Mission Advice from an Imperfect Former Sister Missionary

      Serving a full-time LDS mission was one of the greatest blessings of my life. I was introduced to some of the greatest people in the world, learned a new language, developed an obsessive love for The Book of Mormon, and drew closer to my Savior than I ever had before in my life. It was such an unreal experience to wake up every day, wear a name tag that carried my name right by the Savior's, and to dedicate all my time and thoughts to inviting others to come unto Christ. My experience as a missionary was absolutely incredible, and the insights I gained came through a variety of ways. Some through the example of others, lots through the scriptures, and too many to count from my mistakes. That insight has greatly shaped the type of person I am trying to become and has taught me so much about my Savior and perfect example, Jesus Christ. So, for those of you preparing to serve missions, (or those trying to be better member missionaries) here is some mission advice from an imperfect former Sister Missionary.

BECOME A "PREACH MY GOSPEL" MISSIONARY.
     I should be hired as the Church's spokes-girl for Preach My Gospel. I LOOOOOOOOVE IT!!!!!! Seriously though, stick to this guy and you'll do incredible things. Daily study of PMG taught me several important lessons. First, as missionaries we are the COMMITTERS not the CONVERTERS. We are there to follow the Spirit and find those who are hungry to learn about the gospel. Once we find them, we teach by the Spirit and then get out of the way so he can do his job. Second, to be a Preach My Gospel Missionary, you've got to be open to what role God has already played or is currently playing in your investigator's lives, then figure out what role He needs you to play. Lessons will need adapting and your original plan will almost always change. Follow the Spirit and teach people, not lessons. Third, to really be a Preach My Gospel Missionary, you have to believe that EVERY investigator is golden. The responsibility as missionaries and members of Christ's church is to help people recognize God's hand in their life and to recognize their own potential. Serve with sincere love for the people you meet and you'll find that teaching is so much simpler.

BE STRICTLY OBEDIENT.
     There are so many ways to be stupid. And we are usually at our most stupid when we forget who we are. When you put that tag on, stay loyal. Your loyalty is first to the Lord, then to the leaders of the church (including your mission president) and then to your companion. You may have a companion who says, "you wont tell, will you?". Remember that you are in companionships to protect each other. If your companion's inappropriate behavior continues even after correction, you need to ask for help from your mission president. That is part of protecting them. Temptations are still out there as a missionary, don't flirt with them.
     You will hear this ALL THE TIME as a missionary: "Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles". But it's true. When it's 9:29 and you're right by the apartment after a long day, it's so easy to walk right up to your gate and call it a day. But, I can't tell you how many times that situation played out, and my companion and I contacted one last person and ended up setting up a new lesson or found someone that had been promised in their prayers that we would find them. When I tried to be as obedient as I possibly could, my "confidence waxed strong" that my companion and I would always have the Lord's help. Even though we knew we weren't perfect, we knew our obedience had earned us the sacred privilege of having the Holy Ghost to guide us to the elect. That's such an amazing feeling.

NEVER SPEAK NEGATIVELY ABOUT YOUR COMPANION.
     I was blessed to work with some of the most incredible people you will ever meet. My companions have become life-long friends and their examples taught me so much. Buuuuuut, I had one companion I really struggled with. Our personalities were quite different and we never seemed to get into a smooth teaching rhythm. I let my pride get in the way far too often and those six weeks indeed felt like six weeks....under water. Transfers came around and I was assigned a new area and a new companion.
     I met at the church where we had our transfer meeting and immediately found my MTC buddies. We talked about our transfers, the areas we were in, the success we had, and of course, who are companions were. This is one of my biggest regrets as a missionary. Once given the opportunity, I let my mouth run on and on about my companion. I talked about how irrational and difficult she was to work with and that it was the looooongest transfer of my mission. I went on and on, somehow thinking humor justified the mean things I was saying. Well, the meeting started, President announced our new companions and areas, and we were on our way. While getting my luggage to head out with my new companion, I saw one of the Sisters I had been "venting" to before the meeting started. She looked worried and made eye contact with me. I walked over and she disappointingly said, "I have your old companion." I instantly felt sick to my stomach. Here I was, thinking I was just cracking a few jokes, but really I had started off this Sister's new transfer quite negatively. Because my former area was 8 hours away, this Sister hadn't even met my old companion yet. I told her things would be okay, but at that point, I had already done the damage. I always looked at new transfers as opportunities to start over and improve. But there I was, not even giving my former companion a chance.
     It's something I sincerely repented of for a long time, because I genuinely felt quite awful about it. I did get to see my former companion later on in my mission and apologize to her for ever having hurt her feelings, but I wonder how difficult I made her companionships because I chose to speak negatively of her.
      Big takeaway here, never speak negatively of your companion, even if you feel justified in doing so. If you need advise on how to work better with someone, take it to the Lord. During a later scripture study one morning, I had this thought come to my mind that shaped how I worked with all my other companions:

 "Is what your companion is doing keeping her from being a good missionary? If so, you have a responsibility to speak up and help her change. If what she's doing, however, does not keep her from being a good and obedient missionary, it is your responsibility to turn inward, practice humility, patience and Christ-like love."

