What a wonderful day today was: my oldest son returned from his successful two-year mission in Argentina. I’m so proud of him and so glad to see how he has matured and grown in so many ways. In the midst of all the rejoicing and the wonderful missionary stories he has, I also confirmed something I already knew: the diet of many missionaries is not exactly healthy. For him, the typical diet was heavy in grease and meat. Fortunately, he still seems pretty healthy.
My youngest sister also went to South America, and was not so lucky. In her mission in Venezuela, missionaries typically drank sweet soda all the time as one of the few safe sources of water. All that sugar, coupled with the greasy diet their, apparently gave her some challenging health problems that took quiet a while to overcome when she returned to the states.
All you future mission presidents, I would encourage you to look for ways to help your missionaries find ways to obtain a healthy diet. The dietary principles of the Word of Wisdom are vital for 19-year-olds, too. I know that it’s not easy – my son often didn’t have much choice about what he ate. But there have to be some creative ways to improve things. Any ideas on what can be done?
Marvelous that your son is home in good health and spirits. You can fill him full of cheese and bratwurst–not quite fruit and veggies, but he probably won’t argue.
I love cheese, but bratwursts are not on the Lindsay menu, in spite of the intimidating peer pressure from fellow Wisconsinites. Day 1 for my son was indeed based on fruits, vegetables, and grains. His awesome and health-conscious fiancee is also pushing for healthy food for him and is concerned about the bad diet he’s had.