Early Homecoming: Insights from Missionaries who Returned Early
64 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 months ago - ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsKristen Reber, author of Early Homecoming: A Resource for Early-Returned Missionaries, their Church Leaders, and Family, shares stories and insights from returning home early from her Latter-day Saint mission that provide healing and hope to those experiencing the myriad of emotions that come from an early return. Also included in this podcast are interviews with other missionaries who have returned home early, parents, church leaders, and experts.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
013: Brian Recounts what He has Learned the Last 20 Years from Coming Home Early due to Homesickness
December 22, 2019 07:00 - 35 minutes - 24.5 MBThis episode is especially for anyone who has been carrying the burden of coming home early for more than ten years. It is also especially for anyone who has born the brunt of unkind comments or false notions in our church culture. Brian suffered from homesickness shortly after entering the field. He chose to return home after six months and doing so felt like admitting defeat. It took him decades to find peace and support and he shares his journey with me in this episode.
012: Tammy Shares Her Perspective as a Parent and Researcher
December 08, 2019 07:00 - 43 minutes - 30 MBIn this episode, Tammy shares her perspective of being a mother of a missionary who came home early due to severe depression and anxiety. When her son came home, there were hardly any resources available to parents, and so Tammy dove into whatever research was available and wrote an article for parents titled "Wounded Warriors" which has been accepted for publication by the Ensign. Tammy and I discussed what she has learned and how she has grown through this trial, and also what is still har...
011: Tyson Discusses Returning Home Early for Worthiness Reasons and then Returning to the Mission Field after Two Years at Home
November 24, 2019 07:00 - 37 minutes - 25.6 MBIn this episode, Tyson discusses with me his need to return home early from his Latter-day Saint mission due to belated confession. He was lucky to have a supportive and inspired bishop as well as parents, but despite this, Tyson returned to what had been causing him trouble before even though he had hoped to get his sins resolved and return to his mission. Thanks to some tough love from his bishop, and a forced look at excommunication, Tyson did eventually make it through the repentance pro...
010: Alyssa Shares her Struggles with Depression and Self-Harm while on a Mission
November 10, 2019 07:00 - 36 minutes - 24.9 MBAlyssa served for eight weeks in the field with two trainers, one of which was very unkind to her. As a result of the constant belittlement, Alyssa began to dive deeper into depression and began to self-harm (which she delves more into at 26:13). She also lost a lot of weight due to the stress and depression. While she did have a good support system upon returning home, she did deal with a lack of understanding about the serious nature of self-harming and depression. Despite being home for o...
Episode 9: Blake shares his experience of serving in the Utah Valley Service Mission after returning home early from Brazil due to anxiety
October 27, 2019 06:00 - 44 minutes - 30.8 MBWhen Blake came home early from his Latter-day Saint proselyting mission in Brazil, he had many questions: Why? What was the purpose of coming home early? What was he supposed to do? How could he move forward? He was initially not interested in serving a service mission until he learned about the Utah Valley Service mission where he would have the opportunity to serve beyond the temple and the Bishop's storehouse. Upon learning this, he felt like he wasn't done and that there was more that h...
009: Blake shares his experience of serving in the Utah Valley Service Mission after returning home early from Brazil due to anxiety
October 27, 2019 06:00 - 44 minutes - 30.5 MBWhen Blake came home early from his Latter-day Saint proselyting mission in Brazil, he had many questions: Why? What was the purpose of coming home early? What was he supposed to do? How could he move forward? He was initially not interested in serving a service mission until he learned about the Utah Valley Service mission where he would have the opportunity to serve beyond the temple and the Bishop's storehouse. Upon learning this, he felt like he wasn't done and that there was more that h...
008: What is a Service Mission and Should I Consider Serving One?
October 13, 2019 06:00 - 47 minutes - 33 MBIn this episode, Elder and Sister Wilkey discuss their roles as Latter-day Saint service mission leaders in the Utah Valley Service Mission and share valuable information about the way service missions are developing and all the different ways to serve in Utah Valley (which they hope will extend to other areas soon!). They share with me the similarities and differences between a service mission and a proselyting mission. They also discuss the role of parents in service missions and explain t...
