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Catania – Week 21
Transfer 14, Mission Week 86

October 24, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Ciao tutti!

This week was really awesome, but man it passed by super duper fast!

We were able to accomplish a lot of things that we needed to do and got it all done in a manageable amount of time. We had a family home evening last Monday evening that went really well with our part member family. We were able to address the questions that they all had and still teach what we felt was right for them in that moment. That is something that is so amazing about the gospel that it can be tailored, then taught, and applied to everyone initially. I really enjoy that we can be able to bring to the table exactly what the Lord knows will make people happy and live with joy in their lives.

We were able to visit a less active family at their house for lunch which also went really well. We had an interesting conversation about a dish of food found here in Sicily called parmigiana which is made with eggplant, tomatoes, cheese, and some other things that I am forgetting. It was interesting for the fact of the name and how we started talking about how much of a melting pot it is here in Sicily.

There is such a mix of cultures which makes it such an interesting and unique place. The food is a mix of certain dishes which causes even the cities in Sicily to have different dishes that are specially made in those places. For example when I was in Trapani they are famous for their cous-cous which comes from the country very close on the northern tip of Africa called Tunisia. Here in Catania there is a special dish called pasta alla’norma which is a ragu based pasta with melanzane and ricotta salata. It is super cool to me and I enjoy learning about all these things and being around it all. That is a little culture story for everyone! The lesson went really well though and we were able to talk about family councils which is something that Elder M. Russell Ballard talked about last April in general conference. It is where we can meet as a family and discuss situations and make goals as a family to continue to grow and progress in this life together. He explains how their are four different types of family councils and it is something I can’t wait to apply in my future family. Really something I want to do because it is something that is so special for the family. Here is the link if you are interested in reading more about it.

We had to wake up at 3:30 on Wednesday morning to make our way up to Rome. We got started nice and early and we made our way to Messina where you have to take the ferry across the strait with the car. It was a nice long drive and we were making good time and of course we had some stops for the restroom, gas and lunch. We stopped in Napoli on the way up for lunch and it was amazing to finally eat a pizza from Napoli. I will say expectations were high, but the pizza definitely lived up to what it was. I will put a picture in there. It was the best pizza I have definitely had. Not to say there isn’t good pizza out there, but it was awesome. We made it up to Rome and parked the car up at the mission office. Got on the Metro and headed down to the station to meet all the other Anzinai in the zone that had to travel up on the train. Unfortunately the train arrived late, and this caused us not to be able to make it to our Geso spot in Piazza Spagna. We were however able to make the best of our time and get down to a different spot where Anziano LaPray and I went finding for the brief 30 minutes that we had. The First Lady we saw ended up being a great conversation and we got her number which we really hope turns out to be a cool opportunity for the missionaries to teach her up in Rome.

We had another early morning in order to prepare for the conference and make our way down to the Rome 1 church. The conference was so amazing. Once they were all in the building we were able to go down the line and shake all their hands and meet them all. We had such a spiritually strong few hours with all the general authorities and their wives. We were able to here from every single one of them there.

It was super special and amazing to be able to hear and see some overall themes among them, but how they all each had some different things to take away form each individual talk/testimony. They all had so many great things said I don’t even know where to start. Time was a big theme that was talked about as well as just remembering how great and wonderful this calling is as missionaries. I will definitely keep close the things that the talked about and do my best to apply the things that I learned through the spirit. I loved that we were able to hear from them for so long. Sorella Nelson talked about a lot of great things and one thing that I really liked was if we were able to see a short 10 minute clip of who we were at any point in the pre mortal life that it would change the trajectory completely of our life on earth. We would know what are true purpose is and without a doubt would work with all our might, mind, and strength to accomplish what we know we need to accomplish. She also told a cool story about how once in Russia with members of the church she addressed a group and said she wanted to get to know them all a little better. She then asked the whole group to stand when she called out one of the 12 tribes of Israel. She found 11 different tribes that day! Every one except the tribe of Levi was there, but then the next day in their travels they were able to meet a missionary that was a Levite. Pretty cool stories.

