The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints added two more buildings to the missionary training center (MTC) in the Philippines to accommodate missionary growth in the Asia Area.
“The Philippines MTC is a great blessing to both the Philippines and Asia Areas. Young men and women from these areas learn about their purpose as missionaries and have opportunities to practice working with people and teach missionary lessons. Some also learn a new language while at the Philippines MTC,” said Elder Brent H. Nielson, General Authority Seventy.
One building will be for training and one for residence halls, bringing the total to five buildings. This expansion doubles the capacity from 140 to 280 missionaries.
Public tours of the new buildings are available now through June 10, except Sundays and Mondays. The open house starts at 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. on Saturdays. The last tour is at 7:30 p.m. each day.
The original building of the Manila Missionary Training Center was first built in 1983. A new residence hall and training center were added in May 2012 and dedicated by President Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The Missionary Department of the Church had planned for these expansions in the original design.
The Philippines MTC is a place where missionaries receive religious instruction and language training and learn teaching skills. They also develop a respect and cultural understanding for the areas where they will serve before traveling to these destinations. Training lasts from three weeks to three months, depending on language needs.
The Church currently operates 15 MTCs around the world. The expansion of the Provo, Utah, MTC is nearly complete and will be open for tours starting in July. A completely new campus in Ghana will be finished in August. Both the Philippines and Ghana MTCs were designed using the same principles and features of the Provo MTC.
