Sunday in the MTC

Sundays in the MTC are quite special.  There was no Primary and we could actually hear the prayers for the Sacrament. 

Now breakfast was a surprise!  After seeing those wonderful breakfasts with bacon, hash browns and eggs and lots of fruit choices, we saw that the menu today was....dry cereal......for everyone.  I asked a Sister missionary where they kept the sugar.  She said, "Didn't you get the kind with sugar already on it?"  So I squeezed some honey on my Raisin Bran.  They did have some rice milk I could pour on it.  I did find an apple too. 

Priesthood was fun.  I was assigned to attend a zone of missionaries going to Mexico.  There were about 30 Hispanics from everywhere.  There were three gringos.  And there was one missionary from Taiwan going to Mexico.  They were all so enthusiastic about their testimonies and their mission calls.  We senior missionaries sat on our hands so we weren't tempted to find ourselves dominating the meeting. 

We had the afternoon to study and take a nap.  This evening after supper (dinner for the couth) we attended the going away meeting.  We received some special instruction on our last Sunday before departing for our individual fields we have been assigned to.  There was a violin and piano duet played by two Elders and they were fantastic. The pianist played his part, and it was quite complicated, from memory.   (The missionaries audition to be able to perform at firesides.  The talent of these young people is phenomenal.)

Following that meeting we attended a fireside where 9 Elders performed "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief."  It was tremendous from all nine Elders. 

We then listened to Brother Richard I Heaton, the MTC director of administration.  He taught us very well on moving together with our investigators, and not getting ahead of them.  (That means being realistic with where they are and not getting overly excited and expecting baptism when they initially invite us into their homes.)

Sundays in the MTC are quite special.

Day 6

I walked into a guitar shop in Provo on Center Street.  I have decided to take a guitar with me to Juneau.  There on the workbench, among the tools used for making guitars, was a baby in a basket, unattended and sound asleep.  What a beautiful sight that was to me. 

In as much as the guitar was such an integral part of my first mission, I think I'll take another with me.  Since it has been 20 years since I have played, I'll have to brush up a bit.

Our first P-day was today.  We were up at 6:00 a.m. because I always awake before 6:00 a.m.  It has been years since I was a boy milking cows, but that has been the way since then.  We hustled to the MTC for breakfast and the first thing we noticed was the parking lot where the senior couples park. It was empty.  Most of our associates of the past week are now on their way to their assignments.  There are a handful of us to learn about the CES program and we will be away on Wednesday.

Diane had a hand full of family cards that needed sealing.  We attended the Mt. Timpanogos temple to do those sealings.  On the way out of the temple, we noticed a party taking wedding pictures.  The groom was a young white man.  His bride was a beautiful black woman from Ghana.  Her family, and his family were inter-mingling and becoming acquainted.  Those from Ghana were spectacular in their colorful dresses, ties and even a couple of suits in a tunic style.  They were all beautiful. 

Mother wasn't feeling well enough to go with us to the temple.  We did stop by to visit with a bit of fruit we picked up at a fruit stand.  She asked for a son's Priesthood Blessing before I left.  What an honor to bless my Mother with the wonderful gift of a Priesthood blessing using the Priesthood I have been trusted with. 

After a lunch at Kneaders, we returned to our apartment for a nap.  Next up...the laundry.  We decided to do it here in the hotel as the laundry at the MTC is so big, so noisy, and so humid. 

Meals at the MTC are exciting.  I am so impressed with the army of beautiful, dedicated and righteous young people coming, forming lines, piling on the food, pausing to give thanks, and then excitedly visiting as they eat.  We were waiting in a long line to place our used trays and utensils on the dirty dishes belt.  A couple of sisters approached us and asked if they could take our trays for us and wait in line in our place so we could go.  I believe the world is in for a treat with this generation of our Father-In-Heaven's Children.

Day 5

Our District

Next to Sister Waldron and I are the Corbetts.  They are going to Fort Bragg to work with military personnel.  Next to them are the Hendricksons.  They are from Sandy and are off to New Jersey to work as Member and Leader Support Missionaries.  On the far right are Elder Wayne Shipley and Sister Pam Shipley.  They are on their second mission and again will be operating and supervising the scanning of genealogical records in Wayne, Indiana.  They did the same thing in Houstong several years ago.

Sister Thurston



 Sister Thurston was our guide through "Preaching My Gospel" during our afternoons. She was enthusiastic and committed to helping us understand how to prepare for teaching experiences.

Today was a very rewarding day and a very challenging day.  We do a lot of roll playing while learning how to use "Preach My Gospel."  Our assignment was to take on the character of someone we know who was at one time active and is now inactive.  Another couple came into our room and spent 15 minutes getting to know us (in character).  They then had 30 minutes to prepare a lesson for us based on what they had learned.  Likewise, we spent 15 minutes getting to know another couple who have decided to not participate with the church any longer.  We too had 30 minutes to prepare a lesson customized for their particular problems.  Of course we assumed the idendities of one of our children.  It made it very real for us and our hearts were close to bursting throughout the role.  It was very worth while.

In the afternoon we learned how to work with members in our assigned branches.  We again had a visit from a couple who completed their mission 10 years ago.  They were very good together.  The afternoon ended and most of the couples left immediately for their various destinations throughout the world.  The rest of us will be meeting with the CES department of the church in preparations for leaving on Wednesday.    