007: A Chat with YSA Bishop Barry Rellaford
September 22, 2019 18:00 - 40 minutes - 28.2 MBIn this episode, I chat with my friend and colleague Barry Rellaford, who is currently serving as a YSA (young single adult) bishop. During this interview, Barry tells me about the most challenging aspects of being a bishop and the training he receives from the Church (as well as from his life). He also discusses with me how he helps the members of his ward overcome the shame and stigma (both cultural and self-imposed) for coming home early and other reasons, how he leads others along the pa...
006: Hayden's Story of Severe Physical Illness, Mistreatment, Falling Away from the Church, Coming Back, Forgiving Others, and Finding Peace
September 08, 2019 13:00 - 53 minutes - 36.7 MBHayden came home early due to a severe case of H. Pylori. He was mistreated by his companion and mission president, probably due to major misunderstandings about his condition. However, the scars of what was said to him remained for years. Hayden was further judged and mistreated by various ward members for several months after his early return, causing him to no longer feel welcome at church. He was also rejected by several girls he tried to date because he came home early. Wanting to avoid...
005: Deby's Dual Perspective as an Early-Returned Missionary and as the Parent of an Early-Returned Missionary
August 25, 2019 06:00 - 43 minutes - 29.8 MBDeby returned home early from her mission in the Washington D.C. South Mission after 12 months. She shares her struggles with anxiety, depression, and an eating disorder. She discusses how she was mistreated upon returning home early and how it took her ten years before she ever even spoke about her mission. Just recently, her daughter returned home early from a mission and she shares what it was like for her to watch her daughter go through the experience. Deby offers timeless advice to bot...
004: A Chat with Harmony Packer, Therapist and Researcher for Early-Returned Missionaries
August 11, 2019 06:00 - 39 minutes - 27.4 MBHarmony Packer is a therapist at Healthier You in Lindon, Utah who specializes in treating early-returned missionaries. During her undergraduate degree, Harmony joined Dr. Kris Doty-Yells in her research on early-returned missionaries and their parents, helping her publish two research papers titled Return with Trauma: Understanding the Experiences of Early-Returned Missionaries and The Experiences of Parents of Early-Returned Missionaries. In this episode, Harmony and I discuss the types of...
003: Nathan's Story of Dealing with Severe Insomnia and Discovering the Validity of Caring for Oneself
July 21, 2019 21:00 - 43 minutes - 30 MBNathan Winters, author of the Medium article, "What Early-Returned Missionaries Want You to Know," gives a raw interview where he shares his struggles with insomnia on his Latter-day Saint mission, his attempts to grapple cultural notions of "Forget yourself and go to work" with his great need to take care of himself, and how he is coping four months after his early return. Nathan also discusses what he has been found helpful and unhelpful from others who have tried to help him upon his earl...
002: Macady's Story of Coping with Depression and Finding Hope
July 21, 2019 20:00 - 44 minutes - 30.7 MBMacady was diagnosed with depression before deciding to serve a mission, but worked really hard to overcome her illness to still serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was happy in the MTC, but soon felt the incoming of depression as soon as she arrived in the field. Due to a lack of understanding from her mission president, his wife, and those around her, she was sent home after just four weeks of service. In this episode, Macady relates to me her struggle ...
001: My Story of Battling Parasites and Finding Peace with Returning Home Early
July 21, 2019 20:00 - 46 minutes - 31.7 MBThis is my story of returning home early from my Latter-day Saint mission. With the help of my husband, James, I navigate the listener through my experience of choosing to serve a mission, to feeling ill, to my hospital stays in the Philippines, to making the decision to return home early, to choosing to stay home, to finally where I am now: completely at peace with my mission and coming home early. To learn more about my book, click here. Want to know all the nitty-gritty details of my s...