Return missionaries going inactive

[carbon dioxide]

4 hours ago, Bernard Gui said:

Although I didn't serve there, I have a lot of friends who did. They would vehemently disagree with your statement.

That is fine.  We all have to decide what our body and life is worth.  If one believes a war is just, they should volunteer to go fight it.  I am against drafts.  A just war does not require a draft.  Everyone knows the the war is important and they will step up to fight.  If China or Russia invade the US, the government does not need to draft me.  I am off to the front lines before they contact me.  I will not go fight another person in their own country when their country did not attack or declare war on us.  There is wars of necessity and wars to satisfy a political agenda.  The latter is not worth me ending up in a body bag.

[Sleeper Cell]

1 hour ago, carbon dioxide said:

If one believes a war is just, they should volunteer to go fight it.  I am against drafts.  A just war does not require a draft.  Everyone knows the the war is important and they will step up to fight.  If China or Russia invade the US, the government does not need to draft me.  I am off to the front lines before they contact me.  I will not go fight another person in their own country when their country did not attack or declare war on us.  There is wars of necessity and wars to satisfy a political agenda.  The latter is not worth me ending up in a body bag

A just war does not require a draft?  The US government felt it needed a draft for WW II.   Or don’t you consider that a just war?

Would it be an unjust war to defend another country from an aggressor?  Do you believe the Korean War was a just war?  After all, we were not attacked.  What about sending troops to help defend a NATO ally who has been attacked?  

[RevTestament]

21 hours ago, mapman said:

Thanks for the kind comments. I think that some missionaries might have trouble dealing with not having people tell them what to do because their lives are micromanaged while on the mission, but that didn't affect me very much I don't think because I had been at college for a year and a half before I left and I was pretty eager to get a job and continue school and do things that I wanted to do when I got back. What I do miss, though, is the sense of having a spiritual goals or checkpoints that I felt like I had when in young men's or on the mission. It's probably just a matter of me sitting down and making some goals for myself.

On a happier note, I found out today that I got accepted for an internship at the Joseph Smith Papers

While I didn't have your circumstances, my brother did. I believe one thing that really helped him was going to BYU afterwards vs, the first school he had chosen. He was much happier there, and the environment was more positive, less party, etc. It seems to me that for most young men coming home from a mission is a huge change. As kids in school, they led structured lives usually guided by parents. They went to school, did homework, and sometimes held a part-time job. On a mission their daily lives are even more structured, and highly goal oriented. Every day is planned, and has things to do. Leaving that environment I imagine would pose a challenge for everyone I think. If missionaries come home, they are probably looking either to go to college or get a job. College is a much less structured environment which assumes you have learned what you want to do, and are self-motivated to do it. If attending away from home, there is usually no one to push one along in their daily life, which is why many fall into a party lifestyle. Looking back on my college, I wish I had pursued my interests more than I did. I joined the university choir, and did try to take a diversity of classes I had interest in - most of which I really enjoyed. 
If there is one thing I would really advise, that is to pursue your interests. Most enjoy learning several things. If you enjoy photography, art, astronomy, sports, fishing, hunting, music, etc pursue it rather than get stuck in playing videos at home, which I have seen. That really seems to be just "hiding" from the new challenges. It certainly will not contribute to one's feelings of self-worth and spirituality. Pursuing interests will bring a sense of enjoyment and purpose to your life - perhaps might lead you to find someone you love - and will probably also give you some goals or things you would like to achieve. 

On that note congratulations on your internship at the Joseph Smith Papers - that really does sound interesting - and sounds like you are following this advice already.

We each have talents we can contribute to society and to the Lord. If you don't fully realize them now, your "job" is to find them. From a young age I realized I had a knack for knowing when people lie - perhaps not an obviously "useful" talent, but I believe I subsequently somehow honed it - I sometimes just kind of "knew" things about people. I am not sure if that was a talent attributable directly to me or not, but it did come in useful. It is not something I seemed to have when younger. Soon, as some have brought up, you will probably be ready to enter a new phase of your life - getting married and raising a family, which will certainly fill your daily life with things to do even before having children.

So while your life might feel a lot less guided or structured, on the positive side you are now free to pursue things which interest you. You are free to date. You are free to pursue interests with friends. For some this takes some adjusting, as many have alluded on your thread. But don't get discouraged, as you are beginning the rest of your life, and in a sense are just learning to spread your wings so expect a crash landing or two. Once you get in the air, you will find there are lots of beautiful things to enjoy...

Don't expect that your path will just plop in your lap. Trust in the Lord, and know that He has a plan for you. Pursue your interests, join groups with similar interests, set goals, and soon enough I believe you will find yourself on your intended path.

[flameburns623]

The Military can be an "unnatural situation where everyone else tells you what to do 24/7". 

College dorms are unnatural environments in their own right.

I suspect that Peace Corp/Vista volunteers are living in their own variant of an unreal bubble.

I don't know what the reason might be that returned missionaries in the millennial generation seem to be going inactive at higher rates than earlier generations. But try to compare this not only to earlier generations of RM's but also to other contemporary groups living lives "in a bubble". If 65% of returning veterans are going inactive following their service, if 70% of Peace Corp volunteers go inactive, and 75% of collegw dorm students, but only 35% of RM's . . . well, stll a problem, especially if all those numbers I just confabulated out of my back pocket are double or more those same numbers 25 or so years ago.

But if my query proved correct, it would at least partly change the nature of the problem from, "missionary service is failing to undergird tge faith of LDS faith" to, "something is proving very caustic to the faith of our young people". It might, for one thing, suggest that Church service is psrtially helping stabilize the LDS young men.

Because, frankly, it is the second descriptor which more accurately describes what is happening with our young people today.

Hope this helps to look at the problem differently.

[readstoomuch]

I think almost all missionaries have a challenge in getting back to secular life.  I haven't seen a bunch go inactive, but my son is one of them that did.  A girl waited for him and while she waited she got involved in Mormon Stories (hate to even bring that up).. He met the girl at BYU and then she went to another university to get her masters.  They got married and have a small child and did get married in the temple.  The fall started a few mo the later.  They live a sort of secular Mormon life.  They don't trust the Church.  It used to be that when people questioned the church, they might go inactive, but many searched out another Church.  It seems like when they question now they stop their belief in God or religion.  Some go inactive anyway, not because they questioned, but perhaps they went for the wrong reason or cannot commit to the LDS lifestyle.

As far as quality, many are quite young and they are the generation that texts.  They don't always have the social or personal skills that I saw in my mission 35 years ago.  They are a fine group of people overall.  More go home for medical, especially mental disease than.  I think people are getting used to that and trying to support them as they reintegrate.  They don't all know how to work and I think if they let it, a mission helps them to be better students and take the scriptures into their souls.  Despite the young age and inherent differences, I do think the change was inspired.