Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

EXPLORE

Society & Culture

Health & Fitness

© 2024 PodJoint

https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts221/v4/9d/d3/0a/9dd30a31-79cc-6d15-d52e-0b4aed6788e7/mza_15045347800784685133.jpg/600x600bb.jpg

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

Kristen Reber

60 episodes

1 month ago

At the time of this recording, Josie had been home from her mission for only eight months. Her feelings are raw and poignant as she shares the ups and downs of her mission. She struggled adjusting to mission life and would frequently call her mom to connect and feel better (which wasn't allowed). She developed chronic stress hives and frequently felt like she wasn't a successful missionary despite all the service she was doing. Josie eventually decided to go home which was another adjustment ...

Show more...

Religion & Spirituality

All content for Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early is the property of Kristen Reber and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

At the time of this recording, Josie had been home from her mission for only eight months. Her feelings are raw and poignant as she shares the ups and downs of her mission. She struggled adjusting to mission life and would frequently call her mom to connect and feel better (which wasn't allowed). She developed chronic stress hives and frequently felt like she wasn't a successful missionary despite all the service she was doing. Josie eventually decided to go home which was another adjustment ...

Show more...

Religion & Spirituality

Episodes (20/60)

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

061: Josie shares her raw feelings about returning home early due to a difficult adjustment and stress hives

At the time of this recording, Josie had been home from her mission for only eight months. Her feelings are raw and poignant as she shares the ups and downs of her mission. She struggled adjusting to mission life and would frequently call her mom to connect and feel better (which wasn't allowed). She developed chronic stress hives and frequently felt like she wasn't a successful missionary despite all the service she was doing. Josie eventually decided to go home which was another adjustment ...

2 years ago

49 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

060: Amanda shares her story of hope and healing after having her leg amputated below the knee after getting hit by a car on her mission

Amanda Evergreen--also known as the One-Footed Phoenix--joined me to share her story of hope and healing after having her leg amputated below the knee after getting hit by a car on her mission. Amanda walks me through her struggles with mental illness on her mission before getting hit by the car, the negative response she received while on her mission when she couldn't continue to work, and then a 3.5 year struggle with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome before the decision to amputate was made. ...

2 years ago

39 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

059: Cody shares his story of healing from narcissistic abuse while on his mission

Cody endured bullying in childhood and in his teenage years at school and at church. Despite this, he has a deep love for the gospel and still desired to serve a mission. He served in the south and it was a very difficult mission--not only because he was serving in the Bible belt of America, but because he dealt with narcissistic abuse from many that he worked with. He was sent home after dealing with a lot of gaslighting, fear tactics, and demands of "perfect obedience." Upon returning home...

2 years ago

1 hour

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

058: Edina shares her story of returning home early to help her mom with depression

Edina lives in Hungary and was 27 years old when she joined the church. Eight years later, at the age of 35, she decided to serve a mission. It was not an easy decision for her, but she chose to do it because of her love and trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. After a short time, she returned early because her mother was very depressed. She chose to come home to help her mom. Mental health is not well understood in Hungary (or anywhere, really), and she had a hard time finding s...

2 years ago

37 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

057: Brady shares his story of returning home early due to anxiety and depression

Having been born and raised in the church, Brady was excited to serve a mission. He had a bit of anxiety in the beginning as he adjusted to Brazilian culture and the language. After he became a district leader, his anxiety increased quite a bit and depression came along for the ride. It was so confusing and frustrating to sort out what was happening to him. He had a great mission president, but unfortunately some other missionaries said some hurtful and unhelpful things. Upon returning home e...

2 years ago

44 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

056: Wallis shares her story of returning home early to her dad declining from ALS after suffering from depression and self-harming on her mission

Wallis served for four months in Calgary before coming home due to depression and self-harming. She had an amazing support group--including her companions, mission president, and parents (so if you fit any of these categories and want to know how to help your missionary, this is a GREAT episode for you!), but also came home to a heartbreaking situation with her dad being newly diagnosed with ALS. Wallis walks us through her journey of depression, self-harm, adjusting to her dad's declining st...

2 years ago

48 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

055: Haley shares her story of choosing to return home after four weeks due to physical illness

Haley served for a total of four weeks--three in the MTC and one in the field--before choosing to return home early due to physical illness. While she had support at home, Haley still struggled with feelings of shame and loss, as well as anger towards God. In this episode she tells me her story of repairing her relationship with God, owning her decision to come home early, and working through the emotions of an early return. She also talks about how she recognized that returning to the field ...

2 years ago

36 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

054: Psychologist and Life Coach, Cortland Watson, discusses the psychological and emotional aspects involved in returning home early from a mission

Psychologist and Life Coach, Cortland Watson, joined me on the podcast to discuss many of the psychological and emotional aspects involved in returning home early from a mission. Using personal stories and insights from his life, his career, and his education, Cortland guides the listener through learning more about emotions, identity, expectations, failure, shame, growth vs. fixed mindset, and so much more. He offers strategies for moving forward in life with connection. Cortland also ...

2 years ago

57 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

053: Meg shares her story of deep depression due to hiding her sexuality and experiencing chronic pain

Meg returned home early after three months of service in Fresno, California. She spiraled into a deep depression due to hiding her sexuality and experiencing chronic pain. Her mission president and his wife did the best with the information that they had but left her with trauma because they didn’t understand how to address mental health. In this episode, Meg talks about her journey of self-acceptance, better understanding the Atonement, helping others on their journeys, and the importance of...

