25. Mental Mission Prep

0:00 Hey, what’s up everyone? It’s Jennie, the LDS mission coach and you’re listening to the LDS mission Podcast, episode number 25. Mental mission prep.

0:12 I’m Jennie, the LDS mission coach. And whether you’re preparing to serve a mission, currently serving a returned missionary or a missionary mama like me, I created this podcast just for you. Are you searching for epic confidence? Ready to love yourself and to learn the how of doing hard things? Then let’s go. I will help you step powerfully into your potential and never question your purpose. Again. It’s time to embrace yourself. Embrace your mission, embrace your life, and embrace what’s next.

0:50 Hello, everyone, and welcome to the podcast. I’m so excited to be hanging out with you on this fine Friday. We are done with Thanksgiving at this point and headed full force into December, we have the most amazing Thanksgiving. My older kids, we all got to be together, which was so much fun. Because of their missions, we actually haven’t been together on Thanksgiving for quite some time. And actually my married son, he spent time with his in laws on Thanksgiving, which is a new stage for us also, totally awesome and exciting for them. But we all got to be together after Thanksgiving, which was such a treat. And I just relished in the time that we had together, it was so awesome.

1:42 But here we are into December and I pretty much sure that we have a concert or a party, or a concert rehearsal, or a piano recital, or a class party, or a school something rather every single day for the next two weeks. So it’s gonna be a little bit crazy town.

2:05 But that’s okay, that’s December for Yeah. And I think during COVID, we got a little break from the crazy. But now it’s back. And I’m just doing my best to be in the moment and to feel all of the feelings and to just enjoy the holiday time as much as I can. And when I’m kind of grouchy and not enjoying it, that’s totally fine, too. I am super excited to share this podcast with you today. I almost called this podcast the three sisters. Because at the end, I’m going to share three examples of some sister missionaries that I’ve worked with. But I wondered if people would get a little bit confused and think I was talking about elder Rudolph’s talk from 2017. And I’m not I’m not talking about elder Opendorse talk from 2017. Although, when I thought of this idea of the three sisters, I did go back and reread his talk. And I actually really liked that talk. And now I have a totally different perspective on that talk. I love how elder oak dwarf shows how each sister, remember there was the sad matter glad sister, I love how he talks about how they create their own experience with how they choose to think about their experience. It’s totally what I teach my clients. So I probably should do a podcast on elder outdoors three sisters talk. But instead, what I decided to call this podcast was basically what I’m going to do today is I’m going to give you a little sneak peek into my main program called mental mission prep, hence the title mental mission prep. As we go throughout this episode, I wanted to talk about a few things I want to talk about why I created mental mission prep, I want to talk about some of the things that I’ve helped actual missionaries with that are now serving in the field through mental mission prep. I want to talk about who this program is for. I want to talk about what the main components of my program are. And, again, I’m going to talk about those three sisters, and I’m going to share some specific examples with you of how the mission has been changed because they went through mental mission prep. Now. I don’t just only work with sisters, actually, you might be curious to know and a lot of people do ask me what’s kind of your ratio of working with girls versus guys and actually, it’s really quite even split right down the middle. I work with half and half elders and half and half sisters. And there’s a little tidbit for you. At the end. I want to make sure that you stick around because I’m going to share an incredible offer I have for you right now. And I’m kind of

4:56 like can’t even believe it myself that I’m going to offer

5:00 Mental mushroom prep to you in this way. But I’m going to and I’m going to share that special offer with you at the end of this episode. So you want to make sure to stick around for that. And by the way, could you please if you have been enjoying this podcast? Will you please follow it? Do you know that you don’t subscribe to podcasts anymore, you actually follow a podcast. And if you want to leave me a review, I would love that. I just think the more reviews the more followers I have, the more exposure this podcast gets. And the more preparing currently serving missionaries, and return missionaries that we can help. And that’s kind of my goal is to help as many missionaries as possible. So if you could do that, for me, that would be awesome. Even if you’re just listening, you could take a screenshot of what you’re listening to posted on social media, you can tag me at Jenny dot, the LDS mission coach, and I would appreciate it so much, let’s get as much help out there to as many missionaries as possible. So first, I want to talk to you about my main program, mental mission prep and why I created it.

