Maybe I should pay attention to comments left on blogs???

This morning I was fine tuning my kids blogs and found a comment on Kade's blog that upset me.  Kade had a kid in his district in the MTC that went home early.  They worked so hard with this Elder, and even fasted many days for him.They were all so devastated when he went home.  It was just a couple of weeks before they were to go out into the field..

The mom of the boy posted a comment on Kade's blog saying that if her son had had better companions he wouldn't have gone home.  Now I understand that she is upset that her son came home, but it was harsh--very harsh.  It is not up to other 19 year old boys to keep another boy their age on a mission.  A mission is not for everyone.  I wish I could get a hold of the mom privately, but she has made her identity unavailable or something.  I don't think she needed to lash out at me or my son, or any of the other boys for that matter.

So who is strong enough for a mission?  Those whom the Lord chooses.  We all have baggage.  We all have gone through trials.  Some are just at a place where they have dealt with it and moved on.  Sure it is harder for some.  And for others it seems easy.  It is my belief that even those who seem to have it easy, really don't.  They just learn to make it seem easy.  Being in tune with the Lord helps.  Sometimes that is a real struggle.  Real life bogs us down with insecurities, trials, distractions, excuses.  We need to rely on Him.

I can never figure out why coming home from a mission early for medical or emotional reasons is a big deal.  And yet people make it a big deal, both the family of the one that returned, and the people around them.  It is not failure, nor is it failure to not go on a mission.  It is failure to not live up to the Gospel standards, and last time I looked leaving a mission early or not going on a mission did not necessarily go hand in hand with unworthiness.  Really good guys have not served missions, my husband included.  I hope we can all learn to be a bit more understanding.  Sure a mission is one of the greatest things a person can do, but we can all still be great if we want to.