Holler at your boy in SLC South

What up Family and Friends!

The reason that that intro is in English is because I am currently serving English speaking. Not exactly what I wanted but I'm not questioning it. The Lord has his reasons. I arrived at the mission home on Thursday afternoon and we did some training and had some interviews and then got paired up with companions. My companion's name is Elder McInnis. He is from super northern Washington State, like 5 minutes from Canada. A town called Bellingham. He was homeschooled in high school and he likes music and art. He's a nice guy but he doesn't say a whole lot. He's only been in the field for about 3 months so it's interesting that they already made him a trainer. We live in the basement of a member couple with older children and a son on a mission (the Lyells). They are so nice. I was hoping to get right to teaching when we got here but he didn't have any appointments lined up for that evening so we went and met a few members. Oh I guess I should mention that I'm serving in West Jordan. We cover 2 stakes and 15 wards. We have to coordinate with a lot of different people. It's pretty nuts hahah. Especially because geographically it isn't a very big area. Utah right? We have a car to, which is weird. Hahah but as the family knows, Matt's aunt and uncle the Pugmeyer's (hope I spelled that right) are in one of the wards I'm serving in. We are gonna take an investigator over to their house on Saturday morning to watch conference.

Alrighty so there's my situation, now it's time to get to what's been going on. From what I can gather with my expert sleuthing skillz, this area is a little slow. This mission as a whole baptizes like crazy but West Jordan is like all members of the Church. Literally everyone we meet with has family who are members or they are less active. Everyone has dealt with the Church a ton and at times it seems to be a negative. They feel like they know what the Church is about so they turn us away at the door. But anyways on Friday we only had one appointment which fell through, so we spent the whole day visiting members for referrals and tracting. I'm told that the best finding method here is meeting with members for referrals. We also tract a little bit but that's not very effective thus far. Saturday was more of the same of receiving referrals and contacting them, only to have the people say they aren't interested and turn us away. Like I said it's nobody's first time dealing with the missionaries. We did have a baptism on Saturday though! I met him on Saturday night, his name is Gabriel Soto and he is 9 years old. Disclaimer: he comes from an active family, but they were having a lot of family troubles around the time he turned 8 and he just didn't get baptized, and once they turn nine they are in our jurisdiction. So it is considered a convert baptism I believe, but I really had no part in that and neither did the other elders other than to interview him for baptism hahah. But it was a great service and Elder McInnis and I both spoke. It's pretty easy to give impromptu talks these days. So after being a missionary for 3 days I still had not taught a single lesson and I was pretty discouraged. But things are looking up.

So on Saturday we went by a referral. They are a young family with 2 sons and the dad just recently found out he has leukemia. It's a really sad situation but I truly feel like the Lord is giving them an opportunity to hear the Gospel in their time of trouble. Misty White (the mom) talked with us at the door for a few minutes but ultimately said they weren't interested. But for some reason I just feel like that's not the end. We fasted for her husband's health and for their hearts to be softened to hear our message and we are going by their house again on Tuesday to bug them...I mean teach them. Hahahah. I really am praying for a miracle there. Hopefully next week there's some good news there.

So Sunday we had tons of meetings where we correlated with ward mission leaders and we talked with a ton of members and got like 10 referrals. I also introduced myself in sacrament meeting and basically begged the members to help us out. I think the members can tell that I'm not just here to chill out with the members like a lot of missionaries in the past. IF I wanted to chill I wouldn't be on a mission. So I've been pretty gung ho and perhaps a little forward with everyone I've met, but I want to get some excitement going here hahah. So we contacted all the referrals that day and set up a few promising appointments this week. Then we had my first real lesson as a missionary (4 days in to the field hahah). It was with this great guy named Damien who basically told us he knows the Church is true but he just isn't sure if he's ready to commit. We found out he hasn't really been praying that fervently to know if he should take the leap of faith so we had him pray right there with us. It was really powerful and he said he feels better and better about it every time he prays, but he just can't commit to praying on his own. We asked him to pray every day this week and he said he wouldn't promise anything. Then I made him promise me that he'd pray that night and this morning and I'd call him to make sure he did it. So I'm gonna call him later today and make sure he's praying. The stuff people do when they missionaries truly is the most crucial.

