4  Misconceptions About Coming Home

–And the Doctrine to refute them–

Coming home from a Mission is one of the sweetest times of your life if you let it be!  Unfortunately Mormon culture has generated some false ideas about what it is like to come home.  If we let these thoughts and perspectives sink into our minds, it can actually be depressing.  So, in this short blog, I will do my best to help us identify some of Satan’s tactics and then give the Doctrine of Jesus Christ to refute these dark thoughts.

Check out this video of the Joyful reunion of a Mother and her son.

1. Don’t believe that “You will lose the Spirit”!

When I was preparing to come home from my mission, I was extremely nervous because I heard many people say things like, “Once that tag comes off, you’ll never be as spiritually in-tune as you were on your mission”. I am here to tell you, THAT IS A LIE!  If a Returned Missionary continues to study, ponder, pray, attend the temple and continue to be a faithful Latter Day Saint, then the Spirit will continue to give revelation, direction, and comfort JUST as he/she experienced on a mission. Some of the GREATEST revelations of my life have come since I’ve been home (for 2 months).

Here is the Doctrine:

2 Nephi 32:3-6 “…feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do…for behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do. Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ…”

The phrase ‘enter in by the way’ means to be baptized.  If you have been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost– you have the right to have His constant companionship.  Not just when you are on a mission.

2. Don’t believe that “You will be awkward”

Yes, your conversations at first might always revert back to the lessons you learned on your mission, or your Mission President, or your investigators, but that is absolutely what God would want you to talk about after serving Him for 18-24 months of your life! Furthermore if that is “awkward” for someone then they don’t have to listen.  Don’t ever be apologetic when talking about the gospel or spiritual experiences.

Here is the Doctrine:

Luke 9:26 “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.”

3. Don’t try to “adjust”!

I once heard a Returned missionary say, “Now I have found a good balance between the ‘old me’ and the ‘new me'”.   For some reason that statement created a gloomy feeling inside me.   I thought to myself, “Shouldn’t we continue to be the NEW version of us?  Once we have been spiritually re-born, why would we try to incorporate our past self?”

Here is the Doctrine:

CS Lewis “If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.”

Mosiah 27:25 “And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;”

Mosiah 3:19 “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord…”

If we stay in ‘Missionary Mode’ for the rest of our lives, is that bad?  Is that of the Devil or of God?

4. Don’t ‘Relax man’.

As a missionary we have a very jam-packed schedule (if we planned well).  I would often hear comments from other missionaries when they would come in from a long day like, “Man, I just can’t wait to go home and sleep for a week straight and watch movies and eat Doritos and play video games etc…”  Garbage!  Absolute garbage!  The lord has been teaching you how to work, how to plan, how to be productive, how to develop your talents and be faithful for 18-24 Months! So don’t forget what He has been teaching you!

Here is the Doctrine:

Proverbs 4:20-23 “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.  Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Mosiah 2:21 “I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

Doctrine and Covenants Section 107:99 “..let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence.  He that is slothful shall not be counted worthy to stand, and he that learns not his duty and shows himself not approved shall not be counted worthy to stand. Even so. Amen.

Conclusion:

I hope that these misconceptions about returning from a Mission can fade from future returned Missionaries minds and that we can all support them in this wonderful transition.  Coming home from an LDS mission should be a Joyful reunion with family, friends, and acquaintances not our ‘past-self’.  It takes a lot of Discipline to be a Disciple of Jesus Christ.  It has not been an ‘easy-adjustment’ for me, but as I have tried to be faithful, the Lord has given me clearer direction and guidance more than I ever have had in my life.  When we are baptized we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ–so when we take off the tag, His name is still upon us, and written on the “fleshy tables of our hearts.”–2 Cor 3:3 

I am a returned Missionary.  I am a Disciple of Jesus Christ. And this is my testimony which I declare in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.