President Russell M. Nelson was able to address us for about 45 or 50 minutes and his topic was very interesting, but applied so well to missionary work and who we are. One of the first things that he does though is the asks the whole room who had their paper scriptures with them. Most people didn’t since traveling with the iPad is more convenient and what not. He said that he likes and uses both, but said there is just something about the paper scriptures. He then told us how he just recently got that copy that he was holding. He then turned it in the inside where the date was written, May. He decided that he would read every word of the entire quad, in which he finished 2 weeks later. He talked about the 12 tribes of Israel and the Gathering of Israel which was amazing to see. We were so blessed to have him there and instruct us on something that we maybe didn’t know everything about, but something that was able to stick with us in such a way to open us up with a drive to find more. I am thankful that we were able to talk about this great gathering of Israel that is taking place and the Abrahamic covenant. We are able to participate in this great gathering in helping Heavenly Father’s children find the truth. I really loved all that we were able to learn from the conference and hope to retain the feelings and apply the knowledge that I have now.

It was nice to see and catch up with some people after the conference and talk to everyone I haven’t seen in a long time. It was definitely just an all around amazing conference and interesting how it differed from the last mission conference when it comes to the aspect of knowing a lot more people in the mission now. We had to switch out our car after the conference and made our back home, but since we weren’t going to make it all the way we had to stop in Cosenza and stay the night. That was weird to be back in that city as well. Was able to get a nice run in Cosenza that next morning which was awesome. We made our way back after that and have had some awesome few days back here in Catania. We were able to go and have another lesson with our part member family, have a special broadcasted conference to our stake, and found 3 new investigators this past Sunday.

One of the new investigators we were supposed to go over and teach a lesson to our investigator that came to church, but at the end she wasn’t able to come down for the lesson. We had a meal, which was super good by the way, with a less active daughter of the family. She made this pasta with a sauce that uses the inc sac of a squid. It was super good! Sorry those are my food rants, but we were able to teach her boyfriend the whole restoration and we will be headed back there next Sunday to teach them. That was a super cool miracle! The other two were found at the Geso while Anziano Parkinson and Anziano Ponce went off to make sure there weren’t too many missionaries concentrated a small area when we were stopping people. They both sounds awesome too!

It was a crazy past week with lots of fun, spiritual, and instructive moments. I am so happy to be here serving in Italy with all the fellow missionaries and laborers around me as well. This past week I was able to be in 3 of my 4 cities, which is something super strange. I have had a ton of thoughts and memories flooding back to my head about many different experiences over my mission so far. I am so thankful for the cities I have served in, the people I have been able to meet and serve to the best of my ability, the people I have served with, the miracles, the lessons, all the experiences, lessons learned, etc. It has been such an amazing experience and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I can’t wait for the lessons and all the things I will do today and the rest of my time here in Italy as a full time missionary of the Lord. This makes me think of a few scriptures in Alma 29.

10 And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me.

11 Yea, and I also remember the captivity of my fathers; for I surely do know that the Lord did deliver them out of bondage, and by this did establish his church; yea, the Lord God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, did deliver them out of bondage.

12 Yea, I have always remembered the captivity of my fathers; and that same God who delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians did deliver them out of bondage.

I will always remember the wonderful things that the Lord has done and hope to always cling to those feelings and memories so they will always stay close to me. I am thankful for the great times and the difficult ones as well. It all is for our benefit and helps us to draw closer the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you all again for all the prayers and help that you all offer me. I love you all and am so grateful to know that we all as missionaries have so many people supporting us.

Have a great week!

