We are going to do work!!

Week #80
3/30/15

Hey Everyone!!

So i guess this week went really well but it was a little strange!!

Monday we didnt really do much after P-day because there wasnt any power but we did go visit a recent convert named Hellen and her Mom and while we were there in here house the power came back on but it was already too late to write..

Tuseday we went to the district meetings in the morning and afterwards we came back to Morrope and were able to write our families! After we wrote we basically went out the rest of the day visiting people and Elder Segura was saying goodbye to all of them and it went pretty well i guess! At night lots of the members of the branch came to the pensions house and threw Elder Segura a little goodbye party and had a little tesimony meeting afterwards! Goodbyes are always sad...

On Wednesday morning Elder Segura got all of his stuff all packed up and ready to go and we went to say some last goodbyes to some people and then we ate lunch and we were off to the office! When we got to the office the three Elders that were going home got to go out to eat whatever they wanted and the Zone leaders came to pick me up so i could stay with them until the next day for the emergency changes! We had a decent day with the Zone leaders and we did divisions and i went with a member and we went and taught a lesson to a new investigator and then we met back up and all went together to teach another lesson and all in all it was a good day! 

Thursday morning we studied and then the Zone leaders and then they finished the work visit that they were doing and ate like 3:30ish we went to the office and the Zone leaders dropped me off there until my new companion got there.. They didnt tell me who my new companion was going to be until like 15 minutes before he got there... I ended up waiting in the office for a couple of hours and my copmanion finally got there at like 5:50ish! My new companion is Elder Kasteler! Hes from Bountiful Utah and hes got about 9 months in the mission! Were excited to be working together and we are going to do work!! Its going to be fun!! Anyways so we left Chiclayo at about 6:20ish and we got to Morrope at 7ish and we went and set his stuff down and we went out to see if we could visit some people but none of the people we visited were there..

Friday we had weekly planning and we made some new goals for the month of April and were excited about the new goals we made! After lunch we went out visiting and had a pretty good day i guess! We were able to visit a couple of people and do some contacts!! This week wasn't super productive because there were some minor setbacks and a couple of days when we werent in Morrope but after all it turned out pretty well!!

Saturday morning we went out and did some contacts in the morning and just knocked some doors but really didnt have a whole bunch of luck with that! Saturday we started our fast after lunch and it ended up being a really long day because we were walking around all day with no water and no break which was pretty tiring but we made it through Saturday and it went pretty well! 

Sunday went pretty well! In the morning we had fast and testimony meeting and that was cool! We had an investigator come to church and we also had a less active come to church which was sweet! We taught Gospel Principles in the second hour with only two people in the class and in the third hour we had a class by one of the counselors of the mission Peru Chiclayo and it was pretty good!! Afterwards we had Branch Council and then we went and broke our fast!! This Sunday went really well in the afternoon! Since we dont really have very many inevstigators here we did some more contacts and about half of the people doors who we knocked let us in their houses and it was super cool! 

All in all it ended up being a pretty good week but were excited about next week and working hard and especially about General Conference and we are going to get to watch it in English!!!! I know this church is guided by a true prophet today and this week we will have the opportunity to hear his words and have the spirit testify to us that his words are true!! Love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Jarman

It rained hard and the power went out.

Week #79
3/24/15

Hey Everyone!!

So yeah sorry for not writing yesterday there wasnt any power in the town so we couldnt write... On Sunday night it rained somewhat hard and usually when it rains hard like that the power goes out for like a day or so.. So yeah thats why we werent able to write but President Williams said we could write today!

So anyways this last week went pretty well! Its kind of weird being in a small town with a little branch of like 40ish people!? Its kind of a cool experience! Well this week i was just trying to get to know the area better because my companion Elder Segura goes home tomorrow!? So like i said before we still dont really know whats going to happen with me! I could get left here and stay with a mini missionary or they could shut don the area and i would get changed to somewhere else but i still dont know and its killing me because i really want to know what going to happen!! Im sure theyll tell us really soon!

