"It was lovely to see the photos of our girls at the Carol concert last week. Excellent that they got 3rd place, especially as they weren't fully aware of it being a competition. How nice they could share that experience at their half way mark!" ~ Paula Tacchi, Mission Mom from Bristol, England

I Am With Thee (12/26)

Ciao belli, 

This week was wonderful with Christmas. My Christmas included caroling as a zone at piazza del popolo, eating Filipino, Egyptian and African and Italian food, singing carols to orphans, and skyping my lovely fam. It was definitely a Christmas ill never forget, especially when we had to walk an hour home in the cold darkness from the church to our house. But at least no creeps were out... at least not very many ;) 

This lovely Christmas season has been one of the most centered on Christ I have ever had, and it was truly such a special experience. I think the thing that hit me the most was when we were singing to those kids, and I just felt the spirit so strong. I knew Christ was there with us. He was. I felt his presence so strongly, knowing how much he cares for all, especially the ones who need it the most, and come from humble circumstances. 

I have been studying a lot lately the worth of just one in the eyes of God. How much that one sheep means to him. How even just one drop of blood he shed for us means so much. How each tear we shed he counts and he matches. I know we have a savior. He is our shepherd. Our guardian from this cruel world. And he will never let us be lost. He is always searching, always right there, coming after us when we lose ourselves to lesser things. 

I think sometimes we think our pain doesn't matter. That our heartbreaks are unimportant or our fears are really just tiny little tidbits of nothingness to Christ. To our Heavenly Father. And they are. But that's the point. Once we realize we are nothing to them, it becomes easier for us to realize how much we mean to them despite our weakness and imperfections and failures. How much everything we are makes them proud. How far we have come with them makes them smile. All they want is us to be happy, and they know where to find true happiness. That's the catch because we don't. But they do and they can help us find it, if we choose. 

I think something I've always loved is the idea of the refiners fire. How all that pain and suffering and all those wretched human experiences turn us into something so beautiful, so good, so much more prepared to meet God. 

I know it is hard to want to be what God wants us to be. But when we realize all he wants us to be is happy, things become simpler and we can treasure them better, and find that true happiness. We can find our new life, which Christ is the father of. We can be born again. We can start over. Thanks to him, we have blank piece after blank piece of paper to construct the perfect final draft. 

But we have to be the one to put the pen to the page. To desire to have a happy ending. To desire that the pages turn. We have to want to have a story. Instead of just words. 

I know that if we allow Heavenly Father to make us again and again and break us again and again until we get it right. We will become new creatures. We will become people ready to meet God. But most of all, we will be happy. 

Happiness is not found in the world, it is found looking beyond the world, in spite of the world, and smiling and remembering there are bigger and better and brighter things always ahead. 

I love you all with my whole heart. My mission has changed my life. He has changed my life. He still lives. And he can change yours too, if you believe in him. If you believe he can fix you. He can make you feel whole even when the world would classify you as broken. He died of a broken heart so he can put yours back together. So just turn to him. Set aside your foolish pride and go back. Ask him to lift you. Every day I pray for the strength to go on and every day I receive it. He is there. He is always there. Even when we pretend he isn't or when he is just quite. He never left us. He is still with us. The fight is His. And he has already overcome the world. 

So come be on the winning team. Because we know how this ends. 

40 Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.

41 Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me;

42 And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost.

43 And the Father and I are one. I am in the Father and the Father in me; and inasmuch as ye have received me, ye are in me and I in you.

44 Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this rock shall never fall.

       45 And the day cometh that you shall hear my voice and see me, and know that I am.

-D and C 50:40-45

Sorella Jarnagin 

Sorella Hannah Jarnagin 

Piazza Monte Gemma 9 

00141 Roma, Italia 

Italia Roma Missione 🇮🇹

No Time (12/17)

Hi everyone, 

I have literally no time. But thanks for all the emails and wishes and I hope you all have a buon natale!!! Vi voglio bene!!! 

Sorella Jarnagin 

9 Months (12/12)

Ciaoooooo

The mission is a crazy time warp, and here I am at halfway. 

We never thought we'd make it here, folks. And yet, miracles do happen.

But really. I can't believe I am here in the heart of the city of Rome (well, at least near the Vatican) serving the Lord. And what a life I am living!!! 

