Feelings after getting released


Str8Shooter
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After three years I was released from my calling yesterday.  It was a demanding calling and looking at it logically I should be relieved and happy.  I do feel some of those things, but right now I just feel empty; kind of just....blaaahhh.

Has anyone else felt like this after being released?

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15 minutes ago, Str8Shooter said:

Has anyone else felt like this after being released?

Of course, most of us have because, by the time any of us has poured a ton of ourselves into a calling, it is ours, it is us. When that's gone, there's an emptiness for that very reason.

I loved the children in the nursery. Even twelve years later, many of them still called me their teacher (I had "followed" them for a couple of years into Sunbeams and CTRA) and would give me unsolicited hugs. And I loved them, too.

Elders' Quorum President, Sunday School Teacher, even Home Teacher, they all left their marks on me, and when I left or was released, there was a hole.

Lehi

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54 minutes ago, Str8Shooter said:

Has anyone else felt like this after being released?

Yes, absolutely. I have felt this way many times. Part of it is the mantle of responsibility being lifted. Part of this feeling comes from a little loss of identity. Before you had a secure place in the puzzle of the Church organization, and now... how do you fit? Part of it is perhaps realizing that you actually did enjoy and love your calling even more that you knew. Being productive serving in the church is rewarding, and taking that away can feel blahhhh for a while.

I have a church binder and on the cover I keep the following quote that I reference, especially with demanding callings:
"Only if you sacrifice for a cause will you love it".  Demanding callings require sacrifice and the side effect of it all is we tend to love our callings.

Never fear @Str8Shooter, one thing that is guaranteed in the church is that another calling will be on the horizon soon enough!

Edited by NeedleinA
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I used to be terrified of being called to serve in YW, but now that I've been there awhile, I'm so scared that they'll take me away! I think if you've put the love and effort we should into callings, those are natural feelings.

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Thanks for the advice.  I really do appreciate it.

From habit I started thinking about who needed to speak in sacrament meeting.  There was nothing where there was always something and that's when it really hit me.  That mantle has now moved on to someone else.  Even though I know that's how stewardship works, it doesn't make it easier.  That conduit of inspiration has closed and being released has certainly been the hardest part of the calling.

Ugh.  Not fun.

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8 hours ago, Str8Shooter said:

 That conduit of inspiration has closed...

What a wonderful insight to have. What a blessing it is to realize this has actually happened upon being released. By feeling this, once again your testimony is reinforced to the fact that you "were" and that you will "again" some day be uplifted and supported by Heavenly Father while faithfully serving in the Church.

It was always imperative to me that when members received their callings, that we set them apart soon. Being set apart is real, and comes with real blessing to not only carry the mantle but receive inspiration while fulfilling their calling. Now days, if someone I know hasn't been set apart, I always encourage them stand in front of the Ward offices after church and kindly insist that it be done;)

Moons ago I was the Gospel Doctrine Instructor for several years. All week long ideas and thoughts would flow to me about the lesson. I had a very well oiled routine and loved my calling. Upon being released, I was sitting in the audience the following week, my mind was blank to "quick insights" and I opened my mouth to give an answer... sharing what "I knew"... and what came out instead, was a wrong answer. Hah!! I was no longer the GD Instructor, that mantle had moved to the next person. 

Edited by NeedleinA
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I believe this feeling is why it is hard for many recently returned missionaries to remain active: They have felt the spirit of their calling for so long that they take it for granted. Then, the mantle being lifted, they find themselves well and truly in the "lone and dreary world", bereft of that spirit that carried them through those two years. They feel spiritually "depressed" and imagine they have lost their testimonies when, in reality, it was quite a different thing.

I believe in "inoculation", that is: preparing our children for the onslaughts of the Adversary with detailed explanation of how they will see and hear attacks on their faith. This takes the form of twisted accounts of LDS history (whence the saying "I have a testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ. I do not have a testimony of church history."), distorted views of LDS doctrine, attacks on the character of the Brethren (both current and past), and warped interpretations of our scripture, teaching, and practice.

We explicitly told our RM sons about this phenomenon when they came home — one in the car from the airport driving to President Ssssssss's home where he was released. I believe all of them have told us they appreciated this counsel and warning.

It would appear, at the very least, to be something mission presidents should tell their outgoing charges, and the stake presidents should tell their  returning elders. I think this would greatly reduce the alarming rate of inactivity among our sons and daughters.

Lehi

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26 minutes ago, LeSellers said:

We explicitly told our RM sons about this phenomenon when they came home — one in the car from the airport driving to President Ssssssss's home where he was released. I believe all of them have told us they appreciated this counsel and warning.

Great job Lehi!

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1 minute ago, NeedleinA said:
28 minutes ago, LeSellers said:

We explicitly told our RM sons about this phenomenon when they came home — one in the car from the airport driving to President Ssssssss's home where he was released. I believe all of them have told us they appreciated this counsel and warning.

Great job Lehi!

You are kind to say so. I must clarify, however, as it was really my Jacquie who did the deed. (With my full support, I must say, so as not to seem uninterested. I was driving.)

Lehi

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