Fwd: Hey Fam!!! Almost a Full Year in the Mission!!!

Hey, I hope you're all doing Super Well!

This week was a busy week!

Tuesday - We had a zone conference with President Mecham.  Those are always super great and powerful! 

Wednesday - I had to go to the Mexican Consulate to renew my green card!  We only go to the Consulate two times during our missions!  Once during the MTC at the beginning of our mission and once at our 1-year mark in the mission (or halfway).  So I got to see my MTC friends again so that was so much fun!  The thing is that our mission never gets together, all of the zones.  Sometimes for zone conferences they merge two zones and you get to see other missionaries and for the Mission Christmas Celebration, they merge 3 zones (or half the mission), but you never get more than that.  And my MTC friends and I have always been in different zones, so we've never really all been together since the MTC and been able to talk much!

So we got to chat about all the adventures we've had in the past year and who we've had as companions and what areas we've been in and all that good stuff.  It was so crazy to believe that a whole year has passed since our adventures in the MTC!  It seems like we just arrived in our first area of the mission!  It's crazy how fast time flies by!  We talked about how we are at the halfway point of our missions and that all of the super happy times that we've had that have made us want to jump for joy and cry tears of joy, we'll probably get many more experiences like that.  Also, all the times that we've been frustrated or homesick and felt incapable or like we can't make it one more day, we'll probably have many more times like that too.  And I'm excited for them both.  I've made many wonderful memories on my mission, many wonderful, wonderful times and also many hard times.  But I've learned and grown a lot.  I love the mission!

Thursday -   We have an investigator named Lizet that told us that she really wants to be baptized and put a baptismal date for March 12th!!!

Sunday - I gave a talk in Church!!  On Saturday, we found a member of the bishopric in the street and he asked Elder Davies and I if one of us could talk in church the next day.  Afterwards, I told Elder Davies that he should do it, because it will be his first time talking in a Sacrament Meeting in Mexico.  So he prepared a talk and I didn't really prepare anything other than picking a scripture that is very interesting.  Then right before Sacrament Meeting, the member of the bishopric told us that he wanted me to speak.  So I pondered throughout the meeting and then I just got up and talked about the importance of the simple things.  The things like daily scripture study, family and personal prayer, coming to the church each week, etc.  I thanked the ward for all the help they've given to us, then I encouraged them to strive to be even better in the little things.  Because as we know, it is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass.  I shared D&C 64:33.  It went well and I felt good about it.  I know that the Lord put the words in my mouth that I needed to say.

 33 Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

All week, we've been focusing our lessons on talking about the Atonement of our Savior and the blessings we receive from the Atonement.  The blessing we focused on is the blessing that we have to become perfect like our Father in Heaven.  You see, the Atonement is about progression.  It's about changing and becoming better and leaving the past behind us.  Many times we focus on literally what is the Atonement, the suffering of Jesus Christ and his crucifixion that help us overcome spiritual and physical death, but we forget to focus on the abilitating power that this brings into our life.  We've shared with everyone the commandment found in 3 Nephi 12 to be perfect and also an invitation found in Preach My Gospel to change a bad habit (like cracking your knuckles without thinking, arriving late to things, sleeping in, over-eating, etc.).  You see, the invitation is to help us understand how hard it is for people to drop addictions like smoking, drinking, and things like that.  But even though not all of us have addictions, we all have bad habits to improve.  Bad habits that can become obstacles to our progression.  The invitation is to break the habit by doing things right for just one day.  When you have success, do it for two days.  Pretty soon, you'll have broken your bad habits and developed new ones that make you into a new person, a better person, and a person more like our Savior.  Many people that we shared this message with loved it and told us that it made them think a lot!  You guys can put it to the test!

A picture of my MTC group back together!

Have a great week!!!

Elder Jarrett

Valentines Day Happiness

February 15, 2016

I hope you all had a marvelous Valentine´s day!

What does a missionary do to celebrate, you may ask?  We do the best thing there is to do!  Just like every other day in the mission field, we are witnesses to the miracles and love of our Heavenly Father!

