The Missionary Month: Part I - The Challenge

Last night I hung out with some friends.  They're good people--people I genuinely enjoy being around.  We had a really good time for most of the night, went on a long walk, talked, etc.  It was nice.  And then we went to a 10:30 movie.  Which was a terrible idea.  From the time the idea was proposed, and the movie chosen, I felt like I shouldn't go.  But I caved.  And then, to make matters worse, I rode with someone else.  Long story short-I didn't walk out when I should have (which was about 30 seconds into the movie), and went home feeling terrible.  I cried myself to sleep, I felt that bad (yes, I'm willing to admit that.  Anyone think I'm less manly for it? Whatever).  I vowed I would never let that happen again.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I've let a lot of things creep in, and I've lost a lot of the confidence and things I gained on my mission.  And so I devised a plan.  A crazy plan.  Hopefully so crazy it just might work.  I call it the missionary month.  It's pretty simple, really.

Beginning tomorrow (July 1st 2012-the anniversary of the day a wise stake president reached out and changed the course of my life, by the way), I will be doing my best to go back to mission rules for a little while.  Of course, there are some things that I think need to be altered a little for my current lifestyle, but, for those of you who don't know, basically what this means is:

• Missionary schedule:  I'll probably be a little lax on this, but I will be in bed by 11, and up no later than 7, or there will be a reason why.
• Study: 1 hour per day.  No ifs ands or buts.  I'll relax the rules on study a little to include not only the missionary library (Jesus the Christ, Our Heritage, Our Search for Happiness, and True to the Faith), the standard works (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price), and the Ensign, but will probably say that time outside of my regular hour is ok to spend reading other Church books.
• Media: No tv (pretty much already done), or movies (this will be more difficult) outside of Church videos.  All music should directly invite the Spirit and invite one to come unto Christ (this means it's back to a lot of MoTab...anyone with EFY CDs they'd like to share-I'd appreciated it).  My internet usage will be limited to updating the blog now and then, checking email as necessary for work and school, and functional use where it is absolutely necessary (ie finding out how to get somewhere, fix something, etc).  Notice that Facebook
• Dating: I will openly break mission rules and continue to actively make an effort to go on a date every week (after all, a stake president commanded it).
• Sharing the Gospel: I haven't decided on an exact metric for this, but I do feel like this is an opportune time to start opening my mouth.  I will at least make a more concentrated effort to go meet my neighbors.
• Attire: I will also flaunt this rule.  My dress will always be modest, but I'm not wearing a suit.  That being said, I may wear a long tie to church every week just to mess with people.

There will probably be more.  I'll update this blog as the month goes on.  I've felt pretty strongly that this is something I ought to share and put out there for others to try.  Why?  Well, I feel like a mission is a life changing experience for a lot of reasons-one of them is that on a mission one spends a pretty extended period of time away from all of the filth the world has to offer, which puts them in a position to see very clearly which things in the world are good, and which are bad.  One of my friends always says that I am very innocent.  She was impressed, apparently, by the fact that I was pretty much blushing and looking away, and extremely uncomfortable for the whole movie (which, by the way, was rated PG-13) last night.  I tried to explain (although I didn't do so well) that I wasn't always this way.  Not that long ago, I probably would have felt--well, not comfortable, I was never that deadened, but ok enough to go along with the other people with me who were just laughing and talking about how funny it was afterwards.  Luckily, when I came home from my mission, I saw the filth in a lot of things that I had liked (which that movie pretty much made look clean, to be honest), maybe even loved, before, and I decided I didn't want to be that guy any more.

So, I'm going to start off missionary month in missionary style-with an invitation.  Anyone-everyone-who reads this is personally invited to join me.  I don't care if  you've been home for a year, or ten years, or ten days (alright, ten day-er, I'll give you a pass.  You probably need to spend some time outside the scriptures for a while so you stop weirding ladies out), or even if you never served a mission.  My rules aren't the same as your rules might be-you need to decide that for yourself with where your life is right now.  So, will you join me?  I promise that if you do, you'll find a greater sense of spirituality in your life, and you'll remember what's really important.  And, who knows, maybe some of the rules will stick with you for more than a month... Any input, ideas, or experiences? Feel free to post in the comments.