To the Recently Returned Missionary Part I: Success After the Mission

            I've been back from my mission for a little over 6 months now, but it seems like I learn something every day about what it means to be a returned missionary.  I've read a lot of talks/books directed toward returned missionaries which, although helpful, I feel like miss a lot of the experience.  Returning home is different for everyone, so you probably face different challenges than I do.  Enough is similar, though, that I feel like there are some specific, central Gospel principles that we should turn to.

The Best Is Yet to Come

            I always sort of assumed that after being a personal representative of Jesus Christ that life afterwards would be a bit of a letdown spiritually speaking.  I assumed I that it would be a lot harder to stay on the straight and narrow path, and that my progression towards the Savior would slow, no matter how dedicated I was.  I also thought that I would never have as much success in the work of salvation as I did on the mission.  I was both completely right and completely wrong.

           On the mission I assumed that I would never feel the same kind of inspiration again.  That is both true and false.  It's impossible to describe why, but some of the inspiration leaves and some of it sticks around and pops up at random times, especially when you're doing missionary work.  Although a lot of the inspiration/spiritual power I had on my mission was due to the setting-apart blessing of a missionary, more of it was due to my righteous actions, desires, and the essence of who I was.  To the extent that I kept what I did, what I wanted, and who I was centered on Jesus Christ after the mission, that part of the inspiration stayed.  To the extent that I went back to doing, wanting, and being, things that weren't centered on Christ, the inspiration left.

            One of the great miracles of the mission is that a person not only learns things that will help them progress spiritually, they also learn how to progress spiritually.  To the extent that I applied those principles, I grew and developed just like I did on my mission, so that the person I am now is a far more dedicated disciple than I was when I first got back.  To the extent that I lapsed into mediocrity, I lost some of my momentum.

            Another common sadness associated with returning home is having to accept the "consolation prize" of being a member missionary instead of a full time missionary.  This excerpt from talk by Elder L. Tom Perry given in 2001, changed my perspective forever:

 

            "I had an experience a few years ago of receiving a call from my son, Lee. He told me that my first missionary companion was in his neighborhood, and he wanted to spend a few minutes with me...As missionaries we were given the opportunity of opening up a new town in Ohio to missionary work. Because of this assignment, we were allowed to labor together for 10 months. He was my trainer, my first companion. He came from a family that had taught him the value of hard work. It was difficult for me to keep up with him, but as we served together we drew close together as companions.

 

            Our companionship did not end with the 10-month assignment. World War II was raging, and when I returned home I had only a short time to adjust before I was drafted into military service. On my first Sunday in boot camp, I attended an LDS service. I saw the back of a head that was very familiar to me. It was my first missionary companion. We spent most of the next two and a half years together. Although circumstances were very different for us in military service, we tried to continue the practices of missionary service. As often as we could, we prayed together. When circumstances allowed, we had scripture study together. I recall many companion study sessions under the light of a Coleman lantern in a shrapnel-scarred tent. Several times our reading of the scriptures was interrupted by the sound of an air raid siren. We would quickly turn off our lantern, then kneel together and close our study class with a prayer.

 

We were both set apart as group leaders, and we again had the opportunity to serve and teach together the glorious gospel of our Lord and Savior. We were more successful in the military than we had been as full-time missionaries. Why? Because we were experienced returned missionaries."

 

            Therefore, returning home from our missions need not be a roadblock to keep us from being tools in the Lord's hands to bring about the salvation of others.  Our missions were intended to be a springboard for every aspect of our lives, including our church service.  Remember that serving and lifting members is just as valuable in the Lord's eyes as strengthening and lifting nonmembers.  We should do both.