This week was wonderful. I am realizing it is truly in the little things where happiness is found. True joy does not seem to be found in the great and seemingly perfect moments. But in the little ones, that make us remember what it is truly like to feel alive. To feel like we are living! 

And the perfect example of this, is found in the talk by President Uchtdorf, entitled "Forget Me Not." 

And it's true. We are not perfect. The people we think are perfect aren't. And that is a good thing!!! 

Merry Christmas time and merry week!!! 

Sorella jarnagin 

Sorella Hannah Jarnagin 

Piazza Monte Gemma 9 

00141 Roma, Italia 

Italia Roma Missione 🇮🇹

In Hours of Sunshine or in Rain

Ciao tutti, 

This week was great. We were able to see our simp Maddalena before she left to see her family in Palermo for Christmas. She is crazy, truly. But she is wonderful and she sure has a desire to find the truth! We look forward to working more with her. She made us cannoli and basically she is the kindest. She has so much love in her heart for other people it is wonderful. 

Which reminds me, if you have not already started to do the Light the World service calendar, I would invite you to search it out and do it! I know it will bring the true spirit of Christmas into your lives.

 The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a checklist of things to do; rather, it lives in our hearts. The gospel “is not weight; it is wings.” It carries us. It carried the Gatrells. They felt peace in the midst of the storm. They held fast to each other and to temple covenants they had made and kept. They grew in their ability to trust in the Lord and were strengthened by their faith in Jesus Christ and in His atoning power. Wherever we find ourselves on the path of discipleship, whatever our worries and challenges may be, we are not alone. You are not forgotten.- jean a. Stevens 

When the pathway of life takes a cruel turn, there is the temptation to ask the question “Why me?” At times there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel, no sunrise to end the night’s darkness. We feel encompassed by the disappointment of shattered dreams and the despair of vanished hopes. We join in uttering the biblical plea, “Is there no balm in Gilead?” We feel abandoned, heartbroken, alone. We are inclined to view our own personal misfortunes through the distorted prism of pessimism. We become impatient for a solution to our problems, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required.

The difficulties which come to us present us with the real test of our ability to endure. A fundamental question remains to be answered by each of us: Shall I falter, or shall I finish? Some do falter as they find themselves unable to rise above their challenges. To finish involves enduring to the very end of life itself. -President Monson

Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times, He is with us. He has promised that this will never change.

We truly need Him every hour, whether they be hours of sunshine or of rain.- President Monson 

I loved both this talks and invite you to read them! I know that if we turn outward during our hard times, they will become times that were meaningful tests of our faith. And they will build us up, brick by brick, day by day. I know Heavenly Father watches over us in moments of happiness and in sadness, and he is still there, watching over us, even when we feel so starkly alone. I know the atonement is real and I know it is by grace we can overcome our weaknesses and truly become like our savior one day. 

I love the gospel of Jesus Christ with all my heart because it brings me hope for a brighter future. He helps me see what I cannot see in myself. He sees me as all that I can become. All I will become. I know with his light we can see the dark times as just dark times. Times that will end, when they are meant to. 

Vi voglio un sacco di bene 

Sorella Jarnagin

Sorella Hannah Jarnagin 

Piazza Monte Gemma 9 

00141 Roma, Italia 

Italia Roma Missione 🇮🇹

Dead gingey.

Maddalena the miracle ️

Giant McDonald's bag for two burgers 

Ice skating last week PDAY with the Rome 3 district 

I'll Be ROME For Christmas

Ciao cari, 

I know it's a little early to be talking about Christmas, but it's almost thanksgiving, which means it's almost Christmas. And since thanksgiving is an American holiday....

See my point? Okay. Allora. Christmas!!! I love this time of year because it's all sparkly and pretty, especially here in ROMA.Did I mention I live here now? It's true. I live in the most magical city in the world! And I'm still pinching myself! I never thought I'd be one to serve in proprio Roma, and look at me now! Dreams do come true.

When I got my transfer call last Monday night I was a bit worried as we got blown in here, which means we are both new to the city and the ward and the work here. But things have been going pretty smoothly, and we have an adventure every day!! 

I've been thinking about how God puts us exactly where we need to be, with who we need to be with. And how it all just makes sense. Not at first, but looking back, I can see how it was all working together, leading up to something greater. And it is still is leading up to something wonderful, and I know that when it's all over I will be able to look back and see how wonderfully perfect everything fit into place. Of course, it is nothing like I imagined for myself. And I am so glad. God has a lot prettier imagination than me- for which I am very very grateful. 