Then that night we got a call from one of the bishops we work with and he said a guy stopped him on the street while he was doing fast offerings with another high priest and asked if they were the Elders. The family (Hernandez) had just moved in and wanted to meet with the missionaries and they needed some blessings. The Bishop went over and blessed their house and saw a pretty read looking Book of Mormon in the house but also lots of signs that they were Catholic. But they want us to come over so we are heading over there tonight. We are really excited. If they are seeking us out we know some good will come with that.

So we are really praying hard and working hard for some miracles to happen. I was feeling pretty down about our lack of appointments but our week is slowly filling up, and I know if I stay positive and keep being gung ho (to the point of being obnoxious) good things will happen. It feels great to testify of the truth. Can't wait to see someone be baptized through our efforts. We've got a few people on date and hopefully we can make that happen.

Alrighty so that's what's up right now! Sorry for how long it was, there's just a lot of info. I'm eating really well. Too well hahaha. The members are really nice and they always want us to come by and hang out. Unfortunately I've told all of them that I refuse to hang out unless we're meeting with a nonmember or a less active or getting a referral or doing something productive. They gotta know that I'm not here for cake and board games.

I'm not allowed to email anyone except family while I'm in this mission. Hopefully that changes when I'm in Mexico, but for now here's my new address! Send some letters my way!

Elder Price Jarman

Salt Lake City South Mission

8060 South 615 East

Sandy, Utah 84070

Life's good. There have been some tough moments here and there but overall it's good. Next week expect to hear about some miracles! I feel good about this week.

The Church is real true! BE a member missionary so you don't frustrate the missionaries serving around you! We're all a part of this work.

Paz y Gozo

Elder Jarman

Photo of incoming missionaries from the SLC South Mission blog. http://www.utahslcsouthmission.com/wp/

And the reassignment is...

Salt Lake City South!

Hola Familia y Amigos,

First off I gotta talk about yesterday. Elder Neff and Robinson left in the morning and it was really hard for me. Sad to say it but basically it was hard as saying goodbye to my family. I have created friendships in here that are more like brothers than anything else. Being united in the Lord's work is a powerful thing. It was tough to see them go.. But what made it easier was right before lunch we got called to the travel office and all the Mexico waiters in our zone got their reassignments! Ya boy will be serving in the South Salt Lake Mission until I recieve my visa. Elder West is going to Texas, Elder Johsnton to Ogden, Elder Hansen to Vegas East, and Elder Williams to Independence Missourri. Pretty sweet! I'm kinda bummed that I'm not reassigned to somewhere exotic but the South Salt Lake mission is consistently one of the most productive in the whole country. Stoked to get to work. I leave the MTC today at 1:30 and then I'll officially be an in field missionary. I'm just stoked that I get to start working with real people!

A few other important things that everyone needs to know. On Sunday, Elder Robinson and I had a Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwich (ON whole grain bread) eating contest. Needless to say I won #winning, but the key is that I ate 7 PB&H's... I've never physically felt like food would kill me until that day. Man... I didn't get hungry again until Wednesday. Also, I learned how to do a rubiks cube.. On Tuesday we got to hear from Elder Dallin H Oaks!! He gave an inspriing talk on how the Sacrament is what gives us the Spirit (p[ay attention to the prayer!) and without the sacrament we cannot complete missionary work. My challenge to you all is to not speak for the entire sacrament meeting, or even look at your phone. Give that hour to the Lord and spend the WHOLE time thinking of the sacrifice that the Lord made for us. We have this gift so we can repent weekly, take it seriously. I never did take it seriously enough and I regret it a ton. So start now. It's the Atonement of Jesus Christ! It's more important than tiny wings (although tiny wings goes hard). Take an opportunity this week to change for the better. That's what life's about, mejorando cada dia!

So I'm not sure what mail will be like at Salt Lake South or in Veracruz yet. Hopefully I can email people who aren't family so I can stay in contact with my buds. But if not, I'll make sure Jessica gets the address for the SLC South mission home and posts it on the internetz pronto!

