SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, May 24, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Monday it will resume on-site training at some Missionary Training Centers, to include Provo.
“As COVID-19 conditions continue to improve in some locations, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is looking ahead to resume on-site training for new missionaries in a phased and cautious approach,” a statement from the Church says.
“Over the past 14 months, more than 30,000 missionaries have received training in advance of their full-time missions through online training originating from the Church’s 10 missionary training centers.”
Beginning late next month, the Provo, Ghana, and New Zealand Missionary Training Centers are scheduled to invite a small number of missionaries to train on location, the statement says. The opening dates will be evaluated weekly and may be adjusted based on local circumstances and guidelines from local health officials.
- A negative COVID-19 test will be required prior to arriving at an MTC, and COVID tests will be administered to any missionary who exhibits symptoms during their MTC training.
- Initially, only missionaries from the United States who will not be learning a new language will receive their training on-site at the Provo MTC. As conditions continue to improve, invitations for missionaries to receive training at the Provo MTC will expand.
- As a temporary precaution, only missionaries who are fully vaccinated will be eligible to train at the Provo MTC, starting with approximately 150 to 250 new missionaries each week.
- MTCs outside the United States will welcome only local missionaries and will operate at a capacity of approximately 50 missionaries in each location. For a time, missionaries from the United States will not train at these MTCs.
- Missionaries and local leaders will be contacted directly if they will be invited to have an on-site MTC experience. Unless otherwise contacted, new missionaries will continue with online training.
- All missionary training centers have remained operational during the pandemic by providing online training. MTCs in other areas of the world will resume on-site training as conditions allow.
- The numbers of on-site missionaries will expand gradually as COVID-19 conditions continue to improve.
As MTCs resume on-site training, most new missionaries will begin their training at home and then move to an MTC for the remainder of their training, the statement says. This will allow missionaries to continue to experience many of the positive elements of online training. The online portion of training will move to a Monday start, the statement says.
“These plans for on-site MTC training have been carefully considered, and protocols will be in place to ensure a safe environment and experience for new missionaries before they leave to their assigned area of service” it says.
