CSJ Week 3: "Stay out of Your Comfort Zone"

February 2, 1988

I'm doing my laundry right now; we get a half-day P-day before we take off tomorrow.  The past two days have been full of goodbyes and picture taking.

Saturday was Missionary Day.  During the morning I was a “member” that missionaries would stop by and make a member presentation to.  In the afternoon Elder Flake and I went “tracting.”  We taught a first discussion, made some member presentations, and got rejected at a door.  It was great.  But after teaching that discussion I didn’t have much energy for teaching another one.

The second counselor in our branch presidency said to me on Sunday that there comes a time every now and then when we have to leave our comfort zones.  It is time now for me to leave my comfort zone here.  He also counseled me to always strive to stay out of my comfort zone as a missionary by working hard continually and taking on new challenges.

On Monday we said good bye to the sisters in our district as well as to our afternoon teacher.  On our afternoon walk around the MTC we had a snowball fight, as we often did.  Tuesday morning we went for one last walk with our morning teacher.  Two or three snowballs were thrown, but that was it.  We crossed the street to where there was a good view of the temple and we all took pictures of the group with the temple in the background.  We took a photo of our morning teacher with all of our cameras around his neck as if he was a Japanese tourist.

It was hard to fight back the tears as we said goodbye to our morning teacher today.  It is hard to believe that we could all become friends so quickly, all in just three short weeks.

It is going to be tough leaving here tomorrow, but it is time for me to move on.  I am excited to go; I can't wait to get to San Jose.

We have been doing a lot of hymn singing in the last three weeks, at the beginning and end of every meeting, and I have been collecting some new favorites such as "I Believe in Christ" and "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief."  You need to sing all seven verses of the latter to get the full impact; we did that yesterday morning at the end of our morning class and my heart was full.  Last night, as I lay in bed, I sang all seven verses in my head and I got a little misty when I got to the last two

Today I got a care package from a friend from high school, and it was great to hear from him.  I think I have changed some in the last three weeks, for as I read his note I again got a little misty.  Some things seem to mean so much more now.

I will write again soon from California.  Life is Good!