you know that phone call smelled a lot like the ocean

Sent: Monday, April 22, 2013 4:35 AM
Subject: you know that phone call smelled a lot like the ocean

 

Dear anyone who has ever wanted to stand on the front of a ship and yell I’m king of the world like they do in titanic (that is in titanic isn't it?)

 

So let’s start this e-mail with the most scenery changing announcement I’ve received in the last week. Just a few hours after I sent my e-mail to you last week, I received a call to move to Southampton and become the new zone leader of the Portsmouth zone. This call changed our plans for the next few days quite a bit. The next day we received a call telling us that Elder Keller would be moving as well to serve in Welling with a certain Elder Pond that you may or may not remember from about a year ago. This made for a very hectic Tuesday.

 

Luckily we already had an appointment to visit Robert that day. The very first thing that he said when we came into his flat was, "I heard you guys are moving!" so much for the surprise.  Binky, another recent convert, apparently told him shortly before we got there. We decided to have our last lesson with him on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we talked we focused on the last step, enduring to the end. Robert told us that he saw that the way he saw it he only had one big step left for him in the gospel, which was for him to endure to the end living the first four steps for the rest of his life. We asked him about how he felt about the gospel of Jesus Christ. His response was one of the most powerful experiences I’ve had on my mission. He told us that before he met us he was often sad and struggled along and that his parents had been worried about him. He told us that his parents haven't really been supportive about his decision to start coming to church and become a member. But then he bore to us a powerful testimony about how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed his life, changed him as an individual, and made him into a happy person. He feels like the Gospel fulfilled all that his parents want for him and he can't understand how they don't see that.

 

So far on my mission I haven't really had the opportunity to work with a recent convert much after their baptism, due to my tendency to be moved immediately after the baptism. I feel that I have been so blessed as I’ve worked with Robert to see how the gospel and the church has made changes in his life. It never ceases to amaze me the changes that occur in a person as they are exposed to the power and influence of the Holy Ghost. These changes are subtle and hardly recognizable day by day, especially in ourselves, but the effect over time is a deep, powerful, and undeniable to those that experience it.

 

Recently we had training by one of the key people that worked on the organization of Preach My Gospel. One thing he taught that I’ve found to be profound was about the restoration. He asked why the restoration was important and we all gave many different answers with the kind of things you would expect--that we needed prophets, or the priesthood authority, or the people (both collectively and individually) needed God’s direction in their lives more. He answered that all these answers were part of it, but the whole answer was still missing. He then taught us that the restoration was important because the Gospel of Jesus Christ needed to be restored. The Gospel of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by proper priesthood authority, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end had been lost and changed, split and distorted over the years. This Gospel is the only way for God’s children to be successful in this life and to eventually return to live to be with our Heavenly Father again. This is our unique message, and the only one that has the power to heal individuals, families, and eventually the world. it's kinda a big deal.

 

My new companion is named Elder Manga and he's from Melbourne Australia. He’s an awesome missionary and super funny. He also wears ugg boots. . . apparently in Australia even the guys wear ugg boots. Southampton is a super great area and we're going to be using a car for the first time on my mission soon--not yet though :)

 

Love you guys and as always I’m super grateful for all your support.

 

With love,

Elder Jarman

 

p.s. we watched a certain leadership training video in ward council yesterday. I recognized a certain joseph fielding smith, his little sister, and a random backside of someone straightening a bed.