It’s time to start preparing for a senior mission in 2018, and Senior Missions: What to Expect and How to Prepare will be your best friend as you begin planning. Tell your parents and grandparents. Tell your neighbors and friends. This book will answer all their questions about senior missions.
Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday, but it turns out senior missionaries find it one of the most gratifying holidays of their missions, whether they’re serving in the US or in a foreign country. Younger missionaries miss Thanksgiving turkey and pies, and it’s really fun to cook for them. In foreign countries, however, finding a turkey can be practically impossible, and a whole chicken may have to take its place.
In the United States, we are accustomed to eating processed food that has been augmented with flavor enhancers and other chemicals. As a result, at first, the natural food in other countries may initially taste very bland to you. But that natural food is so much better for you, as long as you wash it carefully and cook it thoroughly. Before you know it, your taste buds will begin to reject artificial foods and flavors and crave the goodness of wholesome, natural meals.
At first, you may be quite surprised that you aren’t having spiritual experiences every day, or even every week. You may think you are wasting too much time. You may drive your poor spouse mad fussing about not reading the scriptures enough, not exercising enough, not fasting enough, not being a missionary! Relax. You are a missionary. This experience is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. You will figure out a flow and a balance that both you and your spouse can live with, and you will have spiritual experiences—just not on demand.
The MTC provides transportation to the Salt Lake International Airport. However, if possible, it’s a good idea to have family or friends pick you up at the MTC and take you to the airport so that you have more control over your schedule.
Bring pictures of your family to enjoy and to show members and investigators. People love to see your children and grandchildren. To save luggage room, you can get frames after you arrive in your mission.
Because you are a senior missionary, you will probably be assigned to one apartment for your entire mission, and that apartment will be furnished not only with furniture, but also with basic supplies. You can purchase any improvement you want for your apartment.
Senior missionaries have different schedules and rules than junior missionaries. There is absolutely no way you can be on task sixteen hours a day. So you are going to have some downtime—time when you must rest, but you don’t need to sleep. In this downtime, you are allowed to read novels that are not religious, listen to nonreligious music, search the web, and even watch movies. Media, however, can be uplifting or destructive, so you must take care to feed your soul with the media you choose.
You have several options for dealing with your home while you serve a mission: 1. You can have a family member or friend live in your home. 2.You can lease or rent your home to someone. 3. You can sell your home and plan to buy something else when you return. or 4. You can leave your home vacant and have someone care for it and the yard.
If your driver’s license is going to expire some time during your mission, you will need to renew it before you leave the country. Trying to renew your license from abroad is just overwhelmingly difficult and takes a great deal of time and effort. So look at your driver’s license right away and see if you’ll need to renew it before you start your mission. Telephone ahead and make sure you have all the documents your DMV will require for early renewal.
