Cliché lines are cliché for a reason

"The best two years."

 "You'll work like you've never worked."

 "I learned so much. I became a new person."

 "The hardest thing you'll ever do. The best thing you'll ever do."

 "I truly gained a testimony."

 "Now I'm starting to understand what the Atonement of Jesus Christ was."

 "This will change your life."

 "Amazing."

 "Just go."

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We members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hear these lines so much that they've almost lost meaning. We hear them from people getting home from missions, from people encouraging us to go, from people trying to describe what is was like. Wow, missions must be great, we say.

Well, I'm here to tell "all ya'll" that missions ARE great. Every one of these phrases is cliché for a reason: they're all powerfully, deeply, and personally true. But to really understand, you just have to go. As my dear friend Lydia told me once, "There's a huge club in the church that no one except the members know about, nor could ever understand what being a member means. It's called the Returned Missionary Club." My desire to be a part of this club, to understand WHY everyone says "My mission was the best two years / eighteen months of my life," pushed me into deciding to go myself.

I don't have words to describe what it's been like, what I've learned, or what I've become.

 If you want to know...go.