Two Tie Guys

 

TwoTieGuys.com is your source for luxury ties. Each tie is hand-picked from suppliers overseas. The selection process involves a sense of fashion, quality, and variety to accommodate an overall luxury style. From color, to pattern, to shape, you can find a tie for any occasion.

Two Tie Guys continues to build an inventory of quality ties so give yourself a membership to luxury by shopping online with TwoTieGuys.com or at MissionaryMommaMall.com.

 

Seeing Words Everyday Influences Us

The Munger family is a missionary minded family!  Becky Munger of VinylCrafts is the mother of nine children (six boys, three girls).  Her oldest (son) just returned from serving a mission to Brazil in December 2014.  Her second son (third child) is currently serving in the Washington Vancouver Mission and her oldest daughter (who is their second child) will be submitting her mission papers next week! 

Both Becky and her husband are returned missionaries.  He served in Japan and she served in the Philippines.

Together, they own and operate VinylCrafts, where they handcraft decorative wooden signs and home décor.  Come take a look!

 

Perfect welcome home gift for any missionary. 
Customized with meaningful names and words from their mission experience.

 

Seeing words everyday influences us                            

I love words. I have always been a talker and words have always come easily for me. I love reading inspiring words and meaningful words. And I love home decor. I love how amazing it is to be able to move things around and give a new feel to a room. Or how magical it seems to transition from summer to fall just by adding new decor and lighting wonderful smelling candles. How it seems officially Christmas when all the decor adorns the walls, tables, and doors of your home. And so it became a natural marriage between the words I love and the decor I love when I decided to start my own business. When I first started, I thought I would just do vinyl decals . . . but one day I found myself having to remove a vinyl decal because I decided to redecorate a room. And then I found myself peeling off Christmas words and sayings after the holidays were over. So I knew I needed a way to put these words onto something that would be more mobile, more permanent. So I began designing wooden signs. Signs that are meaningful and significant. Signs that make us laugh or remind us of our wedding day. Signs that remind us of family rules and family moments. We started with just vinyl on our signs and now we offer both "all paint" signs that have a vintage and distressed look and painted signs with vinyl lettering that give a more "clean, crisp" look to the piece. We offer signs that are keyholed in the back so it hangs flush to the wall or signs that are boxed out to give the piece a canvas like look. We offer large signs and small signs . . . pretty much any sign you need.

Many of our signs are made from high quality mdf. The mdf we use is an Eco-Certified Composite and is certified as meeting the sourcing requirements for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. We also use pine and high grade maple plywood in our signs, depending on the treatment needed to achieve the finish requested by our customers. Each sign is handmade by us from the design to the finished product.

I started this business because I love design and I love home decor. Thanks to our fantastic customers and some amazing opportunities . . . it has grown to become a wonderful and thriving full time family business. Beyond those opportunities, I have felt blessed to make signs that have had immense significance to my customers. Signs that reflect songs sang to babies, moments that led to marriages, memories with best friends, and words that describe years of family commitment. Because words mean things. And when we encase those words in the medium of wood and paint . . . we have home decor that starts conversations.

Click Here to Purchase                   

Heartstrings

Welcome to Heartstrings of Life!

Heartstrings - Noun - your deepest feelings of love and compassion.  A nerve once believed to sustain the heart. To me it is all my children.

 

Let me introduce the founder of Heartstrings of Life, Cyndi Gibson.

 

 

 

Along Cyndi's path of birth, adoptive and foster mothering she dreamed of combining her love of children with her creative talents.  She has a great passion for sewing, knitting, crocheting and embroidering.  Her creative mind and talented hands have taken form in the unique, personalized products offered by Heartstrings of Life.  In the words of Cyndi, "May this tug at your heartstrings as it does mine."

 

This luxurious towel set is designed with the needs of missionaries in mind.  With their personalized information beautifully embroidered on all pieces they are sure to stay
with them throughout their mission and be a keepsake for years after their service is over.

