We gathered some of our favorite tips and tricks on how to keep your LDS faith a part of your experience volunteering abroad.
While preparing for your semester abroad, you're probably focused on gathering school supplies, thrifting teaching clothes, and raising money for all of your vacations, but this is your official reminder to not forget to think about how you are going to prepare spiritually!
Looking for a way to travel with volunteers who share your standards?
ILP might be the right fit for you! Here's how it works.
Leaving for a semester with ILP usually means that your typical daily routines will have to be switched around. Luckily, we have some resources for you on things you can bring and do during your semester so that you don't fall behind on your spiritual goals.
- Bring a Study Journal
- Prepare Your Devices
- No Nearby Meeting Houses?
- Renew Your Temple Recommend
- Finish the Book of Mormon
Bring a Study Journal
Even if you're not the most avid journal writer, it's never too late to start! A journal entry doesn't have to be pages and pages of going into depth about everything you did that day. Because let's be honest, that can get pretty overwhelming... especially if you miss a few days. Think smaller! Make a goal that is doable for you, whether that be writing in your journal 5 minutes a day or once every Sunday. Here are a few prompts you could consider answering in your study journal.
What did I learn in my scripture reading that day?
What verses/chapters did I read today?
What General Conference talk did I read? Favorite quote?
What blessings did I notice myself or others receive today?
How did I feel Christ's love today? How can I show love to the people around me?
Another fun addition you can add to your study journaling is writing down where you are when you write your entries. For example: 9/23/2024, Bedroom at host family's house. 9/25/2024, Overnight bus to Krakow, Poland. 9/27/2024, Bus from Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. 9/27/2024, St. Mary's Basilica in Gdansk, Poland.
Prepare Your Devices
Most of our ILP locations have access to an LDS church for weekly attendance, some are lucky enough to even have a temple nearby. Despite having access, that doesn't mean your personal studies won't require some extra effort. Most of these meetings aren't going to be in English!
If your church has online resources, make sure you download those ahead of time so that you can access talks, songs, scriptures, etc. no matter where you are. Sometimes, the internet doesn't work like you would like it to, not only in the meeting house but also during your travel time.
Plus, it'll save space in your suitcase (though you're welcome to bring your physical scriptures and other materials if you prefer).
No Nearby Meeting Houses?
While most of our ILP locations have LDS meeting houses nearby (and by nearby, we mean in a couple-hour radius), a few of our locations are not so lucky. If you're volunteering in India, your nearest LDS meeting house is a 12 hour drive away! Luckily there are some things you can do to help keep the spirit present during your sabbath if you aren't able to attend church.
Come Follow Me
It's time to take matters into your own hands. Volunteers in the past have found that doing Come Follow Me, Preparing talks, bearing testimonies, or just creating a safe space for Q&A's about gospel related topics is a great way to still learn from yourself and from others.
Sacrament
It's not as common, but we have had times in the past when there were male ILP volunteers who were given permission to bless and pass the sacrament to other volunteers who wanted to take part in that because there is not a meetinghouse nearby. Of course, this depends on a lot of factors and isn't a possibility every semester, but can be a really unique experience.
When I volunteered in India, we weren't able to take the sacrament the whole semester (and that's the case for most volunteers here). Because of this, my fellow volunteers and I gained a larger appreciation for things like taking the sacrament. Going without for a few months can actually change your perspective as you experience what it's like to not have something that's always been there. We have LDS volunteers in India every semester, but if that's something you're worried about, you might find that another country is going to be a better fit for you.
Recognizing The Spirit In Unfamiliar Places
Like I mentioned above, while I was in India, we had no LDS meeting houses nearby. But boy was spirituality celebrated everywhere I went. Sikhism, Buddism, and Hinduism were some of the most popular religions that were practiced in India. Something that I did to help keep the gospel a focus in my life was using the Sikh temples, Buddhist monasteries, and prayer flags lining the town as a reminder to say my own personal prayers and to be more Christlike.
Train yourself to use your new environment to your benefit and to have things like a beautiful sunset, prayer flags, monasteries, etc. remind you of your own faith and to help use those unfamilliar places to recenter your spiritual goals.
Renew Your Temple Recommend
Many volunteers who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints travel to visit temples during their vacations. You may even be with an ILP group that opts to do temple work at some point during their semester. It is much easier if you already have your temple recommend ready to go while you're at home with your bishop rather than trying to work that out in a foreign country.
Finish the Book of Mormon
Our volunteers teach or volunteer only about 20 hours per week (always with Saturday and Sunday off), so that means you've got a semester with lots of free time. Why not set a specific goal, like finishing the entire Book of Mormon in three months?
Designate A Set To Document A Significant Time In Your Life
We love that some of our volunteers have a specific set of scriptures to document their semester traveling abroad with ILP. Moving abroad is the perfect place to build new habits, set goals, and strive to become a better version of yourself. Being able to document the spiritual side of your goals and growth into its own set of scriptures can be the best way to capture that!
Free Printable Reading Schedule
If you want to read the Book of Mormon in one semester, you'll end up reading around 5 pages per day. If this is a stretch for you, then it sounds like the start of a good goal right? Consider yourself challenged.
Of course we've got the schedule all figured out for you — the hard part is done, so now all you need to do is get reading. There's a free printable schedule at that link below, so just click to download and print it. It's sized to fit in a standard size set of scriptures so that you can tuck it inside your book and check off the boxes as you go.
The schedule will help you finish in 100 days, but you can always adapt it to fit for less (or more) time, whatever works best for your goal.
Click To Download Your Free
Printable Reading Schedule!
Ready to come abroad with us?
International Language Programs is a non-profit organization based in Orem, Utah. Many of our volunteers are members of the Church of Jesus Christ and everyone who volunteers in our many, many countries agree to sign a code of conduct. If you're looking for that type of experience while you travel abroad with new friends, ILP might be the right fit for you.
