Pretty in Pink

The [final color-coded] missionary care package I did for August was PINK.

 {the contents}

While shopping for PINK, I realized that so many pink items are.....well, feminine products!

Which he has no use for (obviously).

But, with three younger sisters helping me, we just HAD to include some first-rate pink goodies like....

Princess fruit snacks (they all taste the same, right?)

Hello Kitty band-aids

Candy bracelets & necklaces

A baby powder scented pink candle

hee hee.

(I reminded him these packages are meant to be shared with his peeps - like a family with little girls, how fun to pull a surprise out of his pocket/bag for them!)

 {the packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four pink flaps say:

"We are 'tickled PINK' about your missionary service!" 

"We hope everything in B.V. (Buena Vista, VA) is 'in the PINK of perfection!'"

"We continue to pray you 'feel in the PINK' on your mission!" <3 font="">

"PINKie promise to keep writing your detailed, fun-filled letters!"  :) 

So, that completes the Year-of-Colored-Themed-Care-Packages.  All the colored strings/cords should be cut off his secret package I sent him at the beginning of his mission by now.

 Which means he can open it up and find his special message.

Now, to decide what to do the final year......I can't waste the opportunity/easy shipping options due to his stateside mission.  My other kids may not be so fortunate with their future missions!  ;)

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To see past missionary care packages, click HERE. 

Paint the Town Red

The missionary care package I did for July was RED.

THIS was the one I have been looking forward to doing the WHOLE time!  Red things are found in abundance!  Ryan has ALWAYS loved the Utah Utes and U of U = RED!  He also is fond of cherry anything!  Plus, I've had some "RED" catch phrases swimming around in my mind to use!

So, without further ado....

{the contents}

(you might not think those "black" pencils don't belong with this month's package based on their outward appearance, BUT they are actually RED scripture marking pencils that he can give out to people or use himself.)

{the packed and ready-to-ship box}

 (I have a feeling it will probably be his favorite one yet!)

The four red flaps say:

"You are an incREDible missionary"

"Go ye into all the [WVCH mission] and preach the Gospel to every.....kindred, tongue, and REDneck!"  :)  hahahaha.  (That's a reaction he got from others before he left, and that I get here at home still, but it is not necessarily Ryan's opinion, who is actually there!  But, I couldn't resist using the word, "RED" in that context!)

"We hope you have many 'RED LETTER DAYS' this transfer!" 

"Enjoy (or endure) your 'RED HOT' (& humid) Summer!"  ;) 

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To see past missionary care packages, click HERE. 

Back in Black

The missionary care package I did for June was BLACK.

{the contents}

When I was thinking about what catchy phrases or advise I could use that contained the word, "black" in them,
I realized that most of them would be inappropriate and unencouraging for a missionary.  ;)

For instance, there's: 

"black as the devil"

"black eye"

"black list"

"black sheep"

"black mark"

"black out"

"black magic"

"black and blue"

"black day"

"The Black Knight"

"blackmail"

See what I mean?...I didn't have much positive stuff to work with - so I had to do more thinking!

Here's what I came up with.

{the packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four black flaps say:

"We {heart} our 'Men in BLACK'" 

"White shirts and ties are 'The new BLACK!'"

"Our hero wear a BLACK name tag!"

"P.S. Keep your bank account 'in the black.'"  :)

That last one was kinda a stretch - I've heard rumors that sometimes these young Elders have trouble making their money last the whole month long, so I was just throwing in some counsel - he might not even know what the heck that idiom means, though!  ;)  haha.

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To see past missionary care packages, click HERE.

Good Morning, Sunshine!

The missionary care package I did for May was YELLOW.
Which translates into SUNSHINE for me.

{the contents}

Note: this was all divided (unequally, with Ryan getting more than the others) to make up

"Sunshine Boxes" for a couple of my daughter's teachers at school for an 

end-of-school-year gift. (my favorite gift idea lately)

{the packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four yellow flaps say:

"Sending you a little box of SUNSHINE to brighten your day as you are brightening ours!!"

"Here comes the SUN.... (A.K.A. Elder Brenchley) ....and I say, 'it's all right.'"

