2 Years Home

Four years ago today I went into the Missionary Training Center to prepare to leave on my LDS mission to Alaska.

A mission is an incredible learning experience that transforms your life and changes the way you think about the world. Since I've now been home as long as I was out on my mission, I've been thinking about what I've learned in the two years I've been home. Here are a few thoughts.

• Life doesn't get easier after a mission.

I remember thinking while on my mission, "I'm going to have so much free time when I get home!" Yep. That's not true. Granted, my schedule is much less rigid at home, but that doesn't mean I have less to do. It also becomes a challenge because many different activities compete for your attention and sometimes it becomes difficult to prioritize what is actually most important.

• Goals are really, really, really, important.

While serving a mission, you hear the phrase "Set goals, make plans" about 45 times a day. I've found that I still need to do this. If I don't set goals of what I want to accomplish and when I want to accomplish it, nothing gets done. This is for everything: school, exercise, dating, careers, etc.

• Acne doesn't magically disappear when you're in your twenties.

I thought it did.

• Flexibility is good.

It seems like every long-term plan I've made has changed as time progressed. Not that my goals have necessarily changed, just my step-by-step plan of my life. I think John Lennon said something like, "Life is what happens when you make other plans." Sometimes I stress so much that things aren't going according to my "plan" that I miss some very worthwhile experiences. There are lots of stressors in life that are simply outside my control.

• Don't speed in western Nevada, central Utah, or anywhere in Willard, Utah.

Those cops don't let anyone off with a warning.

• Marriage is important.

I'm not married. I'm working on that.

Now I have the opportunity to be back in Alaska serving the people here, albeit in a different way. It's amazing how reminiscent this experience is of my mission and how much I'm loving it. I've decided I'm going to approach this whole experience exactly the same way I approached my mission; I'm going to try to forget myself completely.