We have started the home MTC this week! My son is headed to Italy for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is exciting, but if you are like us, we didn’t know quite what to expect! This is our third missionary child, but our first home MTC experience. How do we help our son have the best circumstance for preparing to be a missionary?
In some ways it is simpler to send your child off to the traditional Missionary Training Center, because there is a line from civilian to missionary that you immediately cross when you hug them goodbye. However, having the home MTC has some beautiful advantages.
First, you are in the front row to see your child transform into a full time representative of Christ. That is a privilege and my favorite part! Plus, you get to hear what they are learning, with daily updates and even a sampling of the new language, (if a new language is a part of their training.) My missionary said goodnight to me in Italian the first night, it was completely charming. Also lucky me, I’ve had my son here to play a bit of pickleball in the early morning for his exercise! See? Fun and delightful perks! 🙂
There are some challenges as with any new situation. Your missionary will be in zoom classes for 6-7 hours a day and will need a quiet space to do this. I’m not sure post Covid if any of this is particularly shocking. All of us with children in school have had a 5-6 month period of Zoom classes, and while there were definitely some difficulties, we managed to get through! The home MTC is only for a couple weeks with an older child, so it is easier than zoom learning for a third grader. If your missionary is open to the learning, they will learn!
Having read of many different families in a variety of situations hosting home MTC, it is clear the ideal is a missionary who wants to learn. They will develop a high threshold for studying scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hopefully your child is building on a foundation of teaching that has already been going on in the home. However, if this is new to your child, they will also adjust and learn! God will help, He always does! That is a wonderful aspect of God’s work.
Here’s what I’ve learned from our brief experience so far:
- Missionary Tags show up in the mail about a week before you begin!
- Your Stake President is your child’s mission president while in home MTC.
- A class schedule will arrive by email to your missionary a few days before.
- We didn’t know what was actually happening the first day aside from the classes that for our missionary started at 11 a.m.! This was the hardest for my son, he just knew he needed to be up at 6:30 a.m., he exercised, ate breakfast and got ready.
- By the time he had gotten through his second class, he knew a LOT more! (makes sense)
- I made some of his favorite snacks and brought them to him a couple times during the day when I was home, boosting morale! (He actually loved this part!)
- We cleared a semi private space where he could comfortably learn where the Wi-fi is consistent.
- We also do something outside and active everyday to mix it up! (Walking, jogging, basketball, pickleball or etc!)
- There are multiple 10 minutes breaks through the day, make sure to walk around, get away from the screen (relax your eyes) My son has actually used a couple of the breaks to do pull ups and walk some stairs. I read of a sister missionary who used the 10 minute breaks to do 10 minute chores in service to her family! Make it fun!
- Some people decorate the space for the missionary. I simply moved a few pictures of Christ and our family from around our house into the space where he is studying.
On Monday night after my son finished his last class for the day, we sat around the table and listened to what he learned. Then we played a fun card game until it was time for family scriptures and prayer. Some of our favorite sacred music was on while we played the game, because for these next few weeks we are abiding by the mission rules. Then before you know it, it was time for him to go to bed.
The home MTC is a learning opportunity and the time frame varies per missionary. We have two friends with sons in home MTC who will be there for just one week as they will be teaching in English. Those who are going to a foreign language mission will be in the home MTC for two weeks. Our son for example will fly to the Provo MTC in two weeks where he will continue his training for an additional 4 weeks. Then, he will be off to Rome! There are other variables, but this is our current experience. As with all situations, you can find goodness, or things to critique. I have found that finding fault just brings us all down, and so far my son is loving it, so bring on the goodness!
Here is some additional information about schedules for your missionary that will pertain to them after the MTC. If you want to read about my son receiving his mission call, you can see that here. If you would like to know more about the message that all missionaries share, you can find that here. You are always welcome to join a worship service on Sundays! We sing, pray, learn of Christ and do our best to follow Him.
I have come to appreciate the “soft start” to being a missionary, because I love having my kid around and I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a wonderful feast to hear what he is learning and still have time together!
Look for the good–You will surely find it. Use these last few days to make some incredible memories and spring board your missionary’s success.
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