September 25th, 2016 // #39 of 2016

September 25th, 2016 // #39 of 2016

to my Family and Friends back home.
Well another week has come and gone. I hope and pray that everything
is going well back home. I hope that everyone is now back into the
back to school groove. I just hope that all is well. I love each of
you and I pray for you all daily. Here are some of the goods that
happened over here in Bari this last week.
Tuesday morning, Elder Borough and I, decided that we wanted to head
down to Foggia and be apart of their weekly district meeting. Now a
district meeting is a meeting that takes place each week, and in that
meeting missionaries talk about their investigators and the work that
they are doing. Elder Borough and I wanted to see how things were
going. In Foggia there are 6 missionaries, 4 Elders and 2 Sisters, and
they are all great missionaries. It was truly a pleasure to be with
them, and to feel of their love for the people of Foggia. One of the
sister missionaries gave a wonderful training on the importance of
becoming consecrated. For me it's been humbling to look at the change
that has taken place in our mission since I first arrived here last
January. Back then, words like consecration, dedication and sacrifice
weren't mentioned very often. Now they are mentioned daily and that is
the standard. It's fantastic! Anyways, the spirit was very strong and
the missionaries in Foggia are working hard. On our way home from
Foggia, we stopped in Trani to visit Lucia and Marianna, our two
investigators who are on the path to baptism. We decided to teach
baptism and confirmation. It went well. Baptism, that's another word
that wasn't mentioned much when I first arrived, now it's the word
that our mission uses the most. Lucia and Marianna are seriously so
awesome. They are so humble, and so willing to do whatever the Lord
asks of them. I'll get back to them a little later though.
English Course. I have updated on English course for a long time...
English Course here in Bari is pretty solid. We have a solid little
basic course that Elder Borough and I teach, and it's pretty fun.
We've been seeing a few more new students in these past couple weeks,
because we have really been hitting publicity hard. Last week, a
student asked if she could dedicate a song to me after English course.
I agreed. She played the song, "Quit Playing Games with My Heart" by
the Backstreet Boys and sang every word of it. To be down right
honest, I've never been more embarrassed in my life or felt as
awkward...but it was an interesting experience. All in all, our
English course rocks and we enjoy it.
Wednesday morning we had our own District Meeting with the
missionaries that are here in Bari. There are 8 young missionaries
here, 4 missionaries for each ward, and a senior couple from Canada.
We talked about our missionary work and our district leader, named
Elder John-Paul Perfili, gave a powerful training on prayer. He shared
and we discussed Enos 1:1-8 (which are some very powerful scriptures
from the Book of Mormon and if you need something to study this
week...I would recommend taking a peek at these 8 verses because they
are SOLID.) He invited us to kneel with our investigators, to kneel
with our members, to kneel with our Bishopric and Ward mission
leader...everyone. After District Meeting we went on exchanged with
the other elders who are serving here in Bari. I was lucky enough to
be with Elder Perfili, our district leader. We kicked off our exchange
by meeting with our friend Vito. Vito is around 50 years old, and is
seriously so humble. He really enjoys the Book of Mormon, and talking
about the Savior. With him, we thought that it would be a good idea to
go over those same verses that we studied earlier that morning in
district meeting. We went over Enos 1:1-8 and discussed the importance
of prayer. The spirit was there, and Vito offered the closing praying
as we kneeled. Following that lesson with him, we were able to
participate in a ward council meeting, and at the close of that
meeting we also kneeled in prayer.
Thursday morning Elder Perfili and I headed into park June 2nd to find
someone to teach. We started headed about the park and almost did a
full lap around the park with zero success. Finally, we walked up to
and asked a guy if we could show him a three minute video about Jesus
Christ. He agreed and we sat down. We showed him the short video, and
began talking about Jesus Christ and how He gives us hope, how He can
