Following is content from an email I sent to a sister in our home ward back in Utah; she was preparing to speak on Emotional Resilience, and emailed us, asking about the scope of our assignment and what we’ve learned so far, relative to “ER” and the young missionaries.
“Our assignment is solely Welfare / Self-Reliance. We are the only WSR missionaries in all of Western Australia (“WA”), which comprises the western third of the country. We travel throughout WA, teaching and training stake and ward leaders on WSR doctrine, principles and its wealth of resources. Our assignment, as we came to find out in a post-MTC interview with WSR staff in Salt Lake City, is close to unique, in that we spend half (or more) of our time teaching and training the young missionaries to be more emotionally resilient; and the other half supporting the stakes and wards.
“In our support of the young missionaries we teach a customized, hybrid course which uses “Adjusting to Missionary Life” handbook (you can find this in Gospel Library / Handbooks and Callings / Mission Callings). To ensure that we not consume too much time or divert the missionaries from their regular schedule, we proposed to our mission president a schedule and curriculum that he felt good about. We teach a total of four lessons, and each lesson is taught to 100% of the missionaries once within each six-week transfer cycle. With the flow of missionaries, outgoing and incoming every six weeks, once we complete the four lessons (which takes 24 weeks) we repeat the lesson series. We are allowed to teach for one hour, which we do either immediately before or after their weekly District Leadership Council meetings. We have 100+ missionaries at present, and 13 districts. In order to keep the class sizes smaller (we organize to have no more than 14-16 per class), we teach some districts alone, but more often two districts together; the smaller size encourages more individual participation. We do two districts via Zoom, as they are too far away for travel and in-person lessons. Our first lesson focuses on defining and managing stress, and we use the Adjusting To Missionary Life handbook content primarily. The next three lessons draw from the Emotional Resilience course, but we focus on and limit them to: Healthy Thinking Patterns; Building Healthy Relationships; and Finding Balance in Life and Moving Forward with Faith. We have at least one skill in each lesson that we teach and commit them to practice on during the current transfer. We teach and emphasize that while PMG does a marvelous job in training them WHAT to teach and HOW to teach, it does not focus much on their spiritual and emotional health, which ATML is intended to do; as such, the ATML booklet is just as essential to their happiness and success as PMG.
“What have we learned? So many things! Here are a few:
Quite a few of the incoming missionaries, especially from the US (ironically), have not spent much time in the MTC with the ATML handbook.
ATML does not teach how to eliminate stress, but rather how to MANAGE stress (and it does this beautifully).
In ATML, the Self-Assessment Record includes seven columns, which suggests that self-assessment should be done frequently during their missions; its not a “one and done” exercise at the MTC or at the start of their mission. Given the additional and/or different stressors they can face each transfer (i.e. geographic location, companion, assignment, and ward/branch demographics and culture) we’ve found that as they complete this every six weeks, more often than not the stressors change.
The ER course and specific skills (like the Healthy Thinking exercise; and converting “You” messages to “I” messages) have been very effective in arresting negative thoughts and improving communications with (and enjoyment of) their companions.
The vast majority of missionaries, including those that have been on their missions for a year or more, are not very comfortable or capable in sharing personal experiences and examples with such basic principles as receiving answers to prayer. What we see are missionaries that know PMG answers, but are lacking in personal, spiritual experiences, which are so powerful and important when they are shared.
Most missionaries come into the mission without a comprehension of the specificity and number of mission rules; and sadly, many are often less obedient, which results in personal unhappiness, frustration, and impedance of the work.
There are too many missionaries coming out that do so for the wrong reasons, which are too numerous to mention, but as a pattern lack a conversion to Jesus Christ. In the last month alone, three missionaries have been sent home for gross disobedience, and several more have chosen to go home (within a week of arrival) because they were simply not prepared for the commitment and work the Lord requires of them.
Missionary life is hard; I wish more prospective missionaries more fully comprehend it and prepare accordingly. That said, perhaps the most wonderful thing I have learned is that those that come unprepared but commit to and become obedient, follow the mission rules, humble themselves and submit fully to the Savior, become by the end of their missions true disciples of Jesus Christ and leave better prepared to follow His teachings, honor their covenants and live productive lives.
“It is truly a joy and pleasure to serve and be with our young missionaries. As we meet with them weekly, we get to know them and love them. We rejoice in their successes and mourn with them when they are sad, in pain, or make poor choices. They are the future of the Church, and deserving of all the love and patience we can give them.
“My understanding and testimony of self-reliance has increased so much while on our mission. Before our mission I thought that self-reliance was certainly an important PART of the gospel, but since I have learned that self-reliance is the very fabric of the gospel; that it is, or should be, a part of everything we do. I know that becoming self-reliant and emotionally resilient is essential to becoming who our Heavenly Father and Savior want us to be. I’m amazed at how much I have been able to learn at my age, and so grateful that the Lord continues to quicken my mind and help me understand things that help me as I strive to become more effective in His service.”
Comments