LEARN THE LANGUAGE OF THE SPIRIT.
     Another lesson learned from Preach My Gospel, it is impossible to successfully bring anyone to Christ without using the Spirit. There were so many experiences on my mission where words far beyond my own wisdom and insight came into my mind and out of my mouth. The Spirit simply makes you smarter which makes the work a lot easier. Just like learning a foreign language, understanding the language of the Spirit takes study and lots of practice.

REPENT OFTEN AND BE HUMBLE.
     You will make lots of mistakes all the time. Get comfortable repenting, and make sure you do it right. Getting in this habit was a little difficult in the beginning for me. It made me feel like I was never going to measure up to who I was representing. Once I got pointing out all the ways I wasn't like the Savior, I realized I would need to repent and work on myself every day for the rest of my life to even make a dent. But, repenting really strengthened my testimony of the Atonement and my relationship with God. Plus it was really awesome to see progress that I was making and how He was helping me change. (Enabling powers of the Atonement for the win!) I noticed a big change too in how I treated my companions. The Savior is so patient and easily forgiving of our downfalls, and yet, sometimes we can be the harshest judges of others. I started to look at my companions differently and on numerous occasions had the thought, "treat everyone like they are doing the best they can."

LOVE THE PEOPLE.
      This part's easy. If you do it right, it will be 1,000,000x harder to come home than it ever was to leave home.

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!
     When I was in my first area in Chile, I quickly realized that I don't handle stressful situations very well. Seriously though, I had acne up the wazoo. I learned that the gift of tongues is not something that instantly comes after a week of studying but was going to require months of patience, faith, and a lot of hard work. I distinctly remember one morning when I was getting ready for the day. I had just taken a cold shower (that first apartment was AWESOME.), gotten dressed and was sitting on the cold tile floor before scripture study. Being overly dramatic, I had decided a week into my mission that I was doomed and would never learn the language. (Just call me Lemuel.) I got on my knees, prepared to tell God my awesome plan to either somehow break my leg and get sent home or convince my mission president that I'd been inspired to be transferred to a state-side English-speaking mission. But once my knees hit the tile, I was overcome with an outpouring of love from my Heavenly Father. I had been knocked to the ground in humility and it was one of the biggest blessings of my entire mission. So many incredible teaching moments from the Spirit came when my knees hit the floor humbly asking for help. I didn't break my leg, I stayed in the country and I did learn Spanish. The Lord also comforted me when investigators rejected my companion and I, celebrated with us when we watched our investigators come out of the baptismal font in white, and wept with me when it was time to leave my beloved Chileans. All these tender mercies started with a humble prayer.

"YOU WERE NEVER CALLED TO FAIL."
     Before I left for the MTC, I asked my parents to write me letters in my journal. (Not to toot my own horn, but this was the best idea ever.) This was such a blessing to be able to pull out their words anytime I needed a little encouragement. My mom wrote something that gave me so much comfort when times were hard: "You were never called to fail." My dad wrote, "When times are tough, always picture your third companion, the Savior, standing next to you. He is who you are serving, and He has your back." (Parental win, am I right?) Being a missionary, or even simply being a member of the Church can sometimes be such a daunting calling. But we were never called to fail. Our mission as Latter-Day Saints is to ensure our own salvation and then show the world what a blessing it is to live the gospel. The Savior will be by our side, mourning, celebrating, laughing, crying, and rejoicing with us every step of the way.

     Serving a mission is unlike any other adventure in life. The highs are the highest you've ever experienced, and the lows are likely the lowest you've ever experienced. When times are hard, remember all the people who love you and are praying for you. I have never attended a temple session where missionaries aren't prayed for. Remember how much the Lord has trusted you with and how much the Church supports and loves you. Enjoy those spiritual highs. They are some of the sweetest experiences the gospel has to offer and you get a front row seat to all of it! Enjoy every moment and return with honor.