In some ways, this ain’t my first rodeo. Scotty and I dated for two years before he went on his mission, and I stuck around long enough to marry him when he got back. Even though it’s a little different to send your kid instead of your boyfriend on a mission, I still supported a missionary for two years and was very involved in the mission experience. Scotty was in the field from August of 2000 until August of 2002 in South Carolina.
Some of the differences between Scotty’s mission and Nicky’s are:
- Scotty went state-side and spoke English. Nicky is going to Puerto Rico and learning Spanish.
- Scotty went to the Provo MTC for two weeks. Nicky is in the Mexico MTC for five.
- There was no such thing as “home MTC” when Scotty served. Nicky did “home MTC” for the first ten days.
- When we took Scotty to the MTC, we all went inside and sat through a little presentation, then we bid him farewell, and he had to shuffle through a door with all the other missionaries. We didn’t take Nicky to the MTC. Instead he went straight to the airport (if we had taken him to the Provo MTC, they now do curb drop off and you don’t go inside).
- We met Scotty at the airport when he flew out to South Carolina, and back then, you could go to the terminal with them. But by the time he came home, that was no longer allowed because September 11 happened a year into his mission (in fact, it was on the anniversary of his arrival in South Carolina - he got there on September 11, 2000). When we took Nicky to the airport, we saw him to the security line, and then he was on his own!
Scotty leaving for SC 9/11/00
Nicky leaving for Mexico City 7/10/25
- Scotty had to have a suit for his mission. Nicky does not (it’s uncommon for a mission to not require suits - Nicky said you can tell who’s going to Puerto Rico in the MTC because they are the only missionaries without suits. Some of the PR missionaries still opted to bring a suit, but it is not required).
- Scotty’s mission communication consisted of letters and two phone calls a year - Mother’s Day and Christmas (he was also allowed to call home on September 11. All the missionaries were allowed to check in with their families). Nicky gets to call home once a week and can send emails and messages through Messenger.
- Scotty was only allowed to go to the temple one time on his mission - the week before he came home. Nicky has gone every week!
Columbia, South Carolina Temple
Mexico City Temple
Things we didn’t have when Scotty served that now make missions more convenient:
-Amazon (or any online shopping)
-Cell phones (they existed but weren’t the norm)
-WiFi
-Social media (MySpace started shortly after Scotty’s mission)
A lot has changed in the 25 years since Scotty left on his mission, but there have been some funny commonalities between Scotty’s and Nicky’s missions, too. For example, Scotty’s first companion in South Carolina was Elder Matthews. Nicky’s first companion is… Elder Matthews.
And both Scotty and Nicky apparently have the urge to climb inside the dryer. We laughed so hard when Nicky’s dryer photo popped up on google photos because Nicky didn’t even know we had a photo of Scotty doing the exact same thing on his mission.
Nicky really is so much like his dad! I’m going to get a kick out of watching him get older and act more and more like Scotty in all the ways that he currently makes fun of (I make fun of him, too. Scotty really is quite a character).
Some fun tidbits about Nicky’s mission so far:
- Nicky is among the first wave of recent high school graduates at the MTC, so when he got there, he said there was a bit of difference in age/maturity between the missionaries that were about to leave (they were older missionaries that had attended some college before serving) and the new ones. Now that he’s almost done (he only has five more days!) he said they’ve turned over to mostly young missionaries that just finished high school.
- Nicky’s group got in trouble for playing hacky sack. It’s not allowed at the MTC. You know what’s also not allowed at the MTC? Face cards (technically they aren’t supposed to bring any games or hobby-esque items) and yet, somehow they’re playing poker on the regular and administering “punishments” to the losers.
- Nicky’s casa is the only one without surveillance cameras (of course my son made note of this).
- Nicky’s best friend, Jackson, arrived yesterday at the Mexico MTC. As of late last night, Nicky hadn’t found him yet, but he was looking for him during every break from class.
- The Mexico MTC can house 1,000 missionaries. Provo is 3,700. Both are nearly at capacity right now!
- The missionaries have to stay on MTC grounds except for when they go to the temple on their P-Day (“preparation day” is once a week, and they are supposed to use that day to contact their families, get caught up on laundry, etc). They are bussed to the temple about an hour away, and that’s all they really get to see of Mexico City outside of the MTC walls.
- It has rained a lot while Nicky has been there. He loves the weather, though. The temps are mild, it’s not super humid, and the rain is always exciting. Nicky’s friend Jasmine is from Mexico, and she told me the smell of the rain there is unbeatable. Nicky agrees.
Tanner, Jackson (who just arrived at the MTC), Nicky, Jasmine, Jasmine (yes, TWO Jasmines in a row!), and Jada
- Some of the missionaries in Nicky’s district are not going to the same mission. There is one going to South Dakota and one going to Argentina (or is it Chile? There are a lot of missionaries going to Argentina and Chile). I can’t remember where else, but I didn’t know it worked like that, so that has been interesting to me.
- Nicky had to do an assessment for his Spanish this week, and the instructors said “We like to see everyone score at least a 4.6 (I think that’s out of ten - ten obviously being very fluent). Nicky got a five point something (5.3?) so he’s really happy about that. There is no penalty or reward for your score, it’s just to give you an idea of how you’re doing. Nicky has been working really hard to get the language. He really wants to master Spanish, so he and his companion put in a lot of extra time studying and practicing. In the blessing the stake president gave Nicky when he set him apart, he promised that Nicky would have the gift of tongues if he would study and be obedient. When Nicky was in theatre, I had a distinct impression that the skills he was developing for memorization and recitation were blessing him with abilities that would help him learn a foreign language someday. Now I’m seeing it happen, and it’s really cool! Of course, when he gets to Puerto Rico, that will all change and he’ll be thinking “This is NOT the language I learned in the MTC!” But I think he’ll catch on quickly.
I have to say, having a missionary is a surreal experience. It’s been really fun. I acknowledge that I’m able to chill a bit as a mom because Nicky is thriving. It would be a different story if he was out there having major struggles. He’s had moments, but overall, he’s loving it, and that brings my heart such joy and gives me a feeling of ease. It won’t all be easy, but so far, he’s doing well, and he’s been able to navigate the hard days. He has such a light about him, and I hope that stays with him throughout his life.
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