The Missionary Training Center - Week II

The second week was specialized training for the role we would be filling in our mission.  The training was pretty technical and covered finance, vehicles (the Church owns a fleet of 20,000 cars), housing, Word, Excel, newsletters, and records for baptisms and referrals.

There were 11 companionships who will be in Mission Offices.  They will be serving in South Africa; the Congo; Ghana; London South; New York City North; Washington D.C. South: Vancouver, Washington; Portland, OR; Bakersfield and San Jose, CA in addition to our assignment to Rochester, NY.  (The Truitts have promised to look after Elder Jones in San Jose.)  Several couples has served previous missions including to the Philippines and Poland.  The Hansons were from Evansville and may have overlapped there with Bump and Teresa.

Here we are, behind our monitors, eager to enter in the service of the Lord. 

 These are our instructors; Brother Hewlett, Brother Barham, Sister Clard, and Brother Carney.  All are valiant returned missionaries and BYU students.  They were informative and inspiring.

A highlight of the week was the Tuesday evening devotional by Emeritus Seventy and past Church Historian Marlin Jensen.  He spoke about staying motivated as a missionary and overcoming discouragement.   During his talk, he invited a young missionary to join him.  She told of her conversion of which the initial steps were taken entirely on the internet researching and talking to missionaries on Mormon. org.   Her first physical contact with members was going to church and telling the missionaries there that she was ready to be baptised.

There were two sets of guest instructors.  The Bolligers were returned Senior Missionaries who shared ideas on how to support the young missionaries and how to find missionary opportunities while working in the office.   Brothers Sechler and Foutin work in Global Fleet Management helping manage the church's 20,000 vehicles.  They had lots of insights on being good stewards of the church's significant investment in vehicles.

Wednesdays see new missionaries arriving.  This week, there were 800.  The spirituality and attitude of the young people is awesome.  In our homes, we feel the spirit when the missionaries visit us.  Imagine being with 2,800 of them.

These two weeks have been a mountaintop experience,  the best time in our lives.

Alma 26:37 "Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen."

Family and Friends

When we applied for our mission, we did not anticipate that we would have the weekends and some evenings off for personal time.  So we had the bonus of being able to visit with family and friends.

Christie was our host for the weekends and our driver.  Thanks for taking time from her busy schedule to support our mission. 

Lauren's Kashden took right to his great grandparents.  He is a very happy, healthy, intelligent little guy. 

Had some good time with the boys.  Preston will be getting his driver's license later this month and was our chauffeur several times.  Landon puts in a lot of hours at Little Ceasars and is scheduled to go to training at Fort Sill in August.   Paxton likes to play most any game and talks.

We had a chance encounter with Chris Clark in the MTC Dining Hall where she came by to visit her brother and sister in law who were members of our class.  We got to visit with her, Jim, Ammon, Kaitlin and her husband and baby.  It was good to revisit the Logansport days and catch up on the Clarks and their 11 children.  Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture. 

Friday evening, we were able to meet with grand daughter Rachel and Harry's grand kids, Hal and Courtney for a Mexican dinner.  All are doing BYU and doing well. 

Wednesday, we were able to have dinner with Yvonne and David Peterson and his mom Doreen.  We enjoyed their beautiful house and spectacular view while catching up on family news and our early days in Marquette. 

At the MTC, you are constantly meeting folks who are close to people you know well.  This is President and Sister Shumard from Fort Wayne who are good friend of Harry and Linda.  He will be the Mission President in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

Here are the Burkes.  We saw the Michigan tee shirt and struck up a conversation.  They are from Howell, MI and close friends of the Nyfelers' whose son Jacob will be marrying Rachel in August.  Another couple, the Stevensons, were in our class and are the grandparents of Emily Blotter's fiance. 

One memorable conversation in the dining hall was with an older senior couple. I asked where they were from and the old Elder said, "Kolob,"  At first, I thought that was an obscure town in Utah, but it turns our he was just teasing us.  His wife told us that they applied to serve a mission because it was the only way to get out of being den leaders in their ward.

The Missionary Training Center is an unparalleled experience.  The spiritual energy of the young missionaries is astounding.  There is still hope in the world. 

The Missionary Training Center- Week 1

Sister Jones called the MTC being in heaven surrounded by angels.  I only felt it is the best place on earth.  The Holy Spirit is ever present and the Lord walks among us.  It is the finest gathering of people you will ever be associated with.  All are united in a desire to serve the Lord.

There are 130 in our group this week.  We were divided into 5 sub-groups for pictures. Sister Jones is in the red top and I am behind her.  Couples in the group will be going all over the world to places like Japan, New Zealand, the Congo, South Africa, England, several South American countries as well as throughout the United States. 

