A ton of smoke it was even hard to breath!

Week #68
1/5/15

Hey Everyone!!

So its been a little while since ive been able to talk to everyone! Hows everyone been?? Ive been great during these Holiday seasons!

So the work has been going pretty slow and has been hard for us right now because nobody has had time to visit with us! But thats alright because it should start to pick up a little bit now!

So our Christmas went pretty well! The 24th we went home at 9 and a member brought us some Pollo a la Brasa which was pretty good! Then we kind of just waited for the night and at midnight we came downstairs and we ate another dinner with the Pensions family! We had the usual Panneton and the Hot Chocolate and it was yummy! Then we went to bed and the next day for us was P-day and so we woke up a little bit later than normal (president said we could! :) )and after breakfast we opened up the little gifts that we had. The best part though was skyping with the family after 7 months!? It was really nice to see everyone and talk with everyone!!

Then for New Years the schedule was about the same but this time we had to come back to the room at 8 because sometimes it get really dangerous on New Years because eveyone does crazy things and a bunch of people are drinking the whole time!? So we came back and 8 and we ate dinner then and then we just waited and cleaned up the room and did just whatever until it was like 11:45 PM and then we climbed up on top of our roof and we had a pretty unobstructed view of everything and all the fireworks!! By 11:45 there were a ton of fireworks going off and they just became more and more until it was 12 and then at 12 everyone lit their Muñecos on fire and it was so loud and there were soooo many fireworks and there was a ton of smoke too it got a little harder to breath! That was my last New Years and Christmas here in Peru and im definatley going to miss the New Years celebration here because its just so insane!!! It was all really fun!!

Anyways so during these last couple of weeks we havent really had much success in the work but were still trying to work with the people! We dont really have very many investigators that are progressing and not very many people in the ward are helping us so everyhting kind of just slowed down... Blanca hasnt come to church for the past couple of weeks which has been a bummer!! All of the people just kept telling us that they would come to church and everything but then they never ended up coming so yeah it hasnt been the greatest lately and it has made it really hard for us lately!! On top of that there have been a lot of drunk people in the streets lately and since were both gringos walking around they always like to come up to us and start talking to us and its really annoying sometimes... One time this drunk guy came up to us and started to talk to us for like 10 minutes and at the end he pulled us in to a group hug and he said a prayer with us and it was really wierd and uncomfortable!?!

Anyways so these past couple have weeks have gone pretty well and my copmanion is doing alright! It always hard the beginning of the mission and hes hanging in there still! Its hard for him so far because of the spanish barrier but he´ll get the hang up of it little by little! He is really cool and is able to express his love and kindness freely and openly and hes a very sincere person too!

Anyways that about all for now!! Love all of you guys!! I know that God gives us trials to make us stronger to develop us into the person he needs us to be and the person that we will need to be to succeed in the future! In a way im grateful for the trials that i have because they make me who i am!! 

Love,

Elder Jarman

 Caroling in the town center

 Ran into my first area pensionista and she gave this cool little pillow.

 President and Sister Williams

 Elder Harper and Elder Jarman (stolen from elderbaylorharper.blogspot.com)

It's already 2015?!

Week #67
1/1/15
I just really cant believe its already 2015 and that i will be coming home this year!?!

 Training Elder Mecham!

 Merry Christmas Elder Jarman and Elder Mecham!

 Pannetone (like fruit cake)

Christmas Skype

As we get closer to Christmas people have less time for Christ.. How ironic!

Week #65
12/15/14

Hey Everyone!

Well this week nothing really interesting happened except for one thing.. So this email is probably going to be kind of lame.. 

So the interesting thing that happened is that yesterday we found out that my companion has tranfers tomorrow and that i am going to be training a new Elder..!! So yeah im kind of stoked but im also nervous at the same time!! Transfers are always bitter sweet but i guess its a new opportunity to learn new things! So anyways tomorrow we will attend the transfer meetings and i will get my new companion! This will be my first transfer meeting in like 10ish months?! Because i was in Jaen for so long and i came to Chiclayo for emergency changes i havent attended a transfers meeting in a long time so im kind of excited for tomorrow!!

Anyways other than that this week was actually not very productive.. As we get closer to Christmas people have less time for Christ.. How ironic! So the work has kind of slowed down a little bit but were still working hard! Hopefully we can find some people to serve during this Christmas time!!

So on Sunday Blanca came to church again for all three hours! Thats 3 Sundays in a row! Shes awesome! Katy and Shirley didnt end up being able to come to church on Sunday.. bummer but theres always next time! Other than them we dont really have any investigators that are progressing.. Guess its time to do a lot more contacts!! Im kind of nervous to lead the area again.. I never really like doing that but its my turn now!

Anyways thats really all that happened this week.. Sorry its kind of lame but i didnt have much time.. Next week will be better! I know that Jesus Christ lives and its especially awesome to remember him during this time when we celebrate his birth! He really is the most important person that has even been born and during this time we celebrate the birth of the only perfect person who made all Gods plan possible! I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior! Love all of you!

