Vonage is our Friend!

Before you leave U.S., you may want to go to Vonage website and sign up for an account.  This was decidedly the best advice we got from our mission president when we were preparing for our mission. Vonage will send you a box and sign you up right from the website.  You can indicate whether you want to use your original U.S. home phone number, or whether you want a new number.  If you want people to contact you from home with your old number, then keep it.  We don't answer calls from U.S. solicitors and look forward to being able to retain our thirty two year-old phone number even when we return to our home in Minneapolis. Vonage will be cheaper phone service for us when return, so we will just keep it after our mission.

You can sign up for different levels.  Choose the one that best suits your needs.  As long as you have access to high speed Internet (not necessarily cable, but it will not work with dial-up), you can use Vonage anywhere in the world.  The instructions are simple and easy to follow.

We mailed our Vonage box and two cordless phones to Guatemala along with base stations a few weeks before we left home and used our cell phones from that time until we left for the MTC.  

We are able to use the cordless phones anywhere in our apartment.  Since we live in the same building as the mission office, we even use our phone during the daytime by taking the cordless phone downstairs with us. Our children love knowing they can reach us in an emergency during the daytime. Since Elder Fairbourne is the financial secretary for the mission, it's an easy way for him to make a call to Salt Lake when he has a question, rather than using the church's cell phone for international calls.

Vonage gives you instructions to set them up and it is easy to do.  We paid $16 the first two months, then $35 after that.  The charges can be deducted from your credit card monthly.  This service allows you unlimited calling anywhere in the U.S. for free, even to U.S. cell phones.  Excessive calling, as for business use, may throw you into another category, but our calling has fallen into the personal use category.

99% of the time our calls are clear and sound like we’re calling our children from our home in Minneapolis rather than Guatemala.  It is a fabulous service that warrants every senior LDS missionary knowing about it.  

A Mission to Remember

Senior LDS missionaries of the female variety only on this post.  A few months before we left I came across a YouTube video done by K & Co on their new SMASH book.  I was hooked and bought several to give as gifts.  I was putting together Christmas for my family six months early and planning to leave gifts behind for our local family and mailing the rest just prior to leaving for the MTC.
The idea of SMASH had such an appeal to me!  

I could save and savor all the little tidbits gathered during my mission.

My all time favorite addition to my SMASH book so far is this handout from the first Relief Society lesson I attended in the Los Arcos Ward in Quetzaltenango.  The teacher had an amazing spirit about her and I was completely drawn in by the handouts she lovingly created for each attendee.  Guatemalans LOVE marshmallows-plain, flavored, multi-colored, you name it.  

She made this sweet reminder of the lesson which would read in English:

We ourselves are a record of our life

Stored in our body and our mind is

the whole story of what we have done.

The person tells the story of herself

and testifies against herself.

That record that man himself has written

in the annals of his own mind, that record

cannot lie; at that day it is unfolded before

God to the angels and to those who are

sitting as judges.

How could I return to my home and not have a physical record of this encounter with the spirit?

SMASH books make it so easy!!  They come with a pen that has a glue tip as well so all you need is a pair of scissors, your SMASH book and your pile of memorabilia to create a work of art in just a few minutes time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PFsArr4Z1s

View the SMASH video here and order one to tuck into your suitcase.  They come in several different themes and colors, so you may want to see videos of the different books available to see which one suits your personality and artistic taste.  For so many of us who love paper art, this is an easy, guilt-free way to do a few minutes of art on your mission and bring home choice memories of a cherished time in your life.

Leaving the MTC.....

Life is hectic at the MTC, especially if your evenings are filled with foreign language study.  Some senior missionaries have to leave at awkward times to catch international flights and some are able to catch up on laundry before they head out.  My suggestion is that you make a mental note and collaborate with your companion regarding a time to do laundry as close to the day you're leaving as possible.  Sometimes your packed clothing has to last you longer than you wish it would.

