{note from his family... if you translate the title line of this week's email from spanish it says i would like to announce that my father never gave a monkey a shower}
dear children of anyone of the fatherly variety,
i will begin this letter with a word of wisdom. . . . .
now for the rest of this publication i will describe the happenings of my previous week. our week was a topsy turvey of all sorts of missionary activities mixed in with sunshine, rain, and a fair amount of pasta. i've learned quite a bit on my mission about the importance of patience. the scriptures are full of accounts of people progressing in the gospel and while they do highlight some instances of immediate and extraordinary changes of heart, there is still the message of slow and steady progression building line upon line and precept upon precept. i've learned that as we increase and exercise faith in jesus christ we grow in our understanding and our hope increases over time. and then as we continue to do all that we can we may face opposition but we will continue in the power of the grace of jesus christ. i've seen this happen many different times with people we teach and many different times in my own life and in the life of missionaries i've served with. the great news of this week is that yolanda is progression very much in the gospel at this point. we weren't able to see her for a pretty long time because of some health issues but when we did we were surprised to find out that she had read more than half of the book of mormon in-between visits. the funny thing was that she just kept on apologizing that she hadn't yet been able to read the whole thing. her desire to follow jesus christ and learn of him is an attribute that i admire and wish that i had been able to find much earlier in my life.
i've also had many different experiences that reconfirmed my faith in the power of revelation. as we work through the week one of the biggest questions missionaries face is where can i go and what can i do to best fulfill my purpose. and as we seek to find answers to this question we are often guided without even realizing that we’re being guided. we had an experience where we were looking for an address where a former investigator lived and we were having trouble finding it so we decided to go street contacting in the surrounding area instead. and about three minutes later we stopped a lady who was actually being currently taught by missionaries in the london north mission. and while we were talking to her another man came up to us and started talking and then, when seeing we were engaged he apologized and said he would wait till we were finished. we finished talking to that lady and turned to see what is was that this man wanted. he apologized for bothering us and then pointed at the book of mormon in my hand and asked if it would be possible for him to get a copy of that book. we happily obliged. he then asked us if there was a local church nearby and when we answered in the affirmative he asked if he could attend as soon as possible. we once again were pleased to say yes. then he asked us if it would be possible to meet at some time later and talk more about our church, jesus christ, and the book of mormon. and then, after taking a moment to resuscitate my companion, we said yes and scheduled a return appointment. my point is that as long as we’re trying to do what the lord wants us to do, and following the gospel of jesus christ, and seeking for his help in our lives, we will be guided and strengthened in our efforts even if we do not recognize the guidance and the promptings and the progress we are making.
the gospel is really kinda cool that way :)
i love you guys and i'm grateful for your support and your prayers.
always remember, if you give a man a fish you feed him for a meal, but if you give a man a magic fish you feed him for a lifetime
with love
Elder Jarman
ps. for all those who seek to make others lie about love of fist bumping, consider yourself reprimanded.
pps. i think it's really kind of fun how you can add post scripts to anything and it doesn't actually have to make any sense or have anything to do with what you've been writing about.
ppps. the olympics are coming and it's getting kinda crazy!
pppps. tomatoes are not a fruit because they would not and cannot ever feel at home in a fruit salad. . . .think about it
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