The England MTC

by Janet Thomas

Assistant Managing Editor

One of the newest of the international Missionary Training Centers is in Preston, England. Opened two years ago, the England MTC now offers three-week training for missionaries called to serve in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Also trained there are missionaries from some areas of Europe, Russia, and Mongolia who speak English even though they may not be serving in English-speaking missions.

With the England MTC able to accommodate 84 elders, 24 sisters, and 1 missionary couple, now missionaries called to Great Britain will go directly to Preston as they begin their missions. Adjacent to the Preston England Temple, the England MTC is a vibrant, exciting place where missionaries quickly form lasting friendships. “What impressed me most,” said Elder Stephen Kenworthy from Ashton, England, “was how new missionaries from all over the world quickly got to know each other and became friends. I can honestly say every missionary at the MTC is a friend to one another.”

The curriculum is the same as that taught at the Provo MTC. The instructors, all returned missionaries living near Preston, see the great strides made by new missionaries in the three weeks spent at the MTC. “We have missionaries come who have the desire to be the best missionaries they can, but fear that they can’t do it,” says Angela Turner, an MTC instructor who served her mission in the England London Mission. “Their testimonies grow so much as they realize that the Lord is going to help them.”

President Norman White of the England MTC tells each missionary, “You have the Savior’s name, the Church’s name, and your family’s name on your name tag. That’s who you represent.”