The 3 Gonzales Missionaries

The Gonzales family has three missionaries out at the same time.  Erika Gonzales reported to the MTC on Wednesday, 3 June 2009.  Erika was called to the New York New York City South Spanish-speaking Mission.  Three months later on Wednesday, 14 October 2009  her two brothers, Aaron and Jake reported to the MTC .  Jacob R. Gonzales was called to the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission and Aaron Michael Gonzales was called to the Slovenia Croatia Mission.  It must be a daunting task for their mother Amy to keep up with three different blogs every week.  She did a nice job on the blog designs. Plus it must cost a bunch of money to have three children out simultaneously.

The A-E Mission

I recently was told about a mission where the missionaries would rate investigators A-E with A being the best and E being the worst. Apparently the mission adjoined another mission in a large city of three million people. So it was not uncommon for the missionaries of the other mission to encounter someone the missionaries had rated low in their potential  for being taught and eventually joining the church.  The other mission didn't have a similar rating system so it presented challenges for them when they ran across a previous investigator of the A-E mission.

Return with Honor: Stake President Release

O, That I Were an Angel!: New Media for Mormon Missionary Work (Blog of the Month)

This past couple weeks I have been receiving emails from Gideon Burton, an English professor at BYU who specializes in rhetoric particularly relating to online blogging.  He and I agreed to collaborate on identifying good missionary blogs that he can use as examples for his students and for prospective future missionaries and their families. Today to my surprise I came across his newest blog O That I Were An Angel: New Media for Mormon Missionary Work that he has put up since our emails began. The blog is really graphically pleasing and has some really good insight in to the topic of missionaries using the new media. In his new blog, that has been active for only one week, Burton has already put up five posts.

Language Learning at the MTC: A Few Thoughts on Reflecting Back

When I was a missionary many years ago I was sent to Italy Rome Mission.  My grandparents spoke Italian and my family descended from Italy.  I was never required to speak to them in anything but English as a child and I was as baffled when they spoke not really comprehending it.  My father rejected the concept his children would be bilingual like he had been at home saying it didn't do him a bit of good.  I studied Spanish for three years in high school but I could hardly speak the language.  They didn't teach Italian only Spanish, German and French. The only Italian I knew was a bunch of cuss words that my grandmother's second husband would laughingly call me when I would visit him while he worked in his garden.  After high school the best I could speak was a few basic Spanish phrases like "Que Pasa amigo" or "que tal."  I never understood how I got As in high school but I knew I spoke as good as the next American which was limited at best. When I went on a mission the bishop could suggest where you went.  Mine decided that I should go to Italy Rome Mission because I was Italian and he put that down on my form. The missionary committee agreed as I was called there.  All nine young men that he suggested from our ward went to a particular mission where he suggested.  I told him I preferred to go to South America but he didn't listen.

Two Sets of Brothers Called as Mission Presidents

Two sets of brothers Garth V. Hall (Florida Orlando Mission) and Gordon J. Hall (Brazil Joao Pessoa Mission) as well as Ramon C. Prieto (Brazil Goiania Mission) and Gilson R. Prieto (Brazil Ribeirao Preto Mission) were called recently as mission presidents. Three of the four men were balled to Brazil.

We Are All God's Investigators: President Dieter F. Uchtdorf Counsels Taiwanese Missionaries

President Dieter F. Uctdorf visited the Taiwan Taipei Mission on Saturday, 10 July 2010 and Sunday, 11 July 2010.  Sister  Sister Mackenzie Ackerson wrote on her blog her general impressions about the visit:

We also had the much anticipated visit of President Uchtdorf!! It was the best ever! We ditched on church after sacrament meeting and made our way for the mission office. Sister Hintze and I got to sing in the missionary choir they organized so we practiced for a bit and then hitched the buses over to the Xinzhuang chapel (about 40 mintues south-eastish of the mission home, I think). We waited for him there and finally he showed up with his wife and two recently released Taipei and Taizhong mission returned missionary twin sons, the Elders Evans. Sister Uchtdorf is a hoot! She and President Uchtdorf both talked a lot about how missionary work had blessed their lives (because both of them are from convert roots) and diligence in the work. It was a great meeting. Then we hitched the bus over to a humongous sports arena in Xinzhuang for the general church membership meeting with President Uchtdorf. It was a great meeting as well, although attendance was a little bit low...he encouraged the members to keep all the commandments and have a temple recommend.

