I'm 46, and I still have a recurring nightmare in which I'm back on my mission. I wake up in a cold sweat and panicky because I am back in that pressure cooker and can't get out.
The dream seems to correspond to stress in my life, and it was as frequent, if not more, when I was a believing member of the church. Since I got on antidepressants, my stress levels are way down, and the dream isn't as frequent.
I've spoken to several friends, ranging from active church members to exmos, and they tell me they have similar dreams. And, as with me, they are never good dreams; they are always nightmares.
Does anyone else have dreams like that?
Mission Nightmares
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_Fence Sitter
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Re: Mission Nightmares
I am 55 so it has been a while. I occasionally will have a dream about being back on my mission but I do not consider them nightmares. Mostly from what i remember of the dreams I come away thinking that I have a long time before I get to go home or how much less the people of the SA country I was in have then we do here. All in all I enjoyed my mission, so the dreams are not bad ones.
"Any over-ritualized religion since the dawn of time can make its priests say yes, we know, it is rotten, and hard luck, but just do as we say, keep at the ritual, stick it out, give us your money and you'll end up with the angels in heaven for evermore."
Re: Mission Nightmares
Fence Sitter wrote:I am 55 so it has been a while. I occasionally will have a dream about being back on my mission but I do not consider them nightmares. Mostly from what i remember of the dreams I come away thinking that I have a long time before I get to go home or how much less the people of the SA country I was in have then we do here. All in all I enjoyed my mission, so the dreams are not bad ones.
I'm glad someone has pleasant dreams about their mission.
I remember when I was on my mission that I dreamed I was at home surfing at Point Dume with a bunch of missionaries from my mission. I mentioned how nice it was to be on the beach, and a missionary said, "Wouldn't it suck if this was just a dream, and we were still back in Bolivia?"
Just then I woke up and saw the peeling pink paint on the ceiling and saw the worm medicine on my nightstand. I felt like crying.
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_sock puppet
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Re: Mission Nightmares
I empathize with you, Runtu, about the nightmares.
I've never had a dream about my mission that I recall, now or ever upon awakening.
For years, I had a dream that because of a tussle between a teacher in high school and me, the school board decided to take away my h.s. diploma. So then BYU decided to take away my B.S. degree since my admission was called into question, and as the dreams persisted, even taking away my J.D. degree once awarded. Perhaps just a coincidence, when when I received my advance law degree from another law school than the one at BYU, that nightmare stopped. Perhaps I have more faith in another institution than COJCOLDS-owned BYU.
I've never had a dream about my mission that I recall, now or ever upon awakening.
For years, I had a dream that because of a tussle between a teacher in high school and me, the school board decided to take away my h.s. diploma. So then BYU decided to take away my B.S. degree since my admission was called into question, and as the dreams persisted, even taking away my J.D. degree once awarded. Perhaps just a coincidence, when when I received my advance law degree from another law school than the one at BYU, that nightmare stopped. Perhaps I have more faith in another institution than COJCOLDS-owned BYU.
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_Fence Sitter
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Re: Mission Nightmares
Runtu wrote:Fence Sitter wrote:I am 55 so it has been a while. I occasionally will have a dream about being back on my mission but I do not consider them nightmares. Mostly from what i remember of the dreams I come away thinking that I have a long time before I get to go home or how much less the people of the SA country I was in have then we do here. All in all I enjoyed my mission, so the dreams are not bad ones.
I'm glad someone has pleasant dreams about their mission.
I remember when I was on my mission that I dreamed I was at home surfing at Point Dume with a bunch of missionaries from my mission. I mentioned how nice it was to be on the beach, and a missionary said, "Wouldn't it suck if this was just a dream, and we were still back in Bolivia?"
Just then I woke up and saw the peeling pink paint on the ceiling and saw the worm medicine on my nightstand. I felt like crying.
I enjoyed my mission but I can identify with the peeling paint. We did not have to deal with worm medicine but I did have to wear a dog collar on my ankle because of the fleas. Hey at 19 who knew?
"Any over-ritualized religion since the dawn of time can make its priests say yes, we know, it is rotten, and hard luck, but just do as we say, keep at the ritual, stick it out, give us your money and you'll end up with the angels in heaven for evermore."
Re: Mission Nightmares
Fence Sitter wrote:I enjoyed my mission but I can identify with the peeling paint. We did not have to deal with worm medicine but I did have to wear a dog collar on my ankle because of the fleas. Hey at 19 who knew?
It wasn't all bad, just stressful. It didn't help being sick much of the time and living in terrible conditions. In case you missed it, thews left the board because I wouldn't say I regretted my mission. It was a tough experience, but I learned a lot about myself and grew up a lot.
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_sock puppet
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Re: Mission Nightmares
Fence Sitter wrote:I am 55 so it has been a while. I occasionally will have a dream about being back on my mission but I do not consider them nightmares. Mostly from what i remember of the dreams I come away thinking that I have a long time before I get to go home or how much less the people of the SA country I was in have then we do here. All in all I enjoyed my mission, so the dreams are not bad ones.
Runtu wrote:I'm glad someone has pleasant dreams about their mission.
I remember when I was on my mission that I dreamed I was at home surfing at Point Dume with a bunch of missionaries from my mission. I mentioned how nice it was to be on the beach, and a missionary said, "Wouldn't it suck if this was just a dream, and we were still back in Bolivia?"
Just then I woke up and saw the peeling pink paint on the ceiling and saw the worm medicine on my nightstand. I felt like crying.
Fence Sitter wrote:I enjoyed my mission but I can identify with the peeling paint. We did not have to deal with worm medicine but I did have to wear a dog collar on my ankle because of the fleas. Hey at 19 who knew?
Are you sure the dog collar was for fleas? Could it have been so they could keep you 'on a leash'?
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Re: Mission Nightmares
sock puppet wrote:
Are you sure the dog collar was for fleas? Could it have been so they could keep you 'on a leash'?
Ahh no leash needed there. The first thing they took from me when I arrived was my passport. I could not have left even if I wanted to.
"Any over-ritualized religion since the dawn of time can make its priests say yes, we know, it is rotten, and hard luck, but just do as we say, keep at the ritual, stick it out, give us your money and you'll end up with the angels in heaven for evermore."
Re: Mission Nightmares
Fence Sitter wrote:Ahh no leash needed there. The first thing they took from me when I arrived was my passport. I could not have left even if I wanted to.
You, too, huh? I never understood why they took our passports. At the time I thought it must be for safe-keeping.
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_sock puppet
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Re: Mission Nightmares
Runtu wrote:Fence Sitter wrote:Ahh no leash needed there. The first thing they took from me when I arrived was my passport. I could not have left even if I wanted to.
You, too, huh? I never understood why they took our passports. At the time I thought it must be for safe-keeping.
That's what they told you, wasn't it? Indeed, it was for keeping you safely in Bolivia and not returning to real life.