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Taormina

September 8, 2016 By Leave a Comment

[Taylor sent this excerpt from Anziano LaPray’s message home this past Monday]:

Last Monday, we went to a city called Taormina. It’s about an hour north of here by bus and totally worth the trip. I will try to include some pictures; hopefully it works. Basically, it’s just this super cool city on top of a giant hill with a castle an old amphitheater and other pretty sites to see nearby. Another bonus was the incredible gelato in the downtown. So good. We had such a good time we might try to go again in a few weeks.

[Excerpt from Wikipedia]:

Taormina is a hilltop town on the east coast of Sicily. It sits near Mount Etna, an active volcano with trails leading to the summit. The town is known for the Teatro Antico di Taormina, an ancient Greco-­Roman theater still used today. Near the theater, cliffs drop to the sea forming coves with sandy beaches. A narrow stretch of sand connects the mainland to Isola Bella, a tiny island and nature reserve.

 

[Here are some of the pictures Taylor sent]:

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Anziano LaPray in Taormina, Sicily

Anziano LaPray in Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Anziani at Taormina, Sicily: Anziano Parkinson, Anziano LaPray, Anziano Nielsen

Anziani at Taormina, Sicily: Anziano Parkinson, Anziano LaPray, Anziano Nielsen

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, Sicily

Filed Under: Assignments, Catania, Places, Taormina Tagged With: , ,

Catania – Week 14

September 5, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Ciao Tutti!

I hope that everyone had a great week! This week flew by again and it seems like we are always having something to do and getting busier and busier. We were able to have some cool lessons this week and it went really well. We also had a scambio mixed in there with Ragusa where Anziano Clasby and Anziano Cox are serving. I went with Anziano Cox and he is one transfer younger than I am. We were able to do some good less active work and it was a really fun time to work with him and have the lessons that we had. He is really good at teaching directly and simply where he puts the ball in their court and leaves it up to them to decide if they want to do it or not. I really enjoyed seeing that simplicity with directness.

Another lesson that stuck out to me this week was from our part member family that we are visiting. The member is so amazing and ever since she found the church she has made a complete turn around in a ton of things. She is just coming back full strength and it is inspiring to see and witness. Her husband is very nice and their daughter, who is our age, is very inquisitive and they both ask great questions and desire to understand. They both kept their commitments to read and it was great to go and visit them again. We were able to start off our visit helping them with a little bit of service. We helped take off the outer shells of almonds and then throw them in a crate to allow the sun to dry them later. It was a very interesting service and was a ton of fun. We had great conversation with them and got to them a lot better and they kept asking questions and we were able to discuss the gospel a lot throughout that time too. They are wonderful people and have a special place in my heart. I really hope that we will really help answer their questions and that they will trust in the Lord and the plan that he has prepared for each one of us. I know that the plan is perfect and sometimes we may not understand every small detail of it or every answer to the questions we have but if we have faith and trust that is all it takes to feel the comfort, hope, and peace that plan brings into our lives.

We have had a great time being able to work with these members here and we are seeing our work starting to grow now and we really hope to see that continue as well. The members are awesome and are super supportive of the missionaries here. This week we will have many members out of town because they are taking their yearly trip up to the temple. I am super excited for all the youth and members that get to go up there. It will really be an amazing experience for them and a time always to remember. This verse from Isaiah 2 comes to my mind where he is prophesying of the temples in the latter days.

2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

I think that this is such a wonderful scripture and we see that the early saints did truly flow unto Zion where the temple was be constructed in the Salt Lake Valley. I think that is just so neat and that we see that now the Lord has blessed us with temples all over the world for people to go to and to perform the ordinances for the living and the dead. It is such an amazing work and we are truly blessed immensely with temples. The only place that we can go to be sealed in marriage with our families for not only this time on earth, but also for eternity. I love these excerpts from the talk given by Thomas S. Monson in April 2015:

“As I think of temples, my thoughts turn to the many blessings we receive therein. As we enter through the doors of the temple, we leave behind us the distractions and confusion of the world. Inside this sacred sanctuary, we find beauty and order. There is rest for our souls and a respite from the cares of our lives.”

