WHAT I WISHED I'D KNOWN BEFORE SERVING
Soooooooo......reading missionary blogs before coming out on my mission REALLY helped. Finding posts that began with "What I'd wished I'd known...."....................
JACKPOT.
Ever since landing myself as a sister missionary, I've started my own list of THINGS I WISHED I'D KNOWN BEFORE SERVING. (yea, unfortunately ya can't learn e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. before you come out.....#rough). Buuuuuuuuuttttt....some of these can help out some! Enjoy!
What I'd Wished I'd Known.......
Before entering the field:
- Use online outfit designer to put together your mission outfits! I used Polyvore and IT SAVED MY LIFE! Upload items that are similar to what you already have in the closet and then mix and max potential items to know what to buy that can go with every outfit! #lifesaver.......and money saver:)....................Keep it classy;)
- Bring a pop-up hamper, one that collapses in your suitcase. It's easy to take around your whole mission and keeps your dirty laundry in one place......not on your companion's dresser:)
- Bring a belt/scarf hanger. If they can hang in the closet, it's a space saver!
- If you're going to an online proselyting mission, BUY AN iPad cover case/keyboard BEFORE you go out! It saves time and money once you're out! Make it cute, too:)
- Familiarize yourself with the LDS Gospel Library, use the Notes and Tags features, and keep up on your Mormon Messages:) If you're going to an online proselyting mission, get a head-start by tagging all the PMG scriptures!
- Get all family's emails and addresses written down for future reference
- If you're going to a cold place, get Under Armor running leggings! They've kept me warm through Chi-town's coldest winter! (And.....they keep you from having to wear sweats under skirts.....#tacky)
- Bring generic gift cards. Every now and then, you'll find yourself in a bind, and having a back-up plan really helps:)
- Pinterest workouts! 'Nuff said. I brought 30 30-minute workouts with me on the mission in a binder. It's enough to keep me cycling through them for a whole month!!!! (SEE BELOW FOR ALL OF THEM)
- Bring some of your favorite quotes to put up around your apartment or to pull out when you need a pick-me-up. (Apartments can ALWAYS use more cute decorations anyways:)
- Label your clothing
- Bring light exercise equipment (resistance band, jump rope, etc.). It breaks up your morning exercise routine and offers more possibilities.
- Bring a good first aid kit! Pain killers: must. Band aids: must. Cough drops: must.
- Bring a transfer journal!! At the end of each transfer, have missionaries, members, and investigators sign your transfer journal! Then, by the end of your mission, you have a whole journal filled with notes and messages from everyone you've met and grown to love!
- Make your suitcase recognizable.......there are WAY too many black suitcases out there:)!
- Email missionaries currently serving in your assigned mission questions, read their blogs, etc. Ask them mission-specific questions: approved music to bring, clothes, best shoes to wear, weather/temperature, etc.
- Bring slippers.....old apartment floors= nasty.
- Bring a recipe book with easy and fast meals to make.
- A sketch pad. If you're artsy, it can help you release stress when you're wound up.
- Dry shampoo. Don't ask......just bring.
- A flashlight. Walking home at night is a lot easier (and safer) when you have one
Before entering the MTC:
- Bring mesh laundry bags. The bigger the better. Washing identical (wink wink:) laundry with multiple sisters in a small washing machine can get awkward real fast. Put your whites in, zip 'er shut, and you're good to go! (Comes in handy out in the field too!)
- Bring a retractable lanyard. The clip-on ones are the best. Between cafeteria meal scans and entry doors, being able to pull it right off your side and back again makes things WAY easier.
- Bring a small notebook, not large. Hauling around a binder or large notebook can be a pain. Bring something you can take around to devotionals, to meals, to classrooms, and to your dorm......a small one that can easily fit in your purse/bag.
- Bring and use scripture tabs! Being able to color-code your scriptures while reading so many every day in the MTC is SO helpful when you get out to the field.
- MINTS! Ahhhhhhhh....yes! Chewing gum in the MTC is not allowed, so use the mints to detox:) They're a boredom killer and keep you awake during the long hours too!
- Bring good pens/pencils. And bring A LOT. Somehow it's easy to lose pens in the MTC. Go figure. Bring highlighters too.......I prefer to use colored Prismacolor pencils since they don't bleed through pages.
- Use your workout time! It's easier to focus and study when your body has had it's time to de-gitter:)
- Tell friends and family to use DearElder.com to send you mail in the MTC. Same-day delivery.....can't compete:)
- Invest in a mini Preach My Gospel. It's WAY easier to carry around places.
- Nail polish and other spa stuff.......believe me.....it keeps you feeling sane......
Hopefully, some of these help with the physical preparation of a mission. HOWEVER, the most important thing you can do to prepare is to focus on your spiritual preparation!
-Read and study your scriptures!
-Learn to recognize the spirit!
-Serve others around you!
-Share your testimony often!
-Go on splits with the missionaries in your area
-Set up a mormon.org profile
-Talk with RM's
-PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!
Getting your temporal bases covered is great, but if nothing else cover your SPIRITUAL bases! Your testimony, not your Topshop purse is going to convert.
Be prepared in EVERY way. Also, being close to the spirit before your mission will allow the Lord to tell you whatYOU need to do to prepare in the best way for you! The months before you serve can be crazy and hectic, but they are SO important! Don't let the spiritual prep slip between the cracks! It's the MOST important! Also, remember:
Breathe deep, and smile:)
Missions are a.m.a.z.i.n.g.! They're hard, but they're incredible experiences! Keep holding on! Keep going! Keep having faith! The Lord has great things in mind for each of us who joins His ranks!
Onward and upward!
Sister Anna Parker
[Instert Family Feud background music]
"We surveyed 100 missionaries.....the top 5 answers are on the board...."
Q: Name the most popular missionary workouts:
1. 1 minute of leg lifts, followed by 29 minutes of recovery
2. 10 crunches (in bed.....attempting to roll out for morning prayers)
3. Pouring milk onto cereal counts as a bicep workout, right?
4. 30 straight minutes of actual working out......
5. Zzzzzzzzzzz.........
(btw...#5.....don't even think about it....)
Here's the scoop: It's 30 MINUTES.
I feel ya....somehow working out (pre-mish) 3-4 hours a day at the gym to earn a personal trainer's license, on top of rugby practice at night and basketball tournaments in the morning, wasn't half as hard as now pulling my eyelids open in the morning as a missionary and lacing up my Nike's to go workout for a measly half hour.
S.O.M.L.
But.....it's a whole wold easier for me to hit the ground in the morning, ready to workout, if I HAVE OPTIONS. Like over 30 options....so I don't have to repeat a single workout in a month.
#steezy
So.....I'm uploading my 30+ workouts for all ya girls (and guys?) out there who want 30 minute workouts (almost all of which don't require any equipment, and little space) so that 6 weeks to sexy rather than 10 weeks to tons happens;)
Get out there. Push hard. Be obedient by working out. Blessings come. Oh, and have fun!
(the hand-written workouts are my own workouts, so if they're not self-explanatory, shoot me an email: anna.parker@myldsmail.net. I just printed all of these workouts off before my mission, put them in sheet protectors, and keep them in a workout binder.)
No comments:
Post a Comment