"A dark world aches for a splash of the SUN." (meaning "The Son")

"Always look on the SUNNY side of Life!" (& your mission)

When I had barely sent Ryan off on his mission, another Missionary Mom came to visit and shared with me how she sends her son a package every month because it's the closest thing she can do to giving him a hug.  Her "wisdom" made an impression on me.  I do agree with her - it's a way for me to send my love and hugs.

This was confirmed in my Mother's Day card I got from Ryan with this P.S. at the end of it, "I know you love me, Mom.  If you didn't, you wouldn't send me monthly packages and weekly LONG emails!  Best Missionary Mom Ever!"

(He's learning so much on his mission!)  ;)

**********************************

To see past missionary care packages, click HERE

Not to be Confused as White Elephant Gifts

The missionary care package I did for April was WHITE.

{the contents}

Ya....I over-estimated what would fit in a box - I just kept putting all the white things 

I saw at the store into my shopping cart.

And then, when it didn't all fit, some of my kids called, "dibs" on some of the overflow,

but I did have to return some of the stuff to the store.

Did you know that Target just throws away any food item that is returned?

(Because they think I might have poisoned it, EVEN IF IT IS UNOPENED/UNUSED, so they don't want to sell it to someone else.)

At the Returns counter, the "Customer Service" employee 

(I'm using that title very loosely because I think she *forgot* she works in Customer SERVICE when she was "helping" me) 

made sure to SIGH audibly (many times) as she processed my returns, 

and gave me a discourse about the "fate" of the returned food items, 

sneaking in a comment that some people just donate it without asking for their money back.

(I don't think the Customer Service department is a "good fit" for her, what about you?!)

*End of sidetrack*

On with the care package....

{the packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four white flaps say:

"For behold the [WVCH mission] field is WHITE already to harvest..."  D&C 4:4

"You are the 'great WHITE hope' of the WVCH mission!"  :)

"...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as WHITE as snow..."  Isaiah 1:18  (a great scripture to share with your peeps!)

"Make sure to give "WHITE glove service" to each person you meet!"

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To see past missionary care packages, click HERE

Don't Wait for Old Age to Wear Purple

The missionary care package I did for March was PURPLE.

{The contents}

Except, I discovered that popcorn box had been opened a little and it only contained 2 pkgs. instead of the usual 3 in it..... 
What?!?  Did I buy it like that?!?  No, I wouldn't be that unobservant, would I?
And then I had a moment of clarity.......

Katelyn!!!!

(I was right.)

(NOTHING is safe around here, I tell ya!)

{The packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four purple flaps say:

"You are doing a 'GRAPE' job!!"

"Remember: You have been 'born to the PURPLE'."  (1 Peter 2:9)

"Your mission is 'a PURPLE patch' in your life!!"

"When teaching the Gospel....'lay it out in lavender'."  :)

(Is it lavendar or lavender?  woops!)

The next time Ryan wrote to us after receiving this care package, he told us he got it (ya never know with rural "mail people" - he says they just put a sticker on a car and a flashing light thing on top and call it good!), but that there was a slight problem with the V8 Energy drinks, though!  :/

(and he sent me this photo to show me):

Oh, wow!  Don't I get the "MM of the Year" award for sending him that?!!?  Yea for me!  MAJOR Ooops! 

(We, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, do NOT drink tea.)

I didn't even read the label!!  I assumed they were the V8 Fusions (100% juice) that we really like.  You know what 'they' say about assuming!

See!  Don't they look alike?!!?

Now I literally KNOW how the phrase, "Looks can be deceiving" was coined!

Good thing he was paying attention and caught it before consuming it!  ;)  He was forgiving and said he'd have fun getting rid of them!  Whew!

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To see past missionary care packages, click HERE.

