MTC Open House

When Danny heard that the MTC (Missionary Training Center) was going to have an open house to show off the new addition, he made sure to set an alarm for when tickets became available online. He was ready right when the time came, and was able to get tickets for our family and for the youth in our ward. And it was good that he was so on top of things, because those tickets went fast!

We were so excited to do this for Family Home Evening. Danny was excited to go back and see the MTC again, I was excited to see it at all! And our family always loves any reason to head to Provo. :)   We had the last tickets of the day, and traffic made our arrival a little stressful. But we got on the bus from the parking lot right in the knick of time.

We were greeted by a couple of sister missionaries right upon entering the MTC. They introduced themselves, told us where they were from and where they were heading. They let us know the purpose of the MTC, how many missionaries were there, etc. Then we were pretty much set out on our own! There was a designated path to walk along, but it was basically a self-guided tour. We got to walk through a bit of the cafeteria, and we all kept our eyes out for Tali's friend, JB. We didn't see him though. :( We saw dorm rooms (which Danny promptly pointed out were bigger than his were), and classrooms (which he also pointed out were bigger than his were...and his didn't have windows.) The kids and I were enthralled, and Danny was nostalgic. It was so neat! That was the old building, and not a lot of changes had been made there. But then we walked out of that building towards the new part of the campus...and we were blown away. It was so gorgeous! We noticed the flags first. Every country that has missionaries in it is represented through a rotation of the flags. So cool. There were plenty of tables and chairs outside, and I love the pennants hanging that had Christlike attributes displayed on them. The whole place was just amazing! As we went through the new buildings, the color and decor was so bright and calming. We watched a short movie about missionaries and the purpose of missionary work. It was a wonderful tour, and Johnny and Claire couldn't stop talking about "when I come here" and "when I go on my mission". Sophie was a little more reserved and ambivalent about the prospect of serving a mission...which I totally get. I was just like that. Still, it made Danny and I happy to see the kids' enthusiasm.

At the end of the tour, we discovered the line to get on the busses was quite long. We decided we weren't that far from the parking lot at the stadium, so we decided to walk. As we were walking, it was decided that a few of us needed a restroom. We were passing by the Bean Museum on campus, so we stopped there to use the restrooms and let the kids play while Danny ran back to get the car. We all LOVED the Bean Museum! Joey was especially in heaven with all the animal displays. And Danny particularly liked all of President Boyd K. Packer's wood carvings...which were really quite breathtaking. 

Right as we were getting ready to leave, we heard an announcement that they were doing a live animal demonstration. We had to go! I still remember going to the Bean Museum as a little girl and getting to hold Rosie, the python. Unfortunately, there were no pythons in this demonstration. And it did last a LOT longer than we thought! It was more of a class, and the kids loved every minute of it. I was getting stressed by how late it was, and we still hadn't eaten dinner yet. But the kids weren't willing to leave early! And they were rewarded by getting to pet a snake at the end. :)

We ended up getting a very late dinner at Dickey's, and getting home WAY later than we had planned. But it was absolutely worth every minute! Best. Family Night. Ever!

Danny went back a few days later with the youth of our ward. I was so bummed that during our tour I had passed right by the big world map, so I asked Danny to get a picture for me of him pointing to his mission in Paraguay. He lovingly obliged. He's good like that. :) Danny said it was a great night with the youth!

What a wonderful church this is! I love all the opportunities we have living so close to the headquarters of the Church, and we try to take advantage of every one we can. Because every tim we do, our testimonies are strengthened and we are blessed. :)