And I think it's hard for all of us to see, or more, to trust the future he has in store for us. The things we can become when we let him take care of the rest. When we let him carry us through the parts he has already walked, and knows we cannot. And maybe that's why it is so hard to be happy sometimes. Because we expected things to be different than they are. But in the end, we come to realize it was better this way. If we did not know this great pain or these great trials, how could we ever know great triumph, or great joy? 

I love how in the Mormon message the Refiner's Fire, the woman talks about how when you feel deep tragedy, or have great pain, you are then more able to truly feel joy, and to have more happiness and appreciate when things are at their prime. I think that is so true. It is like Newton's law, like she says. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. 

It is like in Alma 36 when Alma the Younger describes how great his pain was, but then how exceeding his joy. I thought it was cool when in verse fourteen he says:

14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.

But then, he comes to have a complete change of heart. He asks for mercy. And then he repents. And he says:

22 Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there.

And first, he was filled with horror at the thought of having to stand before God and tell him all the wrong he had done. But then, he thought of seeing his God, and he longed to be there. I think this is a sign of true repentance. When we go from not wanting to let God see our flaws, to asking for mercy, repenting, and moving on to the point where we are able to want to be with him. Where we know that we are good enough, we have tried hard enough, and we have enough faith that he will keep his promises to us. And we will see him again. And we will live with Him. Because he is so proud of us. 

And I was reading in Mosiah this morning about how Ammon sees himself as an unworthy serving to help the people because members of the church. And I just had the thought. Stop underestimating how God sees you. Because I think somewhere down the line, it is easy to get into our heads that he sees us as sinners. As our past, or as everything we aren't. And it is true he sees our weaknesses perfectly clear, but that is all he sees them as. They are not who we are. He sees us for our divine potential. As souls who have the capacity to become like him. As people who have such a bright, wonderful future. And if we can just see ourselves as even a fraction of how he sees us, as how far we have come, and how much we have already done, then maybe we would have more confidence in our ability to change. More capacity to love others, and to develop true charity. To see them as their potential and their ability to change.

Sorry that was so long. But I love this gospel. I don't ever want to let any of these things I've felt here go. Miracles still happen. God is still real. He has a plan for you, and it is beyond your wildest dreams. He is merciful. He is kind. Ask him to take this from you, and he will. But you must ask, because he cannot interrupt your agency. But if you allow him to take it, he will take it. And not just some. But all of it. So let him. Don't leave yourself to your own strength. Use his grace. Use it in every moment. 

I love you all. Have the best week, happy thanksgiving, and eat some pumpkin pie for me 

Vi voglio un sacco di bene,

Sorella Jarny 

Sorella Hannah Jarnagin 

Piazza Monte Gemma 9 

00141 Roma, Italia 

Italia Roma Missione 🇮🇹

Last Napoli pizza :( 

The One Where the Happiest Human is Baptized! (11/13)

Guess what??? 

This week was a crazy rollercoaster of emotions and insanity and wonderful things and sad things. 

But the brightest thing that happened was a true sign that Heavenly Father prepares a specific and personal plan for each of us in our lives. And sometimes it is not exactly what we think it is going to be, and the things we think are forever turn out to be bittersweet endings, cut too short too soon. Or we don't get the answer we wanted to something we have always thought we wanted. And it's hard to be okay with who Heavenly Father wants us to be and how he expects us to get there. And it's also, really really incredibly difficult to realize how much we matter to Him. How much he knows our hearts. How much he cares if we feel joy, and how much he mourns we mourn. He is the epitome of charitable, the most perfect empathizer and the greatest    example of perfect love. 

And because of this perfect love, he sent us here. Not because he wants to see us fail, but because he wants to see us succeed. His purpose is that. To help us find our way, whichever way. To guide us. To love us. To support us. To worry about us. To bless us. And to give us time when we need it, and coincidences and tender mercies when we need them most. 

And he sure has given me a tender mercy this past transfer. Her name is Veronica. And she walked into church the day after I turned 20. And she started asking questions. And at first we thought she was some kind of religious critic. But it turns out she was the most humble, intelligent, penitent seeker of happiness I have ever known. And away we went. 

And yesterday she chose to come back to Christ. She chose to take upon her the name of her dear sweet savior and she was baptized. 

