A GLIMPSE OF MISSION LIFE FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF THE MISSIONARIES SERVING IN THE LOUISIANA BATON ROUGE MISSION OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER -DAY SAINTS

PARENTS PAGE

CHRISTMAS IS COMING
I know you are all starting to think about Christmas for your missionary. I just wanted to bring a couple of things to your attention as far as transfers go and helping your missionaries get their packages. We have transfers the second week in November and then again 2 days before Christmas. We are on the schedule set by the MTC. The good news is that if your packages are due to arrive before Christmas you won't have to worry about transfers. I would mail your packages no later than the third or fourth week of November; then you can mail them  directly to the addresses they give you after the November  transfers. We will have zone conference the first week in December so we can take any packages that arrive at the mission office by then, but after that it will be very difficult to get packages out to the missionaries, so it is best if you mail them directly to their addresses that they send you after that November transfer. If you want them to get something before Thanksgiving, it will need to arrive to them by the first week in November. If we get packages at the mission office before the first week in November we will take mail out on the first week because we have training all of the first week in November and can take it with us. 
Now as far as what to send a missionary. I had five sons go on missions and Christmas never got any easier. I have been asking the missionaries what they really like to get for gifts and these are some of the things they have said. "we wish they would not send so much candy. A little is good but we would rather have deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste, a new toothbrush,  razors, lotion ect..Those things are expensive and they hate to spend their food money on them. A new white shirt, blouse, or sweater vest. The Elders and Sisters like a sweater vest under their suit jacket in the winter. I wore them  a lot myself.   Their shirts get dingy with all of the humidity and washing. A small shoe shine kit. President is big on shined shoes. A money gift card so they have a little extra to spend on christmas things like baking things for their investigators or a little cheap tree. I think they would rather have the money and not all of the candy. (i sent candy because I didn't know what else to send.) A good rain poncho. Christmas music. If your missionary wants to send out a little christmas card you can have them send you a picture and you can have them made up for them and mail them to them by November. Non of this is expected, they are just some ideas and I mostly wanted to help you process the dates. If you have any questions let me know. Thank you again for all of the support you give your missionaries. We love them very much and are so proud of their hard work.


PARENTS PAGE
I thought it would be good to have a page where I can give you information that will help you support your missionary and make you feel like you are in touch with what is going on. If you have any suggestions or questions please e-mail me at rhwoods38@cox.net I will be happy to help anyway I can.  

The Website
    You can receive an email every-time I update the site. On the blog page to the right where it says RSS subscribe, just click on that and it will give you instructions as to how to get and update email. The word “subscribe” show up in different places. That’s where you can fix it so you will get notified. 

Blog Page
   I found out that having a regular Blogger page makes us easier to find in the Google search so I have moved the happenings and updates to www.louisianabatonrougemission.blogspot.com You will still find the pictures you see on that page in albums on this site and there is a link that will bring you right back here.

Faith Stories Page
The missionaries email me faith stories on Mondays I choose a few to email back out to them. As they feel the faith of others and see their faith strengthen their fellow missionaries it creates a power that spreads to the members and on and on. I will try to post them daily. 

Calendar and Zone Conference
   This page is where you will always find the calendar and what we are working on in the up coming zone conference. After zone conference we will work on those things until the next conference. They will use them weekly in district meetings and on exchanges ect... 
  
NEW MISSIONARY INFORMATION
Music--
  • Tabernacle choir music is approved
  • EFY music as long as it is upliting and not distracting( Keep within the spirit of the law )
  • Sacred Christmas music
Communication with Your Family 
  • You may e-mail immediate family only. Parents siblings, and grandparents
  • Missionaries you should write a letter or e mail once a week. Parents, it is important to do the same for your missionary.
  • Remember your missionary only has 35-40 min. to email on Preparation day. I would encourage others besides immediate family to write hand written letters. It is hard to read a ton of emails and have time to write a quality one to your family.
  • Due to postal rules, we are no longer able to forward mail from the office to the missionaries. This means that they will often have to wait until zone conference which is every 6 weeks. It is better to send mail and packages directly to their address. If it is close to transfers just hold on to it until they have chance to give you their new address.
  • Please do not send your missionary with a prepaid phone card . They can purchase one twice year for Mothers Day and Christmas calls.  
Medical
  • Missionary medical does not pay for the following situations and asks that the family health insurance take care of the following:
  • pre-existing conditions
  • Any dental work
  • High dollar costs such as MRI, Surgery, Exploratory procedures like upper GI , Colonoscopy, 
  • I will always notify you if anything serious comes up with your missionary , and they will always call and consult with you before any decisions are made in regard to proceedures, MRI’s Dental ,  Mental health issues 
  • If your missionary is on daily medication please arrange for him to receive those medications through mail or network drugstores, and decide how He /she are going to pay for them.
  • If you become aware of any issues with your missionary through emails or the grapevine please call me and let me know. Sometimes they find it hard to talk to me about certain issues. I have assured them that I have had 5 boys and I’ve heard it all.
Clothing
  • Sisters need plenty of collared shirts. They need to be better quality fabics that do not need to be ironed. I find that they are so busy and often tired and they don’t iron. T-shirts or  more casual cotton  shirts are really discouraged. Cute vests, or light weight sweaters (cardigan, v neck, ) are a good way to add color. We are not against color in our mission. I want the sisters to express their personalities in their clothes.They need to be professional. They need at least 3-4 jackets. They are required to wear a Jacket at all Church meetings and zone conferences ect...  Black, Brown , Gray, Red, Or a cream or light color for summer and spring. 
  • It is very hot and humid in the summer so we allow them to wear knee hi’s instead of panty hoes as long as their skirts are long enough even when they sit down to not see that they are knee hi’s
  • They will need a warm coat in the winter. It does not snow but because of the humidity it seems colder. They will need an umbrella because when it rains it RAINS hard and that is very often.
  • They definitely need a travel iron , they need at least 3-4 towels. They need a quilt or warm blanket unless you want to provide $ for them to buy it when they get here. It is hard to pack them . They will need a pillow also. )