First Day as Missionaries

We've been married for thirty-three years and have always looked forward to serving together as full time missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This year we felt like the time was right. Yes, it is hard to leave children and grandchildren, but thank goodness for video chat, texting, etc. so we can stay in contact.

Today we entered the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, UT with about 120 other "senior" missionaries. There are  about 1500 young missionaries here too. It was amazing to hear all the different types of missions the seniors have been called to: health advisor, gardening, family history, farm, historical sites, member and leader support, mission office support, document preservation, and more.

The trainers pointed out to us that even though we all have vastly different assignments, we are all going to be trained for the first week on the same material. All of it focusing on our common purpose as missionaries. For each one of us, in whatever assignment, our purpose is to:

Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

We are so grateful to have an opportunity to focus on this purpose for 18 months as missionaries in Taiwan. Learning about Christ and the principles and ordinances of his Gospel, and making covenants and participating in and serving in His church have blessed us so much and we hope to facilitate others being able to choose to have similar opportunities!