We are divided into districts for small group instruction.  Brother Swallow on the left was one of our trainers.  Elder and Sister Thurman were from Blackfoot, ID and going to the Fort Worth, TX Mission to be leader/member support for a branch composed of members from the Marshall Islands.  The Jordans are from Chandler, AZ and will be serving a mission in Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City in family history or administration.  The Tonas are from Hawaii and will be in Tokyo in the Asia North Area office. 

Sister Clark was our other trainer.

Here is the district in Room 225 of Building 4M where we had our small group classes.

Wednesday evening, the District went to the Provo City Center Temple.  It was a beautiful experience in a beautiful temple.  The session was packed with people.  It was unusual to us to see so many young people in the temple including officiators.   It was a late night as the shuttle got us back to the MTC at 10:30.  

On the grounds is this statue of Samuel Smith, the prophet's brother, who was the first missionary who started in what is now the New York Rochester Mission. 

Our instruction this week centered on the missionary guidebook, Preach My Gospel.  We did a lot of role playing in missionary settings.  For some, people from the community are brought in to take on the role of an investigator.  

We saw a video by Elder Bednar entitled "The Character of Christ," which was of a talk he gave at the MTC a couple of years ago and is only shown at the MTC.  We hope to see it again this coming week.  

On Tuesday evening, there was a devotional by an Emeritus Member of the Seventy, Elder Marlin Jensen.  In the early 1990's, he served as Mission President in the NY Rochester Mission.  His talk was on degrees of faith.  

The facility and food were first class and everything was very efficiently organized.   Being around the young missionaries was invigorating.  They treat the senior missionaries with respect, always opening doors and greeting us.

The week was the best week of our lives.  We are eager to get our training completed and return to New York.  

  

Finally, At the Provo Missionary Training Center

After a pleasant weekend with Christie and her kids, she drove us to the MTC.  Travel and check in went smoothly.  Meeting the other Senior Missionaries was a delight.  We heard welcoming remarks from the MTC Presidency and an orientation, then a class on "What is my purpose as a Missionary."  After supper, there was an awesome video of a talk by Elder Bednar on "The Character of Christ."

            Official Missionaries complete with name tags.

A Missionary Tradition- Pointing to your Mission District on the World Map.

Flying over the Plains

The Merrills provided a hearty breakfast and drove us to the airport.  All the connections were smooth and the flights on time.

Traveling to Utah always brings to mind the travails of the Mormon pioneers and their sacrifices.  We sure have it easy in these latter days.

 Rochester, NY to Detroit.  I figured out how to take a selfie with some help. 

Detroit to Salt Lake

Since we didn't celebrate our anniversary on the 30th, we splurged and got the in-flight meal. 

Christie picked us up at the airport and we had a pleasant time with Christie's family dominated by the energetic Paxton. 

The Presidential Transition

Mission Presidents are called to serve for 3 years, so each year, 1/3 of the missions receive a new president.  The new presidents all receive training in June and report to their district about July 1st. Sister Jones and I will be learning along with the new President and his wife.

Departing President and Sister Francis with his team.  In addition to the Spencers and Merrills mentioned in the last blog are the Workmans who serve as the housing coordinator and nurse.  They go home in September. 

The newly arrived President and Sister Evans with the departing President and Sister Francis. 

The new missionaries with the President and his wife. 

After the welcome and farewell, we had supper with the office staff at a nearby hamburger place, Tom Wahls.  It was like a Steak and Shake. 

We then went to the Young House and spent the night with the Merrills to be closer to the airport.  We took a driving tour of some nearby sites, the Tomlinson Inn and Cemetery, but I failed to take pictures and will share information on them when we get pictures. 

The Training Tsunami

We departed Fort Wayne Tuesday morning and had a comfortable drive to Batavia, NY where we spent the night in a transitional apartment for missionaries.  We met the local Elders, Peterson and Gubler, and had dinner with them at a Japanese restaurant.  We participated in placing a book of Mormon with Sarah who was moving out of the apartment across from where we were staying. 

We reported in at the Mission Office Wednesday morning and went right at it.  All the new information coming at us was a training tsunami. After work, the Merrills drove us down to see the John Young farmhouse where they have been living and where we will  be staying after they leave. 

Sister Jones training with Elder Spencer, who had been the Baptism and Referral Secretary, but will become the Vehicle Coordinator. 

 Sister Merrill, my predecessor and trainer.  She has a wealth of knowledge. 

 Sister Spencer, the President's secretary and receptionist

Elder Merrill, the vehicle coordinator, aka "The Car Czar."

We had enough hands on experience that we feel we can do the job, but there are a lot of "odds and ends" that will probably catch us unaware.   

The office staff are wonderful Saints and the office atmosphere is very congenial.