And I don't think I can explain the joy that filled my heart when during her confirmation she was declared a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I think that is the first time in my life I've ever felt true joy. Seeing someone else realize what they were missing out on--the purest love to ever exist-- and to be able to recognize that, and be brave enough to want it and to do whatever it took to get it. That is the type of faith I think we all need to remember to have. To let go, of everything we were and what we used to know and who we used to be, and to let God, make us into who we were meant to be. Into the right person. So we can have true joy. 

And I know it all comes in due time. And we each have a time frame and a path. But we also have a choice. To make it the easy way or the hard way. We can choose to be guided through daylight, or we can chose to be drug along through the darkness until we finally find our way again. 

And the easy way, it does seem to always turn out to be the hardest way. The path not usually taken. But I mean it the easy way because it is the way that is actually worth it. 

"Some turn away from God in anger, and others allow their suffering to bring them closer to God. Like you, I have experienced pain myself. Pain is a gauge of the healing process. It often teaches us patience. Perhaps that is why we use the term patient in referring to the sick.

The Savior is not a silent observer. He Himself knows personally and infinitely the pain we face.

As I pondered, I came to understand that during His mortal life Christ chose to experience pains and afflictions in order to understand us. Perhaps we also need to experience the depths of mortality in order to understand Him and our eternal purposes.

      President Henry B. Eyring taught: “It will comfort us when we must wait in distress for the Savior’s promised relief that He knows, from experience, how to heal and help us. … And faith in that power will give us patience as we pray and work and wait for help. He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience.” "- "The Atonement Covers All Pain by Kent F. Richards, April 2011 

I was studying this talk a few weeks ago, but it keeps staying with me. I think sometimes we forget that the Savior is for us. He did the atonement for us, and he felt everything we would feel. Which means he knows us, better than anyone. He knows our pain, because he has felt it. But he also knew how much we would hurt. And how important that would be to us. And because he loves us completely, or perfectly, he chose to feel all that we feel. Because he loves us enough to want to understand us better than anyone else. 

I know every pain we feel is for a reason. It is all for something bigger. And I know that our trials are to help us learn. To become someone with more value than we ever thought we had, more than we on our own could recognize. 

Vi voglio bene 

Sorella Jarnagin 

Sorella Hannah Jarnagin 

Piazza Monte Gemma 9 

00141 Roma, Italia 

Italia Roma Missione 🇮🇹

Sometimes Stop and Smell The Roses

Ciao tesori miei, 

It has been a long, wonderful week! We started out with a scambio in Battipaglia and then we came back and had the Pozzuoli sorelle here with us and we tore it up!! We taught a woman in a store named Anna and showed her grazie a lui and she started crying and said it was just a really difficult time right now... and she wouldn't accept il libro di Mormon but she did accept the opuscolo of the Restoration. So we plan to go back there and teach her and hopefully she will have her heart softened so she can see how much the gospel truly can heal hearts and change lives and give us chances we never knew we could have. 

Another miracle we saw during scambi is first we were trying to see our cute investigator Alina but the train never came. So that was a bummer. So we decided to go visit a less active, but I kept getting us lost, walking down super random streets and in completely the wrong direction the whole night, and I kept getting frustrated. But then we started heading down this street I knew was wrong, but I just felt like we needed to go that way, so we went that way and decided we would stop by Gaetana, our other investigator, whose store is close. But then she was too busy talking with a ton of people so we told her we would come back in a minute. So then I asked Sorella Hunter if she was hungry and she said no, just a little thirsty. So I said alright. We kept walking a little bit. Then we saw Conad, a grocery store, and I said let's go get a drink! Because you have thirst! (Haha) and so we crossed the street and went in. And five seconds after we walk, we see Anastasia, the friend of Gaetana who we met with once and she started crying because she said she just wanted to change her life, and live better basically. She is super cool, a personal trainer, and awesome. And we hadn't been able to get in contact with her for weeks she had been dodging us. But I ran up to her and shouted her name which probably freaked her out but it was fine. And then she botched me and went to go pay for her salad. But Sorella hunter and I just stood there with our juice, completely dumbfounded!!! Well at least I was!! Because Heavenly Father really does lead us to the people who need us. He really does help us see the things other people can't and he puts us right in their path when they need it most, even when they cannot see it right away. 

And sometimes he puts people in right in our path who are golden. And her name is Veronica and she is getting baptized this Saturday!!!!! 

