Provo MTC Missionaries Assemble 500,000 Meals in Thanksgiving Service Project

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By Joel Randall, Church News

This Thanksgiving, a battalion of young sisters and elders preparing for the Savior’s call to “feed my sheep” (John 21:16) heeded another call to feed the hungry.

On Thursday, November 27, the Provo Missionary Training Center’s 1,347 missionaries assembled packaged food into meal boxes. MTC leaders planned for 20,500 shelf-stable boxes; with each box able to feed a family of four for two days, that’s about 500,000 meals.

“Many hands make light work,” said Provo MTC President Stephen W. Owen. “And boy, there are a lot of hands.” Missionaries split into two groups, each performing two hours of service.

The food items — from peanut butter to beef stew to rolled oats to canned tuna — were provided by the Bishops’ Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City. Next Monday, these boxes, assembled in a parking garage, will be sent to Tabitha’s Way and other Utah food pantries.

Earlier that morning, missionaries also heard from Elder W. Mark Bassett, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Missionary Department, about “The Living Christ” document.

‘This Is a Real Thanksgiving’

President Owen said he sees the character of Christ through the missionaries’ love and compassion, especially as they serve on Thanksgiving. “They’re turning outward today. This is a great blessing,” he said. “They’re helping each other, and they have to work together, and the more they do, the better they do.”

Because he and his wife, Sister Jane S. Owen, began their service in January, this was their first Thanksgiving leading the MTC.

“This is a real Thanksgiving,” said Sister Owen. “We have been given so much, and to be able to do a service project to help others, we show our Heavenly Father how much we love Him.”

Brother Mark Eisele — a ministering secretary in the MTC presidency — helped lead this service project with his wife, Sister Anne Marie Eisele. The two have served at the MTC for almost four years, with their service ending in early December.

“This is the cream of the crop,” said Brother Eisele of the missionaries offering service. “They listen very well and they’re excited to be here doing this project. It’s probably the funnest project we have all year.”

Sister Eisele called it “exhilarating” to see the missionaries in action. “This is a very complicated project with a lot of moving pieces,” she said. “Once they got going, they were amazing.”

She noted the missionaries’ visible joy in their service. “They were happy and they’re always happy when they’re serving. It’s really fun to be around them when they’re like that.”

Brother Eisele said that “you can tell how excited they are, and that brings the Spirit. This will be something they remember for the rest of their lives.” He added, “We’re having fun on Thanksgiving at the MTC.”

Part of a missionary’s purpose is to help others come unto Christ, said President Owen. And through missionaries’ service, “that’s what they’re doing. They’re helping their fellow beings right now and they’re helping them truly come unto Christ. So their purpose is being demonstrated through this as well.”

Sister Owen noted that the training missionaries will be serving others every week of their mission. “And that’s the best missionary work. When the world can see missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doing good, the world will want to know who they are.”

What Missionaries Were Saying

Divided into 13 assembly lines, the missionaries compiled boxes quickly, gradually became more efficient. They worked as though thousands of families would go hungry without them.

“I saw a lot of urgency,” said Elder Jackson Hinrichs from Southern California, assigned to the Albania Tirana Mission. “People actually cared, and they really wanted to get this out and help others.” He added that the project reminded him of the comforts and blessings he has, and it strengthened his desire to give back to others.

Sister Killeshandra Ivy from Redding, California, saw the service project as a meaningful start to her mission. “We’re actually doing what the Lord wants us to do before we’re even out in the field,” said Sister Ivy, who’s assigned to the Montana Missoula Mission.

“It was pretty fulfilling, because you think about how many families we fed,” said Elder Nathan Williams from Lynnwood, Washington, assigned to the Ukraine Kyiv/Moldova Mission.

Sister Olivia Heywood from Apple Valley, California, and assigned to the Texas Dallas South Mission, was touched by the diligence of missionaries around her. “It gives a lot of peace and comfort to know that people are going out and serving other people, and I’m glad I’m able to be part of that as well.”

As a member of an MTC branch presidency, Brother David Guzy from Heber City, Utah, applauded the missionaries for their Christlike service. “You really see the Light of Christ in the missionaries when they’re doing service projects,” he said. “When you have all of the missionaries working together, there’s just a Spirit of Christ that permeates through the whole building.”

A Devotional on Gratitude for the Living Christ

In a Thursday morning devotional, Elder Bassett and his wife, Sister Angela Bassett, bore witness of the truths found in “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles.”

Elder Brock Zimmerman from Southern California, assigned to the Albania Tirana Mission, more clearly saw the Savior’s role in Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation.

Elder Zimmerman said: “We all made the decision to come to earth, and that probably took a lot of faith and courage to leave God for a period of time and be without Him. But Jesus Christ volunteered to be our Savior, and we trusted that He would get the job done.”

Sister Syuri Garcia from Farmington, New Mexico — assigned to the Bolivia Santa Cruz Mission — said that “the plan of salvation would be nothing without Jesus Christ. Christ is the way, as we come here on earth, but He’s also the way back to Heavenly Father.”

The theme of faith in Christ stood out to Sister Luseane Ma’afu from Tonga — who has lived in Pennsylvania the last couple of years — assigned to the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission. “That was something that we’ve been talking about this whole week in classes. It was a good reminder to have a really strong faith.”

Elder Boedy Zentz from Cleveland, Texas, assigned to the Ukraine Kyiv/Moldova Mission, learned that “Christ’s sacrifice was so infinite and so great, and He did it willingly.” Elder Zentz added that seeing his Savior’s willingness inspires him to more courageously overcome challenges he might face on his mission.