Alternative mission advice
This is for anyone who will be serving a mission in the near future. If you are an RM or married or otherwise not planning on putting on the black name tag anytime during the next 40 years, feel free to skip this and read Lekrib’s comics on the other side of this page.
Let me preface what I’m going to say with a few disclaimers: I realize that there are 300 plus missions in the world today and all of them have things about them that make them different. I realize that not all of what I’m going to say will apply to everyone who serves a mission. My goal here is to hopefully help at least one person with the transition from being taught to teaching.
Why do I want to write something like this? For starters, I was born and raised in the church. I come from about five generations of missionaries. I took mission prep once from my home stake and twice in college. I read the entire missionary library before I got my mission call. And you know what? I was extremely unprepared when I actually set foot in the country I was called to serve in.
With this in mind, here are my points of advice:
- Missions are hard. I know, I know, everyone tells you this. I was told missions are hard approximately 29,000 times before I left for the MTC. Yet somehow I understood this to mean only that missions are physically hard. Don’t get me wrong, they are, though I imagine if you have a car it’s less so. What was more tiring for me was the mental and spiritual drain. For those of you who will go foreign, speaking and teaching in a language other than your own day in and day out is difficult. Even after you have the language down, relatively speaking, it’s draining. Spiritually, it is hard to bear testimony and listen to concerns and follow the Spirit all the time.
- And inversely, it is draining to be mistrusted and not believed for days at a time. If you find yourself in a situation where you seem unable to find anyone interested in the message of the restored gospel, here are some things that may help. Bear testimony of the Book or Mormon and the Prophet Joseph Smith often. The Spirit that comes when you testify about these things is an automatic pick-me-up. I also recommend hymns. Even if you’re not musically inclined, use the hymns to bring that same Spirit to you and your companion. It makes things easier.
- Some missionaries don’t want to be on a mission. Everyone has his or her own reasons for serving. I’m not here to say one is better than another, but when Elder Jones is in Maryland because his uncle Bob promised to give him a truck if he served a mission, things can be difficult. What do you do when you’re not… um…. equally yoked? Pull. Push. Inspire. Work. Be understanding. Don’t just complain about how tough things are. And if you’re Elder Jones? Don’t be a millstone around your companion’s neck.
- Work hard. I know, I know, you’re planning on working your tail off. But really, work hard. Make good use of your time. Always be finding new people to teach. Even if someone you approach on the street declines your invitation, he still had positive contact with the church.
- Work smart. You’ll hear this a lot, but it’s much easier to teach family and friends of church members. The most success I ever had in the mission field came as a direct result of teaching friends and family of one couple who got baptized. In addition, be smart in how you teach. Tailor your lessons to what the people you are teaching need to hear. This takes extra time and it will be a lot easier to just teach how you always do, but trust me, the effort to be more personal will pay off.
- Respect your mission president. They come in all different types, and some are easier to respect than others, but always honor yours.
- Finally, sometimes you’ll plant and sometimes you’ll harvest. I’ve been in the situation where I taught a family for four months and they decided to stop meeting with us. I’ve also taught a family who had been meeting with the missionaries for five years and finally decided they were ready for baptism. Don’t be discouraged if you feel like you’re just a planter. You never know how that seed will grow.
Is this all I think you should know as a missionary? No. There are hundreds of other things missionaries have to know and do every day to be successful. One guy’s thoughts, one guy’s opinions. Take them for what they’re worth. 
