i was emailed by the New Era Magazine about my experience in the stay at home mtc. Below are is the correspondence between me and the editorial intern looking for a story.
Sister Wagner,
My name is Emily Powell and I work as an intern for the New Era magazine for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Allan Loyborg mentioned you the other day and expressed what an incredible experience you have had participating in the stay at home MTC program. I was able to talk with your dad last week and get an overview of the miracles situation of your mission call and the spirit that has been in your home. I was hoping to reach out to you and receive some personal stories from you about your experience. I understand you are leaving for your mission July 15, Tuesday, and know how busy the days leading up can be. Know there is no pressure in responding before you leave tomorrow. We would love to hear from you even after you have entered the mission field. Below I have included some questions about stay at home MTC we would like to know more about.
- What has been the best part of participating in stay at home MTC?
- What challenges arose?
- How was your home changed? Your father mentioned an increase in the spirit. What did that feel like?
- Tell us about your online district and home evening activity?
- It sounds like you were busy from 7:00am – 10:30 pm. Where you in class all day? What did you learn?
- Will you continue to stay in touch with the missionaries in your district? What has their experience been?
And of course, feel free to include any other information or stories you would like to share! If you have any other questions, comments, or concerns feel free to reach out to me at powelemi@ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Thank you,
Emily J. Powell
Editorial Intern・ New Era Magazine
Hola!
1) Being in the at home MTC wasn’t easy. I had to be much more self-motivated, and dedicated then I feel like I would have been if it had been in person. But despite being difficult and rigorous the blessings far surpassed the challenges. My favorite part of the at home MTC was the richness of the Spirit. The peace and quite that accompanied being in my home created an environment for living within the Spirit. During calls I found it easier than ever before to recognize the companionship of the Spirit. It has been an incredible feeling and has given me strength during the hard days.
2) Before I got set apart I received TONS and TONS of different pieces of advice. The harshest advice I was given was one sentence. I was just told “It’s gunna be hard”. Even though it wasn’t of the typical strain of advice I was used to hearing, it was some of the best advice to prepare me for my mission. It is not easy, and there are lots of challenges. But the blessings make it all worth it.
One of the hardest challenges was that I was accountable to God and not to anyone else really. I had to wake up on time. I had to study Spanish alone. I had to fulfill my assignments and follow through with my personal goals. But isn’t that how it is anyway? I think though it took effort to be dedicated and consecrated. But I know the things I learned will be a blessing to me throughout my mission and my whole life.
Another challenge was the language. I know this is a no-brainer, but learning a new language all by yourself is kind of hard. None of my family members speak Spanish so trying to practice talk with them came to a screeching halt after “cómo estás”. However, my family was a huge blessing to me. They sacrificed hours of their time out of their busy days to quiz me on vocabulary, memorize scriptures, and test me on my language skills.
Just like with anything, there were good days and bad days. But my family was a huge strength to me. They helped me push through and trust in God.
3) Right off the bat my home changed. Movies and T.V. were basically banned (much to the dismay of my little brothers) and the only music we listened to was mission appropriate. I know this was initially hard for my younger siblings but it made such a big difference in the spirit in our home, and how we treated each other. Love and peace didn’t always abide... but there was a definite change in our home. When the spirit was there a feeling of love and warmth washed over me. My love for my family has increased as we ALL worked together to have a more Christ-centered home.
4) One of my favorite activities from the online MTC was the chance for us to participate in a virtual Family Home Evening. I was so excited when my teachers mentioned it and I was all for it! The first lesson was taught by the Elders, and the next week the Hermana taught. It was such a cool experience to share with my family. It was awesome to not only share what we were learning with our families but to share who we were learning it with. It was a great opportunity to share our testimonies and for all of us to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ.
5) Actually to compensate for the lack of movement during the day I woke up at 6 AM to exercise before my first zoom call at 8 AM with my morning teacher. Each class covered a mix of gospel learning, and language study. The first class ended at 11 AM and I usually grabbed some lunch and did my personal study. After personal study I FaceTimed my companion (shout out to Hermana Wheeler the best companion I’ve ever had!) for companionship study. I absolutely loved comp study. I feel like I learned so much from my amazing companion and her insights. It was especially cool to be able to begin and end our studies with a prayer in Spanish together. After this I had a long break until my next zoom call with my afternoon teacher at 4:30 PM. And by break I mean work time/study time/cry time. haha just kidding. But really there wasn’t much down time at all. I was reading the BOM in Spanish, studying on a quizlet (shout out to Elder Christopherson!) that an awesome member of my district made, working on assignment from our teachers, and prepping lessons for “investigators”. BUSY BUSY BUSY. My one actual break time was my daily walk around the neighborhood before class (with one of my parents or sibling… don’t worry i was never alone ;)). My evening class went from 4:30-7:30 but I usually didn’t come up till 8 from my MTC room in the basement. Sometimes I ate dinner over the calls (which was always exciting when we were having spaghetti for dinner that night ;) thank goodness for the mute button). After classes where done I would either be with my family, finish homework, or go on another zoom call with my district.
6) I WILL 100% STAY IN TOUCH WITH THE MISSIONARIES IN MY DISTRICT. I absolutely adored my companion and I was blessed to be able to live close enough that we got to meet up TWICE on P-days. Three Elder’s in my district were originally called to El Salvador just like me. Two of those Elders were called to the same mission! We love our El Salvador Fam. Now with my reassignment to Santa Rosa California I will be able to serve in the same reassignment with three of the four Elders from my district. I can’t wait to meet them in person! One of the things that bonded us the most was our after class zoom calls. These consisted of virtual board games, visiting, and getting to know each other. This was THEE most important thing for creating friendships with people besides our companions. It is crazy how many fun memories I have with EACH person in my district while sitting in my bedroom at my computer. I love our district so much! Here are some fun/funny examples of how we made SIX weeks of online MTC an awesome and positive experience:
- a running quote board with our combined comedic genius
- a google hangouts chat for us to talk in
- breakout rooms in zoom where teachers allowed us to switch companions and practice with other missionaries
- working together to create videos and social media posts for our homework
- nightly zoom calls with the district with bonding
THE BIGGEST THING THAT I WOULD LIKE TO EMPHASIZE IS THAT YOU HAVE TO BE ALL IN. EVERYDAY. GIVE EVERYTHING TO THE LORD AND THEN RELY ON HIM FOR EVERYTHING. and in regards to my reassignment I AM NOT DISAPPOINTED AT ALL. THIS IS THE WAY IT WAS ALWAYS SUPPOSED TO BE, AND I WILL BE A MISSIONARY NO MATTER WHERE I SERVE.
feel free to interview everyone in my district. they are absolutely phenomenal.
if you have any questions you can email me or call my parents to help fill in the gaps but if things don’t make sense just look at the time that i sent this email. :)
also here is a video that I directed/put together for my district called “Pass the Tag”. My facebook also has a few more videos ect. and my missionary message (farewell talk). also here is a picture of my district the first day, and then the last day.
