Niece wants to serve a mission

[Anonymous]

You can also emphasis what I do with my kids on their missions. I tell them to just about ignore the numbers game and the pressure that comes with that. Instead focus on coming to know, love, and serve the people. I ask them if they saw Jesus if they would imagine him with a clipboard and first ask them what their last month’s stats were.

And I think you have to say it in every letter you send her as the pressure (a bit less on the Sisters) is intense in some missions.

[Anonymous]

I’d emphasize her making sure she wants to go for the right reasons. A mission is hard, and if you don’t really want to be there, you can make life very hard for your companions. You might suggest she wait before putting in her papers. Say that it’s not that she shouldn’t go, but that it would help to take time to consider why she wants to go so that it will be a positive experience.

[Anonymous]

ydeve wrote:

I’d emphasize her making sure she wants to go for the right reasons. A mission is hard, and if you don’t really want to be there, you can make life very hard for your companions. You might suggest she wait before putting in her papers. Say that it’s not that she shouldn’t go, but that it would help to take time to consider why she wants to go so that it will be a positive experience.

Good point. I did notice in the first year or so after the age change there seemed to be a fairly high instance of sisters returning early ostensibly because they just couldn’t deal with the stress and it was much harder than they thought it would be. I think it has happened less since then. As a side note, I get a few weekly emails from sisters serving from our area – and they always talk about how much fun their having. They might be having fun, but they also fail to talk about the parts that aren’t fun. It was a long time ago, but the not-so-fun times far outnumbered the fun ones on my mission.

[Anonymous]

That’s such a weird patriarchal blessing. Just weird.

I know members aren’t supposed to compare PB’s with other members, but it might be worth finding out if that particular patriarch said the same thing to other young women, especially after the age change. (I didn’t realize how much patriarchs reused certain things until I listened to a Bill Reel podcast about that very thing.)

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