Anna is a planner. She has a color coded spreadsheet keeping everything organized. Everything. She had the beautiful privilege of serving in both Arizona (temporary reassignment due to covid) and in Costa Rica.
She was aware of college deadlines and planned to apply to nursing school in March, just a month before she returned from her mission. She got permission from her President to spend some time on p-day working on that. When she logged into her account she discovered that the application deadline had been moved from March to January, two months earlier.
She was so frustrated. She also found that the wait list for the housing she wanted was full.
It all worked out. Because it always does. But it was discouraging and frustrating, especially because she felt like she was prepared.
When you’re helping your missionary get ready to serve a mission, there’s such a focus on the mission, and not much energy is spent on what happens 18 or 24 months later.
Will college be starting soon after you return home? Do you know what kind of job you want to look for? Where are you going to live? Do you need to have housing set up before you go home, or are you moving in with your parents or a relative? Who will be your roommates? Will you have friends around, or will some of them still be on missions?
Planning for the future will put your mind at ease and help you focus more fully on your mission.
As continued education may just be the biggest thing to plan for when you get home, here are some things to consider with your continuing education that you may want to put on your calendar. These things will help you feel prepared for when you get home, without impacting your work on a mission.
When do you need to apply for school? When do you need to apply for FAFSA or other grants? Can you have a parent/sibling apply for you? They’ll need your login and password credentials.
Before you leave on your mission meet with an academic advisor. Lean on your advisor (that’s their job) and have them help you. Check in 12 months/6 months/3 months before you get home so you don’t miss any deadlines. Be sure to have a point of contact and keep in touch.
Be sure that your scholarships are deferred. Double check the university scholarships and the privately funded scholarships are deferred and ask for confirmation in writing.
Your mission president wants you to be successful. Just be in touch with him about school and get approval to communicate with your academic advisor.
One last thing – update your resume before you start your mission. It’ll be easy to compile that information when it’s fresh in your mind (rather than when you get home). I promise.
In our shop, we have a checklist of things to consider and to put on your calendar. You can find that printable here:
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Missionary prep How to prepare for an lds mission Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint missionary Before my mission List to prepare a lds missionary
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