Hurry Up and Wait

We thought that by this time we would be posting pictures of summer in the beautiful warm South Pacific to make you jealous while you're experiencing the coming of winter weather. Well, we're not! We're actually enjoying a beautiful fall and the coming of winter in the States ourselves - still!!

No word yet on our visas, and here we are now at Thanksgiving week. We had anticipated being long gone by now, but as long as we're still here, we're enjoying our stay in Utah and learning to relax and slow down a little (or a lot!) We try to go out walking nearly every morning in the neighborhood, frequently past the new

Oquirrh Mountain Temple that's nearing completion.

We ride bikes once in awhile,

go hiking up in the mountains,

roam around the valley a little,

go visit John's mom frequently, and

... spend time around his brother's house doing little honey-dos and cooking for the four of us. We've visited with missionaries we've known from the Houston Mission who are going to school and/or living here, dropped in on old acquaintences, and have even met the couple who will be going to New Guinea that we will be working with as part of our calling in Auckland. They're Tongan and actually know some of the same Polynesian people we do from past places we've lived. They were so excited to find out we'd lived in Samoa and have invited us over for some real Polynesian food this Saturday! We've never had so much free time and aren't quite sure how to handle it. Of course, it doesn't help that our laptop died, and it's been in the shop for almost two weeks. They finally told us it's not repairable, so we went out last night and replaced it. Boy, this has been an expensive mission, and we haven't even started it yet! We've gone from each of us having our own computer to four of us sharing one computer. Are we spoiled or what?! Having had no word on our visas, we have accepted an invitation to spend Thanksgiving with John's other brother in Orem. We hope everyone has an enjoyable Thanksgiving and that the next time you read this blog, we'll actually have some news!!

MTC Here and Gone....

We have just completed our stay at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. Our days there were filled with food, instruction, and insight. We gained in wisdom, knowledge, and weight. We found out upon our arrival that Air New Zealand will restrict us to 50 pounds less baggage than what Delta Airlines allows. So right of the bat we had to cull our things to reduce our weight. The first couple of days were spent in honing our teaching skills. We even had to present a couple of 45-minute lessons to a couple of older ladies. They were generous and kind, and the practice was quite beneficial.

We then spent two days in Salt Lake City learning about the Perpetual Education Fund, which we will be responsible for in the Pacific Islands. We really found that program to be inspiring and it was easy to catch a vision of how it can help these great people become more self-reliant.

The weather was beautiful and pleasant most of the time we were there, although I think we arrived at the peak of the fall color display. We took a couple of pictures, but they didn't capture the vivid colors and vast varieties that we enjoyed so much.

It started turning colder the second week we were there and even snowed one evening. But we were able to stay inside most of the time. We divided up for our training and instruction the second week. Diane's time was spent on learning about employment and professional placement program, which we will be responsible for. And my time was spent focusing on major Humanitarian Initiatives, such as wheelchair distribution, clean water projects, and Neonatal Resuscitation Training. I also spent a day going over Disaster Relief procedures.

Shortly after our arrival we learned that our visas had been sent to New Zealand for additional medical review. And then later we were told that I would have to have a current cardiac assessment, ECG, and stress test done before they would approve our visas. With alot of prayer I was able to get into see a cardiologist and complete all of the tests the same day we learned of the new requirements. So the additional information has now been sent to New Zealand for review. Needless to say, we are on "Visa Hold," pending approval.

My brother Kent graciously agreed to put us up in his home in South Jordan, Utah until our visas arrived. We expect that to take between 10 to 14 days, but could easily be more or less -- we just don't know. In the meantime we will continue to study about our future areas of responsibility and the cultures and people we are anxious to visit.