We just finished a week of training in the beautiful Joseph Smith Memorial Building, which is the home of the church’s Public Affairs Department.  The department helps the Church build global relationships with the community, government and faith leaders, as well as answering questions from the media.

We trained Monday – Friday with 7 other wonderful couples who will be serving as Public Affairs Missionaries in other parts of the world, and who we feel a strong kinship to.

Elder & Sister Carruth (Philippines)
Elder & Sister McGuire (New Zealand)
Elder & Sister Parrish (London)
Elder & Sister Partridge (Birmingham)
Elder & Sister Pinson (New Zealand)
Elder & Sister Switzer (Argentina)
Elder & Sister Thomsen (Tahiti)

Living in Utah all of our lives, we didn’t realize the worldwide scope of the Public Affairs Department.  It is under the supervision of the First Presidency and the Church Public Affairs Committee .  They are supported by public affairs directors, and thousands of called stake council, coordinating council, and national council members throughout the world.

We’re excited to serve on Canada’s National Council!

A fun side-note is the fact that we spent our honeymoon in this beautiful building (Hotel Utah 1982).  Here’s a picture of Lucky sitting on the window ledge of our hotel room.

Our training was on the 10th floor.  During our breaks, I went to the vacant Ambassador room with five large windows looking out over the city, to get my fitbit steps in!

 

Next up! MTC Training starts tomorrow (1/9/2017)!