Showing posts with label missionaries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label missionaries. Show all posts
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
She Said: Death of A Mormon Tradition
To me one of the strengths of the Mormon Church is its personalization. When wards get too big, they are split, thus the Bishop knows all his members quite well. On Fast Sundays, we know our fellow travelers and why they are up there crying. We have faces and names and stories, and we have traditions.
I've been sad over the years to see the loss of many of the very traditions which draw us in to the lives of our fellow Saints. For example, I understand the Utah-based impetus which led to forbidding of missionary farewells and homecomings in Sacrament Meetings. But in wards where there are never more than 5 missionaries out at a time, this new policy was a loss. The emotion and the Spirit of a mother's or a sibling's talk as their son/brother went out to serve was uplifting. It was a wonder to see the maturation that had taken place when said missionary returned home. It brought us closer as a Ward Family. And the Open House was a lovely tradition and a perfect opportunity for the Ward to celebrate together.
At Mormon Matters today there was a discussion of the new policies for funerals, popularized by Boyd K. Packer. Funerals are no longer to be, in the long-standing Mormon tradition, a family affair celebrating the life of the deceased. Instead, doctrinal talks are recommended, with the program and speakers being chosen by the Bishop.
So with all of the policy changes which have taken place in the past few years, I very much regret to see another of our Mormon traditions bite the dust: the MTC drop-off.
It's been a wonderful tradition, ever since the Provo MTC was built in 1978, for families to be able to bring their missionaries to the campus, check them in, take pictures, participate in a brief orientation, and then bid their missionary goodbye. Families exit one door, and missionaries another, amid many tears. As a young convert missionary in 1981, I had no family to take me through this ritual, but I watched with a tender heart as mothers hugged their sons goodbye, little brothers shook hands solemnly, and the families wept. I loved being a part of it. I had the opportunity to take my oldest two daughters to the MTC in 2006 and 2007. When my third daughter departed this past January, we were unable to go with her, but three of her sisters, who were attending BYU took her through the rigamarole.
Now, amid worries over the swine flu virus, which has been contracted by some of the missionaries currently in the MTC, the powers-that-be have decided to permanently end the tradition, and missionaries are now to be dropped off curbside. What a shame.
Here's what SHE SAYS:
Let's keep as many of our Mormon traditions as we can, especially the ones that personalize us. Let's keep the special ceremonial rites of passage for individuals. Allow ward members and families to celebrate, as much as possible, the lives and milestones along the way of their loved ones.
I've been sad over the years to see the loss of many of the very traditions which draw us in to the lives of our fellow Saints. For example, I understand the Utah-based impetus which led to forbidding of missionary farewells and homecomings in Sacrament Meetings. But in wards where there are never more than 5 missionaries out at a time, this new policy was a loss. The emotion and the Spirit of a mother's or a sibling's talk as their son/brother went out to serve was uplifting. It was a wonder to see the maturation that had taken place when said missionary returned home. It brought us closer as a Ward Family. And the Open House was a lovely tradition and a perfect opportunity for the Ward to celebrate together.
At Mormon Matters today there was a discussion of the new policies for funerals, popularized by Boyd K. Packer. Funerals are no longer to be, in the long-standing Mormon tradition, a family affair celebrating the life of the deceased. Instead, doctrinal talks are recommended, with the program and speakers being chosen by the Bishop.
So with all of the policy changes which have taken place in the past few years, I very much regret to see another of our Mormon traditions bite the dust: the MTC drop-off.
It's been a wonderful tradition, ever since the Provo MTC was built in 1978, for families to be able to bring their missionaries to the campus, check them in, take pictures, participate in a brief orientation, and then bid their missionary goodbye. Families exit one door, and missionaries another, amid many tears. As a young convert missionary in 1981, I had no family to take me through this ritual, but I watched with a tender heart as mothers hugged their sons goodbye, little brothers shook hands solemnly, and the families wept. I loved being a part of it. I had the opportunity to take my oldest two daughters to the MTC in 2006 and 2007. When my third daughter departed this past January, we were unable to go with her, but three of her sisters, who were attending BYU took her through the rigamarole.
Now, amid worries over the swine flu virus, which has been contracted by some of the missionaries currently in the MTC, the powers-that-be have decided to permanently end the tradition, and missionaries are now to be dropped off curbside. What a shame.
Here's what SHE SAYS:
Let's keep as many of our Mormon traditions as we can, especially the ones that personalize us. Let's keep the special ceremonial rites of passage for individuals. Allow ward members and families to celebrate, as much as possible, the lives and milestones along the way of their loved ones.
He Said: Death of A Mormon Tradition
This week I learned of the discontinuation of another LDS tradition--the dropping off of a missionary child. I have mixed feelings about no longer dropping off a missionary at the MTC. I read about it on M and M's blog when she linked to the KSL report which cited the reason as being the spread of the Swine Flu or H1N1 virus.
Richard G. Hinckley, a member of the Seventy states:
We then had to stand in a huge line to take our pictures in front of the entrance. In order to get us all in the picture we had to beg some other stranger to take our picture in front of the wall with the MTC's name. Literally thousands of parents had to go through this process to get the tradtional shot that is on every missionary's blog of them with their parents standing there.
