One of the best documentary films to screen at the 2007 LDS Film Festival in Orem, Utah was Samuel Adams' Returning With Honor (not to be confused with a recent theatrical release of a similar name, Return With Honor).
This hour-long film is the director's first film and his own story. He came home early from his mission to the Philippines with an undiagnosed illness (later it turned out to be a rare form of malaria). Everybody said it was all in his head, and it took two years before the right diagnosis could be found. During that time Sam was pretty much hung out to dry, and it was very hard on him. He decided to go on a faith journey, bicycling from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco. This documents his ride.
Samuel Adams' Returning With Honor is a movie that truly honors the experience of early return missionaries. Adams' faith journey begins when his mission ends, and the spiritual struggles that follow his shortened mission are depicted with candor and authenticity. This is a movie that reaches out with understanding to the Elders and sisters who only appear not to go the distance. It is a film raw with empathy.
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