“As we attend the temple, there can come to us a dimension of spirituality and a feeling of peace which will transcend any other feeling which could come into the human heart. We will grasp the true meaning of the words of the Savior when He said: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

“Such peace can permeate any heart–hearts that are troubled, hearts that are burdened down with grief, hearts that feel confusion, hearts that plead for help.”

“The blessings of the temple are priceless. One for which I am grateful every day of my life is that which my beloved wife, Frances, and I received as we knelt at a sacred altar and made covenants binding us together for all eternity. There is no blessing more precious to me than the peace and comfort I receive from the knowledge I have that she and I will be together again.”

“May our Heavenly Father bless us that we may have the spirit of temple worship, that we may be obedient to His commandments, and that we may follow carefully the steps of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

I love the temple and am so very thankful for the steps that are clearly laid out for us to achieve that happiness in our lives personally as well as in our families. I am so very thankful for the blessings we receive as we go there and know that the sacrifices to build these great and wonderful houses of the Lord do not go unnoticed. The early saints knew that the sacrifices were worth it because the blessings that they would receive therein would be priceless. I know that His temples have been established in our day for our own benefit. I know that he lives and love us beyond comprehension.

I love you guys and hope that you have a wonderful week!

Con tanto amore!

Anziano Garrett

Preparing an American breakfast for a ward party in Catania

Preparing an American breakfast for a ward party in Catania

Catania at night

Catania at night

Catania at night

Catania at night

Catania District (Anziano LaPray is taking photo), August, 2016

Catania District (Anziano LaPray is taking photo), August, 2016

Eating gelato selfie with Anziano Nielsen

Eating gelato selfie with Anziano Nielsen

Filed Under: Assignments, Catania, Exchanges, Missionary Work, Taormina Tagged With: ,

Catania – Week 13

August 29, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Ehi tutti!

I hope that everyone is doing well! Crazy to think that summer has wound down back home and is winding down here. August is a big month for everyone in Europe to go on vacation. It has been great being able to see miracles continually though! We were able to get over to work with the members a lot this week and it was really nice!  The members here are amazing and they are wonderful people. We are really excited to see all the work that we can start doing with them as well. They have strong testimonies and desire to share the gospel with those around them. We had some planning to do for our activity and it went really well! Friday we had the American breakfast with everyone that came. We had around 40 people which is less than we had planned and expected for unfortunately, but it ended up being great! We had some trouble with all the griddles and skillets we had and only one out of the three worked so it took a while to cook everything unfortunately, but everyone seemed to really enjoy it. I thought that the pancakes would definitely be the crowd favorite but it happened to be that the hash browns with cheddar cheese were the go to for everyone, but it was unfortunate that they took so long to make. It was a great activity and we topped it off with a little church tour to finish off the night.

That night at the activity we found out from the Edgels that they had a service opportunity for us in Acireale, a small city outside of Catania, with a group that was going from the military base, Sigonella. So the community in Acireale has this old park that they finally are restoring and there were these hot spring baths that will be available once it is done as well. So we spent the morning picking up a ton of branches and pine needle leaves to clean up the park. It was super weird being around so many Americans and to hear so much concentrated amounts of English from others. It was an awesome opportunity and it was well appreciated by the group. They then took us out for granita and we got a little lunch as well. We had the oppurntiy to meet some really cool people and were able to make some cool friends. I really hope that we will continue to find these opportunities to serve others like we had the opportunity to do Saturday.

