Helping LOCAL Full-time Missionaries in your Area While You Have A Missionary in the Field - 5 great ideas!

I am a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the only member of the Church on my side of the family. Interestingly, I recently found out that for decades my mother has been approaching LDS Missionaries (whenever she happens to see them around town or in the grocery store) and talking to them. I was a little shocked when I heard this - I really had no idea that she would do such a thing and she had never mentioned it at all until recently. She said that whenever she sees missionaries, she always tells them that her daughter and family are members of the Church and that I served a mission. More recently, she has also started adding that her oldest granddaughter (my daughter) is preparing to serve a mission soon.

She then told me (to my astonishment) that she always tells the missionaries that she knows that they are far from family and home, so she wants to make sure they have everything that they need and then asks if there is anything she can do to help them. I think she noticed that I was surprised that she had been doing this all these years. She told me that she is only doing what she would want someone else to do for me or her granddaughter. She said she hoped that if she offered to help local missionaries in their time of need, someone else would do the same for us.

When I finally recovered from my initial shock that my mom was telling me this, I asked her if any of the missionaries have ever said that they need something. She replied that they never have, but that they always seem appreciative of the offer and are polite, so she will keep asking. Now, I should mentioned that my mother works in a grocery store, so she sees missionaries shopping there frequently (since there are quite few sets of missionaries in the area). I can't even imagine how many times these conversations must have happened over the past 25 years. I had no clue. Isn't my mom a cool person?

If you have a missionary that you care about currently serving far away, whether it's a relative or friend, you probably think about them a lot and maybe even worry about how they are and what they are doing (or eating/not eating). I made sure that my mom understood that missionaries bring what they need, have apartments provided, have a food allowance and have dinner appointments with people in the area where they serve - plus, they can always contact the Mission President if there is some sort of need or problem. "I know," she said, "but I just want to offer help if I can. There might be something they need. It doesn't hurt to ask."

This blog post is titled, "Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You(r Missionary)." When your special missionary is in the Czech Republic or Peru or Ireland, you might not be able to do much to help them out on a day to day basis, because you aren't physically there. You can pray, you can write letters/emails, you can send packages (when practical), but you can't be THERE. But there is something you can do - you can help the local missionaries who are serving where you live! And I get the feeling that my mom is right - if we serve others, maybe others will step up and serve our loved ones when we aren't physically there to do so.

So what can we do to help the local missionaries where we live? I've got 5 ideas for you - REFERRALS, DINNER APPOINTMENTS, SAY HELLO, HONK & WAVE, AND BONUS GROCERIES

#1- REFERRALS - Hands down, this is the thing that missionaries need most. No matter what mission they are serving in, this is what they want and need. Introduce them to your friends and neighbors. Invite your friends to meet with them. Help the missionaries find people to teach. I've read many letters home from missionaries who have said, "please give referrals to the local missionaries." Why would they say that? They know what missionaries everywhere need people to teach so that they can do what they were called to do. You probably can't help your missionary find people to teach in Australia or India or Brazil when you live in Oklahoma (unless you have relatives there or something!). But if you live in Oklahoma, you can help the Oklahoma missionaries find people to teach in Oklahoma! If you want people in Zimbabwe to give your missionary referrals in Zimbabwe, then give your local missionaries referrals! (Do unto others...)

#2- SIGN UP FOR DINNER APPOINTMENTS - As we talk about in our Mission-prep blog posts "Food and Dinner Appointments - a Guide for LDS Missionaries" and "2 REALLY important Things to Start Doing Now if you Want to SURVIVE EATING as an LDS Missionary" it is expected that ward/branch members help to provide at least some of the dinner meals to their local missionaries, whenever possible. This helps to cut down on the missionary expenses. In some areas, missionaries have a dinner appointment every day. In other areas, they may have few or none. Find out about signing up to provide dinner for the local missionaries in your ward/branch and help out if you can. It's very much appreciated.

#3- SAY HELLO WHEN YOU SEE MISSIONARIES - I always say hello when I see missionaries anywhere (even if I don't know them). This might seem a little strange, but when I was a missionary I remember that SO MANY people were rude, unkind, or angry when they saw us...so if we saw someone that we knew or if anyone was randomly nice to us, it made a difference to me. So say hello. If there is opportunity to talk, introduce yourself. Often when I see a pair of missionaries that I don't know, I say hello and they have a hint of panic in their expressions as they try to figure out who I am. They seem to wonder if they should know me from their current ward, or if I am a previous investigator or something, etc. So, I try to say right away, "I'm Sister Rogers from _________ ward" or something like that and that puts them at ease.

#4- HONK AND WAVE - Again, this might seem a little strange, but when I see missionaries walking down the street or waiting to cross at an intersection, I honk and wave. The reason I do this is the same as what I mentioned above in #3- When a pair of missionaries walk or bike down the road, they are very recognizable to most people who see them. And that often draws negative attention and people sometimes yell rude things or scream profanities at missionaries as they drive by. After a while, a missionary might start to feel like the entire world must hate them. I know I felt like that sometimes. When I was a missionary, if someone we knew (or didn't know) drove by and honked, waved, and/or smiled, it would literally make my day so much better.

