We had the opportunity to spend five days in the Missionary Training Center. It was a great experience that included focused instruction and practical application of the principles found in Preach My Gospel. We made new friends and met a variety of people with some amazing backgrounds. There were plenty of spiritual experiences through devotionals, instruction, and simply being around approximately 1,200 young missionaries.
At the Missionary Training Center we were divided into groups. The picture below includes the four couples in our district as well as two of our three trainers. The trainers were great and everyone in the group worked very well together. One couple was heading to Mongolia to teach English in a school. Another couple was called to the Congo where they will be serving in the mission office. The third couple was assigned to the Family History Center in Salt Lake City. Florida and the Good Ole USA sounded really good to us!
After meetings in Provo on February 9 and Salt Lake on February 11, we began our 2,700 mile trip to Florida on February 12 arriving at our destination on February 16.
We are living in Gainesville, Florida home of the University of Florida. We are involved in a pilot program that brings together Family Search, Internet Archives (a nonprofit organization) and the University of Florida in an effort to digitize and then make available through the internet many volumes of books in the University's library with significant genealogical value. People from all three organizations are excited to have us on board.
Our mission, Florida Jacksonville, is also one of approximately twenty-five missions church wide involved in a pilot program using social media to spread the gospel. Our missionaries are really excited about the results they are seeing.
