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PROVO — It was a scene that lasted for several minutes: an army of 3,000 missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints walking to the BYU Marriott Center Tuesday for an evening devotional.
With a wave of new missionaries, the church's Provo Missionary Training Center currently doesn't have enough seats for all of the missionaries to gather together.
Elder Joe Giacalone has spent the past eight weeks training to be a missionary.
"I was at the main MTC for about six weeks, but now I am at the new West MTC," Giacalone said. "Our living apartments are in Wyview, and then our classrooms and where we eat are over at Raintree."
The LDS Church projects that the new missionaries being trained in Provo will reach a peak of 3,611 on July 10. Even with a record number of elders and sisters already at the MTC, missionaries said it isn't what they expected.
"It really doesn't feel that crowded to me. It is actually really fun. There is a lot of good energy there, and all of the missionaries are excited to be there and serve," one missionary said.
The new missionaries believe they are helping to make history, as the church's missionary force expands.
"It's definitely a really exciting time, because you are surrounded by a whole bunch of other missionaries who share your same purpose," another missionary said.
The MTC plans to utilize the Marriott Center for large group meetings through August, which is when church leaders expect missionary numbers will start to decrease. At that point, those meetings will return to the auditorium at the MTC.
