The MTC Experience

The 12 days while here have been a whirlwind of wonderful uplifting and inspiring experiences everyday. We had the opportunity to hear from one of the Apostles Elder Richard G Scott who spoke at the Marriott Center to the missionaries. He gave an apostolic blessing that as those who were attempting to learn a foreign language faithfully studied and had faith , they would have the ability to learn the language. That is especially comforting and reassuring as learning Indonesian has been a challenge. He also said that everything good in his life is a result of having served a mission. For me (Lonnie) having served a mission was a tremendous experience. It has provided a foundation for much of the rest of my life in innumerable ways. To one day go on a mission with my spouse was a long sought dream. It now has become a reality. Now we will be able to share together the ups and downs, the good, and challenges of mission life together.
Week One at the MTC has been training on 'Preach My Gospel,' we have had the opportunity to practice as a companionship in teaching investigators. We are trying really hard to learn better the art of listening more and talking less. It is not easy.
Week Two has been quite the experience learning of the breath and depth of the Church's humanitarian efforts. $84 million dollars was spent in 2012 throughout the world. With no strings attached. All in an effort to relieve the pain and suffering of mankind. I asked the question'" If we are asked why are we doing this, what should we say?" The response, "We are doing what we believe the Savior would do, if he were here."  The money  seems like a lot, but compared to the magnitude of the needs that exist, there isn't enough money and resources available. So much of the training has been on how to help people help themselves. The old adage rings true: Give a man a fish and you help him for a day, teach him how to fish and you help him for a lifetime. We are trying to learn how to identify needs and work with the local people in  helping them identify solutions that will have lasting effect. The natural inclination is to see a need, and we come up with a solution. What works in America may not work in Indonesia. There is lots to learn!!!

 Tour of welfare square in Salt Lake City as part of our Humanitarian Training

 There is Indonesia. 17,000  islands and 238 million people. We will be leaving Friday August 23rd.

 The army of missionaries leaving the Marriott Center following the talk by Elder Scott. It was a site to behold. To see all these young men and women collectively focused on a desire to serve the Savior and devote the next 18 to 24 months of service throughout the world. Where else would you see anything like this in the world?

Just a few more days and we will be off to Indonesia.

 On the last day before leaving we had the opportunity to go to the Provo temple. What a wonderful experience all of this has been. And to close it out with the temple. The pinnacle of our faith and believe that everything is eternal. That one day we will be able to live together with our loved ones with our Heavenly Father.

Saying goodbye has been the most difficult part of our missionary preparation. Every time it is emotional. We have often thought of our pioneer ancestors and their leaving on missions for 2-5 years at a time. Often leaving the spouse to provide everything for the family and little means of communication except for a letter that may take months to arrive. That said, it is still difficult for us. This is our last goodbye just before leaving for the airport. We had the opportunity to visit with Cami (our daughter), while she was attending education week at BYU.

We actually stuck a 'Hello' among our good-byes! We had the joy of welcoming into our wonderful family a new little granddaughter, Makenna Ann Lucherini, was born just two days before departure, on Wed. around 5:15 pm. Kyle and Kayla sent us a few sweet pictures of her which we treasure. We also got to Skype with them while they were still in the hospital and that was great. But of course it only made me want to fly right out to California to hold her. She is another blessing to us.




Next stop:  Indonesia
ARE WE THERE YET????????? A very long flight, first to LA and then on to Hong Kong, we flew through the night, tried to get some sleep, but we did survive. My feet got quite swollen, that has never happened to me before, they were a bit uncomfortable. We had about a 3 hour layover in Hong Kong, I tried to put up my feet, it didn't help a whole lot, then on to Indonesia. I wish we would have gotten some pictures of the airport, I think we both were so tired that we didn't even think about anything but getting our luggage and heading for a bed. The airport was easy to get through but we had a nice wait wait for our luggage. I had my first conversation in Indonesian to a Indonesian lady on the plane however, it was fun. She was very patient with my slow speaking.
Elder Healy, who we are replacing, picked us up.