Usually, the day before a missionary begins their service and starts the MTC (missionary training center), they are set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by their stake president.
The setting apart is a special experience where family members may attend.
Our family has tried to make this occasion special by having the missionary choose their favorite meal for dinner and invite the grandparents to join us for both. Especially since it is often the same day the missionary will say goodbye to their grandparents. It is bittersweet.
During the setting apart, the stake president helps the missionary to understand and feel the sacredness and importance of the call to serve as a representative of Jesus Christ and His restored Church. Once they are set apart, they should follow the standards of a missionary. The main part of the setting apart is the stake president giving a blessing with hopeful and helpful things said just for the missionary.
The blessing should not be recorded but the missionary is encouraged to write about the experience in their journal, noting parts of the blessing that were especially meaningful. In our family, we’ve asked those that come with us to the setting apart to try and remember one or two meaningful things said in the blessing that were meaningful and helpful. When we come home, I ask for the responses and type them up.
In a future post I’ll share what I do with those captured remembrances.
After that, they are official! They begin to wear their missionary name tag and wear Christ’s name. Cannot see Eliza’s tag? It is there, it is just being covered up by her hair.
[Side note, capturing a memory here... Eliza was set apart by President Barry Harris. This was his last missionary setting apart before he was released as the stake president. President Harris is special to our family for many reasons, we feel it an honor he was able to give this blessing. A few hours after Eliza returns home, she will be released as a missionary and will need to take off her missionary tag. Another bittersweet moment. President Jeff Rigby will do the releasing. The Thaxton's love and admire President Rigby too. It will be special to have him talk to Soeur Thaxton and release her from her missionary service.]
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