The latest GEMS! Brought to you by your friendly, GEMMING Italy Milan Missionaries!
How to train
At the beginning of the transfer I started making a list in my journal. I titled this list...THINGS I WILL DO WHEN I TRAIN. I wrote it out, all nice and big at the top of the page, ready to create the best trainer ever to be! Then I just sat there. And stared at the page for a while. And couldn't decide what to write down. I eventually closed my journal. Days pass, weeks pass. I have thought about it. But to this day, that page is still blank. They only sentence that pops into my head when I read that title is...I want to be just like my trainer.
Your support
I can say that I have more fully received a testimony of the importance of companions in our lives. I don't think there has been a moment where my companion and I have not grown and been edified together since we were placed here. I can tell that everything he does is to magnify his calling as a missionary AND a companion. He has strengthened me, taught me and lifted me. But most of all, he has SHOWN me what it means to be a great missionary. Teaching really is showing. What a blessing I have.
Take the blame
This week at ward correlation, we had a member that was chewing us out for his wife getting a bidone from us. We both knew that it was not our fault and we could not have done anything else to make sure that it did not happen. I was surprised that my companion did not tell the whole story or tell about why it happened. I asked her why after and she said something that struck me. She said that it usually is better if you don’t make excuses and just take the blow and take the blame. She said that your companionships will be much more united if you just do that. She said it all comes down to priorities and what is most important. If it is more important to be right than to keep unity, then that is what you will get, but if you remember what you want most and take a step back you will be able to have this desire.
Bombs away!
This guy just blasts spirit bombs in my heart and mind every stinking day! Wow! Every companionship study is an adventure to the soul. If you want something explained drilled into your heart with power and inspiration, ask my best friend, my companion. I love him so much! He has changed the course of my heart. I desire so much to study, so that I can find these treasures that enlighten his mind every day. This guy—this missionary—is the emblem of true conversion. Faith works, and love is always there. He has once again blessed my life for the better. I am changed.
PB&J
My companion always thinks of others. Today, as we switched back after scambi, and she said that she has a surprise for me. I open it, and I find a REAL peanut butter and jelly sandwich. With REAL peanut butter! I know it may not seem gospel related, but she really was thinking of me and what would make me happy as she was in another city. It just testified to me the importance of putting others before ourselves. Even if the action seems small, it can make a world of a difference for someone.
Everything I know I learned from my companion
My companion has completely changed my mission and my life. He is a grand example to me of a true priesthood holder. He completely strives to follow the commandment "Be ye perfect as my Father in Heaven is perfect." He gives his 100% effort on everything he does, always. He puts his heart in everything. I love him and will miss serving with him a lot. I've never had a companion like him before. He taught me how real 100% obedience feels and how to live that way in everything I do. He taught me to talk to everyone, all the time, no matter what. He taught me so much about prayer and revelation and helped me improve my relationship with God incredibly in these months. I would love to be selfish and continue serving with and learning from him forever, but I am content knowing that if I can't have him as my comp, the Lord wants him to go and do the same thing for other missionaries.
GEM everyone!
My companion is amazing beyond belief. I am sad to be leaving her so soon. But even more grateful for everything that she has taught me. If I had to pick just one thing, the most important thing that I have learned from her, it would be how to GEM. She just GEMs everyone, everywhere every moment. There is no one in our city that she has met that has escaped her GEMMING capabilities. She has been a fabulous example to me and I will be forever grateful that I had the privilege to be her companion for a transfer. She's the best.
Life changing
This week, my companion and I really came together. He has changed my mission. Can I tell you how amazing this guy is? No probably not, there aren’t words. But I can tell you how much I love this companion of mine. He has helped me see the beauty of the gospel of Gesù Cristo. He really has shown me the power of application. This last weekly planning, we had an amazing companionship inventory, in which we really came out and expressed our desires for our missionary work. Wow! He just knows how to really put things where people can understand. He knows how to fit the gospel to everyone. And he knows how it will bless them. I can’t say one specific thing that he has done for me this week, but I can say that with many things, my life is changed. He is an example to me.
Unified!
There really isn’t one specific thing that my companion did for me this week. It’s really just everything he does for me. He is always gemming me and we are like best friends. Being a GEM is not a one time a week thing for us, it’s a 24/7 thing that we do. We have seen that by looking at the GEM program not as something you do once a week for each other, but something that is always happening, our unity has just sky rocketed.
Training the trainer
I was getting gemmed all over the place from my companion and, in fact, everyone in my district. I really don’t know where to start. But pretty much I’d have to say the greatest thing has been his example. I know "technically" I’ve been training him, but in reality he’s been training me. He’s helped me to actually love the people and stay positive even when everything goes terrible. I’m pretty sad that he is getting transferred but I know that it’s where the Lord wants him to go!
Confidence!
My companion has the most positive attitude. She is amazing at talking to everyone. We haven’t had to do a ton of finding work, because wherever we go, we are finding people! All because she opens her mouth and talks! I have gotten out of my comfort zone this transfer and have done more inviti than I have ever done thus far on the mission. My companion has helped me see my abilities and given me confidence. I really can do more than I realize, and my companion has helped me see that! What a GEM!!!
