Ten Useful Things to Know if You are Considering a Senior Mission

Rewarding, Yes. Blessings, Yes. But It Does Not Feel That Way Every Day.

There are many blessings that Dionne and I have received as we have served here in the Adriatic North Mission. And both of us are open to serving another senior mission in the future...the very distant future.

This experience has taught us some of the "ins and outs" of serving a mission as a senior. I wish to share 10 of them with those of you who may be considering joining us in the mission field. We have loved our mission so far. Just not every moment of every day.

Nothing on this list is "official" in any way, mind you. And hopefully nothing is too heretical.

The Senior Missionaries in the Adriatic North Mission. We had a seniors conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia this month.

1. It is Cheaper to Serve a Mission Than to Stay at Home

Let me repeat myself. It is cheaper to serve a mission than to stay at home. At least if you are an American. The cost of a senior mission is surprisingly low. And if you go to a cheap destination, it can be remarkably low.

The Crnich's shopping at Bašćarsja. A good lunch costs about $4 and ice cream about 50 cents.

The average monthly cost of the Adriatic North Mission is about $2,500. This includes housing, health insurance, transportation, food expense, internet, etc. Dionne and I spend a little more but we eat out almost every day (food is so cheap here) and we have visited quite a few nice locations (we were on the island of Hvar this past weekend).

I shared some of the findings from my papers at Senior Conference this past week. 

So social security will cover most missions...easily. And if you rent your home, you might be able to cut your expenses by coming on a mission! We have friends that did just that. They rented their house in California, went on a mission to Central America, and came out ahead.

2. You Will Not Get Along With Everyone All the Time (Especially Your Spouse)

Your mission will be so much easier if you acknowledge this ahead of time. Not all personalities mesh well together. You will have bad days and say stupid things at times.

It is the same for the younger missionaries. In the MTC, two of these missionaries did not like each other. And then they were called to serve in Sarajevo together and did great!

But the worst part will be trying to live 24x7 with your "eternal spouse." I have already written a post about this experience (entitled "Be Ye Equally Yoked") so I do not wish to dwell upon it now. But the old phrase "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger" makes sense to me now. Let's just say that my marriage is more eternity-ready now than it was a year ago.

We were getting along pretty well this day. We love Slovenia and Lake Bled.

3. You Can Remain in Day-to-Day Contact With the REAL World

Senior missionaries have few communication restrictions. Really all you have to do is figure out the technology. Apps like VIBER and What's App allow us to use our U.S. phones whenever we are on Wifi. We purchased a tablet with a data card which means we are accessible to our kids practically 24x7. Unfortunately, sometimes our kids forget about the 6-hour time difference...many a time we have gotten calls at 3:00 a.m. because our daughter needs a recipe or our son wants to talk about a TV show. My parents mentioned that they talk to me more now that I am on a mission than before.

Platvice with Brennen, Amy, Britni, Richie, Mitch, and Briel.

Another advantage to a senior mission is that you host visitors from home. Four of our five children and a sister and her husband have visited us here. We were able to arrange our schedule so that we could show them around Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia...several stayed for an entire week. While neither of our parents were able to come visit, both sets were seriously considering joining us.

Walking around Zagreb Croatia with Erica and Brayden.

4. Missions Recruit Senior Missionaries

For many missions, senior missionaries are their lifeblood. But the supply of seniors is woefully inadequate. So mission presidents are told that the best way to get more senior missionaries is to recruit them.

Kenneth Bradford shares some thoughts next to President and Sister Grant.

Because there are so few members in the Adriatic North Mission, senior missionaries are critical to the church's survival here. Each little branch is starving for leadership. Our little country of Bosnia only has about 60 members across three locations. You can imagine how valuable leadership is for us.