9 weeks of preparation have all led up to this, and as ready as I felt a week ago, now that it's here I'm straight nervous. But I know I just gotta dive in, talk to everyone I can about the gospel (not too hard in SLC hah) and get to work!

La vida es buena. Estoy animado para salir y estoy aun mas animado para ayudar personas a venir a Cristo. Miren para en mi en las calles del SLC Sur, ensenando y bautizando todas las personas que encuentro. Holler Holler paz y Gozo

Elder Jarman (fo realz this time)

Ultima Semana

Gotta start this letter off with a big fat PSYCHE. It's not my last week in the MTC, although it was supposed to be.. more to follow hahah

Anyways Hola Familia y Amigos!!

So this week has been pretty great. Lots of great things happening, although at this point the general feel is that the MTC has served its purpose and we are ready/nervous/excited for the mission field. But sadly we still haven't heard a thing about whats going to happen. At this point its not even that we're waiting on visas, they have'nt even told us if, when, or where we're being assigned. There's a sign up in the travel office that says not to ask. So for now we're kind of in limbo not knowing whats going on. But its all good!!

So this week I found out my boy SHANE BROWN is going to the Phillipines Naga mission! What a champ. I'm so happy for him. As for anybody else who got calls I haven't heard about them but I know a storm of calls are coming so good luck!

The other great thing (and best thing) that happened this week was on Wednesday. We were doing new missionary hosting for the second week in a row and I knew Elder Mckay Prestwich was coming in so I was just watching for their car to roll in so I could be the one to escort him, but then I got taken away to help international missionaries. So I ended up hosting a missionary from Sweden who speaks like 5 languages, and he's here to learn Finnish, the HARDEST language to learn in the wirld. There's a saying in Finland that says the only people who can learn Finnish are babies and Mormon missionaries. haha crazy... So yeah I didn't see Mckay at hosting BUT

I did see him later in the day because he lives in my building!! He lives on the first floor. When we saw each other we sprinted and jump hugged each other. To bystanders it was pretty gay when I spun him around but whatever I ain't even mad. So yeah Mckay is here and he seems great and it was so great to see him. Other sightings, on the way back from the Temple today I ran into Braden Burley who was coming into the MTC to apply for a job. Always great to see familiar faces.

The other cool thing about yesterday is I smuggled 6 muffins and 2 bananas out of the cafeteria in my suit coat so i'm going to have a feast later... I think i'm getting island fever..

So yeah, thats the latest. Hey mom Elder Rhodes is one of my buds in here so it's cool that you are emailing his mom. He's a great Elder.

Spiritual thought for this week is one that touches really close to me, and it's about what Satan does.. I used to think that Satan simply tempted us to do bad things and make errors, but in here I have learned that perhaps what he does best is whispering doubt. As much as I love the MTC and being a missionary, there are a lot of times when I can just feel him planting doubt in my heart and making me think I'm not adequate enough to accomplish this great work. But the fact of the matter is that he is powerless. He can try, but we prevail every time because the Lord is in charge. So to anyone experiencing sadness or doubt or any negative emotions, recognize that they are not from our Heavenly Father. He wants us to be happy. So hit your knees and pray for strength and comfort and watch Satan become powerless. Do the things that uplift. Help others, read the scriptures, pray all day long, and never rely on anything except the Lord. It is obvious that Satan doesn't want others to feel the joy of this Gospel, and I am grateful to be on the front lines in the battle to kick his trash.

So yeah! GO CHURCH GO SCRIPTURES GO PRAYER and most of all GO our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. HE loves us. I know it, because I feel it.

Share the message of hope and love of Jesus Christ with everyone that you meet. Hopefully in a week or so i'll be back in the world and able to do the same.

El amor de Jesucristo es para todos. Demuestrenlo a sus vecinos, los miembros de sus familias, y todas las personas en la calle. Somos los manos de Cristo en la tierra hoy y El necesita que nosotros le ayudemos. Este Iglesia tiene todo que una persona necesita a estar feliz para siempre. Testifico esto en el nombre de mi Slavador, Jesucristo. Amen

That's it for this week. Coming to a street corner somewhere in the United States and/or Mexico very soon,

Elder Jarman

Holler at ya from el CCM

Hola Familia y Amigos

No estoy seguro si ya he dicho que MTC en Espanol se llama CCM pero si no, lo he hecho ahora.

