Long-time Utahn nevermo lurker here. At that time of life when many friends are leaving/gone on missions; feeling thoroughly sorry about it, but neither my closest friends (exmos) or I are ones to go around bursting illusions when they seem to be giving people a measure of happiness. However, I've got one close friend who has sort of been thinking about going since the age change announcement. If she was going because she actively believed this was the best thing she could do and that she actively wanted to go out and teach and convert people, I would say nothing, but I have suspicions that's not the case. She's not a die-hard TBM, and in a normal setting she wouldn't dream of trying to air her views on religion to others. She's very attached to staying at home and her family (has problems being away for more than a week) and has said that she wants to go on a mission so she can get over this kind of homesickness. Also, a month or so ago she told me that she feels like she needs to go on a mission so she can figure out if this is what she really believes. I don't think I'm wrong in saying that it'll be about a thousand times harder to objectively think about her faith if she's constantly surrounded by it and the pressure to

Oops, didnt finish.

...convert others, etc. etc. Not to mention, as an antisocial person, she'll have it rough being constantly with a companion 24/7 (she was done being around me a lot after just one week at a national conference, and she -knows- me well). Is there anything non-antagonistic I can say to make sure she thinks about these questions before she goes ahead and does it, or should I just shut my mouth?

Ask her if she's sure this is something she wants to do or something she feels like others want her to do.

I think be honest about your feelings. Don't pop her bubble about church history or anything, just try to be a caring friend that is there for her.

How the mission field changes your friend is up to her.

Some missionaries come back utterly indoctrinated.
Others come back utterly disillusioned.

In both cases there are practical benefits from being a missionary.
There are also some major drawbacks.

But that's pretty much the case in every life venture.

Unfortunately the deck is stacked. In LDS life there is really no other option but "To Go" for many people. I mean no one is going to claim (and be believed) that they weren't meant to go.

You know your friend better than anyone else here though. It's hard to be the only voice of reason, but one voice of reason is better than no voice, even if it is to no avail.

But even if she goes, it might not be all bad. MY mission did a lot of eye opening for me.

If I could have changed one thing about my mission, I wouldn't have gone. If I had a second thing I had to change, I would have left in the middle of my first night, got a job in the city where I was sent, and my own apartment, and spent a few years being a young, single, non-Mormon man in San Diego, CA.

Hell, I could have just gone off, got a job, then make the church try to evict me while I looked for another apartment. Once your name is on the lease...

If her major objective is to get over homesickness, she should go off to college and live in a dormitory. It's a nice, easy transition for those kids who are still very attached to their families. She would get to call and email home to her heart's content. But there would be so many fun things for her to do that it would start to wean her away from overdependence on her folks.