So there's that. We are excited!!! She is literally the most prepared human I have ever met! She

 LO️VES the GOSPEL and she LOVES Gesù!!!!! She is soooo coool. We are so lucky to know her and be a tiny piece of her beautiful conversion story. 

I can't even describe the joy I feel when I see someone finally begin to want to understand, to comprehend, to feel the love their father in Heaven has for them. It is almost magical, the way it sets things off. And pretty soon, their entire life, their entire purpose and future is completely changed. It's amazing. 

And I've been thinking about change today. About how it is so possible to change. It takes a decision to change. Then it takes a goal. Then a plan on how to achieve the goal. And then it takes tasks. Things, little things, you must consistently do to keep yourself on course, to keep correcting, to achieve the change. But most of all, it takes commitment. It takes a deeper desire to want something better, for yourself and for those around you. And then it takes consistency to keep that commitment burning strong. 

And I know this is something I need to work on more. Being more consistent with my commitment to the Lord. I like how in Preach My Gospel it basically says that your success as a missionary is dependent only upon how committed you are to the lord. Because if you are committed to him, you will not want to let him down. Or disappoint him. And I know I don't want to disappoint my Heavenly Father. I want to make him smile. I want to make him proud. So I will do whatever it takes to make him happy. To make his children happy. 

I also know that change is real and I know that it doesn't not come easily, but with a high cost. But luckily, that cost has already been paid with the grace of the atonement of Jesus Christ. So we don't have to pay. We don't have to suffer uselessly. All of the sufferings and pains we experience in this life are for something bigger. They are for our learning, our growth, our realization that our strength is not our own. And that us against the world with only our own strength is asking for failure. But if we turn to him who has already overcame the world, we can triumph. We can win. We can better. We can find joy. 

I know God is real. I know he is our father. And I know that he lives. And through his son Jesus Christ, we can overcome anything. 

Be of good cheer, the future is as bright as your faith. -President Thomas S. Monson

Vi voglio bene! 

Sorella Jarnagin 

Sorella Hannah Jarnagin 

Piazza Monte Gemma 9 

00141 Roma, Italia 

Italia Roma Missione 🇮🇹

È Una vita meravigliosa (10/31 ~ Halloween)

Ciao belli, 

HAPPY halloween!!! 

This week was fantastic and right Now I am writing from the Amalfi coast so I will keep it short. But guess what? Dreams really do come true. More on that next week, but in the mean time, let me just say GREAT THINGS are happening in the city of my heart Caserta. These past few months here have been jam packed with miracles and we are finalmente seeing precious fruits from our Labors and we are super lucky to even be seeing them!!! I am so pumped to keep the fire here burning. 

Lately I've been contemplated why we think we need so much to be happy. Why we think our circumstances has anything to do with happiness. Why how much money or success we have determines how much felicità we will have in this life. When really, happiness truly is about embracing the tiny moments. The little slivers of joy we can find in each day, and those are what build up to an eternal stock of true happiness. 

It reminds me of the Mormon message "Flecks of Gold" and how the man is so mad that they promised him he would find gold, and then he only finds a few flecks. And it takes a more seasoned gold finder to point out to him that it is those flecks that over time become very very costly and priceless. But that doesn't mean the profit takes time to find. Just like happiness. Maybe we can't declare ourselves truly happy today, because we are only seeing the flecks are just flecks. But when we take the time to put them all together, to count them and cherish them, we realize how much they have all added up. And how maybe, all this time, we have had all this happiness right under our nose, we just haven't recognized it as such. 

And I think that seasoned gold finder is our brother and our best friend Jesus Christ. He is our Savior, and he is magnificent. But more, he is the one who knows our hearts. He knows how it feels to be frustrated over flecks because we are expecting bars of gold to just magically wash up to our feet within an easy distance for us to pick up. And so he provides us with grace because he understands, above all, how we feel. He understands what it is like to feel like we have no one, or to feel like we are no one. And we aren't. We are someone. We are souls. We have always existed and we always will exist. Whether we choose to spend our days in misery or in joy. We know how to live in both ways. It is only a matter of which we choose. 

I love being a missionary and I'm so grateful for all the prayers and the support! And everyone is fine from the earthquakes. Tutto bene :) they were near my last city, all of them, but we were hardly affected here. We saw our light fixture swinging back and forth but other than that we are all good. 

