Tuesday, May 20, 2008

10 YEARS

I just had to quickly give a quick "shout out" to all those who started on one of life's greatest adventure with me 10 years ago today. May 20, 1998 I entered the MTC, called to serve in the Taiwan, Taipei mission. Before that day, I was scared to death of all that the future held. It was the unknown. But, once my family walked out of those doors and I was all alone...things all fell into place. I hadn't been in the MTC more than 5 minutes when I heard a sister behind me telling someone she was going to the Taiwan, Taipei mission. I waited for her and introduced myself. She was Susie Jackson; tall, smart and gorgeous (just ask all the Elders that asked to take their picture with her). We talked and got to know eachother on the way to getting our tags and room assignments and any missing immunizations. It was upstairs, after talking for at least 30 minutes that we were informed we were to be companions! Wow, were we excited! That was just the beginning. We had two other GREAT roomies, Sister Mecham who was going to a different Taiwan mission, so she was in our District and Sister Hutchings who would be going to Hong Kong. She was the only sister in her district. By the time we went to class to meet the rest of our district and our teachers, we were having a blast. Those poor Elders looked like they were going to pass out from fear and anxiety and then enter the annoying sisters, laughing and gigging like we had been best friends for years! That was one of the best days of my life. The MTC was one of the best experiences of my life. I loved every single second of it, and the people I met there are still my good friends today. I have lost contact with some, but never will I forget the people that were there with me as I truly gained my testimony and became a Missionary! Here's to you, Sister Jackson, Sister Mecham, Elder Scott, Elder McGrath, Elder Leavitt, Elder Diderickson, Elder Eastman, Elder Skousen, Elder Thrift, Elder Wilde! I hope you are all doing well and know how thankful I am for you and for the experience that started that day and changed my life!
The best district ever! Ya, we look a little crazy and i had to take pictures of my pictures, cause my scanner isn't working! I know, ghetto!
The 4 roomies, always finding a way to make things fun!
Me and Sister Jackson...told ya, she's gorgeous huh?!
The district in front of the Provo Temple!
The last night of the MTC with our great teachers! We loved them. (take a look at Guan Zhanglao's hair, (elder McGrath))

9 comments:

Susie said...

Wow. Can you even believe it has been ten years? You gave such a great tribute to what was, for me, a life-altering experience. Those two months with you (and everyone in our district) were awesome!
Thanks for being a true friend!
Oh, and thanks for the embarrassing comments about how "gorgeous" I was. Might I remind you that MTC cute does not equal real world cute?

The Staheli's said...

Awww...that was fun to read! I'm glad you had such a great experience. Your mission helped, and was an example, to those at home too! :)

Carmen said...

Susie, do you have a blog? I clicked on your name, but it didn't give me your contact info. Email me...cjj35@hotmail.com and give me your phone number and the best email address to get a hold of you! 10 YEARS...crazy! And, the boys were taking pictures of you when we had only been there like days...they didn't have their missionary goggles on yet. You were both real world and MTC cute, and still are!

Tiffany Johnson said...

that was fun to read. It's always fun to look back on the good ol' times! How different you look, too!

This is Us said...

Hey you commented on hair in the last picture but you didn't mention your lovely doo in some of the other photos. You were truly lovely. Amazing how 10 years can make someone become even more beautiful while the rest of us just get old.

The Bentley's said...

hey..... that is so fun!!! you look like such a baby! way to go!

Kim, Byron H & M said...

10 years? Wow, you are old.

However, I have to agree that the years have been very very good to you. You've come a long way since your "uglypeople.com" days...

grace said...

hey carmen! how time flies!?!?!
crazy! what a nice post and tribute to your mtc district.

so i guess it's been 10+ years for me. i can't believe it's almost been 10 years since we served as companions in TaoYuan. you were my last compy...

give me a holler sometime!

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