I have probably started this blog post at least 10 times. I have so many thought and ideas about what I want to write but simply cannot word it correctly. I want to address being an Early Return Missionary (ERM) and the difficulties that come with that. When you are an ERM people do not treat you the same way they would treat a "normal" RM. Instead of asking, "How was your mission?" They ask, "How are you doing?" ERM's are the same as RM's with the only difference being that they may not have served as long as they had expected. We still filled out papers, received a call, prepared, and ultimately left our families and put our lives on hold for a time. Our call letter stated that it is "expected" that we will serve 18 months to 2 years. For some the Lord did not need our help as long as others. We served our time and learned what we needed to while we were on our missions.
When I tell people that I am an ERM you can tell when the questions start going through their minds of why I came home? Did I do something wrong? The truth is that more that half of ERM's did nothing wrong they had diffrent reasons for coming home most of them were beyond their control. This is a graph from a study done at Utah Valley University of ERM's and why they came home:
You can find more info on the study
here.
I know that I was meant to serve a mission. Even if it was only for 5 months. I learned what I needed to and touched those that needed me. And I am glad that I was able to have that experience.
