To Mothers of future missionaries - or those in the field

 Just a word to the wise - mothers and those who care about their missionaries - beware. When I was visiting a mission home one day, I heard some Senior missionaries in the office laughing their heads off. Evidently a mother had been concerned about her son and wanted someone in the office staff to make sure her son had fitted sheets for his bed. The fact that he even had two sheets was amazing. Somebody needs to tell him how the military makes their beds. Three weeks later I heard laughter about the mom and the fitted sheets. Don't helicopter around and make your missionary the butt of jokes.

Living a good life in the states cannot prepare anyone in understanding the facts of living in a COUNTRY in poverty. Yes, there are poor people in America and heartbreaking cases of how that affects families and neighborhoods. But it is different than a whole country that is chronically poor.

Another mother listened to her young son tell about the difficulties of surviving, so she sent him a package. Mission leaders do not want you to send a package. A notice will come that a package is at the post office. That requires a trip (in itself always an adventure) to the post office and also to customs. Time, lots of time. Then the cost is the length of time the package has stayed there and other factors that determine how much the post office will charge to get the package out. 

The Despains were doing a good deed for a mother in their stake who was concerned about her son newly in Accra. The Despains paid about 80 dollars at the post office and then another 60 or more from customs. When the customs man opened the package, Don Despain said, "You've got to be kidding!" The package had a 9 roll pack of TP, cans of tuna fish, with Ready to Eat Meals, etc. Maybe the Ready to Eat meals would not be the same but everything else in that package could be bought in Accra. True, not in one store conveniently - but shipping across the Atlantic Ocean from Utah is not convenient either. The package was about $100 worth of goods, $350 to ship and $120 to $140 to pick it up. $600 is a lot to pay for TP. There is a reason the Mission office does not want packages sent. There is a reason mission leaders do not want the hassle and time spent to pick them up. 

If your child goes to Africa, don't send a package. Send supportive, great letters in Pouch mail. Let him grow, turn to God and find his own answers like Nephi did.