make us clean, and how He can lift us. This young guys name was
Mattia. Mattia is a student here in Bari and is currently studying
foreign languages. We testified that Christ can take away the feelings
of guilt that we may have, that He can make us a new person and that
He can make us even more happy. Again the thought came to mind to
share 3rd Nephi 9:13-14, which say:
"13..will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be
converted, that I may heal you?
14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have
eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and
whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who
come unto me."
Those scriptures are so powerful. The One and Only Perfect Being to
ever walk this earth says to us, imperfect beings, "mine arm of mercy
is extended towards you..." Christ doesn't give up on us. He doesn't
quit on us. He simply waits, with that loving outstretched arm of His,
and waits for us to return unto Him. It's glorious for me to imagine
that imagine; Christ with His outstretched immortal arm, with scars
from the crucifixion still on His wrists and palms, waiting for us to
reach out our little mortal arm and allow Him to heal us. To me, that
is glorious. Jesus Christ loves us, and will NEVER quit on us, never
call us a lost cause, never turn us away. As I have said before, His
love is unending and unfailing. Mattia agreed to meet with us again,
and we should be seeing him sometime this week which we are excited
for.
On Thursday, the Sisters gave us a call and asked if we would be able
to head over to a less actives home to minister a priesthood blessing.
We happily accepted the invitation. We arrived at the home of the
little less active and her husband who is also a member of the church
and there was a sweet spirit inside of their home. The wife, has lost
her vision and therefore cannot see. She has come down with the flu,
and wanted a priesthood blessing. Elder Borough and I ministered a
blessing for the wife, as well as for the husband who has been having
some back pains. Right after, we received a call from a member asking
if we could help him minister a priesthood blessing to another little
old member of the ward who was not feeling well. Once again we happily
accepted the invitation, hopped in the car and drove over to the
members home where we ministered another priesthood blessing. I have
come to learn and feel of the power of a priesthood blessing. What a
wonderful, powerful and sacred thing.
To close out this week, I would like to share the opening remarks of a
conference talk that was given by Elder Neil L. Andersen, an apostle
of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"I’d like to tell you of an experience of a faithful Latter-day Saint
who is a good friend of mine. I’ll refer to him only as “my friend”
for reasons you will understand.
     Working as a special agent for the FBI, my friend investigated
organized crime groups transporting illegal drugs into the United
States.
     On one occasion, he and another agent approached an apartment
where they believed a known drug dealer was distributing cocaine. My
friend describes what happened:
     “We knocked on the door of the drug dealer. The suspect opened
the door, and upon seeing us, tried to block our view. But it was too
late; we could see the cocaine on his table.
     “A man and a woman who were at the table immediately began
removing the cocaine. We had to prevent them from destroying the
evidence, so I quickly pushed the drug suspect who was blocking the
door to the side. As I pushed him, my eyes met his. Strangely, he did
not appear angry or afraid. He was smiling at me.
     “His eyes and disarming smile gave me the impression that he was
harmless, so I quickly left him and started to move toward the table.
The suspect was now behind me. At that instant, I had the distinct,
powerful impression come into my mind: ‘Beware of the evil behind the
smiling eyes.’
     “I immediately turned back toward the suspect. His hand was in
his large front pocket. Instinctively I grabbed his hand and pulled it
from his pocket. Only then did I see, clutched in his hand, the
semiautomatic pistol ready to fire. A flurry of activity followed, and
I disarmed the man.”
     Later, in another case, the drug dealer was convicted of murder
and boasted that he would have also killed my friend had he not turned
around at that very moment.
     I have often thought of the communication that came into his
mind: “Beware of the evil behind the smiling eyes.”"