Sorry to those who can't read that, although most should be able to. I've been writing in my journal in Spanish for the last 4 weeks or so and writing and thinking in Spanish are slowly starting to take over English, yeah it's only been 8 weeks or so but it's crazy what the Spirit can do! I feel really comfortable with Spanish. BY no means am I fluent but if I had to estimate I'd say after a month in the field I'll be fluent.. That brings us to the idea of the mission field, which for me, I am still not sure where that will be. Elder Ashton and the other missionaries who are not going to Mexico recieved their travel plans but Elder Hansen and I and the others going to Mexico have not recieved nada... Hopefully we get some info tonight when we check the mail again. It would be nice to know where we'll be for the next month, few months, or whatever hahah. This past Sunday we heard an amazing talk from Alex Boye, if you don't know who he is look him up online and watch his Mormon Message. He is an incredible singer and motivational speaker as well. We were all pretty pumped. He spoke of his conversion and to hear the love in his voice for the missionaries that brought the Gospel and hope into his life made me tear up... I'm going to get to do that for somebody or hopefully multiple somebodies in Mexico.. I am excited. Nervous but excited. I have the same kind of nerves for the field as I had for the MTC, but I know after I adjust a little all will be well. But yeah.. Not much crazy has gone on. Things have gotten slightly more tense with the companionship (slightly above none haha) but I don't want to get into detail. But overall nothing major. Some change will be good however. This is my second to last P-day so those of you who want me to email you from the field, mail me some email addresses so if my Mission President allows it, I can email you. I have loved the mail and support I've recieved thus far. So dope!

I got sick of feeling like a lard so I recently started eating salad for every meal.. The MTC has the most unhealthy food in existence hahaha. But it sure is a great place.

I want to share an experience I had this week that made me recognize God's hand in my life even more. We got some new hilarious Elders who live next door to us and one of them se llama Elder Whited. He is one of the hardest working people I've ever seen and he has really put his mind to learning Spanish.. And for some reason (I don't know why) he has chosen me to be the one he talks to while trying to imrove. The kid is a champ but his Spanish is awful, but still better than mine was cuando yo llegué.. But seeing him speak and try and learn while having conversations in Spanish at the residence and by being capable of teaching him a little of what I've learned, I've really realized how far I've come. I promise you, I could not have learned Spanish without the Lord.. I know it. No one learns and absorbs this fast without help... It's just been great to have someone tangible who basically represents what I was during week one, and I can look at where I'm at and see how different I am in 8 short weeks...

Oh yeah i forgot! We did new missionary hosting yesterday and guess who I saw during drop off?! Avery Miyahera. If you're reading this holler at you girl, it was great and kinda weird to see a familiar face. But yeah that was pretty cool.

Well... I can't wait til I have exciting news to write about but as for now just know that life's good, and there are now three elders in gym who can throw down thanks to Elder Rhodes from Highland/Alpine Utah. Kid is a champ as well. MTC hoops are competitive. Neff is still trying to fix my shot with little progress..

Well before I close this thang, quiero compartir mi testimonio del mano de Dios en nuestras vidas. Dios vive. Dios nos bendice. Dios nos da la oportunidad de mejorar y crecer y ser probado por razones. Tengo fe que el puede ayudarme en cualquier cosa en mi vida. Y el pude ayudar Ustedes si Ustedes le piden en fe. Ore Ore Ore!! Oracion es comunicacion con Dios y el nos ayudara y guiara siempre. Les amo todos de Ustedes y me encanta ser misionero

Paz y Gozo!!

Elder Jarman

Holler Holler

Hola Familia y Amigos!

