New Missionaries: December 28, 2011

They come from all over, but most recently, they come from the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.  There at the MTC, up to 4,000 young men and women from around the world come together to prepare to serve the Lord. The purpose of the MTC is to provide an atmosphere of peace, love, trust, confidence, and respect in which missionaries can prepare for missionary service.

Missionaries dedicate 18 months to two years to missionary service. Approximately 52,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are currently serving as full-time missionaries. They are called to serve in one of 334 missions in approximately 120 different countries around the world. Missionaries begin their service at a MTC, where they prepare to become messengers of the Lord, bringing glad tidings to families around the world. As representatives of the Church, missionaries believe that people throughout the world can obtain life's greatest happiness from following the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Each Wednesday several hundred missionaries leave the MTC. The eager missionaries leave the comfortable world of learning in the classroom, and head out for the real world of being a missionary. They have just spent up to 12 weeks of studying doctrine, learning to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively, and developing excellent communication skills. For some of them, their training also included learning a new language, helping to fulfill the prophecy that "every man shall hear the fullness of the gospel in his own tongue . . . through those who are ordained unto this power" (D&C 90:11). 

They ride on a bus for an hour, and arrive at the Utah Salt Lake City Mission office in time for breakfast.  We interview them, introduce them to their trainers, and have them on the streets of Salt Lake City by 2:00 that afternoon, contacting people and inviting them to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God.  It's a bold invitation, and they are willing to extend it because they are representatives of Jesus Christ.  By 10:30 that night, when they fall into bed, they are exhausted, and filled with an unspeakable joy.  They are Utah Salt Lake City Missionaries.  We are proud to serve beside them.

 Our newest freshman class:

 The assistants:

 Signing the "Defenders of Zion" banner:

 President Winn announces who the trainers are:

 Sister Boyles will train Sister Smith

 Sister Mousseau will train Sister Yates and Sister Cho

 Elder Flaquer will train Elder Nibungco

 Elder Menendez will train Elder Marmolejo

 Elder Gomez will train Elder Mendez

 Elder Burkard will train Elder Logan

 Elder Burrell will train Elder Randall

 Elder Rex will train Elder Jones

 Elder Sorensen will train Elder Earley

 Elder Astle will train Elder Allred

 Elder Green will train Elder Cullen

 Elder Cote will train Elder Mbawa

 Elder Shapcott will train Elder Pew

 Elder Allred from

 Elder Earley from Brazoria, Texas

 Sister Cho from waiting for a visa to go to Korea

 Sister Yates from Flint Hill, Virginia

 Sister Smith from Douglas, Georgia

 Sister Stephenson

 Sister Coakwell

 Elder Mbawa from Sierra Leone by way of San Jose, California

 Elder Logan from Tampa, Florida

 Elder Cullen from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

 Elder Randall from Madera, California

 Elder Pew from Pflugerville, Texas

 Elder Jones from Magna, Utah

 Elder Mendez from Mexico by way of Santa Maria, California

 Elder Nibungco from Santa Clarita, California

 Elder Marmolejo from Durango, Mexico

If you want to see more pictures of the New Missionaries, click here:

2011.12.28: New Missionaries