Editor’s note: This and other related articles were published September 2026 in the Deseret News’ magazine titled Missionary Work in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of missionary training centers worldwide in March 2020, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints transitioned its training of new missionaries to online instruction often referred to as “home MTC.”
New missionaries were found in literally thousands of “MTCs” across the globe as each missionary’s residence became his or her own “virtual MTC.” Online training originated from the Church’s MTCs worldwide, then numbering 10, with missionaries meeting their companions, instructors and other new missionaries in classroom groups or “districts.”
Then, when the Provo Missionary Training Center welcomed back its first group of new missionaries in June 2021 after a 15-month absence of in-person operations, training took a combined online/on-site approach.
Five years later, most new missionaries still begin their training online at home, then travel to one of the Church’s 11 MTCs for their remaining training. The phased approach allows missionaries to continue experiencing many of the positive elements of online training discovered during the pandemic period.
Today’s at-home training is the realization of a statement made by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during April 2019 general conference, when he summarized the basic implications of gospel learning becoming increasingly home-centered and Church-supported: “The ultimate missionary training center is in our homes; secondary missionary training centers are located in Provo, Manila, Mexico City and in other locations.”
Missionaries share experiences
How have full-time missionaries themselves responded to the hybrid training program? In 2021, the Church News asked more than a dozen training missionaries — in their homes, at the missionary training centers, via email and in-person conversations — to share for future new missionaries what they learned from their experiences.
Caira Inano Iau Aniterea, from Auckland, New Zealand, trained online prior to serving in the Australia Adelaide Mission. She said one highlight was building a relationship with her companion. “We were able to feel unified as one, even though it wasn’t in person.”
Not only did that relationship grow, but so did Aniterea’s relationship with her Heavenly Father, she said. “I’ve been able to read more from the Book of Mormon and communicate to Him through prayer. I know He loves me and is guiding me through this journey.”
Jake Robert Orr trained from his home in Draper, Utah, while learning Spanish and preparing to serve in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission. He said whenever he had a great lesson online, he wanted to immediately tell his family about it.
“It’s great being able to share with your family what you are learning, and they are able to witness the process of being a missionary right in front of their eyes,” he said.
Online MTC training at home helps with adjusting to missionary life, he added. “It’s also great to adjust to the schedule and be able to eat the food that you normally eat and sleep in the place that you normally sleep while you get used to the expectations and routines of missionaries.”
Savannah Michele Araya, from Chesterfield, Missouri, trained online to serve and speak Spanish in what was then the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission. She said one of the best blessings of at-home MTC was her district.
“We are all representatives of Christ, and we grow together through prayer, studies and shared testimony,” she said.
Another blessing, she continued, was how “you are able to spend time with your eternal family as they watch you grow into who Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want you to be. They see your example and the commitment you have made to be a missionary for the true Church.”
Challenges and blessings
The at-home training experience isn’t always without challenges. In 2020, Hannah Hargrave of San Tan Valley, Arizona, was upset that her six-week preparation to serve in the Spain Madrid Mission wouldn’t be at the Provo MTC as expected. But disappointment and tears were comforted by prayers and a father’s blessing as her at-home training began online.
Her first email home to family and friends indicated she found the joy and power of virtual MTC, along with a sprinkling of humor.
“I made it safely to the MTC, and I love it here. If we’re being honest, though, my roommates are loud and a little odd,” she wrote at the time, adding, “Being able to be set apart as a full-time missionary, name badge and all, at home with my family is the coolest thing ever (and always having access to snacks doesn’t hurt).”
She outlined a typical day: a three-hour class with her district over Zoom; then personal study; then FaceTime study with her companion; then language study and finally another three-hour district class until about 8 p.m.
“The lessons and devotionals I’ve had this last week have been some of the most spiritual things I’ve ever experienced,” she wrote at the time. “There truly is power in doing the Lord’s work. I was worried at first that I would miss out on feeling the Spirit as strong as I would if I were at the actual MTC, but I truly believe it is the same. When we are on the Lord’s errand, we are entitled to the Lord’s help, and I’ve definitely felt that.”
Hannah Hargrave’s father, Jim Hargrave, expressed how wonderful it was having a missionary spirit in his family’s home while his daughter trained there.
“I believe it takes special missionaries to be disciplined enough to make a bedroom, office or small space in a home their extension to the MTC,” he said.
