Uh. Overwhelmed.

Just a quick sidenote (and something to remind myself of in case I ever forget): the Internet is filled with INNUMERABLE RESOURCES for a young lady preparing for a mission abroad. There are SO. MANY. Pinterest boards, blog posts, photo ideas, Deseret News articles, talks, and so on that can take up a ridiculously huge amount of your time. (Trust me, I have spent hours reading up on missionary tips and writing ideas just today alone. There is SO. MUCH. OF IT.)

This is awesome. I am not denying that at all. In fact, the majority of what I have found so far is brilliant and creative, and I am in no way ungrateful for the wonderful ideas and tidbits of advice that I've found throughout the past few months.

But. My point here. Let's get to that.

THERE IS SO MUCH STUFF...

THAT IT'S EASY TO GET LOST IN IT ALL.

It's as with anything - if you come at it haphazardly, you're probably not going to get much out of it.

So. My advice here is this. Don't do what I did and search up something hugely ambiguous on Pinterest and hope for the best. (Maybe the first time that's okay. But then start to narrow down your searches.) Take time to look up Sister Missionary Hair Ideas for a bit, and then switch it up and look up Ideas for How to Mark Your Scriptures. You may notice that on social media sites (I'm thinking especially of Pinterest right now), some people tend to group all of their mission preparations together. This is..... this is easy to do, and takes minimal effort to put together. But when it comes time to actually go back to your ideas and make something of them, you're going to want them to be organized.

How else can you combat this, then?

AS YOU FIND IDEAS, immediately put them into their proper places. Have a folder on your computer and a matching tangible file folder (not on the computer) to file away your ideas in. I saw one Sister preparing for a mission who carried a little notebook with her everywhere she went so that she could write down her ideas in it. Always be prepared to write down your ideas, no matter where you are - you never know when inspiration will come (and those inspired ideas are some of the best)!

Most importantly, focus on what is most important. You do not need to be stressed out about your mission preparations - remember to stay true to who you are when you're shopping for clothing, but within the mission rules. Find quotes that inspire you and put them all into a notebook to take with you. Write letters for your fam to leave behind or send them early on in your mission to inspire them and offer them comfort when they miss you (they look up to you :)). Ask your family members, family friends and close buddies, as well as members from your ward who you look up to to pass on their favourite recipes that you'd be able to make on your mission and take your own homemade cookbook with you. Make sure you're having fun as you prepare - this is not something to stress out about, this is something to GET EXCITED about. :D Remember that, and things will work out much better. :)

Keep it cool ladies and gents,
Kat