For the men in the LDS church, it is not necessarily a requirement to serve a mission. However, it is considered an important preisthood duty or responsibility. There is an expectation that you will go, so your parents, church leaders, Sunday school teachers, etc. strongly encourage it. However, when it is all said and done, you still can choose whether or not to go. For the women? That can be kind of a touchy subject. I always encourage the young women that I work with to consider a mission, but to realize at the same time that it is not their responsibilty to do so. Many women marry before they turn twenty-one (the minimum age requirement for a sister missionary) and others just don't feel that it is right for them. Which is perfectly fine. However, if women desire to serve a mission, it is their privilege to do so. As for me? I always thought a mission would be a good idea and something that I might do, but just left it at that. That all changed when I was seventeen. My parents and my younger brother and I went to pick up my sister, Stephanie, from her mission in Argentina. Her transformation as a missionary was incredible. I saw the way she loved the people and the way they loved her back. I wanted to experience that. My mind was set. I had to go. The only thing that could have kept me home was if some awesome guy made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. That didn't happen (I was absolutely not expecting it to) so off I went.
My sister, Maren, came home from her mission in Chile a little over a year before I left on mine. When I asked her what a mission was like she said, "It's like condensed life. Every experience - every emotion - you could ever imagine is crammed into eighteen months". I loved listening to her mission stories and anyone else who was willing to share theirs. I gobbled it up and dreamt about where I would go, the people I would meet, my companions, etc. I was so impatient to turn twenty-one. Before I left on my mission, I had two close friends (both girls) who left on their missions - one to Brazil and one to Las Vegas. My little brother left on his mission to California about six months before me. Finally! It was my turn to go. I opened my call and saw the words - "Lima Peru North". Of course I was going to South America -duh!-that's where all the Michaelsen girls go (apparently). I was so excited to begin.
I will not lie. The mission was one of the hardest things I have ever done. At times I would get mad at my sisters and think, "Why didn't they tell me how hard this would be?!?!?!". I realized, though, that my mission was filled with experiences that I needed to have to teach me specific lessons that I needed to learn. I've thought a lot about those lessons that I learned in Peru, and I've compiled a list of sorts:
All I Ever Needed to Know, I Learned as a Missionary in Peru
1) I can live without a cellphone. Or a computer. Or a car. Or a TV.
It was actually refreshing to only have internet access for one hour a week to email family, use payphones only to call people for setting up an appointment, and use TVs only to show church movies.
2) People are bigger than dogs, so we shouldn't be afraid of them.
I only got bitten twice and both times it was because I stepped too close to dogs that I didn't see. Most of the time I ignored the mangey mutts or yelled at them if they got too close. One of my proudest accomplishments was never stepping in dog poo the whole time I was in Peru.
3) South Americans are Americans, too, ya know.
Don't ever tell a South American that you are "American" because-surprise!- so are they. Yes, they do live on a different continent and they celebrate Christmas in the summer, but that doesn't make them less American. Simply tell them you are "norteamericano/a" or, more specifically, "estadounidense"
4)When in Rome...or I guess I Should Say "When in Lima"
Flush your toilet paper?!? Nah! Not in Peru. That's what those handy little wastebaskets next to the toilet are for. (If you are still clueless about the purpose of the little trashcan next to the toilet, come find me and I will educate you.)
5) Montezuma's Revenge is not exclusively reserved for unsuspecting tourists in Mexico
Ahhh...yes. A sensitive subject, indeed, but one that must be mentioned. Nary a missionary makes it through their entire mission without getting some crazy Peruvian stomach/intestinal/bowel virus. The most memorable bouts for me? When my entire district in the Peru MTC got some awful not-quite-as-bad-as-dysentery-but-still-really-bad intestinal distress. (I blame the food). The other time was at the very end of my mission. My parents had come to Peru to see the sights and meet the people. We were atop Maccu Picchu and I felt my stomach begin to churn. I held it off for as long as I could. We were nearing the end of the tour and I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed my mom's hand (I couldn't be alone - I had to have someone with me all the time) and ran for my life - actually, more for my dignity. There was a HUGE line of people at the restrooms looking for change in their wallets to get in (yeah - not free public restrooms). I knew beforehand that I would have to pay and already had the money in my hand. I yelled "Permiso! Emergencia!" ran past the crowd of people, slammed my money down in front of the collector, and ran into the bathrooms. Just in time. Instant relief.
This was the only toilet picture I had. This little guy was found in the toilet of some other sister missionaries that lived close to us. They named him Pez. 6) I will, out of necessity (or curiousity), eat anything you place in front of me
Alligator? Squid? Cow hearts? Cow tripe? Guinea pig ("cuy")? Rhinocerous beetle larvae ("suri")? A plate full of hot spaghetti and boiled bananas for lunch on a scorching day in the Peruvian jungle? I've had it all. And lived to tell about it. My only regret is that I never got to eat a chicken foot. All of my Peruvian companions got chicken feet in their soup, but they never gave one to me.
That's me with the cuy. The head is on the upper lefthand side of the plate.
I couldn't find the actual picture of me eating the suri, but this little dude looks very similar to the one that I ate. It does not "taste like chicken". I thought it kind of tasted like bacon (I think it was fried). The head was crunchy and you could see little insecty hairs on it....ewwwww.... 7) Five shirts and three skirts can provide (seemingly) endless clothing combinations
I've never been one to care too much about what I wear. I was even less concerned about it on my mission. I realized that I really don't need that many clothes. Which is why I have a closet and three storage tubs full of them now.....
