Mission President's Talk

This evening Nancy and I went to a High Priest social. A recently returned mission president and his wife were invited to speak to us. In June they finished their service in the Houston Texas mission. If the former president were to have a title for his talk, he said it would be something like, "How not to sabotage your kids mission" or perhaps "Qualities of a good missionary." Here are some of the things he said -

• Ability to fail - Many parents keep their kids from experiencing failure. They are afraid to try because they are afraid to fail - or their parents try to protect them from the effects of failure. Them kids get on their missions, fail at something, and some don't know how to recover from the failure.
• Workers - He liked dairy boys from southern Idaho. They knew how to work. The first statistic he would read when getting a report on a new missionary was how they were paying for their mission. He liked to see missionaries who were paying for a significant portion of their own mission. More vested.
• Planners - He liked to see missionaries who knew how to use a planner before getting to the mission - able to set and track goals before arriving on a mission.
• Self Directed - Didn't have to be told what to do. Could function on their own. When their companion asks "How you do suggest we find someone to teach today?" They won't respond with "I don't know" or "I don't care."
• Able to Delay Self Gratification - Can live without a cell phone, video games, txting, all of the things that are entertaining. Too many missionaries say, "This isn't any fun. I want to go home."
• Willing to try - Can try something new. Can put themselves in uncomfortable situations. Can push their way through the apprehension and uncomfortable nature of being missionaries.
• The mission president's wife mentioned the ability to describe gospel principles in their own words.

Great talk. Nancy and I came away from the evening talking about how we can instill these qualities in Jay and Isabel, and do better ourselves. I am also evaluating each of my priests. It is food for thought and discussion, which is why it is posted here.

Brian (and Nancy)