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Week #100
8/17/15

Hey Everyone!!

 Hope you all had a great week! Its going to be a short one sorry but i don't have much time to write today!

This week went alright for us.. It wasn't really anything special but there were some high parts of the week!

The best part of the week for me was  on Thursday! Thursday we had a multi zone meeting with some of the other zones in the mission! It was cool to see some of my other friends again  and talk with some people i hadn't seen in a while! President taught us some cool things and there were lots of things that i liked that he said! I love the way he teaches! The way he applies it to all of us and the way that the spirit testifies to us that what he is teaching is true! President reminded us about something that i really liked! He said that we always hear testimonies but are we truly prepared to hear them? Do we feel the spirit testify that it is true when we hear a testimony? Anyways to top of the day we ate pizza hut and after the multi zone meeting another elder and i stayed for like an hour playing ping pong against President Williams! Lets just say that i need to keep practicing a little bit more! President is actually pretty good at ping pong and beat  me like 6 out of the seven times that we played! It was pretty fun though and all in all it ended up being a good day! 

Other than that this week was rather normal! Teaching lessons, looking for new people  to teach, getting rejected, studying lots, eating lots of rice, gaining the confidence of the members! Isn't missionary work the best! Yes it is! I cant believe its coming to an end and that this is my last week in the mission! I have learned so many things and will forever cherish this time that i have had to serve God and His children here in Peru! I know for a fact that this is  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! We have been commissioned as members of his church to preach the Gospel which will bring immense joy to us, our families, and the people to which we serve! I love all of you guys so very much! Thanks for all the support and prayers and love! Have a great week! See you all soon!

Love,

Elder Jarman

 Mom! 

Thanks for everything! I cant really describe over the computer or in words really how grateful i am for you and for dad and for all of the things you have done for me and all of the support you have shown for me and all of the prayers for me! I think the best way to say thanks is by just saying I LOVE YOU! but not as empty words just read on a computer screen but from my heart! Love you! See you soon!

Weaving sugar cane sticks together

Week #99
8/10/15

Hey Everybody!!

Hope all of you had another great week! I hope all of you are happy and healthy!

We had a pretty good week! Were actually on a roll because we have had like 3 good weeks in a row! Lets hope they stay that way for the next two weeks!

A couple Mondays ago we went to this museum and sight called Huaca Rajada! Its the sight where they dug up a very old man, sometimes though and claimed to be King Mosiah by the members in Lambayeque, named Señor de Sipan who was a king here in anancient civilization of Peru! It was pretty cool to see all the things there! When i was in Lambayeque we went to the Museum Tumbas Reales and it was almost the same thing as Huaca Rajada but it was still really cool to see all that stuff and learn a little bit more about the culture of Lambayeque! This past Monday we went and watched the movie Meet the Mormons with the Zone leaders! ( we had permission) It was a cool movie!

This week we have been working a lot again with all the less actives that we have in our area and on Sunday we were able to rescue one of them named Susana which was really cool! The work with the less actives is really coming along whereas the work with the investigators has kind of slowed down lot! Despite all the contacts and everything that we are doing we aren't really finding new people to teach which is really kind of a bummer but we will keep on trying! Another thing that was good this week is that everyday of the week besides Sunday we had members come out with us and we had q good amount of success this week which was cool!

On Wednesday for war missionary night the ward watched a little video on the family and explained a little bit about that and then everybody played some games and it was fun! After the ward missionary night we were juggling the soccer ball with the Bishop, his 1st counselor and his secretary and it was really fun and pretty funny too! 

Friday morning we had our monthly zone meeting ad sadly it was my last one... It was good though and as always edifying! They bought a cake too for one of the Elder´s birthdays and so that was pretty enjoyable too! 

Saturday morning we ended up doing a service for a member of the ward and it was pretty fun but pretty hard work too! We helped him put a roof on the back part of his house weaving sugar cane sticks together and then putting a layer of the mud they use to make the adobe bricks on top of the sugar cane! Its was hard work but it was really cool to help and it felt good to look at the job finished! We did finish with a couple blisters and sore muscles but it was a cool experience!

Thats about all that happened this week! Its was a good week and im happy to be here in the service of other people learning many things! I know that everything that we go through in life it to prepare us for the future and we should take full advantage of all the opportunities that God has given us! Love you all! Have a great week everybody!!

Love,

Elder Jarman

3 Weeks to go

Week #98
8/3/15

Hey Everyone!!