My companion shared this talk with me a month and a half or so ago and
it has stuck with me every since. It has caused me to think back to
the music I listened to, the movies I watched and the activities that
I participated in and realize that there was surely a good amount of
evil behind those fancy lyrics, those movie clips and those immature
activities. So many different things in this world seem ever so
harmless, but in all reality...they damage, weaken and desensitize the
soul. From the scriptures we learn that there are two powers in this
world, Good and Evil. It's that simple. We also learn that we cannot
serve two masters at the same time. So when we listen to a song with
lyrics that are anything but uplifting, who are we really serving?
When we watch a movie that has just one scene where something immoral
takes place, who's power are we subject to? Family and Friends
everywhere we look we are surround by evil, and more often then not
that evil lies behind smiling eyes. Those evil lyrics may be hidden
behind a fancy beat, or a pretty voice...but the damaging message
stays the same. That 2 minute impure movie scene may be justified
because the person engaging in that immoral action has some sort of
superpower, or "is a good person." These are only a few examples of
the evil that lies behind smiling eyes. Everything we do has an effect
on us. Everything we see has an effect on us. Everything we listen to
has an effect on us. These evils that surround us may often times seem
small, insignificant and harmless...but they are not of God, therefore
they come from the adversary. Let's just talk about him for a moment.
The adversary, Lucifer, was kicked out of the heavens. He rebelled and
was kicked out. He remained as a spirit, and never had the chance of
gaining a powerful physical body. We have a powerful physical body
that entitles us to many wonderful and beautiful blessings. We
received that physical body when we left the presence of our Father in
Heaven and came to this earth. Along with that body, came a veil that
doesn't allow us to remember the things that we were taught in the pre
mortal life. That veil makes it so we walk by faith. That veil covers
the knowledge of who were in the pre mortal life and which strengths
and weaknesses we had from the beginning; those strengths and
weaknesses didn't change after we received our powerful physical
bodies for they have always been apart of us and our character. When
Lucifer was kicked out of the heavens, without the chance to receive a
physical body, there was no veil put upon him. Lucifer was powerful in
the pre mortal life and presented a plan in the Grand Council of
Heaven, as I mentioned earlier he rebelled and was kicked out. What I
am getting at here is that the adversary knows us, he knew us in the
pre mortal life and surely he knows us now. This adversary knows of
our weaknesses, our strengths, our bad habits, our good habits, etc...
The adversary was there to tempt Adam and Eve in the garden, and he
was crafty back then. Can we even imagine how crafty, how sneaky and
how truly dangerous he is today, with all of the technology he has to
work with? It is almost scary to think how many options he has as the
tips of his sprit fingers. Friends and Family we must be careful with
what we listen to, with what we watch and what we do... There is a ton
of evil in this world, and most of it lies behind smiling eyes. We
must understand that the thing we are up against has had thousands of
years of experience in doing what he does best, making people
miserable. We must understand that he knows us and wants to ultimately
destroy us. We must understand that wickedness, never was happiness.
Please Friends and Family, beware of the evil behind the smiling eyes.
I long for the day when there will be no more temptation, no more
evil, and everything will be clean. In a coming day, it will be like
that, but for now we must fight and we must be strong. There is a good
amount of darkness in this world, but there is always more light. Our
faith lies in Him who has already won this world, and He did so
perfectly, without spot. I promise and testify that He will win. The
adversary may lead a few away and harden a heart or two, but Jesus
Christ, our Lord and Savior, "will fight for" us (Exodus 14:14). Be
strong, and look for the light. Chase the darkness from amongst you
and focus on Happy, Constructive and Uplifting things. Satan will
abandon us every single time, he will let us fall on out face...but
the Savior will be there for us, with His arm outstretched still, to
rescue us, to heal us, to save us and to bring us home once again. He
loves us...and that love is perfect.
I love being a missionary. I love being able to proclaim this message
that heals hearts and saves souls. I love the Savior, and am grateful
for His love, His grace, His mercy and His power. I hope you have been
able to feel Him at one point or another this past week, because I
promise that He was watching over you and I know that He is always
near. Look for Him this week. Identity His hand in something sometime
this week, and then fall to your knees to thank Him for it. I love you
all friends and family. I'm grateful for you and I always will be.
Keep moving forward and keep being strong. I'm praying for you, and
the Heavens are cheering you on!

