Missionary service is one of the most meaningful experiences of a young adult’s life, but it can also be mentally and emotionally demanding. Homesickness, rejection, constant companionship, disrupted sleep, and high expectations are all part of the experience. For years, parents and missionaries have asked how missionaries can be better prepared mentally, not just spiritually.

Now, there is a new resource designed to meet that need.

Latter Day Missionaries (LatterDayMissionaries.com) is a mental health platform created specifically for missionaries and their families by psychiatrist and mental health specialist Dr. Bryson Ensign. It provides practical, gospel-aligned tools to support missionaries before, during, and after their service.

Preparing Missionaries Mentally

One of the primary resources offered is The Mental Health Training Center, an online course created to help future missionaries prepare mentally before entering the mission field. The online course includes 12 lessons and more than 10 hours of video covering common missionary challenges such as stress, homesickness, living with a companion full-time, and handling rejection in healthy ways.

The training also teaches core mental health habits including exercise, healthy eating, quality sleep, and mindfulness through simple breathing exercises. In addition, it addresses the three most common mental health challenges missionaries face: depression, anxiety, and OCD or scrupulosity.

Supplemental resources include a healthy eating cookbook, four months of workout routines, a Stress-Less Workbook, and additional tools designed specifically for missionary life.

Support for Current Missionaries

Latter Day Missionaries also provides tools for those currently serving. The most popular is the weekly Mental Health Moments email series, which missionaries can read on p-day. Each email includes simple mental health principles and practical tools to help missionaries thrive throughout their 18 to 24 months of service.

Additional resources include guided meditations for anxiety and insomnia, brief two-minute grounding meditations for use before or after proselytizing, and mindfulness coloring books featuring nature scenes and temples from around the world.

Helping Families Support Missionaries

Mental health support extends to families as well. Latter Day Missionaries offers a free monthly newsletter for parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends. It provides guidance on how to better support missionaries emotionally, even from miles or oceans away.

Mental Health Matters

Missionaries do not need to suffer in silence and Latter Day Missionaries can help create a healthier, more supportive missionary experience.