Well this week went really well after all!! We thought that since the 28th and 29th are holidays, the 28th being Independence Day for Peru, this week was going to be horrible but it went actually very well! I guess since it was holidays that the people were in their houses and were actually quite receptive for the most part! There was lots of drinking going on which was a bumer but we were able to manage it all and escape from the drunks! 

These past couple of weeks we have been having a decent amount of lessons! I dont exactly know why but the people have been letting us into their houses a lot more recently! We have been having lots of lesson with less active members of the church and we have seen quite a bit of progress in the past couple of weeks! In general we are having about 5 and sometimes more less actives coming to church which is really good! It always makes us feel good inside when we see the fruits of our labors!

This week i did a work visit with one of the Zone Leaders in my district named Elder Allgaier and it went well and was pretty fun! I went to his area and we had some pretty good lessons and it was fun to be with another gringo! It was fun to talk in English haha! Im not really a fan of sleeping in other peoples beds and im not really a fan of the garbage truck when it passes by your room at 4 in the morning and honks its train horn three times right in front of the room!! Thats was not fun but not much we could do there! It was a successful visit and i was able to learn some new things too!

Other than that there hasnt really been anything to extraordinary that has been happpening recently.. just enjoying and working hard for the last couple of weeks that i have left!! People have really started messing around with me always reminding me how much time i have left and things like that... I guess that happens to every missionary at some point in time!!

I know that we have living apostles and prophets on the earth today and what a special treat it is to hear their words! Love you guys all and hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Jarman

4 Weeks left!?

Week #97
7/27/15
Hey Everyone!

Well this week was a pretty good week to be honest! We are happy and working hard here in Las Delicias!

 

This week on Monday we played some soccer for 2 hours in the burning hot sun which was really fun but we were dead after playing soccer! I guess im going to need to get back in shape soon here! Even though we were in the sun for a long time we didn't really get burnt which was good! The rest of this week though we were definitely feeling some pains in our legs though! 

Tuesday we had some interviews with President and Sister Williams! I always like talking with them and leaning from them and their examples! Event though we didn't talk for very much time i feel like i learned a lot of things and was able to feel their spirit which was awesome! 

Thursday we had our district meeting which was pretty normal as usual.. Before i was always nervous to give the district classes but i feel like this has really helped me to get over most of the nerves! Im not saying im a perfect teacher but i feel like being a District Leader has taught me a little bit more how to teach.. haha! 

This week the members were doing good at coming with us until we got to Thursday and then from Thursday to Saturday they all failed on us! Despite those difficulties we were still able to have a great week in which we were able to visit many people! We have had some pretty great lessons this week and recently i have been noticing how much i love to teach the restored gospel with the people! I think thats kind of why i get frustrated when the people dont open up the doors because that means we dont get to teach them about happiness! I wish all the people would just open up the doors but i have also learned that Salvation isnt necessarily that easy!! Well were just going to keep on pushing on!

We have kind of gone down hill on the contacts these past couple of weeks because we had already knocked all the doors in the area but thats no excuse so this week my companion and i are going to do a lot more contacts than in the past weeks! We really need to find some more people to teach that are prepared to hear! We are working with lots of good people but sometimes their progress is slow! 

All is going well here in Las Delicias which in English would be the delicious! I don't know what they are referring to though.. If its the dust that's always blowing around that's not very delicious.. The pension does make good food though which is always nice!! The members are cool and we are getting to know them better and gaining their confidence and all is going well! Really there is nothing to complain about! All is well! I know that God lives and loves us too! He wants us to be happy but he cant force us to be happy so we have to use our agency to chose to be happy!

Have a great week everyone! Love you all!

Love,

Elder Jarman

I ended up slipping and falling twice

Week #96
7/20/15

Hey Everyone!

So this week has been rather normal with nothing too out of the blue!

Monday of last week we did a serious room makeover where we cleaned everything really well and we even waxed the floor. It made the room smell really good and it also made the floor really slippery and that was not good! I ended up slipping and falling twice but it was still worth it to clean the room!

This week was pretty decent i guess! The cool thing is that everyday this week the member who was going to come visiting with us came! Some of them got there a little bit later than planned but we were just grateful that they came with us! We weren't able to have a ton of lessons but many of the lessons we had were awesome lessons! We were able to find a couple new people this week which was cool! So hopefully we'll see some progress here soon! One cool thing that happened this week is that investigators and 6 less actives came to church!! We were stoked! It was so cool to see all of them there! We felt blessed to have so many people come to church! The only thing is that lots of them were women and children.. Its always harder to get the men to come to church but were trying! We are excited though because a less active we found somewhat recently named Susana has been coming to church and we have been talking with her husband who is not a member! We have had some really good lessons with them recently we just need him(Karl) to come to church!

