As we know, the age that young men and women can serve missions has been lowered to 18 and 19, respectively. This means, too, that the age future missionaries should begin to prepare to “bring the world His truth” has also been moved forward. Meetmormonmissionaries.org offers some great tips for parents to help their teens get ready to serve.
- Temporal preparation. This is the nonspiritual stuff, including personal hygiene,
bed-making, doing laundry, knowing simple first aid, and understanding the importance of eating healthy meals. “Mothers love to take care of their children,” writes Valerie Steimle, “but doing all these life tasks for them as teens impedes their understanding and learning of what is expected out in the mission field.”
- Knowledge. This is where the real work comes in. Steimle recommends that teens memorize the 100 seminary scriptures taught over four years of seminary. “They should know how and why they are used, which helps missionaries by leaps and bounds before they even enter the MTC,” she wrote. Of
course, reading the Book of Mormon at least one time is key, and being familiar with the standard works and the Preach My Gospel manual are also important.
For many more great tips, such as creating mission-like experiences for your teens and helping them with their spiritual preparation, don’t miss this great article.