Dear faithful readers of at least the subject line and first line of every letter i write,
i would like to congratulate each weekly reader for their dedication in enduring through approximately fifty two meaningfully meager subject lines and uncounted ps.'s in their quest to follow mine adventures. for each of those that prefer to participate annually i welcome you for the second time.
around the time that i am writing this letter i can say that exactly one year ago i first saw the green and pleasant knolls of england. it's always a weird experience to come to anniversaries so hopefully i won't spend too much time on this subject but i do want to write a few thoughts i've had. first is the most obvious. the time has flown by! the only way i can begin to actually understand that i have in fact been on my mission for a year is when i think about the person that i was when i first came out, the way i viewed the world, myself, and this work is probably the most notable, at least to me, indication of the passage of time. what i have come to realize though is that even though i'm on what most people consider to be the downhill i very much still feel like i'm just in the middle. i've gained valuable experience in the last year of service and i plan on continuing this process with the only change the increase of effort and diligence that i now can put into the work. as we strive to fulfill our callings the lord changes us so that we are able to give more of ourselves to this work. perhaps because as we serve the lord we find that there is now more of us to give.
the highlight of this week for us was the opportunity to teach the solari family twice. Rob and Carly have both had incredible and trying experiences in their lives and already i have been impressed with their dedication to each other and to their family. as we taught them about the restoration, they both understood and applied what we taught them and asked meaningful questions that showed their real intent in learning about the gospel. we also had a great experience seeing them again later in the week. we found the solari family by knocking a street that a family in the ward had prayed about for us to knock. so when we saw the solari family for the second time we brought this family around as well so that they could participate in teaching the family that they, by inspiration led us to. it was great to see both the members enthusiasm and the connection that they had with the solari family.
i also had an opportunity to give a talk in sacrament meeting about missionary work this week. in preparing the talk i was amazed and pleased to learn that the same principles that apply to preparing for and teaching people on an individual basis help as we prepare to give talks. as i prayed for guidance and followed the impressions i received in the writing and preparing of the talk i was guided and helped to create a talk that i felt would both inspire the members here and give them some of the tools that we need to share the gospel with our friends. i learned again as we honestly strive to do all we can the lord will strengthen us every step of the way, giving us guidance as well to help us do more than we could ever do on our own.
Natalia is still preparing for the eight of december and is integrating and supported by the ward amazingly well.
the work is still just as amazing as it was a year ago :)
have i mentioned that i love it here!
with love
Elder Jarman
ps. in three weeks it will be the anniversary of my first crumpet. i will give you three guesses to guess how i will celebrate that event
pps.i may or may not have broken down and broken out the christmas music last night.
ppps. is it thanksgiving this thursday?
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