Sheltons in the Sun: #2 MTC Weeks

We have arrived in Bakersfield. The whole adventure doesn’t feel real yet, but we had a nice welcoming party with the Jensens and Moons to greet us. They had our apartment set up, with dinner and treats to greet us. We are replacing the Jensens, who are mainly over missionary housing, and we will be sad to see them leave (on Thanksgiving Day.)

Our two weeks in the MTC were rigorous and quite emotionally draining. We started each day with a devotional. We were divided into districts of eight and did much of our work in a classroom The young instructors, returned missionaries and current college students who work part time to teach us, were amazing.

In the days that Mike, my brothers, and my children went on missions, they memorized seven discussions to teach the gospel. I wanted to go on a mission, but daddy wouldn’t consider it because he didn’t think girls should serve a mission. Now the teaching has changed and the missionary is to take time to get to know the investigator, assess what he needs or is seeking spiritually, then teach the concepts of the gospel that can fulfill his needs. The goal is the same. The purpose of teaching the gospel is to invite others to come to Christ. Of course, following Christ, and striving to be like Him, repenting of personal sin, and taking on His name through the receiving the ordinances of His gospel will bring peace and eternal happiness. The thing I love about missionary work is that we are not asking the investigator to believe what we say, but we ask him to pray and find out truth for himself. Sharing the gospel isn’t meant to force, coerce, or argue a belief for anyone; but, to let others know of the restoration, the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Of course our course of study was Preach My Gospel. I was frustrated how difficult it was to get the things of my heart, and my knowledge of the gospel out of my mouth in any sort of intelligent way. I was not that great. Luckily, Mike was more articulate. We had many role-plays, but three were with folks outside the MTC. It was surprizing that, even though the scenarios were role-playing, we cared so much about the individual. It was pretty exhilarating.

We had three other couples in our district: Elder & Sis. Wallace who were going to SLC on a Family History mission; Elder & Sis Russell who were going to Fiji on a Perpetual Education/self reliance mission, and Elder and Sister Blanchard who would be serving in their own stake in Logan on a Member Leadership Service Mission.(this was actually their 3rd mission -- they were in San Jose as an office couple, and a Humanitarian mission somewhere.

We learned a lot, and have set some goals to help us become better missionaries. I will admit, by Thursday, I sort of hit the wall, and thought: “what on earth am I doing here?” The other couples were so cute, and we had a lot of fun. There were many spiritual moments, and I gained a profound respect for those who do missionary work. It is amazing that, as much as I love the scriptures and know that this gospel is true, I stumble at giving chapter and verse when teaching. I hope to remedy that. My mind is not clear as it used to be and my memory seems to weaken more each year. Ug!

The second week our training was on the mission office programs and the computer. Although I've worked with Microsoft Word and Excel for years, I learned so many tips to use, And there is still so much I don’t know. And, we are very tired. Our days were more rigorous, but not so emotionally draining. The church has excellent programs to help the offices keep track of the missionaries: we worked on Microsoft word, Excel, mission finances, newsletters, referrals, baptismal records, correspondence, housing, etc. Each day we were exhausted. We had a great time and and felt like we were learning a lot.

Once again, we enjoyed our district couples. We worked with the Bedkey’s who are going to India (but haven’t received their visas yet, so will do an interim at San Diego), the Birch’s who are going to Calvary Canada, and the Kieles who are going to Gahana, Africa.

Our devotional Tuesday night featured Elder Dean Davies, second counselor in the presiding bishopric. He and his wife did an inspiring job. I believe if we will remember the moments of personal inspiration, and inspiration from sources such a classes and devotionals, scripture reading, etc. it will be easier for us to follow the Lords plan. It is just hard to remember--because we have so many distractions in our daily challenges.

We finished Thursday afternoon, went home and began to pack our Pilot. Mike packed the care while I gathered our “stuff.” Wow! Mike loaded the Pilot using the rock, pebble, sand, water principle, and actually got everything in the car. Amazing! And now we are on the road hoping to serve our Savior the next 18 months in a place where we can help young missionaries as they serve the Lord!

What a challenge! What a blessing for us!