Some of us hermanas modeling typical missionary garb atop an Incan ruin
8) Quotation marks are very versatile language symbols
If your language arts teacher taught you that there are specific times only in which you may utilize quotation marks, then she must have never been to South America. These puppies show up in the most unexpected (or should I say "unnecessary"?) places.
This sign always made me wonder. Was it really a chicken burger or was it a "chicken burger"? I never found out.
This was not a picture that I took myself, but I saw plenty of examples like this.
9) There are still people in the world who have never seen a vending machine, eaten salad dressing, used dental floss, or slept on a mattress
And those people would be some of my mission companions. There are so many modern day (and some not so modern) conveniences that we have and take for granted. Have you ever had to worry about unsafe drinking water? Do you know anybody that has died from getting a routine vaccination? Have you ever had to worry about contracting tuberculosis? These concerns are just part of life for a typical Peruvian.
A street in Lima
10) Sunday should be a day of rest - if you aren't a missionary
Sunday was the busiest day. Helping people get to church, going to all the meetings, teaching classes and giving talks on a moment's notice, visiting people, etc. - whew! - by the time the day was over, we were wiped out. Lucky for us, preparation day was on Monday, so we had time to recover before it all started over again.
11) "They that be with us are more than they that be with them" (2 Kgs. 6:16)
I felt invincible as a missionary. Not a reckless kind of invincibility, but more of a "We've got an important message to share, so the Lord will protect us" kind of invincibility. Like the time when a huge, bald, shirtless, drunk man was yelling English profanities at us and I was the only one who understood what he was saying. Or when two con-artists nearly got the best of my companion and I (they no doubt would have robbed us). Or when my companion and I found out that the route we had been taking home at night (in the dark) went through a park where there was a lot of drug dealing. The Lord truly does protect those that serve him. I heard many stories from others missionaries that were with me in Peru that were even scarier (one Elder was actually pulled into a vehicle, hit in the face with a gun, robbed, and dumped out on the edge of town), but we all felt protected doing the Lord's work.
The Lima temple. I always felt an amazing peace when we were here.
12) Distance really does make the heart grow fonder
Just ask Kenta when he really started to fall in love with me *wink, wink* (of course he NEVER told me about those feelings while I was on my mission)
13) The Lord answers our prayers - and sometimes He even answers them immediately
I learned as a missionary that the Lord really does bless His children when they ask Him in faith. I remember one time we were walking on a hot Sunday afternoon. I was sooooo hungry because our pensionista (the lady who cooked for us) was pregnant and sick and had her thirteen year-old neighbor cook for us and we really did not get enough to eat. We had to buy snacks almost everyday. We couldn't buy anything on Sunday and we had nothing and I was STARVING. I silently asked the Lord to either help me cope with my hunger or send us some food. Not ten minutes later, a member came out of our house and offered us some fruit as we were walking by. I was so very grateful. Another time, my companion and I had both gotten very, very sick and I needed some meds badly (specifically some chewable pepto tablets). The next day - I kid you not - a package came from my mom with the two things that I needed most - chewable Pepto and tons of knee-highs. How in the world did my mom know weeks in advance that I would need these things, when a) I hadn't yet asked for them and b) I hadn't been sick. All I know is that the Lord really does know what we need - even before we ask Him - and provides the means by which we can receive those blessings.
14) There will always be a ray of sunshine - even on the cloudiest day
There was a day when my companion and I walked around for hours and could not find anyone at home or anyone who would listen (okay - that was almost every day). We remembered that we had received a bunch of addresses of people who wanted us to visit them and we set out to look for them. Finally, at the end of a long, hard day, we found Hermana Amanda and her family. They were amazing. They were prepared. They were a ray of sunshine, not only on that day, but for my entire mission. Amanda was baptized soon after. By the end of my mission, three of her adult daughters and her son were all baptized. It was a beautiful transformation to watch.
15) The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only cure for the world's ills
Could you imagine what the world would be like if we all truly understood who Jesus Christ is and what He did for us? There would be a lot less heartache and pain if we all understood that Jesus Christ is our Savior and acted accordingly.
16) Despite what you may think, Oprah's "Best Life" program is not the key to true happiness
Sure, Oprah's got some great ideas. Some of them I've tried myself. But there is no self-help book out there that will do more for you than sincerely studying the scriptures and making prayer a daily occurance in your life. The happiest times in my life is when I have been failthfully reading the words of the Lord in the scriptures and when I have been saying sincere, hearfelt prayers. The times I have been the most unhappy is when I have neglected doing those things.
Hermanito Jorge. The happiest kid I met. What you can't see is that he is wearing boots in the baptismal font. Jorge was born severely pigeon-toed and cannot walk unless he wears his boots.So, that's a little bit about what I learned from my time spent as a missionary in Peru. It was an incredible, life changing experience that I feel privileged to have had. I feel that I am a better person, wife, and mother because of the important lessons that I learned. I can't wait to go on missions with Kenta once all of our kids are grown up and he's retired. Congratulations if you made it to the end of this ridiculously long post. You will be rewarded with - what else? - an adorable Thomas picture:
He didn't pose for this. Obviously.
