Before leaving on a mission, each missionary attends a missionary training centers for a short time. These centers help prepare missionaries to teach the gospel and to orient them to missionary life. There are currently seventeen permanent missionary training centers (MTCs) around the world:
* Provo, Utah (USA)
* Preston, England
* Buenos Aires, Argentina
* Sao Paulo, Brazil
* Mexico City, Mexico
* Santiago, Chile
* Bogotá, Colombia
* Lima, Peru
* Guatemala City, Guatemala
* Hamilton, New Zealand
* Manila, Philippines
* Tokyo, Japan
* Seoul, South Korea
* Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
* Madrid, Spain
* Accra, Ghana
* Johannesburg, South Africa
Missionary training centers are like small universities or communities where missionaries learn teaching skills they will need while serving. If the missionary already knows the language of where they are going, then they will normally stay in the MTC for about three weeks. If they need to learn a foreign language, then the training time extends to a period between eight to ten weeks, with extensive language training being added to their studies. In areas where there are not MTCs or in circumstances where missionaries are unable to get to the MTC because of excessive travel expenses, or government restrictions, temporary Mission Training Centers are set up in local church buildings to help prepare the missionaries.