 

Click Here to Order Yours Today!!

 

Come see her large selection of unique designs, gifts and personalized items on her Etsy Store.

 

 

 

 

 

 

       



For the Love of Snails

Missionaries love getting mail, and Haley has made it easy to send them something a cut above the usual. 

Check out all the super cute stuff she has created to bright up your missionary's mail box.

 The Snail's Mail!!!

For the Love of the Snails                            

 

My love for "snail mail" started about three years ago while my (now) husband was in Italy for 2 years. During this time, we were in the dreaded long distance relationship. He left when I was 18 to serve a mission for our church. I know that this time away was a crucial part of our relationship. I missed him, of course, but knowing that we would marry when he returned kept me sane (well...as sane as it gets).

I know, I know. Married at 20 years old? We must be crazy, right?! Let me tell you how we met. :) At the ripe age of 11, my parents moved my family from Las Vegas, Nevada to teeny, tiny Idaho Falls (of 60,000 people. Yeah, get a grip, Haley.). I remember driving through the town when we first moved there and passing the zoo. The camels were out near the road so the drivers could view them. These camels were the oldest, ugliest things I had ever seen, and their lumps looked like they were falling off their backs. I couldn't help thinking, "Where in the world have my parents taken us?!" I swore I'd die before I ever liked this town.

That was before I walked the halls of Sandcreek Middle School and met Chris. He had longish hair that kinda flipped out at the ends, and a really cute freckly nose. But let's get real, I was 11. It was a total crush. But a crush that never really ended.

Fast forward 10 years. I'm now 21, happily married to my middle school sweetheart for one year, and we've got 3 little pets. Our "babies" we like to call them. :)

During his mission, Chris wrote me a letter every week. A real, live, handwritten letter. With like...paper and a pen. We could email as well, and we did, but he could only email once a week too. So the rest of the time he would write letters.

Boy, did I love my mailbox more than I had ever loved it in my life.

I want my customers to be able to share that same feeling with someone they love and care about. The products that I sell here at The Snail's Mail are to help promote using a little more ink (pen ink, that is), and a little less technology when communicating with those that we associate with.

When is the last time you talked via snail mail? It's so much fun! And I know that your recipient will greatly appreciate the gesture.

Let's use a little more of our pens, and let these snails get some exercise.

Click here to order your Snail Mail set today!!

 

 

Simply Kiki's - Whimsical Custom Jewelry

 

We are so excited to welcome

Simply Kiki's, owned by Missionary Momma Krista Morgan,

to the Missionary Momma Mall! 

She hand makes the cutest necklaces, bracelets and key chains.  The possibilities are endless!  She can customize any of her pieces with a photo, flag, map, hand written message, artwork, whatever you can imagine!  The best part - they are so affordable!  (Prices start at only $5.95!!!)

For those of us with a little less imagination, she has put her own creativity to work and come up with some really great designs.  There are 15 different CTR designs, and 15 different "I am  Child of God" images.  Click on over to the MMMall to see all the lovely choices!

After years of providing daycare in her home,  in 2014 Krista decided to embark on a new adventure.  With her youngest now in school (and oldest on a mission), she wanted a business she could run from her home that was flexible, and FUN!!

Of her new venture, Krista had this to say, "The thought of creating special gifts for others was appealing, kind of like a birthday and Christmas everyday!  Life is always full of so much, well, LIFE!  I wanted to create jewelry that could capture all of that. With these pendants it's limitless, fun pictures that fit each unique personality, inspirational quotes, images to celebrate a holiday, cheer on your team, honor your missionary and so much more.  Being on a tight budget it was important to me to offer a durable, great quality item that would fit in all budgets.  The pricing of these allows you to have a special one created or collect many to wear on all sorts of different occasions."

 

 Krista is a RM and a MM! She said, "My missionary is our oldest, of 7 kids.  She's currently serving in Starkville Mississippi within the Alabama Birmingham mission.  Her service is almost complete and will be home on March 5th of this year! (WooHoo, I can actually say...THIS YEAR!) I served in the Paraguay Asuncion Mission and my husband served in the California San Diego mission.  We feel so blessed that our amazing daughter made the decision to sacrifice 18 months in service of others."

