Sunday, 31 August 2008 The last day of our first week.
Some of the other couples with whom we have been able to talk wrote down a schedule for the meetings for the day, so we were able to attend a Sacrament meeting beginning at 0800 in the morning. Everything was in English. Two missionaries spoke for about 5 minutes each; then a group sang. The final talk was by a member of the Branch Presidency. All of the talks were related to missionary work.
As the sacrament meeting ended we hurried over to the large auditorium where we heard and watched The Spoken Word, and the women then stayed there for a large group Relief Society meeting. Several notable women in church music participated in the presentation. During this time the brethren did not have any meeting, as the paper said that the priesthood meeting was to be held from 1110 to 1200. I got to the room we had used earlier but did not find the same people, so I checked the schedule again and found another room listed. I went there, and again found a different group of people, but at least there was one brother there whom we had met Friday night, so I stayed. I don’t think I was in the right place, but it probably didn’t do too much damage.
The problem came after the meeting as Pat wasn’t in the apartment room when I came back. After checking around in the apartment building several times and not finding her, I went to the cafeteria and found her there.
In the afternoon we attended a sacrament meeting for German missionaries. I was astonished to find that the Sacrament prayers were very different from what I remembered. I checked them out in my new German scriptures, and found that the translation was completely revised. The one thing that I thought I could remember from my first mission was no longer right! Again they had two missionaries speak (in German). I was surprised how well they had mastered German, but I recognized that a lot of what they said was quoted from the German version of Preach My Gospel. They had two musical numbers – a solo and a duet – both in English. The Branch President gave the final talk in English, speaking of three leaders from history who suffered great opposition: Joseph Smith, Job, and Jesus Christ. We were told to expect opposition, but to be patient and faithful so we could do our part in advancing the work.
After supper, there was a fireside that filled two of the big auditoriums of the MTC. The speaker was Brother Swenson from the missionary committee of the Church, and he taught us some guidelines for teaching investigators. He told of having been a teacher for the teaachers in the Aaronic priesthood, and how they often answered his questions with "primary answers" i.e. the kinds of statements that primary children are taught to give. He wanted the teachers to do more thinking, but has since come to think that the "primary answers are the 'Primary' answers" and that they are acceptable, especially if given by investigators. They are really no more advanced that the primary children in their comprehension of spiritual things. Furthermore, they are accurate in their expression of the most basic matters of religion: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, being changed by the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end, prayer, fasting, committing, etc. Such talks could be published and benefit a lot of church teachers that stand in front of almost all church classes.
It's been another great day at the MTC.
GSH&PLMH
Some of the other couples with whom we have been able to talk wrote down a schedule for the meetings for the day, so we were able to attend a Sacrament meeting beginning at 0800 in the morning. Everything was in English. Two missionaries spoke for about 5 minutes each; then a group sang. The final talk was by a member of the Branch Presidency. All of the talks were related to missionary work.
As the sacrament meeting ended we hurried over to the large auditorium where we heard and watched The Spoken Word, and the women then stayed there for a large group Relief Society meeting. Several notable women in church music participated in the presentation. During this time the brethren did not have any meeting, as the paper said that the priesthood meeting was to be held from 1110 to 1200. I got to the room we had used earlier but did not find the same people, so I checked the schedule again and found another room listed. I went there, and again found a different group of people, but at least there was one brother there whom we had met Friday night, so I stayed. I don’t think I was in the right place, but it probably didn’t do too much damage.
The problem came after the meeting as Pat wasn’t in the apartment room when I came back. After checking around in the apartment building several times and not finding her, I went to the cafeteria and found her there.
In the afternoon we attended a sacrament meeting for German missionaries. I was astonished to find that the Sacrament prayers were very different from what I remembered. I checked them out in my new German scriptures, and found that the translation was completely revised. The one thing that I thought I could remember from my first mission was no longer right! Again they had two missionaries speak (in German). I was surprised how well they had mastered German, but I recognized that a lot of what they said was quoted from the German version of Preach My Gospel. They had two musical numbers – a solo and a duet – both in English. The Branch President gave the final talk in English, speaking of three leaders from history who suffered great opposition: Joseph Smith, Job, and Jesus Christ. We were told to expect opposition, but to be patient and faithful so we could do our part in advancing the work.
After supper, there was a fireside that filled two of the big auditoriums of the MTC. The speaker was Brother Swenson from the missionary committee of the Church, and he taught us some guidelines for teaching investigators. He told of having been a teacher for the teaachers in the Aaronic priesthood, and how they often answered his questions with "primary answers" i.e. the kinds of statements that primary children are taught to give. He wanted the teachers to do more thinking, but has since come to think that the "primary answers are the 'Primary' answers" and that they are acceptable, especially if given by investigators. They are really no more advanced that the primary children in their comprehension of spiritual things. Furthermore, they are accurate in their expression of the most basic matters of religion: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, being changed by the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end, prayer, fasting, committing, etc. Such talks could be published and benefit a lot of church teachers that stand in front of almost all church classes.
It's been another great day at the MTC.
GSH&PLMH
1 comment:
Wow, what a wonderful story from Hillary Weeks! I'm so glad you had a wonderful Sabbath Day. I LOVE Sundays!
BTW, I started a new blog, this one about my memories of my childhood, since I had such an unusual one. You might want to check it out, when you have time:
http://memoriesallmine.blogspot.com/ Enjoy!
Love you both.
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