Invest in Your "Fuchsia"

The Missionary Care Package I did for February 

(which really was delivered the first week in March because he was getting transferred, and I had to wait for his next letter to learn his new address - which meant he didn't get to open it on his "click date")  

was FUCHSIA: 

{the contents}

Matt helped me on this one!  I originally had collected what I thought would fill a medium-size box, 

but when I put it all in, it looked pretty scarce.  If it's not full, everything will tumble around

inside during shipping, 

so I sent Matt back to the store, near midnight, but I couldn't think of anything in particular to get, so I told him to just roam the aisles with his eye out for anything FUCHSIA!

He came back with about 9 more things - much better! - he saved the package! :)

{the packed and ready-to-ship package}

Did you know that there aren't that many (if any?) sayings that have the word, "fuchsia" in it?

And can you think of any NORMAL, REAL words that rhyme with "fuchsia?"  Neither could I.

So, instead of writing something on every single flap like I have in the past, I used all the flaps for one message:

"Your "fuchsia" (future) is so Bright!"

The crazy thing is: THIS package (that I'm sending to his direct home address) will probably get to him before his birthday package that I sent to him (to the Mission Office address to be forwarded) 10 days prior.  Hopefully, he thinks it's a good "tie me over" until he gets his Birthday one!

To see past missionary care packages, click HERE.

Combatting the Winter BLUES

The Missionary Care Package I did for January was BLUE.

He likes to open them on his "click date" (the 27th) and I thought I still had several days, but then I realized the few days before his "click date" was a weekend when mail isn't delivered, so I had to do it really fast all in one morning.  I literally bought the stuff at the store, took the picture in the parking lot, filled the box, then drove it to the post office.
So you get really nice backgrounds this time for these photos!!

{The contents}

Why the 2,000 Flushes? (well, it is "BLUE plus bleach!")  And because I REALLY AM afraid of those Elders' bathroom conditions!!

Disney's Frozen cereal?  (well, it BLUE, as well!)  Also, "Frozen" was the last movie his 1st companion had seen before leaving out on his mission in Jan. '14, so that is the movie that got quoted by the two of them together, so that makes it a bit fun.

{The packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four flaps say:

"You are a BLUE ribbon missionary!"

"Our life would be BLUE without you!!"

"You're the 'BLUE-eyed boy' of the Brenchley family! (and our Heavenly Father's)"

"Keep teaching the Gospel 'til you're BLUE in the face!"  :)

Ryan, actually guessed that it would be WHITE this month, probably because of Winter and the snow......but, NO! That wasn't on my mind.

The SNOW is where he is in West Virginia, NOT here in Utah (see the grass showing in my great photo background, at the side of the parking lot?)  A WHITEOUT is not something I have seen for a month!  (Very UNUSUAL for Utah this time of year!)

Links to past care packages:

December

November

October

September

It's a "Gray" Area

The missionary care package I did for December was GRAY.

I sent it early this month because we'll be sending his Christmas presents in a separate box later next week.....and I want to Spread the Cheer throughout the month!

 {The contents}

{The packed and ready-to-ship box}

The four gray flaps say:

"You make me happy when skies are GRAY"  ~Johnny Cash

"Remember: Be careful...and use wisdom...Please don't give us [anymore than we already have] GRAY hairs!"  :)

"GRAY skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face."  ~Tony Bennett

"Way to use your 'GRAY matter' on your mission!!"

I knew he'd be getting two packages from us this month, so I thought I'd send a smaller box (medium size) than I have in the past months and choose a color that I thought wouldn't have very many things.  Interestingly enough, I didn't have any trouble filling it up with gray stuff!  In fact, I could only fit two small cans of the diet Coke instead of the entire 8-pack I bought.  (It's OK, Ryan doesn't even drink diet Coke, but some of the other missionaries or his "peeps" might, and it's kind of a "community" care package anyway, AND it was the RIGHT color!)

The Benefits to Having a Missionary in the States

Both Matt and I served our missions [for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints] outside of the country (Okinawa & Fukuoka, Japan).
My sister and both my brothers served their missions outside of the U.S. (Ukraine, Mexico, & Brazil).
All of Matt's brothers (5 of them!) served missions outside of the country (Puerto Rico, Spain, Chile, Uraguay, & Venezuela).
SOOOO.....I've always associated missions being synonymous with out of the U.S.  So, when Ryan got called to serve his full-time mission within the States, it was a NEW CONCEPT for me.

