Dear anyone who has ever been surprised with how good a cucumber tastes,
We’ve had an amazing week of miracles this week. You kinda think I would get used to seeing miracle after miracle every day of my mission but they really never get old and the lord never ceases to amaze me with just what he can do.
Robert is still going along really solidly in his preparation for the ninth. We started teaching him the commandments this week and it was really cool to see how readily he accepted them and desired to begin living them. It made me think about what preach my gospel teaches about commandments--that when people begin to live commandments is when they really begin to feel the gospel working in their lives. In this way the commandments are kinda like the instructions on the back of a packet of ramen noodles. You've taken your time looking at how great the noodles look on the front (when you learn about the blessings and purpose of the gospel) but you're never going to end up with such a delicious looking batch of empty carbs unless if you follow the simple direction (often time accompanied with pictures) on the back. At this point with Robert he is so set and so excited to be baptized that the only thing that could possibly stop him at this point would be the addictions that he's battling. We know and he knows though that it is more than possible for him to be clean by that date because frankly God can do anything :)
We had some amazing and some interesting experiences teaching Henry this week as well. When we saw him on Tuesday he began the lesson by telling us that he had some concerns and then describing in detail exactly what his concerns were. (it's not always this easy to determine an investigators concerns by the way) Elder Keller and I just sat and listened as he talked, we probably didn't speak for nearly twenty minutes. As he finished speaking we sat in silence for a moment or two and then asked him one question. We just asked if we could summarize all of his questions and all of his concerns with one question: Did Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ actually appear to Joseph Smith and in actuality organize a church through him. After we asked this question he sat in silence for nearly a minute thinking about our question and then replied that yes if he could determine whether or not the first vision occurred, it could basically resolve all of his other concerns. We then both bore our testimonies of the prophet Joseph Smith and of the power of Moroni's promise. It was so cool to see again just how powerful and unique the message of the restoration is. All of the debating and theorizing in the world about this church and about Joseph Smith and the restored gospel will all amount to nothing to the one question of did it actually happen. Because if it did this one bit of information cuts through all the fog and the static in the world and gets you right on the right track. It is so simple and yet so powerful. I’ve found repeatedly throughout my life that powerful simplicity usually is evidence of the influence of Deity.
I wish I had time to tell you guys about all the miracle that Elder Keller and I see on a daily basis and all the ones especially that I’ve seen this last week but this is going to have to do it for now :)
I love you guys and always I’m grateful for your prayers and your support
With love
Elder Jarman
ps. Elder Keller has ALL of the living scripture films. We’ve been thoroughly enjoying them and we've been using them to teach investigators and recent converts as well
pps. I’ve once again reached the recent conclusion that in fact celery is vastly underrated
ppps. Muffins too for that matter
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