The above photo is of Krista (aka Hermana Fish) when she was serving in the Paraguay Asuncion Mission back in the day.  The bottom photo is of her with her family today.

Krista has a real passion for what she does and it shows!  She said, "One of the funnest things about making these pendants is getting a glimpse inside other peoples lives, their celebrations, their sorrows, and their loves, hobbies and quirkiness.  I love seeing where people's missionaries are serving, the pictures their cute little ones have drawn and images of the amazing miissionaries their moms are wearing close to their hearts..  They've also been used on wedding bouquets, (a picture of a missing loved one or pictures honoring their own parents love and devotion). A recent one I made was for a new mom, it had a baby footprint in the color of the November birthstone along with her precious little one's name.  Another great use is for business logos.  Our Orthodontist has had some made as gifts for the moms and teens that come get braces on.  My sister is a manager of a trampoline park and she loves wearing her custom made pendant with their logo, another great way to advertise a business."

Click Here to See all the Fun Stuff from Simply Kiki's!

Life Size Missionary

What we Do

Have the presence of your missionary at any time and in any place. Our Life-Size Missionaries are printed and cut to life-size, and are ready to stand in family photos, be at weddings, or just be placed around the house as a reminder of your loved one!  Great for families, grandmas, grandpas, significant others, brothers, sisters! 

Lifesizemissionary.com is your source for life size cutouts of your missionary!  They offer life size cutouts in cardboard for a more temporary use or foam board for a more permanent use.

Upon placing an order with lifesizemissionary.com, your product will be custom manufactured in Salt Lake City, UT, in a state-of-the-art print and finishing facility.  Lifesizemissionary.com only uses the finest materials, and print with ink containing no VOCs or solvents.  Their larger than life print presses can quickly tackle any size order, and their production staff is ready and able to fulfill your order and get it on its way.

As each product is custom, it will take a day or two for them to process your order, but rest assured they’re on top of it!

Orders are shipped via UPS-- each package will be identified with a tracking number which will be emailed to you once it is assigned.  You can always go to www.ups.com to find where your package is it, but as a general rule, areas west of Utah take 1-2 days via ground, and areas east of Utah can take 3-5 days to arrive.

Why We Do It

Our story is simple:  We want to make sure that loved ones are never missed as they serve their missions.  From holidays to weddings and any event in between, we want to make sure that those who are out are remembered and able to feel connected to events happening at home.

Who We Are

Lifesizemissionary.com is an offshoot of one of Salt Lake City’s largest large-format print houses.  We operate out of a 17K square foot facility in South Salt Lake City where we operate with the latest state of the art equipment.  Lifesizemissionary.com is run by a family of returned missionaries, all of whom had important life events happen while out on their missions, and all who were allowed to “participate” via life size cutouts of themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

What Else we offer

 

Outside of life size cutouts, we also offer good luck and welcome home banners, Vinyl Saying Quotes and life size wall graphics. 

 

 

Days To Serve

First and foremost, I am incredibly grateful to be a guest on the Missionary Mommas Blog. I met Heidi and many other women in your group about a month ago at the LDS Missionary Expo and immediately felt welcomed into your community. You are all truly amazing women who stand for what is good in this life and I am grateful to associate with you. 

Heidi asked me to give some background on how Days to Serve came about and then share my story. Earlier this year, in April I was meeting with a great client I had met two years prior about replacing and remodeling the front door of her home. While going over the design and just talking about things in general the topic came up that her son was leaving on his mission in a few weeks to the Dominican Republic. She mentioned he was not being himself and struggling with leaving. This might sound familiar to some of you. Through our conversation I felt impressed to share my story with her in hopes it would help in some way.  After sharing the experience she immediately called her son Hunter to come up stairs and meet me.  She then asked  me to share the story again with him. Up until this point I had only shared this experience a few times and had always felt reserved in sharing such a personal experience that changed my life.  After sharing it with him and discussing it with Patti, she said, "you really need to write this experience down and share this with missionaries and their families".  I was flattered by what she said and decided to write it down that night. Before I left, I told her I had wanted to have some emblems made to give out as gifts to family and close friends. She thought it was a great idea and wanted one for Hunter. I gladly obliged when I had some items made.

