The Philippines Angeles Mission: Kamusta! Twenty Arrive With Energy!

Our newest batch of missionaries came to our mission in a different fashion today. This is our first group of missionaries who didn't all go through the MTC in Manila for training. Some trained in the Provo MTC before coming to Manila for processing. Because last Monday was a holiday, their fingerprinting didn't take place until Wednesday. The missionaries were delayed by about 5 hours so instead of going to the mission office in the morning for orientation, they were brought directly to the mission home in the late afternoon for orientation, interviews and a nice dinner. It was a nice change. Our 16 Elders and 4 Sisters are bright, alert and eager. They will be a wonderful addition to our mission family.

Kamusta, Elders and Sisters! We all met together before breaking up into 4 training groups. Elder Whiting makes sure they know how finances work in the mission. Sister Whiting teaches about mission travel and baptism records. The Assistants teach about our Orientation Manual and how to do a mission effectively. President and Sister Clark share a group. One by one the missionary have their first interview with their Mission President. This helps him know which trainer would be best and where to assign them. Sister Clark talks about many of the health issues they will face and how to stay healthy. During part of Sister Clark's orientation, she gives the missionary "a parting gift" from our missionaries that departed for home just hours before.

In the picture below, our departing missionaries are writing down advice for the incoming missionaries who arrive the next day. As leaders we can share good counsel, but advice and encouragement coming from an experienced Angeles missionary who has walked the streets that the incoming missionary will walk and faced many of the same challenges, this counsel is price-less. Some times the missionary receiving the counsel will say, "This is written just for me!" It is one of the many tender mercies they will receive.

The day following arrival brings more training

by President and Sister Clark. They divide their
time in the morning between both trainers and
trainees. Training a new missionary is an assignment
of great trust. Pictured below are the great missionaries

who are the trainers for this new batch. They are entrusted
with the care and nurture of our new missionaries for
twelve weeks to assure they have a great beginning.