We also had the great opportunity to search some more less actives and we were able to see little miracles with it. Last night we had one where we were checking at this house to see if the less active still lived there. Before we were able to ring in this lady asked who we were looking for. This was a lady of at least 80 years old and it just so happened that the member would have been around that same age. We told her the name that we were looking for and she said, “Woah that is me!” It was so funny and we came up and talked to her and I don’t think that she remembers too much at all but she showed us some pictures and then we left setting another appointment where we could bring someone with us. It was only a few minute conversation, but she was super cute and it was a funny conversation because things kept lining up. At first the first name on the list we had was wrong but then we said the second name and she said that was her. It was super awesome. On the way home we were cutting through a neighborhood and on the way up a hill at this intersection this guy stopped and asked in English if we were lost. We went up to him and he was a young guy in his mid 20s. He offered a ride and said that the neighborhood that we were in wasn’t the nicest part of town. It was super nice of him to pick us up I and unfortunately he wasn’t super interested in religion at all but he spoke English really well so we hope that he will make it out to English group. It was a super cool miracle to finish off the week.

I am enjoying being here in Catania with Anziano Nielsen and really learning all that I can from him. He is a great missionary and really helps me realize where I can get better in my reasoning and decision making. He is super practical and helps me really see how important a all the little things we do that makes the big difference in what we do here as missionaries. It has been great to pick up conversations like it was yesterday with Anziano LaPray. It is funny how we can do that but it keeps everything really fun here in Catania together.

Anziano Parkinson is a sick [missionary-speak for “awesome”] new missionary and he played soccer before the mission so we will talk about that and he is just trying to learn everything that he can from everyone. I am loving it down here and really looking forward to seeing what we all can do to really bring this work forward here! I know many of you heard about the earthquakes here in Italy and thankfully all the members and missionaries are safe, but we do know that there are many that were killed and injured and we really pray for them and their families. I hope that each of you has a wonderful week and that you all will have a great start to September! I love you all and hope that you are doing well!

Love,

Anziano Garrett

Filed Under: Assignments, Catania, Companions, Missionary Work Tagged With: , , , ,

Catania – Week 12

August 22, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Ciao tutti!!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful week! This week was really bust and we really enjoyed being able to do all that we needed to do. It was pretty hectic with everything that we had going on. Monday night we had transfer calls and I found out that I am staying here in Catania with Anziano Nielsen. We were super excited and I am happy to be working with him! We get along great and have a lot of similar interests and everything! We have been running every morning so that has been great these past two transfers. He ran cross country in high school so it has been great to be able to run and try to get back into shape. Anziano Berger got blown in training to Pozzouli and I was super excited when I heard the next day that Anziano LaPray would be training here in Catania! It was super awesome and we have been enjoying being in the same house! It will be odd because at the end of this transfer will hit a year mark when we first got together in Trapani as companions.

We had a really busy week! We had to take care of transfers and be sure that everyone got where they needed to go and were on time for all their travel arrangements. It was a lot of fun and this time around very easy to handle and take care of. We had Anziano Brandon who is Messina with us for a few days and then we had Anziano Dunn and Anziano Clasby as well. I went on scambio with Anziano Brandon and Anziano Clasby during those day periods and it was super cool to be able to learn from them and get to see how they work and talk about how much the mission has grown and how different it is from the time that we first stepped into the mission. It is changing and only for the better! It is really awesome.

We had some good lessons this week even though we weren’t able to fully focus on the work a couple of times! Something that was really special and awesome was the fact that we were able to go over to the less active that I talked about a couple weeks back that is from Mexico, but she hadn’t been able to find the church. Her husband and daughter are not members of the church and it was super special to be able to go to their house and meet with them. They are awesome! The spirit was really strong and abundant during the lesson and they all listened so closely with so much intent. It was super cool! They showed us around their house and farm since they have mandorla (almond) trees and olive trees. They are super open also to have our help when they need to pick the almonds and the olives later in the season! That will be a lot of fun to be able to help them out with that! The sister has really been doing her homework too! In the past month and a half or so she has read the Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and is now reading the manuals of the modern day prophets! So cool how she wants to be as fully active as possible and wants to even get her patriarchal blessing and prepare for the temple!

