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under construction....

So there are a TON of things to get ready before you leave, but there are some MUST get readys.

SHOES.  

-I served my mission in Spain and we were ALWAYS walking.  We walked everywhere.  I know its not the same in every mission, but I do know good shoes are important for any missionary.
Before the mission, both my mom and I searched long and hard to find the best, most comfortable, and least ugly of the typical "sister missionary shoes".  I swore to myself I would never wear them, but I eventually had to break down and realize I needed comfort over style for 18 months.  So, I bought 2 pairs of these Danskos. They are SO comfortable, I never got one blister with these shoes.  I bought a couple pairs of sandals in Spain (we were allowed to wear them during the summer and I got blisters with those but never these).  My sandals fell apart within 2 months and so I had to buy another pair.  But these Danskos were great up until the very end (and I even gave one of them to a companion, so they're still going).  I think they sell them at the Sister Missionary Mall in Provo, but they are MUCH cheaper on Amazon or some other website.  I think I bought mine for about $80 each pair.  Definitely worth the price even though they are a bit pricy.

Check out ebay too!

what are the best shoe option you've found?? anything cute and super comfy?

what to do with pictures!

I have always been a HUGE picture taker and I knew the mission wouldn't be any different.  And I had always heard horror stories of missionaries losing months of pictures when they sent home memory cards, or not didnt have enough space on their flashdrives, or the pictures on the memory cards they did have got deleted!  This absolutely terrified me, so I made sure I was prepared before I left.  Before I left I bought one of these: My Passport External Harddrive.  I bought it at Target but you can get them almost anywhere.  And to be honest, you dont need 500GB of space, but it is nice to have more then probably 20GB.  I bought a 250GB one.  You'll have videos and tons of pictures from your camera, your companions camera, and you will not want to delete your precious pictures to clear up space for other pictures!

If it gives you an idea, I used about 30GB with videos and pictures during the course of my mission.  Maybe that's excessive, but I'd rather have extra space then not enough! :)

http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/20/western-digital-unveils-new-my-passport-portable-hard-drives-up/

food/cooking ideas

clothes

voice recording