For any of you who has been on a mission and had the ritual send-off experience ("Families, go through that door, missionaries through this door), this story might be of interest to you. Because of swine flu infection at the MTC, they have changed protocol...now it's just going to be a curbside dropoff. And it sounds like it will stay like that.
I wonder if that means parents will dread the MTC experience less or more now. I found it all rather intense to have all that buildup before the final separation. Might be better to just get in and be done with it and let the missionary get on with the exciting journey.
Hm.
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A lot of us parents never had the "MTC experience" because we didn't realize it existed. For those of us outside the intermountain west, the church flies our kids from the nearest airport, so it just never occurred to us to make an effort to go out to Provo ourselves, until a Utah transplant family gasped at our negligence in sending them away like that, and how could we miss out on that wonderful experience?
Also, my daughter served in Brazil, which has its own MTC, so it was definitely an airport good-bye.
So I think the new policy levels the playing field and makes it a similar experience for everyone no matter where they live or where the missionary will serve.
m&m, for what it's worth, here is how families dropped off their missionary in 1973 before the MTC existed.
We all gathered at the SLC mission home (where the new church history museum now stands) in the morning. We had a brief explanatory meeting, elders were told if they needed a haircut and then they dismissed us. We had time to go out to lunch with our families, get the haircut if needed and buy any last minute things based on information from the meeting.
After lunch we made our goodbyes at the curb and walked through the mission home doors alone.
Naismith, good point. It does make sense to equal the playing field, as it were.
FWIW, the experience really wasn't that wonderful (but you prolly know that). I have never heard of someone coming out to the MTC to then have their heart torn out of their chest.
And yes, with more MTCs worldwide, this will make it all similar, too.
KLC, thanks for the glimpse into the past. :)
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