I think my main question when I got my call and the never-ending 5 months before I left for Chile, was what am I even going to be doing? I had two brothers, friends and cousins who served and I heard their stories, but still didn't really know what I was getting myself into.
I had heard that missionary work was all about baptizing, but what would I be doing when I wasn't baptizing? Well the MTC is something all its own, and I'll get to it in a later post, but for now, we will focus on what it's like in the mission field.
The first thing to know about being a missionary is, the schedule is inspired and it is the key to success and happiness as a missionary.
the following image is a standard missionary schedule from the Missionary Handbook
Your Mission President has the ability to change the schedule to best suit the cultural and practical differences of your mission. For instance, in my mission we woke up at 7:30 and came in at 10:00 pm and went to bed at 11:30, that is because in Chile the best time to find people is between 8-10 pm.
As the schedule says, you wake up and you'll have one hour of personal study. That means you have one hour to study your scriptures, conference talks, Preach My Gospel, and other things that your Mission President can assign for you to study. This time is GOLD and will become your favorite part of the day. This time has two purposes. The first is to help you learn more about the gospel, prepare for your lessons and help you have the spirit with you as you start your very long but rewarding day as a missionary. The second purpose of this time to help you prepare for your investigators and study for their needs so that when you teach them a few hours later you have a plan for what they need to hear and be taught.
After an hour of personal study, you will have time to study with your companion for an hour. During this time you will sing, pray and recite your missionary purpose together as found in Preach My Gospel. You will then read from the mission handbook a few pages, and then share what you both learned during your personal studies. This is really a fun thing as you hear your companions perspective on different gospel topics and learn from their insights. I can say that so much of what I understand about the gospel or learned came from my companions sharing with me during companionship study. After that time you review your plans from the night before, and then plan what you will teach during your appointments that day.
The next part varies on where you are serving and what your mission president decides. In my mission after personal study, we had 15 minutes to get ready before we left our house to proselyte for two hours before we ate lunch. Before my mission, I had no idea what proselyte meant. Simply it is your time to find people to teach. That is achieved by knocking doors and seeing if people are interested in letting you in their homes to hear a message. Also proselyting is contacting people walking in the street giving them a pass-a-long cards and asking when you can come to their home. You can also do service for members or investigators in need, or teach investigators, less actives, or recent converts who you have scheduled appointments with. It's all about fulffiling your Missionary Purpose; to bring others unto Christ.
Usually, after an hour or two hours of lunch, you'll leave your house to do more proselyting. If you are learning a different language your Mission President will designate a time where you will be able to study the language.
After you have taught, contacted, and tracked you will come home. The next thing to do is the plan. At the end of every day, you and your companion will review what you did during that day, who you taught, what you taught and evaluate what you can do better the next day. You'll add up the lessons, contacts, and new investigators that you found. Then you'll both plan out what appointments you have, what goals you want to set, and how you can find more people. After planing, the only thing you'll want to do is hit the sack!
One of the greatest things about being a missionary is working hard and seeing your results pay off. In this work you cannot fail, you are designed and guaranteed to succeed if you work hard, are obedient and have a desire to serve the people.
the following image is a standard missionary schedule from the Missionary Handbook
| Missionary Daily Schedule* | |
| 6:30 a.m. | Arise, pray, exercise (30 minutes), and prepare for the day. |
| 7:30 a.m. | Breakfast. |
| 8:00 a.m. | Personal study: the Book of Mormon, other scriptures, doctrines of the missionary lessons, other chapters from Preach My Gospel, the Missionary Handbook, and the missionary Health Guide. |
| 9:00 a.m. | Companion study: share what you have learned during personal study, prepare to teach, practice teaching, study chapters from Preach My Gospel, confirm plans for the day. |
| 10:00 a.m. | Begin proselyting. Missionaries learning a language study that language for an additional 30 to 60 minutes, including planning language learning activities to use during the day. Missionaries may take an hour for lunch and additional study, and an hour for dinner at times during the day that fit best with their proselyting. Normally dinner should be finished no later than 6:00 p.m. |
| 9:00 p.m. | Return to living quarters (unless teaching a lesson; then return by 9:30) and plan the next day's activities (30 minutes). Write in a journal, prepare for bed, pray. |
| 10:30 p.m. | Retire to bed. |
Your Mission President has the ability to change the schedule to best suit the cultural and practical differences of your mission. For instance, in my mission we woke up at 7:30 and came in at 10:00 pm and went to bed at 11:30, that is because in Chile the best time to find people is between 8-10 pm.
As the schedule says, you wake up and you'll have one hour of personal study. That means you have one hour to study your scriptures, conference talks, Preach My Gospel, and other things that your Mission President can assign for you to study. This time is GOLD and will become your favorite part of the day. This time has two purposes. The first is to help you learn more about the gospel, prepare for your lessons and help you have the spirit with you as you start your very long but rewarding day as a missionary. The second purpose of this time to help you prepare for your investigators and study for their needs so that when you teach them a few hours later you have a plan for what they need to hear and be taught.
After an hour of personal study, you will have time to study with your companion for an hour. During this time you will sing, pray and recite your missionary purpose together as found in Preach My Gospel. You will then read from the mission handbook a few pages, and then share what you both learned during your personal studies. This is really a fun thing as you hear your companions perspective on different gospel topics and learn from their insights. I can say that so much of what I understand about the gospel or learned came from my companions sharing with me during companionship study. After that time you review your plans from the night before, and then plan what you will teach during your appointments that day.
The next part varies on where you are serving and what your mission president decides. In my mission after personal study, we had 15 minutes to get ready before we left our house to proselyte for two hours before we ate lunch. Before my mission, I had no idea what proselyte meant. Simply it is your time to find people to teach. That is achieved by knocking doors and seeing if people are interested in letting you in their homes to hear a message. Also proselyting is contacting people walking in the street giving them a pass-a-long cards and asking when you can come to their home. You can also do service for members or investigators in need, or teach investigators, less actives, or recent converts who you have scheduled appointments with. It's all about fulffiling your Missionary Purpose; to bring others unto Christ.
Usually, after an hour or two hours of lunch, you'll leave your house to do more proselyting. If you are learning a different language your Mission President will designate a time where you will be able to study the language.
After you have taught, contacted, and tracked you will come home. The next thing to do is the plan. At the end of every day, you and your companion will review what you did during that day, who you taught, what you taught and evaluate what you can do better the next day. You'll add up the lessons, contacts, and new investigators that you found. Then you'll both plan out what appointments you have, what goals you want to set, and how you can find more people. After planing, the only thing you'll want to do is hit the sack!
One of the greatest things about being a missionary is working hard and seeing your results pay off. In this work you cannot fail, you are designed and guaranteed to succeed if you work hard, are obedient and have a desire to serve the people.
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