dear anyone that has either literally gotten their nose stuck in a book or has at least laughed at the concept,
we've experienced some great miracles with Robert over this last week. The first came as we taught him on tuesday. we had prepared a calendar for him that had the number of cigarettes he could smoke each day with the numbers slowly cutting down until he would eventually stop. we had planned for him to be allowed twenty five cigarettes for that day. when we came into the teach, before we even started with a prayer he grinned and told us that we were going to be really proud of him because he had only smoked 3 cigarettes that day! we were amazed and humbled. we asked him what day he thought he could completely stop by. he thought about it for a few seconds than looked back and us and simply said "tomorrow" in the end we didn't show him the calendar :) it was very humbling to see how much faith robert had especially in contrast to how much faith we had had as we had planned for him. sure enough when we called him wednesday evening he proudly told us that he had not smoked a cigarette all day! he truly has been experiencing the blessings of the spirit in his life. he reads every day and is very excited for his baptism.
on saturday we rode a train together to go watch a baptism at epsom chapel. on the train ride he saw someone he knew and started talking to them. it wasn't very long into the conversation before Robert proudly announced that he was going to be baptised on the 9th of march:) i love this guy. he has smoked again since wednesday, but he has at this point effectively cut down from around thirty cigarettes a day to about four in three days. we're confident that it will not be long until he has completely stopped once again.
i've been thinking a lot about the atonement this week. i was on exchange with one of my zone leaders this week as we began to teach a lady named sarah. as we began to teach he talked to her about how throughout life we run into many different hard experiences and on top of that we make many many mistakes. he described each of these experiences as being like picking up a pebble and putting it in your backpack. he asked her if she knew what he was talking about and she said yes that she has felt like that many times. he then explained that the only way we can empty our backpack is to follow Christ and to allow him to heal us through the power of the atonement. i've thought a lot about what he said and even more about her response. i've heard this analogy many times before but for some reason this time it took on new meaning. Preach My Gospel says that all the children of God, our brothers and sisters, need relief from the burdens of guilt and shame even though they usually don’t know why. for some reason i've never really considered the universality of these feelings. i recently met someone on the street as well who, when we talked with him about the "backpack of rocks" he acknowledged that he's felt it and knows that it's there but does not believe that it's possible for us to get rid of it. i've met others that believe that they can manage it on their own or are currently seeking to get rid of it by their own means and powers. in each case i bear my solemn testimony that because of Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance works. as we trust in Him enough to do what He says He heals us and makes us into better people. this is the cause and the message that i get up each morning rejoicing in my opportunity to share it. i can't begin to tell you guys how grateful i am to be a missionary. i've made so many amazing friends and i've become a much better friend because of my service.
the gospel is pretty cool :)
i'm grateful for all the support i've been getting from you all and i'm sorry that i haven’t been able to be more supportive from my end in responding always. know that i love each of you and i pray for you guys as well. i feel and am thankful for your prayers.
with love
Elder Jarman
ps. you know one more plus side to an abundance of rain is the abundance of rainbows. think about it :)
no YOU think about it
pps. this is my shout out to all the awesome missionaries out there, as well as all those that are preparing or returning.
viva le (nuevo) mexico
ppps. i just ate more food than eight hamsters could shake a stick at :)
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