Title: “Called to Serve”
Exhibitor: Cheryl Hendry
Description: Showing support for a missionary can be fun. Ward and
family activities provide a great way to share the mission experience and build family unity.
How To’s:
Missionary Spotlight Collage
- List the Missionaries: Make a list of all the missionaries in the ward and where they are called to serve. Start with the missionary who has been out the longest and work down. The number of missionaries you have will determine how long their collage is displayed. In our ward, a new spotlight of a missionary went up each Fast Sunday. We hung the collage right outside the Bishop’s office so everyone could look at it as they went in for appointments.
- Contact the Family: Let the family know well in advance of when it will be their turn. Have them collect about 8-10 pictures of the mission. The pictures should include converts, companions, view of scenic places, even some of the weird food they have eaten, and where they live. Then have them give you a letter or part of a letter. A lot of the mothers combined several letters. The letters included funny things that had happened, spiritual things, and most important, their testimony.
- Arrange the Material: We used a 17”x 21” poster board. It was a size that fit perfectly in the showcase by the Bishop’s office. The missionary’s name and mission were placed on the board and a collage of pictures was arranged around his or her letter. If the family wants to assemble their own board, that’s great. If not, have someone who enjoys scrap booking put it together. In our ward, the ward newsletter person has taken care of this project each month.
Ward
Support for Missionaries:
- Ward Program: On the back of our program we list all our missionaries and their addresses. We also have their birthdays so ward members can send them a card. We also have a quotation by the prophet or a scripture on missionary work.
- Ward Newsletter: Our newsletter goes out on fast Sunday. The Deacons in the ward take them to the families when they do their fast offerings. One of the pages is called “Missionary Corner.” We use some of the pictures and the letters from the missionary who is being spotlighted. This is nice for the people who don’t see it at the church and is also a good missionary tool for those who are less active. Some months we just put in a missionary story. It would be great to use stories from fathers and return missionaries, whatever you think will help your ward get fired up about doing missionary work.
- Primary: Let the Children in the ward get involved with supporting the missionaries. Have a big map showing where all the missionaries in your ward are serving. Then have the names of each of the missionaries on different colored paper. Have them taped up next to the map. Have the full-time missionaries come talk to the children about missionary work. For the activity, pass out blank colored paper and tell the children that whatever colored paper they have, they have to match it with the color of one of the missionaries up on the board. They are then asked to write a letter to that missionary. Each of the missionaries receives several letters or pictures from the primary. The fun part is receiving letters back from the missionaries thanking the primary for their letters and telling them about how they love being missionaries and serving the Lord.
- Young Women & Young Men: One fun activity for the Youth is to make a tape in which they talk to the missionary, ask them questions, tell them about what is going on in the ward and school. Missionaries love hearing from other people besides their families.
- Relief Society: One fun thing our Relief Society did not only supported the missionaries but also the mothers of the missionaries. On Mother’s Day the Relief Society lesson allowed time for each of the mothers to take 5 minutes and tell of an experience that their son or daughter had. It was a very spiritual meeting.
When you want to send your missionary something for Christmas that is filled with love and is easy to transport, send them a paper Christmas tree and homemade ornaments from friends and family. It is guaranteed to warm their heart.
1. Items needed: About 8 feet of green butcher paper purchased from a school or office supply store. You will need anything you want with which to make the ornaments such as colored paper, scissors, glue, stickers, pictures, etc.
2. What to do: Invite family and friends of the missionary to your to make a “Christmas ornament” for the missionary. You can ask them to bring a picture that they might want to use or have some on hand. The ornaments are not necessarily round; they can be any shape. Be creative. There are no do’s or don’ts. Cut a tree out of the green paper any shape you would like. Don’t’ be afraid to fold it or roll it and put in a box to mail. Send tape or push pins so the missionary can hang the tree on the wall and tape the ornaments to the tree. Send the tree early so they can enjoy it all of December.
3.
Helpful Hints:
- If you don’t want to use your pictures, find a local copy center and make color copies of the pictures. They will be just like the real thing.
- Use humor. Use old pictures of when the missionary was young with friends.
- Make a party of the activity and add some food such as soup and rolls for the friends and family who come to make ornaments.
- When the family is together at Thanksgiving is a good time to make ornaments.
- People can also make ornaments at their own home if they live far away, and then mail them to the missionary.
- Mail a couple of ornaments at a time on different days, if you can. That way the missionary will get fun mail for a couple of weeks before Christmas.
- The tree and ornaments can be saved for the next year or new ornaments can be made.
- Use pictures the missionary has never seen or old-time favorites of the missionary.
The missionary can have a special journal that can be used for special people such as companions, ward members, or mission president to write a personal message. Pictures can be included in the journal, and the message can be creative. This is a wonderful keepsake for the missionary on which to look back.
1. Items needed: A notebook or small journal such as a missionary journal can be used for this purpose. The missionary can also have on hand markers, stickers, scissors, glue, etc, to make this journal creative.
2. What to do: When the missionary meets special people with whom eh/she has grown close, have that special person write a personal message that the missionary can keep forever. The person can give some decoration to the page to personalize it, if desired.
3. Helpful Hints: You can be creative and also make it simple and not overwhelming. It is fun to use stickers or decorations from the area in which they are serving.
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A place in which the missionary can safely keep papers that are important to them for future reference. For example, a Christmas poem sent to them, a story someone gives them, letters from mission president, etc.
- Items needed: Some type of soft binder, 8 ½”x 11” and several clear page protectors
- What to do: When the missionary gets a paper he/she wants to save or have for future reference, he/she can slip it into a page protector and have for ready reference in the future. This way, it will not be lost and will still be in good shape.
- Helpful Hints: Send the missionary some of your favorite stories, quotations, or messages. They will enjoy receiving them and have somewhere to keep them.
[From the file.]
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