Life after Mission

Well it has now been about 7 weeks since I returned from my mission in Western Australia. The adjustment has been interesting to say the least. The first couple of weeks I struggled, but not in ways I thought I would. I didn't feel like I needed a companion for more than a couple of days and felt like I fit into normal life. But not having a set schedule really was annoying to me, and thinking about my future was hard. As a missionary you only focus on one day at a time for the most part, with a week in the back of your head, but never past a transfer. When I go home I felt like I immediately had to have my whole life planned out with a major and career, but I had no idea what I wanted to do, which was frustrating to say the least. Then I felt like I had lost social skills. I have never been super outgoing, but on my mission I learned how to talk to people really well. But when I got home I realized I could talk to people about Perth for a while, but back home I could not do that. I also felt like I had lost the ability to listen to people really well. I found myself drifting off during conversations for no reason. On my mission I also felt that I had a really good ability to ask really good questions, it is something I had put heaps of time into and felt like that had payed off. Now though I felt like everything I had gained just disappeared as soon as I got home.

Then there was adjusting to America. I was not used to being surrounded by so many white people and so many thick American accents, and when I got to BYU so many Mormons. Randomly I would get really bad home sick feelings for Australia which surprised me quite a bit. So much stuff was going on I did not know how to cope.

Fast forward five weeks and most of those problems seem to be gone. I still miss Australia, but not as much, I have gotten used to the American accent, which actually makes me a bit sad, and I feel like I have my life somewhat in control. I think I am going to be an IT major, I am enjoying the classes I am taking and feel like I fit in there. I still am adjusting, but I feel like I will eventually be normal.