Here are some more details of our visit last Wednesday to meet with Elder Brandon and look into Eric serving a f amily history mission there.
We met with Elder Brandon on the 3rd floor in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB). We spent a little over 2 hours with him. Sister Brandon was with us for part of the time.
One of the first things he did was to take us to meet with the President of the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission,
President Wayne S. Peterson (click on his name to go to his biography).
President Peterson and his wife were wonderful. He only talked to us for a few minutes. He told us a little bit about himself, pointed out an excellent, original oil painting of Joseph Smith that the artist did using the death mask of Joseph so as to get the face proportions right (and Pres. Peterson hopes that someday copies of it can be sold...and I a gree, it was a fabulous painting), and asked us some questions (though for the life of me, I can't remember what he asked). Pres. Peterson said something to Eric like, "I like you already."
Then Elder Brandon talked to us, took us on a tour, and then talked to us some more.
Some interesting tidbits:
The Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission is the smallest mission area-wise...it only takes in a few blocks. It has the most missionaries of any mission (1,160). He also claimed/joked that they can boast of the most baptisms of any missions as well...due to the Salt Lake Temple and the f amily history work that goes on there. This mission is the only mission where the President is called to serve for only 2 years and not 3.
Our first stop on the tour was the training area. New family history missionaries have a 2 week training period there where they get one-on-one training using a computer and their own 5 generations pedigree chart. A lovely snack table with fruits, vegetables, and treats was set up and Elder Brandon said there was food everywhere and called it the "20 pound mission," and we did see several tables on our tour. Eric and Elder Brandon enjoyed some licorice later on, but Glen and I refrained.
Anyway, we got to see a few rooms in the JSMB where some work was done (the help room for family history center directors was there), as well as some of the 70 young elders in this mission. Elder Brandon had explained to Eric that the young missionaries each had their own personalities and their differences were called "quirks" here. Some are visible and some are not. When we met with them, we could see some of it. It was great. They were great.
Then we went to the Family History Library (FHL). We got to go into back areas and see some work being done on projects like cutting apart books so they could be digitized. We saw them scanning as well. As I said, Glen and I are ready to sign up and serve there, too. It was amazing. There were editing rooms and the "blocking" room (where non-essential info--such as luggage on a ship's manifest--is blocked out of a digital record). Part of the mission is also the granite mountain vault--which sadly we did not get to see, but only 2-3 young elders serve there at a time. To work there you need to pass an extensive background check.
We stood on a corner and just looked across to the apartments that the missionaries use. They are "standard missionary apartments," though I'm not 100% sure what Elder Brandon meant by that.
The young missionaries are assigned a companion, but they do not have to stay with their companions while they are in their 2-3 block mission area (as they often have different assigments--one might be serving in the FHL while the other is in the JSMB). But they cannot go "off-campus" without permission and without their companion...that includes to the food court in the mall just south of Temple Square. They are assigned a different companion about every 3 months or so. Their assignments are also changed occasionally on "transfer" day.
They have district and zone meetings and are encouraged to teach each other from the "Preach My Gospel" manual; therefore, they are proclaiming the gospel to each other. They are given one scripture/quote a month to memorize if they can.
They get 4 hours a week to work on their own research...I think it was called P & R--Glen and I can't wait to have Eric tackle some of our brickwalls if he gets called to this mission.
They are required to go to the Salt Lake Temple at least once a month, but can go more often--some go every week during their P & R time. They are also occasionally driven to other temples in the area. If there's a live family sealing taking place in the Salt Lake Temple, they are allowed to attend the sealing--not the photo session or the luncheon, but they are allowed to go to the sealing.
A young elder will not be asked to serve in an area that would not "fit" with their quirks. For example, some would not want to work with the public, so they would not be put in an assignment that would have them dealing with patrons.
They are not allowed to proselyte. If they are on Temple Square and are asked about the church, they can answer basic questions, but then direct the person to one of the proselyting missionaries there. They are encouraged not to give money to the panhandlers, but are encouraged to pay fast offering to help the poor. There is a booth on the west side of Temple Square where those truly in need can go and transportation to a local soup kitchen will be arranged.
There is a missionary choir they can join and this choir sometimes performs elsewhere. They have firesides twice a month. They sometimes bump into General Authorities. There are devotionals every Monday and they have guest speakers.
Sunday mornings they are encouraged to attend the weekly Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast of
Music and the Spoken Word and have church in the afternoon in the JSMB--they are all in the same ward, but the ward has 2 Elder's Quorums.
They are driven to Walmart on P-days to go grocery shopping where they have about $40 a week to spend on food. They do their own laundry. There is a nurse available in the JSMB. They are taken to dentist and doctor's appointments as needed.
They live regular prosyleting missionary rules--to bed at 10:30 and up at 6:30, only e-mail immediate family members, no TV or computers (except to email home and do their family history--although they were allowed some political info online since it's an election year and they could research that so they would know how they wanted to vote).
The first Friday of each month is the day for the new missionaries to arrive. So, if Eric gets called to this mission, he would be starting his mission on January 4th, 2013 (or February 1st). The Saturday morning following, there is a swap meet where the missionaries who are going home can leave things for the other missionaries. The new missionaries get first crack at the items, and then the other missionaries can take from what is left.
We don't know how long it will take to hear back. Elder Brandon will mail a letter to our Stake President who will then mail it to us or bring it to us.
As I was googling President Peterson's name I came across a blog of a couple who wrote about their first week as family history missionaries in August of 2011. They have photos of Pres. and Sister Peterson, Elder Kuchar--a trainer we met, as well as of Elder Morse--one of the young missionaries we met--and the swap meet. Click
here to see their photos.
Two articles dealing with the Temple Square Mission that are old and have some outdated information in them, but are still interesting, can be found here:
A Unique Mission
Delighted to Serve
