There is a family in my home ward that sent four missionaries on full-time missions from the late 1980s to the early 2000s.
The family's oldest two sons served missions in the late 1980s. The first went to the Canada Halifax Mission and the second to the Micronesia Guam Mission.
In those days, missionary funds were sent directly to the missionaries for use in their personal checking accounts. The oldest son, serving in the provinces of eastern Canada, received $500 a month from his family to cover expenses.
The second son served the first 18 months of his mission in the Truk Islands. The missionaries serving on Truk and similar island groups making up the mission were mostly living in huts with no electricity or running water and were paying less than $50 per month for the privilege. On the other hand, missionaries living on Guam in apartments, with air conditioning, near the mission home were paying around $800 per month. The inspired mission president was aware of these inequities and instituted his own mission-specific equalization program, requiring each missionary to receive $400 per month from home.
By the time the family's third child, and first daughter, served a mission in Argentina, the churchwide equalization program had been established. This meant the family paid $400 per month for a mission that had previously only cost about $150 per month.
Janna McFerson is an Orange County, California, native. She is the author of "There's No Place Like Home...Evening!" (fhebook.com) and "I Write Thank You Notes" (readynettie.net). Email: readynettie@gmail.com