StudioDaydreams Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Hey, I'm starting to get ready to serve a 18-month mission next year! I'm just a little confused on some of the timing stuff. From what I understand, you put down an availability date that is the earliest you are available, and you can report to the MTC any time after that. Here's the thing... I turn 19 in November next year and I've already applied to BYU-I and BYU. (Hoping to go to BYU-I.) Anyways, the semester ends on December 14th, 2013. I would like to leave on December 14th, before Christmas. It'd just be easier for my family that way. I want to leave as soon as I can, but I think a semester of college would be nice so I could take some foreign languages. Also, there's a guy. Before you judge, it's not like I'm trying to get back on the same day so we can get married the day after or something. He and I are pretty good friends and it would be nice if we could see each other's homecoming talks. It's unlikely, I know, but it'd be even more unlikely if I left in January. He would leave around his birthday, in the middle of June. December 14th would be right on the button 6 months after. I'll serve whether I go in December or not, and it isn't that big a deal, but we are pretty close friends and it would mean a lot. Regardless of what happens, though, it's the Lord's timing not mine. :)Basically, I just want to know *how close together the availability and reporting dates are*if there's a pattern to reporting dates (all missionaires report on Fridays or something)*how close to Christmas they have missionaries report to the MTC*when I should turn in my papers/what's the timeline for me if I want to leave Dec 2013. Please and thank you! Sorry I can't be concise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friedmann Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Hello, Congratulations on your decision to serve the Lord full-time! I can guarantee you that it will be among the best things you`ll do in your life. Now to your questions: Since you are probably filing your papers from the United States (from what I can tell), expect to have your reporting date anywhere between dead-on to about 3 to 4 months after your availability date. If you lived abroad, I`ve seen it go up to half a year, but those cases are generally rare. With many people I know reporting recently, there seems to be a tendency that stateside calls have slightly shorter differences than foreign calls, but that`s just my subjective experience. Either way, it`s rather unlikely that you`ll be able to hear each other`s homecoming talks. A good chunk of Missionaries I know report on mondays and wednesdays. Here again, nothing official, but I would guess that there`s just two or three days of the week with Missionaries coming in. It gets close. I personally know two Missionaries who reported this wednesday. I see no reason why there should be no reports to as close as the 23rd. Put your papers in 120 days before your availability date, which would be sometime in mid-September for you. The sooner the better, so you can get enough time to prepare actually knowing where you`re going, and so you can be prepared for potential difficulties (roughly 15-20% of all applications get sent back for corrections which takes extra-time). Just some advice! I hope I could help you a little :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skippy740 Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Have him tape his talk and send you a copy of the tape. Problem solved. :) Oh wait, you probably don't have a 'tape player'. Well, he can record it to an mp3 file and then you can have someone email you a copy of the file. Problem solved for the 21st century! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classylady Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Even if you give an availability date, it does not mean that's the exact time you'll be leaving, or even close to it. Depending on where you are called, and when the mission needs new missionaries is when you'll be asked to report to the MTC. I've seen some mission calls where the missionary didn't report to the MTC until six months after they received their call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daboosh Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 *how close together the availability and reporting dates arethe general rule is your report date will not exceed 1 month from your availability date. my mission travel co-ordinator told me this.*if there's a pattern to reporting dates (all missionaires report on Fridays or something)all missionaries report to the MTC on wednesdays. this is a given.*how close to Christmas they have missionaries report to the MTCmissionaries report every week to the MTC, christmas is irrelevant to this.*when I should turn in my papers/what's the timeline for me if I want to leave Dec 2013. as soon as you can (the 120 days rule). that way you can ensure you will leave between your birthday and before christmas.hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanctitasDeo Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 My availability date was sometime in late December. My reporting date was April 9th. So really, it is hard to plan. You really just plan to be okay with anything. The biggest reason for long waits is visas. Since the Church sends missionaries to countries that are less friendly to the United States, sometimes it is hard for American missionaries to get the necessary visas. So if you were to go Russia, Ukraine, Romania/Moldova, Venezuela, etc., you might see something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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