The Dinner Appointment

We were bad. On Sunday my husband was out of town and I semi committed to feeding the Elders the next day. I told our ward mission leader that I would call him to confirm once I had checked with JP at home. Then I went home and promptly forgot. Monday about 3:00 I remembered. I tried to call the ward mission leader and got the family answering machine. The Elders never came....

It has made me think about dinner appointments. Once when the mission calendar was not full I mentioned to someone that it was no big deal. I personally did not mind being "home" for dinner on occasion. An hour of down time was refreshing. This Sister was surprised and a little shocked. Her boys were fed every day on their missions, the Elders should have a meal every day.

Dinner appointment stories are great. There are always the "food" ones about what was eaten or where or in what condition. They tend to lead to the gross/scary side, but we think are worth noting. Missionaries are always on the move too. Dinner appointments are not just for eating. They are for finding, challenging, and testifying. Sometimes mission presidents put certain requirements on dinner. Some of the requirements are what I consider common sense (but still need to be stressed) confirm dinner, leave a thank you note, use good manners. Some are hard to live by, always eat at 5:00, never share a dinner appointment with the Elders/Sisters. Others were uniquely missionary, leave with a scripture and the name of a person to share the gospel with.

We challenge you to record some of your dinner appointments or ask your missionary what is required of them. Did any of them ever have a "green" meal? (Everything is died green to welcome the new missionary. See the pictures for Elder Eggett.) What new tastes did you bring home from your mission?

Mission Now and Then

We recently attended Scrapbook USA in Sandy, Utah and had a booth partner, Diane from All Occasions Photo. As Diane and I got to know one another I found out that she had a missionary in Madagascar. We talked about missionaries and she referred to e-mails instead of letters. The Elders in our area are currently carrying around cell phones. My Mom talks about the big black binder when referring to teaching in her mission and I talk about the discussions. While we had a recent missionary tell me that he was so worthy he no longer needed discussions or binders, but could teach as he pleased. (Yea, he was a little off the base.)

The point is missions are always changing, and I thought that would make an interesting page for your scrapbook. It would also make an interesting kit (we will let you know). Compare your mission with your child's or yours with your parents. If you are a first generation missionary compare yours to an early missionary from the beginning days of the church.

The methods, tools, and technology may have changed, but the message remains the same. The gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored.