Mini-MTC

I almost never write anything about just Glenn and me on this blog, but since this was a big part of our lives over the past few months, I thought I would share.

A few weeks ago, Glenn and I were in charge of our Stake “Mini-MTC.”  It was basically a weekend set aside for the Priests and Laurels in our stake along with any young adults who were actively preparing for missions to experience a taste of what missionary life is like.  They had companions, spent the night in the homes of their “District Leaders,” studied, served, attended workshops, and had dinner and teaching appointments with people who live in our stake (mostly members, but there were a couple who are not members who volunteered).

Glenn and I worked really hard on it.  Because it has never been done in our stake before, nobody really knew what to expect.  Because of that, we weren’t given a committee to work with.  It was just us with the support of the stake young men and young women presidencies.  At one point back in July, I asked Derek what he would plan if he was in charge of planning the perfect date for Glenn and me.  He said he would send us off to the movies and get the whole Mini-MTC planned while we were gone.  That gives a clue as to how much time we were putting into it!

After all the many hours of work, we really hoped it would be a good experience for the youth.  We wanted it to be genuine gospel learning and not just a fun pep rally about missionary work.  I have to say, it ended up fantastic!  (I figure I can brag a little since it is just family and maybe a few VERY devoted friends who read this.)

Friday night we had a fireside where we had a panel discussion with the current Denver South Mission President and his wife along with 3 other recently returned mission presidents and their wives who live in the Denver area.  It was a great lineup!  We also showed this video of the missionaries serving from our stake (which took more hours to make than I care to think about, but we were proud of how it turned out)- watch it full screen for the best effect:

 

After the fireside, the youth gathered for a group picture in the cultural hall…

They then headed to their assigned district where their district leader (adult leader for the weekend- they were SO good) gave them their companionship assignments and took them home.  Once home, the youth had a district meeting where they learned about companionship study and discussed thoughts from the fireside.  They spent the night and then woke up and actually had personal and companionship study, preparing for the lesson they would be teaching Saturday evening.  I wish I could have been there!  I just have a few pictures the district leaders sent over to give me a taste of how neat it must have been.

After they were done eating and studying, everyone headed to a service project.  The youth were able to do service for an organization called Project ReCycle, a group who repairs and cleans used bikes to make them like new and gives them to children who don’t have a bike or adults who need transportation.  One of the Priests in the stake gave a great training on basic bicycle repair (he works in a bike shop), and all the youth were able to work on fixing bicycles as well as help do some moving and organizing in the warehouse.  I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but the service project ended up being a really wonderful experience!  I was really proud of how hard the kids worked, and I think they really enjoyed themselves.

We headed back to the church to change, eat lunch, and then have an afternoon full of amazing workshops given by the very best our stake has to offer…

Then the youth met in their districts and practiced/prepared for their dinner and teaching appointments.  Each companionship had their own appointment, no adult leaders present.  This was all on their own.  They all taught the first missionary lesson about the Restoration.  I loved how they put so much into studying and preparing for these appointments.  Observing these district meetings was one of my favorite parts of the weekend.  (The second young man from the left and his twin brother actually both left on their full-time missions today.)

The enthusiasm as the youth left for their teaching appointments was thick in the air!  They were so nervous, but excited and ready!

When the youth got back from their appointments, the enthusiasm level shot up even more.  I LOVED watching them arrive with huge grins on their faces, overflowing with excitement about how the lessons had gone.  It was great. 

Saturday evening we ended with a testimony meeting, which made every minute of work worth it.  When the testimony meeting was getting ready to start, Glenn and I worried that we had scheduled too much time before the parents came to pick up the youth.  We actually had the opposite problem.  Within minutes, the choir seats were filled with youth waiting to share their testimonies, and the Stake Presidency allowed the meeting to go almost 20 minutes over.  It was a really neat meeting.

We had a lot of great feedback about the whole experience.  Here is from an email we got from one of the Young Men’s Presidents in the stake:

“I just wanted to let you know how many great things I heard about the Mini-MTC from the Priests and Laurels in our ward (“better than EFY”’; “better than any youth conference I have been to”, “I didn’t want to take off my tag”).  They were excited about what they heard, the service project, and the feelings that they had during the event.  The meal and teaching appointments were a highlight.   It clearly had a great impact on our youth.”

I was glad to see that just simply studying the gospel, serving, and sharing their testimonies with others is all it takes to create a great experience for the youth.  Glenn and I had a great experience as well, and we feel blessed that we got to be a part of it (although I did take a 3 hour nap the day after)!

And, in case you’re still reading and still haven’t see enough pictures, here is the recap slideshow that we played as the parents were picking up their children.  What a fun weekend!