Are You Stressed? If So, Read On!

This Booklet Is A Gem!

The Church has put out a booklet called, Adjusting To Missionary Life, but in truth it is a great book about adjusting to any life.  Our Area Mental Health specialist in São Paulo said that she attended a workshop for professionals in her field that was not church related that she had to pay good money to attend and that the information she learned there was not as good as what the Church has put into this booklet.

This booklet has helped so many of our missionaries and their mission president and his wife learn the tools to identify and manage homesickness, discouragement, anxiety, negativity, insomnia, and many other issues that induce stress.
It has also helped missionaries be better able to help their companions especially when they are training new missionaries.

At each zone conference many missionaries have shared how specific advice in the book has helped them so much. It has been interesting that it has been at least as many, if not more, elders than sisters that have expressed this. And they are usually the ones less apt to talk about their struggles.

One of my favorite sections is the chapter on how to re-program our minds against negative thought patterns. Many missionaries have shared how they have been successful at changing the way they think and therefore feel about things they are experiencing. Here is a sample page on how to do that.

I have a strong conviction that certain thoughts can attract the Holy Ghost while others can impede us from feeling its influence in our lives.  I have seen in my life that my thoughts can either help or hinder my capacity to feel the Spirit. We are all hit with negative thoughts during the course of the day. This booklet helps us to raise our awareness of those thoughts and learn to react to them in better ways that help us to be more positive and productive. I highly recommend this booklet for everyone.  It is available on the Church's website.  If you google Adjusting To Missionary Life Booklet it should send you to the link.

One of the most powerful messages our missionaries share with others is that by applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives through exercising faith in Him unto repentance one can make incredible changes for the better.  Sometimes we may forget that this promise applies to us also. Repentance isn't always only about eliminating sin in our lives, but in changing anything that might keep us from more fully feeling His love and peace in our minds and hearts. It is finding ways to more fully know Him and ourselves better.

This booklet is an inspired tool to help us apply the principles of positive change in our lives helping us to have our thoughts be more like His thoughts and our ways more like His ways. And to find that peace that surpasses understanding.

I'm grateful that the Church has provided us with this valuable tool.

The Savior said, "Look unto me in every thought. Doubt not. Fear not." (Doctrine & Covenants 6:36)

Until next time, onward, ever onward!