Three Fork Training

3 Forks! Count Them

The past several weeks have been filled with a multitude of wondrous events. A three-day training in the goals and means and methods of Public Affairs as missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The training sessions were inspirational and somewhat intimidating as we consider the prospects of venturing into public arenas that are quite foreign to us. However, I suppose that the most memorable component of the whole experience was the manner in which we were treated and made to feel.
Elder and Sister Davis (Blaine and Ann Marie) are the couple in charge of overseeing the training of Public Affairs Missionaries. They were wonderful and as you can see by the table setting, they also provided all the accouterments and amenities in the finest fashion as fitting the mode of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where our training took place. Classes started at 8:00 in the morning and usually ended about 4:30. Our training sessions were actually taught by the men who are responsible for the management of all public affairs throughout all the world. We were instructed in such topics as Building Relationships, Open Houses, Dealing with the News Media, Helping Hands and Humanitarian Issues, and Dealing with Sensitive Issues.
We were one of seven couples being trained and this was the largest group to be trained together. There are only about 30 public affairs missionaries throughout the world and the other couples were being sent to Toronto, Nairobi, Seoul, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Sydney.