6:08 Actually, I went to the Life Coach School, I’m a certified life coach, I got certified, it took me a year of studies. I’ve also done an advanced training in faith paced coaching, through one of my mentors, Jody Moore, who by the way, I also work in her program be bald, which is super fun. I love doing that. And I love everything that God does. And actually when I certified at The Life Coach School, it was around the time that my oldest son was coming home from his mission. And what I started to notice with him was that he was starting to express some concern and some dread, about coming home from the mission. And so as I started thinking about it more, I started hearing more stories of other return missionaries, who were really struggling. And to be perfectly honest with you, when I started my business, that’s all I did was work with return missionaries, and it’s such a rewarding place to be. But as I was working with returned missionaries, I slowly started to notice and I would get messages from moms whose missionaries were currently serving. And a lot of like almost desperate emails, like I know you work with return missionaries. But can you help my son or my daughter who is really struggling on the mission. I mean, I got them almost daily messages. And it was like a variety of things they were struggling with was self worth with comparison with companions, struggles with stress with the pressures of the mission with anxiety. Actually, the thing that I found really fascinating is most of these moms didn’t even expect that their missionary would be struggling in this way, I would have mums say I’d never expected this from my daughter, or from my son. And so I was answering so many emails and trying to help put out these fires for currently serving missionaries, and helping them overcome their struggles on the mission, that what I finally decided is that maybe instead of just trying to help these moms help the missionaries put out fires, that I could start before the mission, and not even have those fires occur in the first place. It occurred to me that I could have some kind of a preventative way, instead of just trying to get the missionary or get the return missionary once they struggled that if I could start at the beginning before the missionary even left and taught them the tools, then maybe we could change the entire trajectory of that person’s mission. And this is when I became very passionate about mental mission prep.

9:07 I also started thinking about the mental preparation that I had given my two boys before they went on the mission. I had sent them to EF y. They gone on our state track, they had academies, they played sports and that was really, you know, mentally and emotionally and physically challenging. But ultimately, as their mom, I didn’t really know. I didn’t really know if they were mentally prepared for the mission. What I actually did was just hope and cross my fingers that the preparation I’d given them was enough now, I felt pretty confident in the spiritual preparation that my sons had received and that all of my children had received. But this mental and emotional piece I just didn’t really know

10:01 When I dropped them off at the MTC, I waved goodbye. And I just thought, Gosh, I hope they’re going to be okay. And one of the songs that came to my mind, as I was preparing this podcast was the song, I hope they call me on a mission.

10:17 You know, we all sing it, it’s got that Donna and Donna, and I’m done. And it goes, I hope they call me on a mission when I have grown a foot or two. And then it says, I hope by then I will be ready.

10:33 And the word that stuck out to me was hope.

10:38 I think hope is an amazing feeling to feel but hope kind of puts it outside of us, the preparation, our readiness. And what I would love to offer is that we can do better than hope that we’re ready.

10:57 And again, the spiritual preparedness, slam dunk, no brainer, all of the missionaries that I work with, and all the young adults now are way more spiritually prepared than I ever was at that age.

11:09 But mostly, we just hope that our missionaries are emotionally and mentally ready for the mission.