Another thing that had been happening this week is that the new water heater that we put into our room has been pulling too much energy for the main box to handle so we have been having lots of technical problems this week! The first time it happened it shut the power off in the whole room and we couldn't get it back on so we called the bishop who knows a little bit about that stuff and he came and fixed it. Then like 2 days later something similar happened and long story short we have been having problems with the water heater and the light in our room and everything but the cool thing is that the bishop came over again this morning and fixed everything up and was showing us how to do it so next time it happens if it does i think i will be able to fix it! The kind of things you learn in the mission! Not just spiritual things but other cool things too!

Other than that this week has been rather normal! The ward is awesome and the members are awesome and im enjoying being here in this area and in this ward! I know that this is the most important work to do on the earth and that it will bring tons of blessings to not only our family but other families looking for the truth as well! Hope you all have a great week! Love you guys!!

Love,

Elder Jarman

I will "die" here in Las Delicias

Week #95
7/13/15

Hey Everyone!!

Well this past week has been somewhat difficult but we were able to have some good lessons!

So yesterday they told us who has changes in the zone and it turns out that i dont have changes and my companion either.. So unless there are some emergency changes i will finish my mission here in this area. So yeah i will be here with elder coca in this area for the end of my mission.. or in mission terms i will die here in Las Delicias and Elder Coca will kill me! Haha! Elder Coca has finished his training yesterday so im not training anymore but im still the District Leader! In the district two of the missionaries finished their missions and two others had changes.. So for now we think that there will be two new missionaries that will come to our district and that temporarily they will shut down one of the areas.. Its possible that another area will become part of our district but im not really sure for now.. Anyways.. Today is the start of my last transfer of my mission.. My last 6 weeks!? Wow that went by fast! A couple days ago i completed 22 months in the mission and i have learned so many things during this whole time!!

This week was somewhat difficult because there were members bailing on us left and right but after all said and done we had a decent week! We didn't have too many lessons but we had some cool lessons! Especially one we had yesterday with someone named Rosa! She and her husband John are really cool! We are having trouble getting them to come to church but we had an awesome lesson yesterday in which she committed to get married and baptized and to come to church and start on the straight and narrow path! Hopefully they will be able to keep their commitments! Another family we are teaching is the family of Karl and Susana! Susana is a less active who is coming back to church and we had our first lesson with her husband Karl yesterday and all went well! Yesterday was his birthday too and so we were surprised that he wanted us to come over on his bday! They seem really cool so were going to work a lot with them in the next coming weeks!

Well theres nothing much else that happened this week! Things are all normal! Theres always dust flying in the air and since its hot and were sweaty by the end of the day we are covered in dirt but its all part of the fun! My companion is deathly afraid of dogs and there are quite a bit of dogs here in Pomalca so its always kind of funny to watch him run away from the dogs! There are some men ones here that are actually somewhat aggressive to so we usually try to avoid those ones! In this area the dog dazer thing comes in handy lots of times! Its pretty funny to mess with the dogs too! The pension here is great! She lives with her husband, daughter and son in law and they are all awesome! She cooks good food and were always joking around and its pretty fun! They have become like a second family for us! Long story short.. all is going well!

I know that God has restored his Priesthood power here to the earth and through the Priesthood today we can receive all the ordinances and blessing to be happy! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Jarman

Hermana Nancy's baptism!

Week #94
7/6/15

Hey Everyone!!

So this week has been somewhat difficult for us but it was awesome at the same time!!

During the first part of the week we were not having much success at all! The cool thing is that on Tuesday was Hermana Nancy´s interview with our mission president in Chiclayo so after lunch we went to Santa Victoria and waited there for a couple minutes for Hermana Nancy to come to the interview! While we were waiting a group of Elders walked up the the office who had emergency changes and one of them was Elder Kasteler!? It was cool to see him and to talk to him but it was kind of sad because they shut down Morrope and there arent missionaries there anymore! Tuesday there were emergency changes because that the day when the mission split. Part of our mission is now part of the Trujillo Norte mission and so there were some last little emergency changes! So anyways i got to see Elder Kasteler and some other Elders too! The interview with President only took like 15ish minutes. He came out and signed the paper and said goodbye! Quick and easy! So we walked out of the office that day stoked that Hermana Nancy was going to be baptized! 

The whole rest of the week when we went out with members to visit the people didnt want to open up the doors for us and when we werent with the members the people opened up their doors but since we werent with members we werent able to enter a lot of the houses.. We were kind of ummed but we were able to have some good lessons this week! Not quantity but quality!

