MTC or bust......

The Salt Lake City, Utah Temple

FYI: this is David, checking in from Sandy, Utah. For the next five days, Zach and I both will be the official 'webmasters' of his mission blog. Then, once he enters the MTC, he will yield those responsibilities to me so that he can focus on his studies, and the need to learn important Spanish, like 'donde est la banio?. As his Spanish is already way better than mine, I think he will do alright.
We landed in Salt Lake City Thursday afternoon, and have been the penultimate tourists ever since. We've been to: both Temple and Welfare Squares, the conference center, the tabernacle to watch the mo-tab choir practice, the Salt Lake temple, a couple of visitor's centers, Mr. Mac's (a thank you shout out to one of our new best friends Trevor...if you have any clothing needs, look him up at the Mr. Mac closest to Sandy, off of Redwood and he will hook you up!), the Red Iguana, the Old Spaghetti Factory and a couple of DI stores.

To Millie's pals at Columbia College: here's a pic

of her performing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!

Have to take a minute here and share a heartfelt thank you to our host family, the Westfalls. We first met Elder Westfall when he was one of 'our' missionaries in Jefferson City. After enjoying him on his labors in central Missouri, and at his release at the end of his mission, he brought his family to Missouri on a tour of the places he had served. That, of course, included spending some time with the 7Nelsons gang, and  a new family friendship was born! Fast forward a couple of months, and when they found out Zach had received his call and we were coming to Utah, they invited us to stay with them. so, in a way we're now at FOB Westfall enjoying their wonderful hospitality, Sister Westfall's culinary talents, and trying to take in all Utah and beautiful Wasatch front has to offer.
We'll be off to Provo today to get a peek at the BYU campus and scout out the MTC for our Wednesday drop off. Millie has about had her fill of Utah Ute red (sorry Br. Mack) and needs to get back in the blue! There's possibly some biking and hiking trails in our near future -- so stay tuned!
Grandma Nelson is minding the home fires and the 4Nelsons left in Jefferson City. She's doing a fabulous job, the kids are happy and homework is getting done. All is well.
Back to the serious side of things: our time at the Salt Lake temple yesterday was an experience I could not have imagined. To be in that historic structure, enjoying all it represents while knowing the huge sacrifice that so many made so long ago so that I could enjoy it today is difficult to put into words. Millie says it is now her 'new favorite' temple....but she seems to say that each time we discover another one.
TTFN....or in the words of our new favorite elder: vaya con dios!