When we first arrived in the ANM, we were really surprised to learn that nearly all of the senior missionaries were from Cedar City Utah. But it all came into focus once were learned that our Mission President, President Grant, had served as a stake president in Cedar City. He was a masterful recruiter. He even convinced his sister and her husband, the Hallings, the come and run the office for them.

Our first senior conference at Lake Bohinj, Slovenia. Most of these missionaries have now gone home. And many were from Cedar City, Utah.

Although Dionne and I put our papers in with the only request being "foreign," you have a lot of leeway in selecting your mission (if you want it). Mission Presidents want to recruit you. So you can easily do the same thing. Select a mission or two that you might be interested in and then recruit the mission. Why? Because of #5.

5. Your Mission President Matters

We have now had two mission presidents. We have loved them both. But their styles are almost 180 degrees apart. Just as a CEO sets the tone and culture for a business, the mission president and his wife determine how fun, stressful, driven, controlling, loving, and successful the culture of the mission is going to be.

Dionne and Sister Grant. These two developed a special bond, at least we think it was special. But Sister Grant was able to develop special bonds with almost every missionary and member in the ANM.

We have talked to other senior missionaries who have told us, in strict confidence, horror stories about their mission presidents. If you are not going to "roll the dice" like we did, I strongly recommend interviewing several mission presidents to see which you feel most comfortable working under. You have much more control over this process than you did when you were 19.

Dionne and Sister Melonakos. This is how the two chose to celebrate their respective birthdays.

6. There Are Many, Many Different Types of Senior Missions

This is another important thing to consider. There is a tremendous amount of flexibility. Before we left for Bosnia, we had a senior couple (the Browns) who served in the Kaw River Ward. While their home base is Arizona, they chose a Kansas City mission because that is where one of their kids (plus grandchildren) live. So instead of leaving their grandchildren behind, they were coming to spend a mission with them.

Elders Smith and Echols help a young rider...who would not get onto the horse without his security blanket.

If you have any sort of medical training, the mission world is your oyster. My brother-in-law, Boyce, is currently serving as the Boise mission doctor; something that happened because we started asking the mission office about possibilities for him to serve even before formally going on a mission (they still have one daughter home in high school).

In the MTC we met senior missionaries that were going to foreign lands and those going to Boise Idaho to serve in the "ROCK," a center that pulls and maintains genealogical records. There are many single senior sisters who serve missions. Your mission can be as short as 6 months or as long as you want it to be.

If you have a particular skill, you can find ways to put that skill set to use on a mission. Many a construction worker or contractor can be found building houses, water systems, and schools all over the world.

President Melonakos dresses to be lowered down a 25-foot water well to help clean it.

7. Find Opportunities to Volunteer While on Your Mission

This may seem redundant. Isn't a mission all about volunteering? But what I mean is volunteering within the community that you find yourself. As much as I would like this to not be true, Mormons can be a little cliquish. We tend to socialize too often with other Mormons. And you will find that is your natural tendency on a mission as well. You will want to spend time with the young missionaries, with members, with other senior missionaries, and with investigator (members in embryo).

Dionne helped judged a horse jumping show today.

That is wonderful and important. But it is also important to broaden your reach. To get outside of the Mormon culture vacuum. A good example is in Serbia where a senior missionary who used to coach high school football, Elder Decker, has become involved with 3 local American football teams. Teaching football in the land of true football (aka soccer). And, of course, Dionne's ability to stay sane while living with me 24x7 is directly correlated with the time she spends working at Riders of Hope.

Coach Wayne Decker (bald guy) wandering around an ethno village near Zlatibor, Serbia.

8. Mission Rules Apply to You "If You Want Them To"

While many former missionaries have fond memories of the "white handbook," most have no desire to return to living life under those restrictions. It almost makes living the Law of Moses seem lax in comparison. As we were given our own copy of the white handbook at the MTC, we asked, hesitantly, which of these seniors were expected to follow. We were told they apply "if you want them to." Basically, this means that none of them really apply to seniors. And then they showed us where the secret senior missionary Diet Coke stash was located.

