I have been called to the England Manchester Mission, reporting to the England MTC on January 23, 2019.
MISSION MAP
CURRENT MISSION WEATHER
PRESTON ENGLAND TEMPLE
I'm lucky enough to have one of the two temples in England, located in my mission. The Preston England Temple was announced in October 1922, and dedicated in June 1998. The complex it is built on is also home to the England MTC where I will be for the first three weeks of my time in the UK.
ENGLAND MTC
The England MTC first opened in 1985 and was located on the London England Temple complex. In 1998 the MTC was relocated to the Preston England Temple complex. During the dedication services, President Gordon B. Hinckley said that the MTC would be “a place where the Spirit of the Lord would quicken and enlighten newly called representatives of the restored gospel as they prepare to embark in the service of God.”
The England Missionary Training Center is located in the beautiful countryside of western Lancashire, adjacent to the market town of Chorley, approximately eight miles from the heart of Preston, and is a part of the beautiful Preston Temple complex.
The England MTC primarily serves the British Isles missions of London, London South, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Scotland/Ireland. However, missionaries who will serve in France, Germany, Russia, and many other European missions are also trained here.
The area around the England MTC is rich in LDS Church history. The first overseas missions of the Church began in Preston, England, shortly after Elders Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde arrived in Liverpool in 1837. The first baptisms were performed in the River Ribble in March of 1837, and in the next few months, in spite of much persecution and difficult challenges, nearly 1,800 people from the surrounding villages accepted baptism. Most of these early English converts traveled to the American West and formed the backbone of the growth of the Church in its early years.
MTC WEATHER
The weather at the England MTC is characterized by minimal variation between seasons—winters are relatively mild (average January temperature of 39°F [4°C]) and summers are quite cool (average July temperature of 59°F [14°C]). Light, misty rain is common, falling on more than half of the days of the year. The best chance of prolonged sunny weather occurs from March through May.
( source: lds.org/enland_mtc )
