Mormon/Missionary
Lingo
For those who are not
of the mormon faith who may be confused about certain terms that are used in
this blog, I'll compile a list of words and try to help you out a bit. For more
detailed information you should either look it up on mormon.org, ask a
missionary, attend a Mormon church, or ask me of course! Here are some good
starter terms you will undoubtedly read in some of Briaunna's letters.
MTC: Missionary Training Center. There are 15 of them around the world, but 80% of the missionaries are trained at the Provo, Utah MTC. Briaunna is being trained at the Mexico City MTC for six weeks where she will learn Spanish and her confidence in sharing the gospel and serving others will grow!
MTC: Missionary Training Center. There are 15 of them around the world, but 80% of the missionaries are trained at the Provo, Utah MTC. Briaunna is being trained at the Mexico City MTC for six weeks where she will learn Spanish and her confidence in sharing the gospel and serving others will grow!
Hermana/Sister/Elder: All missionary
titles. Hermana is the Spanish word for Sister. Briaunna is speaking Spanish on her mission so that is the title she will have. Each female missionary is known
in the mission field by their title of Sister LAST NAME and each male
missionary is known as Elder LAST NAME.
Mission
President: Each
mission in the world has a mission president assigned who also serves with his
wife as missionaries. They serve for three years, and many times have their
families living with them. They are in charge of taking care of the temporal
affairs of the missionaries in their mission, guide the missionaries in their
spiritual well-being, and lead the missionary efforts all while keeping the
mission organized and operating efficiently. They interview each missionary
personally on a regular basis as well as require each missionary to write them
a letter each week on a personal basis. Presidents and their wives counsel
often with the 150-250 missionaries in their mission.
Companionships: Each missionary has an assigned companion to be with 24/7 with few exceptions to this rule. Need something at the store or want to do something? You don't do much of anything without your companion right there...bathrooms are the exception of course:) Being a missionary teaches you how to learn how to deal with a wide variety of people and personalities!
Senior Companion: The mission president assigns a companion in each companionship to be ultimately in charge of the companionship and has the responsibility to work together with the junior companion. Generally speaking the missionary with the most time in mission in a companionship is the senior companion, but this is not always the case.
Transfers: Each month, or sometimes sooner the mission president switches up missionary companionships. Usually one stays in the area while another goes to another area. A missionary can stay in an area anywhere from 1 - 6 months at a time, with more than that in any one area is very rare.
Greeny: Greenies are simply new missionaries. It's one thing to be a greeny in a mission where you speak the language, but to be a trainer of a greeny who is also learning a new language requires some good teaching skills and is a lot of work as the greeny can't do much teaching without a focused effort on the trainer's part to include her. Greenies tend to want to work really hard, but get very frustrated because the tongue can't keep up with the brain. Most of the time a greeny can understand what's going on, but can't quite contribute in terms of speaking so much. After a couple of months in the country though, greenies tend to turn to a normal color though:)
Trainer: Just what the word means...you are training a greeny. Not only are you a senior companion, but you have the pleasure of helping your new greeny companion to learn the language and learn what a typical missionary day/week should look like.
P-Day: Short for Preparation Day. It's the one day a week that missionaries have to write letters, do laundry, do some sightseeing, and have a little time to do something other than missionary work. The magical day for missionaries does end at 6PM though when they are expected to continue their true love: teaching the gospel to others.
Companionships: Each missionary has an assigned companion to be with 24/7 with few exceptions to this rule. Need something at the store or want to do something? You don't do much of anything without your companion right there...bathrooms are the exception of course:) Being a missionary teaches you how to learn how to deal with a wide variety of people and personalities!
Senior Companion: The mission president assigns a companion in each companionship to be ultimately in charge of the companionship and has the responsibility to work together with the junior companion. Generally speaking the missionary with the most time in mission in a companionship is the senior companion, but this is not always the case.
Transfers: Each month, or sometimes sooner the mission president switches up missionary companionships. Usually one stays in the area while another goes to another area. A missionary can stay in an area anywhere from 1 - 6 months at a time, with more than that in any one area is very rare.
Greeny: Greenies are simply new missionaries. It's one thing to be a greeny in a mission where you speak the language, but to be a trainer of a greeny who is also learning a new language requires some good teaching skills and is a lot of work as the greeny can't do much teaching without a focused effort on the trainer's part to include her. Greenies tend to want to work really hard, but get very frustrated because the tongue can't keep up with the brain. Most of the time a greeny can understand what's going on, but can't quite contribute in terms of speaking so much. After a couple of months in the country though, greenies tend to turn to a normal color though:)
Trainer: Just what the word means...you are training a greeny. Not only are you a senior companion, but you have the pleasure of helping your new greeny companion to learn the language and learn what a typical missionary day/week should look like.
P-Day: Short for Preparation Day. It's the one day a week that missionaries have to write letters, do laundry, do some sightseeing, and have a little time to do something other than missionary work. The magical day for missionaries does end at 6PM though when they are expected to continue their true love: teaching the gospel to others.
Districts/Zones: Within each
mission area, it is divided into smaller areas. Usually there are 2-4 districts
within a zone and in a mission about 5-6 zones. Each area has Elders who
are assigned for a time to be district or zone leaders who help keep the
missionaries organized and supported as well as to collect data to report back
to their mission president each week such as the number of lessons everybody
taught, new contacts, etc. These leaders also have to complete their regular
proselyting activities just like all the other missionaries. In the MTC there
are also districts , but generally they are just smaller
groups that come to the MTC at the same time and will leave at about the same
time. They do share classes together and attend the same church meetings on
Sundays.
Mission Leadership Council: The mission leadership council consists of the mission president and his wife, assistants to the president, zone leaders and sister training leader. The members of the mission leadership council meet together monthly and counsel together about the needs of the mission.
Sister Training Leaders: Sister training leaders are responsible for the training and welfare of female missionaries assigned to them, and they serve on the new mission leadership council, along with zone leaders, the mission president, his wife and his assistants. They will report directly to the mission president on the needs of sister missionaries. Additionally, the wives of mission presidents play an enhanced role in training and caring for sister missionaries, subject to their individual and family circumstances.
Golden Contact: This refers to a person who has been contacted by the
missionaries who is eager ready to hear the missionaries and is usually highly
interested in being baptized into the church.
Trunky:
This
term refers to missionaries who are counting down the days in the mission and
their minds are focused on going home rather than doing missionary work. It is
hoped that a missionary can resist the urge to be trunky until the last couple
of weeks, but sometimes as the date to go home from your mission nears, it's
very hard not to get trunky!
Need
more definitions???Just
write a comment or an email to Briaunna.heacock@myldsmail.net