      President Gordon B. Hinckley said: “If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God. … The Lord will not forsake us.”

Our family motto doesn’t say, “It will all work out now.” It speaks of our hope in the eternal outcome--not necessarily of present results. Scripture says, “Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good.” This doesn’t mean all things are good, but for the meek and faithful, things--both positive and negative--work together for good, and the timing is the Lord’s. We wait on Him, sometimes like Job in his suffering, knowing that God “maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.” A meek heart accepts the trial and the waiting for that time of healing and wholeness to come. -Neil F. Marriott 

Thanks for listening and I hope you all have the best week!!! 

VVB 

Sorella Hannah Jarnagin 

Piazza Monte Gemma 9 

00141 Roma, Italia 

Italia Roma Missione 🇮🇹

MTC Before

My Same Mission "Family"! (After)

Ciao cari, 

This week I'm super short on time! But this week was amazing. Yesterday we had a wonderfully magnificent zone conference on what it means to be a successful missionary. And basically it is if you are committed to the lord and are trying your best. It doesn't mean you are perfect because perfection is unattainable in this life. But it does mean you are trying to be the best you can be and give what you can in that moment.

24 And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.

25 And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless, otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for ye covet that which ye have not received.

26 And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you--that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God--I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.

27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order. -Mosiah 4:24-27 

We had so many miracles this week. We had the mission conference on Thursday where Elder Hallstrom, Elder Kearon, and President Nelson and their wives all spoke to us. It was really awesome. They spoke of finding joy in the work, making sure the mission always stays with us throughout our lives and is the foundation for our lives instead of just a really good experience and then we fall back into our old ways and then about our true identities. President Nelson talked about how we were hidden by lord, saved until these days to come here. It was so powerful. The spirit was so sweet and I know it was inspired, every word. I know the world is so shaky and changing, but we can find the power to stay steady through our tender Savior, who is the greatest understander of all of our hearts. 

Then on Friday we had two jaw dropping miracles. First, we had a lesson with the investigator Heavenly Father just dropped right into our laps two sundays ago. She just randomly came to church. And this Sunday we learned that she told a member that she came to church that Sunday because Jesus led her down the street and told her she needed to come inside. 

She has such a great desire to know the truth. She asks questions and then accepts our answers, because she is humble enough to let Heavenly Father work on her heart. We are so blessed to know her and are so incredibly happy and grateful to be a part of this time in her life as she acquires the truths of the full gospel of Jesus Christ. She loves the plan of salvation and she understood exactly why we need to be baptized by the proper priesthood authority of Christ. She said it was because we need to exercise our own agency and choose. She is so golden.

But the storm of miracles does not end there! Right after that lesson Sorella Hess and I stopped in to get a pizza from a place right by our apartment that we may or may not frequent often ;) and we have been trying to teach this woman named Gina who works there. Well we went in and immediately she came over to us. The last time we saw her she said she knew who we were, and that we believe Christ lives. We were shocked and so happy she recognized that! And so when we saw her Friday we asked if we could meet up to maybe explain more about the Church. And she told us she had to tell us something. That she was a member already of the church. And had been since the 1990s. She was baptized in Ukraine where her family still lives, but has been in Italy for eighteen years. But she told us it was a very complicated story and she couldn't tell it to us all right then. So we are going backtonight to learn the whole story. We told her she was a complete miracle, but she turned right back around and humbly said that we were the miracle, that we found her after all this time. 

And that just made me realize that the lord really does put us here in these places at these times for specific souls. They are people with eternities behind and in front of them. Each soul has tons of other souls connected to them. So it is completely vital we make sure we have the spirit to be prepared to act on promptings to be an instrument in finding these people. We need to make sure we are always aligned with the lord, and that our intentions fit in precisely with his. 

Another experience I wanted to talk about was last night. We went to visit a family in our ward after zone conference. And as we were sharing the thought I just felt this very firm feeling that I needed to tell them their family was going to be alright. That there is tragedy and heartbreaks in families, but that doesn't mean they still can't be okay. And those heartaches are to shape us. To lift us higher than we thought we could climb. To learn that we can't do anything alone. Even when we feel like we are, we must recognize we are not. And then we can get somewhere. We can begin to accept the grace so readily given by the one who knows us perfectly and suffered all our sufferings perfectly. 