She even this morning was telling me how she was telling her aunt that the thing that is missing in her life is God and that He can help to solve our problems! They are so special! She even made us homemade Mexican food the other day and we had bean tacos and potato tacos!  They were so good and she spoiled us for sure!

We have been really seeing the greatest improvements with our relationship with the ward and it has been so awesome! We have been improving all the relationships that we can and it is really helping with us being able to work with them! We are excited to see what the next 7 weeks will have for us and how much good we will be able to do.

We have a ward activity going on this Friday and we are doing an American breakfast for dinner! It is going to be super awesome and we are really excited to see what kind of turn out we will have. We have some good and simple activities planned and we really are pumped to see our members bring and invite their friends as well! Should be really sick. We have had a great time together thus far and are really looking forward to the business that we will have together.

I was studying in Helaman this past week and a verse really popped out to me.

Helaman 7:

17 O repent ye, repent ye! Why will ye die? Turn ye, turn ye unto the Lord your God. Why has he forsaken you?

I thought this was such a powerful and interesting work. We read in the bible dictionary that

“…repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God”

That is so cool to me that Nephi the prophet at this time is inviting them to turn unto God. I think that is so very interesting and really special because that is the only way to true and everlasting change.

It is only through the Savior that it is possibile and I am thankful for the opportunity to change and turn unto him for the help to change. He can shape and mold us into who we need to be. I am thankful for that and know that the Atonement is real and it is something that we need to be applying consistently in our lives. I love my Savior and Redeemer and am thankful for all that He went through for each and everyone of us on a personal scale.

Thank you guys for all that you guys are doing and all the love and support that you guys have been giving me in every moment of my mission! I love you and miss you all!

Love,

Taylor

Filed Under: Assignments, Catania, Exchanges, Missionary Work, Transfers Tagged With: ,

Catania – Week 11

August 15, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Ciao tutti!!

I hope that you all had a great week and that you are all doing really well! So today was deep cleaning and that is why this email will be getting to you guys a little late. Today is a big national holiday here in Italy where there is nobody out and a good time to do some summer cleaning! The house looks really good now and feels nice to have been able to have the time to work on a few things we needed.

This week passed by really quickly and was really good! We weren’t able to see everyone that we wanted to see nor as frequently as we had hoped to see them. We did get to see one of our investigators that went really well. We had originally invited him to a dinner with some members, but then he had to cancel on us and we saw him the next night. He is doing well and he kept his commitment to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and the testimonies like we had asked him too. He is really awesome and it is so amazing to see his real intent and desire to grow his spirituality. I really hope that he will continue to push himself and that he will search really hard for all that is in front of him. I am excited to see where he will go.

We were able to visit with some members this week and we are continuing to do our best to align our efforts with theirs and work hard together. We are trying really hard to work on getting over to their houses more to continue to encourage them in all ways to share the gospel with everyone that they know. It is something that I have been definitely trying hard to learn and do the best way. It is really amazing to see the growth in the relationship that we have seen grown with everyone here in Catania. I really love the members here and they are definitely really special to me. I really hope that I will be able to stay here at least another transfer. Only two transfers would be really fast here in Catania.

I can’t believe how fast summer has gone by, but we have been enjoying all that the summer has to offer here in Sicily. I really hope to continue to push myself over these next months and grow and learn all that the Lord needs me to learn. I know that this is just a moment here in the mission field, but I really want to do all I can to apply the lessons that I have learned from the successes the failures and all that I have had the opportunity to experience here on the mission. I know that there is so much to do and give to the Lord. I am thankful for his guidance and his help that he is so willingly and so freely offers us. I loved this scripture that I came across this morning.

29 Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked–

30 And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.

I really loved this because my mind was drawn to the fact of the Lord leading Lehi and his family through the wilderness and guiding them on the course they needed to be on to experience the things that they needed to experience and learn all they needed to learn through that.

I know that the scriptures will offer us the correct courses in life.

