Grow With Your Missionary

December 20, 2012- Five Easy Ways to Show Off Your Missionary

Paint your fingernails or toenails as the flag of the country your missionary is serving.

Buy a ring with your missionary's name on it! I bought mine for $40 (kinda pricey) at www.mynamenecklace.com. I found other cute ones on Etsy for $12.50 at www.etsy.com/shop/ZennedOut. I wear mine on my wedding finger. Yes, I am SET on Jordan. Haha :)

Buy or make a T-Shirt representing the state or country where your missionary is serving.

Make a "missionary wall" in your room. Include pictures of the two of you, pictures from his mission, and his countdown chart.

Ask him to send you a keychain from the state or country he is serving. Put it on your keyring!

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December 6, 2012- Girls Waiting for Missionaries

It seems like every time I tell someone (mainly returned missionaries) that I am waiting for a missionary, all they do is give me crap about it. I have heard: "Boys don't focus on their mission when they have a girl at home," "You'll both change so much in these two years that you won't be compatible anymore when he comes home," "I hated my companions that had girlfriends on my mission," or flat out "I think it's so stupid when girls wait for missionaries." (Yep, someone gave that reply after I told them I had a missionary. Real nice.)

So with all that negativity and flat out rudeness, I LOVED this talk by Vaughn J. Featherstone about girls waiting for missionaries.

Missionaries and Girlfriends:
Taken from a fireside by Vaughn J. Featherstone
Question: Is it good for a fellow to leave a girl behind?
Answer: Is it good for the sun to shine?

Have you ever heard of mission calls telling all missionaries to get rid of all girlfriends? Do you think that you could be a better missionary if she were there to help you? I think you could. Most of my best missionaries during the three years that I served left a girl behind. You notice that I said "girl" and not "girls." There isn't time for more than one.

Of course the first duty is to the Lord's work, which you have been called to do; second is to your family, and third is to the girlfriend. This you should always remember.

I always interviewed all missionaries as they entered the field and one of the questions I asked was, "Do you have a girlfriend at home?" If the answer was yes, I would say, "Can I have her name and address, and would it be all right if I wrote her a letter?" Of course this would scare the poor fellow to death--then I would bring the color back to his face by telling him I only wanted to write her a letter and tell her how lucky she was to have the opportunity to share this mission for the next 24 months with one of the Lord's chosen servants. If she is faithful, her testimony would become stronger in the gospel because of it... along with a little more advice that I will touch on later.

Young men, do not ask a returned missionary for advice on this subject. For if he has been jilted (or dumped) should we say he's giving out poor advice? Pray about this together, and if you feel that you can do a better job, then go ahead. There's nothing wrong with it. It is better to have support than to go out there wishing that you had it. This is more frustrating than worrying about a "Dear John," and believe me, there won't be one of those right in the beginning. The Lord always answers prayers to those who honor Him.

Have an understanding with your parents so they can encourage her and make your girl happy by showing they have faith in her and love her. Let her parents know your plans, and in most cases they will stand by her when she gets lonely. If you show them respect, as well as the girl, they will be behind you all the way.

Write her once a week or more. You can almost always write two letters a week on P-Days. There is plenty of time if they're not books. Tell her about your mission and experiences, let her live your mission with you through your letters, and send her a snapshot once in a while. Yes, you could let her make a scrapbook for you. Mom is not going to have time and both of them would love that.

Remember that behind every successful man, there is a good woman. So why shouldn't it be good to leave a girlfriend behind if you feel that she is special? Forget that old story of "24 months is a long time." I have known girls to wait two or three years. Also forget the story that you will change a lot. You will only if you make yourself scarce in letters, etc. You will only change in the fact that you will be more mature and have a greater testimony and mind.

Now girls, make sure that you do things that will help you grow along with the missionary. Study the gospel; stay active in the church, pray often--morning, noon, and night. Watch out for those lonely returned jilted missionaries. You're not in a hurry to get married. At the very most you will be 22 and a half when he gets home, and that's about the right age to start thinking about marriage.

Write happy letters every week. Let him know that you still care. He will be looking for those letters even if he is really busy during the week and on P-Days. Yes, you could send him a snapshot of yourself. He would love that. So what if you don't take good pictures--anything will look good to him. You will be busy getting the education you need, perhaps working in and out of the church, maybe learning to sew and all those lovely things, or learning to cook fancy things, but most of all, just learning the basics of life. If the occasion arises, and you feel as if you want to accept a date now and then, it's okay, but again... Beware of those jilted returned missionaries. They are dynamite. Stay close to your parents.

Oh yes, there isn't any harm in leaving a girlfriend at home, if you're both determined to fulfill the mission together. It will not be the big job you think, but a happy 24 months in both of your lives. When you are both back together again, it won't be long before you are sure of each other because of your pure maturity. I can say these things because it happened to me, and I know of many others who have experienced the same great thing.

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September 5, 2012 -Kiss Token

Let's just get right down to it! The absolute love of my life is on an LDS mission in Puebla, Mexico. In two days, he will have been out for exactly nine months. And while it is a very hard thing to wait for two years, I am slowly learning that this is also precious time in my own life. I need to use this time to learn and grow independently. I need to experience new things, meet new people, learn all I can, and grow both spiritually and mentally. There are so many things to learn about yourself while you have this short time to be without your "other half."

I know I am not the only one out there supporting a missionary. The point of this blog is to share my ideas and experiences with other people who may be going through what I am going through. I think everything is easier to get through with the support of other people who actually know how you feel. It's one thing to say, "I feel for you," but it is another to say, "I know exactly how you feel." So this is gonna be one of those "I know exactly how you feel" blogs.  :)

Since my missionary has been out nine months already, my initial posts will be "catch-up" posts until I make it to the present day. They will be things I have done already-- ideas to keep you close to your missionary, ideas for individual growth, time-fillers. To start, here is something that I did at the very beginning of Jordan's mission.

I mailed Jordan a "kiss token" in one of his first letters. I added this picture of me kissing the token, and told him to send it back to me with the same. It is a cute way to "kiss" your boyfriend when he is gone, and a cute reminder that you love each other! We send it back and forth every now and then, but the mail system in Mexico is not the most reliable so right now he is keeping it. He wears it around his neck every day! :)

Kiss tokens can be found at the following link. I found mine at some random bra store in a factory outlet, but buying online is probably more convenient. Haha. There are also tons of other cute tokens like blessing tokens, hug tokens, or massage tokens.

http://www.courageinstone.com/beach_decors/pocket-tokens-pocket-pieces-c-238_256.html