SunstoneClassic Podcast #004: Ostracize, Condole, or Congratulate: What to do When Missionaries Come Home Early

By John Dehlin on Nov 16, 2005

Missionaries who return early from their missions for any reason face an unusual problem of re-entry into conventional Mormon life. This session from the 2002 Salt Lake Sunstone symposium addresses several questions surrounding early missionary return, including: What percentage of missionaries return early? Why do missionaries who are given an honorable release for medical reasons still feel stigmatized? Should missionaries who return early simply because they dislike the work be granted an honorable release?

This panel, moderated by Levi Petersion, includes Thom Duncan, Kathy Tyner, Gae Lyn Henderson, Louis Mench, and Chrisopher Bigelow.

To listen to this podcast, click here

For more information on this topic, please check out the May 2003 issue of Sunstone Magazine entitled: “The Stigma of Early Return: New Hope for Healing and Understanding”. This issue contains 4 excellent essays on the issues surrounding the early return of LDS missionaries. The essays include:

 
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1 Comment(s)

  1. Christopher Bigelow has a different understanding of agency than I do. From the podcast at 17:02, Christopher says,

    …I really don’t think that the one-size-fits-all missions you have now work for many people…. Is there a way missionaries could complete some kind of probationary period and then make a truly informed personal decision about how long they want to serve? … Shouldn’t we have that free agency? To force everybody to so-called “succeed” by lasting two full years in order to get an honorable release sounds like the compulsory means we rejected in other spheres.

    Huh? Isn’t that logic the same as saying that McDonald’s is following Satan’s plan because they only give you food if you pay for it? How dare McDonald’s violate my free agency by only giving me food on their terms? That’s not to say that there isn’t some merit to Bigelow’s suggestion about variable lengths of service for missionaries, but his argument about agency doesn’t match anything I’ve ever learned about the subject. Agency is the freedom to choose actions, not consequences.

    Comment # 1 by Bradley Ross | Nov 19, 2005 | Reply

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