And I've come to realize how GREAT it is as far as the MAIL situation is concerned!!!
I can actually send him mail AND packages [for fairly inexpensively]......AND he actually receives them!!!  So many other MM's do not have that luxury, they will not be able to send their missionaries anything for the whole 18 month/2 years - I have been told I am very lucky, and I believe it.

Even before he ever got his mission call, I saw an idea of what I wanted to do for my future missionaries' care packages......and then his IN STATE mission made it possible.
It has been very fun!!
In the beginning, I sent him a small box tied up with 12 different colors of ribbon or pipe cleaner.

It included an explanation that he'd be getting color-coded care packages each month for the first year.  The color of the package would provide the CLUE to which tie he was suppose to cut off that month.  At the end of 12 months (and 12 color coded care packages), he could open the tie-free box.
(Shhhhh.....but inside the box he will find a picture of Christ, and a message from Him to Ryan, because he is one of the missionaries for His church.  The letter contains gratitude and encouragement to serve for one more year, etc.)

Did I mention this is FUN?!?

The first month (September) was GREEN.....BECAUSE that's what he was - GREEN, fresh out in the mission field.  For some reason, I did not take a picture of it before I sent it, but PICTURE THIS:
Each flap of the box was covered in green decorative paper, and I wrote on each one:
"Good Luck, Greenie!"
"How's our favorite 'Green Bean?'"
"We LOVE our 'Greenie.'"
"It's not easy being 'Green'" ~ Kermit the Frog

It included things like:
a can of green beans
Andes mints
Sprite
Apple Jacks cereal
Mike & Ikes
Listerine strips
a green Sharpie
Wet Ones wipes (green pkg.)
sour cream & onion Pringles
green apples
Ghiradelli mint chocolate squares
winterfresh gum
pad of paper (green border)
plus.....several other green items - you get the picture.

In October I did ORANGE.  But, this time, I had my brain and I took pictures.

 {The contents}

{All packed up in the box}

These FLAT RATE boxes (provided for FREE by the post office) are the way to go (if you're sending more than 2 things) - whatever fits in the box, can be sent for one rate - it can be as heavy as I want it to be, and it costs me the same!

In contrast, if I were to put it in my own box, and they determined the postage off of weight, it'd be  like $40+ just to ship.

The 4 flaps say:

"ORANGE you glad you're a Missionary?!?"

"ORANGE you glad it's time for another care package?!?!"

"ORANGE you glad We Love You!!!"

"ORANGE you glad you survived your 1st Transfer?"

To which Ryan responded in his next letter back to us:

"Thank you so much for the care package....ORANGE you glad I got it?"  ;)

Are you having fun, yet?!?  

In November, it was BROWN.

 {The contents}

 {All packed up, ready to be sealed shut}

The flaps say:

"A little BROWN-NOSING never hurt anyone!!"  :)

"What can BROWN (substitute Elder Brenchley) do for you?  ~UPS

"Yes!  We're trying to score BROWNIE points!"  :)

"Oh, the WONDERFUL THINGS Mr. Brown (substitute Elder Brenchley) can do!!"   ~Dr. Seuss 

In the upcoming months, hopefully, I'll post them as I do them, once a month, instead of in a group, playing catch up....
Colors still up on the docket:
Gray
Red
Yellow
Pink
Purple
Blue
Black
White
Fuchsia


My other kids all LOVE these packages, and wish they were for them, saying it's not fair, but I try to tell them, they live at home and get our presence, love, & attention (not to mention free access to the pantry) every day, but Ryan does not, so THIS is an attempt to give him some of that, too, while he is sacrificing/serving away from home. 

Yes!  I can see, now, how it's pretty beneficial having a missionary in the States....how did I, and Matt, and all our siblings ever get our packages in those foreign countries?  Oh, yeah......we didn't.
Or they were just few and far between (If they even made it!)  And they took forever.  And cost an arm and a leg.

BUT, this may backfire on me, too, if my other children all go foreign, and they don't get any care packages......but remember that Ryan DID.....uh oh!