He Knows Your Name

Hello everyone, 

Well this week was great! We had a great zone conference talking about the wonderful place that repentance has in our lives and how it can change everything for us! And we also met some British people and one was a member! It was really cool, and so we got to spend a bit of our PDAy with them! Really cool. I love the gospel and I love seeing how it changes people's lives, but most of all, I love seeing how it is changing me. Nothing in my life would be the same without my mission, and I owe everything that I am becoming to the Lord and his, the most important sacrifice in history, that makes it possible for me to grow and change and truly love every minute of every day. I will never forget this experience and the things I have felt in this crazy country! I love being able to proudly wear the Lord's name for the whole world to see every moment of each day. I am his. And he knows my name. Don't forget that he knows your name. He made you with his own hands. He knows how great you can be. How great you already are. He wants to help us reach heights we never thought we would be able to before. 

14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. - Mosiah 24:14 

15 Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.

16 Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. -Alma 26:15-16

Well I will have been in Italy for three months tomorrow! It is crazy how fast the time is going by. Thank you for all of your support and everything you do to keep this work going. Never forget that the Lord will compensate you for your efforts beyond belief and that he loves you more than life itself. I cannot even describe the love I feel for each of you and how happy I am when things are well for you and you are able to recognize how much God loves his children. How much he loves you. Don't ever go to sleep at night thinking you are alone, because he is standing over you. Watching you. Waiting for you to turn to him and ask him for his help. He's always there, whether we choose to let him carry us or not. He does not change. 

I hope this week brings many smiles and you do not forget for a second how lucky you are to live where you do, to be who you are, to know what you know. 

Remember, it's not about us. It's about him. 

Vi voglio tanto bene!!!!!! 

Sorella Jarnagin 

FOR DARLING POPSICLE VIDEO click HERE

Ciao tutti,

Yes, it is true, my mother aka trainer has left me for the heart of the ghetto of Rome... (Dramatic sigh). But, on the other hand, I have a sick new comp and she is wonderful and we are having so much fun and getting so much done already!!!

Well it is really hot and I am really tired so this is gonna be really short! But I love all of you and I appreciate that you are still writing me even though I have been out 4 months.

The work in Pescara is blooming and we are excited!!!

I just want to share a quick quote with you, from the talk "The Plan of Happiness" by Boyd K. Packer. It reads:

Through His Atonement and the power of the priesthood, families which are begun in mortality can be together through the eternities. The Atonement, which can reclaim each one of us, bears no scars. That means that no matter what we have done or where we have been or how something happened, if we truly repent, He has promised that He would atone. And when He atoned, that settled that. There are so many of us who are thrashing around, as it were, with feelings of guilt, not knowing quite how to escape. You escape by accepting the Atonement of Christ, and all that was heartache can turn to beauty and love and eternity." 

Bello, no? I love it!! The atonement changed everything, and it is still changing everything, and everyone. If we let it, it can change everything in our lives, and everything in us. We don't have to be perfect, we just have to keep trying. And we have to keep believing that he can fix anything we can't! Because he is perfect and he LIVES. He saves us everyday. He still performs miracles by helping us change and become. And we just have to let him sew us back up and make us new again. 

I love my savior and I will never stop urging people to let him fix them. The atonement is final. It is paid for. We are not in any debt to use it. So use it. Swallow your pride and let him fix you. I know as I have, I have had more true joy than I ever experienced before, and life has become a beautiful thing, and the world has become full of hope. 

I love you all and I pray for you often. Don't lose sight of what really matters, and never stop fighting! Let the Lord's love in! Let him soften your heart! Let him show you a look at yourself through his eyes. 

Vi voglio bene, 

Sorella Jarnagin 

Why Do We Fall, Bruce?

Ciao tutti, 

Whoa. I literally just had PDAy! Life is really flying right on by! Well, Ill just get right to it. Sorella Holiday is getting transferred! To Rome 3 (the Jewish ghetto of Rome) to blow in train!!! Which means I get a little sister!! Sickness. I get to meet her Thursday when I go pick up my new comp who is Sorella Workman from Ammon (she is the one from your ward Kaia and Heidi!) un piccolo mondo!!! And yeah. I'm not a verdina anymore! Yellow always was more my color.  

