Great Mission Clothes Resources

So I utterly failed my goal to get all my mission shopping done before December. It's now December 7th, and I still only have half of my list taken care of. (I did, however, get all my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. That's something to be celebrated, right?)

This last Monday I went to Kohl's and bought eight new outfits. They're really cute, and it's awesome to actually have outfits instead of just mismatched clothes. But it nearly killed me to spend so much money, not only because I am VERY short on savings but also because I've been having nightmares about showing up in Paraguay with the wrong styles and shoes that fall apart on the first day.

I am so scared that I'm doing this all wrong. There are tons of sister missionaries in my single's ward and they are a huge help, but none of them have been to Paraguay. Their advice is great for general sister missionaries, but what about my mission specifically?

I'm finding that flaw all around--there are so many resources for sister missionaries, but most of it is so general that it feels like elementary school self-esteem advice. "Just be yourself. Give 110%." "Yeah...okay. What about when I'm in Paraguay?" "Everyone wants to be loved." "I know, I know, but what is it like in Paraguay??" "Smiles are contagious." "GAAHH!"

Luckily, I've found some really great places to find peer-edited resources, and since they have helped smooth my feathers (A LOT) I thought I would share them here in case it could be helpful to anyone reading this blog.

Here is a facebook advice section made by sister missionaries that proved handy.

Sistermissionaryclothes.com (not to be mistaken for sistermissionarymall.com, which I've heard is way too limited and expensive) is, as it says on the home page, "for missionaries BY returned missionaries!" It's actually pretty cool. And here is the store founder's blog. (I'm not really following her advice very well, but I'm going to a very poor country so I think I'll be okay. Right? Right??)

And here's another blog with a great article on mission clothing: Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord: Missionary Clothing: Making Good First Impressions He's got some very good articles all throughout the site.

Some great shoe brands I've found are Earth Origins, Naturalizer, & Strictly Comfort. They all got great reviews on sites like JCPenney.com (comments on reviews on clothes online is the greatest thing every, FYI). I'm leaning towards Mary Jane styles, and I've been told that flats are the only way to go if you're on a walking mission, which I definitely am.

I'll try to be as informative as I can be when I journal and write home so that I can provide good advice for other Paraguay-goers. In the meantime, I hope these few resources help whoever, like me, is struggling with mission shopping. It certainly was helpful for me to write it down and realize how blessed I am to have the internet--so much advice to follow, so little time.