Would You Like Some Cheese with that Whine?

I have many friends that are currently preparing to serve missions and as I was reading another friend's mission blog I felt inspired (not in the spiritual sense but in the "this is a good idea" sense) to dedicate a post to them. First of all, I am so grateful that they are deciding to serve missions. I am a believer that although a mission may not be the best two years OF your life, they are certainly the best FOR your life. Today I want to give one piece of counsel to you. This counsel is backed by personal experience so I feel that I can be considered an expert on the subject. My advice is:

DO NOT COMPLAIN AND WHINE ABOUT YOUR MISSION.

Let me explain further. As I mentioned previously I was reading a friend's blog and was really put out by how he non stop complained about his companion, language, culture, country, members, and work. To me it seemed as though he was hating life and was wondering why he was even there. I know him somewhat well enough to know that he would wouldn't come home because he's too prideful.

Missions are hard! Shocking? No! They are meant to be hard. As Elder Holland said, "why should it be easy? It was NEVER easy for the Savior, so why should it be easy for us?"

Every missionary will go through those times when NOTHING is going right. Every missionary will have that companion that you just want to smack upside the head and you literally count down the days until the transfer. Every missionary will have that area with those members who could care less about you. Ever missionary will have those days (yes plural) when EVERY SINGLE appointment will fall through. When these things happen, do we have a right to complain? I argue that we do not! Why? Because our Older Brother had it a bajillion times harder than us and He never complained.

Now, we at times need to vent and let others know how we are feeling. This is acceptable. However pity parties are not. Complaining to your family and friends back home only worries your parents and causes your RM friends to have zero pity for you. Mentioning struggles and difficulty are great because you can receive awesome counsel from loved ones but belaboring how awful your life is will you get you no where.

So here is my final piece of added advice, if you are not enjoying your mission, shut your mouth, open your eyes and heart to the Lord, move your feet, and get to work. The Lord will lighten your burden and make things better, I promise. I certainly could have utilized my time on the mission better by expressing the joy the gospel brought me rather than complaining about so-and-so and how they are rude to me.

Enjoy your mission. You only have 24 or 18 months to do it and an eternity to think about it. Don't waste it.