On this episode of the Cultural Hall, we’re having a long-overdue conversation about something that affects so many families but doesn’t get talked about enough: returning home early from a mission. We sat down with Jon Larsen and his daughter Brooklyn to get real about their family’s journey through this exact experience.
Brooklyn opens up about getting called to the Argentina Rosario Mission, the brutally exhausting travel to the Mexico City MTC, and how running on practically zero sleep quickly spiraled into severe anxiety and OCD. Jon brings a really valuable perspective, not just as a dad trying to support his daughter from thousands of miles away, but also as a mental health professional with 25 years of experience. He talks about the helplessness parents feel and the tricky balance of knowing when a missionary is just facing standard growth struggles versus when they are in a genuine mental or physical crisis.
We get into the weeds of the cultural stigma surrounding early returns, how isolating and overwhelming it can feel when you first step off that plane alone, and what members can do to actually help instead of just ignoring the situation. Jon and Brooklyn also share the awesome new resource they’ve built together called Returning Stronger, which offers peer mentoring, coaching, and a six-week course designed to help missionaries and their families transition back to normal life.
You can find more info and check out their resources at returningstronger.com.
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