Peace be the Journey,
Anziano JarDee Nessen

Elder Perfili and I on our exchange

We went to Burger King the other day, and exited like this.

September 19th, 2016 // #38 of 2016

September 19th, 2016 // #38 of 2016

Hello Fam and Friends.
I hope everyone is doing well back home. I hope that everyone is
healthy and happy. Here are a few of the goodies that took place last
week over here in Italy.
We have this investigator named Giuseppe. Giuseppe is a young guy that
lives here in Bari. He is 25 years old and has a job. We met him back
in July and he came to the baptismal service of the Musicco family.
Giuseppe is a good guy, and we can tell that he is searching for
something more. We met with him last Monday evening and it went really
well. We didn't really get into The Restoration or the Plan of
Salvation, instead we talked about the Hope that Jesus Christ offers
us. He had many questions about why do we have to suffer? Why are
there children who starve? Why are so many people without homes and
shelter? Why is there so much death? We talked about that for a good
hour or so and finally we came to a conclusion. We talked about that
unfortunately in this world there are those who suffer, there are
those who have no roof over their head, their are those who are hungry
and would do anything for a few ounces of food....but in the Book of
Mormon we learn that "the Lord hath comforted His people, and will
have mercy upon the afflicted." We bore testimony that Jesus Christ
loves us, and that He will one day put an end to all of this
suffering, all of this hurt and all of this pain that we feel
ourselves as well as all of the pain we see on the tv or hear on the
radio. He will win, and put an end to the destruction, heartbreak and
pain. Sadly, that will be the last lesson that we will have with
Giuseppe. We found out that he lives in the other missionaries area,
so this week we will be passing him off to the other elders. After our
lesson with Giuseppe, we went and visited Sister Magno. Sister Magno
is the little old sister who went up to the temple in Switzerland, and
on returning home discovered that her son had passed onto the next
phase of the eternal plan of salvation. It was incredible to look at
her, and see just how peaceful that she really was. She was calm and
collected. She didn't shed a tear, she just smiled. We were asked to
carry a disassembled piece of furniture down the flights of stairs and
we happily did just that. I was sweating like a pig on Auction Day at
the Box Elder County Fair and Rodeo, but it went well. We were happy
to perform such a small act of service, for a sweet little old sister
of our ward who is overcoming such a hard trial.
Tuesday, we got outside got after some tracting done. We went to our
Miracle Park and started opening our mouths. We asked Heavenly Father
to guide us to those who would receive us, got out of the car and
headed into the park. In an hour, we were lucky enough to sit down and
talk with three different people about Jesus Christ and His gospel
which has been restored in the Latter-days. One of these people that
we met was a younger lady, probably 30 years old. She was pushing a
small child that was confined to a wheelchair. The little guy is named
Roberto. We showed her a video about Jesus Christ, and as the video
was playing I couldn't help but stare at Roberto. His little arms had
no movement. His legs were completely still. He didn't say a word, but
he didn't have to. I just looked at him with tears in my eyes and I
could feel just how perfectly our Savior loves him. Roberto is
perfect. He is truly without spot. I thought once again about the
Eternal Plan of Salvation and how we will live again, with a perfect
and immortal body. In that day, I hope to somehow run into Roberto
once again and in that moment I will tell him thank you. In that day,
he will no longer be confined to that wheelchair. His arms will be
strong, and his legs will be powerful. In that day, he will not only
have a perfect spirit, which he already has, but he will also have a
perfect body. It was a powerful moment for me. Tuesday evening we
heading out to Trani to visit with the Musicco Family, as well as
Lucia and Marianna who are preparing for their baptisms. Our lesson
went well, and we were able to meet the husband of Lucia. He seems
like a pretty solid guy, and we are going to start meeting with them
as a family, which we are excited about.
Wednesday we were able to take a Road Trip up to Rome from Bari. It
was awesome. Italy is simply beautiful. We were able to get onto the