So on Tuesday it was pretty normal we studied in the morning and then we went out and visited a couple people and did some contacts and it actually ended up being a pretty productive morning! It is super hot here in Morrope and it doesnt help that its humid! Sometimes i would like to go swimming because its so hot!? Anyways after lunch we went out visiting and almost all of the appointments that we had scheduled failed on us.. Thats was a bummer because we had made some plans to teach some people and when we went to teach them they werent there.. Which is kind of weird because i feel like the people here in Morrope are a lot more receptive and they let us in more frequently which is pretty cool!! Tuesday we were able to go out visiting with a member named Alez which was pretty cool because we dont go out with members very much here.. 

Wedensday morning after studying we traveled like 30ish minutes to Lambayeque and we had out district meetings and since im the district leader i have to give the 1 to 1 and a half class!? Its kind of nerve-racking sometimes because you have to stand up there and teach a group of missionaries that studies the scriptures a lot and are very intelligent people and they basically know everything they need to do... So yeah i basically just help them remember the things they need to do! In the district are Elder Azaña and Elder Watkins, Sister Corona and Sister Wood, and the Zone Leaders, Elder Bowyer and Elder Ricapa! Its pretty cool eing a district leader i guess.s Its kind of stressful sometimes too! 

Thursday ended up being a pretty good day! In the morning we went and visited Emily and her cousin Carlos and we had a pretty good lesson with Carlos who attended the 7th day adventist church for a whole but hes inactive right now and we think he could progress! Then in the morning we did some more contacts! Its kind of hard doing contacts in a small town like this because all of the poeple here have been contacted before and some of them more than once.. So i guess well just have to contact everybody until they get tired of shutting the door on us! In the afternoon we were able to go out visiting with Alez again and it went pretty well! We were able to get a couple visits in but not as many as we had planned.. I guess not everything always goes the way you want it too..

Friday we had weekly planning in the morning and then in the afternoon we went to Lambayeque because i had to do a baptismal interview for on the of the investigators who they are teaching! Thats was a pretty nerve-racking experience too! I was super scared to do it but i guess after all it went pretty well! So that took up almost all of Friday and we werent able to do much else on Friday.

Saturday morning we went out and just did lots of contacts and nothing much came of the contacts that we did which was a bummer! In the afternoon we went out tried to visit some people and we were able to visit a couple which was pretty cool! After all it ended up being a good day!

Sunday was the best day of the week though!! In the morning we went to church and that went pretty well! My companion gave a talk because it was his last Sunday in the mission! Its always lridiculously hot in the Chapel house that we rent and its hard to concentrate sometime because youre just sweating the whole time and its kind of misrable but theyre trying to get some fans to make it better! Anyways in the afternoon we usually go out and we usually arent able to get much done because everybody is usually busy on Sunday, but it was different this time!! We had done some contacts on one street the day before and we set up three appointments with some people on the same street and we went and every single one of them let us in and we were able to share soemthing special with them! After dinner we went to a recent converts house and we were able to talk with her sister too for the first time and it was really cool and we think that she ould progress very well in the future! All in all Sunday ended up being a good day and at night i recieved the reports and passed them to the Zone Leaders and thats all for the week!

I know this church is true and one of my favorite things about it is one of the Article of Faith that we have, " We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal and we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God! I love that we have continuous reveltaion and are guided by true prophets and apostles today!! Love you all!!

Love,

Elder Jarman

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Looks and feels like a desert

Week #78
3/16/15
Hey Everyone!!

So this week has been very crazy!?!!

Okay so i don't have much time but ill try to get the big stuff in!

Monday of last week i didn't really get to say goodbye to all the people that i wanted to and it was kind of sad!! I hope that at some point i will be able to say bye to them!

Tuesday we had the transfers meeting at like 11ish in the morning! It was a fun time working with Elder Mecham and i feel like we had a lot of good times and passed some cool experiences and we were both able to help each other learn and grow!! I will miss being his companion! SO anyways at the transfers meeting i got called to be in the area: Mórrope in the zone: Lambayeque as the new District Leader!? I also am in a trio! So yeah Mórrope is a little tiny city almost out in the middle of nowhere and its got a small branch with like 35ish members that normally attend church! The city basically is surrounded by sand dunes and it looks and feels like a desert! Its not dry but pretty humid and its hot and so you're basically always sweating!? 

