Duncan, Jarom

Hey everyone! The moral of this week is this: Do not consume a spoonfull of Carolina Reaper hot sauce, especially when the bottle says "Danger: intense heat" This week has been incredible. Our P-day was moved to today to accommodate thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving, by the way! Transfers happened, and our apartment went from 5 to 4. Also, I'm driving now! apparently I didn't make a good first impression to the driving coordinator, while talking about how much I love manuals and drifting in the snow, because he told me if I give him any trouble, he'll make me eat the card I use to log in to the car system. Our teaching pool has reset. Our most progressing friends dropped us, and I have come to decide why I'm here on a mission: I'm not here to make any numbers increase, to get any one baptism, or make any reports look good. I'm here so I can find the one person God has been preparing. I'm here to find the person whose future could depend on how hard ...

Hey all! Once again I'm left to speed typing this email in the last 5 minutes I have free. I'll stop procrastinating next week. Tomorrow is the second transfer! Nothing is changing for me, but I can't believe I'm already here! I look back and it both feels like I've been in walla walla for months, but at the same time like the MTC was last week! I'm learning lots! Zone conference happened and we learned a lot of great things from Elder Bragg of the seventy. I'd elaborate more but can't. No time! Gotta go quick now, We had cleaning checks for the apartment, and they said it's the best it's ever been. I scrubbed the bathroom for an hour and had a blast doing it. Cleaning is really therapeutic for me I'm picking up basketball. I just went all around the world this morning, and it was getting crazy on the 3 point shots. From one of the first members I had a meal with, the lady told the other elders recently "Oh that Elder  Duncan  is a cute ...

Olá a todos! I'm hitting the grind. I'm also seeing improvement. Half the days I have no idea what I'm doing, but there are moments when I see God saying "I've got you"  The end of my first transfer is almost here! And it came very fast. Each day is long enough that at the end of the day, I cannot remember the majority of what we did. This is not new, though. But, to that same degree, every time I'm brushing my teeth at night, it feels like I'm always brushing my teeth. It's like looking into two mirrors opposite each other. You're doing the exact same thing, except the moment you're in right now is the most real. Make sense? We had a really good lesson this week! We have been in contact with a friend for quite a bit, but she hadn't been progressing, so we were planning on dropping her that lesson. But when we got there, and asked if she'd read what we asked her to read, she proceeded to recite to us the entire story of Lehi's f...

Brothers and Sisters, Aloha!  *cough* I mean... Hola! Time is surreal. There is only right now and one week ago. It is a genuine feat to try to rack my brain for the events in between. Good thing I've been taking notes. Halloween was awesome! The day prior was a ward party, which was combined with the English ward. Getting to know more people was great, especially because we usually don't have any interactions with the English ward. Also, I'm a sucker for food, so I ate quite a few bowls of chili.  Later that night, we had to be inside by 6:00 so the trick-or-treaters could run their course. So, naturally, we were playing Monopoly. My blessed mother ordered us some pizza for the night, so we were cruising. Elder Macmillan's mom also did the same. We ended up with 11 pizzas, and full stomachs. We also had a devotional that night, too. A great halloween treat. As for the rest of the food situation, we were blessed with a lot of food this week! among a ward chili cookoff, ...

Hey y'all! I apologize, I've got to cut this email a bit short, I've not got much time to spare! The routine is starting to set I'm. Wake up, gym, study, lunch, proselyte, dinner, sleep, repeat. It's also getting tougher, with all this repetition. I often can't remember what I did yesterday (that's not really new though =D). I gave my first talk on Sunday! This time I managed to write the whole 10 minute talk and be done 30 minutes before church. It was very different speaking though, because there were so few people in the congregation. It was actually kind of fun to give. That Sunday night, we approached a guys house, and he wasn't happy we were there at first. We had a bit of small talk, about football, and what he'd done that day, when he said he'd made an apple cobbler. Then he offered to give us some! As he walked away I noticed the gun in his hand that he'd been holding, and my heart skipped a beat or two.  I guess he thought we were c...

Hola!  This past week has been a fantastic adjustment to the mission field! I can't even remember everything that's happened since my last email. I wasn't able to get an email out last week though, as my P-day has switched in the mission field. The last week in the CCM was muy chido. the last couple days were similar feeling to the last days of school. Our schedule was still packed, but I was saying goodbye to people by Sunday night. Then, on Monday night I had to say goodbye to my beloved district 9A. Tuesday I was with a temporary companion, and we had an epic time. It was quite chaotic getting plane tickets and such sorted out, but we got to end off the day watching a live broadcast from the Provo MTC (mi hogar!) of Dieter F. Uchtdorf. And who was directing the missionary choir there but none other than Dr. Mendenhall! That's two times now I watched a livestream at the CCM with him in it! (He rocks) Arriving in Washington was very chill. As we got off the plane, we s...

Dear Family, We are thrilled to inform you that your missionary has arrived safely to the mission field.  Elder Duncan appears to be healthy, and in good spirits, and seems eager to get to work. He will be meeting his Trainer today, and then after some orientation and training, will be traveling with his companion to their new area this evening.  Thank you so much for raising your son in such a way that he is willing and worthy to serve a mission.  Elder Duncan is in good hands!  His Preparation Day will be on Tuesdays.  He will also let you know, in advance, if a Preparation Day changes due to a Federal Holiday or a special temple visit. Along with your missionary’s photo with President and Sister Quereto, I have attached a letter from Elder Henry explaining how we handle the mail in the mission. Do not hesitate to email or call if you have any questions or concerns, as we are here to ensure that your missionary is happy, healthy, and successful. Warm Regards! ...