When I started my missionary service for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over a decade ago, the U.S. military just happened to send my sister to the same city I was serving in. She lived there for the duration of my mission and returned to Utah mere weeks before I did, and my mission president allowed us to see each other now and then. I also had a cousin in another area of my mission, who I serendipitously ran into when I was there.
I'll admit that perhaps having family so close could have distracted other missionaries. But some of the days I worked the hardest were when I had seen those family members. Those interactions motivated me like nothing else, and my work improved. I still sacrificed a lot as a missionary, but I felt truly blessed.
Now, in a true practice-what-we-preach move, the family-focused Church is encouraging all missionaries to call or text home every week. And I'm so thrilled! This will be good for the missionaries, and it will be good for their families. It will strengthen relationships and move the work forward in ways we may never have anticipated.
And though my children are still very young, I am overjoyed to know I'll still get to talk to them regularly, in real time, if and when they choose to serve missions (and depending on reporting dates, I could have two or three out simultaneously at one point--that's a lot of kids to miss!). This is wonderful news for any parent to receive.
More Peculiar People
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