Saying Good-Bye at the Airport

Elders Vanderholm, Hanson and Anderson at the airport

Five elders waiting to check in at the airport. From left to right: Elders Anderson, Hanson, Vanderholm, Bryce, and Jones.

Checking in and watching the weight of each bag

A few minutes for the elders to enjoy refreshments and visit with our family. We are so lucky to live 30 minutes away from the airport and get to see them!

Taking a moment for brief phone calls to loved ones. (They are taking turns using Marisa and Holly's cell phones, and Sterling's blackberry phone.)

The family right before Eric and the other elders had to leave to go through the Security checkpoint. Marisa had been so sick, she had a hard time standing up long enough to have this picture taken! She had barely been able to get out of bed that morning, and kept running back and forth to the bathroom because of nausea. About two hours later, we found out the very happy reason for her extreme "illness"!

We were delighted at being able to visit Eric at the SLC airport and really enjoyed meeting his companions and the other elders. They are all wonderful young men. There were nine elders traveling together to Rosario, although four of them never made it into any of the pictures I took. We had time for a few refreshments and some visiting all together. Later, during the layover at the Atlanta airport, Eric called home and we had the opportunity to talk again. Here are a few random bits of the conversation:

Us: How was the flight to Atlanta?
Eric: Great! There was a trivia game that everyone played from their seat, and I won first place! Elder Calvert sat next to me, and he got second place.

Us: Guess what! We just found out that Marisa and David are expecting a baby!
Eric: Wow, that's great, I'm so happy for them!.....um, just how long was my flight?!

Us: Were you ever homesick in the MTC?
Eric: Most of the time they kept us too busy to get homesick, but yeah, I was a little homesick on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Us: We've heard that most elders gain weight at the MTC. Did you gain any?
Eric: No, I just maintained. (Mom's note: We think he lost a little weight.)

Us: Did you have any favorite meals at the MTC?
Eric: They tried to have lots of different food, and every day there were like three different lines you could go through, with about three choices in each line. So there was plenty to choose from, but it's not like home cooking. I guess my favorite was one time when they brought in Freschetta pizza.

Us: Did you ever get sick?
Eric: No, but this past week, my whole district has this sort of scratchy throat, which is why my voice sounds deeper than usual. But other than that, I've never been sick.

Us: How are all your clothes? Do you need anything?
Eric: No, everything is fine, although I lost one sock, and when I sent my pin-stripe suit (the one I'm wearing today) to the cleaner's, they lost one of the buttons off it. Can you send me a new button for it?

Us: Did you have any trouble getting your laundry done on your P-Day?
Eric: It was pretty easy. They have a huge room with like maybe 100 washers and 100 dryers, so you just put in your quarters or swipe your MTC credit card to use them. The only hard part is that after your clothes are done in the washer, you have to wander around for about 5 minutes, searching for an empty dryer to put them in.

Us: What did you do for gym every day?
Eric: We played volleyball. At first it was really fun, but after 8 1/2 weeks of playing it every day, I was really wishing we could do something else for a change. Like basketball or football or something. I would have loved it if we could have played dodgeball.

Us: Do you have any words of wisdom for parents who are getting ready to send their missionary to the MTC?
Eric: Yes, I would say to them, write your missionary every day while they're in the MTC. Although I loved the MTC, it was pretty hard with the constant studying from morning til night every day, and kind of monotonous because you don't ever go anywhere except to your classroom, gym, cafeteria and your residence. So the high point of every day is getting letters. It's your only connection to the world outside the MTC. There was a day or two here and there where I didn't get any letters, and those were the hardest days for me.

Us: Did you prefer studying Spanish or the gospel?
Eric: Definitely the gospel. There's so much to learn and it's so exciting.

Us: What was your favorite part about the MTC?
Eric: I loved how spiritual it was, and having great people to be with. The whole thing was such a great experience. It was very uplifting and I grew a lot spiritually. I'm really glad I was there as long as I was, because I know how much it helped me. But now I am so ready to be going to Argentina and to get to work teaching people!

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