Really, the best part was mixing with the young missionaries. Just being on campus with them every day was an uplift. They were so polite. They raced to see who could open the doors for us first.
We had arrived at the MTC early (we were to check in on Monday and came Friday instead), so Sister Omerza would be able to attend the Relief Society General Conference with all the other sister missionaries. Wrong. They show the R.S. General Conference at the same time the men are watching the Priesthood session (the next weekend). Sister Omerza attended at a ward building in Provo about 3 blocks from campus. Elder and Sister Omerza attended the next weekend with all the other missionaries.
Our first experience seeing all the missionaries together was at a mission conference - the first Sunday we were there. We were told there would be a conference in a big building at the south side of the campus. We didn't think too much about it, and, for sure, no one told us to be early. Someone did tell us that they held seats for the senior missionaries at the front of the room. About five minutes before the meeting was to start, we entered the room to be greeted by 2000+ missionaries looking at us. Sister Omerza turned around and walked back out. Elder Omerza urged her to go back in. That was the only entrance we could see. Later, we found out that if we wanted to sit with the senior missionaries, we needed to be in our seats about 20 minutes before the meeting began.
The speakers at this conference were members of the MTC Presidency, their wives and one of the district presidents. Gordon Brown, district president, spoke first. He reminded us of the experience of King Lamoni's father. Christ can take our sins if we will repent. The next speaker was Pam Craig, a counselor's wife. She talked about being stripped of pride. Do we choose to be humble or must we be compelled? Her husband spoke next, President Laurie Craig. He talked about using the Book of Mormon in our teaching. Sister Mirian Clegg was next. She talked to the senior missionaries. She said if we have a hard time making contacts, remember we can always say "Tell me about your family." That seemed like it would not be too difficult. Her husband, J. Halvor Clegg, spoke next and spoke a lot about the repentance process. How will you know when you have repented? President Ralph W. Smith spoke last; his wife was ill and not in attendance. He reminded us that the major purpose of life is self-mastery. We need to control our thoughts which leads to control of our actions. Great meeting!
There were three devotionals held while we were at the MTC. The first one featured Robert Swenson, one of the Seventy. He reminded us that we "receive no witness until after the trial of our faith." (Ether 12:6) and the Lord gives men weakness so they can be humble (Ether 12:27).
Another devotional was given by Margeret B. & Stephen D. Nadauld. You may remember that Sister Nadauld was YW General President at one time and Elder Nadauld is a Seventy. She reminded us that we are all children of God and that we have never been closer to him than we are right now (on a mission). He reminded us that fear and faith cannot coexist.
The other devotional featured Ben B. Banks, an emeritus Seventy. Elder Banks asked 10-12 missionaries to choose their favorite hymn, tell us why it was their favorite and choose one verse for us to sing. He then talked about the power of music in our lives. One of the great parts of these devotionals was being surrounded by 2000+ missionries while they sing - especially "Called to Serve." There is nothing like it.
Anyone who wants to serve a mission should IMMEDIATELY immerse themselves in the manual "Preach My Gospel" This, of course, is the training manual for the MTC. It is a great resource and was used exclusively, along with the scriptures for our classes at the MTC.Of course, we were able to watch General Conference while at the MTC. Since all of you probably watched as well, we won't share highlights of that with you.