Anyways this week was packed with the sweatiest humidity and heat ever, many miracles and unexpected things! We got to see President and Sorella Pickerd on Saturday night because Pescara is getting a new chapel!!! Making our way up in the world here in Abruzzo. But they came and I love them both! They are so so wonderful. Sorella Pickerd is the coolest human ever. She served her mission just in Napoli and Rome, so she is pretty amazing! Sisters can't even serve in Napoli anymore. I love them! Gah. 

Another awesome thing, is Elly, one of our simps, who told us she didn't want to see us anymore let us see her last PDAy and she really opened up to us and is just really stressed because she has some heart problems and has to work a lot like everyone here and so she felt just too busy for us.... But then she came to church yesterday all three hours!!! And so did Maura!!! It was sooo awesome. I was soooo happy!! When people come to church it is like Christmas on steroids. So happy! 

This summer heat has brought a lot of potentials to us! The work is picking back up and I'm really excited for what this transfer has to bring! President asked us to study repentance for next zone conference. And so this morning in personal study, I was reading a talk by James E. Faust (whom I love so much! He was too cool) and it is called "Woman, Why Weepest Thou?" And he talks a little about Mary Magdalene when she is crying because Christ's body is gone. But it really was just talking about the atonement, and how it enables us, but there was one quote I really just loved, is when he quotes President Kimball. It reads: 

 As President Kimball reminds us: “The principle of repentance--of rising again whenever we fall, brushing ourselves off, and setting off again on that upward trail--is the basis for our hope. It is through repentance that the Lord Jesus Christ can work his healing miracle, infusing us with strength when we are weak, health when we are sick, hope when we are downhearted, love when we feel empty, and understanding when we search for truth.”

That is my favorite! I just love it. Repentance is simply picking ourselves back up when we fall! It's something that we have to do in order to be healed. In order to continue on the upward trail. And it is what gives us hope! And in a world as fallen as this one, hope is something we need. So I love that. The very thing that is going to save us, is repentance. It heals us. It puts us back together. It brushes us off again. Not just it though. Him. Christ does that for us. And he's always there, waiting for us, offering his hand out to us. All we have to do is reach up and take it. We can't get out of it alone. And why would we even want to? Why would we want to stay alone in the dark when we could stand with him in the light? I see so many people here every day content with darkness. Don't be one of them. Take his hand. Come back to the light. Always look for the light and always do your best to stay in it. Don't just be content with the dark, when you could have so. Much. More. 

That quote reminded me a lot about the scene in Batman Begins when Bruce falls down the well thing and that is when he really gets afraid of bats, because they are all swarming everywhere around him. But then his father comes down, and he brings Bruce back up out of the dark into the light. And then he says "Why do we fall, Bruce?" And he then says "so we can pick ourselves back up." And I like that. Because that's what life is. It's tripping and either stumbling s little or sometimes it's falling hard and eating concrete for breakfast. But then you just pick yourself back up, wipe that concrete off your dress, and you keep on going. 

Stay in the boat! Keep fighting! Come back to the light. 

I love you all. Have a fabulous week!!! 

Vi voglio bene!!!! 

Sorella Jarnagin 

Laboring in the vineyard! 

Pizza or die 

The vineyard ready to harvest! 

Groundbreaking the new Capella! 

We found tacos!!!!!!! 

Happy birthday Sorella Holiday!!!  She is 20 today! 

Click here to Reply, Reply to all, or Forward

Meeting The New Mission President & Wife -- The Pickerds

Those Who Calm Troubled Waters

Hello lovely darling people, 

I can't believe it's another PDAy already! I hit my four month mark on the mission next week. I literally can't even believe it! Time is flying way too fast. But boy is it HOT here. Like hotter than any heat I have ever ever ever experienced in the history of ever. Mamma Mia. 

Okay, so it's been a bit difficult trying to build our work back up. We do have one simp still, and she doing pretty well. And we have been seeing many potentials and planting seeds, so there is something marvelous right around the corner, I just know it!!!!! 