That doesn’t mean that it will be easy. Living the gospel isn’t always the easiest thing. Sometimes it is much harder and takes much more commitment than other paths in life. I know that it was probably pretty lonely also for Jesus Christ at times during his ministry. I love the words he offers of the reality of what he experienced during his mortal ministry.

Luke 9

58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

I know that isn’t always the easiest but I promise it is the path for each one of us and the path that we have to walk to matter the troubles and the difficulties. I know that he has given us the instruments necessary and the help that we all need in order to make it there on the right hand of God. I love you all and thank you for all your support and the love that you offer all us missionaries.

Love,

Anziano Garrett

[We received an email from Daniela B. in Boston, forwarding some pictures from her sister-in-law in Catania, taken on Sunday at church.  She also sent word that Taylor will be staying in Catania for this next transfer but switching companions to serve with Anziano Nielsen as one of the zone leaders there.  He’ll even get to stay in the same house!  Thanks to both Sister Battezzatos for the pics.  Very thoughtful of them and much appreciated.]

Anziano Albello and me with the Battezzato family at church on Sunday in Catania.

Anziano Albello and me with the Battezzato family at church on Sunday in Catania.

Filed Under: Assignments, Catania, Missionary Work, Transfers Tagged With: , ,

Catania – Week 10

August 8, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Ciao tutti!

Everything went really well this week and we were really busy with everything that we had going on! I had the opportunity to go on a scambio last Monday evening with the assistants and I went with Anziano Kelly and it went super well. We had our investigator show up and we gave him a church tour as we waited for the member to come to the lesson with us. It was a super spiritual lesson that went super well with the member that was able to come along with us. He has a really awesome conversion story on how he met the missionaries and was baptized within a week. It was really special to hear him share that story and it invited the spirit and helped our investigator feel really comfortable. He is really special and has a special heart that is willing and open to learn and grow. We hope that he will continue to progress and really find that conviction within himself. He asked really good questions on how can he have faith to pray and we were able to explain to him that simply offering a prayer is an act of faith as he shows that he is doing something to draw closer to the truth. Hope that all goes well with him! It was really awesome to to able to learn from other missionaries and I was able to learn a lot from Anziano Kelly. Anziano Albello and Anzino Toronto went finding in the park and were able to find a lot of people that were ready to listen to us and hopefully these appointments will stick through today.

We were able to have an awesome Zone Conference that was really uplifting and we were able to have a big discussion on the doctrine of repentance and change. It was super cool and I really look forward to continue to share scriptures on this doctrine with those meet to help them understand and feel what the Savior has done for them. I am thankful that we have the opportunity to be able to preach repentance to others in a different way than we may initially think that means. Repentance is change and simply by changing our nature through the Atonement we are repenting. We repent when we turn away from the things that distance us from God and initiate doing those things that do. I love this definition from the Bible Dictionary on repentance:

The Greek word of which this is the translation denotes a change of mind, a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world.

Since we are born into conditions of mortality, repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined. Without this there can be no progress in the things of the soul’s salvation, for all accountable persons are stained by sin and must be cleansed in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Repentance is not optional for salvation; it is a commandment of God (D&C 18:9–22; 20:29; 133:16). The preaching of repentance by John the Baptist formed the preparation for the ministry of our Lord.

I think that is so cool that is simply change. Change that is only possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ though. It is something that is more than changing habits and behavior but truly changing our nature. I know that these changes are possible thanks to the reality and understanding that Christ suffered already for each one of us personally so that we may be clean from our sins and mistakes. I am thankful truly for that knowledge.

We were able to have a lot of great conversations with others this week and were able to invite others to meet with us, and we really hope that we can continue to make a difference in the lives of others as much as we can. I am thankful for the fact that God continues to offer the opportunity to others mercifully and lovingly to hear this message and find for themselves whether it be true or not. I know that there is nothing to lose in having missionaries over to do a little experiment you could say to see if what we share is true. It is a decision that absolutely changes lives for the better. I know that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ makes bad people good, and good people better.