Elder Jarman

What can we give or do for Christ this Christmas season?

Week #64
12/8/14

Hey Everyone!! 

Well this week went really well! I cant beleive that Christmas is soo close!? I cant believe how fast the year is going by!!

The only thing that was kind of a bummer is that we had planned to go out visiting with a bunch of members but almost every single one of them bailed out on us at the last minute!! What made it even worse is that we planned a bunch of appointments hoping to be able to go out visiting with them and then they all bailed on us!!

So this week nothing really too interesting happened so i guess ill just talk about some of our investigators!

The one who is progressing more than the rest is Blanca S.!! She is awesome!! She came to church on Sunday too! She really seems interested in the church! The only thing is that before hearing us she was a member of the 7th day Adventist church but she said that she doesnt like it because they made her get baptized without any notice and she didnt really understand why she was getting baptized! She said that she showed up to church one day and they baptized her that same day!? Thats crazy! Anyways as missionaries we usually invite the people to be baptized after the 1st or 2nd lesson with them but with her were taking it a little slower so as to not scare her! A couple days ago we talked to her about baptism and she kind of quivered when we mentioned it but after we explained it all and how she needed to get baptized by someone who has the authority to baptize her she kind of lightened up a bit! She said that she was going to think about it and pray about it! My comp and I feel like very soon that she will get baptized! 

The second group of investigators who are more or less progressing are Katy A. and Shirley A.! They are sisters and we knocked on their door one day and Katy told us to come back on Sunday and when we came back they opened up and we talked with them and got to know them a little bit more and they are awesome!! They are passing through some problems right now but the Gospel could really help them right now!! They have started to confide in us and ask us for advice and we have really been able to gain trust and confidence with them recently which is aweomse because that helps us know how to be able to help them! The thing that was kind of a bummer is that we went to pick them us to go to church and they ended up not being there.. We went back in the afternoon on Sunday and they said sorry but that something had come up out of the blue that they had to go to but that they were going to go to church next week! I feel like they have really been prepared by the hand of the Lord and that we knocked on the door at just the right time for them!!

Other than them we dont really have many investigators that are progressing very well.. We are working with a lot of less active members of the church! Lots of the people that we have been teaching recently have been coming to church which is awesome!! Its always a nice thing to see the fruits of our labors!!

Recently we have been asked to talk with all the people with something thats called "El es la Dadiva" (i dont remember how to write that in English) but its a video that the church has put out for Christmas and it talks about Jesus Christ and what a mervelous gift he was for us from our Father in Heaven! Recently since we have been thinking and talking a lot about that and what Jesus Christ did for us i feel like my testimony has grown even more! I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer! He really did pay for our sins and he really was resurected and he lives today!! What can we give or do for Christ this Christmas season?? Love you guys!!

Love,

Elder Jarman

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uzjFEMmM0Xs

 

 

 

 

This was way back in April of Elder Jarmans 19th birthday.

I have noticed it cant be viewed from a mobile device but rather a home PC. At least from my experience:)

You gotta have Faith!

Week #63
12/1/14

Hey Everyone!!

Happy December!!! Wow the year has gone by so fast!!

So this week ended up going really well for us!! We didnt reach all of our goals but we improved a lot! For the longest time we have been having trouble getting people to come to church and thats one of the biggest reasons that they can progress but his week we were able to get 3 investigators to come to church! One of the new investigators that we are teaching whose name is Blanca came to church for the first time yesterday and it was awesome!! We passed by her house in the morning to bring her to church but when we passed by she wasnt ready so we ended up just going to church and telling her to come anyways even if she got there late! After the sacrament we went outside and waited a couple minutes for her to get there and she ended up showing up after like 10 minutes!! Always got to have faith!! She ended up satying all three hours of the church too!

This week on Thursday President and Sister Williams came to our room just to see how the room was and make sure we had everything we needed! It was pretty cool! When they walked in they saw the Chrsitmas tree on the wall and they thought it was a cool idea!! They shared something from Preach My Gospel with us and they left us some Chocolate chip cookies and then they left.. In and out.. Those cookies were so good though!! Man do i miss those!!

On Sunday after church we had a couple of appointments with some people we had contacted the day before but we usually those appointments end up falling through so we didnt have much hope going into those lessons but we ended up having a good lesson with a new family we found!! Also  couple hours later we went to another appointment like that and we found a coulpe more people who are really interested in learning more!! We only talked with the wife and sister because her husband wasnt home but they said that they have been waiting for somebody to knock on the door to teach them about the Gospel!!! Also ther grandparents just passed away so we can help the to know that they can live with their grandparents after this life too!! We have been really blessed this week and it was awesome!! 

The little experiences that build your testimony are awesome!! Its awesome being a missionary!! Its hard to explain how cool and special it is! There isnt anything else like it! I'm grateful to be here as a missionary helping other families to be happier! I know that this is the most important work that i could be doing and the most important work there is! Thanks for everything!!

Love,

Elder Jarman