A few key indicators you might have just returned from a mission (particularly in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine)


  1. You use terms like "key indicators."
  2. You awkwardly pause whenever someone asks your name
  3. You don't recognize your name when you actually do say it to people
  4. You speak in Russian to kids and puppies
  5. You have a mild panic attack when the person walking with you turns a corner and you can't see her for a split second
  6. You quote The District. All the time.
  7. You have to actively restrain yourself from stopping every single person you see on campus to engage them in a gospel conversation
  8. You feel sad when you hear English spoken
  9. You constantly ask, "Is this a consecrated use of time?"
  10. You miss drinkable yogurt
  11. You are filled with intense joy while eating Little Caesar's pizza because there is no dill or mayonnaise on it 
  12. You feel guilty in stores if you're not making conversation with everybody around you
  13. You wish you could just hop on a marshrutka instead of walking everywhere
  14. You try to stick with a 'companion' as much as possible. Yet, 
  15. You run off to be by yourself frequently just because you can
  16. You feel like you're being ineffective when you have dinner at 6
  17. You put your backpack on carefully on the left shoulder so it doesn't mess up your tag
  18. You feel weird not kneeling to pray every time you enter or leave your apartment
  19. Whenever someone begins discussing politics or economics, you look for ways to hastily change the subject
  20. You feel you are living in a haze and will very soon wake up in your apartment in Simferopol after a somewhat frightening dream
  21. 20% of your friends suddenly have children
  22. The snooze button has become a delightful luxury
  23. You sometimes see good friends on campus and after much excited conversation have to ask what their first names are
  24. You live with a mission companion and can't bring yourself to call her by her first name
  25. You have been known to call friends who have not served missions "Sister first name"
  26. You are constantly plotting ways to return to Ukraine in order to be able to see the people you love again

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