Cover image via Gospel Media Library. 

Recently, I have been talking with missionaries from Africa who are about to complete their missions and return home. For many of them, a mission has been as much of a temporal blessing as a spiritual blessing. On their mission, they have a roof over their head, three meals a day, and access to medical care. Many are the first converts in their family. When some of them were baptized, their family disowned them. I talked with one missionary whose family kicked him out and he lived on the streets for five years until he earned enough money to buy a passport and submit his papers to serve. Several had already lost loved ones before their missions, a parent, a sibling, or others. Their mission is a sought-after opportunity to show the Lord their love by serving Him!

Now, as they complete their mission, their anxiety level goes sky high! Will they be able to find work? Can they afford to go to university? Who will I marry? Can I afford to get married? In some countries, the men have to save money for the traditional “bride price” to pay the family when they marry. Often, they also have to save enough money to pay rent for a year in advance to have a place to live with their new eternal companion.

Thankfully, the church has been organizing a resource in many countries called The Gathering Place. There they have access to institute classes, Pathway, the Perpetual Education Fund, keyboard classes for computers, English Connect, etc. Some mission presidents in the Africa West Area have created a “Springboard Transfer” as an additional support along with “My Plan” that missionaries use to plan the next chapter of their lives. Still, there can be much anxiety.

My question to them is: “During your mission, have you felt the love of the Lord?” The answer is a resounding ‘YES !!” The next question is “Do you think the Lord will continue to love you after your mission?” Of course he will. He always will !!

How about you and me? Have we felt the Lord’s love? Do we think the Lord will continue to love us in each chapter of our lives? As we begin a new chapter, how can we manage our anxiety? How can we create a plan? What resources can we find and rely on to develop our own “Springboard Transfer?”

Maybe our transfer is going to serve a mission, coming home from a mission, maybe returning early from a mission for whatever reason. Maybe our next chapter begins as we create a new family or learn to thrive as a single. Maybe the next chapter is after the loss of a job, the loss of a home, financial difficulties, health problems, or the loss of a loved one.

There is excellent counsel in Adjusting to Missionary Life. [Some of the words have been changed from counsel to missionaries so it applies to all of us.]

Things You Can Do Now

  • Find ways to serve others. As a disciple of Christ, life is a call to service. Focus on looking outside of our own feelings of discomfort to minister to those who are in need of a kind word, an act of charity, or friendship.
  • Talk with others about the adjustment to our next chapter. Make time to discuss the following questions with parents, family, priesthood leaders, or friends:

– What can we learn from scriptural examples of God requiring people to do things that are beyond what they feel capable of doing? (See Exodus 4:10–12; Jeremiah 1:6–9; Alma 17:10– 12; 26:27; Ether 12:23–27; Moses 6:31–32.)

– Why is it important to go to bed and wake up on time, maintain good nutrition, get regular exercise, and have personal prayers?

– How can writing in a journal help us during challenging experiences?

– How can we respond when troublesome thoughts or feelings don’t go away?

  • Focus on strengthening our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Seek His Spirit through personal prayer, scripture study, uplifting music, reading our patriarchal blessing, and other ways we have found to be helpful.
  • Be kind to ourself and others. Talk to ourself with the same comforting, kind words we might imagine the Savior using. Remember, thoughts of helplessness, hopelessness, or harsh condemnation are not from the Lord.
  • Expect the unexpected. Our experiences in life will not be the same as someone else’s. Everything will not go exactly as we’ve planned or as we think it should. Examining our expectations will help us be open and receptive to change.

Summary: As we go through life, prepare to embrace change. Many chapters will likely be different than anything we’ve yet experienced, but if we come with a positive attitude, exercising faith in the Lord, and anticipating the need for patience with ourself and others, the Lord will reward and bless us. Remember the counsel given to the Prophet Joseph Smith at a very difficult time in his life: “Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (D&C 122:7).

May the Lord continue to bless us as we progress through all the chapters of our life!