Last day in the MTC!

I've always found that when you don't write at the end of the day, chances are that you (I) won't remember all that I wanted.  It's a good thing I took some notes.

For our "guess what" moment. Craig thought he recognized a really tall (6'4") man who looked familiar. I don't think we ever go anywhere that he doesn't recognize someone. Craig saw the name tag and felt he might have some knowledge of a man we knew in our very first ward by that name. When he asked, this man was a half-brother of the one we knew. You may have heard me tell the story that we once knew a man and his wife who were both really tall and overall pretty big. Anyway, one night at a Church social, their little girl (about 5 or 6 years old) announced to everyone that her mommy was going to have a baby in a few weeks. We all tried to glance her way without being obvious because no one even knew she was pregnant. She has since passed away of diabetes, and he lives in a big house with all his children living around him. Again, a small world.  Sorry Katie, couldn't make a connection on your behalf, but we are going to Wisconsin and who knows who we will find there.  We did meet a couple who were going to Sierre Leone and had already had contact with Elder and Sister Kanzler who are looking for an apartment for them.

We were not as happy with our role practice in the morning. This same couple who I'm referring to above (the one Craig thought he knew) played a less active couple, and it didn't matter what we tried to say, they were going to stay less active. It turned out that they were playing the role of their adopted daughter and the daughter's husband. Craig and I did not seem to be on the same page, and afterward, we recognized the importance of being prepared to be going the same direction. I'm sure it will come with practice. At each practice session, we had a GTK (getting to know the people with whom we were meeting - someone said it is a good practice to "sit on the fence and watch the herd" meaning for us to just keep our mouths shut and listen to the investigator. Hear their hearts and don't be so quick to jump in with a solution.

We went back in and had a video of Elder Holland. There were several things that stood out to us:

At some point, Brigham Young was wondering what he should do (and I don't have the full context here), but he had a dream in which Joseph Smith came to him and he said, "follow the spirit." 

Elder Holland also talked about the Book of Mormon:  He stated that no wicked man could write such a book as this, and no good man would write it unless it was true!

Why does Satan want to discredit this book?  (a) to discredit Joseph Smith and (b) to discredit the doctrine.

He further stated that the Book of Mormon combined with the Spirit is the most powerful resource in conversion. We are not supposed to use the Bible to support the Book of Mormon. In another group meeting, the speaker was explaining how things have changed over the years. It used to be that the missionaries preached the Bible and how it supported the Book of Mormon. Now, we teach straight from the Book of Mormon.Prophets pray, receive revelations, write books, and may be called to die for it. This has been the pattern of prophets.

As Missionaries, we are on the Lord's errand. He has no intention of letting us fail. There are two names on our tags:  ours and Jesus Christ.  The Lord is infinitely capable of making use of us and helping us be successful. Missionaries must ask themselves if they left it better than it was when they came (give it your heart and soul), and did we use Preach My Gospel.  "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). We both felt the Spirit and are ready to go. We are still scared, but we know if we listen to the Spirit and watch continually, we can do His work.  

Left to right: the Bolos(Nashville/MIL RELATIONS); the Gardners(Legal Council- CARIBBEAN AREA PRESIDENCY and Brad Ivey's Uncle and Aunt); Us; the Jefferies(SIBERIA).

L-R Lenhards, Gardners, Bolos, Jefferies, and our trainer, Bro. Rowe

We left to go home at 3:15 on Friday. We went by the Missionary warehouse and Sister Missionary store to see what they had. My thinking was completely changed at the MTC about what the Sisters could wear on their missions. I did buy a pair of shoes (flats) to help me. I have to say, just like I have for years, I can't wear even little heeled shoes for long periods of time. My feet were killing me. Then we went by Wal-Mart and returned some exercise clothes we had bought at the beginning of the week that we thought we might actually use in the small gym at the Marriott. No such luck - just too tired at end of each day. It was encouraging that we were counseled to get out and exercise. At our age, it was important.

We got home around 5:00, and it was fun to see some of our grandbabies again as well as Beverly and Noel Luke. They got to stay until today. We feel blessed to have a wonderful family.  Your thoughts and prayers were felt by us. We were promised that you would be looked after while we served. I believe that.

Today, the Lenhard's here got visited by the Easter Bunny. It is nice to know the bunny has things in his basket such as books, coloring books, coins in the eggs, etc., and not just candy. I'm sorry our Easter Bunny didn't do that more. Course when you have a mom that grows up thinking candy is as good as money, it's hard not to buy out the store to fill the basket with what mom thinks is valuable. Like I have said before, your Easter Bunny will be smarter than ours was.

We have not done much except get our clothes cleaned to be repacked tomorrow. I'm looking around and will probably not pack much until tomorrow afternoon so I can decide whether we can fit much into the car. We will be like two old hillbillies driving down the road with stuff sticking out the windows and flapping in the wind.  hahaha  It's all good!

I am hoping that once we get to the Mission, we will have the time to write the grandkids once every week or at least twice a month. It's hard to come up with individual thoughts and ideas for each child. But, I'm thinking we will need to make certain nights for each set so that we only do a few at a time.  We'll figure it out.

We love you so much. As far as I'm concerned, I'll continue to write, since we are on our Mission.