MTC Part 2

view from our room

Our housing at the MTC included a simple hotel-style room with a functional shower/bathroom but no television.  Our room had a great view of the temple and the mountains, which brought great joy whenever we looked out.  There was a well equipped gym in the basement of our building, which also houses the bookstore and infirmary.



At the MTC cafeteria, there are no special meals for seniors.  The same foods that the young missionaries enjoy are available, and the unlimited and varied food offerings can be too much, even though they also have sensible things like a wrap bar.  A real treat was the legendary BYU mint nut brownies:  We had planned to walk down to the Creamery for one, but they showed up for dessert at dinner a few nights.  And we couldn't eat even one together--so rich and sweet.  Another special MTC signature dish breakfast is a sausage on a stick covered with a pancake.  In this case it was a chocolate chip pancake.

One of the great things about being out in Utah was the chance to visit with family and friends who we don't see often due to so many miles away. This picture is in front of the famous mural where Jesus Christ commissions his disciples to take the Good News of the Gospel to all the world.  We are with our online tutor, who has been working with us on the Indonesian language since October.  We had dinner with one of the missionaries who served during Sanford's first mission and met with us during our tutoring.  We visited some of Sanford's cousins on both side of the family, including Sunday dinner with Dixon and Susan Woodbury.  We enjoyed time at the Bean Museum with the insect collection curator, who had been on the insect collecting trip when Sanfored and I first met.


The night before we were scheduled to leave for Indonesia, it started snowing.  I had been fearing such cold weather all week, but it was not horribly cold until then, although we were wearing gloves and jackets whle locals were jogging in short-sleeved shirts.  We had a snowy walk down to the Bean Museum.  Then Sanford got his last hepatitis immunization, and we walked across the MTC to work with the young missionaries who are training in Indonesian.  There are 7 elders and 4 sisters, and they are coming along well.  We did role-playing with them.

After that we boxed up our cold-weather gear and mailed it back to Florida before catching the shuttle to the airport.