If my wife works, we can send a son on a mission. Should she?

Barbara B. Smith, general president of the Relief Society By all means! You should work. She should work. Each member of the family should work to send a worthy son into the mission field. But work is one thing—employment another. Please don’t encourage your wife to accept employment outside your home if you have small children, adolescents, and mid-to-late teen children who need a mother when they get home. She can plan projects in the home that will develop her talents and help her utilize her time and resources wisely, while helping to supplement the family income. For example, one woman I know of pieced and quilted beautiful patchwork quilts; another did tutoring, typed dissertations, theses, and themes for college students. Others took telephone surveys and did soliciting for large stores, made dresses, did alterations for a nearby dress shop. One woman raised and sold African violets. I don’t suppose I would have thought of a simple thing like selling homemade breads and cookies, but one sister did. Her baking skills developed into a thriving family business. I’ve heard of some Mexican sisters who make tamales and piñatas and sell them. Many women who are concerned about marketing their handmade items have found that they can produce quality merchandise to sell at the Mormon Handicraft Gift Shop in Salt Lake City. Other qualified women have tended children or held nursery schools in their homes, or arranged to have one room set aside as a part-time beauty shop. There is no end to what women have done and can do to help support missionaries.

I know a wonderful couple with a large family who faced a similar decision of how to support a missionary son. A family home evening discussion was held about the problem. It was decided that each son should prepare for the day when he would receive his mission call by becoming self-sustaining and also by participating in helping the other boys in the family meet the expenses of a mission. That night each son chose a project: one chose to plant, grow, and sell tomatoes; another decided to raise chickens; another decided to raise cucumbers. Each child worked hard, and, though they had some crop failures, they learned how to make a profitable venture out of their projects. It took a lot of patience and perseverance on the part of both parents to make this decision a reality; but the boys learned how to work, and they were concerned enough about each other to see them through successful missions. The missionaries, in turn, knew how hard their family was working to support them, and they tried to make their two years all the more meaningful.

Perhaps, though, your children are all in school, and you feel your wife could accept employment outside your home while they are in school without causing a hardship on your family life. This was the case with a mother of my acquaintance who had five older children. She worked during the hours while her children were away from the home, contributing her earnings to help support three sons in their missionary labors. She has commented that she frequently had to keep reminding herself that her employment was for a specific reason and not just to provide the family with life’s luxuries. Her family held top priority in her life, and that priority had caused her to go to work; it would also determine the time for her return to being a full-time homemaker.

Sewing projects done at home can be a mother’s “work” to contribute financially to her son’s full-time mission. (Photography by Marilyn Erd.)