Day 4

Today we met with an investigator.  His wife has passed away, he has lost two grand children and he loves to rodeo.  He spends his Sundays returning home from his rodeo experiences.  But he is getting older and starting to think about spiritual things.  He had questions about where his wife might possibly be at this time.  We got a committment from him to attend church on Sunday.  Diane even got a committment from him to read the introduction in the Book of Mormon and several chapters in the Book of Mormon.  He loved to talk.  He always would get back to his rodeo experiences which made it hard to stay on task with an impromptu lesson that would meet his needs.  The discussion lasted 45 minutes.  We have an appointment to meet with him at the same time next week.

(Of course all of this was with a member of the church who volunteers each week to play role with the missionaries.)

We were addressed by Elder and Sister Tree.  They completed their 4th mission three years ago.  Their trials in Tahiti and New Zealand and with the Indians in the SW Indian Mission were wonderful to hear.  They are the grandparents of our neighbor in Herriman, Holly Jones.

MTC Day 3

Brother Wozniak is a returned missionary of 3 years. He is one of our instructors in how to use the manual "Preach My Gospel." He is getting married next week and after a year of working in the MTC will move on to be an intern in SLC.

We were surprised to see our friends, Wayne and Pam Shipley.  They lived in our Sandy ward until the ward was divided.  This is their second mission.  The first mission they served as scanners in a Houston, TX library for the church history department.  They will be doing the same thing for the church in Indiana.  We were thrilled when they announced we would be together for the week in the same district.  They are truly wonderful people.

 Our Grandson, Ike Johnson, seems to have an idea of what we should expect while in Alaska.  Thanks Ike!

Today was a very full day.  Once again our trainers, who are returned missionaries themselves, spent the time preparing us for our first opportunity to teach from "Preach My Gospel."  We met with a volunteer "Investigator" who was concerned about her parents visiting with Mormons.  She wanted to make sure they were OK and not associating with a cult.  Diane and I presented the first discussion.  I actually tried to put too much into the 45 minutes.  It was my fault that we spent 40 minutes on the first half of the material, which only left 5 minutes to present the second half of the material.  I'll be much more careful not to cram too much into the time we have tomorrow. 

We viewed actual investigators being given challenges and lessons from real missionaries.  There was time reading body language and discussing ways that we might improve the presentations had we given them.  It seems, in watching the videos, the Sister missionaries are more sensitive to the needs of their investigators.



MTC Day 2

Today was a very long day and I feel so good.  We spent the day learning how to be direct in getting those we are loving, and teaching, to make committments that will better their lives.  We watched several New York Times videos of people describing their lives, including their likes, and their burdens.  From these personal hints we tried to decipher where to begin teaching them.  We then practiced with our companions these lessons from "Preach My Gospel" and then practiced on other couples in our disdrict by taking turns roll playing the investigator and the missionaries. 

The day began with a Brother Peterson teaching us about our purpose: that being to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  He was so dynamic and impressed on our minds vividly these verbs listed in our purpose. 

We ended the day with a devotional.  General Authority Emeritus Elder Robert K. Dallenbach and his wife spoke to us about some facts concerning the translation of the Book of Mormon.  He compared the translation of the B. of M. into Bulgarian.  A good translator, after being approved, can translate a page a day in a language he understands well, from an English Text.  Joseph Smith translated at the rate of seven pages a day into English from a language that no one could recognize. 

Diane and I sang in the missionary choir one number for this devotional.  The choir consisted of about 400 missionaries.  There were only 6 of we senior missionaries in the choir.  It was powerful.  The director was Cory Mendenhall.  He interviewed with me for the Jordan High School Choir Director position when I retired.  I remembered him well and we visited during a break.  He is now teaching at the Maple High School in Utah County. 

Our assignment for tonight is to prepare to teach a volunteer investigator tomorrow and determine what that investigator needs from "Preach My Gospel," which we can't have with us.

Eating in the MTC cafeteria is quite like eating at Chuck-O-Rama three times a day.  We must be judicious.

MTC World Map

Today was our first day in the MTC.  Our son-in-law, Mike, gave us two nights in the Marriott hotel in Provo.  When we checked in Saturday, the clerk said, "Elder Waldron, you're two days early."  I was surprised he called me ELDER as I sure wasn't dressed like one yet.  He didn't know that I had another reservation from Mike, and I didn't know the MTC had assigned us to stay in the Marriott along with several other couples.   The MTC has so many seniors going lately they have to contract with the Marriott.

It was so fun to be in the same room where years ago we dropped off Mark, Travis, Erik and Tiffany as they began their missions.  And sure enough, we too sang CALLED TO SERVE.

We mostly participated in orientation and were assigned to a district.  We have four couples in our district.  We have had two meals in the MTC cafeteria.  The food was very good.  We have an assignment for tonight as we are going to be teaching a mock investigator from PREACH MY GOSPEL tomorrow.

We saw this wonderful map of the world and lots of missionaries pointing to the destination of their individual calls.  We just had to point at Juneau while a Sister going to Hawaii to our picture. 

It seems that friends can be made quickly here.