11:17 And I think this is kind of one of the problems that we’re running into with missionaries right now is we just hear over and over the anxiety that they’re dealing with, and the depression that they’re dealing with, and the social anxiety and the struggles that they’re having out there with pressure and self worth. And as parents, we sometimes aren’t even really equipped to give our Preparing missionaries, the actual tools, mental and emotional tools and strategies they need to thrive on the mission. We’re totally capable of getting them the bikes, and the pants and the skirts and we help them get immunizations and help them schedule their doctor’s appointments and submit their papers and all of that. But I feel like for far too long, this mental and emotional piece is just an area that we’ve been lacking. And I will say that there are so many more resources available now for preparing missionaries than there were. And so that is amazing. The church, if you go on their website, the mental and emotional resilience class that they offer is incredible. You should totally check that out. So there’s lots of good stuff out there. And I think we’re headed in the right direction to give our young adults mental and emotional tools and strategies. Again, all of this is why I created mental mission prep. I want to say wholeheartedly, and I hope you do not misunderstand me is that I do not think it’s wrong or bad to struggle on the mission. Really. I’m not suggesting that we eliminate all struggle. What I am suggesting is that sometimes these missionaries are not equipped to know what to do with the struggle. One of the things I say about mental mission prep is that I will teach you the how of doing hard things. And guess what, when we go on a mission, we actually become a different person. On the mission, we’re presented with a unique set of challenges that really stretch us, mentally and emotionally. We become a different person, we think thoughts that we’ve never thought before. We feel feelings we’ve never felt before. And we have experiences that we’ve never had before. And what happens when we put ourselves in a new environment like that is our lower brain wants to freak out.

13:50 Our lower brain hates change. It’s totally fine. But if we have tools and strategies that can support us and help us support ourselves out on the mission, when our lower brain does start to freak out, then those challenges and those moments that are meant to stretch us and change us

14:12 really offer us transformation and growth instead of sucking us into anxiety and discouragement. I really believe that mental mission prep is more important than ever, especially considering what some of these missionaries have gone through with COVID. I think that is going to have an effect for quite some time. Totally fine, but I think this mental piece might be the missing piece to your mission preparation. We prepared spiritually. We maybe have prepared physically, and I’m going to give you mental and emotional tools. What are some of the things that I’ve helped other missionaries overcome? I’ve got a whole list of their names here. And I have tons more but these were some of the ones that stuck out

15:00 I’m not going to use their names. But let me just kind of share some of the things that I have helped these preparing missionaries overcome.

15:10 One of my clients was just had a general anxiety and a general nervousness about going on a mission.

15:18 Now he’s serving in Italy,

15:20 one of my clients was looking for ways to cope with anxiety and stress.

15:28 Because guess what?

15:31 He didn’t feel like he had effective ways. And on the mission, he knew he was going to deal with some anxiety and stress. And so now he’s getting ready to submit his papers. One girl that I was working with, wanted to be emotionally prepared for the mission, like I said, on the mission, you’re going to experience all kinds of emotions, and do you know what to do with those emotions, you’re going to experience a lot of them. One girl was just not feeling prepared or ready, I see this a lot, where they get on a call with me, and they’re like, I just, I just don’t feel ready. I don’t feel like I’m prepared. One preparing missionary wanted to better cope with specific situations on the mission, whether that be with companions, or the pressure of some of the goals that are often said on the mission.

16:23 One missionary said that they just wanted to be the best possible version of themselves.

16:30 And so I help with that. One missionary said that they wanted to learn how to manage stress, so that they don’t have to come home early. And usually towards the end of mental mission prep, I just say, Okay, what’s left? What haven’t we talked about what concerns are left for you. And almost inevitably, someone will say, I’m worried about coming home. And so we talk about all of that and how we can fail proof you on the mission.

17:00 One preparing sister thought that she wasn’t worthy to go on a mission. And we’re not talking about being qualified to go on the mission. She was worthy in a worthiness sense, like she had a temple recommend. But she got into a comparison game, where she was comparing yourself to other people, it was more just this mindset thing of her thinking that she wasn’t good enough to serve.

17:26 One preparing missionary was telling me that she was starting to feel like it was harder to leave than she thought it was going to be, she thought she was just going to feel totally independent, and be able to take off and not even think twice. And she was starting to really feel that struggle.

17:43 One preparing missionary told me that she really felt inspired that she was posed to go on a mission. And yet she’d struggled with anxiety, and overwhelm. And she just was not sure how to manage her emotions, or she wasn’t sure about how she was going to be away from her family. She knew she wanted to she received the revelation, but she just didn’t know how she was going to do it.

