing--children. One thing that Elder Anderson told us was "Things that have value have to be paid for in advance." He talked about knowing Christ and that it comes by degrees. How appropriate at this time of year.
On Christmas morning Elder Perry and his wife were the guests. Before they spoke 2 sisters performed Mary's Lullaby. It was so beautiful. Sister Perry reminded us to remember the "Hope of the Babe." Elder Perry told us that our Christmas at the MTC and our next Christmas will always be special for us as we teach about families and the gospel. It was special. The Perry family shared Christmas scriptures and then they spent the day with the missionaries for lunch. We came back to Tricia's .
In the evening we went back to the MTC. Greg Olsen was the guest speaker. I have always loved his paintings but now have even a greater appreciation for them. I picked this picture because of the shepherd. Brother Olsen told as a young boy they herded sheep by driving them and hoping they would go where they wanted them to go. He said as an adult he went to the Holy Land and there he saw shepherds who led their sheep. The sheep knew the shepherd voice and followed him. I am reminded of when we had sheep and the sheep knew Merle's voice and would come or follow him. The Savior is our shepherd and I pray that we can all follow him.

More of Our Week

These are the young missionaries that are coming to our Mission. Sister Inman from Bountiful and Elder Sharkey from Glendale. They get to fly out today the 21st and we were wishing that we could fly too.
This is a representation of missionaries going throughout the world to preach the gospel. We do not have all of their energy but we love the gospel.
Between the Wilford Woodruff Building and The Bookstore was a display of Christmas lights. It was so beautiful. We hope to also go to Temple Square while we are waiting. I love the lights at Christmas time.
On Tuesday when we went to the Post Office I heard a loud squealing "Elder Archibald". I wondered who on earth Merle(Oops Elder Archibald) knew now. The young lady came whirling out of the post office and threw her arms around me and it was Heather Burt. What a wonderful thing to see and visit with her.

Our Week At the MTC

Last week we spent an awesome time at the Missionary Training Center.(MTC) We arrived Monday morning shortly after 10:00 a.m. and were directed to our room where we dropped off the luggage and began the process. It had been slushy so we were careful where we walked. This is me on the way to training. We don't even have our badges yet.

The above picture is Merle(Elder Archibald) on the sidewalk as we headed to our first class. We don't even have our badges yet. He still looks fresh off the farm. We were about to begin our adventure. We entered a room and went to Sister Prestwich first. She showed us how to put on our badges--over the left side because we serve with all our heart, might and mind. We met Elder and Sister Buchanan who are called to serve during the week so each Monday they greet a new batch of Senior Missionaries and spend time with us through the week and try to make us comfortable. We met with a nurse who recorded our shots and then with someone who would answer any questions and then finally with a woman who gave us a packet that we needed to go to the bookstore to get. I think by now it was nearly lunch so we went to the MTC Bookstore and back to the large room and put down our books. Then we had lunch.