Michael is officially no longer on U.S. soil. He flew out last night to the Peru MTC. He will be in Peru for a couple of months learning the Spanish language and then will be assigned to his first area in Bolivia.
He had a three hour lay over in Atlanta last night, so he was able to call and say his final good-byes before he left the country. I can't even express how good it was to hear his voice one more time and know that he was okay and doing well. He is homesick, but said that he keeps reminding himself that "homesick has never had a fatal case".
Michael was picked up yesterday morning, at the MTC , to be taken to the airport. Apparently, the church does this in one big dump/drop-off. They loaded his bags, along with the other 45 missionaries he was traveling with, into a U-Haul type of truck. When they arrived at the airport their luggage was dumped into a big pile on the sidewalk and the chaos began! Michael's flight plans were to fly from Salt Lake to Atlanta and then take a 6 hour flight from Atlanta to Peru. On the flight to Atlanta, he flew with 45 other missionaries. I told him that that's the kind of flight I would want to be on. Flying with 45 missionaries...you know that that plane is going to be protected and have a safe trip!!! Michael sat next to a couple that were traveling to Florida on vacation. Mike said his conversation went something like this:
Mike: So, where are you guys from?
Couple: Salt Lake.
Mike: Oh, so are you members?
Couple: NO!
Mike: Oh, so are...
Couple: NO!
Mike said the remainder of the trip was very quiet. Maybe one of the other 44 missionaries were able to get to them!
He flew out of Atlanta at midnight and should be in Peru by now. He is nervous because they do not speak any English at the MTC there. He is doing well with his Spanish but it is still hard to go from speaking English one day to waking up the next and only speaking Spanish. He will do great though!
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