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Garrett

With Anziano Spencer, my companion from Trapani, at the Mission Conference in Rome, October, 2016

With Anziano Spencer, my companion from Trapani, at the Mission Conference in Rome, October, 2016

With friends at the Mission Conference in Rome, October, 2016

With friends at the Mission Conference in Rome, October, 2016

Some friends at the Mission Conference in Rome, October, 2016

Some friends at the Mission Conference in Rome, October, 2016

We stopped in Napoli to enjoy world-class pizza on our journey to Rome for the Mission Conference, October, 2016

We stopped in Napoli to enjoy world-class pizza on our journey to Rome for the Mission Conference, October, 2016

Napoli pizza - pizza doesn't get any better than this

Napoli pizza – pizza doesn’t get any better than this

Filed Under: Assignments, Catania, Conferences, Cosenza, Culture, Food, Italy, Missionary Work, Roma 1, Trapani Tagged With: , , , ,

Roma 1 – Week 24
Transfer 4, Mission Week 30

September 28, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

OK, sorry this email will be pretty short this week but I don’t have much time! I hope that everyone is doing well!

OK, so this past week we didn’t see a ton of people, unfortunately. We only got to see one of our investigators, but he brought a friend which was super cool! He hadn’t been answering the phone because he was sick, but then we got ahold of him and were able to meet with him once. He is doing well but hasn’t been answering the phone again. I hope that everything is going well with him though.

We got to see 3 of our less actives which went really well and they are doing well. We are still trying to find new work right now.

Anziano Rasband is doing better now. He had a doctor’s appointment but had been feeling better a little before we went. He is finally eating normally again, which is great.

So today I had no clue what we were doing for pday but the whole district did. We had to go somewhere, but the metro was broken for a fair amount of the A line and we had to take a bus from one stop all the way across Rome which took forever. It was crazy hahaha. We went to this place called Escape Rome where they put you in a room and you have to find clues and try to get out. It was really neat. Definitely made me feel a little dumb for sure. They gave us a lot of help sometimes hahaha. I don’t know if I wasn’t in the right mind set and not knowing how this all was set up or anything. I was a little confused and they didn’t even let me know what the place was when we went in hahaha. It was neat but I wonder if they didn’t help us if would have got out. They only give you an hour to do it. There was like a Vatican themed room and a CSI themed one.

We were in the CSI room with Sorelle Rossi and Nagliati. It was fun and I think that we all felt a little dumb from getting the help and finished with 5 minutes left hahaha. We then went and ate a really nice meal. I had a a mozzarella di bufalo pizza it was super good.

They then gave me some cream puffs with a candle and then we got gelato to finish it all off. It was a super fun day and the whole district had a great time. It was cool to see Sorella Nagliati before she goes home tomorrow.

I am really excited about General Conference and really looking forward to hearing from the prophets, apostles, and other general authorities. I really enjoy hearing the messages that we need to hear in this life. I am really excited to hear from them all.

I like this scripture in D&C 1:38

What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.

We are hearing these messages from the Lord and they are all specifically for us and I am really excited to hear the messages and hope to be prepared to receive them. I was sad to hear about Richard G. Scott. Having three vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will be really interesting to see if they will all be filled and who the Lord will call to fill them. I am really pumped for this weekend.

Ok and last, but not least transfer news. I am going to be leaving Rome 1 and I am heading down to Trapani in Sicilia! That will be a lot of fun! Anziano LaPray will be my new companion. I am excited to be going down there but also a little sad to be leaving some people here.

I will leave this Thursday and I am excited to head down there. I will be taking a plane so it won’t take as long, but I will have to watch my weight limit which is going to take some skillful packing I think hahaha. I received all the birthday cards and am really thankful for them! I haven’t gotten to read them all, but will be sure to do so tonight! Thank you all! I hope that everyone has an amazing week, and I am sorry I won’t be able to get back to everyone today! Take care!

Vi voglio bene!!

Love,

Anziano Garrett

[Taylor’s new companion in Trapani will be Anziano Lapray.  He is just completing his 12 weeks of training.  This photo is from Sister Waddoups’ blog]

Anziano Lapray

Anziano Lapray

Filed Under: Recreation, Roma 1, Transfers, Trapani Tagged With: , ,

Roma 1 – Week 23
Transfer 4, Mission Week 29

September 21, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

I hope that everyone is doing well and you guys all had an excellent week.

