Duncan, Jarom

Hello! Hola! Hallo! This week moved me to Basin City! It's awesome here! On the map, it looks tiny. In person, it is tiny. The area we cover is huge, and it's all farmland. Everybody in the ward here is related to each other in some way or another, too. There's a lot of spanish, and people are very kind here! It's so very beautiful too; The rolling hills, sunrises, and sunsets complete it. Everything testifies that there is a god! My companions are Elder Day (Día) and Jacobs. They're a ton fun to be with, and both are very good missionaries. We've had a lot of really good lessons with our friends Elitzel, Martin, ambrosio, and others. It's been awesome to have some of the conversations we have in lessons.  We've really been able to invite the spirit into these lessons. Wrong door: Last night we knocked on the wrong door, looking for our friend Cristian, and Ana answered. We asked her about her faith, which is quite strong. She then had a bunch of good qu...

Dearest amigos, Time flies when you don't stop to smell the roses. This week is flying, and it's a little scary how fast things move along. There were lots of roses this week though, and much to enjoy. Some really unique things happened, too. Among those, I was offered the chance to help dress the body of a member who recently passed in ceremonial clothes before cremation. We didn't end up doing that, but it was unique that it was offered. I also caught a cat that ran out the door we knocked on when the lady opened it. She had already closed the door, exclaiming that 'he won't be back for another day!' So I inched around the corner, got into a slow crouch, made a few tactical 'meow's and 'psps's to set it at ease, then I crept up behind while he was smelling the air vent and swept him up. The lady was very glad when we brought the cat back. Lots of snow and ice had Church cancelled on Sunday, so we got permission to have our own micro-church meet...

Hello Dearest friends! This week we had a great Zone Conference, where the president of the mission and his wife gave a great presentation on personal testimonies. And there was food! And this week has seen Walla Walla covered in snow! First snow of the winter that has stuck around! On Super bowl Sunday, we weren't having much luck with many of the doors we were knocking on. We were heading back home for spanish study when Elder Hill suggested that we just exercise some crazy faith. So we agrees to go keep knocking a street until someone gave us a return appointment.  The first couple were duds, but then we met Kenny, who wanted to learn more about the Book of Mormon. Then the next house, we met someone who talked to us for 40 minutes. He wasn't super interested, but be was a very kind guy. I liked this quote from Elder Uchtdorf: “The Church is not an automobile showroom—a place to put ourselves on display so that others can admire our spirituality, capacity, or prosperity. It...

Good Nueva Semana a Todos! As Nuestro Día de preparación roles around once again, I'm left in a neck and neck battle against time. I had it in the first half, not going to lie. But, as 6:00 approaches, the mailing crunch time begins. This week, good things happened! Our friend Gerardo came to church! It's been over 6 months since the last time, he's just been packed with work. Our friend Jaime is super awesome. When we met him, he told us he had grown a super strong testimony of going to church, because he first felt the spirit in a church building. He had also already talked with some missionaries before, and is very excited to learn! We gave him a book of mormon to read, and he seemed quite eager. He just can't come to church because he's packed with work Sunday mornings. He's got an awesome young family. Pray for Jaime to be able to find truth for him and his family! We have been doing many of our studies at the nearby colleges, and I must say that Whitman co...

Hey all! I apologize for the title having no connection to the email. It was a good quote from a good play I've seen, and it felt like a good title. I'm going to see if it's possible to write a sub-twenty minute email on a phone! College Studies We've been doing our studies through the week at the 3 local colleges, going to a different one each day. We accidentally showed up to Walla Walla University on Saturday not realizing it was closed (For the sabbath ;) ). Its quite goofy how we say "Hello!" "Have a great day!" And we get a lot of blank stares from the passerby. I think we take people off guard by saying hello to them. Hopefully we help them feel seen. Berta was getting stressed During a lesson with Berta, we learned that she's felt very pressured by the commitments we've been extending, as if she's 'our student'. It's tough to find the balance between 'being super friendly' and 'teaching lessons'. I feel...

Buena semana! This week I don't want to write a whole lot, so, I'll pick the best just for you. The beginning of the week, I was super stressed about finding someone to come to a lesson with us, and that was kind of bumming out the whole day. Then the lesson came, didn't happen, and went. Suddenly everything I was worried about melted away. Such is life. One obstacle comes, seems like the epitome of our struggles, then it passes and we work towards the next obstacle. We were having a lesson with our amazing friend Gerardo and Steve, a member, and then halfway through, Elder Hill's nose started to bleed! Frantically, I tried getting him tissues out of my bag fast enough, but he was already out of the room. I was left there trying to continue the lesson with Gerardo and Steve, the member we'd brought. I later learned that I was supposed to follow my comp out. Otherwise it was a good lesson. We're hoping to be able to help Gerardo work through some stuff, and then ...

Happy fourteenth of January! So, United Airlines will now be using Starlink in their flights! Wait. I mean, This week I've seen so many blessings. (1)After this new transfer, I got a new companion, Elder Hill! He is quite awesome. (2)With our friends, Berta and Gerardo we were able to teach some of the most spirit filled lessons I've experienced. (3)And, I had no idea how this transfer was going to be, being the only person who knows the area and the people here, so I prayed and prayed, and prayed, and it helped. I was able to send out a bunch of texts through the week, which I've never done before, managing many conversations at once with our friends. God is there. Sunday was full of miracles, and we had some amazing speakers at sacrament meeting, and Adam came to church! And Berta! Something I have always had issues with is not wanting to inconvenience people. But here, I've had to step way out of my comfort zone, and approach people even when they look busy, or invit...