Mormon Stories Podcast Perfectionistic Mormon Missionary Sent Home Early From Brazil - Debora Meireles Ling | Ep. 2128
Mar 23, 2026
Debora Meireles Ling, a Brazilian-born former missionary and mother, recounts growing up in a strict LDS household, an anxiety-driven early mission return from Brazil, and a later faith transition. She discusses perfectionism, intense missionary culture, mental health struggles, confronting troubling historical issues, and rebuilding family life and identity after leaving the Church.
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Medical Crisis On Mission Leading To Early Return
- After months of dizziness, nausea, headaches and near-collapse while walking daily, Debora's mission leaders intervened and informed her she would be sent home for medical help.
- She interpreted the transfer home as divine punishment despite later receiving a medical diagnosis of anxiety disorder.
Medical Diagnosis Reframes Mission Breakdown
- A doctor explained Debora's debilitating physical symptoms were manifestations of an anxiety disorder, reframing them from moral failure to treatable illness.
- This medical reframe contrasted sharply with mission culture's spiritualizing of struggles, enabling her path toward treatment.
Mission Letters Turn Into Marriage Proposal
- While home, Debora exchanged letters and later emails with Elder Jaden Ling, a missionary she had barely known, and they developed a relationship that led to marriage.
- Their long-distance mission correspondence evolved into engagement plans before he finished his mission.