This week we don’t have a ton to report on. We had a family home evening last Monday night and we invited one of our investigators and a less active we have been working with. They both came, which was super cool, but then before we got started our investigator had to leave to go talk to a guy about work. We called him to set up another appointment but the next day it fell through during study and we haven’t been able to get a hold of him since which worries me a little. I just hope that everything is ok with him.

We got to go see a different less active that we have been working with since I have been here and I always enjoy going to see him and he really appreciates us coming over and visiting with him.

In preparation for General Conference we watched On The Lords Errand, the documentary on the life of President Thomas S. Monson. It was really good and he really enjoyed it and I really love our Prophet. He is truly a disciple of Christ. I have read a lot of talks by him recently and I think of all the stories he has and how many lives that the Lord has touched through him. He responds to those promptings with loyalty and he truly is amazing. I am looking forward to hearing from the Prophet, the apostles, and the other leaders of the church this conference. I am looking forward to the guidance and counsel they offer and give.

Wednesday Anziano Rasband got sick again and we aren’t sure how so we have been at home a lot this week. We made it out enough for English course Thursday, specialized training Friday, and then a church activity Saturday. The specialized training (a zone conference without interviews) was really good and I really loved all the counsel we received from our leaders. It was really good and I felt encouraged by it. A lot of it was on fear and we were able to watch a talk that President Uchtdorf gave to the new mission presidents not too long ago and it was excellent. I was really glad we were able to receive this counsel and I am trying to make sure that I don’t fear anything in this work. This past conference Elder David A. Bednar taught that fear is the opposite of faith and gave this counsel.

“We can be blessed to conquer our fears and strengthen our faith as we follow the Lord’s instruction: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (D&C 6:36).

Godly fear is loving and trusting in Him. As we fear God more completely, we love Him more perfectly. And “perfect love casteth out all fear” (Moroni 8:16). I promise the bright light of godly fear will chase away the dark shadows of mortal fears (see D&C 50:25) as we look to the Savior, build upon Him as our foundation, and press forward on His covenant path with consecrated commitment.”

I really liked this talk a lot and would challenge you guys to read it. Here’s a link to the talk.  I think that we all are afraid of some things, but I learned that we really don’t have to be at all.  With the Lord’s help we will be able to fear not. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Conferences, Missionary Work, Roma 1 Tagged With:

Roma 1 – Week 22
Transfer 4, Mission Week 28

September 14, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

Buongiorno tutti! Speriamo che avete avuto buona settimana. I have a bit of writer’s block for this weeks email so bear with me.

We got to see our investigator that can meet a lot and he is doing so well! We saw him one day last week and he was reading the Book of Mormon which was super cool and we were excited. He was in 1 Nephi 2 and then we saw him two days later and he was in 1 Nephi 15! We were super excited for him. I really hope that he keeps reading and really comes to know that the Book of Mormon is true. We are super excited for him and we had such an amazing testimony brought by the member that came with us on the last lesson. He told a story that I think really helped our investigator understand what real intent is. If we read the Book of Mormon with the real intent of acting on the answer we receive. When Joseph Smith wanted to know what church was true he had the intent to act and join the church that Heavenly Father would give him in response to his prayer. With the real intent we can truly all come to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God translated by the power and gift of him.

We had another lesson with another one of our investigators we didn’t have the chance to meet with for awhile and we are really seeking to establish a plan to get him to read every day and really help him to develop the wonderful habit of daily scripture study and then as well as easing him into church attendance.  He is doing well with it and the last lesson we had with him went really well!

We didn’t have a chance to see anyone else this past week. We had stake conference on Saturday but we had to go up to Terni so that Anziano Rasband could do a baptismal interview since both the zone leaders had taught her. We went up there and did that Saturday and came back down after helping them do a little finding up there. It is so wonderful to see the beautiful Italian countryside and Terni is such a cool city. It would probably be about the size of Champaign.  It is a little slower than Rome but still has foot traffic. It was a really good time to go up there. Getting to see Anziano Calvagna is always a good time too.