Yesterday was Awesome.  We went to church and sat down and were waiting for the meeting to start when a man named Roberto walked in!  I was so happy to see him!  You see, we met Roberto about a month ago in the street.  He was drunk and walked up to us (not really walking very well or in a straight line either).  Instead of just saying something nice and quickly walking away, we actually stopped and talked to him for quite a while (though we didn't know how much would actually get through to him).  We left him with a pass-along card with our number on it and told him that if he ever needed anything, he could call us.  A few weeks afterwards, he actually called us and asked if he could meet with us!  Again, he had just drank and was a little drunk.  We met with him in the church and we talked to him about his addiction, which is what he wanted help with.  He had lost his job because of his alcohol problem and began to see that it really was just that, a problem.  So we aren't experts in addiction recovery by any means, but we did the best we could with what we'd read in Preach My Gospel.   After the lesson, we put another appointment, which he didn't come to.  Then we got a hold of him by phone later and he said he was really busy and couldn't meet with us.  So we figured he wasn't really that interested and just invited him to come to church if he was ever available.  And yesterday he came!  And he told us that he's found a new job, quit his drinking problem, and wants to start coming to church!  It was a miracle!  One that can only come through our good use of agency and God's help!  So it was my Día de San Valentín Miracle here in Mexico City!!!  He even had a different look to his countenance!

I love you all so much!  Have a Wonderful Week!

Elder Jarrett

Elder Davies: I left my heart in Mexico? No, my Gallbladder.

February 9, 2016

Sorry I'm a day late in emailing.  I was in the hospital yesterday for my companion Elder Davies.  And really, I'd been in the hospital since Thursday.

You see, that pain that he had felt that I mentioned in my email last week came back on Thursday morning.  And he asked me for another priesthood blessing.  But this time, instead of blessing him that the pain would go away, I felt inspired to bless him that we would be able to get him to doctors, that they would be able to find the problem in his stomach causing him such pain, and that they could use their expertise to correct it.  And thus it came to pass.

We got him to the doctor where they did an Ultrasound and found gallstones.  They hooked him up to an IV and gave him shots into his IV that they said should help him.  But the next day they said he needed surgery to remove his gallbladder.  So the following day, they did the surgery.   The coolest part is that as soon as the surgeon took out his gallbladder he brought it into our room, where I was waiting, and he gave me a glove and let me poke the gallbladder and feel the stones inside.  Sweet, no?  

So we're going to have to take it a little slow this week as he's still recovering, but I'm happy that atleast he will now not have to feel that pain anymore.

So other than that, not a lot to tell from last week.  Luckily I was able to get a lot of study time in at the hospital and I read the book Our Search For Happiness.  It's a good book.  It just briefly goes over our beliefs in the Church.  Something that really stood out to me is how many times the book mentions God´s love for us.  Really that is the key principle for all we believe.  Because God is our Father and loves us with an infinite, uncomprehensible love, he has restored the fulness of his gospel through Joseph Smith, he has made a glorious eternal plan for our eternal happiness and success, he has given his Son for us to give us an example of how we should live and to save us from physical and spiritual death giving us a path back to our father, and because of God's love, he has given us commandments to bless our lives and keep us safe and happy.  Everything is because we are so loved!  I testify that God loves each one of you and he loves me!  He wants us to share his gospel of love with our brothers and sisters because he loves them too!  And so do I.  I love it here in Mexico.  I love the people here.  I love each one of you.  

Missions are the best!!!  Have a wonderful week!

Elder Jarrett

Miracles of the Priesthood

February 1, 2016

Dear All!

