when good things go bad you've probably left your fruit out too long {monday, september 24th}

dear enjoyers of a good emoticon,

well i must say that the most exciting slash terrifying thing that has happened this week was definitely the call i received to be a trainer again. i was not expecting to be called again especially not so soon but hey it’s good to know that these calls always come from the lord. Elder Gill is a fantastic missionary. He has such a strong testimony of the power of the Holy Ghost and he shows it by trusting in the lord and doing exactly what the lord would have him do, when the lord would have him do it. He's going to be a fantastic missionary and I'm grateful that i get to serve with him and get to know someone so cool. I've been blessed a lot on my mission with fantastic companions.

so in other news we did missionary work this week! we spent most of our time finding this week because Angel has been caught up at work and Lorraine, Cartier, and Tom have all been away on holiday. But! lorraine is back now so we can continue teaching her Yay! as always we've found some great success as we've set goals and prayed for help to achieve them and then did everything in our power to reach our goals (while respecting the agency of others) something I've really noticed in our work this last week is that sharing the gospel really is a very natural thing to do. i feel like we're all kind of conditioned and taught by the world that sharing our beliefs is bad and rude and something only crazy bigots do for no good reason. but when we look at what the gospel has done for us personally, and also just how amazing the message really is it is naturally to share with others what has made us us. as I've talked to people this week I've been working on trying to get to know and love all those i speak to and as i have done so I've been amazed at how much people have opened up to the message of the gospel. if someone comes to you with a cut you give them a band aid, if someone comes to you thirsty you give them some water, so of course it is natural that when we meet people who are thirty for something greater than water, and cut in ways that don't always appear on the surface we naturally want to share with them the great power and blessing of the atonement and gospel of Jesus Christ. it truly will help everyone no matter where they are where they've been and no matter what they're going through there is always a principle of the gospel that applies to them. The gospel is amazing and the more i learn about it the more that i love to share it.

I LOVE being a missionary!!!!!!!!!

sincerely

Elder Jarman

ps.

pps. i would have to say small flying shoulder monkey. i'm pretty sure that that counts

ppps. namaste! miro nam Elder Jarman Ho! mo Jesus Christ bisvasgiso. . . . miro napali no ramro

for some bizzare reason i find myslef craving swiss cheese dipped in custard {Thursday, September 20th}

dear those who may or may have not read a letter from me earlier this week,

so transfer day has come and past and we got some exciting news. Elder linden has been moved to clapham junction and i've been called as a trainer! i was super surprised/ terrified to find out that i would be training again especially so soon after i finished training elder pond but at the same time i'm excited to serve with another new missionary. the "greeny fire" as we call it is always contagious!. so my new companion is named Elder Gill and he is from just north of yorkshire. so i'm basically super stoked to be serving with yet another northerner (this makes it half of my companions so far) he's 6 foot 6 inches and as such basically towers over me. already he has shown to be incredibly excited about missionary work and very much in tune with the spirit. can't wait to tell you guys later about all the miracles we're going to see in this next transfer!

well that’s it for now but i'll be writing again very soon

With love

Elder Jarman

ps i don't recommend the above recipe

monks, magnifying glasses, and a little too much of the prince of egypt soundtrack

dear those who dwell upon the isles of the sea,

seven days and seven nights have passed since my previous epistle hath fallen upon thine eyes and ears (depending on circumstances) missions are a little bit like roller coasters. in that your spun a little bit all over the place and sometimes you don’t know which way is up but you always enjoy the ride. we have been so so so so blessed here in farnborough over the last few weeks that it's left my mind in the blown condition.

Angel is still doing really well. this week she told us that she has no doubt that the book of mormon is the word of god and she is just so excited for her baptism in the coming weeks. (she's from johannesburg btw) she still hasn’t been able to come out to church yet because of work but hopefully we'll be able to clear that up really soon. lorraine left on holiday this week so we weren't able to see her too much unfortunately but she took the book of mormon with her and was very excited to read it while she was gone so i'm excited to see just how she's been affected by the spirit of that amazing book on her trip. as well this week we picked some more new investigators and had great experiences with those were currently teaching.

