Wednesday, February 11, 2009

2009 New Missionary Training Center Presidents Directors Seminar

Recently the new missionary training center presidents were instructed in January 2009 in Provo at the Missionary Training Center. Scott Taylor of the Church News reported on the remarks of Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander and Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Seventy. The major emphasize Elder Neuenschwander felt was critical for the new presidents was to focus on the Preach My Gospel manual. He felt that missionaries needed to read the manual continually and to get away from memorizing it by rather seek the spirit so they could expound on the scriptures presented in the manual. Elder Neuenschwander said. "If Preach My Gospel doesn't get missionaries into the scriptures, then it has failed.

Elder Neuenschwander
cautioned: "From their first MTC experience, [the missionaries] read it once and think they are done. This is a complex book — it cannot be understood in just one reading," he said. "Every word, every phrase has meaning."

Lynn G. Robbins suggested that missionaries "Take notes – it forces you into a territory, a deeper realm of revelation."

If you are interested in past seminars I have a comprehensive post which has about a decade of summaries.

I hope that there will be another piece in the Deseret News on other talks that might have been presented. Also I wish that the Church News would include more photos of the participants. A head shot of Neuenschwander doesn't really get me enthused about reading this piece. When I read these summaries I want to feel a sense of being there when they give the pithy quotes. It is becoming a very sterile environment now-a-days when you only see the general authorities on a projection screen. Newspapers generally do a better job at throwing in an action shot or two.

No comments: