Holly entered the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah on November 4th. The MTC has this super-orderly process for greeting the new missionaries. You are given an arrival time- 12:45 p.m. for Sister Black-and you are directed by missionaries and MTC workers in neon- yellow safety vests to an unloading zone along the curb. They want to keep the parking area as uncongested as possible, so they issue one auto pass per missionary.
The day before drop-off day we arrived in Salt Lake, went to Hires for some awesome burgers, then went to the Salt Lake City temple to do an endowment session. We ran into good friend, Quinn Howard, as we were leaving the temple. That was a really special treat. Quinn and Sandy have known Holly since she was little and Sandy taught Holly piano.
We got up early the next morning and hiked to the top of the "Y". It was a beautiful morning. Perfect for a hike. Rob went into Boy Scout mode and marched up the mountain leaving Holly and Tori in the dust. We just kept telling ourselves it was hard because of the altitude. But we kept passing old geezers coming down the mountain so we couldn't give up. If they could do it, so could we!
After our hike we had time for lunch in the Cougareat at BYU and then it was time to drop Holly off at the MTC. Two missionaries greeted us at the curb. Working hard not to cry, we gave Holly one last hug. The elders hoisted her HUGE duffle bag and suitcases and escorted her into a new chapter in her life....
