Completion of our MTC experience

On Friday, January 27, we finished our training at the MTC--what an amazing experience that was for us.  We made quick friends with our fellow YSA couples in our district and we'll miss them as they head out into different parts of the mission field.  We'll be serving in the Rome mission with Anziano and Sorella Denison, who've been assigned to Palermo for a couple of months before transferring to Napoli.  Elder and Sister Nichols will be serving in Baltimore, with the YSA wards there.  Elder and Sister Matheson are headed to Ottawa, Ontario.  The last YSA couple in our district is Elder and Sister Cottle, who will be just across the Adriatic from us in Tirana, Albania.

Today is our last day in Utah before we fly out tomorrow morning.  We're sad to leave our children, grandchildren, parents and good friends behind, but we're also very excited to go to Italy to serve our fellow brothers and sisters there.  The Lord had been good to us and we've been greatly blessed.  We hope we can be a means for the Lord to bless others through us.

Arrival at the Missionary Training Center

 We arrived at the MTC on Monday morning along with 100 or so other senior missionaries.  Most were assigned to either the "Member and Leader Support" or "Military Relations" categories.  Just five of us missionary couples are assigned as "Young Single Adult" missionaries, and the five of us YSA couples were put together in the same MTC district.  Also in our district is Elder and Sister Denison, who will be serving with us in Rome as YSA missionaries.  Their assignment is to Palermo for four months then they will transfer to Napoli to be the first YSA couple there.

During the lunch break with all the missionaries here at the MTC, we found a group of young Elders and Sisters going to Rome with us.  What a delight to meet them.  We look forward to serving along side them!

As disciples of Christ, Liz and I are ever grateful for this opportunity to serve as full-time missionaries.  We will miss our family and friends, but we're thrilled to serve our dear brothers and sisters in the Puglia  region of Italy.