Something I've studied the last few days is the idea of peace. It's something I tell people every day, that quando Noi leggiamo nel libro di Mormon, possiamo sentire pace, veramente. It's a simple sentence, and it's something that I have great conviction in. That when we read the Book of Mormon, we really do feel sincere peace. We feel it in our heart. We feel better. We become closer to God the further and further and more often we read, and ponder and pray about the things we read. I know that the Book of Mormon is our greatest source of peace, and our greatest evidence of hope. Hope that it is true, which leads to faith that it is true, which leads to knowledge that it is true and it cannot ever be denied. It can be tried, but it can never be denied. Because it is true. I know with my whole heart it is true. 

On my mission I've just had a true love for general conference and the apostles grow. I would just like to share two snippets from two talks, by two amazing apostles of God. 

Happily I am seeing more and more skillful peacemakers who calm troubled waters before harm is done. You could be one of those peacemakers, whether you are in the conflict or an observer.

      One way I have seen it done is to search for anything on which we agree. To be that peacemaker, you need to have the simple faith that as children of God, with all our differences, it is likely that in a strong position we take, there will be elements of truth. The great peacemaker, the restorer of unity, is the one who finds a way to help people see the truth they share. That truth they share is always greater and more important to them than their differences. You can help yourself and others to see that common ground if you ask for help from God and then act. He will answer your prayer to help restore peace, as He has mine. -Henry B. Eyring 

My thanks to all you wonderful members of the Church--and legions of good people not of our faith--for proving every day of your life that the pure love of Christ “never faileth.” No one of you is insignificant, in part because you make the gospel of Jesus Christ what it is--a living reminder of His grace and mercy, a private but powerful manifestation in small villages and large cities of the good He did and the life He gave bringing peace and salvation to other people. We are honored beyond expression to be counted one with you in such a sacred cause.

      As Jesus said to the Nephites, so say I today:

      “Because of your faith … , my joy is full.

      “And when he had said these words, he wept.”  -Jeffrey R. Holland 

I think we forget sometimes how proud the Lord is of us. Not even when we are being particularly wonderfully righteous or having incredible success or being the greatest, most perfect version of ourselves. No, the Lord is proud of us just for simply trying, every day, to do the things he has asked of us in return for his great atonement, for his, the greatest sacrifice ever made, and ever will be made. He loves us even when we fall and we fail and we don't live up to the goals we made, to the dreams we have, to the expectations of how we wanted things to be. He loves us. And he's proud of us for keeping our heads above the water still. For taking even the tiniest step forward, for getting on our knees and for praying with our whole heart for relief from our temptations, our fears and our inadequacies. He is, and will forever be, proud of us and our progress, regardless of how meaningless or meager we, in our limited minds, may find it. So to everyone out there, don't stop fighting. Don't give up. Whatever it is, just keep going. Keep trying. Keep praying for help and for peace and don't let discouragement get you down. Take heart. Love with all your heart your Heavenly Father and all of his children around you. 

And don't, for once, ever ever consider yourself too small to have your prayers answered, or to have miracles happen. Ask to be healed, and you will be. And if that is one thing that I have learned out here, it is that the lord loves us. God is our Father. He isn't just some superior being or sitting on a throne on the stars. He's with us, when we let him be, and he knows when we need to be rescued. He will send Angels your way if you ask. He doesn't want you to fail or to hurt. He wants to save you. Every day he will if you need it. Please, just take his hand. And if you can't truly say you believe, then hope. Hope with all you have that he is there, and don't let go of that. 

I love you all and Happy Birthday America!!! Remember how much I love you!!! I think about everyone one of you and am so touched when you write me! Thank you for all your support and encouragement and dedication. I could never do this for a second without remembering all the people I have pulling for me on the other side. 

Don't forget you are loved, and never give up!!!!!!! 

Sorella Jarnagin 

Kat, this is for you!!!! Your daughter and me :) I ️Sorella Swenson 

And di Nuovo. 

And that's all I have... But President and Sister Pickerd are amazing!!!!