Dear Family,

They don't give us tons of time to do email here at the MTC they usually like to keep us pretty busy, even on P-day. I'm going to have to keep this a little bit brief because of that, but I will make sure to answer all the questions you send me.

1.        HOW WAS THE FLIGHT FROM LONDON TO SOUTH AFRICA?  DID YOU HAVE MORE ROOM? WERE YOU ABLE TO SLEEP?

 

    My flight to South Africa went well but I didn't get a lot of sleep because we would hit turbulence every few hours. One of the times we got into some turbulence it was awful and I thought that I was seriously going to die, I spent like 10 minutes praying that i wouldn't die, and everyone around me were throwing up. None of us missionaries got any sleep that ride except for one elder who is in the army is used to turbulence. Needless to say when we got to the MTC all of us were exhausted.

2.      HOW IS THE FOOD AT THE MTC?

   The food is good but they put us on rations. We usually get a main course and a side, (with breakfast you can also get cereal) but we can't get more than 2nd's. It's kind of funny because to me it's just regular food but my companion thinks it’s the greatest food ever.

3.       WHEN DO YOU GET TO GO TO THE TEMPLE? 

 

   Temple trips are on Tuesdays. We already went once, and 6 people went to get their own endowments. Most of the people who live far away from any temple came for the first time, and were also able to do baptisms for their grandparents or uncles. It was a cool experience for them. A lot of people also came without a patriarchal blessing and so the MCT president did it for them.

4.      ARE YOU ALL IN ONE BIG DISTRICT/CLASS?

 

   We are in two districts and one zone. In my district there are 6 people and in the other there are eight.

5.      WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE FOR A TYPICAL DAY AT THE MTC?

    Saturday is P-day/Proselyte day, Tuesday is temple day, and Sunday we spend a lot of time watching church videos, but on a regular day we mostly just sit in classes or teach. Yesterday we taught real people (we usually teach our instructors) and one of the people that me and my companion taught was a real investigator. I think we did really well, the spirit was extremely strong as we taught and we did a good job of helping her resolve her issues.

6.      WHAT DAY DO YOU LEAVE FOR UGANDA?  DO HAVE YOU FLIGHT INFORMATION YET?

   I leave on the 2nd of November, don't have any other information yet though.

 

Love you guys- Elder Grilliot

P.S. I sent a hand written letter to home this week for Sarah and Todd

President Reber and his wife Sister Reber
Happy Thanksgiving
11/22/12

Family History and Room Check

Dear Families,

Last Sunday, the missionaries (who wanted to) did family history work. 5 women names were found and 9 males names were found for the missionaries to take to the Temple. I also am sending photos of some of the missionaries receiving a candy bar because they had clean rooms when I did a room check. Thanks for teaching them to be clean and orderly! This is one of the rare groups where every room was clean! There is also a photo of Elder Nyambita...who had a birthday and kept it a secret. But I found out and we had an impromptu celebration for him...very fun. This group is doing so well. We love each one!

Sister Janet Dahl Reber

Doing Family History Work @ MTC

Tongue out for concentration!

 

 

 

Candy reward for a clean room!

 

 

 

Elder Nyambita's Birthday!

 

Time at the MTC Johannesburg, South Africa

Passports from fellow missionaries here at the MTC

 President Reber and his wife Sister Reber welcoming incoming missionaries

Dear Parents, Friends, Siblings, Bishops,
This is Sister Reber, wife of the MTC President. Your missionary has safely arrived at the MTC. We have had trouble with creating ldsmail email accounts for many of the missionaries....so although they have tried to email you, it hasn't worked.
I am sending a few photos of the group. They are a small group of 14 missionaries from 8 different countries: USA, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Ireland, Swaziland, Dubai, and Tanzania. There are 11 Elders and 3 Sisters. This is the first time we have had a missionary from Ireland....or Dubai. But Elder Bukenya, is Ugandan....working in Dubai.
They study together, sing together, eat together, play volleyball together, and pray together. We are blessed that they are all happy and healthy and eager to learn.
Thank you for sharing them with us. I'm sending a few photos of their arrival....and also of one where many are eating gem squash for the first time. The food here in South Africa is very good.

Love,
Sister Janet Reber
South Africa MTC

Dining on squash with fellow missionaries at the MTC

Filling out forums at the Missinary Training Center

 

Our MTC District

 

 

 

.

 

Dear Friends and Family,

Right now I'm sending this email from one of the MTC laptops. The Plane ride down was really cool. Only five min. after going through security in Chicago I met up with 4 other missionaries from the states (3 from Idaho, 1 from Utah).
When we landed in London we had a long layover so we all relaxed in some seats in an empty terminal. Then as we were all just sitting there a guy came up to us and said "Missionaries! This looks like a familiar site!" turns out he was a member from Norway traveling home from the US. He had been living in the states for about 10 years and was going through some tough time and was forced to have to travel back to Norway. We were able to talk to him and comfort him. He shared with us his conversion which was cool.
The MTC is awesome, I really love it here. We are the smallest MTC in the entire world with a capacity of I think about 45 missionaries. Right now though including me there are only 14 missionaries in the entire MTC. Five Americans (all going to Uganda), 1 from Ireland (going to Cape Town, South Africa), 2 Ugandans (going to Uganda), 2 from Tanzia (Going to Cape Town), and 1 from Kenya, and 1 from Switzerland (both going to Kenya). In this group there are only 3 sisters. My Companion (Elder Ramat) is a native from Tanzia and says he's been to Uganda several times before. He's given me some tips for when I leave for the field, like the kinds of food I should watch out for and stuff like that. He told me that I probably won’t need to know Swahili in Uganda because the only people who speak Swahili and thieves, police officers, and taxi drivers. In his country of Tanzia Swahili is the native language, most people know English there as well though.

Love Elder Grilliot

Final Good-byes Flying Off to Uganda

Weighing in bags and making final adjustments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excited to get going

 

 

Final hugs good-bye

 

Father's hug

 

Brother's hug

 

 

 

 

Chicago Times Together

 

Family Times in Chicago at the Bean

 

 

 

Hanging out together

 

(what was Todd up to bahhaha)

 

 

Great Picture of Mimi and Rick