10/10/10 Program: Canada Toronto West Mission Implements New Program

Elder M. Russell Ballard with two new mission presidents Bradley Brower (left) and Len Greer (riight) both who served in CTM June 2010

Elder Macaulay Wilson, a missionary serving in Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada shares with us a new 10/10/10 program implemented by his new mission President Brad Brower in the Canada Toronto West Mission:

Zone conference was great. I really like my zone and everything and it was cool getting to know President Brower a little more along with his wife. He has a pretty energetic personality so it's kind of cool to see him in action. According to Elder Blaisdell, he's a lot different from the previous mission president, President Middleton. President Middleton had a more reserved kind of a personality. But I guess there's kind of a cool story I can tell you about him, or about a challenge he gave us. He called it the 10/10/10: the first 10 means talking to someone within the first ten minutes that you leave the door, the next 10 means talk to 10 people outside or your planned finding activities for the day, and the last 10 means present the Book of Mormon to ten people throughout the day. It's pretty cool seeing how well it works and how the Lord truly does bless missionaries as they try to carry out this challenge/goal. Whenever we walk outside onto our not-very-busy street, there's always one person just walking around or hanging out in their front yard that we can talk to. They don't usually ever listen to what we say, but at least we are able to get the goal in for the day and have the Spirit with us that much more. Usually after we walk by that person we don't see anyone else out on the street for another half hour or so because there's not usually people out that early in the morning. Pretty cool seeing the Lord's hand at work like that every day.

It is always interesting to see what programs that mission presidents try in their missions.

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!

The 2010 Mission Presidents' Seminar and the M. Russell Ballard Connection

This coming week in the Church News will be the account of the addresses received by the mission presidents and their wives at the 2010 Mission Presidents' Seminar.  I thought it would be interesting though to show a few behind the scene activities to whet your appetite for my post next week. So in this post I am featuring some old dudes I served a mission with back in the mid1970s and their connection to M. Russell Ballard.  The first part of the post shows my old buddy Richard Holzapfel with whom I went to BYU and he gives us an overview of the seminar followed by the M. Russell Ballard connection.

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!

M. Russell Ballard has a great influence on the missionary work in the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first century.  He has been involved with missionary work full-time going back to 1974 when he was called as mission president in the Canada Toronto Mission.  A few of his missionaries have followed in his footsteps. All of them were mission leaders in the CTM being former zone leaders and mission assistants.