Missionary Training Centers (or "MTCs") are centers devoted to training missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The flagship MTC is located in Provo, Utah, USA, adjacent to the campus of Brigham Young University.
At the beginning of their service, LDS missionaries usually spend 3-12 weeks at an MTC where they receive training in doctrine, conduct, proselyting methods, and when required, a foreign language. There are 17 MTCs located in nations throughout the world including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Peru, Philippines, and the United Kingdom.
New missionaries assigned to the Provo MTC arrive Monday-Wednesday (Couple missionaries on Monday, International arrivals on Tuesday, US & Canada on Wednesday), at which point they begin using their titles of "Elder" (for the young men) and "Sister" (for the young women). They are also assigned companions and are organized into districts and branches. During their training, the elders and sisters will spend the majority of their time in class, with breaks for meals, church services, temple attendance, fitness activities, service projects, and personal preparation time (for laundry, letter writing, etc.).
All missionaries are given at least three weeks of training in proselyting methods. This includes lessons on church doctrine and teaching, mission rules, and proper interactions with the people they will serve, teach, and work with in their assigned missions. Missionaries are also encouraged to use their time outside class to actively study Church doctrine and a language if necessary.
In many cases, missionaries who already speak the language of their assigned area are sent to their mission after just three weeks. Other missionaries may spend as many as nine additional weeks in language training. The Missionary Training Center language programs encourage a full immersion experience with the motto "SYL" for "Speak Your Language". In some cases, missionaries learning foreign languages go directly to the MTC in the country where they are called to serve. This depends on the capacity of the MTC in the area.
Goya: 7 September - 29 November 2011
Goya is a city in the south-west of the province of Corrientes in the Argentine Mesopotamia. It has about 87,000 inhabitants as of the 2001 census. The city lies on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, opposite Reconquista, Santa Fe, 222 kilometres south from the provincial capital (Corrientes) and 715 kilometres north-northwest from Buenos Aires.
Goya hosts the annual National Festival of the Surubí, which includes a fishing contest. The surubí is a popular large catfish of the Paraná.
Origin of its name and history
The city of Goya originated from the purchase of land at the site by Gregoria Morales and her husband, Bernardo Olivera, in 1771. The city does not have foundation act and, in agreement with the oral tradition, its name is owed to the enterprising Gregoria Morales' nickname: Doña Goya. Following the couple's settlement in the proximities of the present "costanera" (riverfront), she opened a general store upon her arrival, and per historian José M. Cabrer, tradition held that this lady made exquisite cheeses, with the milk of cows fed with reedbeds and coconuts. Her canned goods were, in turn, purchased by visitors and merchants plying the Paraná River, popularizing the name of the delicacies to the extent that, by 1801, the site was popularly known as "Goya Port."
The settlement was informally established as such in 1807, and the local cathedral, Our Lady of the Rosary, was consecrated in 1884. Among Goya's historical anecdotes is having been where Camila O'Gorman and her forbidden love, Father Ladislao Gutiérrez, sought refuge; the couple where apprehended and executed in 1848.
Swallows
Every November 24 thousands of migratory swallows arrive in Goya, coming from San Juan Capistrano, California, from where they leave on October 23 and cross around 11,000 kilometres following the Pacific coast. When arriving in Goya, the swallows (golondrinas) are received with a series of festivals at the Monument to the swallows located in San Martín Square, one of the birds' preferred nesting places. The return to Capistrano of the first swallows begins around February 18, to arrive in California on March 19 every year. This particular event encouraged the mayors of Goya and San Juan Capistrano to sign a declaration of brotherhood between the two cities in 1985; President Raúl Alfonsín contributed a framed Argentine flag in commemoration of the event to San Juan Capistrano.
Resistencia (pronounced [resisˈtensja]) is the capital and largest city in the province of Chaco, in northeastern Argentina. At the 2001 census, the population of the Resistencia city proper was 274,490 inhabitants. It is the anchor of a slightly larger metropolitan area, Greater Resistencia, which comprises three more municipalities and has a 2008 population estimate of 377,000. This metro area is the largest in the province, and the eleventh most populous in the country.
Located along the Negro River, a branch of the much larger Paraná river, the area was originally inhabited by some guaycuru aboriginals, such as the tobas. Their resistance to evangelisation postponed an efficient European settlement until the late 19th century. It wasn't until 1865 that a proper settlement was established, and on January 27, 1878, Resistencia was formally established as the territorial capital. The national government supported immigration, and in 1878 the first Italian immigrants arrived. The first City Council was made up entirely of members from that country.
Resistencia is one of the warmest cities in Argentina, and is known for its extremely hot, humid summer weather with frequent lightning. The climate is subtropical, with a cooler, dryer season and a long, humid summer. Fall and spring are often marked by sudden transitions from summer weather patterns to winter weather patterns.