Sweet experience from this week:  On Saturday night, we were coming home from a session of Stake Conference.  As soon as we got on the bus to return to our area, my comp said he didn't feel very well.  It just hit him all of the sudden.  Then it got worse and worse.  He had to keep his eyes closed and head down because if he looked out the window it made him want to throw up.  Soon, he couldn't even hold it in anymore, we had to get off the bus.  We slowly started walking towards our house and he told me that he had a horrible, horrible pain in his stomach.  He said he'd never had pain in his stomach so terribly before.  It hurt him so bad, he couldn't even breath.  I saw that all the color had left his face and he was very pale.  He wasn't sure if he could make it home.  I asked him if he wanted to go home to see if it would get better or just go straight to the hospital.  He wasn't sure what to do.  I called a taxi and we got home really quick.  Elder Davies was in the back seat looking like he wasn't going to be able to make it home.  We got out of the taxi right in front of the house and Elder Davies, hunched over because of pain and ready to throw up, got into our house as quick as he could.  He threw off his suit and then asked me for a Priesthood Blessing.  I gave him a blessing that the sickness could quickly pass from him and that he would be able to rest well that night.  He told me that he could hardly make it through the blessing, it hurt too much just sitting there.  I finished the blessing and he went to his suitcase looking for some medicine.  Literally like 30 seconds later, right after looking in his suitcase, he stood up and said that the pain was gone.  He walked around, waiting for it to come back again or something.  But just said, "That is so weird, I feel totally fine".  His stomach didn't hurt him at all again.  That night he slept perfectly fine and the next morning, his stomach still felt fine.  

I had gotten a little sick in the beginning of last week too and I also asked for a blessing.  I was able to have the energy to keep working every day and I also recovered within just a few days.  I know that the power of the priesthood is real.  It is such a huge blessing in my life.  

I hope everything is Awesome for you all!  I love you!

Elder Jarrett

Miracles of the Priesthood

Dear All!

Yesterday was Awesome!  We have an investigator named Reyna that is getting ready to be baptized.  We have gotten a little worried because she's missed a few Sundays of church for family health problems.  Last week, she told us that she would come to the Stake Conference that was yesterday.  She didn't know where the Stake Center is, so we told her we would pass by and go with her.  We passed by and knocked and knocked and tried to call her and she never answered.  Very sadly, we went to the Stake Conference with a less-active member instead.  I sat through the stake conference thinking of how Reyna wasn't there and sad that she wasn't going to be able to get baptized on the date that she had wanted to.  Then halfway through, we looked back and saw her.  We talked to her afterwards and said that she was waiting for us.  There was a misunderstanding on what time we would pass by.  But she came and had looked for the Stake Center and everything on her own just because she wanted to come that badly!  Woohoo!  That made me super happy!

Sweet experience from this week:  On Saturday night, we were coming home from a session of Stake Conference.  As soon as we got on the bus to return to our area, my comp said he didn't feel very well.  It just hit him all of the sudden.  Then it got worse and worse.  He had to keep his eyes closed and head down because if he looked out the window it made him want to throw up.  Soon, he couldn't even hold it in anymore, we had to get off the bus.  We slowly started walking towards our house and he told me that he had a horrible, horrible pain in his stomach.  He said he'd never had pain in his stomach so terribly before.  It hurt him so bad, he couldn't even breath.  I saw that all the color had left his face and he was very pale.  He wasn't sure if he could make it home.  I asked him if he wanted to go home to see if it would get better or just go straight to the hospital.  He wasn't sure what to do.  I called a taxi and we got home really quick.  Elder Davies was in the back seat looking like he wasn't going to be able to make it home.  We got out of the taxi right in front of the house and Elder Davies, hunched over because of pain and ready to throw up, got into our house as quick as he could.  He threw off his suit and then asked me for a Priesthood Blessing.  I gave him a blessing that the sickness could quickly pass from him and that he would be able to rest well that night.  He told me that he could hardly make it through the blessing, it hurt too much just sitting there.  I finished the blessing and he went to his suitcase looking for some medicine.  Literally like 30 seconds later, right after looking in his suitcase, he stood up and said that the pain was gone.  He walked around, waiting for it to come back again or something.  But just said, "That is so weird, I feel totally fine".  His stomach didn't hurt him at all again.  That night he slept perfectly fine and the next morning, his stomach still felt fine. 

I had gotten a little sick in the beginning of last week too and I also asked for a blessing.  I was able to have the energy to keep working every day and I also recovered within just a few days.  I know that the power of the priesthood is real.  It is such a huge blessing in my life. 

I hope everything is Awesome for you all!  I love you!

Elder Jarrett

My Last District in Ajusco

Two pictures of my last District in Ajusco.  Elder Cruz, Elder Garcia, Elder Mayoral, and I.