Primary children from the Barrigada Stake on Guam recently received mission calls!
Each primary child in the stake was given an envelope containing a personalized mission call to a specific area of the world. Children were instructed to open their mission calls with their families and then report to a special “Mini-MTC” at a designated date and time.
On August 24, 2024, children entered the Barrigada Stake Center which served as a temporary MTC. They checked in and had their photo taken while pointing to the country of their mini-mission call on a large world map, just as full-time missionaries do when they report to official missionary training centers (MTC).
“President Nicerio has invited our stake members again and again to focus on things that will keep us on the covenant path,” explained Ellen Bush, Stake Primary President for the Barrigada Stake. “What better way than for these children to receive a ‘mission call’ and then come together and learn about what it is like to serve a mission!”
The Mini-MTC opened with the singing of primary songs such as “I Am a Child of God,” which invited the Holy Spirit, the most important ally of any missionary.
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“God asks us to go forward and teach every nation the Gospel of Christ. You can start this now, at your age,” said Sister Harris of the Micronesia Guam Mission as she welcomed the newly called mini-missionaries.
After receiving brief opening instructions, the young missionaries were separated into groups and attended a series of presentations by former missionaries who shared inspiring stories about the joy of teaching others about Jesus Christ.
Brother MFour Matheus presented on the Brisbane, Australia mission and shared a powerful story about how he learned to listen to the spirit on his mission. He challenged these young future missionaries to learn how to feel the spirit now and act on those promptings. He also shared a “Tim-Tam Slam” with the children.
Sister Beverlyn Sablan shared powerful testimony about how serving her mission in the Bacolod Philippines Mission profoundly changed her life. One young man from a family that she taught actually received his own mission call just the day before the Mini-MTC activity.
Brother Brady Smith taught the children about what it was like to serve in the Nashville, Tennessee Mission. He shared some insights into southern culture and the “unmatched hospitality” that is seen when interacting with folks in the South who will always invite you in for some beans and corn bread.
Guam/Micronesia’s full-time missionaries taught an interactive class on how to become “fishers of men,” complete with a pond, fish, and fishing poles.
Most importantly, all presenters testified of the joys of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Mini-MTC training concluded with fun team-building activities such as relays and even a game of “Pin the missionary badge on the missionary.”
Many of these primary-aged missionaries expressed enthusiasm for receiving their mini-mission calls.
Scarlet Ellsworth of the Yigo Ward, who received her mini-mission call to Tahiti, expressed excitement at the idea of someday serving a mission. “I was really excited to open my mission call,” she said. “A few days ago I didn’t think I would want to go on a mission, but today everything really put things into perspective.”
Primary Stake President, Sister Ellen Bush added that many reached out to her with gratitude for the way that the activity brought together the children of the stake. Jill Haggerty of Santa Rita Ward said, “I think it’s so important for our children to see that there are lots of other people like them that share their same beliefs. These activities bring them together in such a fun way.”
The Mini-MTC activity was a wonderful opportunity for the primary children of the Barrigada stake to learn of the joys of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to help them to be ready to “teach and preach and work as missionaries do, after they have grown a foot or two!” (I Hope They Call Me on a Mission – Primary Songbook).