Branch presidency and wives orientation to the Missionary Training Center
Orientation for Branch presidency members and their wives; Provo Missionary Training Center, Provo, Utah. In the following notes, MTC stands for ‘Missionary Training Center’ and PMG stands for ‘Preach My Gospel’.
• The purpose of a Missionary Training Center branch presidency is to “invite [missionaries] to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.” (Preach My Gospel, page one)
• “Conversion is an enlarging, a deepening, and a broadening of the undergirding base of testimony. It is the result of revelation from God, accompanied by individual repentance, obedience, and diligence… Conversion is an offering of self, of love, and of loyalty that we give to God in gratitude for the gift of testimony.” (Elder David A. Bednar, October 2012)
• Missionary Training Center presidency > District presidency > Branch presidency > Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders > District leaders and sister training leaders
• Important resources: Preach My Gospel, scriptures, and missionary handbook, Branch administration, Missionary Training Center Branch presidency resource guide, Missionary Training Center Missionary Leader Guidebook, meeting agendas
• We should use PMG in talks and in our companion study. We should teach the missionaries to STAND when conducting a meeting and always use an agenda
• The Doctrine of Christ: 2 Nephi 31 & 32, 3 Nephi 11 & 27. 1) Obedience. 2) Faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement. 3) Repentance. 4) Baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. 5) Enduring to the end – a pattern for life. 6) The Book of Mormon. 7) How to recognize and understand the Spirit.
• Facilitating conversion: sacrament meetings, priesthood & Relief Society meetings, Branch council, District meetings, other points of contact
• Sacrament meeting: 1) follow guidelines set forth in the branch administration guide and the MTC branch presidency resource guide, page 8. 2) Two missionaries give 3-5 minute talks using PMG and the scriptures. 3) Branch presidency, MTC presidency, or District presidency and wives are main speakers using PMG and the scriptures. Wife speaks 5-6 minutes and sits on stand.
• Priesthood meeting: Conducted by a zone leader or district leader, 2 elders review priesthood ordinance from Missionary Handbook (5 minutes), assigned elder facilitates gospel discussion using PMG and scriptures (see page 9 of resource guide), presiding authority normally shares comments to the end of the meeting.
• Relief Society: Held at same time as Priesthood meeting with same topic, Sister Training Leader conducts, Sisters review a priesthood ordinance from the missionary handbook, branch presidency member or elder can demonstrate ordinances, sisters facilitate a gospel discussion using PMG and scriptures, branch presidency wives/visiting guests normally share their comments at the end of the meeting , see resource guide page 10.
• Branch council: branch president presides (see page 11 of guidebook), Purpose is to counsel together for the benefit of the missionaries in the branch (avoiding ‘stand and report’ mentality), discuss and resolve issues in the branch, council of revelation (how are the missionaries growing?).
• District meetings: conducted by DL or STL (see page 12 of guidebook), announcements and leadership meeting updates, accountability review (district goals and progress), gospel discussion (similar to PH and RS), presiding authority provides comments at the end.
• Additional duties: Ministering, leadership training in how to prepare to teach the Savior’s way, new missionary orientation, visits to residence halls.
• Ministering: Always have the missionary in mind and focus on the worth of a soul, use unscheduled time on Sundays, Sunday walks, and residency hall visits to focus on the one, help missionaries prepare for their Sunday assignments and how to teach, importance of missionary interviews (page 7 of resource guide).
• Leadership training: leadership training is under the keys of the branch president, how to conduct meetings, how to teach the Savior’s way, how to prepare for PH/RS/DM, new leader orientation on page 13 of resource guide, new ZL/STL training (see page 4-5 of New Missionary Leader guidebook for General responsibilities), see pages 6-13 for Leader responsibilities.
• New missionary orientation: ZL/STL orient new missionaries on Wednesday night (page 15 of Resource guide), branch presidency and wives interview and orient new missionaries on Thursday night and call new leadership where appropriate (ZL, STL, DL), see page 15-16 of Resource guide.
• Visits to residence halls: see page 18 of Resource guide, visit residence halls one night a week sometime between 9:30 and 10:15 pm, review residence halls in MTC standards and missionary handbook, correct inappropriate behavior, make visits brief, look for the “one”.
• Responsibilities for brethren: Sunday -> 1) BPM 2) Branch council 3) Sacrament meeting 4) PH & RS meeting 5) district meeting 6) Sunday evening films 7) Sunday walk 8) interviews. Tuesday -> 1) weekly devotional 2) post devotional district meeting & review. Thursday -> new missionary welcome and orientation. Other -> residence hall visits.
• Responsibilities for sisters: Sunday -> 1) RS meeting 2) MTC New Sisters meeting 3) Branch sacrament meeting 4) DM 5) Mission conference 6) Sunday films 7) Sunday walk 8) General ministering when not in meetings. Tuesday -> 1) weekly devotional 2) post devotional review meeting 3) ministering to elders and sisters. Thursday -> new missionary welcome and orientation. Other -> residence hall visits once per week.
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