#5- BONUS GROCERIES - If appropriate and reasonable for you to do, you might also consider donating a few extra groceries to supplement what the missionaries have to eat in their apartment. As a missionary, I always ate (though sometimes if I didn't plan well, I didn't eat well), but regardless of how much food I already had, I was always happy if someone gave us a bag of groceries because we were on a very limited budget. If you are going to buy a few things to give to your local missionaries, I would recommend giving things that are easy to prepare (or require zero prep) and that do not require additional ingredients. For example, if you give a missionary boxes of "hamburger helper" mix, I'm sure that they will appreciate it, but they might not have the other ingredients (like ground beef, milk, and butter) available.

Recently my daughter has been working with some great full-time missionary Elders in the area who have been teaching several of her single adult friends. She sees the missionary dinner calendar and knows that YSA Elders don't get as many dinner appointments as other missionaries in the area might. We've had them over for dinner in our home. But she felt recently that maybe there was something else we could do. Partly because she is thankful to them for teaching her friends, but also
partly because she has reason to suspect that they might be eating a lot of ramen noodles these days.

She asked me if we could get them a bag of "bonus" food as a special treat. We talked about what kinds of foods would be best. We decided that things cold cereal, granola bars, and spaghetti-o's would be a good idea. So we picked up those items (and a few other things) at the store and texted the missionaries that "Our family has a few bags of things for you. Stop by whenever you are in the neighborhood to pick them up" (they have a car). I should stress that this wasn't a major expense and we don't do this regularly, but we carefully thought about what might be convenient and easy for them, but it ended up being 1 bag each (doubles of everything) and only cost about $20.00.

I took a photo of what we got so that you could get an idea of the type of thing that we bought:

Cereal

Applesauce

Granola bars

Salsa

Tortilla chips

Spaghetti-os 

Microwave popcorn 

As you can see, there is nothing major, nothing that requires any special steps or other ingredients (except maybe milk for the cereal).

I hope this post has given you some ideas on how you can help the local missionaries. And I hope that you and your missionary (wherever they are serving) will be blessed by your thoughtfulness and service.

8 SNACK FOODS for hungry LDS Missionaries - low cost and healthy(ish)

Hello! This new post was originally posted on my OTHER missionary blog, "Mission Prep with the Overzealous Missionary Mom," but I'm also going to post the information here because many of you have missionaries currently serving in field who could use some ideas for low-cost, easy, and healthy(ish) snacks! Feel free to pass these ideas along to your missionary - there is a printable version at the end of this post that can also be saved as a jpg and attached to your next email to your missionary! 

It can be hard for anyone to eat healthy and stay within a grocery budget. For full-time missionaries, this can be especially challenging. As a missionary, I was often hungry. And when you're hungry, you tend to gravitate toward junk food and it can be difficult to think of healthier options. Don't worry - we've got your back!

We've compiled a list of 8 easy snacks that are low-cost, require little or no work, and are healthier than eating a tub of ice cream! If you're getting ready to leave for your own LDS mission, you might want to have a list of healthy snacks like this with you to reference when you go shopping in your first area. Depending on where you serve, you may not have access to all of these items and ingredients, but this list is a good place to start!

If you are a relative or friend of an LDS missionary who is currently serving, feel free to pass along this list to your missionary! (see printable version of this list at the end of the post)

First up, CHIPS & SALSA! Buy pre-made salsa (either the canned kind in the mexican food aisle or the fresher kind usually in the produce section of groceries stores) and a bag of tortilla chips.
Cost (in my local store): about $5 ($3 for salsa, $2 for chips)
Effort level: 0 out of 10

JELLO! It might seem "basic," but its actually a nice fruity treat (many people consider it a dessert). It's sweet, but non-fat. You can buy the boxes of jello mix and make it yourself, but it does take some time (you have to wait hours for it to "set") and in this case making your own doesn't really save you that much money (plus then you have more dishes to wash). If you buy the pre-made jello cups, there is no wait and no mess! You can find these in the grocery store near the snack foods OR sometimes they are near the canned fruit OR they also have certain varieties in the refrigerated section near the yogurt. In my local Wal-Mart the pre-made jello is on a different aisle than the box jello. (Just keep looking! Eventually, you will find it!)
Cost (in my local store): about $1 (for a 4-pack). Cost per serving: 25 cents.
Effort level: 0 out of 10

