Nope.
Generally fared better than the faithful.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2014 02:28PM by zenjamin.

Nope,

I left early and feel that I've done very well with my life. Much better than if I had stayed in the cult and continued the indoctrination process.

and mission president. "once a quitter, you'll always be a quitter" I have to thank that jerk for telling me that, it has kept me going when times get tough.

Now have Ph.D. , CEO, nice smart wife, and great kids that are grown, all out of the Church.


I'll never be a bishop, stake president or general authority though. Guess I'll get along fine.

BG,

Great for you. I had a forgotten but I got the same speech when I left. What a dick!

My most successful SIL is a pharmacist and left her mission early because she knew that, being bulimic, she would not be able to hack the pressures. So instead of being a burden to her comp and putting herself through hell, she very wisely came home and dealt with the bulimia, got a degree and a career, married and built a gorgeous house on a large property with horses and had 5 beautiful children.

I'd say she did just fine.

Good for her! She had enough strength and courage to face what she needed to do, and to overcome adversity. Well done!

I know people who completed their missions and still didn't amount to anything.

I know a guy who didn't complete his mission and didn't amount to anything and has spent much of his adult life in jail. I know other people who did complete their mission and didn't amount to anything. I know other people who did complete their mission and later became very successful.

In each case, I I believe completing, or not completing, a mission had pretty much nothing to do with it...

I wish I had got the memo and read up on church history soon after completing my mission. I could of banged a lot more pretty girls in college before finally settling down if I wasn't so brainwashed. I regret not being able to play the field more. At least I'm disease free.

While most 18-21 year olds don't have alot of earning potential, it is still time lost that could have been used gaining experience and building a resume, or going to college. In the long run, thats 2 years of earning potential gone down the drain while being on a mission. I personally know more than a few 21 year olds that are college graduates and have good jobs now. Meanwhile, alot of mormon 21 year olds are just starting college, maybe even getting married and starting a family wihout having jobs. A mission doesn't benefit one's life, it delays it.

Being away two years increased my education bill. Imagine how much more a student will have to pay after two years today. Education costs seem to be 15% increase each year.

I should have just went to college or some trade school and passed on indoctrinaiton. I did walkaway speaking spanish but that was so long ago I probably speak like a 1st grader. No reason to practice as their aren't that many spanish people I care to be friends with at the moment.

Great point Adieu! If these kids quickly get married and haven't finished college, or gotten that extra 2 years of work experience, it will most definitely delay if not permanently reduce their future earning power. I'm not saying earnings equates to success, but I think you know what I mean.

leaving a mission early makes you more determined to prove "them" wrong. Kind of a "I'll show YOU, you SOB's!" and they fight even harder for success because they have something to prove.

Yes but only someone who left early then still remained a devout TBM.

Actually, my mission president talked smack about the missionaries to endured to the end too. You can't win no matter what you do.

I know plenty of kids who didn't amount to anything while on their missions. Once they got home they were fine though.

- amounted more in these few days than in those 16 wasted months before. I only regret it didn't happened earlier ....no I regret, that I thought I have to do that B$ to be accepted as an upright, full fledged person. In a cult I didn't belong to, I didn't believe in. (the only positive thing it brought up - Now I gain a deep testimony of what T$CC is really about)
Just to please others expectations.
I were sent out when I was nearly 21. If I didn't I would already have my bachelor's degree.

I left my mission 3 months early due to depression, but remained a devout TBM for another 22 years. Only left 18 months ago.

I have 2 undergraduate degrees and a post grad diploma, earn a 6 figure salary, have my own home, send my child to a top private school etc. I think I'm reasonably successful.

Even on my mission I thought that propaganda about being a failure your whole life, if you could not succeed at a mission, was a silly Mormon myth. How can you say that 19-23 year olds will never achieve anything in the remaining 60 YEARS of their lives, because they didn't handle a mission well?

Mission life is nothing like real-world life; university, family or regular work life. It simply cannot be used as an indicator for success or failure.

I know two brothers. One is severely disabled and so can't work, but is a lovely person who always has time for others and treats his dog like a king.

The other brother is a successful businessman but ignores his family (including the disabled and elderly ones).

Both are exmormon. You decide who "amounted to anything". (Mormons would think they were both failures!)