I just sent my brother a package.
My package theme was based on this New Era Article
The Message: Gifts to Bring Home from the Mission Field by President Gordon B. Hinkley.
I twisted it a little and called it the
10 Gifts You Gain From A Mission
I found something for each of the 10 gifts, albeit some are a little stretched. I wrote the gift on the
front side of the envelope a little explananation on the
back of the envelope and the excerpt from the talk on the gift
in the envelope.
My penmanship is rushed and a little silly, so don't critique me on that :)
For the introducer I labeled the envelope and put this excerpt from the talk inside "
These are 10 gifts that I would hope every missionary would bring home with him or her—not a lot of tinsel, not a lot of dolls, not a lot of rugs or furs or dresses or plates, but these great, enduring, wonderful things. God bless you to keep the faith, and while doing so, enjoy with great happiness that which you are called to do."
Back of the envelope said "We love you Honey!" -Thats how the Honey Buns come into play. Considering our missionary loves them I wanted to send them in the package and they were a great filler for all the left over spots.
1. Excerpt inside
“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). There is no greater gift that comes to anyone in this world than a certain, reassuring conviction that God, our Eternal Father, lives and that Jesus is the Christ. I believe that. I think it is so very, very important."
Back of the envelope "Let the Love of our Heavnely Father surrond you like these big hugs." The hugs were from my little ones. They were cut their arms length, like real hugs.
I found this
Mail a Hug idea here. I put my own spin on it and decided to do put "I love you SO much!" kind of like the "I love you THIS much!" idea.
2. Excerpt inside "
As a missionary, I read each evening before going to bed a few chapters of the Book of Mormon, and there came into my heart a conviction which has never left: that this is the word of God, restored to the earth by the power of the Almighty, translated by the gift and power of God to the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ. I thank the Lord for the testimony which I have of the truth of the word of God as found in these sacred revealed books. And I would hope that every missionary would leave his or her field of labor with a conviction in his or her heart that these things are true."
Back of the envelope "We know your working hard to be a scripture smarty."
3. Excerpt inside "
I have attended hundreds of missionary meetings over the years. I love to hear missionaries speak of their love for the Lord, but I also love to hear them speak with great appreciation and love concerning their parents. Boys who had been careless and indifferent stand on their feet and with tears in their eyes thank the Lord for their fathers and their mothers. In these days, what a salutary and wonderful thing it is to hear a strong young man stand up and speak with great feeling concerning his father and his mother, saying things he would never have said before in all of his life. Every boy and girl ought to come home with an increased love for parents."
Back of the envelope "We all know your itching to give Mom and Dad some Hugs and Kisses!"
4. Excerpt inside
"I love the English people. No one can sell the English short in my mind because I labored with them, I lived with them, I was in their homes at their firesides, I learned to know their hearts, and I learned to love them.
I have learned to love the people of Asia. I spent 11 years among them, and I love them. To me, I love them as much as I love anybody because of the experience I have had as a missionary, as it were, among them.
There’s something wrong if a missionary doesn’t come back with a great love for the people among whom he labored."
Back of the envelope "A fisher of men = Missionary"
5. Excerpt inside "
Every missionary ought to come to realize that work, work, work is the key to getting things done, the key to success in life. There is no substitute for work, for getting up in the morning and getting at it and staying with it to get the job done. I don’t know of a greater asset for whatever lies ahead in life than the capacity to discipline oneself to work."
Back of the envelope "For all that hard work, your reward will be much greater than money."
This
youtube video teaches you how to make a dollar bill into this ... shirt and tie. I am no secret oragami master and it really was fairly easy with a little adjusting here and there I was more than happy with the results. And bragged about my skills, but to be honest the video is pretty easy to follow. I just paused it at each step and it worked great.
6. Excerpt inside "
The availability of inspiration—each of us, if we live for it, if we cultivate it, can have it. I love these great words of revelation, these words of promise: “God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost” (D&C 121:26). What a precious gift to bring home—the assurance, the certainty that if we live for it, we have available to us that which comes by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Back of the envelope "Listen to the Holy Spirit (o-mint) he will guide you, comfort you, and strengthen you."
7. Excerpt inside "
No one can do this work alone. We work in pairs. “In the mouth of two or more witnesses shall [all things] be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1). We work together. There is no place for prima donnas in the mission field. Our efforts are largely team efforts, and what a marvelous thing it is to learn to work with other people."
Back of the envelope "Is there any better team then a sweet and salty pair?"
8. Excerpt inside "
I think there is no greater thing concerning future integrity that a missionary can learn than the value of personal virtue. I think there are fewer words greater than the promise given under the inspiration of the Lord as set forth by the Prophet Joseph Smith: “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.” That’s the commandment. And then the promise: “Thy confidence [shall] wax strong in the presence of God” (D&C 121:45). That’s the promise to those who walk in virtue."
Back of the envelope "For a personal boost remember your biggest fans, looking up to you."
I found these
Missionary Tag Printables Here and instead of writing their names I wrote Elder _____ Biggest Fan. I just saved the image and wrote my own text in on publisher.
9. Excerpt inside "'
I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way … that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth' (1 Nephi 3:7).
We ask tremendous things of missionaries. It is so hard for shy and diffident young people to do the things we sometimes ask them to do. But what a marvelous thing that they try. They have the faith to do, the faith to act, the faith to go forward and make the effort. And what a marvelous gift that is to bring home."
Back of the envelope "Faith dip, to remind you to dip into your faith when spirits are low."
10. Excerpt inside
"Recognize that there is a power greater than ours, that no matter how good a man is, he is not good enough, that no matter how wise he is, he is not wise enough, that no matter how strong he is, he is not strong enough for all of the things which he will face in life, and that there is a source of power to which he can go with the assurance that he will be listened to and that there will be a response."
Back of the envelope "Especially for the days where your tired and sore and seem to be stuck in a rut, just remember that prayer can help you get back up."
My son kind of hijacked the prayer rock and scribbled all over it, so I decided to just go with that and wrote Pray and Prayer all over it. The poem and other cute (more sophisticated) prayer rock ideas are found
here. My favorite is the modge podged heart for Sisters.
