Mission Presidents' Seminar - Sydney, Australia

We had the Mission Presidents' Seminar (MPS) last week and it was a great experience! I thought I'd write down what we do for the seminar, plus I'll mention some of the events during the week.

We started about 3 months ago. I began with the outline from the previous seminar (from 6 months previously) and made a template of the meeting we'd be doing this time. Then, I included this on the agenda for an Area Presidency meeting. The Area Presidency then fills in the details (who will be conducting each day, who will speak, what kind of activities will be held, etc.). I took notes and then updated the document to reflect their input. Our DTA (Director of Temporal Affairs) attends our Presidency meeting as well and his team does a number of things for the seminar. His secretary does a lot of work with arranging all the flights for the mission presidents, suggesting specific activities (given the guidelines), and putting together estimates on the costs. The DTA also suggests hotels that we could meet in and provides the AP'cy a list of options.

There are two MPS's each year. One is called the "seminar" and the other the "interim seminar". The interim seminar is usually 3 days and the other 4 days.  There are several purposes for the event and all of the Areas of the church hold these. One purpose is to give the Mission Presidents and their wives a little break from the 24x7 work as a mission president. Another is that it gives the Area Presidency an opportunity to teach, instruct and consult with all of them together. Missionary work is an important aspect of the church. In our Area we have 17 missions and 1 MTC, so that was 36 people scheduled to attend. Along with the Area Presidency and their wives, we also have some support staff attending (like, Sister B. and myself).

We typically have the interim seminar in Auckland and recently, we've been rotating the other seminar in Australia (Melbourne, Brisbane, or Sydney) since this is fairly centrally located and easy to get to. Sydney was a great place to hold the event and we stayed at the InterContinental Hotel which is right downtown. We arrived late Sunday night to Sydney and after we checked in we went for a walk to see the Sydney Opera house.

On Monday we went for another walk in the morning and then mission presidents and their wives started arriving. We helped with getting them into their rooms (the local mission office did the pickups from the airport and then we met them when they arrived to the hotel). Everyone got there by the afternoon and we had a group dinner Monday evening.

Elder Pearson provided some introductions and instructions for the week. The food was fantastic and it was fun meeting many of those we hadn't seen for quite a few months as well as the new mission presidents and their wives that arrived in their missions in July.

The next day the seminar began with instructions from Elder Nielsen. Before arriving to Sydney, I had worked several hours with Elder Nielsen on his PowerPoint (which included videos, pictures and text slides). Attending the seminar from Salt Lake was Elder Stephen Allen the Managing Director of the Missionary Department. They both gave excellent presentations.

I got to the meeting room about an hour ahead of time so we could practice everything

Sister B. is responsible for name card tents for all the meals and for the meetings. She designed a method that guaranteed that each couple had an opportunity to sit with an Area Presidency member and each other at least one time. This way everyone got to visit and learn from each other.

After lunch we had some free time. We went on a fantastic tour of the Sydney Opera House, and then we went on a dinner/cruise that went around the harbor.

A picture from the water while on a our dinner cruise!

Day two of the seminar we received instruction from Elder Haleck and Elder Allen. After lunch, the brethren and sisters separated for breakout sessions. At 3:30pm we loaded the bus and headed for the Sydney temple.

Here's our group picture that we took at the temple

On Thursday, we had a nice morning walk with the Haleck's and went over the Sydney Harbor bridge and back (this took about an hour). Elder Pearson gave the main presentation for the final day of our seminar. I was there early as usual and working on the final touches to the PowerPoint. Carl happened to get a picture of me working with Elder and Sister Pearson on some last minute changes. 

Here's a video of the event:

Here was a nice note from President Maxwell:

Dear Elder Brereton,

Thank you for the email and the documents and video clip that you attached. I loved seeing the photo of the group at the Temple.  Thank you for the work on the video.  That was a great reminder of the memorable and inspiring experiences we had at the Seminar.

I am so grateful for all you do for us and for the Area Presidency.  It is sad for me to think that we will probably not see you at the next seminar—that your mission will have concluded before we have another one.    It was wonderful to see you and Sister Brereton there.  You both are such kind, warm people and have a zest for life that I admire.

It is a blessing to associate with you.  Thank you for all you have done for me.  You are always patient and so quick to help.

Warmest wishes,Cory H. Maxwell

President, Australia Melbourne Mission

Here's a note from Elder Allen: 

Your support has been excellent.  Thank you for your service, kindness and GREAT attitude.