18:08 One preparing missionary was feeling a lot of guilt and shame, always feeling like they aren’t good enough. Another preparing missionary was really practiced at basing their worth on performance. He was super overwhelmed with learning a new language, because he wasn’t sure if he would be able to perform well, and think well about himself. During that time. Another preparing missionary was really anxious just at work, and at class. And he just couldn’t even imagine serving a mission. And now he feels like that, if he wants to that the mission is definitely a possibility for him, which is awesome. That’s what I try to do. I try to empower these young adults and you to go on the mission and become the best version of you if you want to go. So who is mental mission prep for? It’s for any preparing missionary? Some people say, Do I need to do it just a month before I leave? Do I need to do it a year before I leave? Do I need to do it? When is the best time to do it? And the answer is it really doesn’t matter. I just say do it sometime in the few months before you leave on your mission. And so if that means you’re leaving in February, I have it coming up in January and right now I’m only doing mental mission prep every other month. So you’re gonna have to think ahead a little bit. I want to share a couple of audio clips of some of the missionaries that I worked with. They sent these little testimonials for me and I appreciate it so much. Listen, I know how busy missionaries are. So I just want to share these with you and they just make me smile.

19:53 Hello everyone. Jenny asked me to share some my experiences regarding some mission prep.

20:00 Some classes or lessons with her, I think the greatest thing that I gained was being able to recognize my own emotions. On the mission, you deal with all sorts of emotions, frustration, and sadness, all the way to x feeling great joy when you’re able to feel the Spirit and be the mission something special. And so through doing lessons with her, I was able to, I’m able to more understand my emotions, and

20:30 be able to have a greater mindset overall.

20:35 And try to continue to learn and continue to, even though I fail, be able to continue to grow. I took the mission prep classes from Jennie, before I started my mission, and I’ve definitely seen throughout my mission, how it’s helped me, it’s been super nice and super cool to be able to go back and listen or to look back at things that I wrote down or things that I learned and be able to use those in, in missionary work. And then just everyday life being on a mission. And it’s been super helpful. So I’ve been super grateful for that. So thanks again to these two missionaries for sharing that with us. I just really love both of these missionaries so much. Thank you.

21:23 I want to go over what some of the components are for mental mission prep, like what can you expect to come away with, we cover negative self talk, and self doubt, you’re gonna be able to totally drop that we cover what to do with stress, because oftentimes, the mission can be stressful. I teach you to overcome perfectionism and self judgment I see this so often on the mission is that you get out there and you start to judge yourself. And then that judgment keeps you stuck. And it doesn’t allow you to show up as the kind of missionary that you want to be companion struggles, we talk all about relationships, because you are going to be in a companion relationship 24 hours a day. And sometimes that’s going to be easy, and sometimes it’s going to be challenging, and I equip you with all of the tools you need to deal with any companionship, I we go over how to have compassion, and access that compassion for yourself. I teach you how to have confidence from the inside out, what I see is that sometimes we get on the mission, we start to base our worth on our statistics, whether we’re in leadership, we base it on whether we can meet our goals or whether we’re doing service. But the problem is, is sometimes when we don’t reach our goals, then our self worth and our confidence goes down. And what I teach you to do is to have unwavering confidence, the kind that doesn’t go up and down epic confidence. We talk about failure what to do with failure, we talk about homesickness and worry and anxiety, we talk about how to stop feeling like you are a bad missionary. Hear this one. So often too. I want to empower you to use the struggle on the mission because that transformation that growth is not easy, but I want to empower you to use that struggle to create growth, rather than to weigh you down.

23:20 I also want to put out there that I do this coaching over zoom this teaching over zoom, it takes about a month and in between their supplemental videos that I want you to watch, so that you’re kind of prepared for our next session together. And then I also am including some amazing bonus content, I have a content vault that I’ve created, where I’ve got tons of classes for you. Here’s a couple examples. Three tips to instantly improve your relationship with your companion. Three tricks for when you’re feeling unmotivated.

