Our MTC and training experience is coming to an end. We had one week in the MTC in Provo, Utah. We just completed our second week of specialized medical and mental health training in Salt Lake City. We were scheduled to fly out on Friday, June 20th but because of a "hiccup" with the visa process, we will now leave on Tuesday, June 24. While at the MTC we were able to spend time with friends who served with us in the Philippines and we ran across a mission leader who we worked closely with who is serving as a branch president at the MTC. On Saturday, June 14, we had former Philippines senior missionary friends transport us to a Philippines senior missionary reunion outside of Salt Lake City. We had a chance to visit with several Couples who we served with in the Philippines. It was a great opportunity to relive our previous missionary memories. On Father's day we attended the live broadcast of the Spoken Word from the conference center. We met up again with some former Philippines senior missionaries. One of the invited us to come with them on a back stage tour of the conference center. The following Saturday we were able to attend a family reunion for Anita's side of the family. We consider this a tender mercy since did not expect to be able to attend, but because of our visa delay we were able to go. Since we are here without a car, Anita's brother picked us up and drove us to the reunion. We are looking forward to this week as we enter our assigned area. We are expecting some difficult challenges with our assignment. There are not a lot of resources or services in this part of Africa. It is an area that has lived with decades of civil unrest, violence, and poverty. Many missionaries have a history of living with trauma, death, and destruction. In spite of that, this is the fastest growing area in the church. We are already hearing stories of the strong faith and dedication of the African people.