Thanks for missionaries.

Mormon-jargon alert! So, if you’re not Mormon, you probably know about missionaries, but you might not know that they depend largely on LDS families to feed them dinner. They may only be in your ward for as short a time as 6 weeks, but it’s generally part of the local ward culture that you welcome the missionaries who have been assigned to your area, into your home and get to know them and help them however you can.

I would say that over the years we’ve earned a solid B-minus when it came to feeding the missionaries dinner in our home. I have been thinking that I wanted to do better than that, really more for our sake (and our kids’ sake) than for theirs. We need that spirit at our house especially at dinnertime! Plus we have two nieces and a nephew who are on missions right now, and I’m starting to think more about my own kids going on missions, and how much I’d like for all of them to get to know nice, yet off-the-wall-bonkers-crazy families like ours on their missions.

So this year we finally decided just to schedule the same night every month to have the missionaries over for dinner, and it has been such a blessing to US. This particular pair of elders (who got split up in their last transfer) was such a joy to have around. They were both so funny and friendly and smart and brought such a nice and happy spirit into our home.

Anyway, not that that discovery will be a surprise to many of you who ARE Mormon. For years, though, especially when Matt worked late and I had young toddlers, it was just overwhelming to me to sign up to host them. I even went so far as to screen all calls from the lovely old lady who was in charge of their meal calendar. (may she rest in peace ... yikes) But anyway, now, after only a few months of seeing them so regularly, I wouldn’t want it any other way.