So yeah this week was kind of strange being in a trio because in teaching situations you don't have to talk very much because there's one more of us!! I don't really know the area very much yet but my companions, Elder Smith from Utah, and Elder Segura from Ecuador are helping me out! I don't really know that many people yet but one cool thing that happened this week is that we, or better said, they had a baptism! On Saturday a girl named Hellen got baptized and it was a really cool experience and afterwards she gave a powerful testimony! I had only visited her once so i didn't really help much in her conversion but it was cool to see and feel the powerfulness of her testimony!

Sunday we had church in the little chapel house which is only one floor with a couple rooms! It was super hot in there and we were basically sweating the whole time!! We really need to get some fans in there! Church went well and it was interesting to see how small the branch was! Its going to be pretty tough the missionary work here but it will be a good experience!

So Today we went to Lambayeque which is like 20ish minutes away in a van(Combi) and went met up with the district to play soccer for a while!! It was insanely hot outside though! While we were playing President Williams called the zone leaders and said he wanted to talk to my companion Elder Smith. He said he had been calling but we didn't answer because we were playing soccer.. So President told Elder Smith that he was going to have an emergency change and that we had to be in the office ASAP! So we went and ate then we came back and took showers and got ready and Elder Smith packed up his stuff and we headed to the office in Chiclayo to drop Elder Smith of with his new companion. So that was really crazy news!? I was only companions with Elder Smith for like 6 days... My other companion Elder Segura is going home next week because hes finishing his mission so basically we have no idea whats going to happen.. This week will be the second week of the change so when Elder Segura goes home i will either be left here in Mórrope with a mini missionary for the 3 and a half weeks left in the change or i will also get an emergency change to some other place.. We really don't know whats going to happen.. All i know is that i have to get to know the are really fast!! 

So yeah this week has been a crazy week but interesting! I'm not sure whats going to happen but im excited for this new opportunity i have to work in this area for ho ever long it ends up being.. I know that this is the same church that Jesus Christ himself established when he was here on the earth and im grateful for the blessing it is in my life!! Love you all!

Love,

Elder Jarman

18 Months?!

Week #77
3/8/15
Hey Everybody!!

Hope you all had a great week! We had a pretty good week but it was definitely difficult some of the days!?

Anyways so on Monday we played soccer again in the morning! It was really fun as always but for some reason i always end up having a headache at the end! Then we basically just hung out until night time! Some one called us that day to go with them to teach a lesson that night so at 8 we went with him to teach the lesson! The lesson was very strange though.. We went to teach this girl who they thought was possessed by a demon but the Bishop had already given her a blessing and he said that it was just something wrong with her nervous system and what looked like the start of schizophrenia.. During the lesson she was making weird faces and was drinking water and spitting it on the ground and throwing it on herself and it was all pretty strange but the lesson went well though! We haven't heard anything else about the girl since..

Tuesday and Wednesday and were some of the harder days for us.. Every time we would go out and wed have the awesomely planned days full of appointments with lots of people but when we would get to there houses they were always busy, weren't there, or the worst one of all, they would be there in there houses and open up the curtains and see us and then just never open up the door.. So yeah this week was kind of hard in that aspect! We manage to do alright by the end of the week goal-wise so that was pretty cool but a lot of the days were just really discouraging sometimes!! We kept on going though and we were able to have some good lessons and some cool experiences though! 

Thursday was weekly planning because on Friday we were going to have the Zone meeting and in the afternoon we went out and tried to visit people but it ended up being a lot like Tuesday and Wednesday! It was kind of a bummer but we cant really control that too much! We basically just end up walking around all day trying to visit people and out feet hurt and one thing we look forward to is dinner! Every other night for dinner she gives us a big bowl of fruit and yogurt!! Its pretty awesome! After dinner on Thursday we went to the church and we had a ward missionary night for the first time all year!? So the turnout wasn't the greatest but it went alright after all! We are going to start doing that every Thursday now for the rest of the year!

Friday we went to the zone meeting that we have once a month and it went really well! We had a lesson on baptism and helping prepare the people to be baptized and how to do baptismal interviews and things like that and i feel like i learned quite a bit which was cool! Friday afternoon we went out visiting with the Bishop and hes such a cool guy!! Hes only 32 years old and hes awesome! So we went out with him expecting to have this really great day and we had some important appointments planned but they ended up all falling through!? We were super bummed! Anyways that was about all for Friday..

