Pre-Mission French Tutor

For 8 weeks prior to our mission departure, Jim "Skyped" twice a week for an hour with a tutor to renew his French speaking skills and LuAnn met electronically with her tutor three times a week to commence to learn French. Here at the mission training center in Provo, we have 5 two-hour language sessions. LuAnn's French has taken off, and Jim's French has improved markedly, but still remains rusty.

Above is a picture of a chance meeting with Honivah (Rafaranirindraibe) Leavitt in the cafeteria at the MTC. Honivah is from Madagascar, a country in the Indian Ocean with very long family names. Her mother tongue is Malagasy, but schooling in Madagascar is carried out in French. Besides having perfect French grammar, Honivah is very strong in English because she served an 18-month mission in Washington D.C., has been a student at Brigham Young University, and has married a U.S. citizen. Whenever Jim didn't do all his homework and preparations, Honivah would be "devastated," so he learned quickly to complete his assignments for the next session.

First 5 Days of Training with 3 Other Great Couples

The 161 senior missionaries of this week's mission training center experience were divided up into small groups for instruction by apt returned missionary instructors. Our "district" included a couple assigned to the Milano Italy Mission for military relations work, a couple called to serve in the Accra Nigeria Mission for mission home support (their second mission), and a couple set apart to serve in the Tampa Florida Mission in member support activities in some small branch (their third mission).

Moving in for 10 days of training

Voila -- our first day at the MTC in Provo to improve our teaching and French language skills, and to see if we can get along with our companion 24-7! Only 300 pounds of luggage for 18-24 months in Europe. Did we underpack? This week's class of senior missionaries is the largest ever, with 79 couples and 3 single sisters, destined to spread out across the globe for humanitarian services, military relations, cultural and historical sites, young adult centers, church education system roles, and member support & leadership. We are, however, the only couple this week being sent to France. Besides the senior missionaries, there are thousands of young men and women here for more extended training.