"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