What are you sending your missionary for Christmas? One friend is mailing her son in Ghana a soft roll of toilet paper (among other things, haha). My daughter loved getting church vocal music and Wingers amazing sauce. 

We recently received this instruction from our son’s mission: “We encourage you, if possible, to please send your missionary something at Christmas, even if they tell you they don’t care, they don’t want anything, or offer other excuses.  Despite what they say, we’ve noted that it is difficult for missionaries to be away from home at Christmas and even a small gift really does brighten their day.”

Here’s a few ideas for your missionary’s Christmas:

Advent Tree Calendar – Last year I sent my son a miniature tree. This year I am doing this advent tree calendar. I love that I can just roll it up and stuff in a box.  I purchased it at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon. (Here are two other advent calendars you can check out. Both are on Amazon. This one is a tree advent calendar, and this one is a square that you can put a photo in.)  I printed off 25 quotes from the recent October 2014 General Conference that you can find and print here. I attached the quotes individually to a miniature (not snack-size) candy bar and placed one in each numbered pocket.  My son is not crazy about eating too many sweets but can share with his comp and his Hungarian friends.

 

Frame and Pictures of Christ – This is a great idea from my friend Julie.  I purchased a cheap but sturdy 5×7″ frame from WalMart. Head over to Deseret Book and pick out 12 (5×7″) pictures of Christ, or temples, etc. Your missionary can put a new picture in the frame each month. What a nice thing for his/her desk to add to a stark missionary apartment!  Make sure the prints all fit – I had to trim some of the borders off.

Personalized Calendar – We made a calendar for our missionaries with Shutterfly  (and until October 28, everything is 40%!!).  I gathered pictures of my missionary with different family members. For example, my son-in-law’s birthday is in November so the photo of that month is a picture of he and my missionary doing something together. We also added scriptures and conference quotes. You can personalize the specific days with family birthdays etc. Get your tech-savvy kids at home to help you if this seems too difficult.

Hot Cocoa Packets – It is fun for your missionary to have something small at Christmas to give to investigators, members (who feed them during the holidays!), companions, and senior missionary couples (mission grandparents). These are delicious, inexpensive and lightweight. I ordered them on Amazon, and you can find them here.

Missionary Christmas article – Throw in a copy of this wonderful talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland “Christmas Within You.”

But missionary moms sometimes need a little something too. And we’ve got you covered. 

One of my favorite “missionary mom” things hangs right over my computer, where I sit down to read emails from and write emails to my missionary. It’s a mission map! (And maps of EVERY mission are available.) It shows where all of the wards and branches are in Hungary-and I love being able to see (at least on a map!) where he is and where he’s been. There’s a list on the side that lets me track areas and companions. It’s been so much fun to see the list grow and remember the places and people who have become such a big part of his life.

Because we love Mission Maps-and because the good people at Mission Maps love missionary moms, we’re giving one away!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So — get that package mailed off in time, and have yourself a merry little Christmas (missionary) phone call! 

 To see more great holiday and family ideas, like “Let’s Get Together” on Facebook! Click here. 

Shari