Our senior missionary office staff greets the newest arrivals with open arms and warm smiles. They have been preparing for these youngsters for months! They know the missionary's names and pictures, their histories and their travel arrangements. They have coordinated apartments and cars and medical cards and living allowances. These delightful senior volunteers are the backbone of this mission's operation, and we could not function a day without them! Sister Deyhle, Sister Miller, Elder Sansom and Elder Linder are all glad to see the bus arrive.
Up the sidewalk comes the luggage and into the building. Our outgoing Assistant to the President, Elder Evans, pulls the first suitcase inside.
Not too far behind Elder Evans is Elder Salisbury, who will be taking over as the Senior Assistant to the President by the end of this day.
Our first new missionary, with a great big smile!
Elder John, from the Marshall Islands.
Elder Isaksen from Norway.
Elder Espinoza from California.
Sister Scannell from Texas.
Elder Fili from Tonga.
Elder Dreiling from Florida.
Elder Larson from Ohio.
Elder Wimber from Arizona.
Sister Anitema from New Zealand.
Sister Feinga from Tonga.
Even President Winn gets a piece of the action.
Even President Winn gets a piece of the action.
Elder Hill from Washington.
Elder Hancock from Arizona.
Elder Ramos from Brazil.
Elder Wheeler from Tennessee.
Once inside, the first order of business is to meet everyone and have some breakfast!
After breakfast, there are some administrative tasks that need to be accomplished. Each missionary is interviewed briefly by President Winn. Sister Winn tries to collect medical information and find out who can play the piano. Each missionary writes a letter home to their parents, which goes something like this:
Dear mom and dad,
We made it from the Provo MTC to the Utah Salt Lake City Mission Office safely. It was an arduous journey of about 40 miles up I-15. Here is a picture of me with my new mission president and his wife. I have no idea what is in store for me, but I'm really excited to get on with it! See you in two years!
We made it from the Provo MTC to the Utah Salt Lake City Mission Office safely. It was an arduous journey of about 40 miles up I-15. Here is a picture of me with my new mission president and his wife. I have no idea what is in store for me, but I'm really excited to get on with it! See you in two years!
Your loving missionary
When everything at the office has been completed, the new missionaries all head over to the transfer building, where the seasoned Elders and Sisters have congregated. I'm sure they watch in disbelief, wondering what exactly is going on. They will figure it all out in about six weeks. A couple of hours later, they are back at the mission office, where they will find out who their trainer and new companion will be. It's an exciting time, followed by lunch, and then they are sent out to the streets of Salt Lake City, doing what they've been learning how to do, being a missionary.
Sister Feinga will be trained by Sister Larsen.
Sister Scannell will be trained by Sister McDonnell.
Sister Scannell will be trained by Sister McDonnell.
Sister Anderson will train Sister Anitema.
Elder Ramsey will train Elder Fili.
Elder Tubio is happy to meet his new son, Elder Espinoza.
Elder Gonzalez and Elder Dreiling seem to be getting along just fine!
Elder Fuentes will be training Elder Larson.
Elder Avery is going to show Elder Hancock how it's done in Wyoming!
Elder Vogt and Elder Hill look enough alike to be brothers.
Or maybe identical twins.
These two Scandinavians were pretty excited to be companions!
Elder Lindquist will be training Elder Isaksen.
Elder Mattei will be training Elder John.
Drum roll please.....President Winn announces
These two Scandinavians were pretty excited to be companions!
Elder Lindquist will be training Elder Isaksen.
Elder Mattei will be training Elder John.
Drum roll please.....President Winn announces
that Elder Wheeler will be trained by.....
Elder Walker - who is very excited...
...but way too cool to ever admit it!
Elder Sorensen will work with Elder Wimber in the Nepali program.
Elder Jorgensen will train Elder Ramos.
Followed by a fabulous lunch!
Our freshman class, June 1, 2011:
Elder Walker - who is very excited...
...but way too cool to ever admit it!
Elder Sorensen will work with Elder Wimber in the Nepali program.
Elder Jorgensen will train Elder Ramos.
Followed by a fabulous lunch!
Our freshman class, June 1, 2011:Elder Hancock, Elder Hill, Elder Wimber, Elder Wheeler, Elder Fili, Elder John, Elder Isaksen, Elder Ramos, Elder Larson, Elder Dreiling, Elder Espinoza, Sister Scannell, Sister Anitema and Sister Feinga
Thanks sooo much for posting the pictures of all the new missionaries arriving. We are excited that our son can serve in the Salt Lake City mission. It looks like he will be serving together with some awesome people. It was fun to see them all on your blog.
ReplyDeleteJeanne Isaksen
I felt as though I were there as I looked at all the photos of our son and his fellow companions. Thank you for sharing the arrival of the missionaries.
ReplyDeleteThank you soooo much for posting these photos. My son said you had some great pictures of Martins Cove. I can't wait! Thanks for all you do and for loving my son.
ReplyDeleteDebbie Hancock. (Elder David Hancock's mom)