September 2009 - September 2011

The Journey from Beginning to End

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The 1st Email and the 1st Letter have Arrived!

Elder Tenney sent a brief email today (meaning this must be his Preparation Day) saying he forgot to tell us that the rules for his email use at the MTC in Brazil are that he can only send and receive email to his immediate family while there.  He said that may change when he gets to his mission field in Manaus.  This email implied that he may have sent another email right before, but we didn't get it if he did...

But...the postman was our friend today and brought our first real handwritten letter from our missionary, written on the back of a form with his new address at the MTC and instructing him to use the back of that form to write a letter to his parents. Elder Tenney said "my adventure down here was stress filled to the max. I'll give it full justice after I finally get some sleep here.  It's about 2:30 pm by the way, and I'm going off 3 hours of sleep."  So....we really, really want to know what the stresses were...guess we'll have to wait till the next email or letter.

His first companion is from Heber, Arizona.  He went into the CTM with 4 other elders going to Manaus, and was very excited that one of them is "a red head named Elder Larson, and looks just like Elder Larsen back home!  Not really, but still, he looks kinda like him.  So far there are 4 elders from the U.S. in my room (counting me) and we may have a couple Brazilians too if we are lucky!"

About the food: (a very important topic for missionaries and for moms to know) "The CTM (Center for Training Missionaries) has some of the most excellent food ever.  Four meals a day, and I will/would be very fat after awhile, except I'm on the top floor (7th) and that is a lot of stairs."

He sounds happy and excited and well-fed....just what we wanted to hear. 

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Farewell and Setting Apart


Elder Tenney with some of his friends & future missionaries
@ goodbye party - 13 September 2009

Dad & Mom:  Happy...yet sad...
15 September 2009

Grandma Martin, sister Allison (expecting baby boy, Isaac in November),
Mom, and sister Jessica
15 September 2009

Elder Tenney & Siblings:  Sam (14), Jessica (23), & Allison (25)
15 September 2009

Dad & Elder Mitchell Tenney
15 September 2009

Mom & Elder Mitchell Tenney
15 September 2009

Elder Mitchell Tenney & Grandma Martin
15 September 2009

Elder Tenney & Family @ his Setting Apart @ Bloomington Hills Stake Center
Allison, Grandma Martin, Grandma & Grandpa Tenney, Elder Tenney, Mom,
Sam, Dad, & Jessica
15 September 2009

Elder Mitchell Tenney
@ his setting apart as a missionary with
Dan Olsen (counselor in bishopric), Bishop Jim Ott, &
Stake President Donald Lyman
15 September 2009
 

Saturday, September 19, 2009

"Leavin' On a Jet Plane..."

Departure from
Airport on the Black Hill * 9.16.09 @ 9:05am

Seems like Elder Tenney has been gone 2 months instead of 3 days! If it's that bad for me, I can only imagine how he must be feeling in new surroundings more than 6000 miles from home. My prayers are with him constantly. I hope yours are, too!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Arrival in Brazil!

We received an email from the president of the Brazil MTC and his wife notifying us that "your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil MTC."  He has a companion and is settled into his room and is assigned to a district with instructors to teach the language and lessons.  He will soon meet the branch president and his wife, who are usually a senior missionary couple or mature Brazilian couple who watch over the missionaries.  There is a full-time live-in physician at the MTC.  We are assured that the cafeteria food is "abundant and very good". 

Elder Tenney will be able to email home on Preparation Day (either Tuesdays or Wednesdays) after spending the morning at the temple. 

Important Information:  Please do not send packages to the missionary training center. 
The email says "We strongly encourage sending handwritten letters". :)  This is how the address should appear:

Elder Mitchell Tenney
Manaus
District 38-C Box 47
Brasil CTM
Rua Padre Antonio D'Angelo, 121
Casa Verde, Sao Paulo, SP
Brazil  02516-040

Let's get those letters headed his way!  98 cents for first class postage on a typical 1-oz letter from here to Brazil.  Mail and packages should only be sent through the US postal service - no FEDEX or UPS or other private carriers.

1 day down - only 2 years to go!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The Time Has Come...

Elder Mitchell Tenney
the morning of his departure from home
16 September 2009

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Final Day @ Home - & Visa Arrives!

Elder Tenney's visa and passport arrived at our house at noon today! Hurray! So, he will NOT be going to the Provo MTC tomorrow to wait on the visa as we had been instructed this past weekend...he will fly out of St. George tomorrow morning! The smile on his face was priceless when he heard the good news. He is very eager to get to Brazil and to be about the Lord's work. Today he is cleaning out his bedroom and reliving a lot of memories as he sorts through years of accumulation. Tonight, he will be officially set apart as "Elder Mitchell Hayden Tenney"...and by Thursday night he will be in Brazil!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Missionary Plaque Photo and Scripture


Elder Mitchell Hayden Tenney
Brazil Manaus Mission
September 2009 - September 2011

Alma 29:13
"Yea, and that same God did establish his church among them; yea, and that same God hath called me by a holy calling, to preach the word unto this people, and hath given me much success, in the which my joy is full."