I really need to think of a better way to open these letters.. But I've got more pressing stuff I guess hahah. Anyways let's see... what happened this week. We're continuing to dominate Spanish (humbly) and our teaching is getting better and better. I really love our two teachers, Hermano Urquhart and Hermano McCleve. You can tell they care so much about the success of this work and they always bring the spirit. So baller! I'm thinking I'll try to get a job at the MTC after the mission when it won't conflict with volleyball. Speaking of volley, I never play it in here. I could play in gym if I wanted but it would be pretty sketch so I just stick to basketball. Elder Neff is currently trying to fix my jumper. I know I write about gym a lot but hey it only comes once a day and it's like Christmas. Me encanta El Evangelio. Inserio. I seriously love learning and searching the scriptures and hearing others speak on the importance of missionary work. My testimony grows every day. Unfortunately we get a little cagey in the MTC and our district and Neff's district have started pulling dumb pranks on each other a lot. I'm still not sure if we're sinning or not but it's not mean spirited so it's cool. Moral of the story, don't leave your food unguarded or you're drinking salty root beer, or salty milk, or salty anything really.... We are children.. But we know when to turn it on and work, and thats what we doooo!

So my beautiful mother wrote me this week asking if I wanted her to send me a talk by Elder Holland, and I would have responded yes except for the fact that he came to speak on Tuesday. Not a lot of cooler sights than 3000 missionaries standing as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ walks into the room. It was so poderoso. He spoke a lot about what it means to be a missionary and what we mean to this church. I realized that the prophet, the apostles, and almost the entire Church pray for missionaries on a daily basis... I teared up thinking about the love. Know that those prayers are felt. Miracles happen every day in here. Every time, EVERY TIME I start to feel down (yes it happens) something comes along to fire me up and make me happy. I know that is through the prayers of all of you. LUHHH DAATTT. Anyways, I also thought about what this mission means to my little brothers. I'd be lying if I didn't say a huge part of me serving a mission is so my brothers would serve one too. Now that I'm here I see the bigger picture but that hasn't left me. Cooper and Riley, I love you little fools. And if I'm being honest I miss you two the most (tied with Mom). Speaking of examples and great people, shout out to Chris Pace and his mission call to Arizona! And I'm not sure if I shouted out to Coulter yet but DUDE, go watch the mormon message on LDS.org about the temple in San Salvador and see how beautiful that city is. It's nuts. Speaking of that, I think it's safe to say I've seen every mormon message there is. I love the way the church embraces technology and uses it to spread messages of hope and Jesus Christ. I also heard that a lot of missions will start usuing iPads here in the next few years, but I doubt i'll see any of that in Mexico, which is fine by me. Speaking of Mexico, all the letters I got this week were telling me not to worry about my visa situation and that the Lord knows what he's doing. So right. I still don't know what the dealio is yet but honestly if I get reassigned stateside for a little bit I'm cool with it. Serving in 2 totally different places would be sweet.

My spiritual thought this week has to do with the other thing that Elder Holland spoke about on Tuesday, and that is the Book of Mormon.

Essentially he said that anyone who has a testimony rooted in the Book of Mormon will never fall away from the church. I second that 100%, but I would add weekly temple attendance to that. Anyways, about the Book of Mormon, I've never really doubted its truth and for that reason I don't know if I've had a strong confermation from the Spirit on it, so thats what i'm really striving for right now. I've read the whole thing cover to cover in these 7 weeks and it has been such a great experience. As I continue searching the scriptures and growing my testimony, I want to urge my buddies and my family to do the same. Reading the word of God daily will guide and direct your life. I know it. Anyways, keep reading and keep praying. If you haven't read it, try it. There is literally nothing to lose from reading the pages and praying to know if it is God's word. If you don't find it to be true, then your life doesn't change at all, but if it IS true (which I know it is) then essentially everything in this life hinges on it. So try it out. Leaps of faith are super cool.

Anyways, I'm gonna end this one but just know that I love you all and I feel like I'm gaining a more Christlike perspective every day. Above all else, love. That's it. IF you can't do anything else show love to everyone around you and you will be blessed tremendously. Never judge others. Not our job. Our job is to love. If you're judging, re-evaluate. For realz.

Entonces, estoy animado para ser misionero y animado para ir a Mexico. Me encanta espanol y latinos especialmente. Se que Cristo vive. El murio por nuestros errores y pecados y podemos vivir con Dios en gloria otra vez mediante El. Simepre siempre siempre recuerden Jesucristo y todo lo demas seguira. La vida es buena y cada persona es un hijo de Dios y El nos ama. Demuestren esto amor a todos. Paz y gozo!

Con amor,

Elder Jarman