Long-Time Friends

Today was a great day for Max.
We learned two special friends were in the area and we spent some time with them on Saturday morning. They are the Marcovs (Alan and Joyce). They were teenagers of a special branch president back in Welland, Ontario when Max was on his mission.
Alan's wife volunteers at the MTC and Alan is a District President for the Italian missionaries. We ran into his wife on Wednesday and she set up this meeting. Joyce lives in Salt Lake and drove down to Orem today. It was fun to talk about old times.
We had gone to their parent's home in Canada several times when we lived in Michigan. Their parents were wonderful people! It is so touching to find that people you knew years ago are still strong in the gospel and doing so many good things in the world. I hope these are the kinds of reunions we'll have in heaven someday.
Photo: Alan Marcov, his sister, Joyce and Elder Max

I think we passed!

We just wanted to be sure you know where we are going!
No time for fishing or Battlefield. This is serious stuff.
The new elders coming in on Wednesday. And they did get their dork dots.
Our MTC district
The traditional thing to do when you come to the MTC.
The flowers are beautiful this time of year.
More beautiful flowers and a handsome elder.
I'll try to write more on the blog when we actually get to Ghana and have some experiences we want to share. The MTC has been a great learning experience. We think every church member should come for a week even if they never serve a mission. It will make them a better member.
Love to all!

On Our Way

We have been staying with Doug and Taunie for the last three days. The girls were happy to have us finally come and spend the night at their house.


We were set apart on Sunday, September 16th by President John Henry of the Roy Utah Central Stake. We were pleased to have Brother Swain, Bishop Mendoza and Brother Schuenman join with us. (President Henry is on the right.)

Two days to go

Yesterday we turned off the water in our house and closed everything up. We will go to our ward tomorrow and then leave for the MTC on Monday morning. We will be there for a week and then fly to Ghana the following Monday. We will be happy to be on our way and finally doing what we've planned for so long to do.

This is a test

This is a test to see if I can use my thumb drive to put things on our blog. Our bags are out and being used to store items we want to be sure not to forget.

Ten Weeks To Go

The time is quickly passing as we try to get things ready to leave for our mission. We have most of our shots, clothing and other supplies. Now we are just trying to get everything taken care of as far as our house is concerned. Much of that will be last minute work.

We have spent the last two months visiting with family and saying our good-byes. We had Mark's family here for Memorial Day. We went to Boise to help Greg and Sally move into their new home and to celebrate Ethan's birthday. We flew to Costa Rica with Brian and his family. We had a fun time in the tropical rain forests of the Quepos area. We helped Brad get his belongings packed and moved to the Wilkes Barre area of Pennsylvania. After he was moved in and settled, we flew on to Alabama to see Dave and his family. Brian and his family come today and will spend some time with us at the cabin. It is nice to make some memories that will help us when we are feeling a bit homesick in Ghana.

We heard on the radio while we were in Pennsylvania that oil had been discoverd offshore in Ghana. That could prove to be an interesting challenge for the country. The wealth could do so much good if they can find a way to not just line the pockets of political leaders. I hope they can use the money to build roads, power systems and phone grids. Giving all children the opportunity to attend school could be such a blessing for the whole country. It will be an interesting time to be there.

We learned that our new mission president is Joseph Wayne Brockbank. He is a business professor from Michigan State University. He is presently serving in Nigeria and will transfer over to the Ghana Accra Mission the first of July. We are looking forward to serving with him.

The Call

On Wednesday, April 25, 2007, we received a large white envelope in the mail from the First Presidency of the church. We thought about trying to get the whole family online at once to hear where we were going, but decided to just open it ourselves. Pat did the official reading which said,
"Dear Elder Max and Sister Pat: You are hereby called to serve as missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Ghana Accra Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months.
You should report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah on Monday, 17 September 2007. Your mission president may modify your specific assignment according to the needs of the mission."

We were happy to accept the call. We feel strongly that it is where we need to be. Since that time we have been busy getting lists made and starting to put things in a box.

Getting a visa is an interesting experience. It will just be a three-month tourist visa, so it will have to be renewed five times while we are gone. Yesterday we went to Wallmart and got 56 passport photos. Before we got home, we wished we'd just had Brad do it for us. We also had to get clearance from our police department saying we were not criminals. We had to make copies of all our dipolmas, awards, certificates and such. We even had to produce two copies of our marriage license. (It has been interesting, but at least they know we are upright citizens and won't become a burden on their country.)

We are hoping to be able to update this blog while in Ghana. We will just have to wait and see.

Thursday, March 29, 2007
Today is the day our mission papers should have been sent to Church Headquarters in Salt Lake. We will have to wait about three weeks to see where we will be sent. It will be nice to have a place and a date so we can finally start to make some plans. We are excited and a little apprehensive at the same time. I just have to keep telling myself "It isn't about me." Wherever I go and whatever I do will be just fine. I just want to serve and the time is right.