After getting my kids to bed that night I began writing down my experience in greater detail. I felt the spirit as I wrote the experience down. I felt peace and gratitude just like I felt that day in Alabama where I served my mission.  I sent the story over the next day to Patti not knowing she was an editor for many large corporations. Without any expectations from me, PJ Hatch-Beck edited my story for grammatical errors and other minor changes and sent it back to me. I appreciated the gesture and told her she could share the story if she felt impressed. But Patti had a different idea.......

About a week went by and she called me back and said what an affect the story had on her son, and his preparation to leave on his mission. She then told me again that this story needs to be shared. So after a combination of ongoing pep-talk conversations with Patti, and some whacking on the head accompanied by impressions from the spirit, I began to feel that there was a higher power at work. Heavenly Father was working through Patti to get me going on this project. I had been so busy with my typical work schedule in construction that starting another company was just not in the cards for me at the moment. But this continued to evolve whether I liked it or not. Heavenly Father shared the message with me, and now it was my turn to share the same message with his missionaries. The Lord is hastening his work, with the increased number of missionaries in the field. I really started catching the vision of why this message needed to be shared, and why now.

Many missionaries are struggling just like I did. They need something to help solidify their decision to serve a mission, just like I did. Many need a change of heart, just like I did, and still do sometimes.  It made sense why this needs to get out there. It was not about money, it was about the cause. 

My wife and I had made plans over the two years to build our next home, but it seemed that every direction we turned, we hit a wall. We began to look at heaven and wonder if building our new home was the right thing to do. It wasn't. On a Sunday after church, my wife and I talked and decided to go a different direction. This was a hard decision, but it was the right decision. The down payment we planned to put down on our house was to be used for something else. We felt we needed to take that money and invest it into what we now call Days to Serve.  We somehow knew it was going to be okay.

Ever since, my mind has flooded with ideas of ways to share the message, and create items that would act as a reminder to anyone who received the gift. I would go to bed vary late, and wake up very early to research how to get this company started. The name came naturally as it was part of the original message given to me. I then began designing the way I wanted everything to look, from the logo, to the graphics on the website, to the products. It continues to evolve. It has been fun to be creative and build something with meaning.

It has now been seven months since I first met with Patti and shared my experience, and we now have missionaries all over the world wearing the gift of Days to Serve. We had no idea what to expect when starting this, all we knew is we had to do it and we are incredibly grateful we did. We completely took an "if you build it, they will come" approach to Days to Serve. (which is normally not a great way to start a business) but we had to believe the outcome would be good.

This is what I know. Heavenly Father knows us all personally. He knows what we need, and knows what we need to do, even though we might not always understand it at first. I know now He wanted me to pay it forward and share this gift with others. I know this with absolute certainty. I had prayed and knew this is what I needed to do. As it says in the last scripture in the book of Second Nephi, "for thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey."

The story that inspired "Days to Serve"  

It was a typical morning in the mission field where we got out early to share the gospel with the people we hoped to find that day. I had only been out serving the people of Alabama a few months as a new missionary and I still thought of home, family, friends, and the experiences I might be missing. I longed for the excitement of my young life and it was incredibly hard for me, as it is for a lot of new young missionaries. Homesickness seemed to swallow me whole at times and I wrestled to have an optimistic attitude. In my heart, I knew I was where I was needed, sharing the Lords message, and yet part of me was still home. My parents had made significant sacrifices for me to be there and I did not want to let them down. I had been praying morning and night for anything to help change my young heart and solidify this monumental decision of serving a mission. It was a struggle having one foot in the mission, and one foot home with those I missed and loved.

