The Missionary Training Center

Okay, just a warning that this post contains A LOT of pictures! This took place on Wednesday, March 11 2009. This was the day we took Elder Arko to the MTC. What an emotional day! I think it was an amazing experience to see him "become a missionary" so here it goes. First of all, we decided to have his last supper (or breakfast) at IHOP. We even order some Swedish Crepes to set the mood for all of us...they were yummy although I'm sure that's not exactly how they do it over there :)

The Fam

Elder Arko, his Mom, and his Dad

...and the men being themselves

Ben(brother-in-law), Jen(sister), and Elder Arko

Britlee(niece) and Cindi(sister)

Zen(brother-in-law), Elder Arko, Amy(sister), and Britlee(niece)

Then it was on to Provo. It was really neat to go to the MTC. Zen and Ben were reminded of their missions (that were MANY years ago) while it was a first time experience for me and my sisters.

The whole family (minus Dave) outside the MTC

Then, Elder Arko took his first steps into the MTC...
After we got inside, he was checking in and I saw a woman hand him his name tag. He then started walking towards us with a big grin on his face. I asked him if he got to put his first name tag on and he replied very excitedly, "No, you guys get to put it on me!" He seemed so happy and excited to be there and didn't look nervous at all. He handed my Mom his name tag and then officially became a missionary (well, not really he was set apart the night before, but still, just go with it)

His name tag is, of course, in Swedish and this is what it looks like...
Weird, I know. Well, there are no pictures after this because you can't take pictures anywhere else in the MTC. We were led into a large room where we watched some short videos, heard from his first Mission President and his wife the Relief Society President, sang Called To Serve, and then it happened... "Now is the time to say goodbye to your missionaries" and then the water works came. It seems like most of the females in our family can keep our cool until 1 starts crying...and then we all start crying.

Elder Arko did a lot better than I thought he would, but I could tell it was still pretty hard for him. He looked very eager to get on with his day and learn about how things work in this new place he will call "home" for a few months. We told him how much we love him and will miss him, but also how proud we are of him and couldn't be happier about the decision that he made to serve a mission. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and we can't wait until he returns with honor! WE LOVE YOU Aldste Arko!