I'm back. That's right.
Back.
Back to my blog and back to the world where my life consists of wearing pants, listening to modern music, and being a regular young adult human being. Which is why I can actually be writing this right now.
Except for one thing.
I have now joined the small (in world terms) ranks of returned missionaries, people who have had stepped into the shoes of being set apart, consecrated, and thrown into the relatively bloodless but ultimately spirit wrenching battlefield of earth's missionary realm, and have come back to reality.
It tends to change things up a bit.
But here's where it gets really interesting.
Because life is really interesting. It is a 70 or 80 or 90 year experience that we have during a an experience that lasts for trillions and trillions and trillions of years.
An eternity actually.
Whoa, earth life is something pretty brief and extraordinary.
It seems there are RM's who go around thinking that they have hit their spiritual peak, that it is all downhill from here, that their MISSION... Oh their beautiful mission, if only they could return....
Really, people?
Do you not think this is exactly where God wants you to be right this second?
Yes. A mission is a beautiful grand experience. You breathe. You live. You love. You laugh. You cry. Yes. You feel like you have never felt before.
So, does the removal of a little plastic black square from your shirt remove the capacity for all that?
No. It doesn't. Only YOU can do that. Only I can do that. And that's the way I see it. Some doors have been closed.
But many have been opened. I can still talk to the stranger sitting by me on the bus IF I have the gall to do so. AND NOW, My family has become such a great priority to my life, my personal "purpose". I can play basketball with Hyrum! And I can study my scriptures with Kristen. I can actually talk to my piece of forever anytime I want. That's a big deal to me.
I can improve my talents by practicing the piano. I can redeem people who have passed on.
And yes, some days I miss my mission.
But, life is a great mission.
And life is not over yet. Nor is it ever. So, I don't really want to pine over what is not, but I 'd rather recognize what can be. With the help of God.
RM really can stand for "Real Meaning".
