Week One is in the Books

It's funny how close you can get to people in just a few days.  As we worked and worshipped with the 22 couples from all over the country, we learned to love each other.  Now we scatter again all over the world to take the message of the Gospel to Heavenly Father's children.  Thank heavens for e-mail so we can keep in touch with our new friends.

Above, our MTC group.  We are on the front row, third from left, of the second picture.  The couple to the left of us, Elder and Sister Armstrong from West Warren, Utah, are also going to the Philippines and will be our travel companions.

Sister Eames our fantastic morning Preach My Gospel teacher.  Brother Keddington skipped out on the picture.  Our teachers are amazing!  

Our district: L-R Elder and Sister Whiting; Sister and Elder Smith, assigned to the Logan Utah Mission; Elder and Sister Thomas, assigned to the Orem Utah Mission .Front row: our afternoon teachers Brother Wade and Sister Robertson.

We're Here!

Hello from the Provo MTC!  We arrived Monday, August  24, with a little anxiety mixed in with our excitement.  But we soon felt very comfortable and learned that senior missionaries are very special--in a good way! ;)  We get to cut to the front of the line in the cafeteria and we have front row seats reserved for us at the devotionals.  The young elders and sisters are so kind and friendly to us old folks. We feel right at home.  It didn't take us long to feel the spirit and power of the MTC. We feel like we in in the midst of Helaman's army of stripling warriors; over 2,000 strong.  Elder Whiting and I love to just sit and watch them.  We admire them so much.  Our classes are wonderful and we are learning how to teach lessons in the most basic way so that the Doctrine of Christ can be understood by those we teach.  It is a very humbling experience.  We love it here!

Monday, August 24.  Ready to report

Name Tags!

"The Map"  We're going to the Philippines!

The cafeteria.  All you can eat and BYU Creamery ice cream on Wednesdays!

We were blessed to sit by Uncle Scott and Aunt Cindy at the Tuesday night devotional.  They are in the Romanian Missionaries Branch presidency at the MTC

Our time at the MTC is busy and challenging.  But we wouldn't have it any other way.  Our testimonies are stronger than ever because of this experience.  We hope we are worthy representatives of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We are the Whiting's

We are Elder Mark and Sister Cheryl Whiting; called to serve in the Philippines Angeles Mission.  Although we were both born and raised in the Heber Valley, we met at BYU and were married in 1976.  We haven't strayed far from home; living in Provo, Utah, Grand Junction, Colorado, and Orem, Utah before returning back home to Midway where we raised five children.  Our oldest son, Bryant, lives in St. George, Utah and practices urology at Dixie Regional Medical Center.  He is married to Rebecca Wayment (who has earned my undying gratitude for setting up this blog), and they have five children ranging in age from 15 years down to 18 months.  Our second son, Nicholas is branch manager for Zions Bank in Orem Utah.  He and his wife Shauna Cummings, live in Saratoga Springs, Utah.  They have three girls ages 12, 11, and 8.  Our daughter Crystal married Rob Tomlinson and they reside in Ridgecrest, California, where Rob works as a budget analyst.  They have four children ranging in age from 11 years to 2 years.  Our youngest daughter Deanna is married to Marlo Bell and they reside in Humble, Texas where Marlo is an IT specialist for Exxon Mobile.  They are the parents of four children ages 7 years to 2 months.  And finally, our youngest son Alex is 21;  his wife and family are to be determined at a future date.  (In other words he's single)  If you did the math right then you know we have 16 grandchildren scattered all over the West.

Elder Whiting retired from Lifetime Products where he spent 25 years as their CFO, overseeing the rapid growth from a small local manufacturing company to an international entity employing about 4,000 people in the United States, China, Mexico, France, etc.  He loved his job and the people he worked with. Sister Whiting raised the kids and loved every minute of it.  We love to garden, go boating, ride our quarter horses, and spend time outdoors. Most of all, we love spending time with our family.

The Whiting Family in 2013.  Since then, we've added:

                                    

Mark Bell

                                                                 

Lucy Whiting

                                                                   

and Afton Bell

                                                               

Grandchildren

                                                              

Left to Right: Alex, Deanna, Cheryl, Mark, Bryant, Nicholas, Crystal

                    

Our fantastic children:  Alex, Deanna, Bryant, Nicholas, Crystal

                           

Marlo, top left, Rebecca, middle, Shauna, middle right,

and Rob, far right, complete our family so far.  Alex, bottom

left will someday have a wife and family.  ;)

                            

Mark and Cheryl in 2013

                                                      

Fun is our middle name (Or is it crazy?)