Worthy of Thy Love

Ciao!!! 

    This week was one of the best yet! We leave for Roma in 4 DAYS. We are all going crazy and getting so trunky from the MTC, but we are managing :) 

    This morning we started off the day by all four of us sorelle in our room stopping for a solid five minutes and just popping the bubble wrap from a package... It was hilarious, and pathetic that now we consider bubble wrap popping a highlight of the week... sigh. #thatmissionlyfe. 

    We had to say goodbye to our favorite teacher Fratello Walden, or Fratello "Whale"den as I may or may not have deemed him and then it may or may not have caught fire in the zone... but hey I think he likes it. How could you not like being associated with cute blubbery aquatic creatures? But I think we are even now,because he guessed my first area would be Palermo, which is the mafia capitol of Italia and the most dangerous area for sisters to serve in the Rome mission... but now I kind of want to go there and check it out!!! haha. I mean, danger is my middle name. So I guess we will see. 

    Another bellisimo highlight of the week was what we call "cat dancing." It was supposed to be kickboxing for the exercise class for sisters in the morning..... but it was TOTALLY cat dancing. Because the lady who teaches it is #interpretive to say the least. Haha. Sorella Crandell and I went again on Tuesday morning and we had to leave early because it made us laugh so hard...But you know what? Everybody needs a lil interpretive dancing in their life, especially if it involves cats.Or at least cat like movements.

     Last night, since I'm now forced to be responsible, we welcomed the new italians into the MTC. There are 2 sorelle and 3 anziani, and only 2 anziani are going to Roma. the rest are sadly stuck with Milano. Sad for them because Roma is amazing. But anyways. They are angelic and so innocent and I just want to wrap them in fuzzy blankets and let them know it's gonna be okay even if it seems SO treacherous right now. Because I can testify there is a light at the end of that tunnel. 

     I can't believe this is our last P-Day in America. It's so crazy. Time flies and drags all at the same time. I remember how weird I felt that first week, and now I am almost done, and headed to Italia. I love the MTC and I have a lot of tender memories and miracles that will always be close to my heart from here, but I am so excited to get out there and serve real humans, real Italians, and bring them closer to christ. I've never wanted anything more in my life!!! 

     Another thing that happened, that was a miracle in disguise, was I lost my temple recommend. And it seems to have vanished in thin air. But one thing that was cool was my new one says "Missionary Training Center" on it. And I think  it is to remind me that even on our mission we have to be checked up on and making sure that we are still making an effort, and maybe even More of an effort, to stay worthy and honor our covenants. I didn't realize how important they were, how truly significant being temple worthy was, until I came on my mission. It's something I think we often take for granted, especially because in Utah there are temples galore. But we need to ponder them, and center our lives on Christ and the covenants we have made to be closer to him. We need to be running to those temple doors as often as we can. The temple has saved my life here on my mission, it is the peace that I cannot imagine living without. and I'm really sad I have to give it up for a year and a half, but then I realized that Italians have lived for thousands of years without one... and now they are getting one!!! And it is so WONDERFUL. So I invite you all to make an effort to attend the temple more frequently, and if you can't, at least to ponder why your covenants, especially baptism, is so important for you in your life. and also, please PRAY FOR ITALIA and that the temple will be complete while I am still there!!!!

But more, just remember that you are loved, and God loves us so much he has dedicated many places we can go just to talk to him more closely. That is pretty amazing!!!! 

    Lastly, a line from Savior, Redeemer of My Soul, has been heavily impressed on my mind lately. "Make me more worthy of thy love."  And this line has been making me wonder, and pray a lot harder, to know what I can do to be more worthy of God's love. What I can do to be a better portrayal of him and his love? How can I change to be more worthy of his love? 

I haven't found an exact answer yet, but I have a few ideas and I am excited to continue to keep bettering myself, but also just losing myself in the lord. The days that I simply thrust everything I have into everything about the gospel, and focus only on christ, are the days I am the happiest, and not worrying about home or my life after the mission or how I am feeling. It's not about me, AT all. And it's not about us. It's about the people who don't know the love of christ yet. and it's about bringing them back. 

In devotional this week, we were learning about being a shepherd and a sheep, and not just one or the other. So we must be a sheep, in coming to christ, but also a shepherd in helping others come back to christ as well. It was awesome!!! 

I love being a missionary and I hope, if any of you get the oppportunity to serve, that you do not pass it up and you take it despite how scary or daunting it may be. The lord will BLESS you out the window for coming. But also, you have the choice to make it whatever you want. You can make it bad, and sad, and painful if you choose to just think of home and all the things that aren't happening and all the people you miss, or you can choose to let that go, put your life in the lord's hands, and work to serve his children. and then I can promise that his hand will be in your life, always guiding you towards happiness. and always have hope for the best. Even when things don't work out how you wanted or how you hoped, then have hope still, because you know that it wasn't the best. And you know that God is still leading you towards that. 

I love you all, and thanks for all who have written me! Your mail has helped me get through some tough days. 

Arrivederci!!! See you in Roma. I will be emailing again in 2 Mondays with all the scoop of real mission life in Italia. 

I love you all. Stay true, and remember how much you are loved and are prayed for!!! 

Sorella Jarnagin

1. Savior, Redeemer of my soul,
Whose mighty hand hath made me whole,
Whose wondrous pow'r hath raised me up
And filled with sweet my bitter cup!
What tongue my gratitude can tell,
O gracious God of Israel.

2. Never can I repay thee, Lord,
But I can love thee. Thy pure word,
Hath it not been my one delight,
My joy by day, my dream by night?
Then let my lips proclaim it still,
And all my life reflect thy will.

3. O'errule mine acts to serve thine ends.
Change frowning foes to smiling friends.
Chasten my soul till I shall be
In perfect harmony with thee.
Make me more worthy of thy love,
And fit me for the life above.

i am totally blurry in this, but hey. here is my cute district and fratello whaleden :)