The Best Gifts for a Missionary (From Someone Who Actually Cares)

I've given a lot of gifts to missionaries. As a bishop, sending young men and women into the field was one of the most significant things I did — and I wanted the gifts I gave to reflect that.

I learned quickly that the best missionary gifts share a few qualities: they're useful on day one and still useful on day seven hundred, they're durable enough to survive the mission, and they carry meaning — they communicate something about who gave them and why.

Here's what I actually recommend, based on years of watching missionaries leave and come home.

1. A Handmade Leather Journal

I'm obviously biased. But I'm biased because I've seen what happens when a missionary carries a journal worth keeping.

They write more. They notice more. They come home with something in their hands — a record of who they were and what they did. Parents, siblings, and future children can read it. It doesn't disappear when a phone dies or an account closes.

Personalize it with their name or initials. It makes the journal theirs from the moment they open it.

What to look for: genuine leather (not bonded or faux), waxed linen stitching, acid-free paper. Avoid anything described as "PU leather" or "vegan leather" — that's plastic, and it won't survive two years.

2. A Quality Pen

If you're giving a journal, give a pen to go with it. Not a box of Bic ballpoints. A single pen worth using.

The Pilot G2 is reliable and affordable. The Lamy Safari is a step up and writes beautifully on quality paper. For a more meaningful gift, a Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen ($20–25) will last for years and makes writing feel like something worth doing.

3. A Patriarchal Blessing Copy, Nicely Presented

This is non-material, but it's meaningful. Help them find their patriarchal blessing, print it on quality paper, and put it in a folder or small binder they can keep at hand. Many missionaries say they read it more on their mission than at any other time in their life.

4. Practical Things That Actually Get Used

If you want to be practical, missionaries genuinely use:

• Shoe insoles — missionaries walk miles every day. Good insoles matter.
• A quality umbrella — compact, wind-resistant. Not a dollar-store one.
• Instant oatmeal or snacks they love — comfort food is real.
• A small photo album — for physical photos of family they can keep on the desk

What Not to Give

• Electronics beyond what's allowed: Check mission rules first. Most personal devices aren't permitted.
• Anything too heavy: Missionaries live out of a suitcase. Weight matters.
• Cheaply made "inspirational" items: Plastic plaques with scriptures, mass-produced bookmarks, generic keychains. These end up in a drawer.
• Gift cards: Not usable in most mission countries, and they feel like an afterthought.

The Gift That Lasts

The best missionary gift is one that will still be on their shelf decades from now — one that their children will ask about, one they'll open carefully because it holds something that mattered.

A leather journal with their name on the cover is that gift. It says: what you're about to do is worth recording. We believe in you. Come home with something to show for it.