We had plans fall through here and there but we had a great week and we were able to see some new faces at English course which is really exciting. Three of the new students are super awesome and we had this one kid that we stopped for street finding the other day show up. We were sharing the “Grazie Lui” video with people on the street and he passed it up, but we gave him an English course pass along card and he was interested and he came! That was a super cool miracle we had last week!

We did some district singing finding on the metro the other day that went well! It was the first time we tried something like that and we want to try it again with some of the members. Should be fun to get to try it with them. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Roma 1 Tagged With: , , , , ,

Roma 1 – Week 21
Transfer 4, Mission Week 27

September 7, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

I don’t have a ton of time to email this week. We had a busy day and we have to head out a little early so we can get to a family home evening. We had a nice pday though. We went for some groceries this morning and then we headed to the church and downloaded our emails before heading out to centro. We wanted to go get some granita (shaved ice) that we had tried before, and I made sure I knew how to find that restaurant I went to about 4 months ago with Anziano Calvagna. Then we walked toward the forum and we were going to go to a church that has the chains that held St. Peter during his martyrdom. We found it by luck because the stairs and the building looked cool so I decided to walk up and it ended up being the right way. We got there and then it was closed for the pranzo hours so we couldn’t go in. We had a good walk through the forum though and got “Hey Eldered!” twice today which was cool. We went to a tie shop and got companionship ties which are Phoenix Suns colors (that’s for Wyatt). I got an orange one and he got a purple one, we are going to wear them to District meeting tomorrow to see if anyone notices.

We didn’t get to see a lot of different people this past week but we had an investigator that was willing to meet with us 4 times which was super cool. He really has a desire to learn more and sincerely find the truth. I am really enjoying getting to meet with him and get to know him as well. We were able to have a few more people we hope to meet with more this week. We had a great week, though, and some awesome lessons with our new investigator. One that we had with a super cool member helped so much. He really answered the investigator’s question so well and he brought a testimony that was super good for our investigator. I have really high hopes for him. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Food, Roma 1, Tourist Sites Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Roma 1 – Week 20
Transfer 4, Mission Week 26

August 31, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

This week went really well and we are really excited about this transfer that we have in front of us. We really want to hit it really hard and really plan well and execute our plans so we are helping as many people as we can come unto Christ.

So Monday night we couldn’t get appointments set at all so we had some Book of Mormon finding planned. We were traveling to the area to start it and we walked by these people, and the language was just hard to catch, but at the end I could have sworn I caught some English and they just looked like they needed help and I felt like we should go ask them if we could help. We did, and we asked if we could do anything for them. They had British accents so that threw me off at first. The metro stop we were at has 4 exits and it is a pretty confusing metro stop and they explained they had lost their two friends and they couldn’t find the couple. We tried to help them look and we took them to the last entrance they hadn’t checked and they said if worse came to worse they knew to meet in the restaurant. We asked what they looked like and they described the lady as being very tall, pink shirt, and bright blonde hair. We immediately went searching for is lady while walking to our finding area. Not too far down the street we spotted them across the street and they were going to cross the street and this street is split up by two cross walks with a place in the middle. They walked across to us and I just went straight into saying, “You guys are looking for two friends right?” And she just says, “No thanks. We are all right,” and just kept on walking past. I was like no wait like for real you guys are looking for these two people (went into description) and they then had these confused looks on their face on how we knew all this. I think she kind of felt bad hahaha and I just said wasn’t trying to pull your guys’ leg. It was super funny, but then a few days later Anziano Rasband said that when thinking about what I said to start that conversation off was probably pretty weird since they may have thought we were talking about ourselves. Hahaha it was a super funny service opportunity.

Last Tuesday we had our scambio and I was able to stay in Rome 1 with Anziano Calvagna and we are always learning something new and we continue to try our best to learn and grow from each other.  It’s always great to see him and he is just fun to be around. His laugh is so contagious too hahaha. Once you get him rolling it is so funny. Our plans for the scambio didn’t go as we had originally wanted and they got a little swapped around, but we were able to see a less active that really loves Anziano Clavagna and vice versa as well. We had a good scambio though for sure! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Assignments, Companions, Missionary Work, Roma 1 Tagged With:

Roma 1 – Week 19
Transfer 4, Mission Week 25

August 24, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Buongiorno tutti!