one that really stands out in my mind happened while we were teaching cartier about the gospel of Jesus Christ. we've been a little bit worried about how well he understood the restoration, specifically what makes out church different or why the message we're sharing is so crucial to understand. basically we didn't think that he really understood the importance of the restoration of the priesthood authority of god. while we were teaching him about the gift of the Holy Ghost something we said made the reality and necessity of priesthood authority click for him. all of a sudden everything we had taught him fell into place and he had a huge AHA! moment. he got really really excited about the restoration and began telling us about how he couldn't wait to tell his family about this amazing news. i have no idea what exactly happened to help him understand, i don't know why what we said made everything else fit together for him. But the lord does. it was amazing for me to see just how well the lord knows his children. we just follow the spirit and say and do exactly what the lord tells us to and miracles occur. the gift and power of the holy ghost are real and if we prepare ourselves to receive the spirit, then listen to and follow the promptings we receive we can be sure that we will always be led to good. 

this is the lords work. i have absolutely no doubt about that. i can't even begin to tell you guys how much i love doing this work, how much i love being a missionary, and how much i love england and all the people living in it. i love hearing from you guys and i'm grateful for all of your support. i'm happy :) happier than i've ever been and having more fun than i've ever had.

love you all

Elder Jarman

ps. i've recently gained a strange love for scottish porridge and i really don't know why

pps.transfers are this week so i'll let you guys know on wednesday if anything changes

ppps. if you think about it prayer is basically the coolest thing EVER!

pppps. penguins preform platform paralympics stupendously

volumes of villians can verify the value of vindictiveness

dear anyone who thinks that monochromatic pens are lame,

side note: if anyone that happens to be reading this letter is actually completely satisfied with the monochromaticasy of their pen collection do not fear i will allow you to continue reading.

wher (swedish for where) do i even begin to begin. missionary work is just so full of incredible experiences and miracles, everyone who reads missionary letters frequently probably gets tired of hearing this but that’s just kind of the way it is. we saw so many miracle this week and saw so many people open up their hearts to the spirit. that’s probably one of my favorite things about being a missionary, seeing that change in people when they open up and let the spirit of the lord into their hearts. This week we had two new investigators commit to a date for baptism! the first is named lorraine (i can't remember if i've mentioned her before) she is amazing. in our first teach with her, when we asked her about her religious beliefs she told us that firstly she knew the church was true (this is kind of a really good foundation to build on) and since that teach she has seen blessings in her life for reading the scriptures and keeping the commitments we leave her so she was very much willing and excited to accept a baptismal date for the thirteenth of october. unfortunately she's going on a trip in the next few days so we won't be seeing her for a while but she has committed to read the book of mormon while she is away.

another miracle happened in teaching a new investigator named angel. she was raised in south africa in a really religious home but it has been since she's come to england that she's really opened up to the gospel and to the scriptures. when we first taught her we saw an incredible thing happen as the spirit witnessed to her that what we were saying was true she got really excited and told us that she had to go and tell all her friends the great news! that the Church of Jesus Christ is back on the earth! then when we met with her again, later in the week, she told us that she's been posting messages on facebook about it and because of that she found out that one of her good friends is actually a member of the church. when we invited her to follow the example of jesus christ and be baptized her answer was "of course" (probably one of my favorite attitudes towards commandments).

other than that we also began teaching a man named cartier (pronounced carcheer. . . he's french) this week who has a lot of great hope for progression in the gospel. the blessings we've seen this week are just amazing. missionary work is one of the greatest blessings the lord has given us :)

well i have loads of more stories to tell you guys but due to the lack of time and the fatigue of mine fingers it will have to wait for a future time.

thank you all for your love support and prayers. i promise you it is felt and very much appreciated

with love

Elder Jarman

ps. i've started using words with a lot of v's lately because it’s been decided that v words can be some of the funnest to say. such as. verocity, viscocity, vernacular, and vindictive.

pps. due to the fact of cartier being a male model the rate of zoolander quotage has increased by at least 76%

ppps. in the spring here the area gets covered with blackberries. we basically never get hungry going from appointment to appointment anymore :)

 

the following pictures are from Elder Jarman's trainer Elder Peach who has since returned and posted these pictures on facebook.... LOVE IT!

 

 

mix up the melting pot without melting your mixing pot. it's less messy that way

dear electronically connected countrymen (and women),

you know i usually begin e-mails (and journal entries) with beginnings that begin with something like "this week i" or "today we" or something similar. i feel that it's kind of annoying how repetitive the beginnings of my e-mails must be. is there some other way that i could commence mine epistles!?

