THE EMPTY SEA:

When our oldest son Brooks was leaving for his mission, Pam's parents, who are not members of the Church, came for his "farewell".  Over the course of a few days mention was frequently made of the Missionary Training Center (MTC) that Brooks would be attending prior to leaving for his assigned area of San Antonio, TX.  We spoke of the MTC this, the MTC that, how long he would be in the MTC, etc.  Finally, Pam's Mom's curiosity got the best of her and she asked us, "Where is this Empty Sea you are talking about?"  Lots of chuckles then and over the years as we've retold this story. Well, nearly 20 years later Pam and I have found the Empty Sea.  Hear it is in Provo, UT. 

Actually, there are 12 MTCs throughout the world with more under construction to accomodate departing missionaries from nearby countries.  The Provo MTC currently has 3000 newly called missionaries in attendance. The Church has about 60,000 missionaries currently serving around the world. Here is a link about the MTC you may find interesting.

http://www.mtc.byu.edu/themtc.htm

 Forty-five senior couples reported to the MTC today.  That's about 3000 years of Church experience among all.  Theses couples are serving in the following places: Phillipines, Russia, Honduras, England, Samoa, Sweden, Michigan, California, NY, Ohio, Washington, Mass, among other places.

A picture of us standing in front of the world map pointing to our area of service.  This is the same map each of our 3 boys stood in front of pointing to Texas, Connecticut and Russia respectively.  We are honored to be following in their footsteps. We leave for Uganda Monday, 11 March.

Feeding the 3000.