Dear Parents,
Your daughter has arrived in the
England Manchester Mission (EMM) safely and is ready to go to work as a
missionary. We held a training session Wednesday
morning where we covered many things including their mission finances,
their first three month training schedule, becoming a “Christ-like
Missionary” and the EMM vision and guiding principles. We concluded
with a testimony meeting and afterwards Sister Preston fed the group a
warm hearty meal. I held a personal interview with
each missionary and we then transported them to the Manchester Stake
Centre where they were introduced to their first companion and trainer.
As parents, the most important
thing you can do for your daughter is to be supportive and encouraging.
The first month or two can be challenging for a missionary with many
adjustments having to be made in their life.
But it normally does not take long until they capture the full vision
of their calling, gain a love for the people of the United Kingdom and
lose themselves in the work.
Please be supportive of the
Church’s policy on communications which allows missionaries to send and
receive emails only with family members which, in addition to the
immediate family, includes grandparents, aunts, uncles
and cousins. Anyone not part of the family must communicate by letter.
Occasional efforts by some to circumvent this policy, such as family
members forwarding personally directed emails from non-family members,
are outside the spirit of this principle.
We often talk and train on the
principle of “Becoming a Christ-like Missionary.” While it is good to
be an Honorable Missionary, there is a higher principle and that is
becoming a Christ-like Missionary. This involves
many things but it primarily is a commitment by the missionary to
purify and sanctify their life and fully commit their heart and soul to
their mission. The happiest and most effective missionaries are those
who limit thoughts of their pre-mission life,
put the world behind them and get completely lost in the work of
serving the Lord. Your encouragement and support of this principle will
help your daughter grow personally, gain a greater depth of spiritually
and more easily affect for good the lives of others.
Attached you will find a picture
of your daughter with Sister Preston and me inside the mission home
and also a picture of her first companions and trainers. She will be in
a trio. Sister Preston and I have three sons
who have served missions, so we fully understand the emotions and joys
that you are going through right now. Please know that we love the
missionaries in the England Manchester Mission and we watch over them
with great care. May the Lord bless you during
this time of sacrifice in the lives of both you and your daughter.
With warm regards,
President Preston
England Manchester Mission
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| Sister Ballantyne and the Manchester England Mission President |
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| Sisters Hanson, Ballantyne, and Longmore (from left to right) |