All in A Missionary's Day: Baptizing Four Then Hearing President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

You know what? Yesterday Dieter F. Uchtdorf came to our mission...and spoke to us...and between the meeting with us missionaries and the member meeting, it hit me that I am going home. I guess it hit with perfect timing because I had promised my companion we would not even focus on that I was going home until after all the baptisms...and, they all happened. The baptism by water and the baptism by fire...and only hours later listening to a prophet of the Lord speak to us about how going home was both a happy and a sad thing...and to not waste;our time, it hit me that my time was one more week. Don't get me wrong, it's not like that I think that my mission is over...I will put my heart into this week as much as I can...but now with this Preparation day, and me interviewing with President Sunday...I have the exit interview letter to write...stuff to pack...and about10 people who have reminded me a couple times that if I don't write for their mission bye bye books they will be sad...I've got my lunches and dinners...nights and mornings all cut out for me! But yeah, it hit me yesterday and it was kind of a weird feeling. The last two weeks I said I'd let myself feel that way, but it didn't dawn on me that I really WOULD until it happened. Crazy crazy. I'll have a lot of decisions encountering me when I get home, with the news of the economy, etc etc....but all and all, if I have learned one thing on my mission, it is that Heavenly Father loves me and I will be okay. So onto the stuff you guys all actually want to hear instead of my whole mind thought process...That stuff is boring.

Changes in Missionary Work Coming to a Mission Near You

Elder Harrison Riley Peper of the Oklahoma Oklahoma City Mission divulged some changes in mission procedures this week in his blog:

The First Presidency, over the course of the next year, is making a lot of changes to the missionary work. We will still be using “Preach My Gospel” but there will be another book with 8 lessons in it. These lessons aren’t for the investigators, but they are for us. They are changing a lot of our meetings, too. Zone Conferences, which are held every six weeks, will now be held quarterly. So, our next Zone Conference won’t be until August (can you believe I’ll be 20 next month?). There is a new meeting that is for Zone Leaders, District Leaders and Trainers that will be held every other month. The kicker is that this meeting will be four days long. That is insane. I’m curious to see how that will be.

How Do Missionaries React To Getting A New Mission President

Elder Bryson Wilding, Elder Ben Glade, New Mission President President  Richard Holzapfel, Elder Ben Canevari, and Elder Landon Cooley

When I was a missionary I had three different mission presidents.  Each mission president had his own unique style and personality.  One was a business man, one was a dentist, one was a Every three years mission presidents are changed usually on June 30th right after the mission presidents seminar.  It may take them from one to three days to arrive in their mission.  Missionaries are pretty anxious to get to know them and see how they fit in.

Mission President Attends Daughter's Wedding Reception Virtually: How to Be in Two Places at Same Time

 

I have heard of creative ways of handling a kid's wedding but this is one of the most unusual ones that I have come across in some time.  A mission president attended his daughter's wedding via Skype.  He actually greeted all the wedding guests on a big screen television while sitting at his desk in the mission field.

The Mission Presidents' Seminar: A Doctrinal and Historical Bibliographic Review

The first worldwide seminar for all mission presidents convened in Salt Lake City on 25 June 1961 and lasted ten days. Fifty-one out of the sixty-two mission presidents and their wives attended. The eleven not attending had been released but not replaced. From this time forward the church has consistently held an annual seminar for new mission presidents and their wives.

2010 Mission Presidents' Seminar: A Comprehensive Synopsis

Richard Holzapfel, a former BYU religion professor and newly called mission president to the Alabama Birmingham Mission,  gave a brief  overview of what transpired in his blog:

We entered the MTC on June 23, 2010 for the New Mission Presidents' Seminar (Photograph taken in front of the Wilford Woodruff Administration Building at 9:00 am on June 23). Some 114 new presidents and their wives gathered in Provo for the five day training. They came from across the world, including Europe, Pacific Islands and Pacific Rim, North, Central, and South America. The Missionary Department announced changes in dress for sister missionaries, interview and zone conference schedules, and a new simplified teaching/training plan. It has been a wonderful experience!

Staying Focused and Finishing Strong at the End of Her Mission

Okay, we are coming into the end of my mission and everyone who emailed this week told me to focus at the end of my mission, so that's nice of you all to try to help me focus but I thought you should know you don't even need to tell me that because I am SUPER FOCUSED. And do you want to know why? Because this area is CRAZY busy. Haha. It's actually a really good area to end my mission in, because I have no idea when I'm going to have time to start to worry about going home, and my companion and I agreed we won't even think about it until next week on Preparation day. Plus I have a surreal view on time, so even though I know I'm going home soon, it still feels kind of as far away as it did back in transfer 1. Kind of like leaving the MTC, I didn't quite believe it would ever happen, until I was in Taiwan and with my trainer, and not understanding anything anyone was saying.

Scott Lovejoy: Master MTC Teacher (Blog of the Month)

It is not often that I find much about male teachers at the MTC for some reason very few male teachers seem to be blogging about their experiences teaching there.  Most of the time what I find is provided by their wives or by a female teacher.  This time was no exception.  I came across a rather cute post by Michelle Lovejoy about Scott Loveyoy who has spent three years teaching at the MTC and taught over 500 English speaking missionaries.