And it came to pass that missionary work has been very fruitful in this portion of the lords vineyard during these last seven days. we saw miracles and many many many answers to prayers as we worked this last week. let me give a few examples.

when i came to farnborough we didn't really have that many people to teach, and due to the fact that this area is a lot more suburban and less populated than my last area i really felt like it was hard to find new people to teach. so me and Elder Linden talked about it and we decided to start making our prayers more specific, and to start specifically praying to find a family to begin teaching. long story short we have seen our prayers answered time and time again and we've been blessed with more new investigators this week than i have ever found in such a short space of time. more than i've found in some months!

i'll share a few examples.

this last thursday we started our day by praying that we would be led to new people to teach and that we would be led to them or that they would be led to us. later that day after we started teaching a great potential named lorraine we decided to do some finding in the area. we set aside an hour and set a goal to find and teach one new person on that street as well as set up a return appointment with that person. we knocked for the entire hour and had little to no success. then when we turned the corner to start our walk back a lady walked up to us and said she was looking for spiritual guidance and was wondering if we could help. (Whaaaaaaaaaat!) we went to a nearby park and taught her about the restoration. she told us that she has always been a christian but that she has always been confused by the tumult of opinions and war of words (so to speak) and that this confusion is what caused her to come to us seeking guidance. she absolutely loved the restoration and told us that she thinks this is what she has been looking for. we realized after we left that everything we prayed for was granted. someone was led to us and we were able to teach one new person and set up a return appointment.

the next example happened on saturday. we had been praying to find a family to begin teaching for a while now, so as we started to do some finding around the local chapel we said a prayer that we would be able to make at least one specific return appointment from our finding that day. the very first door that we knocked a woman opened the door with a child in her arm and two around her feet. as we began talking to her about gods love for us and her family she was joined by her husband at the doorstep. as we talked and they listened the spirit came so that when we asked if we could return and teach them more they accepted gladly and set up a time with us and gave us their phone number so we could confirm later. as we walked away from that door me and Elder Linden were ecstatic. not only had the lord answered the prayer we had just said but he had also answered the prayer that we've been repeatedly offering since we got to this area.

these aren't the only cases that we've seen this week and i don't really have time to talk about every miracle we see each day but i learned something important from these two instances. first and foremost i gained a firmer testimony that the lord answers prayers. i also learned that sometimes the answers will come quickly and even immediately in some cases. but that sometimes the answer will be after many many many prayers. sometimes after we have then done all that we can do. but he does answer. i love this work and i love being a missionary. god loves us all and is eager to hear and help us and this is at least one reason why he commands us to pray always.

thank you all for your love and support

with love

Elder Jarman

 

 the car ride to farnborough

more luggage packing fun

i may have not been able to feel my legs . .

top of st pauls cathedral in oxford city

scary staircase

 a view of part of the campus

hey look thats me !

 mission garden



 stalker/ awesome zoom pics

 stalker/ awesome zoom pics

me in a castle crevice

oxford in all its oxfordness

 

Monday, August 27th {one of the best ways to avoid moldy bananas is to duck}

dear faithful readers of mine words,

i have great times doing this whole missionary work thing that i'm doing over here. i love teaching the gospel, so many people (all of them) have a great need to hear this message. everyone i meet on the streets has problems and concerns and confusions they've been facing but one of the amazing things that i've realized is that the gospel always always answers the greatest questions that we have.

we were blessed this week to be able to witness a family that has recently returned to activity in the church receive one of the highest blessings we can receive in this life. we witnessed a man and a woman who love each other very much have the opportunity to make their marriage eternal. it was a great experience and my companion basically summed up my feelings as we walked out of the temple that day by stating simply that this is what it's all about. it's very true. the Gospel is about families. it is about keeping making and strengthening out relationships with those we care about. we build our relationship with god through our prayers and receive guidance and an added help of love as we follow the counsel he gives us both in the scriptures and in the guidance of the spirit we receive throughout the day. god has given us a perfect plan for us to be successful and to return to live with him throught the gospel of Jesus Christ.

this week we spent a lot of time teaching people on the streets and on their doorsteps and wherever else we could find them. we found one new person to teach this week named slyvia marsh who is an elderly lady with little religous backround. she was interested in meeting with us because she remembered that her mom was really interested in religion and as such slyvia wants to know what made her mom so dedicated to the faith. We were excited to help her find faith in Jesus Christ and experience all the blessings that come from that gospel living.

sorry this letter is going to have to be a little bit shorter because i'm pressed for time today. but know that i love and care for you guys and am always grateful for the support you guys give me.

with love

Elder Jarman

ps. does andrew still know the days of the week?

pps.have i mentioned that my companion is swedish!

ppps. Sha! lagit