Be yourself.

6. Remember, God never asked you to be perfect. He just asked for you to try your best.

I kind of touched on this in my last post. And I feel like this applies not only to missionaries, but to everyone. I think sometimes we get caught up in trying to do everything and wanting it all to turn out perfect... and when it doesn't, we feel like we failed. NOT true. I remember meeting with my mission president for the first time on the mission and having a TOTAL breakdown. (I'm not crazy I promise.) But I could not get over the fact that I felt like I wasn't doing all that I could and that I wasn't being myself. My mission president's wife looked at me and said:

"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken."

I can't tell you how much that helped me. They also told me that I just need to be myself and that Heavenly Father will be happy with that. From that moment on, I did just that. And I was content. I knew that I was putting my best self forward and in turn, I was doing my best. And that was all that mattered.

(some of the sisters in the NHMM at zone conference)

7. Be 100% obedient. Because you want to. Not because you have to.

I love this one. And I couldn't agree more. We all know the mission rules guidelines. I put it like that because they are not rules. We're out there all on our own for the most part. Yes, we check in with District Leaders and our Mission President... but we all know how easy it could be to not follow the schedule set out for us. The thing is, is that before we submit our papers and before we get out mission call, we know what we're in for. So why not live it. And love it. If you're going to DO the missionary work, BE obedient. It's one of the only ways that missionary work WORKS the way that it does.

(my first baptism in the field. Sister PJ Bushee was baptized in Westport, NY)