The First Week

The first week of our mission has gone by so quickly. We arrived at our apartment on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. It was bitter cold. Rebecca Patterson had arranged for two Elders from our branch to meet us there to help unload the car. The apartment is really nice. Everything is new and clean. Well, the kitchen is clean but not new. Drawers stick, a burner on the stove doesn't work, and the water pressure is low. But it is so pretty. The bathroom is remodeled. The bedroom is big, the new bed is comfortable, the three big windows in the living room and window in the kitchen give us great views of the city and mountains. A new sofa was delivered Wednesday, and we finally gave up on the "free" high speed internet in the building and subscribed to comcast for basic cable TV and internet since we have found out from the neighbors that the signal doesn't go beyond the third floor here. The building is very quaint and pretty with a big lobby all done in marble and glass with chandeliers. Even the elevators are all mirrored which is great to make sure we look good when we head out in the mornings.
Parking has been a nightmare. The landlady wasn't forthcoming about parking. Turns out we are 5th on a list to get into the multi-level parking garage behind us that will cost $50 a month. The mission office has been working tirelessly to help us find parking, unsuccessfully. So we are playing the parking meter shuffle. We wouldn't have signed the lease if we had known, but oh well, there wasn't anywhere else for us to go anyway.
We began Monday, Jan. 5th, with a luncheon on the mezanine level of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was beautiful and delicious! We got to meet lots of people, were introduced, and the mission presidency spoke. We began our orientation and training. We had to have our pictures taken, a group picture, and then individual pictures for our security badges.
All the new missionaries in this mission receive the same two-week training on the computer in PAF and New.Familysearch. It is really fun. I can't believe how much I am learning. Each one of us has an individual trainer one-on-one for the entire day. We have snack breaks in the morning. Lunch is fun. We can go through the underground parking garage/tunnel to the Church Office Building (called the COB as in Corn on the...) cafeteria for a huge array of food lines including grill, salad, entree, pasta, taco, dessert, etc. etc. and the food is VERY cheap! There is also a new Nauvoo Cafe off the lobby of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (called the JSMB) which has delicious soups, pot pies, sandwiches, salads, and desserts. It's NOT cheap.

Nancy is singing in the Women's Choir which meets at 6:15 a.m. (yes, A.M.) on Thursdays and Mondays when we sing for devotionals. We meet on the stand in the choir seats in the beautiful chapel in the JSMB. The director is exceptional. Maybe my singing voice can come back.

Yesterday Jason and Hy-eine (Sorry, I can never remember how to spell her name.) came to see us after taking Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathy to the airport for their trip to their mission in Vanuatu. We went to lunch at the Macaroni Grill and just had a great visit. Hy-eine is being sworn in as an American citizen on Tuesday! We are so proud of her.

I made my first outing to venture into parts of Salt Lake unknown. I went to a super-Target in Fort Union for some groceries, coat hangers, universal remote, etc. Got a little lost, but lost is good because then I learn new places. Today we will go to Church for the first time in our new Branch. Time to quit playing and go do my hair and get dressed.