military base and get ourselves a little taste of home. It was
awesome. We arrived in Rome and received a new car. That evening we
were invited to stay at the Villa, or our mission home, with President
Pickerd.
Thursday we had the opportunity to be with 2 general authorities.
President Kearon, the Area President of Europe, and Elder Sabin, of
the 70, came to visit our mission. Holy smokes, it was incredible. We
were all able to shake their hands and look them in the eyes. Those
men are powerful. They just carry a spirit about them that is unlike
any other. They are so powerful, but yet so humble and show so much
love. They shared many wise thoughts and impressions, and we all came
away uplifted from the conference. Thursday evening, I had a temple
recommend interview with President Pickerd. President Pickerd was also
a general authority, and so I was excited for the opportunity. He gave
me to big compliments during that interview, which had me in tears. I
was surprised at how well he knew me, and my life...even when we had
never talked about those things previously. It was a spiritually
uplifting experience, and I will always remember that interview with
President Pickerd. What a man!
Friday Morning, all of the zone leaders and sister training leaders in
our mission had the privilege of having another conference with
President Kearon and Elder Sabin. Once again, we were uplifted and
blessed by their presence. The thing that really stuck out to me about
these two disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ was that they are human.
They laughed, they joked around, but they were themselves. They didn't
change who they were, just because they were called as general
authorities. I will be sharing some of the thoughts and things that I
took away from the conference at the end of this here email. In short,
it was an experience that I will never forget. It was a pleasure to be
amongst two general authorities. Friday evening we took another road
trip back down to Bari in our new car. In Rome we got stuck in traffic
and ended up traveling a total of 2 kilometers in an hour. Yeah, that
was fun.
Saturday we got home and got right back to it. We met with a less
active who is having some trouble smoking and that went really well.
We talked about how the Savior gives us strength, when we are trying
to change. He is super humble, and came to church yesterday which was
neat. Saturday evening we met with the Musicco family again and it was
strange. It was a difficult environment to teach in. Their were little
kids running, screaming and climbing all over everything. Nobody
really wanted to pay attention, and I wanted to scissor kick a few of
the little kids...but we talked about how they need to be built upon
the Book of Mormon. It was alright, and Lucia and Marianna are excited
for their upcoming baptisms.
To close out my email today, I would like to share a thought that
President Kearon shared with us. He asked us how our morning prayers
are. He asked us how we prayed. In the mission field many missionaries
kneel to pray in the morning, but many kneel on their bed. Not going
to lie, I am one of those missionaries who kneels on his bed in the
morning. President Kearon said something along the lines of, "Climb
down onto the floor and feel the cool chill in the your knees." It was
a simple suggestion, but since I've kneeled on the floor instead of on
my bed and it has truly made a big difference. So this week, I would
invite you all to climb down onto the floor and feel the cool chill in
your knees when you pray.
This week has been a good one, a really good. It has been a very
spiritually uplifting week, full of powerful experiences. Being in
front of 2 general authorities, well actually 3 counting President
Pickerd, was a wonderful experience. I was able to shake each of their
hands and look them right into the eye. They thanked me for my
service, and I thank them for theirs. It was powerful! I love you all
so much friends and family. I'm grateful for Italy, the Italian people
and these experiences. I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who
sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay the price for our salvation. I'm
grateful for men who are called by that Son, to lead, to bless and to
guide us here upon the earth in these latter days. I'm grateful for a
powerful and loving mission president who has taught me more than he
will ever know. I'm grateful for all of you and for the love and
support each of you send my way. I wish you all a happy and safe week.
I'm praying for you all! Be strong and keep the faith.