23:55 Three things to remember when faith doesn’t give you the result you were wanting three thoughts to think to access Joy right now, how to love your original assignment, leading with love. These are all classes that are just absolutely free to you to use whenever you want on the mission. Because I want you to have them I also put in there some return missionary videos that you can download and save for later to watch when you get home. I just want to empower you the best way that I can.

24:28 Now onto these three sister missionaries that I’ve worked with that are out serving right now. The first sister

24:36 was really struggling with consistency and self discipline. She couldn’t even get herself to buy her clothes, her mission clothes, she couldn’t get herself to watch the mission videos and the portal she couldn’t make herself schedule the doctor’s appointment. And now she is not struggling with this at all. She was able to work through all of that I was able to give her

25:00 mental and emotional tools to help her get that consistency and that self discipline back, the second sister, who is has her mission call and she’s getting ready to head out. She when we first got on our first call, thought that she wasn’t maybe going to be able to serve a mission because she’d struggled most of her life with anxiety. She told me on that first call, I think anxiety is gonna ruin my life and ruin my mission. And what I’ve given her is tools and strategies to know what to do with anxiety. And now she’ll be able to go out and serve that mission with confidence, even with anxiety. Did you guys know anxiety doesn’t have to ruin your life or your mission.

25:43 It’s true.

25:45 The last sister that’s out serving right now was at work experiencing so much stress that she was actually having chest pain, it was manifesting physically. And after us doing mental mission prep together, her mom sent me this message on Facebook, the night before she was supposed to go into the Provo MTC, she’d done some home MTC. And then her mom said to me, you just finished working with my preparing missionary, you really worked wonders with her, she has no more chest pain. She is so ready to leave tomorrow for the MTC in Provo. Isn’t that awesome? She’s changed with these tools, the trajectory of her entire mission. All of these examples, these missionaries have changed the entire trajectory of their mission, and then in turn the entire trajectory of their lives. It’s so powerful.

26:48 So right now I’m going to share with you the incredible offer that I have for mental mission prep right now, which is I’m going to offer an early bird price.

26:58 Right now, if you decide to join mental mission prep, before December 15, I’m going to give you $200 off,

27:11 which all works out to be just a little bit over the cost of one month on the mission. And all of these calls. All of this bonus content, you get to keep for yourself

27:24 to upload to your mission, Google Drive if you want and use it whenever you want it. It’s an incredible deal, you guys. So I hope you’ll go to my website, Jennie dildine.com, and click on mental mission prep. And we can hop on a strategy call and talk about whether mental mission prep is right for you. Now, keep in mind that this is a limited time offer. It’s early bird pricing. And so after December 15, at midnight of 2021, those prices are going to go back up. So just keep that in mind and hop on and grab your spot today.

28:01 Remember the song I shared with you earlier? I hope they call me on a mission. When I have grown a foot or two I hope by then I will be ready. I think we can do better than just hoping that our missionaries are ready.

28:16 There will be highs and lows on the mission, no question hats off to any person willing to not only grow out and serve the Lord, for this time on the mission, but to let alone become a completely different human. This growth and this transformation is not easy. It’s a challenge. And it’s supposed to be a challenge. But when we have actual tools and strategies, that transformation, that growth that happens on the mission works for our benefit instead of keeping us stuck and discouraged and down. I can’t wait to see you in mental mission prep, where we will help you completely fail proof your mission. All right, you guys have an amazing weekend. We will talk to you again soon. Take care.

29:08 Thank you so much for listening to the podcast today. If you want to learn more about the mental and emotional tools I teach young adults so they can overcome worrying anxiety serve the successful missions they’ve always dreamed of, and navigate their post mission experience with confidence. Go to Jennie dildine.com. Or just come hang out with me on Instagram at Jennie dot the LDS mission coach. And until then remember, no matter which part of the mission experience that you are involved in, Jennie the LDS mission coach is thinking about you every single day