Monday, August 24, 2009

The Missionary Training Center

This week marks the beginning of school in these parts. To celebrate (or commiserate, depending on who you are), I'm sending Elder Van Dyke through the Missionary Training Center. I'll run strips of the MTC from now until the end of September.

Of course a big part of the MTC experience is the tearful goodbye as the missionaries exit one door and their families exit another after a short orientation meeting where all anyone remembers is the amount of Cap'n Crunch consumed in a year.

8 comments:

  1. I love the eyes on your characters. And the jummper on the sister missionary is pretty good too. :)

    Mmmmm, Cap'n Crunch... :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Apparently, spelling jumper with 2 "m's" was the way I chose to go in that previous comment. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Just think with the discontinuation of the MTC orientation, Elder Van Dyke's entrance (along with thousands of others) will be remembered as a thing of the past. A new drive-by jump-out comic might be fitting.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We had a missionary leave from our ward and flew stand-by up to Utah. Now that's a way to start a mission! Sad they don't do the orientation anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love it! Comepletely true.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I can't help but notice the zombie look on the faces of the other missionaries parading through the doorway. There's a certain "Stepford Wives" expression on their faces and the arms-to-the-sides gait; and this before 16 hours a day of lessons, devotionals, SYL, scripture study, putting up with new companions, cafeteria food, and phys ed. I forget: do they have classes on Fahrenheit-to-Celsius conversion in the MTC?

    ReplyDelete
  7. If what jamesandlindsay and Jennie are saying is true than we've lost a memorable part of the missionary experience. I don't feel too old but since my mission we've lost Farewell Programs, the Missionary Guide, the six standard discussions, MTC celestial service, the airport goodbye, and the MTC orientation. Oh, and the practice of receiving our mission calls over the pulpit of the old Tabernacle from Brother Brigham.

    The fact that I started drawing these Elder Van Dyke strips the year I came home off of my mission means that there are an awfully lot of strips that are now out of date.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The missionary giving the thumbs up knows that such a dramatic goodbye will only mean that Elder Van Dyke will be getting a bigger care package from his mom when she later thinks about how much he must be missing her.

    ReplyDelete