Peace be the Journey,
Elder JarDee Nessen

September 12th, 2016 // #37 of 2016

September 12th, 2016 // #37 of 2016

Hey everyone. I love you!
Last Monday morning, the 5th of September, sadly enough all of the
missionaries in Bari attended a funeral service. A little old elderly
sister from our ward lost her son, who was probably 50 years old. She
went on a temple trip to Switzerland for a week, and on returning home
she found him in her house, lifeless. Last Monday morning, we attended
his funeral service. Funerals for me have always been tough. Their was
a powerful spirit that filled the chapel, and it made me think just
how grateful I truly am for the great Plan of Salvation, that will
allow each of us to live again after this life. Her son was a really
quiet one, and I don't know if I ever even heard him say one
sentence... But he was in church every single Sunday, and one Sunday
not to long ago, he sat by me during sacrament meeting. The most
powerful part of the meeting was when this little elderly sister,
Sister Magno is her name, stepped to the pulpit and talked about how
much love she has for this son. She thanked God for all of the
blessings that He has blessed her with, and especially for the
knowledge of the Church. She thanked us missionaries for the work that
we do. She did not shed one tear. She was calm, and composed...even
when just a few days prior, she faced one of the most difficult trials
of her life. She is strong, and someday I hope to be half as strong as
she is. I came out of that funeral service thinking to myself, there
is not a sweeter and more calming knowledge than knowing that we will
see our loved ones once again.
On a lighter note, we went out to Trani, which is about 45 minutes
from Bari, and visited with the Musicco Family. They are doing well
and are still holding on strong. We have begun working with Marianna,
the aunt of Vittoria, and Lucia, the cousin of Vittoria, and they will
be getting baptized here in a few weeks. They are all such incredible
people, and they have truly been prepared by the Lord for the gospel.
It has been amazing to simply be apart of this process and to be on
this journey with them. I'm not going to lie and act like we are doing
a lot, because in all actuality we aren't doing a whole ton. We don't
have to. They do it all themselves. They read and pray sincerely. They
listen and respond humbly. They are willing to do whatever is
necessary to follow the Lord. They have truly been prepared, and it is
an honor to be here with them on their journey.
This last week, we've had some really rainy weather. It kind of took
away street tracting as well as park tracting. So we decided to go
hunt down some less actives and old investigators who might be
interested. I'd like to share an experience that we had this week,
when we tracked down a less active member.
For starters, we typed his name into our GPS and started heading in
that direction. We arrived at the destination, but his house was
nowhere to be found. We quickly realized that our GPS had messed up
and we were lost. Luckily, we were able to find his home, it was just
20 minutes away in the complete opposite direction. We arrived and he
greeted us with a big smile. His name is Francesco and he went
inactive shortly after his baptism. We started by asking him a few
simple questions, and he responded simply and honestly. We asked, "How
are you?" He replied, "I'm not well." We asked, "How come man? What's
up?" He replied, "I can't quit smoking. I don't work. I just sit at
home all day, and do nothing. I'm not happy." Elder Borough and I
looked at each other and immediately both of us started sharing how
much The Savior of the world loves him. It was incredible, and yet
powerful, to look at this man, who is struggling and really
struggling, and tell him that Christ loves him. We both were just
going back and forth, bearing testimony that Christ could and is
willing to help him. It was powerful. I've come across two scriptures
in the Book of Mormon that I love to share during lessons like that.
They come from 3rd Nephi 9:13-14 and they read:

"13...will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be
converted, that I may heal you?

14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have
eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and
whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who
come unto me."

The words, "that I may heal you" have always caught my eye. As
missionaries, when we invite people to come back often times they
think we are just there to boost our numbers in church...but instead
we are inviting them to allow Christ to heal them. My favorite thing
to do as a missionary is to testify of the unfailing love that Jesus
Christ has for each of us. It is an indescribable feeling looking into
someone's eyes, and there is often pain or even guilt in those eyes,
and telling them that there is a way to be clean, a way to be
forgiven, a way to be happy once again. Truly, Christ heals us. He
heals our wounds. He heals the feelings of hatred, shame and guilt. He
heals the pain we carry each day. He is the Great Physician.
Notwithstanding how many times we may fall, if we will but "return
unto" Him with a humble heart...He will heal us each and every time.
Once again, His love is unfailing.
That's about it for this week friends and family. It's been a good
week and things are really moving quick. This week we will be taking a
Road Trip up to Rome on Wednesday which will be super fun. We will be
receiving a new car, and we will also have the pleasure to have a
conference on Thursday with Elder Kearon, who is the President of the
Europe Area. We will have a conference with him on Thursday morning,
and on Friday morning I will have another chance to be with him in the
leadership conference. I'm super excited. It's going to be a powerful
week.
Friends and Family...I love you. Life is good. Missionary Life is the
best. Christ loves us. I'm happy. Y'all have a really good week and
please take real good care. I'm praying for you.
--
Anziano JarDee Nessen
Italy Rome Mission
Romans 8:35-39

Sweet wall paint!

