Post #8 - On our Way...FINALLY!

What an exciting time we've had these past two weeks!
         On Monday, Feb. 2, 2015, we entered the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah

Sister & Elder Dolberg are here standing at the front door of the Mission Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah ready to take that next step into the next 18 months of their lives.  What an ADVENTURE!

to get 5 days of training with other Senior Missionaries who were soon to be headed off to various parts of the world, to countries in Africa, Europe, and Asia such as Mongolia and Korea.  We, on the other hand, were not going that far, as our Family and Church History Church Headquarters Mission is located in Salt Lake City, about 30 miles from our home in Herriman, Utah.

Elder & Sister Dolberg are pointing to "their" mission The Family & Church History Church Headquarters Mission" located in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Note that the maps shows all of the missions of the Church throughout the whole world.

      Each day in the MTC we had classes to teach us how to be effective, benevolent missionaries.  In the mornings we had lessons from this pair of crazy BYU students, Elder McCarthy and Elder Hawkes, who had each previously served a mission in Scottland/Ireland and Korea respectively.  

Elder McCarthy served in the Scotland/Ireland Mission and knew our Davis, Calif. friends David & Elaine Bylund who also served there.  Elder Hawkes served in Korea.  Standing at approx. 6'4" he probably towered over most of the Koreans.

         In the afternoons we met with this great group of senior missionaries and were taught by Sister Anderson and Sister Sharp.

Back to Front, Left to Right = Elder & Sister Croshaw, Elder & Sister Hansen, Elder & Sister Clark, Elder & Sister Dolberg with Sister Anderson and Sister Sharp seated in front.

     In the evenings we went back to our apartment in Provo, Utah in a housing complex near the MTC to study our lessons for the next day.

Elder Dolberg was studying our "training manual" called Preach My Gospel when Sister Dolberg snapped this picture.

       During our breaks when we had more than an hour at a time, we took the opportunity to walk in the "neighborhood" around the Provo Utah Temple, which is just a couple of blocks from the MTC.

Groundbreaking for the Provo Temple was on Sept. 15, 1969 and it was dedicated by the Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith on 9th of February 1972.  It is the 15th operating temple in the Church.

One evening we even attended the temple.

One evening we even got the chance to attend a session in the Temple.  The Provo Temple is often considered the busiest temple in the Church since it serves such large numbers including not only the local population of Provo but also the nearly 2,500 at the  MTC and the 30,000 students who attend BYU too!

         It was a great experience to meet the other missionaries who were soon to go out to the four corners of earth, and to receive instructions from many great leaders.
        On Friday, Feb. 6, 2015, we made the BIG move from Provo to SLC into our new apartment in Salt Lake City, Just one block away from Temple Square.

This is the living room of our small apartment. Bonnie especially enjoys reading her scriptures (see them on the table) while sitting in the big lounge chair.

         Our apartment is in a complex called the Garden Apartments.  Ours is a small, one-bedroom furnished apartment which is quite nice and cozy.
        The next day after moving into our apartment, we took the opportunity to help a pair of our new fellow missionaries, Elder and Sister Smith (Roger & Marilyn) from Leicester, England to get to know the area.  

Elder & Sister Smith stand with Sister & Elder Dolberg in front of the Salt Lake Temple.  Elder & Sister Smith are a delightful couple who are now serving their THIRD mission together!

          On Sunday Feb. 8, 2015, we went to church in our new Ensign 3rd Branch, which consists of half of the 500 senior missionaries in our mission.  Our special branch of the church meets in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB), the former Hotel Utah. It is a gorgeous building.

This building which was originally constructed in the 1900s opened its doors as Hotel Utah in 1911.
Now no longer a hotel, the major renovation
completed in 1993 turned the building into place
for community and church functions.

        The chapel for our church meetings are in this building is very ornate inside and quite different from most LDS chapels.

The eleven story building was designed by the Los Angeles architechural firm of Parkinson and Bergstron in 1909 in the Second Renaissance revival style.

     The women's Relief Society meets in the Empire Room and is said to be the most elegant Relief Society Room in the church!

The Empire Room in the JSMB. If ever any meeting gets boring, there is plenty to delight the eye by just looking about the room.

       The men's meeting place for Priesthood is a nicely appointed room but less elegant than the one for the ladies. 

This is a view of the foyer. The statue is of Joseph Smith, Jr. and is nine feet five inches tall, weighing 3,950 pounds.

       On Monday, Feb. 8, 2015, we began two weeks of training (we've just now finished the 1st week).  Our training is in the JSMB.  We just love being in this beautiful building.  

          Some of our classes were held on the 10th floor of this building, the JSMB, from where we had gorgeous views of the surroundings including the Church Office Building (COB) and the Salt Lake Temple.  The view at 7:20 a.m. is quite beautiful.  We see this daily as we arrive for classes.

After 40 years of construction this temple was dedicated by the Prophet Wilford Woodruff on April 6, 1893.  It stands on 10 acres which constitute Temple Square.

       In addition to some general classes, most days our training this past week consisted of several hours of one-on-one training with an assigned Trainer to learn about the church's Family History website called "Family Search". (YOU can see YOU own family history by going to FamilySearch.com and registering for a personal account. DO IT!  You'll be tickled at what you find there.  We guarantee it!)
       Elder Dolberg researched his family line.

Sister Dolberg researched her family line and discovered wonderful stories and data about her ancestors.  

It has been very enlightening to learn more about our ancestors as we have done research online.  By the way, we now use our assigned titles as we work on "Campus". (Campus is the term used to refer to all of the buildings immediately surrounding the Salt Lake Temple - i.e. the environs of Temple Square.)
           During the week we also learned more about our mission which has approx. 500 full-time missionaries - numerically the largest in the Church with an additional 600 or so part-time service missionaries.  The leaders said that they "need" somewhere around 200 to 300 additional missionaries to keep things going.  The work is ever rapidly increasing.
       Area-wise ours is the 2nd smallest mission in the Church, consisting of just the few blocks around Temple Square, the "Campus".  (The smallest mission area-wise in the Church is Temple Square itself - only one square block - where exclusively the Sister Missionaries work.)
        We have found that one of the major advantages of this mission in which we now serve is the opportunity to attend the many cultural events around Temple Square - e.g. concerts, plays, movies, lecture series, etc.  During these first training weeks we have Saturdays and Sundays free to go wherever and to do whatever we need to get done, such as drive home to Herriman to check our mail, do our laundry, etc.
          As of today Feb. 16, 2015, we have one more week of training before we are given our individual assignments to work in one of the 20 zones of the mission.  Some of the zones work in the Church History Library (CHL) while others work in the Family History Library (FHL) or in the auxiliary FHL located in the JSMB.

Here Sister & Elder Dolberg pose in front of a mural showing the New York harbor where so many of our ancestors entered America along with cargo crates from the Old World.

       After we get our new assignment this coming Friday (can you feel the SUSPENSE ?), we'll have more training in the specifics of what we will be doing for the next 18 months.  Be sure to check our Blog again soon to find our where we will be working and what we will be doing, OK?
          So far we have enjoyed our training and we feel we are blessed to have great teachers and fine fellow missionaries as our friends.  We are happy to have this chance to serve our fellow men and to devote ourselves to our Lord.  Please see this video to get a glimpse of what in general we will be doing.