I hope you are all happily breaking your new years resolutions :) Or really
working hard to make them last this year. I'm so grateful to be a misionary. I
get to make new resolutions every transfers, every week, every day! And the fun
part is always having a teammate to help you with them! Don't every think that
you have to wait a whole new year to make a goal. You can do it any day, you
just have to be the one to choose and then do it. Another great thing about
missionary work? The follow up. Don't just look back at your goals at the end of
the year. Check yourself monthly, weekly, daily. If you're not progressing then
what are you doing? Doesn't mean we can't mess up but it does mean we never stop
trying, endure to the end is a real thing.
I have to preface this with a small apology. I am sorry that I am human and
not capable of putting every miracle into and email or letter. There are just
too many! I love everything. Except cats. Sorry.
This week was a great time to reflect. The holidays are an absolutely
amazing time of year and there is a spirit that you just can't deny but it was
also a rough couple weeks for us. Everyone was on vacation or wished they were
on vacation. But everything is starting to pick back up! On Saturday we had an
absolutely wonderful miracle! We had a great day planned but by about 10:30 most
everything started falling through. We had a lesson at 12 that we were excited
for. We planned to watch "How Rare A Possession," the story of the first member
in Italy, with a member we have been working a lot with lately. She was coming
to church for a while and had kinda lost her way but in the last couple months
she's turned everything around. We meet with her every week, she comes to church
every sunday (alone), she goes to institute, and now she wants to get her life
in order to go on a mission. She's amazing! She texted us and said she would be
late. We got a little worried because our afternoon plans but we said that was
fine. Then she said it was because she wanted to bring a friend.
We watched the movie and then gave her friend her very own copy of the Book
of Mormon. She was so excited she practically ripped it from our hands--as it
should be! We invited her to church and then ran off on our way. The next day we
saw this sister and she told us all the way home her friend was asking her
questions. She felt bad because she didn't know how to respond. But she told her
she needed to pray and ask God if it was true and then she would know. Then she
went home and studied the scriptures for the rest of the day. She wanted to be
able to answer people with a surety. She also decided to do her first fast. One
sunday she bore her testimony for the first time since her baptism 5 years ago.
It was amazing! She told us that fasting was the hardest thing for her. Her
whole family was just having fun, eating dinner and she sat alone in her room
praying for strength. It helped me realize that sometimes we take the fast for
granted because we do it every month. But do we really know what it means? Do we
really know why we're doing it? She told us after church that she was so happy!
That's what a true fast can bring and should. Happiness! The best reward.
Monday night we had a great miracle lesson which made us late to our next
appt. We called and they just said to reschedule (at this point we're waiting
for transfer calls so I'm terrified that I'll never see them again:( But we went
to centro (chen-tro aka downtown or city center) to give the anziani something
for a member they were going to visit. Instead of heading in for the night I
felt like we needed to cross the street. We walked to a little nearby park and I
saw these 2 women and said let's talk to them and then we'll go home. We went
over and I just started talking (mostly fumbly...oh well) and I realized they
were just young girls (18). I asked them what they believed in and they said
they didn't believe in anything. My heart broke. You're so young! I
thought. There is so much you're missing that you just don't know. We had
a lesson with them and it was just great! We gave them a Book of Mormon and some
other things too. They said they wanted to come to church. They wanted to know
why we, who are only just a bit older, would give up our great lives in America
to do this. We walked away and I just started crying. These 2 girls are lost.
The Lord knows and now we do too. He sent us there at the exact time needed to
do our part in helping them get a little closer to Him. I knew that this was a
blessing from my fast the day before. When we start our month with a fast we
receive blessings from that fast throughout the month. How often do we remember
that? Second week, third week, fourth week--do we still have the faith in our
sacrifice, our sign of obedience. I know that I often forget. That's one of my 2
goals. To remember every month the importance of our fast (Alma 6:6).
Well my companion just laughed at me for how long this email is so that
basically means I'm not getting any individual emails out today. I love you and
wish you all the bestest year!
Don't forget to write me letters and tell me how much you love me! Or, even
better, I want to know about your missionary experiences.
Con un cuore pieno d'amore e gratitudine,
Sorella Jarvis
This is real pizza...
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