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