Few people in this world, I imagine, like to be compared to fish. I hope that no offense will be taken when I say that there is no-one in the world that is not like a fish.
The size of a fish varies according to the size of its container (mostly because a small tank stunts its growth and impairs its health). In a large pool it will grow bigger than in a small pool, and while the Utah Salt Lake City West Mission may seem to be a very small pool indeed, covering only two cities and having proselyting areas that are sometimes less than half a square mile in size, the truth is that it is a very large pool indeed.
As Elder Dunford pointed out to me a little while ago, we are being placed in not in a pool of geographic size but of responsibility. There are many other goals associated with this mission, which is a pilot program exploring some new practices of missionary work, but one intention not too oft-discussed is raising the bar of the returned missionary.
The same principle of personal growth that applies to missionaries also applies to everyone else. As a rule people thrive when they are given greater responsibility, so long as it is within the bounds of what they can actually do. Growth comes not from sitting in your comfort zone but from running out of it and waving your arms wildly as you frantically struggle to figure out how to fly because you just fell off a cliff.
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