Another trying experience was getting in the foyer with hundreds of family members who pressed against you as some sweet little old lady gave your missionary a name tag with a bright colored dot. Again you had to force y9urself on someone to take a picture in front of Christ. If you went down the stairs they tried to tell you not to take a picture from that point on.
Next you had to stop every few seconds as your wife or daughter grabbed a Kleenex to wipe the tears out of their eyes as guides tried to move you along to the room where the twenty minute devotional was held.
The first time I shed one tear when my first daughter was separated from us going out one entrance as we were instructed to go out a different one. The first time not knowing any better we followed the MTC president's advice treating the separation like ripping off a bandage and gave a last quick hug. The following year hearing the same spiel we were slower as that particular daughter was more emotional about leaving us and it took four minutes. I didn't shed a single tear that time. I regretted though I didn't bring all eight kids but they asked people to limit the size of their paries so we only brought the kids at BYU. I noticed though the great bonding opportunity that siblings had as they shared in the missionary's first experience.
I am not sure what their experience will be now that this sappy tradition is ended. I think of the literally tens of thousands of hours spent in saying goodbye and the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in traveling to Provo by families who would come from all over the country. The Church ending this tradition is being more health and resource conserving.
I never knew until my third child went on her mission that the LDS Church pays their way to the MTC so this time I said goodbye at the Charleston International Airport. I have some nice pictures of my wife and daughter saying goodbye. I think the Church is probably wise in not having such big fanfares for missionaries any more like farewell talks, open houses and now missionary drop-offs. I mean what is the big deal anyway. It is like fasting--God knows and recognizes the sacrifice. You don't need a program to part with your kid. When I went on a mission as a one year convert my parents didn't even help me find a way to Provo. I think this practice of dropping off is only a twenty year phenomenon. In a few years no one will care one way or another.
Richard G. Hinckley, a member of the Seventy states:
Friends and family are now being asked to say their goodbyes outside because three missionaries have the swine flu. Church officials say their mission is to keep the H1N1 virus from coming into or out of the MTC."We've had protocol in place for these kinds of things for a number of years. We isolate them," said Elder Richard G. Hinckley, executive director of the Church's Missionary Department.
Hinckley says they've had outbreaks of other viruses before and similar protocols are used. However, this time it will permanently change how parents say goodbye to their children at the MTC.
"Those [parents] who typically do come, from this area, will be asked to drop them off, from this point forward in time, at the MTC and say goodbye to them at the doorstep and not come into the buildings," Hinckley said.
When I lived in Utah I dropped off my two oldest daughters. It was a really production to take them to the MTC. We drove the three hours to Provo and then assembled their three siblings who were attending BYU together. We had all their bags which we took and placed with hundreds of other bags that looked similar. Some old guy directed us where to park after dropping off the bags. I didn't really enjoy trying to find my daughters and wife who left me to park the car when they wandered off with the bags.
We then had to stand in a huge line to take our pictures in front of the entrance. In order to get us all in the picture we had to beg some other stranger to take our picture in front of the wall with the MTC's name. Literally thousands of parents had to go through this process to get the tradtional shot that is on every missionary's blog of them with their parents standing there.
Another trying experience was getting in the foyer with hundreds of family members who pressed against you as some sweet little old lady gave your missionary a name tag with a bright colored dot. Again you had to force y9urself on someone to take a picture in front of Christ. If you went down the stairs they tried to tell you not to take a picture from that point on.
Next you had to stop every few seconds as your wife or daughter grabbed a Kleenex to wipe the tears out of their eyes as guides tried to move you along to the room where the twenty minute devotional was held.
The first time I shed one tear when my first daughter was separated from us going out one entrance as we were instructed to go out a different one. The first time not knowing any better we followed the MTC president's advice treating the separation like ripping off a bandage and gave a last quick hug. The following year hearing the same spiel we were slower as that particular daughter was more emotional about leaving us and it took four minutes. I didn't shed a single tear that time. I regretted though I didn't bring all eight kids but they asked people to limit the size of their paries so we only brought the kids at BYU. I noticed though the great bonding opportunity that siblings had as they shared in the missionary's first experience.
I am not sure what their experience will be now that this sappy tradition is ended. I think of the literally tens of thousands of hours spent in saying goodbye and the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in traveling to Provo by families who would come from all over the country. The Church ending this tradition is being more health and resource conserving.
I never knew until my third child went on her mission that the LDS Church pays their way to the MTC so this time I said goodbye at the Charleston International Airport. I have some nice pictures of my wife and daughter saying goodbye. I think the Church is probably wise in not having such big fanfares for missionaries any more like farewell talks, open houses and now missionary drop-offs. I mean what is the big deal anyway. It is like fasting--God knows and recognizes the sacrifice. You don't need a program to part with your kid. When I went on a mission as a one year convert my parents didn't even help me find a way to Provo. I think this practice of dropping off is only a twenty year phenomenon. In a few years no one will care one way or another.
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