I hope that everyone had a nice week and that everyone is enjoying the rest of their summer as it winds down.

So this week I accidentally left my wallet in the house. I always carry it around in my bag because then I don’t have to worry about pickpockets. So I keep my abbonamento (metro/bus pass) in there. The day before we had walked to the store to get more water for the house and I forgot to put my wallet back into my bag. We leave the house and catch a bus the next day and about 5 or 6 stops down bus workers start to get on to check if people have there passes or a ticket. I then realized I had forgotten my wallet so I got written up for a nice little fine. So they said to go to this bus office and they will waive it. So we travel over there and the lady tells me I have to pay it at a post office. So I went from having a €1.50 fine to a nice €56 fine. Well then Sorella Cano explained that I have to go back there and show them the abbonamento and they will waive it. So we head back again the next day and then tell the lady that I have the abbonamento, and she says of great we can waive that but the office to do that is closed today so you will have to come back next week. So now we have to go and travel all the way back for a third time. Well I definitely learned not to forget my wallet anymore. So we will head back there Tuesday and then start a scambio after with Anziano Calvagna and Anziano Palazzo. I will stay here with Anziano Calvagna and Anziano Rasband and Anziano Palazzo will head up to Terni. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Italy, Roma 1 Tagged With: , , , ,

Roma 1 – Week 18
Transfer 3, Mission Week 24

August 17, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

We are alive and well and finally were able to return to working normally again. I really am excited to be back and at it. Well I will start with the big news since we received our transfer calls Saturday.

So here is what happened. Usually we get our call sometime during the study hours which are from 8:00-10:00 but this time we didn’t because we had a “deep cleaning” day in the house since it was a holiday and a ton of people leave to go on vacation the same day. So we got our call around 12:00 or so while we were cleaning. It was a super fast call because Anziano Rasband and I are both staying here in Rome 1! And the sisters are all staying here too and we will receive a new sister Thursday. Definitely crazy we are all staying here. I would never have guessed that to happen again. We are excited about the new transfer and really think we can improve on some things together and see some amazing things happen.

Last week we got back into the work and we were able to start seeing people again. A lot of our investigators have been out of town so we haven’t been able to see them for a while. We are really looking to get new investigators and keep pushing to find more, especially referrals. We saw some less actives that I always enjoy seeing and helping them with what the Lord needs us to do. I am excited to see some of the people getting back on vacation soon.

We had English Course as normal this week, which is going well, and we are seeing new faces pop up here and there, which is nice.

The weather has been nice here and I hope it will stay this way. We had a nice day today we went to St.Peter’s Basilica which was really neat and had an amazing view from the top. Before we went there we had an amazing conversation with a younger couple that is on vacation. We were just waiting for the order missionaries and the guy comes up to us and says he was trying to explain about the Mormon church to his girlfriend just earlier that day. Then he said I figured you guys could do it better. It was a really fun time and we shared the restoration with her and I really hope that they will have further exposure to the church down the road. I really really hope so because they were so nice and super awesome!

We had a good time at church yesterday and was great to see the members again. We are looking forward to this coming week and really looking to kill it! I am excited about it and just hope that we can keep pushing forward even when things always don’t work out the way that we expect.

I read in Ether 12 this past week and enjoyed reading about faith. I was feel like there is room to always look to improve our faith. I read this in True to the Faith and it can say it better than I can so I want to share this with you guys. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Roma 1, St. Peter's Basilica, Tourist Sites, Transfers Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Roma 1 – Week 17
Transfer 3, Mission Week 23

August 10, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

I hope everyone had an amazing week and that everyone is enjoying the end of their summers!