 Elder Borough and I

Ballin it Up!

September 5th, 2016 // #36 of 2016

September 5th, 2016 // #36 of 2016

Good Morning!
To start off this week, I want to begin talking about something that
happened over here in Bari on August 26th 2016, 16 years since our
accident. It was around 8:00 pm and we were finishing up the night by
doing some finding in the park. We came upon this family, and they
were seriously the coolest people that I have met in a long time.
There were two little families hanging out together, just passing some
time together in the park. One of the families had a 16 year old girl
and a 14 year old boy. The other Italian couple is going through the
process of adopting a little boy and a little girl from Russia. We
came to find out that Friday night, August 26th, was the last night
that the little Russians were going to be down here in Bari. They
haven't completed the adoption process just yet, so the little
Russians were here on vacation for a little while. We showed them a
video about Christ that our church has produced and during the video I
had a prompting, and a very strong prompting, to share what had
happened 16 years ago to the day. After the video was closed, I didn't
get the chance to speak. My companion had one idea in mind, and I had
something else in mind. I really wanted to hit the family hard, while
he wanted to talk about the Book of Mormon. They were super
respectful, and thanked us....but they didn't accept a return
appointment and they didn't really want to see us again. Walking away,
I just kind of kept my mouth closed and that was the first time in a
long time that I felt that bad after someone didn't want to accept the
message. We both kind of walked away knowing that we could have done
better, and that we let that one slip away.
Now fast forward to Monday evening. From Friday, the 26th of August to
Monday the 29th of August, I had these two families in mind. I prayed
that we would have another chance to run into them and talk about how
families can be together forever. Monday evening I was on exchanges
with a brand new missionary named Elder Young. Elder Young comes from
the Salt Lake Valley and is a great young missionary. We were doing
some park finding and had been doing some park finding for about two
hours with some success. We were getting ready to call it a night,
when we decided to take one more little round around the park. Sure
enough, we came around the corner and those two families were sitting
exactly where they were sitting the Friday before. I looked to Elder
Young and said, "This is a miracle." We walked over, sat down and I
could tell that they were all a little bit sad, because the Russians
had returned home just two days before. I asked them if I could tell
them a little story that I would have liked to share with them the
Friday before, and they said go ahead. I told them the story about
moms accident, and tears began to flow from their eyes. I told them
that her loss has easily been the hardest thing that I have ever had
to deal with, but also that there has been someone, who came along a
little while after the accident, who has blessed my life more than I
even know. I explained to them that my dad got remarried, and that
this second mom loved and still loves my brother and I as if we were
her own. I told them that it hasn't been easy, but it has been worth
it. I told the family who is in the process of adopting these two
Russians that they are doing the same thing. I let them know that I
admired them for loving these two Russians as if they were there own.
Tears filled most of our eyes and it was a pretty special moment. I
had been praying for another opportunity to meet up with that family,
and my prayers were answered.
I don't have a lot of time today, but I would like to finish up with
another tender experience that happened last Tuesday afternoon. So we
are now working with the aunt and cousin of Vittoria, the lady that
was just baptized. Marianna is the aunt and Lucia is the cousin. They
are awesome. We went out to Trani on Tuesday to pay them a visit but
Marianna, the aunt, was really sick. We offered to give her a
priesthood blessing, which she accepted. Lucia, the daughter of
Marianna, doesn't show a ton of emotion. She is a pretty reserved lady
and doesn't talk a whole ton. She received a priesthood blessing and
when we opened our eyes, both Marianna and Lucia had tears in their
eyes. Marianna healed up quick and made it out to church yesterday.
Family and Friends, I love you all very much. Life is good. I love
being a missionary.
Again, I apologize but I don't have a lot of time. Y'all take care and
have another good week.
I love you all.
-Jardman

Only pictures I took this week was on our train ride to Trani on
Tuesday. Caught my comp as he was sleeping.

We played some basketball a few weeks back and this kid knew Eric Mika.