Visit the people and places where your missionary served
Jordan Dresen reflects on touring with his parents.
Leave Time Open
Visiting the people your missionary served will be one of the most memorable experiences of your missionary pick up tour. It is also the most difficult to pre-plan. Rather than trying to schedule things ahead, leave several days open in the mission area. Your missionary can contact people he wants to visit and help you arrange travel once released. Ask your missionary to think of which places and people they want to visit, and how many days it will take to visit them all. This will depend on how many, and how widely spaced they are.
Visit the Mission President
The Mission President and his wife have loved, cared for, and prayed for your missionary for 2 years. Make sure you spend some time with them. You will likely meet them when you pick up your missionary, but arrange to go to lunch or dinner with them. You will be glad you did.
Attend Church
Arrange your trip to be in the mission boundaries on Sunday. Then you can go to church with the people your missionary served. This will likely be a highlight of your vacation.
We went to church in my son’s favorite area, and it was a real treat. Everyone was excited to see him, and us. All the women came and hugged me and gave me “air kisses” by my cheek. We had the ward missionary bear his testimony to us. I went to Relief Society, and followed along in the lesson manual in English from my phone. They even had me read a small passage during the lesson. Many people wanted to tell us how much they loved our son, and how much he had helped them.
Visit People's Homes
Visit the people your missionary taught. Visit their pensionistas. Consider visiting several areas your missionary served throughout their mission.
We went to visit three families that my son had worked with. Two of them were Pensionistas for him during his missions. All three of them fed us. The food was delicious. One of them gave us several gifts, such as soccer jerseys, hat, fruit, etc. They all were so excited to see us and have us in their home. They had wonderful things to say about our son. This was the highlight of our trip; the absolute best thing we did while in Peru.
Enhance Your Visits
Bring Gifts
The one thing that I regret is that I didn’t think to bring gifts for the people we visited. They all fed us and gave us gifts. I wish I had brought something meaningful to give them. It wouldn’t need to be extravagant, maybe a framed picture of Christ or the temple, or a plaque with a spiritual message.
Learn Spanish
If you have time, it is well worth it to learn any amount of Spanish that you can. A good friend recommended that I learn some Spanish before my vacation, so I could speak to speak with the people my son served with. I am so glad I did. The day my son reported to the MTC, I got some Spanish cd’s and started learning.
I tried Rosetta Stone, through my kids school, but I didn’t like it. Instead, I used Pimsleur Spanish cd's. I got them from the library. I used them 30 minutes a day for the 2 years my son was gone. I didn't become fluent, but I was so glad that I could understand the people we visited when they wanted to tell me how much my son helped them.