Missionary groceries


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I am divorced single mom and since my ex moved out I have not been able to feed the missionaries dinner. I wanted to make sure they have been fed and sometimes they go weeks without a dinner invite on their calendar. So I wanted to get them a gift card for a grocery store to buy their food and other needed items. Turns out the missionaries are not allowed to take gift cards. So I decided to buy them groceries, some cleaning products, and hygene items. I have done this a few times but I have no idea what to buy them. I have repeatedly asked the missionaries but they are just too nice to give me a list.

Can any of you returned missionaries tell me what I should be buying them? I have no idea how long they have for lunch or even if they get to return home for lunch (they do have a vehicle).

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A lot of it depends on their likes and dislikes. Hygiene products can be tricky as you have allergies and of course likes and dislikes. I mean I can tell you what I could have used but there is no guarantee that it will apply to them.

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I am divorced single mom and since my ex moved out....

They probably feel they are taking advantage of you because of it. Or feel uncomfortable about accepting stuff from you. Maybe they feel that you probably can't afford it or something or your on hard times. (despite your circumstances, even if you are doing well, single moms are generally seen as being on hard times.)

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I know this will be a lot more work for you, but missionaries don't have a lot of time to cook, so pre-prepared meals are often a lot more convenient.

What's more, if they can quickly heat their meal and be done eating in 30 minutes, they might be able to sneak in a 30 minute power nap--something that I wish I'd been able to pull off more often when I served.

So, my advice is this: since prepared meals at the store can be prohibitively expensive, I would prepare an extra large dinner and take the extra portions to the missionaries. That way they can heat and eat them at their convenience but still get a good meal in. It may not feel as uplifting as having them in your home, but in the end, it probably does more to help advance the work.

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We feed the missionaries at the church. I just pack everything up, bring plates, cups, forks and napkins and usually a little extra for them to take with them. We eat when there are other folks in the building (we have home study seminary that meets early Wed). This has been a wonderful blessing to still be able to still share a meal with them!

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In my mission there was no rule against gift cards. We were not allowed to accept cash, which I was told was a world-wide rule. A member once tried to give us some, but we politely refused, stating that it was not allowed. The next week at church, that same member came up to us with a Safeway gift card for the exact amount of money he had tried to give us the previous week. We gratefully accepted. (More gratefully, in fact, than we might normally. We were at the end of our pay period, and had spent all our grocery money already. That morning before church, we had discussed whether to hold on to our small amount of cash for groceries or to pay fast offerings with it. We chose to give it. Try telling me that wasn't a fast offering blessing!)

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As long as you have another adult male you should be able to invite them over for dinner. This can be your father, brother, uncle, grandfather, neighbor, or young man that is at least 18 years old. I would try to feed them in your home. Its such a great spirit.

I am in a similar situation where I am recently divorced and our missionaries are sister missionaries. My mom and dad live in the same ward so I usually arrange to do it at their house when they will be home.

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Awwww, those poor fellas... :( Are you in a smaller ward? How does your Relief Society handle this?

In our ward, on the first Sunday of every month, we pass a clipboard around the RS meeting with a calendar on it, and all the women write down a day of the week and a time when they are willing to cook dinner for our boys. By the time it gets around to me, the month is almost full, because there is always at least 25 of us in RS each Sunday. If not a lot of women come to RS, maybe you could ask your bishop to pass something like that around in the sacrament meeting, like after sacrament during one fo the talks. I don't know if that would be allowed ('ve been inactive for a long time), but everyone would all be in one place, so it might help...

Our boys actually have the oposite problem, I think-- their schedules are TOO full, lol. They sometimes have to cancel certain plans, they had to cancel a dinner with us once because they forgot they promised to do it with another family.

I would agree with others that pre-made meals would be nice, if they will take them... Our boys actually won't take any such thing from anyone, not even packaged from a restaurant, I don't know if its a ward rule, or if they just feel guilty... Or eating at a restauraunt, bringing your children along, because there will be lots of other people around, so you won't be alone with them. My husband manages a fast food place, so I told our boys "If my husband ever has to work on one of our meeting nights, I will meet you guys at his work, and hook you up with some free burgers!" they were pretty excited about that. My husband also told them that if they were ever near his work place and they had a craving for anything on the menu, they could stop by for freebies. lol

Maybe another male church member could come with them to your house, maybe borrow a single member (like a young man at least 18 who wants to see what missionary work is like), or an older member...? Just let the bishop know and all, see what he thinks.

Edited by Melissa569
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