On Saturday morning we got up at 6 am and went running around this soccer stadium that there is in our area for a while and it was really cool and it felt nice to run like that after not having done it for a very long time!! We are going to start doing that with the Bishop like 4 days a week which will be awesome!! Then on Saturday afternoon we had a pretty decent work day! It wasn't as bad as other days this week! 

Sunday went alright i guess.. We only had one investigator in church on Sunday! Hes a really cool kid but hes only 15 years old and we've talked to his parents a lot of times but they don't want to come to church or anything like that so he wont be able to get baptized for a little while! On Sunday we had two pretty cool lessons with some of our investigators and also with a recent convert family and Sunday turned out to be a pretty good day! It was also a pretty nerve racking day because Sunday night at 9ish they call us and tell us if we have changes or not.. So we were just waiting on Sunday night for the call to see if i had changes or not and they finally called and it turns out that i have changes!! I'm kind of happy and pretty sad at the same time!! I really like this area and the people i have met and i wanted to stay for just one more change but i guess im needed in another place.. So tomorrow we will go to the changes meeting and i will find out where im going!!

It turned out being a pretty good week after all.. A little bittersweet but its a new opportunity to learn! So im going to have to go say goodbye to the members and people tonight and pack up to head out tomorrow!! One thing i know though is that the way that these things are determined is by revelation! I know that that is a marvelous thing that we take joy in as members of the church! I'm grateful for the revelation today and i know that the Church is guided by revelation today!!Love you all!!!

Love,

Elder Jarman

(Picture Credit Elder Mecham)

A spiritual lesson

Week #76
3/2/15

Hey Everyone!!

Well this was another good week! 

Monday we played soccer again which is like the 6th Monday in a row or something like that!? Theres not much else to do here in zone so we have just been playing soccer recently! Not bad exercise though!! Then we just hung out with one of the return missionaries in our ward named Moroni! It was pretty cool i guess for P-day!

One Tuesday we had our district meetings as usual and all went well! After the district meeting we did whats called a work visit.. The district leader came with me for a day and my companion went with the district leaders companion for a day! It was kind of cool and went really well! Every time you do a work visit you learn new stuff and i feel like i learned quite a bit of things or techniques to use in my teaching! We had a couple of good lessons on Tuesday and it ended up being a really good day! In the afternoon we went out with a member whose name is Carlos and we visited a couple of people and contacted some other people! He took us to one of his neighbors house and we were able to meet them and have a cool lesson with them! A little later on we had one of the cooler and more spiritual lessons i have had in my mission with the Estrada Family! It was a really cool lesson and we talked about enduring to the end and it was a lesson of reflection and focusing on how we can all do better and it was really cool!

On Wednesday morning we got ready and went to the district leaders room to change back to our normal companions and then we went back to Kennedy and went to eat at a members house and we ate some like beef jerky kind of meet and beans and rice and it was actually really good food and the meat was really good! After lunch we went and visited Luz and her boyfriend Yoe and we are working with them quite a bit now! Yoe is a less active member and Luz was listening to the missionaries a long time ago but she didn't progress so the missionaries stopped going but when we looked them up again after a while they were really receptive and now we are teaching them again! They want to get married and Luz wants to get baptized so we just need to work on scheduling a marriage and that would be really cool! Later that night we had another really good lesson with another cool family! The Soza Monja family! When we walked in we started talking for a while and then we said a prayer and at the start of the lesson we didn't really know what we were going to share but as i was flipping through my scriptures i felt like we should share Alma 34 with them especially for the husband, Dario, whose not member! It ended up being perfect for him and it was a really cool lesson!

Thursday and Friday were pretty normal and we visited Blanca and a couple other new people which was cool! We are trying to look for new investigators right now because the pool of investigators that we have right now aren't really progressing very much.. We actually have a few of them that come to church but they cant really progress because of whatever reason like they are under age or they aren't married or things like that! 

Sunday was kind of cool! We had 5 investigators come to church which was pretty good! The testimony meeting went well! After church we went out and tried to visit a lot of people without much success because everybody is always busy on Sunday.. Oh well all in all it was a good week! Changes are next week and i might get changed which would be kind of sad but a fun new opportunity.. Who knows well see what happens! I know that God loves all of his children so much that he gave his only begotten son as a gift for us and Jesus Christ loves us so much that he gave his life for us!

Love,

Elder Jarman