Call Me On A MissionLDS missionary tips to help you hit the ground running

I think one of the best things about a mission is how much freedom and flexibility you have. Everything you own fits into a suitcase—or else you give it away! When transfers come, it only takes a few minutes to fold all your white shirts (if you take time to do that…) and put everything into your suitcase. You can be completely ready to move to an entirely different city, state, or even country within minutes!

Of course we all begin the mission with two suitcases packed completely full, and by the time we go home, we usually realize everything we took that we never even used.

I think one of the funniest things I encountered was with one elder who began the mission with me. When we were about to return home, he began rummaging through his “seldom opened” suitcase, where he found quite a treasure! It was a portable hot water shower! I guess he figured you can’t live without hot water in South America, and so he went prepared!

Of course he never used the portable shower, but I suppose he had a great piece of camping equipment for after the mission!

As you grow in the mission field, “things” become less and less important. The mission is one of the only times in your life that you can actually forget about belongings, social life, and pressures from school and work, and you can entirely focus on others. Your prayers become more and more selfless, and you begin to learn things about yourself that you never knew—strengths and weaknesses. Things become so clear as you see the ways Heavenly Father needs you to grow as well as the strengths he has given you.

Along with these changes, you see that you really didn’t everything you thought was so important: the church books that aren’t part of the missionary library, the photo albums of all your high school friends, the remembrance trinkets from your girlfriend, and surprisingly enough, the portal hot water shower. These just become luggage that you have to pack around for two years.

Also remember that you will be serving with people that come from all types of circumstances. You will have companions that come from high income families as well as companions that are from lower-income families and third world countries. It is interesting to see new missionaries arrive to the mission from the Provo MTC compared to those from the Argentina or Peru MTC. I have had companions who ask what in the world I had taken with me to fill two jumbo-sized suitcases. They just had one simple suitcase that many times could probably be used as carry-on luggage.

So if I had a tip about what to take on your mission—or rather what not to take your mission—I would say to remember that this is one of the only times in your life that you can just let it go. Eliminate the distractions, and enjoy it while you can. Follow the suggestions and guidelines you receive with your mission call, and trust that you will be okay. And if your mother buys you a heated shower that you can hang on a tree, thank her graciously—because that will be pretty cool to take camping when you are called to be a boy scout leader in about three years.

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