Stalking Sister Kate

So on Sunday, June 23, there was a special meeting at the Marriott Center on the campus of Brigham Young University.  All the MTC missionaries would be attending and Kate would be singing in the choir.  It was a special training meeting for all the new mission presidents but it was being broadcast to the church around the world.  There was a lot of "buzz" that there would be an important announcement made.  There were a limited number of tickets available to attend and since we had Kate singing in the choir, we got tickets from our Bishop.

FYI for people who aren't LDS...the Bishop is the ecclesiastical leader of our congregation.  The LDS Church does not have a paid ministry.  All positions of service within the church are unpaid.  A bishop typically serves about 5 years and is called of God to this position and has 2 counselors who serve with him.  Almost every member serves in some capacity.  In the near future I'll post about how the church is organized. 

It really was a terrific meeting and of course Franklin and I were overcome with missionary spirit.  They are a powerful force for good and having so many missionaries in one place at one time ramps up the spirit exponentially.

No, they weren't being irreverent,
this was before the meeting started

Of course, being doting parents, we brought binoculars and my camera with telephoto lens. We were sitting on the opposite side of the Marriott Center (which is actually a basketball arena for those who don't know). We had no intention of actually having contact with her, but we were just giddy with excitement at the very thought of getting to see her in person.  (Okay, I know it's only been 10 days...but it's going to be 18 months!).  The girl to Katie's right is one of her companions, Sister Packer from Lindon, Utah.


The announcement wasn't as unexpected as what some had thought.  It had to do with the use of social media by missionaries, something they haven't done in the past.  There will also be more of an attempt made to keep chapels open during the week so those who want to learn more about the church can stop by.  Typically, since there is no paid ministry and no paid administration hanging around the chapels during the week they are locked up.  So, it was a happy Sunday getting to STALK KATIE!

There is nothing quite like a big group
of missionaries singing "Called to Serve"
I think the choir was at least 500 strong.

It was fun to sit with the Kirk and Jackie Williamson and
our excellent stalking abilities resulting in our finding
the amazing Elder Chase who is on his way to Korea and just
started at the MTC earlier in the week.