Send a Gift on a Mission

Are your grandparents serving a mission? What about your brother, sister, cousin, or neighbor? Here are some fun ideas for remembering and supporting your favorite missionaries:

• Record a family home evening on tape to send—include the opening song, lesson, and closing song.

• If your missionary is serving in a foreign country, learn about the culture. Try native foods, learn about native traditions, or learn a few words in the native language. Share the things you’ve learned with your missionary.

• Send useful gifts with scripture references attached:

  • Amos 4:6 (“And I also have given you cleanness of teeth …”) for a new toothbrush and toothpaste

  • Psalm 24:4 (“He that hath clean hands …”) for soap

  • D&C 89:20 (“And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint”) for a new pair of socks

  • Acts 15:23 (“And they wrote letters …”) for a notebook, stationery, or stamps

Use the Topical Guide to find more references. Remember to include gifts for your missionary’s companion, too.

• Learn what it’s like to be a missionary—share the gospel with a friend! Write to your missionary about your experience.

• Write to missionaries often, but don’t write about things that could make them homesick. Remember to give encouragement, ask about their investigators, and bear your testimony. As one missionary said, “Come to the mission field in your letters rather than [try] to bring us home to you.” They’ll be home before you know it—happy and grateful for the support you gave them.

(See Cristy Cole Crump, “Sending Our Gifts on a Mission,”Ensign, Dec. 1990, 57; Sharon W. Allred, “Letters? Clippings? Candy? What to Send to a Missionary,”New Era, Jun. 1973, 15.)

Illustrated by Matt Smith