Transitioning to Eternal Life

It has been nearly a year since I returned home from my two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  These are some thoughts I submitted as a response to the church's magazine, The Ensign.  I don't know that they will be published, but I can at least share them here:

Carefully examining my reflection in the mirror, my heart was filled with joy and determination as I placed the black tag on my shirt pocket.  This was a daily sacrament for me, a time when I could remember and rejoice that I was a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I refused to ever think that my time as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints would ever come to an end; then it did.  In a small room at church, just before Sacrament Meeting, my Stake President commended my efforts and then released me from my calling.  He told me to remove my tag and left me alone to do so.  I knelt in prayer to thank God for the blessing of being His missionary, and then took the tag from my pocket for the last time as tears flowed across my cheeks.  I was sad, but simultaneously filled with a determination to never turn back now that my hand was placed to the plow.  The words of Elder David A. Bednar echo the feelings of my heart in that moment, “A release as a full-time missionary is a call to serve as a lifelong missionary.” (Becoming a Preach My Gospel Missionary, from a devotional address given at the Provo MTC on June 24, 2011)

As I have moved forward with that determination over the past year, the Lord has taught me some invaluable lessons of how to continue down the path of discipleship.  I hope that I can illustrate the doctrines and principles from my experiences that can be applied to every situation.

Oftentimes I would dread talking with people because they would inevitably ask me some question that was impossible to answer in words.  The mission, like all experiences with the divine, is an experience that cannot be fully communicated from one person to another; it must be experienced personally, and everyone wanted a summary of thirty seconds in casual conversation.  The most antagonizing question, though, was this: “How are you adjusting to real life?”  

Such a question implied that people wanted me to adjust, or settle, to a lower standard of living than what I had just experienced.  The thought was terrifying, because it promoted the thought that the mission really was the best two years of life, and there was nothing to look forward to now that it was over.  Instead of adopting that attitude, I determined that I would continue progressing forward.  Rather than adjusting to my surroundings, I would transition to an even higher standard and lift others up.  Then when people would ask that question, I would give a polite response and inwardly think, “I have been adjusting to eternal life very well over the past two years, how about you?” This helped me to remember that a disciple of Christ continues ever onward in his progression, and never goes back to what he was before turning his heart to God.

One of the driving factors of that progress as a missionary was the clear vision that I had of who I was and what was expected of me in that time period.  That vision quickly fades when we leave the structure of the mission, unless we do something about it.  After crossing the Jordan River with Joshua, the Israelites raised an ebenezer, a stone of remembrance of what God had done for them.  Following the counsel of wise leaders, I have raised my own ebenezers as consistent reminders that I am a son of God, a disciple of Christ, and that the Lord has worked many miracles for me in my life. An ebenezer might be a picture of Christ, pictures from our missions, a record of blessings and miracles in a daily journal, or anything that helps us remember.  I always have my black tag where I can see it daily and remember that even though it is not written for others to see, the Savior’s name is still written upon my heart.  Remembering these things helps me to see how my mission began before I ever had a black tag on my pocket, indeed even before this life began, and it will continue today, tomorrow, and forever.  I can then continue with a motivation to pray earnestly, feast upon the scriptures, and serve the Lord’s children each day of my life.

During my mission I had the misconception that I would never have opportunities to learn and grow so fully and rapidly as I did during those two years.  I testify that our rate of progress can be accelerated after our missions if we will apply what we were taught on our missions.  The structure and rules of mission life placed a protective guard around our personal agency so that we could learn willing obedience in a safe environment.  When we return home that structure of accountability is removed.  With that increased freedom, we have the potential to fall farther or rise higher than ever before.  In other words, when the consequences (good or bad) administered by the church itself and the men within it become less imposing, the spiritual consequences of the same divine laws increase.  As we continue to consecrate ourselves and obey willingly throughout our lives, our freedom increases and our rate of growth increases.  This is part of the process of becoming like our Father in Heaven, who has a divine mastery of His moral agency.  Returning home from a mission requires us to either turn to the Lord for an increased vision of His will for us or settle for mediocrity.  If we desire it, God will direct us in how to move forward and the Savior’s Atonement will empower us to carry out every command we receive by the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  As members of His church trained by missionary service, we are called to serve.