"Life Isn't Easy, But It's Worth It."

Hey Family!

Crazy week! So last Tuesday, Elder Leavitt and I were at our zone meeting over at the stake center by the temple. President Gelwix walks in and sits down and is listening to our meeting. And I had to go out of the room to set up for my training that I was giving, and President Gelwix asked to talk to me. He pulled me aside and told me that we got a new elder in the mission a couple days ago from the Dominican Republic, and he asked

me to be his trainer. So I accepted and now I am in a threesome companionship again! hahaha His name is Elder Perez, he's 23, and he is seriously the best missionary ever. He's been with us since Tuesday the 30 of April.


But it's a really funny story on how he got here to the mission. I guess no one even knew he was coming. He was at the MTC for two weeks (entered on April 10th) and he got the flight here to Fresno. And when he landed there was no one there to meet him. No one told the mission that he was coming that day. So out of nowhere the VandeMerwe family is off their plane and ask where he was going. And he said that he thought someone was there to pick him up. So they took him to the mission office. And long story short, he's my companion now. So yeah, President asked me to train him for these three weeks. 

I was sitting in the trainer trainee meeting last week and there were about 50 other new missionaries and their trainers there as well. And I was pondering about my mission, and I realized that I have learned something very unique about each companion I have been with. I was thinking that out of all those missionaries, I was the one that has been set apart as a full-time missionary the longest, and that Elder Perez was the newest missionary in the whole room. There is a huge gap between us. But even though there is that big gap of time between us, I still have learned a lot from him already. And he's already one of my favorite companions.

I know that God's plan is perfect and there is a reason that we are companions at this time. I know that we need to learn something from every minute of life that we are given, and that the purpose of this life is to grow and progress. Some guy told me on the street this past week, "Life is all about being comfortable and staying where you're at". I told him he was wrong and that God has a purpose for him to progress. And he said, "I can progress just fine when I’m comfortable". There is NO possible way one can progress by staying comfortable. You HAVE to get out of your comfort zone if you EVER expect to progress in this life. So, moral of the story, my mission has stretched my comfort zone to its complete OUTER limits. And that is the only reason that I have progressed. Life isn't easy, but it's worth it. 

I don't know who said it, but...."There's no growth in the comfort zone, and there's no comfort in the growth zone."

And that's that.

Love, 

Elder Gygi