Missionary Terms Explained: P-Day, Transfers, Trunky & More

Companion: The missionary you're paired with 24/7. You study, teach, eat and ride together. In the game, your companion is the one who warns you when the snacks run low.
District: A small group of companionships who meet weekly. In Missionary Dash, you ride as a district of four.
Zone: Several districts grouped together, led by zone leaders. Each game area is a "zone," starting with Salt Lake City.
District leader / zone leader: Missionaries asked to support and train others in their district or zone. Ranks in the Hall of Fame borrow these names.
Transfers: Every six weeks or so, missionaries may be moved to a new area or companion. In the game, a missionary whose health gives out gets "transferred," and the transfer deadline is your clock.
Greenie: A brand-new missionary in their first weeks in the field. Usually wide-eyed. Often lost.
Trunky: When a missionary near the end of their mission starts thinking about home. In the game, trunky-itis is an ailment, usually triggered by a letter about the dog.
P-day: Preparation day, usually Monday: laundry, groceries, emails home and maybe a little sightseeing. Missionaries in the game feel a small P-day boost.
Mission president: The leader who presides over a mission, often serving with his wife. President Thatcher gives your briefing.
Mission office: Where the paperwork lives. Office missionaries handle cars, mail and transfers. Sister Pulsipher works here in the game.
Mission call: The letter that tells a future missionary where they'll serve. Opening it is a family event.
MTC: The Missionary Training Center, where new missionaries learn to teach (and sometimes a new language) before heading out.
RM: A returned missionary. If you're an RM, the game will feel suspiciously familiar.
Elder / Sister: The titles missionaries go by, with their last name: Elder Jensen, Sister Larsen.
Name tag: The black badge with a missionary's name and the Church's name. In the game it's two tiny black pixels. We counted.
White shirt: Standard dress for elders. Easily ruined by sprinklers and fry sauce, both of which happen in the game.
Bike helmet: Missionaries who ride bikes wear helmets. Ours do too, even the ones standing in the mission office.
Tracting: Knocking on doors to meet people. The final level of Missionary Dash is basically one very important knock.
Pass-along card: A small card with a message and contact info that missionaries hand out. In one encounter, the Temple Square sisters hand one to you.
Dinner appointment: When ward members feed the missionaries. The dinner calendar is sacred. In the game, accepting one fully restores morale and adds leftovers.
Member: A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In Salt Lake City, statistically, the person you're talking to.
Ward / branch / stake: Local congregations (wards or smaller branches) grouped into stakes. Bishop Halvorsen of the 14th Ward appears with a trunk full of food.
Bishop: The lay leader of a ward. In the game, bishops have granola bars in their gloveboxes.
Relief Society: The Church's organization for women, famous for service and, not unrelatedly, for having leftovers.
Primary: The Church's organization for children. A Primary class singing at you is one of the nicer things that can happen on the trail.
Sacrament meeting: The main Sunday worship service. Sundays in the game mean church, then a half day of riding.
General Conference: A twice-yearly worldwide broadcast from Salt Lake City in April and October. Downtown traffic becomes a spiritual trial.
Pioneer Day: July 24, a Utah holiday with parades marking the pioneers' arrival in the Salt Lake Valley. Ride in summer and you'll hit the parade.
Funeral potatoes: A cheesy potato casserole served at funerals, potlucks and every other occasion. In the game, it counts as a snack. It counts as everything.
Fry sauce: Ketchup plus mayo, a Utah staple. It will not come out of a white shirt.
Jell-O: Utah's official state snack, often with carrots in it, for reasons nobody can explain.

Missionary life, explained (with bicycles)