Comments on Day 1

It's interesting what you can learn from someone while they can't speak.
As we went through our Birthday and birthplace activities, I noticed that people are almost always exactly who they are, whether they can speak or not.
Ex 1, I noticed one particular student who open entering the classroom was very vocal and sociable, making comments to everybody, and that same person, when not allowed to speak, was the most animated, and flamboyant in attempting to communicate.
Ex 2 I also noticed several people who entered the room shyly, were the ones who let themselves get shifted around others, and became even more withdrawn, when they went silent.
The activity seemed to amplify every one's natural characteristics, one could easily tell who were the "class clowns" the leaders, and even a couple who were like mice in the corner. All seemed to become even more like themselves.
I taught this principle to my roommate, who served with me in the Panama Mission, and we discussed it's universal application, for example, we saw several times the same pattern amongst the new American Missionaries that periodically arrived. We often saw the more outgoing struggle even harder than normal to communicate with the Latins, therefore learning Spanish faster, and being more successful in the long run, even though they made fools of themselves much more often than those who were more withdrawn.
Therefore, we must apply that lesson in our own lives, we must remove our inhibitions and do the best we can, in order to succeed in the fullest, if not, we will be left behind, just like those quite missionaries, who although may not have made near as many mistakes as the outgoing ones, but in the end were stuck far behind for taking no risks.