LDS missionaries and their families face a long separation as part of their service to the Lord. When a mission is over, many families like to celebrate this special time together. However, you may be in need of ideas for your missionary’s homecoming. We’re here to help! Here are ten LDS missionary homecoming ideas.
1. Welcome Home Banners
Whether you are able to greet your missionary at the airport or they’ll be driving up to your front door, a welcome home banner is fun and personalized. You can make them yourself out of poster board or order one online. Here’s a great sampling of custom missionary banners that start at just $13.
2. Decorate With Sidewalk Chalk
Decorating the driveway and sidewalks with chalk is a great way to get younger members of your family involved in the homecoming. The bright and colorful greetings and messages are sure to put a smile on your missionary’s face!
3. Family Testimony Meeting
Consider setting aside time to sit down as a family and bear your testimonies. You can do this before your missionary is released, while they are still a set-apart missionary, or after. Go around in a circle and bear testimony of Jesus Christ and the way this mission has impacted your life. End with your missionary.
At the end, you may want to take some time to write down your feelings and impressions individually.
4. Family Pictures
Take an updated family picture now that your missionary is home. Invite someone who is camera savvy to the airport or set up a professional shoot within the days that your missionary arrives home. Missionaries often have to jump right back into life and you never know when you’ll all be together again.
5. Invite the Missionaries
If you have missionaries serving in your home ward or branch, invite them over for a welcome home dinner with your returned missionary. Your missionary will benefit from the familiarity of missionaries who can relate to their experience and the missionaries can gain a new teaching buddy who is enthusiastic about missionary work.
6. Missionary Maps
Your missionary will never forget the place they served and a custom mission map will ensure that. You can choose from multiple styles and your missionary’s name and dates of service. It makes a great welcome home gift.
7. Delicious Food
No party is complete without delicious food! You can reserve your missionary’s favorite restaurant, make their favorite home-cooked meal, or try your hand at making authentic cuisine from their mission area.
8. Speak Their Mission Language
If your missionary learned a new language, welcome them home by conversing with them. You can study and learn a welcome home message or bear your testimony. You could even sing a hymn in that language. Your missionary will be touched by hearing their family speak a language that has become so dear to them.
9. New Wardrobe
For the last two years or eighteen months, your missionary has been wearing through their shoes and clothes. Have a new outfit or two prepared to help them. A new comfy outfit for them to lounge around in is also a good idea.
10. Other Mission Keepsakes
Transitioning home after a mission can be tough! Missionaries don’t want to lose the precious experiences and feelings they had on their mission. Providing them with a mission keepsake is a great way to help them keep the spirit of their mission with them. Here are a few popular mission keepsakes:
