South American Mission Suggestions!

Serving in South America?

So, you've just been called to a Brazil Mission, Argentina Mission, Chile Mission or even an El Salvador Mission? Well congrats are in order! I hope you are stoked to go love the people of Brazil or Argentina or wherever you're heading! You might be wondering what you really need to bring. Well, we are glad to help with your footwear needs!

Shoes

Well no surprise here, you are going to need shoes. But let's talk about what kind of shoes will help you out the most.

Waterproof

It rains a lot in the South and Central American Missions, you need to be prepared! This one isn't too hard as a lot of men's dress shoes are already waterproofed. Our recommendation is a black pair of polishable leather shoes. Missionaries are allowed to bring brown shoes but I strongly encourage missionaries to buy only black shoes because it can be difficult to find the correct shade of brown polish to use on your shoes especially if you don't have good access to stores.

As far as Shoe Polish goes, I highly recommend the Kiwi Shoe Shine Kits that you can find in all sorts of stores including Wal-Mart. However, I would recommend getting MissionShoe's kit because it comes with two black shoe polish instead of one black and then wasting a brown polish.

Polish your shoes! If you buy a pair of shoes from MissionShoe then they already come with a layer of product specifically designed to protect your shoes. Unfortunately, this will not last forever. Polishing your shoes is important because it helps your shoes maintain that defensive barrier from dirt, water and anything else that might try to find its way into your shoe to cause damage.

Missionaries who see problems with their footwear will often be asked, "Well Elder, how often did you polish your shoes?" to which they will generally timidly reply, "Oh... maybe once every month... or two..." This is not enough! We suggest polishing your shoes multiple times a week.

In some locations it may even be beneficial to have a pair of Boots.

Durable

There is a simple sad fact we need to realize when it comes to shoes you wear with a suit and tie. That fact is that very few dress shoes are really made to handle the level of activity needed by missionaries. I highly doubt you would be able to find a pair of shoes at JC Penny that would last 10 miles a day every day on wonderfully constructed Brazilian dirt roads. So when going to buy a pair of shoes for a missionary, I will give you a list of very important things to look for in Missionary Shoes:

1. Sole Construction - It's important to know what the soles of your shoes are made of. The sole is the most important part of the shoe! It's the part that your foot rests on. It is not uncommon for dress shoes to have multiple parts to their soles. Usually they have some thin lining that actually separates your foot from the sole and then the sole is filled with plastic, cork or other just filler products. My strong suggestion for missionary footwear is a one piece polyurethane form injected sole. This is light-weight and creates a "spongy"like feel that will allow the sole to conform more to the feet.
2. Leather Upper Quality- If the leather of the shoes feels cheap it probably is and should be avoided. Furthermore, Dress shoes will often only be single stitched along important seams. This isn't good for a missionary because it increases the likelihood of splitting rendering your shoes useless. Search for shoes that clearly have multiple lines of stitching along the seams. It is easy to spot a well constructed shoe.
3. MissionShoe Logo - Bottom line, if you aren't buying a pair of MissionShoes you are doing one of three things 1) You aren't getting the caliber of shoe a missionary needs, 2) you are paying way too much, 3) or both! MissionShoe's products aren't the most attractive on the market, but they are the best in durability, comfort and everything else an Elder could need in a pair of shoes.

Comfortable

Comfortable and dress shoes are two things you really rarely hear together but that is exactly what you need! You've been called by God to preach the gospel and that is an amazing invitation to serve. Wearing low quality shoes that hurt your feet will only hinder your ability to spread the good news! You need to be out finding and bringing souls to Christ and not sitting in your apartment (or worse, back home) because you didn't care for your feet the way that you ought to have! 

The terrain in mission fields like Guatemala, Honduras Colombia or other areas are pretty rough you need something that is going to be able to take you where you need to go without wearing your feet down to nothing! 

Cost 

There really is no need to break the bank when getting a pair of shoes. There are great and affordable options out there I promise! MissionaryMall has a great product line for you to choose from. Some of them can be pricey but you can trust that they have done their homework in finding some good shoes.

As always though, I am going to point you in the direction of MissionShoe. I truly feel it would be foolish to go anywhere else. Their shoes are the less expensive by at least $30 per pair of shoes. Therefore, if you aren't losing any quality and you are saving some money, what's not to like about the situation? Look I will make this decision even easier by adding a little discount! 

There you go Elders! I wish you the best of luck as you serve! I hope you love the people of Mexico, Nicaragua, Ecuador, or wherever in the world you end up!