Dear Elder, Welcome to Tempe

Well ladies,

We all know how hard it is when our missionary first leaves:

The crying
Looking through old pictures
Watching old videos
Stalking their Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc (even though you already know everything that's on it...)
The ugly crying
Listening to old voice mails 
Cuddling in their old T-shirts & hoodies 
Reading old text messages, Facebook messages, emails, and letters.
Figuring out what you're going to do every day without them
The ugly UGLY crying
The writing a million letters on DearElder.com
And hand writing letters
And mailing packages
And planning your entire wedding on Pinterest...
Mind you ALL of this is happening while your missionary is still in the MTC
Oh its going to be a LONG 2 years ladies.

If you haven't experienced this...don't worry, you will :)

But I promise that it DOES get better.

In spirit of this tutorial on a package I like to call "Welcome to Tempe"
I would like to dedicate this time to my fresh missionary girlfriends.
Here are some things I would have liked someone to tell me before & after my missionary left:

Before:

1. CALM DOWN, everything is going to be okay.
2. Enjoy the time you have with your missionary. 
3. Don't count the days, make the days count

After:

1. Buy yourself your favorite candy bar and a tub of ice cream.
2. Watch your favorite chick flick and get out all your tears.
3. GET OUT OF THE HOUSE
4. Don't obsess over stupid stuff you wish you could change.
5. Take this time a part to discover who you are and who you want to become.
6. Work on your relationship with Christ, their is no one else who can get you through this.
7. Find the perks of being a missionary girlfriend.
8. Get a Pinterest
9. Set some goals for yourself.
10. Spend as much time as you can with your missionary's family. THIS HELPS SO MUCH!
11. Pray for missionaries in your ward, your missionary, and their investigators.
12. Write their companion. I've done this once and it was so awesome to get to know the guy my elder hangs out with every day! Make sure you write your missionary an extra letter so they don't get jealous ;)
13. Breathe and take a moment to remember all the blessings you have in your life.
14. Put God first. Everything else will work out.

Alright now for the package:

WELCOME TO TEMPE 


Keep Calm & Wait On: Welcome to Tempe from Carly Upton on Vimeo.

If you have a camera savvy friend like I do, ask them to take some pictures of you to send to your missionary. Here are the pictures I sent and put into a picture album for my missionary:

 

I also printed out pictures 8, 9, 10, and 11 in wallet size for me Elder to take with him to show off ;)

Remember: If you use any of my ideas please send me pictures! My email is carlycorrineupton@gmail.com

I would like to give another THANK YOU to my best friends who gave me a shout out on their twitter acount @OnlyMormons. If you have a twitter and would like some clean entertainment & some spiritual uplifting, go ahead and give them a follow! They are the bees knees.

I would also like to give a shout out to my new friends and fellow bloggers: http://theperksofwaiting.blogspot.com/ Check them out my fellow "Ladies in Waiting" :)

Have a fabulous week, write your missionary, and remember:

KEEP CALM AND WAIT ON!

Till next week,

xoxo Caa