So much is happening here and it is all good things! usually but I know as we do our best each day we can consider ourselves a success. And in heavenly father's eyes, we are! No one expects us to run faster than we have strength. Except Satan. He wants us to run out of strength to resist temptation and so he tells us we need to be more than we actually really need to be. All we need to do is be obedient, happy, and try every day to stand a little taller and be a little better. He wants us to have joy. Not to carry the world on our shoulders. 

In all of this, God’s purpose is that we, His children, may be able to experience ultimate joy, to be with Him eternally, and to become even as He is. Some years ago Elder Dallin H. Oaks explained: “The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts--what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts--what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.” -D. Todd Christofferson 

VVB

Sorella Jarnagin 

Sorella Hannah Jarnagin 

Piazza Monte Gemma 9 

00141 Roma, Italia 

Italia Roma Missione 🇮🇹

He Will Call You Out of The Darkness

Ciao tutti, 

Miracles ovunque!! 

But today I just wanted to be short and sweet. Here is something that's been on my mind this week. I've been thinking about why Heavenly Father is so kind to us. Why? He doesn't have to be. He owes us nothing and he is so powerful, and yet he loves us and gives us success and grants us mercy every day even when we feel weak or we feel like maybe we aren't worthy even to be loved by him. But he still does. And because of that love he is giving us this chance to prove our love for him by doing these small things he asks so that we can return to him and be so happy!  

And whatever you do, please remember he loves you no matter what. Even if you aren't showing him your love. He just wants you to be happy. He wants you to be like him. To experience the perfect happiness he has because he knew too, that this is all part of something bigger. We are all part of something bigger. And maybe it's hard to see that right now, but it doesn't mean it isn't true. You are bigger than all of this. You have a part in a plan that will lead you to true happiness. 

And maybe you won't get that today or tomorrow or really that soon. But you will get it. And that is something to hope for. Knowing that there are always better things ahead than anything we leave behind. 

So don't give up and keep fighting and keep loving your kind Heavenly Father and keep sharing this gospel every time you get the chance! Because people need to wake up and smell the roses and realize they have the chance to be part of something that could change everything. 

I love you all and I love my mission more than anything. Hopefully next week I will have more wisdom to sprinkle upon you all. 

What Brought Us Here?

I'm 20. Ew.

What did you have for lunch today? I had some hair. 

                                I have my eyes closed but it's fine The view makes up for it 

Casual comp photo

A duomo in Caserta vecchia

Hey there.

Ciao cari, 

This week was lovely and thanks for all the bday wishes it was definitely one to remember:) we celebrated by going to a baptism in Pozzuoli and helping fill the font with buckets. good memories. 

This week I've still been loving general conference. And also we are having an all mission conference in Rome on the 20th with President Russell M. Nelson. We are super excited! 

One talk that's still been on my mind is the one from M. Russell Ballard. I especially love this part:

So before you make that spiritually perilous choice to leave, I encourage you to stop and think carefully before giving up whatever it was that brought you to your testimony of the restored Church of Jesus Christ in the first place. Stop and think about what you have felt here and why you felt it. Think about the times when the Holy Ghost has borne witness to you of eternal truth.- M. Russell Ballard 

Sorry I don't know why it's all different sizes. Anyways. 

I also loved M. Russell Nelson's talk on joy.he says:

If we look to the world and follow its formulas for happiness, we will never know joy. The unrighteous may experience any number of emotions and sensations, but they will never experience joy! Joy is a gift for the faithful.-M. Russell Nelson 

We have been asked to study recent talks by him for this conference and this morning I read one called "Let Your Faith Show." I especially loved how simply he put the fact that faith is the antidote of fear. We move forward because we know things will be okay, not with any doubt they will be otherwise. I think it is easy to claim that we have faith, but having real faith is recognizing that Christ is the way. And if we follow him, what do we truly have to worry about? We will be able to know that there is nothing else we can do more for ourselves and things will work out if we follow him and let him do what he has done best, which is save us. 

President Boyd K. Packer stated: “Save for the exception of the very few who defect to perdition, there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ.”

So we don't have to be scared for what is to come. Instead, we have the opportunity to embrace life and these new opportunities and experiences to coming closer and closer to true conversion. As we let our trials and our triumphs change us for the better we can develop true faith that God is really there and that we really do have the potential to one day not hurt anymore. 

Vi voglio bene, 

Sorella Jarnagin