During an Aug. 21 class primarily directed to youth and titled "Break Out of the Comfort Zone," Rebecca P. Douglas and Brian G. Andre used anecdotal examples of fleas and elephants to illustrate how BYU Campus Education Week attendees can speed personal progression by expanding the limits of their respective comfort zones.

Sister Douglas began the class by telling about how fleas in a cup and elephants tied to stakes are emblematic of why Church members should endeavor to avoid apathy and settling for the status quo. She said that when fleas are placed in a cup and a lid is subsequently fastened onto the cup, fleas will jump up and hit the upper barrier only so many times before they cease jumping altogether — and once the fleas stop jumping, they won't jump again while in the cup even if the lid is removed. Similarly, baby elephants in the circus are tied to large steel stakes to keep them from wandering off. Eventually elephants stop pulling against their stakes such that even powerful adult elephants can be kept in place by relatively small wooden stakes.

"We need to see beyond what we think we are to what God sees us as," Sister Douglas said. "He doesn't see us as having that lid on the cup. He doesn't see us as having that small wooden stake in the ground."

Brother Andre provided practical suggestions about how to step outside one's comfort zone, things like introducing yourself to a total stranger, facing one of your fears, doing something you've never done but always dreamed of doing, or inviting someone new into your group of friends.

He emphasized the importance of not reverting back to a zone of comfort after leaving Education Week. To that end, Brother Andre encouraged participants to fuel their efforts at self-improvement by stoking the memory of strong spiritual impressions felt during the week of classes.

"The thing is, we can't [stay here]," he said. "We've got to go back home. And three weeks from now we're not going to want to get out of bed because we're just going to be having a hard day. We're going to wish we were at Education Week because it feels good to be here — the Spirit's everywhere. And that's the day you've got to remember this kind of stuff and push yourself to keep going. So remember, do something today to break out of your comfort zone."

According to Brother Andre, there is literally no limit to what can be accomplished if self-imposed comfort zones are not allowed to stunt personal progress and testimony.

"Jesus is trying to tell us that we can do anything," he said. "Find me one limitation in the scriptures. He says if we have faith like a mustard seed, we can move mountains with that amount of faith."

Consistently testing the bounds of one's comfort zone is important because doing so augments one's ability to receive spiritual promptings and render meaningful service.

Brother Andre concluded the class reading an excerpt from a general conference address Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve delivered in April 1996:

"May God, who has blessed all of us so mercifully and many of us so abundantly, bless us with one thing more. May He bless us to hear the often silent cries of the sorrowing and the afflicted, the downtrodden, the disadvantaged, the poor. Indeed may He bless us to hear the whispering of the Holy Spirit when any neighbor anywhere 'is suffering,' and to 'drop everything and come running.' I pray in the name of the captain of the poor, even the Lord Jesus Christ, amen" (Ensign, May 1996).

Sister Douglas is president and founder of Rising Star Outreach, a nonprofit organization that helps people in India diagnosed with leprosy. Brother Andre is coordinator of the Costa Mesa California Institute of Religion.

jaskar@desnews.com