On Saturday we had the baptism of Hermana Nancy at 4PM! She got there at like 3:45ish and then we ended up having to wait until like 4:20ish when the baptism started! There were quite a bit of people there for her bapism which was awesome! The service went well and we sung a special number just us 4 missionaries from the ward and all in all it was awesome! My companion was able to baptize her and it was his first baptism so he was pretty happy and all in all it was a very cool and spiritual experience! The only bummer is that her family didnt come to the baptism.. :( Were going to have to work lots with her family now! Anyways it was a great way to end a somewhat difficult week!

Were still happy and keeping up the hopes even though sometimes things are difficult! I now that everything we pass through and endure in the end will be for our benefit! God loves us so very much! Love you guys too! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Jarman

The Lord prepares people for us to teach

Week #93
6/29/15

Hey Everyone!

This week was quite a bit better than last week! So were pretty happy and chugging along in the work!

This week we have been focusing a lot on Hermana Nancy and preparing her for baptism! This week w have visited with her a couple of times and everytime she just seems so willing and ready! She is awesome! Things are on track for her to be baptized on Saturday she just needs to have her baptismal interview first! We have been trying hard this week to have her read the Book of Mormon and she is doing well so far! One cool thing is that we got to church yesterday and when we walked in the door she was already there sitting down with some ofher kids! She got there beforeus and forgoed her breakfast to come to church! We can really tell that she wants to do this! Its always so cool to see how the Lord prepares people for us to teach and when we find those people and bring them the message of the gospel the change that comes upon them and their family and the happiness that they recieve! So we are hoping and praying that all goes well this week and that on Saturday she will be able to have this very special experience!

Other than that this we on Wednesday we had a ward mission night activity that was planned by the the full-time and ward missionaries and it was very stressful! Im not going to lie it was hard work! We eneded up going all out on the activity and spending a lot of time in preparation for the activity! The activity was like a mini Plan of Salvation representation! There was an iron rod the people had to follow to get to the tree of life but they had to pass by all these rooms that had movies and karaoke and other fun games that were acting as distractions! Its kind of hard to explain it over the computer but after all said and done it went pretty well and we were abe to learn more about Jesus Christ and his wonderful Atonement that he gives to us! Im not going to lie im glad that its over though! The other cool thing is that some investigators and less actives came to the activity!

Other than that this week was rather normal! We weren't able to go out visiting with too many members but we were able to take advantage of the few times this week when we were able too! This week should be a lot better too because we have people signed up to go out with us this week!!

I know that Jesus Christ lives and like the hymn says "Oh it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me" I'm so grateful for his sacrifice and for being our great mediator!! Love you all!!

Love,
Elder Jarman

The dedication of the Trujillo Peru Temple

Week #92

6/22/15

Hola Everyone!!

Well this week had been tough not going to lie! The whole week we haven't really had any success but Sunday made up for all of it!

Tuesday was a pretty cool day and about the only good day we had the whole week! I did a work visit with Elder Epperson from my group! After the District meeting we went with each other and i went to his area and my companion and his companion went to our area! It was pretty cool! We had a good day and i was able to learn a lot from Elder Epperson! It was kind of strange being with someone from my own group but fun at the same time!!

Wednesday through Saturday were hard days for us! All the members who told us they were going to come out with all failed on us!! That didnt allow us to visit any of the women we had appointements with and we almost werent able to visit Hermana Nancy.. On Friday we had an appointment with her and the member was there in his house but just didnt come out and kind of like disappeared.. So we went to our ward mission leaders house whos having a little bit of back problems right now and he was willing to sacrifice for us and miraculously we were able to visit Hermana Nancy and we had a good lesson with her and shes doing awesome!! Thats another thing that keeps us going during the difficult week! The joy that we see when the people make those changes in their lives and are so willing to accept the gospel!!

The other really awesome thing was what happened on Sunday! On Sunday was the dedication of the Trujillo Peru Temple and it was aweomse!! There were 3 sessions and we were able to attend all three of them and the spirirt was very strong! Presidente Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Elder David A. Bednar came to do the Temple Dedication and we heard awesome talk and messages and it was all really cool! Also the night before we watched the cultural event for the Temple where they did all these native dances and it was a really fun experience! It was a good way to end a rather tough week that we had! The good news is that theres a new Temple in the world and that Nancy Penas is progressing very well! Were still keeping up the hard work!

I know that Families can be together forever through the sacred Priesthood power that God has restored to the Earth through the prophet Joseph Smith! I love you all! God love you too!

Love,

Elder Jarman