Elder Nielson Urges MTC Presidents to “Help Raise the Rising Generation”
Contributed By Jason Swensen, Church News staff writer
Elder Brent H. Nielson’s presentation at the seminar for new MTC presidents and visitors’ center directors concerned helping the rising generation understand their purpose.
Article Highlights
- Elder Nielson urges MTC presidents to help raise the rising generation.
- It is important for missionaries to understand the impact of their mission.
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PROVO, UTAH
It’s tempting to scan the sometimes troubling headlines of the day and, perhaps, wish to live in a different time or place.
“But these are our days—and they are wonderful days,” assured Elder Brent H. Nielson, a General Authority Seventy, in his presentation to participants at the recent 2017 Seminar for New MTC Presidents and Visitors’ Center Directors held January 10–12.
In fact, there has never been a better time to be a Latter-day Saint. Some 75,000 missionaries are serving worldwide, stakes dot the globe, and there are more temples in operation than at any other time.
“The Lord is moving His work forward in ways we can’t even imagine,” said Elder Nielson. “So as you begin your callings, my hope is that you will have a vision of that work.”
The Restoration, he added, was not an event limited to Joseph Smith’s lifetime. It continues today.
“That person who walks into your visitors’ center or that new missionary who walks into your MTC is part of the Restoration and part of Heavenly Father’s kingdom, which continues to roll forward.”
Elder Nielson said that new MTC presidents and visitors’ center directors and their companions have a key responsibility: to help raise the rising generation.
It’s important to help the missionaries understand that the success and impact of their mission cannot be measured during the duration of their call. Their experiences as missionaries will serve and bless them over the course of their lives.
It is vital, he added, that the rising generation come to see its own vision of the work. They need to understand the gospel and its purposes.
Those assigned to direct MTCs and visitors’ centers can also help the missionaries realize their sacred purpose to teach repentance and baptize.
Missionaries can share the gospel with everyone they meet, taught Elder Nielson. While there are some areas of the world where baptisms are recorded in greater numbers, it is every missionary’s prayer and duty—regardless of where they serve—“to find someone to teach and baptize.”
A missionary’s charge, he added, is to “teach the doctrine of Christ.”
Elder Brent H. Nielson’s presentation at the seminar for new MTC presidents and visitors’ center directors concerned helping the rising generation understand their purpose.
Elder Brent H. Nielson’s presentation at the seminar for new MTC presidents and visitors’ center directors concerned helping the rising generation understand their purpose.
