MTC, Here We Come

Nearly every missionary for our church has a Missionary Training Center (MTC) experience, and everyone who does finishes their first day with an iconic photo that looks something like this.

Ours began on August 7th in Provo, Utah. We received our black name tags at the front desk, and proceeded to the same room in which nearly 18 years ago, we said goodbye to our oldest son, Ryan, as he entered to learn Chinese and prepare for his mission to Taiwan. 

After a welcome and some introductory messages, our group of about 50 senior missionary couples was divided into small groups of 8-10 people to make classroom instruction more manageable and personal. 

Mark's assignment as the Mission Health Advisor has very specific training. Our small group was made up of other couples who were also preparing to serve as Mission Health Advisors or Area Medical Advisors and their spouses.

Our lessons didn't include language instruction, which was a relief to many. Senior missionary couples are encouraged, but not required to learn the language of the areas in which they'll serve. Ryan spent 3 months in the MTC, given that learning Chinese is such a difficult task. I'm guessing that since they're not sure that they can teach us old dogs too many new tricks, they gave us a week of missionary immersion instead, followed by another week of specialized medical training in Salt Lake City. I continued my orientation as a member leader support (MLS, and don't we love our acronyms!) missionary through online meetings and videos.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Provo MTC, something that surprised both of us. We expected long, rather tedious hours of sitting in our classroom, but instead gospel discussions were interesting, walking breaks were frequent, and field trips around the campus were fun and informative. We met many wonderful people there, and they quickly became friends whose own mission experiences we are excited to follow. 

During our time in the rather crowded cafeteria, we were thrilled to find several of the young missionaries who would also be coming to our mission. Mark told them about some of his experiences serving in Spain in 1976-1978, and they seemed excited to get started. 

All in all, we found the MTC to be inspiring, surrounded by 2500 young missionaries, hundreds of senior missionaries like us, as well as nearly a thousand employees who make it all possible, all dedicated to trying their best to serve the Lord they love.