I May Have Whiplash update for Jessica 8-27-13

Buon Giorno i miei cari!!
(Good day my dears!)


This last week when so fast that I am truly worried I have whiplash! It was wonderful and full of adventures...as usual :) Last Monday we had a super awesome miracle! (Dangit I forgot the picture of our miracle well...next time...) So we had our first Italian class 2 weeks ago-- no one came. No big deal! But before we realized no one was coming we tried to get inside. Well in the midst of trying to kindly unlock the door we may or may not have most definitely broken the key to the lock in the door. (I.E. we hulked a key). Sorella Morley was crying but I couldn't stop "panic laughing". It's this weird thing I do when I don't really know how to handle the emotions inside me so I laugh... But I knew there was a key place near our apt so the next day we went by there to see if they could fix it. But the thing that you don't know about Italy before coming here is that all Italians take off the month of August or most specifically starting August 15th everyone-- everyone-- leaves. So they were closed for ferie and we had to wait till the next Monday. BUT. We went bright and early on Monday and ask about it. The man said it wasn't possible to fix a key that was broken in half. But I had prayed about it, a lot, and I had such a peaceful feeling in my heart that I knew it would be ok. We asked him just to try. Last week we went to the villa that we're renting while our church is under construction and after about 10 minutes with 5 different people trying, we got it! It worked!! And we had our first Italian class and it was great!! Miracles, miracles, miracles, gotta love em!


Last week we were really excited to have time to go to Venice again! We just bought a train ticket and walked to San Marco square. It's about an hour and a half walk through Venice. It was great! I love the history and culture here and it was really excited when we saw a man on a gondola singing opera to a couple :) But that wasn't even the best part! Last week I wrote about having a family home evening with a family from our ward. The husband wasn't there and we'd actually never met him before. But we heard he worked in Venice and decided we needed to meet him! Sure enough we were walking along and all of a sudden I knew we found him! We talked to him for a bit and let him get back to work. But this last week he was home when we had another family home evening!! It was amazing!! We had such a wonderful lesson about hope. Hope has changed everything for me in my mission. Faith brings hope and with hope we can do anything. We read in true to the faith that in the gospel hope isn't just "oh, well it might happen" or "maybe it will work out" or wishful thinking. Hope is a surety, a steadfastness in our hearts that everything will work out. Hope truly is the anchor to our souls (Ether 12:4).


This week I got the branch newsletter in the mail and I just loved it!! It was in color and had pictures of Mom and Gabbie in it! I love hearing about the branch. I hope you're all doing well, I love you all and thank you so much for your support! I can't tell you how much the card from the primary and the newsletter meant to me! Take care of yourselves and never be afraid to share your testimony with our those you love back home!


Life is hard sometimes. We all know that and it's know fun to except it but we must. But when we have faith, we will have hope and hope can carry us through the hardest of times. Don't ever give up or stop moving forward. This life is about progression and in the times of trying we can grow and learn and change the most. It's all about how we act under precious-- the pressure of the Refiner's fire.


I love you all! Take care and keep hoping!!


Vi voglio bene!


Sorella Jarvis



It was hot and sunny. Don't mind the crazy face!




Yummy desserts from Venice and my district!