Brigham Young
It
is said that Brigham Young left marks in the pulpit at the St. George Temple
due to the fervor of his speeches and a freewheeling cane. This is true. When
did the first such mark appear?
A)
Two months after the temple dedication
calling the Saints to repentance
B)
One year after the temple dedication
reprimanding the Saints for driving away the Natives in the area
C)
At the temple dedication in which he told
the Saints he wasn’t satisfied with their efforts yet
D)
One week after the temple dedication over
his indignation of neighbors not loving their neighbors
Yesterday’s answers:
1. B
A parking lot
2. B
The LTM
3. C
1925
Additional information:
In 1832 a revelation given through the
Prophet Joseph Smith in Kirtland, Ohio, directed the elders to tarry and
conduct a solemn assembly to study the "doctrines of the kingdom," as
well as a variety of secular subjects, so that they might "be prepared in
all things" to go out and preach to the people (D&C 88:70–81). This
initial assembly became the basis for the School of the Prophets with similar
purposes, which opened on January 24, 1833. When Church schools were founded in
Utah during the latter part of the nineteenth century, they created programs
for missionary training. In 1883 "missionary meetings" were added to
the offerings of the Theological Department at Brigham Young Academy, the
predecessor to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Similar programs were
inaugurated at Ricks College in Idaho and at the Latter-day Saints University
in Salt Lake City.
As missionary training progressed, the
First Presidency approved a Church Missionary Home and Preparatory Training
School. A Salt Lake City home was purchased, remodeled, and furnished to
accommodate up to ninety-nine missionaries. Inaugurated in 1925, the week-long
program for departing missionaries emphasized gospel topics, Church procedures,
personal health, and proper manners. This home accommodated the outgoing
missionaries until the 1960s, but as the number of missionaries increased,
other facilities were needed.
PROGRAM AT BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY.
For several years prior to 1960, Church and BYU officials considered the
advisability of offering language instruction to missionaries. The occasion to
launch this program came when missionaries assigned to Mexico and Argentina
experienced lengthy delays in obtaining visas. On December 4, 1961, the
Missionary Language Institute (MLI) opened with a class of twenty-nine elders
in temporary quarters in a Provo hotel and various BYU buildings. Through
classes, leadership meetings, and conferences, missionaries attending the MLI
were able to develop facility in Spanish as well as in self-discipline and
missionary spirit.
To enhance this program, in 1963 Church
leaders gave its director the authority and stature of a mission president, and
the MLI became known as the Language Training Mission (LTM). Portuguese and
German were soon added to its curriculum.
In 1968 Church leaders decided to offer
language instruction in all sixteen languages then being used by missionaries.
To meet this major challenge, separate LTMs were established at Ricks College
to teach Dutch and the Scandinavian languages and at the Church College of
Hawaii to teach Polynesian and Oriental languages.
SCOPE BROADENED. The need for
missionary training increased with the expansion of the Church. In 1971 over
2,500 missionaries received training at Brigham Young University in classrooms
and housing that became increasingly inadequate. In 1973 the Church Missionary
Committee approved plans to build a complex in Provo large enough to meet the
needs of all language training for missionaries and decided to combine the
three existing programs there. By 1976 the first phase was established. This
multimillion-dollar complex demonstrated the Church´s resolute commitment to
missionary work.
Prior to 1978, while foreign-language
missionaries were trained at the LTM in Provo, the Missionary Home in Salt Lake
City continued to train the English-speaking missionaries. Beginning in 1978,
however, all elders, sisters, and couples called from the United States or
Canada reported directly to Provo for training, and the name of the facility
was changed to Missionary Training Center (MTC) to reflect its more
comprehensive program.
ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION. In the
1980s, the General Authorities became more involved in personal direction of
missionary training. Although past MTC leaders had customarily handled policies
and procedures through BYU, from 1980 on they increasingly reported directly to
the Missionary Committee in Salt Lake City.
The internal organization was also at
this time restructured to separate ecclesiastical from professional
responsibilities. Missionaries were organized into branches whose presidents,
called as lay leaders from among Church members in the Provo area, provided needed
ecclesiastical authority and service in counseling missionaries and in
conducting Sunday meetings. In addition, full-time staff members supervised
professional activities such as training and business affairs.
MTC REGIMEN. The MTC is regarded as a
mission field. All costs are paid by the missionaries, including board and
room, books, and study materials. Every missionary is assigned another new
missionary as a companion, and they are together twenty-four hours a day.
The schedule is rigorous. Classes have
ten to twelve students who meet in three-hour sessions, morning, afternoon, and
evening. Studies include the scriptures, languages, and missionary methodology.
Academic responsibilities are balanced by spiritual development and
recreational opportunities. Temple attendance and weekly devotional addresses
given by visiting General Authorities aid spiritual well-being. Exercise
programs promote physical fitness.
The
intensive methodology used in foreign-language instruction is based in part on
a program developed by the U.S. Army: Trainees learn by listening and
repeating. Classroom instructors are usually experienced former missionaries
and foreign students from nearby campuses. Linguistic drills are related to the
culture, customs, and characteristics of the assigned mission field. In one
week basic grammar is learned, and after two weeks a missionary begins to
converse, pray, and sing in a new language. In eight weeks, missionaries are
reasonably adept in conversation
and can teach gospel lessons in a
foreign language.
INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION. The Church now
operates Area Missionary Training Centers beyond Provo. Previously,
missionaries called from outside the United States and Canada typically went
directly to the mission field without orientation. Area centers have now been
developed to give missionaries from other lands advantages similar to those
provided in Provo. The first of these centers was established at Sao Paulo,
Brazil, in 1977. By 1990, thirteen Area MTCs functioned in Latin America, Europe,
Asia, and the Pacific. All are adjacent to Latter-day Saint temples. 914The
goal of the Missionary Training Centers is to provide initial training for
full-time missionaries, preparing them to teach more efficiently the restored
gospel of Jesus Christ. All programs are continuously evaluated in terms of
this objective.
RICHARD
O. COWAN
No comments:
Post a Comment