2 years ago

38 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

052: Nicholas shares his story of returning home early due to trauma caused by abuse from a member

Growing up in the church, Nicholas never knew if the gospel was for him and he struggled to go to church because of his anxiety and lack of desire. After receiving his patriarchal blessing, and being amazed by the things stated in his blessing, he developed a testimony of the church and decided for himself to serve a mission. He served in Denver, Colorado but soon suffered from pain and verbal abuse, which caused him to suffer from mental health issues. He also suffered some verbal abuse from...

3 years ago

42 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

050: A chat with author Destiny Yarbro who returned home early twice for physical and mental health reasons, and now helps early-returned missionaries all over the world

Destiny Yarbro returned home early twice. The first time she returned home early from the MTC for physical health reasons. The second time, she went to the mission field and then returned early for mental health reasons. She not only felt like she had failed the Lord upon this second return, but she truly felt like she had committed a transgression (even though she hadn't) because the Lord didn't heal her and so must not want her in the field anymore. Destiny experienced a chronic illn...

3 years ago

44 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

049: Addie shares the many emotional, mental, and physical health trials she experienced on her mission before ultimately being sent home due to COVID-19

Addie had always desired to serve a mission and when her call came, she was excited to go! However, a few months into her mission, she was emotionally abused by her companion and housemates. It was a very isolating experience for her. She also began having some physical health problems due to allergies. And, to top it off, she suffered a lot from OCD as well. Despite these things, Addie did manage to continue on until the COVID-19 pandemic struck and she was sent home along with thousands of ...

3 years ago

44 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

048: Jackson shares his story of returning from his mission early twice for physical health reasons

In this episode, Jackson shares his story of returning home early twice. The first time, he served for eight months before physical health problems required that he come home. The second time, he served for seven months (in the same mission) before a different set of physical health struggles struck him and he again needed to return home early. Through all of this, Jackson had an amazing support system who helped him to talk kindly to himself and put things in their proper perspective. He tel...

3 years ago

39 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

047: Jacob shares his story of returning home early for physical health reasons, dealing with judgement, and ceasing his habit of seeking validation from others.

Jacob started his mission journey long before he even got his mission call. Overweight and insecure, Jacob decided to make some changes. He got into body-building and realized it was a way from him to grow and push himself. He decided to apply this new mentality to all areas of his life, including spirituality, and eventually decided to serve a mission. However, as soon as he arrived in his mission, he began experiencing breathing problems, possibly due to the recurrence of a childhood...

3 years ago

36 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

046: Violet tells her story of returning home early due to depression and anxiety and then serving a service mission in the San Jose area

Violet was born deaf and wears two cochlear implants. She served a mission to Washington D.C. speaking ASL. She came home early due to depression and anxiety after much consideration, prayer, and counseling with her mission president. She later served a service mission in her hometown area of San Jose. She shares with me her strong testimony and faith in God despite her trials (including the depression and anxiety that still plague her). She is a bright beacon of hope for anyone else struggli...

4 years ago

45 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

045: Summer shares her story of returning home early from the MTC due to depression and anxiety

After a period of inactivity, Summer returned to church and began receiving promptings and dreams about serving a mission. She followed these promptings, but upon entering the MTC she developed terrible anxiety, including panic attacks, and depression. Her mental health became so bad that her physical health began to decline as well. She returned home from the MTC feeling confused and defeated. She soon discovered the reason for her early return though when she was able to help a friend embra...

4 years ago

38 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

044: Jake shares his story of growing up with cerebral palsy, becoming inactive, discovering himself as an LGBTQ+ individual, returning to church, serving a mission, and returning home early due to belated confession

Jake was born with cerebral palsy and as a result was often excluded from activities as a youth in the church. As a result of this exclusion, and a falling out with a friend, Jake became inactive during his later teen and young adult years. He is part of the LGBTQ+ community and identifies most closely as queer. While he was away from the Church, Jake had a close brush with suicide and felt the Spirit tell him to "come home." Jake contacted the missionaries who helped reignite his testimony a...

4 years ago

56 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

043: Kate returns home early due to emotional and physical abuse from companions

Throughout her childhood, Kate was emotionally and physically abused by her father, and then later by her stepmother. While on her mission, Kate experienced anxiety and undiagnosed ADHD. These mental health struggles were not understood by her companions and they became exasperated with her and abused her emotionally and even physically as well. This re-traumatized Kate and brought up a lot of PTSD. She was given a sedative to calm her, but eventually things came to a head and she decided to ...

4 years ago

53 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

042: Genisse's story of coming home early due to depression and anxiety and then returning to her mission

Genisse is the first missionary I have spoken with who came home early due to mental health reasons and then returned to her mission. In this episode, she shares with me her journey of choosing to come home and then choosing to return which includes the ups and downs of therapy, moving forward with life during the 16 months she was home, keeping the desire to return to her mission alive, and going through the required process to return. She also shares what it was like to return to a mi...

4 years ago

27 minutes

Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early

041: Pascal Friedmann shares his story of returning home early due to severe thyroid dysfunction

In this episode, Pascal tells me his story about returning home early due to a prolonged illness that started about a month after he arrived in the field. It was misdiagnosed as depression and homesickness, but turned out to be severe thyroid dysfunction. Pascal shares how he was ostracized by many in his ward back home in Germany and how that led to a period of inactivity because he felt like he didn't belong. When he moved to Utah for school, he felt like he was able to start over with the ...

4 years ago

30 minutes