For a young elder or sister about to embark on their missions, it is a time of great anticipation and excitement. For their mothers, it can mark the beginning of the hardest two years or eighteen months they’ll face. The same is true for any parent or guardian of a missionary. It is a sacred and special time, but it can also be scary, nerve-racking, and lonely. We’ve got five things, some silly some spiritual, to help any missionary mom support her missionary and feel involved.
One. Preach My Gospel.
Developed over many years, beginning in the early 2000s and released worldwide in 2004, Preach My Gospel is the golden standard for teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, not only missionaries and the people they teach benefit from this inspired manual. Missionary moms can get a cheap copy online or talk with their bishop about available copies for the ward.
It is a great study resource that will help you understand what your missionary is doing while being spiritually fed yourself. Sharing your own thoughts from Preach My Gospel is also a great way to feel connected to your missionary as they’ll be studying from it every day for at least two hours.
Two. A Support Group.
Being a missionary mom can be lonely! Sometimes it feels like no one understands when your missionary doesn’t e-mail or those first few weeks of adjustment. This is especially true if you live in an area where there aren’t a lot of other members. Luckily, you aren’t alone in your loneliness! There are a lot of ways to connect with missionary moms around the world.
One of the best ways is through social media. Missionary Mommas has over 8,000 members on their Facebook page and a great website with resources. You can also do some searching and see if there are Facebook grounds for your missionaries mission. Lots of former missionaries and families join these groups and you can find great knowledge about the specific country or city.
Three. Missionary Mom Swag.
Small tokens or memorabilia is a great way to remember your missionary always. It can also be a great conversation starter, allowing you to share the purpose of missionary work and have your own missionary experiences. These lockets, necklaces, and t-shirts are just the starting point! You can even get a matching necklace for a sister missionary.
There is also a lot of fun decor you can find through some savvy internet research. Etsy.com is a popular site for finding custom missionary-themed decorations.
Four. An Easy Mail System.
The e-mails from your missionary are as good as gold. They are also a great record of what your missionary has done. Unfortunately, these e-mails can get lost forever if they aren’t saved properly. You have a couple of options to save the e-mails and letters.
First, you can go low-tech and get some binders with page protectors. Print off your missionary’s e-mails as they come. Second, you can go high-tech with a service like Missionary Mailbag. They’ll save all your missionary’s e-mails and put them into a special collectible book. You can also have the letters turned into a blog so family and friends can keep up with your missionary.
Five. A Countdown Calendar.
A countdown calendar is a great way to pass the time and to feel involved in your missionary’s service. These are our favorites! They are totally customizable, so you can add your missionary’s name, mission, favorite scripture, and dates served. Each countdown calendar comes with stickers so you can mark down the days! There are even stickers for transfers, milestones, birthdays, and more. When your missionary gets home, they can enjoy a visual record of their mission and some of the important things that happened.
Are you a missionary mom? What things have you found useful as your missionary is out serving?
