Just over two years ago, I returned home from serving a mission in Frankfurt, Germany. I also have a younger sister serving in the Russia, Moscow mission right now. We’re the only two girls in our immediate and extended families to serve missions, so the points below are things that have mattered most to the two of us in sustaining support from our family while serving the Lord. (Most of these ideas also apply to Elders.)
1. Print her emails. When you get her weekly emails, print them off and store them in a binder for her. When she returns home, those emails will be some of her most prized possessions. (They are for me.)
2. Girls love variety. Every once in a while, send her a new shirt or skirt, or a pair of earrings. (I don’t know about every other sister missionary who has served, but after nine months of wearing the same clothes, I ran out of options for mixing and matching. Just one new shirt opens up a lot of possibilities!)
3. Prayer works. Pray for her, her investigators and her companions. (I promise, she will feel your prayers. They make a difference.)
4. Send pictures and family updates. Send her pictures of her friends and family. Get nieces and nephews or little brothers and sisters to draw pictures for her. These pictures were great reminders of how much I love my family, and also a motivation to help find other families who don’t have the gospel.
5. Don’t forget her. When I say “don’t forget her,” I mean, remember that she hasn’t fallen off the face of the earth just because you don’t see her every day. Write her letters and emails. Hand-written letters were some of the most uplifting things I received on my mission. They helped me know my family still thought about me!
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Ashley Jones practices public relations for Deseret Book. She loves writing, emailing her missionary sister, and making/ eating home-made popcorn.