We had a departure devotional tonight. Members of the MTC Pres spoke to us. One of the counselors talked about 10 character traits of a good missionary. Basically forget yourself and think of others, keep the rules, work hard, avoid discouragement and love the people. He said many of you will be referred to as "greenies" when you get to the mission field. He told them "don't worry about that. Green things grow and ripe things rot. So be glad you're green."
One of the counselor's wives spoke about when her husband was a Mission Pres. One night they sat down for a farewell dinner with several missionaries. Her husband asked the missionaries to share a spiritual experience. The first Elder he asked said he couldn't think of any. She was very surprised. So her husband said " well you think about it and we'll come back to you" As the other missionaries were sharing their experiences, she could hear this Elder saying " Oh that happened to me." So she said to him - "see you have had spiritual experiences" He said " I guess you're right. I guess I wasn't paying attention." So she told the missionaries to "Pay Attention". Be aware of when the Spirit is speaking to you.
Our final fireside tonight, the speaker was Stephan Allen from the Missionary Dept. He began by allowing people to stand who met certain criteria. Who is going to a foreign mission, please stand. Who has had parents serve a mission, please stand. Who has a sibling in the MTC right now, please stand. Who has a sibling on a mission right now, please stand. Who has had a "Dear John or Dear Jane" written to them since being here, please stand. He was alot of fun and everyone enjoyed him. He then talked about being in an airplane with alot of turbulence. He said as a missionary, you are going to have turbulence, so you need to know how to deal with it.
Consistent obedience will help you avoid turbulence. But you will still have it. Just know that when you do, God is helping you to grow, unless it is the result from you doing something wrong.
He told us when things get hard, trust in the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-6. You can't have success if you don't trust in the Lord. Your progress will be accelerated if you allow the Lord to lead you.
One cool thing he said, if you aren't sure you have a testimony, teach yourself what you will teach your investigators. Moroni 10:4-5.
He was such a good speaker. He then had all of us sing "Jesus Savior Pilot Me" God will guide you thru the hard times, if you allow Him to help you.
They really know what they're doing here. They help missionaries in every way possible to be prepared for their mission. But the missionary does need to do his or her part for it to be effective. Just a few more days and we are off to Hungary. We are getting very excited.
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