There are two schools of thought about how to pack your luggage for the flight to you mission country, and some of the decisions should be made based on where you are assigned.  Some countries arbitrarily place luggage embargoes and missionaries find themselves with only one suitcase and it's the one with everything NOT needed for the first week in the mission field.  The embargoed luggage gets sent  via a local courier, usually within a few days.  So, if you know one suitcase has all the most critical clothing in it, plus your hair dryer, etc., you can let them send the other suitcase to you in a week.  Pharmaceuticals should ALWAYS be in your carry-on or handbag.

The other way to pack is to evenly distribute clothing, shoes, underwear, etc. between the two bags so if you are left with only one bag for a while you can match shoes, socks, clothing despite the frustration.  This is my preferred packing method.  I then pack my cosmetics, hair dryer, and needed items in my carry-on bag so I can manage with that bag alone if needed.  Having had my bags disappear for a day or two, I always carry a full set of extra clothing in my carry-on bag so that I can at least have one change of clothing if my bags go AWOL.  Senior LDS missionaries, like Boy Scouts, should always be prepared.

Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before I Left Home

Everyday instinct is often a close cousin to the Holy Ghost.  My instinct, when I was packing up my home and preparing for my son's family to move in and care for it for two years, was to have some familiar things with me that would help me retain a sense of  the home I was leaving.  We packed up a few boxes weighing under 20# and shipped them in USPS Priority boxes to the mission office in Quetzaltenango.  My dear husband often said things like, "They will have knives in Guatemala; you don't have to mail your knives."  We compromised.  I sent my favorite Wustoff forged knife and left the others home.    The comfort of settling into our new apartment late on a Saturday night and having the eight boxes we shipped to ourselves in our living room cannot be overstated.

If you are not in a financial situation that allows you to spend several hundred dollars shipping things to your mission, here are some suggestions that are inexpensive.  I'm a classical music buff, huge opera fan and I cherish the church hymns.  Although you will need a hymn book in the language of your mission, you will gain great comfort from having the hymns with you in your native language.  When our days are difficult, putting the hymns on in my apartment on my laptop is of enormous spiritual comfort.  I paid my grandson to put my favorite music on MP3 files and I brought a small CD case with me that holds 24 CDs in a very small space, including my yoga (brought my original DVDs to watch on my laptop), classical music, opera (CDs and DVDs) hymns and favorite Christmas music.  I really needed a list of the English hymns to insert into the back of my Spanish hymnal, as I'm not a Spanish speaker and the names of the hymns are often unrecognizable.  A small CD case can also hold your favorite DVDs.  As senior missionaries you have the option of watching wholesome movies when you have some free time.

The sense of smell is an emotional response and having things with you that smell familiar and comforting is crucial.  I am a big fan of natural medicine and use essential oils for much of my wellness.  I sent many oils ahead of me, separated into small bags in different mailing boxes to keep from making the customs officials concerned.  Having that fragrance and healing capability with me was very reassuring, especially when I've had to have some medical tests done in-country.  Even if you don't use oils for healing, inexpensive essential oils purchased at a health food store can provide aromatherapy.  My suggestion would be to take lemon, lavender and orange even if you're not an essential oil user.  Pack well in two or more Ziploc bags in a safe place where they will not be prone to breakage.  The cabinet below my kitchen sink was starting to mold from a leaky pipe and I kept the kitchen from having a foul odor with clove and other oils that would kill the mold spores.

Bring family photos along-your absolute favorites.  If they are single copies, have additional copies made in case they don't make it to their destination.  Don't take anything that is irreplaceable, even if you're serving in the U.S.

Having church art with you helps your new home feel spiritual from the onset.  It doesn't cost much to get copies of church art and put them in mailing tubes inside your luggage.  I selected one and had second thoughts when the suitcase was crammed full and left it home.  Now I wish it was hanging on my living room wall.  Our local distribution center doesn't have any of my favorite church art, so I'll have to settle for what they carry.

Next blog post will be crucial for international missionaries:  How to pack your bags when you leave the MTC