After much pleading and prayer with the Lord, this confirmation was received. On this particular morning while following our typical mission routine, my mission companion and I were biking down an old country road in Decatur Alabama. I was pedaling as hard as I could to get to the destination we had planned to proselyte the night before. I had a clear lead in front of my companion as I hugged the side of the road with no sidewalk and only about ten inches of space to ride. In a flash my attention was captured by a reflection of light off an object lying on the ground that quickly passed beneath me. I felt compelled to stop and examine what that object was and I turned around to find it. My companion had not yet caught up with me so I had a moment to contemplate what it was that I held in my hands. I imagined this object to be some kind of decal that had fallen off of a car, but looking at it in that moment, and aware of my prayers and willingness to receive an answer in any form, I knew this was an emblem meant just for me. 

The silver plated emblem was simple; it was the number 740, no bigger than the palm of my hand.  I thought for a moment, and began repeating the number in my mind, 740. The thought then occurred to me there are 365 days in a year, and times two that is 730. THEN, I remembered, the date I was to be released from my full time duties as a missionary.  I had entered my mission May 10th, the year 1998, and my release date was May 20th the year 2000, EXACTLY 740 DAYS!

For just a moment time stood still, everything seemed so quiet. The spirit then softly whispered to me 'You have 740 days to serve your mission, and a lifetime to remember how you served, MAKE THE MOST OF IT!'

It was so random and simple, and yet very profound. As it says in Alma, “but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass”. (a) In that small moment I became keenly aware that Heavenly Father knew me and that he had answered my prayer in a way that I never would have expected. I knew He was aware of my allotted time to serve and was acutely aware of my struggles and heart ache.  Ultimately, Heavenly Father knew what was needed to change my heart. In a conference address many years ago, President Ezra Taft Benson once said, “When you choose to follow Christ, you choose to be changed”. (b)

My mission and life changed that day as I chose to rededicate myself to our Savior's work, and to follow Him more diligently. This experience has had a profound effect on the outcome of my life. I often refer to this experience and had I not been given this individual gift, I can only speculate about the honor in which I served my mission and the trajectory of my life going forward, and where I would be now. Until recently I have only shared this experience a few times. As more family and friends leave their young lives to serve missions as I did, it has been my sacred privilege to remind them of the short amount of time they have to fully dedicate themselves as messengers for the Lord.

For me, the number of days to serve was 740, but for others in their specific mission, it states that it is anticipated they will serve for a period of 24 months (730 days) or, 18 months (548 days) for sister missionaries. Whether it is more or less does not alter the relevance and importance of this personal and sacred call to serve. Every missionary needs to remember that as they set themselves apart from the world, they must give all of oneself, every single day and to do so is an honor and a privilege. They will NEVER have this mission and it's individual and particular capacities again.

I share my personal experience and pass on this message to our young missionaries that the Lord shared with me on that old country road in Alabama. Missionaries need to make every day count, one day at a time. When it is over, the returned missionary will look back on this time served for the rest of his or her life with great personal joy and gratitude for the tremendous growth and service that they willingly dedicated to "further the missionary efforts in proclaiming the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." This individual dedication and whole heart effort will bless  numerous lives forever. Upon release, with name tag in hand, many with genuine understanding and sincere reflection may weep from what they have learned and experienced.  Our missionaries will have 'A LIFETIME to remember how they SERVED' and like me, they will forever be changed.

 

Josh Prazen                              

Served May 10th 1998 – May 20th 2000

Alabama Birmingham Mission

(a) Book of Alma 37:6
(b) Conference Report  -  October 1985,  pp. 4-5.
Edited by PJ Hatch-Beck - Linkedin proifle 

View the Days to Serve Collection @ www.DaysToServe.com

#Daystoserve

The Days to Serve Collection is available to purchase on the MissionaryMommaMall.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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