Back in the Mission Field

I’m no longer in Utah.

I guess I had been somewhat isolated from that fact since I was unemployed for a lot of the preceding year. Unemployment has the effect of isolating you from people, and from the community at large around you. Well, that isolation has come to an end, and I am rediscovering the joys of being a Mormon outside the Beehive State.

Having grown up in Connecticut and other spots besides Utah, I had more or less grown used to being the token Mormon that everybody knows. It’s something you just get used to, and you try to do your best to represent the church well so that the next time your friends meet a Mormon, they don’t bring up all sorts of stories and such that don’t exactly paint the religion in the best of lights. In fact, I think the sudden lack of that responsibility to be an example is why a lot of Mormons from outside Utah act so disoriented and hostile when they suddenly end up inside the state, like at BYU. It’s weird to go from unique and strange to one of many.

In any case, if I had grown used to being in Utah, I am now finding some extra interesting twists on the typical theme. I brought up the fact that I had gone on a mission at one point, and was actually a little taken aback at how surprised my coworkers were when I told them the details of it. I guess I had been isolated from that since most of my post-mission life had been spent at the Y. The concept of not only being the only Mormon, but also the only married Mormon they know is different as well. I get questions about marriage and relationships that I never did before, so I guess I will have to get used to fielding that type of thing too.

It only goes to show you that life will never let you get used to the challenges you face. The moment that you grow accustomed to one thing, life will toss something new in your path. Oh well.

On a side note, my apologies if people have been checking and finding no updates for a bit. I’ve been slacking somewhat, so I will try and update once a day for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so that I can still get in three posts this week. Hope all of you are doing well, and I will see you later.