The One With the Permanent Houseguests

Missionaries live with us. I actually highly recommend it. In fact, if I had it to do all over again, I would probably opt to have missionaries instead of children. Here are my top ten reasons why:

1. They unload the dishwasher without being asked.

2. I never have to beg them to take a shower.

3. I don't pay for their gas.

4. They are polite, even when Skippy colors on their backs with a yellow crayon, while pretending to give them a back scratch. (Suckers!)

5. I never have to tell them to tuck in their shirts, pull up their pants, or that they are dressed too casually for the occasion.

6. They come (almost) fully grown, and I avoid stretch marks, the terrible twos, the "why?" years, that awkward stage where they wore braces for three full years, the sullen teen syndrome, and any pre-mission rebellion they might have gone through.

7. You never have to worry about the lyrics of the songs they are listening to. Mo-tab doesn't get jiggy wit' anything.

8. They ask before they eat my Lean Cuisines.

9. If they do something really bad, then the mission president will discipline them. It is not my job.

10. When it is time for them leave the nest, we don't have to have that "special talk." They just wash their sheets for the first time in six months, pack their 2.5 suitcases in someone's pickup, and off they go with a thank you and a wave goodbye.

I love those guys!