Training begins

Is this MTC thing great or what? They put us in the Marriott executive tower.

Thirty senior couples arrived this week, half of last week’s total. They are expecting 900 young missionaries on Wednesday. Our group includes two senior single sisters. About half of us are CES, but we are the only ones going to New York. One couple in our group is CES in Mozambique. The MTC mission president teased a couple called to El Paso that it is not the end of the world, but you can probably see it from there. Many of the couples will serve as military liaisons. It seemed that most of them are retired servicemen. The MTC matron spoke during the afternoon orientation. She explained that there were three types of transgression: Sins of commission, sins of omission and sins of nomission.

We met the Walkers, a missionary couple that worked with James in the Düsseldorf Institute. They are trainers in the MTC now explaining different way to incorporate proselyting techniques in our institute programs. Food is apparently a critical component, so Stefanie is vindicated in her decision to load the Kitchen-Aid mixer in the car trunk.

Arrival at MTC

The dynamic nature of the surge is evident everywhere. Housing at the Marriott Hotel is one example. All of our campus activities were smoothly conducted, but the administrators frequently noted evolving changes, including some experimental actions. They described tomorrow evening’s fireside at the Marriott Center as a “first.” They said that it is the only venue large enough to accommodate everyone. We have been asked to bring our manuals and marking pencils. They mentioned that this requirement is also new. This is an exciting time to be in the mission field.