So I really don’t have much to report on from last week. Last p-day we saw some really neat things. We went to this place called the keyhole where they say you can technically see 3 different countries because you look in this keyhole at the Malta Embassy and then you see Vatican City and then of course Italy as well. It was pretty sweet! We then had a nice view of Rome nearby which was really cool. We then went and saw Circus Maximus which was really big but nothing too spectacular at all either. We then finished up with La Bocca Della Verita (the mouth of truth). It was pretty cool, but I don’t really know the history behind that at all. We of course finished up the day with some gelato too which always hits the spot especially when it is this hot. We finished up the proselyting day with some finding in the park. We had some good conversations but unfortunately they didn’t pan out beyond that.

Tuesday we had our district meeting and it went really well and then the Memmotts had us for lunch and that was a lot of fun. They are so nice and I really enjoy getting to know them and talk to them. They are so sweet and are truly disciples of the Lord. Tuesday evening we finished up with our English course and I really started to not feel too good that afternoon. By the time we got home I really wasn’t feeling to hot at all. So Anziano Rasband and I ended up getting food poisoning and we have had to stay home for the past 4 days. It’s definitely been hard but that’s ok I think we are finally getting through it. I feel better today and I hope that just lasts. So sorry I really didn’t have much to report on this week at all!

I really enjoyed reading 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon when Christ makes his appearance to the Nephites. It really would have been amazing to be there and experience that. He manifested himself to the people because he loves them too and I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon and the ever flowing knowledge we can gain from it. It truly testifies of Christ and shows that Jesus is the Christ and that he lives. It stands as another witness of Him and the things that He did in the Holy Land truly occurred. I am so thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ and the infinite love that he has for every single one of us. I am thankful for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the faith I was raised in. I am no where near perfect at all, but I try to be like my Savior and I have to just keep on working to be like him everyday. I know we all can have a place for Christ in our lives and that he will become the center of our lives as we live by his teachings and live in the manner that he did.

Love you all and I hope that you all have an awesome week!

Love,

Anziano Garrett

Sorella Gates sharing with some tourists

Sorella Gates sharing with some tourists

View of our area in Rome

View of our area in Rome

Roma 1 District selfie, plus Sorella Nagliati and Sorella Gates from Roma 5

Roma 1 District selfie, plus Sorella Nagliati and Sorella Gates from Roma 5

Roma 1 District selfie, plus Sorella Nagliati and Sorella Gates from Roma 5

Roma 1 District selfie, plus Sorella Nagliati and Sorella Gates from Roma 5

Filed Under: Roma 1 Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Roma 1 – Week 16
Transfer 3, Mission Week 22

August 3, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Buongiorno!!

I hope everyone had a really awesome week and that everyone is doing well! I hope that I can get this email in and it all make sense to everyone.

I forgot to mention that we got “Hey Elder!”ed (When someone sees us and yells for us or runs into us and we get to have a nice conversation) the other week and I am not sure if the family were members or not. They were from Charleston, South Carolina, but were just at Mattoon not too long ago for a funeral so they knew Charleston. I thought that was pretty cool. They were talking up Monicals pretty big.

Last P-day we had lunch with a member and it was really good. It was chicken, rice, and noodles. It was really good and a good time with the district and the members. After that we went and visited this church near the Baberini Metro station which would be close to Fontana di Trevi and this church is nicknamed The Church of Bones [It is actually called the Capuchin Crypt]. It was really interesting. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures so I didn’t get any at all. But it was a church that sometime in the 18th century, if I am not mistaken, they started to make art with bones. It was quite interesting and it was really weird all the same haha.

After that we had a family home evening in the park where we invited members, investigators, and English course students. I thought we were going to have a good turn out but only 2 members and an English course student came. I was glad that they showed up though. We had a good time, but we tried to get this English course student as an investigator and it didn’t work out like we had hoped. I was really hoping it would because he is super cool, nice, and funny. He really likes music too so I always love talking music with him. Maybe it just isn’t his time and we will have another chance in the future. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Food, Roma 1, Tourist Sites, Transfers Tagged With: ,
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