As of today, I have been off my mission for the same amount of time that I was on it. I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for 2 years and 2 days, and it has been exactly that amount of time that I have now been home.
On my mission, I gained a lot of experience and grew as a person. My commitment to my faith in Jesus Christ increased as I came to understand better exactly what his Gospel meant for me and what it could mean for others. I grew to love humanity and understand, in some small degree, what it means to be selfless, to give of myself. I don’t believe that I have the words to really describe my experience there and do it justice. It is incredibly meaningful to me personally, and I know that I was able to do good to others and bring to many those things that I know to be true, truths which I treasure.
Now that I have been off my mission for the same period of time, I wonder the effect that this period of time has had one me. Has it been as significant for me? Have I grown as much, continued to improve myself? This period is a very different one in my life than my mission was, with different goals, objectives, and activities. I am learning much, and having very different and important formulative experiences. But I am growing enough? Or am I maintaining sufficiently the growth and character that I developed on my mission?
There are many who feel like they just can't be as good or grow as much as they did on their mission. I believe that your post mission life can be as good and fulfilling as your mission, if not more. It is only different. We have different experiences and grow in different ways. Perhaps this feeling comes because we are no longer serving God 24/7.
Or are we? I believe that we serve God in more ways then just preaching the Gospel. Preparing to contribute to the world by pursuing education, working an honest job, raising a family, developing our talents, befriending others, and serving in Church and other capacities. Maybe it's just harder to focus and put things into perspective.
I don't think I'm wise enough to enumerate how I've changed and grown since my mission, but I do believe that I have. I hope to continue to improve and grow in various ways. Improvement may be hard, but it is worth it.
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I agree. I had the same thoughts a month or so ago when I had been home for one year. Wondering how much progress I had made, and am making. I believe we can make just as much progress being home but it is not as easy to measure because we do not have two years that are isolated from the others, or we don't have as stark a "before and after" picture of ourselves.
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