Comments about ‘Teaching moments — MTC plays major role in lives of instructors’

I liked the article so much, that I printed a copy to share with the young missionaries in our district.

My husband and I are senior missionaries working in Madera, CA Spanish speaking. We only had THREE language lessons in the MTC but it meant a lot to our instructor,even so. We told him that after our mission, we would find him and let him hear our excellent Spanish. At the time when he was teaching us, our language was so bad that we thought he should know that his efforts and the foundation he gave us were not in vain. When we told him we would report back in a year and a half, his face just lighted up! We could tell he had his whole heart in his job.

Thank you DNews for publishing this article today. I needed a good reminder of my brief 2 months in the MTC. I still remember my MTC instructors and their powerful testimonies and experiences.
Thanks Again!

The article produced a flood of memories. I was a Spanish instructor at the old Language Training Mission (now, of course, the MTC) from February of 1966 through August of 1970. The last 18 months of that time I served as a zone counselor. I loved the opportunity to "keep one foot in" the mission field. Associations with the missionaries and the other instructors and administratiors remain highlights in my life. To this day lessons I learned from that experience bless my life and it remains the most vivid memory of my student days at BYU. Thank you for the article.

I taught there for 3 years after the mission. It was the best "job" I ever had. Full of the Spirit every day. I was fortunate to meet many excellent people. I'd go back in a second if I could.

In fact I loved teaching so much that I do it for a full time job now. Unfortunately public ed doesn't bring that same spirit but I still enjoy teaching.

I'm not going to turn this into a public ed forum. I just want to say that teaching is one of the most worthwhile things I do with my life.

It all started at the MTC.

Great article!

My wife and I are serving in the Marshall Islands Majuro Mission and remember well Brother Brandon Sunday. He was one of the great instructors that we had during our brief stay at the MTC. We so enjoyed his influence in our lives. Brandon, if you read this know that your influence in the MTC is felt every day as we work with these wonderful Marshaleese people. We think of you often as we sit in these humble homes and teach.

I taught Spanish at the MTC in 1976, it was a wonderful; but very consuming part-time job. Later I became a shuttle driver and I enjoyed it greatly. Being a shuttle driver was one of the best job I ever had without the 24/7 concerns of missionaries and their language, culture and spiritual progress.
Those were very good times.

I hated the Empty Sea. Those 19 days in July/August with 100+ degree temps, no AC, non-opening windows, third floor "classes" and plasic chairs were the worst. Not to mention the call-center...

The chocolate milk was good though.

Not a fan

The biggest problem with teaching at the MTC is that BYU kind of treats it as just another job on campus for the (let's face it) pretty lousy pay for what they do and the kind of personal commitment that is obviously required. I remember well holding a pretty easy job on campus as a grader for a professor which didn't obviously require me to "have the Spirit" and was amazed that I made just as much as my MTC instructor friend.

I do agree that the missionaries must be a captive audience for the MTC instructors to share their experiences because everyone else at BYU (besides obviously the freshmen students) are pretty much "over" hearing about other peoples' missions all the time.

I can't wait to enter the MTC! I'm leaving on my mission in a couple of weeks. Thanks for printing this article. To "Ugh"- I think your attitude has a lot to do with the experience you have there.

To "Anonymous":

Well, if you are going to nitpick someone else's experience, at least experience it yourself before being judgmental about it. There is nothing fundamentally "wrong" with the comments of "Ugh". Summers are indeed hot and the windows do not, in fact, open!

I agree with byualum. The MTC teachers should be paid more. There's a lot more commitment involved with their jobs than, say, the late night custodians.

I taught in the MTC for three years from 1989 - 1992. It was without a doubt the best "work" experience I have ever had. If I could do it full time now, even for a cut in pay, I would.

After working for three years in the MTC, to me, it is the most spiritual place I have been next to the Temple. Everyday, the minute I crossed 900 East and onto that campus, all worries and concerns left me, I felt invigorated and excited to teach.

Yes, after each shift, either as a teacher or shift trainer, I walked back across 900 East and all of the same typical life issues, concerns, problems and challenges were still there but I also felt reinvigorated to take them on again and better prepared to do so.

As a teacher I learned that in the MTC the missionaries got out of it what they put into it and a lot of that had to do with how "mature" they were and how prepared they were for it.

Anyone that has the chance would consider themselves lucky to have the privilege to work at the MTC.

To Ugh and byualum - for the several years I taught there I never had a class room that didn't have air conditioning. Yes the windows wouldn't open, but the AC always worked. As Abraham Lincoln said, "You are only as happy as you make up your mind to be." It sounds to me like you got out of it just about what you put into it.

It maybe true that the MTC teachers monitary blessings maybe small, but the spiritual blessings they get and give are hugh. After almost 19 years since I was in the MTC, I still remember the three teachers I had, Guiffra, Durrant, and Raboldi. Three great guys who helped an Elder from the South learn spanish. Thanks for the article and a big thanks to the three I mentioned and to all those who are teaching now.

I would say that the best job at the MTC is being a driver. I worked there for two years driving the missionaries all over Provo and to the airport. I was even paid more than the teachers at the time for doing a very relaxing job.

I too taught at the MTC and also was privileged to work as a Zone Coordinator. I loved this article. Teaching (Spanish) was an amazing experience and a great extension to my own mission. I was continually amazed by the hard work and dedication of both teachers and missionaries and nearly every day provided some level of fun and inspiration. I would encourage any returning missionary who loved his or her mission to consider working at the MTC. I felt that it kept me motivated to excell during my college years. It kept me focused on important priorities. It helped me overcome challenges as I continued to be involved in helping others overcome their challenges. I appreciated the opportunity to teach and I am a better person for having served a mission and for having spent most of my college years at the MTC.

I taught at the MTC as well, as I loved the experience on pretty much every level. As for Ugh's complaints about the ac & windows not opening, etc., I can't speak to Ugh's experiences since he/she may have had a bad classroom with no air. But I know all the rooms I was in were fine. The third f loor classrooms just helped you stay in shape. And I guess the plastic chairs could've been improved on, but if that's your cause to complain about your MTC experience . . . And sorry, I never did the call center so I couldn't vouch for that one, but it couldn't be any worse than tracting door-to-door, which every missionary knows they'll be doing for 2 years when they go in, so I don't see reason to complain about that.

In a nutshell, the MTC really does end up being the experience you put into it. If you're predisposed to not liking it, you'll probably hate it. If you go with enthusiasm & a strong testimony, you won't like it.
You'll love it.

There is plenty wrong with choosing to focus on the negative aspect of everything. You're going to have a horrible life if all you ever choose to focus on is the negative. That's a fact of life. A positive attitude does more than air conditioning or windows that open. You have an amazing experience if you choose to. I'm going in with both enthusiasm and a strong testimony, and I know I'm going to love it!

My MTC experience was fine, but there are quite a few missionairies that enter with a lot of problems. It is quite a culture shock if you think about it. The majority of the missionaries (19 year old males) are just barely out of high school and unable to cope to such a demanding environment. I admire the MTC instructors that not only teach, but help make the transition easier and I know it cannot be an easy job which is why I opted not to pursue that route at BYU.