Primary children of the Samborondón Ecuador Stake got a taste of missionary life during a recent mini missionary training center activity in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
“The idea arose from a desire to help children have a firsthand experience of missionary life, with the purpose of planting in their hearts the desire to serve missions when they are old enough,” said Cristina Elizabeth Guaminga, first counselor in the stake Primary presidency.
Heavy rains that Feb. 21 morning threatened to flood the local meetinghouse and made roads difficult to travel. Samborondón Ecuador Stake President Edward Zambrano said he arrived at 6:30 a.m. to begin sweeping water out of the building. More Latter-day Saints arrived around 7:30 a.m. to help unclog gutters and drains.
As the time neared for Primary children to arrive, President Zambrano turned to the Lord for help. He called his counselors and asked them to pray for the rains to ease up enough for the children to travel to the mini MTC.
“I know He heard me,” President Zambrano said, “not because of who I am, but because of who they are — they are His little ones.”
To the surprise and delight of the stake Primary presidency, more than 100 children braved the weather to attend the activity, reported the Church’s Spanish-language Newsroom.
“We saw on their faces the desire, even at such a young age, to already be missionaries,” said Guaminga.
‘Already a missionary’
A week before the mini MTC activity, children in the stake received “mission calls” from the stake Primary presidency, assigning them to “serve” in either Bolivia, Peru or Colombia. When they arrived at the chapel on the day of the activity, they received “future missionary” name tags and boarded a mock airplane.
“I was so happy when they put my name tag on me because I felt like I was representing Jesus Christ,” said Rebecka Gonzales, age 9.
As the group took a short ride on the mock airplane, they heard a message from the captain of the plane, explaining that they can all be missionaries now in their homes and schools.
“I feel blessed because I understood that even as children, we can be part of the wonderful missionary work,” said Jorge Mena, 10. “My testimony of the gospel can reach the hearts of many people, even though I am so small.”
The children were taken to different rooms representing the three countries where they had been assigned to serve. Returned and current missionaries taught them about the customs of each country as well as what missionary life is like.
“I learned about the local foods and that we can always be with God on our missions,” Rebecka said.
Ecuador Guayaquil East Mission President Bryan J Peterson and his wife, Sister Dixie Peterson, also attended the activity and taught the children what it means to be a missionary.
Lia Guiracocha Mendoza, 10, said she learned that everyone on earth has three important labels: a child of God, a child of the covenant and a disciple of Christ.
“That’s why I will be a missionary,” she said, “so that more people know this.”
For Yohana Salvatierra, the stake Primary president, an impactful moment was hearing the children sing “We’ll Bring the World His Truth.”
“I saw the faces of future brave young people who are already part of the battalion,” she said. “I saw the desire to serve and the sparkle in the children’s eyes.”
Salvatierra said the activity got entire families excited about missionary work, as parents gathered with signs at the meeetinghouse to welcome their children home from their missions.
Rebecka said she was sad to see the activity come to an end as she realized it will be several more years before she attends a real MTC. Lia said she will prepare now to be a missionary. And Jorge said he feels he is “already a missionary.”