Let me give a few examples. The young missionaries are excluded from swimming. According to President Grant, the senior's swimming rule is slightly different...our rule, he told us, is "DO NOT DROWN." Missionaries are not to watch TV. Our apartment has a TV and cable is paid for...and we found that we need to regularly keep track of the news (both local and national).

Sampling the "therapeutic" mud near Nim, Croatia. When we finally washed it off, it definitely softened and cleansed our skin. We strongly recommend this beach!

While on the mission Dionne and I have regularly gone to movies, white water rafted, rented 4-wheelers, watched our beloved KC Chiefs, kept up with new U.S. TV series' like "This is Us," gone to amusement parks, tried to find the best spa in the Balkans, driven high-speed go-karts, taken long hikes in the mountains and along the coastline (where we accidentally discovered a "clothing optional beach"...but that is a story for another time), and hosted trick-or-treaters. Professionally, I published one article while on the mission and was asked to do a peer review of another important paper this summer. Dionne is currently writing an article on Riders of Hope for STRIDE magazine, her industry's tech magazine.

At the Sarajevo film festival with Shay and Alexis Wood. 

Bottom line: You are old enough to know better and so they don't worry too much about your behavior. The only rules that they tend to worry about for seniors regards dress. Missionaries, young and old, are representatives of the church BRAND. As such, they would like us to maintain certain grooming standards. This means that we sacrifice a little of our individuality to serve the global BRAND.

ANM Senior Missionaries representing the BRAND in Dubrovnik.

9. You Are Not Going to Be Able to Learn the Language and It Is Okay

If you go foreign and do not know the language, it is not likely that you will become fluent. Young missionaries receive intense language training in the MTC. Then they spend time each day learning the language. And then they teach lessons in the language all day long. And their companion helps tutor them. They have to learn the language to be effective.

Kenneth Bradford studying language during a Bosnia zone conference. Ken works harder at the language than any other senior that I know.

You might get 1-2 days of language instruction. Your companion will be as clueless as you are. You will not be speaking the language all day. Your best practice will come off of menus and reading street signs. But you will be surprised how effective you can be even though you will not be able to master the language. Try. And if a miracle happens, great. But don't stress over it. I have yet to meet a senior missionary who was able to become fluent in Hrvatski/Bosonski/Srbski. But I have met many that were wonderfully effective senior missionaries.

Dionne and I do a lot of work with children with disabilities. We figure that we can learn as much vocabulary as a 3-year old. So we know our colors, our shapes, our barn animals, our basic body parts, fruits and vegetables, and our numbers. Our language skills could probably get us into kindergarten.

10. You are Needed

Why do seniors serve missions? In our little U.S.-based bubble, it is hard to feel a compelling need to get out and serve. Sure, your Bishop or Stake President might mention it to you when you retire. Or you may attend a 5th Sunday lesson and listen to a senior couple talk about the great time they are having in Peru. But unless your heart is open to the promptings of the spirit, there are a lot of reasons to stay home and play with your grandchildren.

President Melonakos and I play football with a young refugee. He smoked us. It must of been the shoes.

Let me give you a simple but compelling reason to serve. You are needed. The people need you. They need your talents, your energy, your insights, and especially they need your love.

President and Sister Grant with members from Tuzla.

Nobody from Bosnia was calling Dionne and I and asking us to spend 1 1/2 years in this country. But some would have if they had had our number. (Senada would have pestered Dionne daily to get her to come to Sarajevo). We realize that we were needed in Bosnia. And that is going to be very, very difficult to leave.

I just ordained Mrko to the Aaronic Priesthood this morning. Although he does not speak English (and I do not speak Bosonski), he wanted me to ordain him. 

There are so many places that you can serve a mission. But Adriatic North Mission would love to have. If you have an interest in serving in former Yugoslavia, let me know and I can put you in contact with President Melonakos.