FROZEN GRAPES: These are a great treat in warm weather. To make these, you buy regular fresh grapes, then wash them and pull them off of the stem. Dry them off with a paper towel and put them on a cookie sheet (or something similar) in the freezer. Once they are frozen, put them in a zip-lock type baggie and keep in the freezer. You could put them straight in the baggie without freezing them on a cookie sheet first, but they might stick together. In our part of the United States, we can get grapes year-round, but they do not taste great year-round. Usually the smaller the grape, the more sour. When they are very plump they usually taste very sweet, in my experience. You can ask someone working in the produce department if you can try one, if you're not sure (you're not supposed to sample without asking). Another tip: My daughter recently bought grapes and saw that the price on the sign was $3/lb, but didn't realize that they were bagged in 3 to 4 pound sizes. She assumed that they were all 1 pound bags, so she didn't think of weighing her grapes. She thought she was buying 1 pound of grapes for $3, but she was actually buying 3 pounds of grapes for $9. It is a little confusing sometimes, because many types of produce that are pre-bagged (like bags of potatoes or bags of apples) are usually a flat price instead of by the pound. If you are on a tight budget (as missionaries are), make sure you know what you are buying before you get to the check out.
Cost (in my local store): varies by season, from $2 per pound to $5 per pound
Effort level: 2 out of 10

HUMMUS & VEGETABLES:
Even if you are not a big vegetable person now, you might start craving them on your mission. I found that I started craving vegetables that I didn't even like (like broccoli) and I think that it was because I needed the extra nutrients. Most of the time fresh vegetables can be purchased at a fairly low price year-round. Items like carrots and celery are usually very cheap. Peppers, broccoli, cauliflower,  and tomatoes are usually slightly higher in cost, but still pretty reasonable price compared to fast food and packaged snacks.

Using hummus as a dip is a good way to add some protein to your snack (and keep you feeling full longer). If you're not familiar with hummus, it's basically a dip made from garbanzo beans and a few other things. It's very mild and smooth - try it, you'll probably like it! We like the flavored varieties (like garlic flavor or roasted red pepper flavor) better than plain. You can buy pre-made hummus in most grocery stores (sometimes it is kept by the produce, sometimes it is kept by the deli, sometimes it is kept by the sour cream/dips - in any case, it should be in a refrigerated section, so probably along the outside perimeter of the store if its a big grocery store (usually they have their refrigerated stuff around the edges and the canned goods and non-perishables near the center of the store).
Cost (in my local store): Hummus - $3-$5 depending on brand, veggie prices vary
Effort level: 1 out of 10 (because you may have to cut up vegetables)

MICROWAVE POPCORN: If you've got a microwave, this is a tasty & easy snack for around $1. There are healthier varieties with less butter and/or less salt, but even if you get the butter-blasted kind sometimes, its still a pretty good snack because it has a lot of fiber and is very filling.
Cost (in my local store): $3 for a box of 4
Effort level: 0 out of 10

BANANAS WITH HONEY: This is so good. Chop up a banana and pour a little bit of honey on top, then sprinkle some cinnamon over the whole thing. I really love this because it's very little effort but tastes way better than it looks - its like eating a fancy dessert! Honey is not exactly cheap and you may have to buy ground cinnamon if you don't already have some in your apartment, but you could plan to have this once a week and get good use out of your cinnamon & honey! 

Cost (in my local store): $5 for a small bottle of honey, $1 for a bottle of ground cinnamon, 50 cents each for a banana. Overall, probably about 75 cents per serving total, since you use so little of the honey and cinnamon each time, but you do have to buy the honey & cinnamon up front.

Effort level: 1 out of 10

RICE CAKE WITH PEANUT BUTTER: Buy a package of rice cakes (usually by the chips or the nuts and snack foods) and a jar of peanut butter. Easy!

Cost (in my local store): $2 for rice cakes (package of 10) and $3 for a small jar of peanut butter. Probably about 50 cents per serving.

Effort level: 0 out of 10

FROZEN COOKIE DOUGH: No, you don't actually need to eat the frozen cookie dough - this idea is even better! This one requires a little more work than the others, but totally manageable. Buy a cookie mix (baking section of the grocery store) like a chocolate chip cookie mix or whatever. You may also need eggs, butter, OR vegetable oil (not all three), so check the instructions before you leave the store. Make the cookie dough, but instead of baking all of the cookies, roll some (or all) of them into balls and put them in the freezer on a cookie sheet (or something similar) until frozen. Then put them in a ziplock-type baggie and put them back in the freezer. Again, the cookie sheet thing is to keep them from freezing together into one giant mass). The idea here is that you can take a couple of the cookies out at lunch time or when you get home at night a make a couple of cookies at a time. Instead of making a whole batch at once and eating them all right away, this method allows you to space your cookies out. Cookie mixes are much easier than trying to make cookies from scratch (since you don't need to buy all of the individual ingredients) and they are a pretty cheap treat. They usually make 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on the size that you make them.

Cost (in my local store): $2 for a mix (not inclduing cost of egg(s), oil, or butter that may be needed). Even after you add in the cost of the egg, etc. I think you'd probably be looking at a cost of about 10 cents a cookie.

Effort level: 4 out of 10

Here is a free printable that you can use to take on your mission as a reference if you ever need snack ideas (you can either print it on your home printer, or have it printed as a 4x6" photo at a photo place). If you are a parent or friend of a current LDS missionary who needs some cheap and easy snack ideas, feel free to save and attach this as a photo in your next email!