dear anyone that continued reading despite previous subject lines,
let’s talk about life,
life is a two things really. one, life is a board game that i have never really enjoyed playing because it seems that someone always just happens to pick the doctor card and then basically has an automatic win because that doctor is going to be making 100,000 dollars every three squares for the rest of the game! i can't compete with that! especially since i always seem to end up with something weird like "computer designer" or " "accountant", who for some reason has a less successful life because the said occupant doesn’t make a s much money as the doctor! like how much money you get is any sort of indicator of how successful your life is. whoever made that game needs the gospel . . . . . anyways.
two, life is also the funnest thing that we get to do basically ever. if you aren’t enjoying life, you probably aren't doing it right. think about it. . . . no YOU think about it.
so the work here in staines is going really well. it's a lot busier than my last area and there is also a lot more diversity so i get to meet people from basically anywhere all the time. its great! we (meaning me and elder pond) have made it a personal goal of ours to make the book of mormon the focus of all our finding efforts here in stains. so with everyone we meet we bring their attention to the little blue book in our hands as soon as we possibly can. (if they don't ask first which they do quite often) and i've seen some amazing things happen because of it. we've met some people who have heard all sorts of things about "dem dern mormons!" and don't want to hear anything about it, yet soften up immediately when we bring their attention to the book of mormon and then bear testimony of it. we had a pretty cool experience just a few days ago where we stopped a guy and as soon as he saw our badges he went off on a tirade about all the things that mormons supposedly do (which we don't) and just how wrong we were. he at one point said that he would never read the book of mormon because he didn't believe that what it taught is the same thing christ would teach (which is funny) we just sat there and let him have his fun then when he was about finished we bore our testimonies about the book of mormon and how much it has helped each of us draw closer to christ in our lives. the man stopped talking and then looked down at the book of mormon in my hands. then he looked back up at me and asked if we could possibly give him a copy. (insert moment of silence for appreciation of just how awesome an experience this is) we saw this guy turn a complete 180 in a matter of about thirty seconds! it was awesome!
(complete change of direction begins here) training has been a very humbling experience for me so far. elder pond has the most incredible desire to serve god continually and is often times pushing me forward when i'm tired or for whatever reason not preforming as well as i am capable. and as i seek to teach him and help him understand the basics of missionary work i am continually learning myself and often times learn new truths even as i teach them to him. i know that the lord is guiding this work and it's incredibly humbling for me to think that he has trusted me with so much to do here in this "sceptered isle" as elder holland put it. i feel that i am continually standing on the shoulders of giants and following in the footsteps of great men and great missionaries that have come before me. for example in this area every person i've met knows and loves Elder Folkerson. he set a great example and did a lot of great work here. and now i'm here from the same place and working for the same cause i'm just striving constantly to live up to the example he left behind. i love this work and love this gospel. the more i learn the more i love everything about it. the more deep i go the more i realize just how simple and pure everything in the gospel is and how everything will always tie back to the incredible sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for each of us. i'm here to do his work. i love you all and am always grateful for the support you give me.
with love
elder jarman
ps. in a crowded stake center it is always quite possible for a words to sound similar to other words. for example juniper and jupiter could easily get confused for one another.
pps. i firmly believe that bananas are the breakfast of champions, hence the reason monkeys don't need to hibernate
ppps. what would YOU do for a klondike bar?
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