One of the most important things that we can do for our young men is to help to prepare them for missionary service. A mission is a wonderful opportunity for anyone to serve, and it is a time when the missionaries grow spiritually themselves. There are certain things that you can do to help your future missionary prepare to serve his mission.
1) Teach your young men survival skills. By that I mean teach them to mend clothes, iron a shirt, clean the house and to cook a meal. These are skills that they will use on a daily basis. An easy way to do this is to implement a chore system in your house. It will teach your children responsibility and make it that much easier on you. You can also incorporate these items into a family home evening or two.
2) Your young men need to be prepared spiritually for a mission. Hold family home evenings on a regular basis. Make sure that you have family prayer and scripture study. Modeling these behaviors to your children will help them incorporate them into their own lives.
3) Encourage your young man to read the Book of Mormon on his own. One way to do this is to buy him his own set of scriptures. I have seen families who have not done this for their children, and it makes me sad, because I think of what those children are missing by not having their own set.
4) As a family you can go over the new missionary manual “Preach My Gospel.” You can purchase these through the distribution center. You can cover a lesson a week and discuss the principles in each lesson. This will help your sons to be more confident as they share the gospel message.
5) As your sons grow old enough, encourage them to go out with the missionaries. This will allow them to see what a mission is like, and how they need to prepare in order to share the gospel with others.
As you encourage your son to serve a mission and help him to prepare to do so, his life will be blessed. Missionary service is a privilege for all that go.