Ways to deal with coming home early from your mission
I don’t profess to be an expert on dealing with coming home
from a mission even though I did it, but I have talked to a lot of people like
me, and prayed about it a lot. I am combining the awesome knowledge of God,
Jesus, other amazing returned missionaries, so anything that seems stupid or
incorrect should be blamed on me, not on them. Here are some of the things that
these stellar people have come up with to help those coming home early from
their missions:
1. Come unto Christ – No matter what
reason caused you to come home, Christ can help you solve it. The Atonement
allows us to heal in ways that we never even knew we were broken. It is not
just for repentance. It is for solace and understanding. No matter what reason
you came home, Christ has suffered for it so that you don’t have to feel nearly
as much pain if you just let him in to heal your heart.
2. Remember that it
is always a step forward – Sin is the only way we can step backward, and if
we are trying our best to avoid sin and do good things, we will be going
forward in God’s plan for us. Remember the words of “Lead, Kindly Light” -- “Keep
thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene – one step enough for me.” As long as we are living worthy of the Spirit
and are doing our best to be our best, anything that might seem a setback or a
stumbling block is just a platform to climb to somewhere higher that God has in
store for you.
3. Keep up your
scripture habits – Recently one of the people I visit teach told me that
she highlighted everything in her scriptures that brought her comfort. God
speaks to us through the Holy Ghost, which can be accessed through the sincere
study and application of the scriptures. God loves you and He has whole
chapters written just to bring you comfort at this very time, no matter what
state you are in. He wants to help you, so keep reading!
4. Keep busy! –
You have just been coming from one of the most tasking jobs on all levels that have
ever been created. If you attempt to transition from a super busy lifestyle to
doing nothing, you will probably find yourself with a lot of downtime to mope
and feel down. Satan is the being that is in charge of making us feel
inadequate or sad. God wants us to smile and be happy. Tell the devil to go to
hell, and do your very best to find productive things to do.
5. Pray – We learn
from President Thomas Monson that God’s love is there whether we deserve it or
not. He is waiting with innumerable blessings of comfort and guidance, and all
we have to do is ask. This is not something you can get through without heavy,
intense relying on the Lord.
6. Give people the
doubt – I have found that if I am looking to be offended, I am very
persuasive and often end up offended. Chances are that people really do care
about you, but they don’t know how to handle themselves or are very far from
sensitive. There will always be some haters, but luckily their salvation is not
dependent on you, so just try to keep the attitude that no one is judging you,
and those that don’t are awesome, true friends and those that do are going to
have their own kind of judging reserved for them after this life.
7. Never be ashamed
– God loves you and He is the only one who matters. If God has given you a
concrete answer to your prayers, you trust in that relationship without being “ashamed
of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” and NO ONE ELSE’S OPINION MATTERS! You are a
child of God, no matter what illnesses (spiritual, mental, physical) that you
may go through and nothing will ever change that. Never be ashamed of who you
are.
To be quite honest, coming home early from my mission is one of the most bitter-sweet, horrible, amazing blessings that has ever happened to me. There is nothing else that has been able to test my mission skills and help me to apply my faith so much. It was also the hardest time of my entire life, which is how most of us feel. You feel abandoned, worthless, weak, and you constantly have people probing and prying at open wounds. Good! So many times we have to be humbled in order for God to have easy access to our hearts. So many times we cannot see more than one step ahead of us, but we trust in God's promises and keep His commandments, we will end up happy. God loves you! You are a powerful child of God! There IS hope! Keep up the good work and don't you dare give up on yourself. He would never give up on you.