We saw some other cool miracles searching for members that we haven’t seen at church for a while and were able to find 2 new investigators through knocking on one door and then were able to get a return appointment for the daughter of a former member that has passed away. We hope that we can continue to see success in searching all these people out!

There was a funeral that was held in the church this past week for a member that passed away and we are really hoping that the family will continue to do well and we were so happy that we were able to help out in any little way that we could with ushering people in and out. It was a privilege to be able to help the as they go through a sad moment in their life right now. I am thankful though for the reality of Heavenly Father’s perfect plan of salvation that truly lets us know that it isn’t over. There is no such thing as the end, because of him.

Just as it says in the Book of Mormon.

8 And now, behold, I will testify unto you of myself that these things are true. Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

9 For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.

10 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.

The Atonement is real and it was done out of pure love, or charity, for each and everyone of us. We can apply it everyday in our lives and know that it is thanks to this that we have the chance to live again.

That we can live with our family for eternity. I am so thankful for that knowledge.

We were able to also do a Geso yesterday in Centro that went really well! We did it on family history and it was super cool to be able to talk and share about why we do family history and the importance of knowing where we come from and the story of our family. I hope that others were touched by those conversations and will commence to call us to do free searches on their family lines. This week we have transfer calls! I don’t have a clue what is going to happen but I think that I am staying. It would be awesome to get to Napoli at some point before I finish up, but we will see what the Lord has in store for me! You all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Taylor

Catania Zone, August, 2016

Catania Zone, August, 2016

Catania Zone soccer, August, 2016 (photo courtesy of Anziano Blaise's blog)

Catania Zone soccer, August, 2016 (photo courtesy of Anziano Blaise’s blog)

Filed Under: Assignments, Catania, Exchanges, Missionary Work, Transfers Tagged With: , ,

Catania – Week 9

August 1, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Ciao tutti!

I hope that everyone has had an excellent week and that you are all continuing to love the summer! It is definitely hot and humid here and we haven’t seen rain in over 2 months if I am not mistaken, but I am fine with that since it would make it even more humid. There has been no shortage of sweat that is for sure. We are really loving it though!

We were able to see some really cool miracles this week and are still working at trying to blow up our work right now. We were able to go and travel to see our investigator that lives a little outside of Catania. He is so sick [missionary-speak for awesome] and has been doing well in reading the Book of Mormon and really enjoys meeting with us and learning more and more.

He shows such a big faith and has a big desire to find the truth and follow the will of the Lord. He works every Sunday and work is something that is hard to find here in Italy right now so we are trying to figure out how to go about this and how we can help him have the faith that the Lord will help him make it to church. I think that we will teach him about fasting and prayer and that he will be able to receive more and more guidance on what to do. He is doing super well though and we had a really special lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the simplicity of the doctrine contained within. Faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and enduring to the end. It is such a simple plan that allows us to receive so many wonderful blessings in this life and the blessings that we can receive percent after this life if we do all we can to live worthy to receive them here.

We had another cool miracle when we were finding the other day! We were sitting in the park for a minute and I was trying to find something in the scriptures. This lady then came up to us and asked us if we were Mormon. She had met with the sisters about 2 years ago and then after transfers she must have gotten lost sort of and she was happy to be able to find us again. It was really cool and special that we were able to have a lesson with her and set up a return appointment. Another one was that we missed the bus we were running to get and did finding in the park next to it while we were waiting for the other one and the first people we stopped about English course ended up asking questions about who we were. It was cool and when I asked if they would want to meet up sometime one of the guys was super excited. He has a sick beard and is a really cool guy. We have a lesson with them this evening and he is bringing two friends as well!

We are enjoying Catania for sure and are loving all the members and the work that we have going on. I hope that we will continue to see these wonderful miracles as well! Tonight we get to go on scambio with the Zone Leaders which will be a wonderful opportunity to get to see these two awesome missionaries work! I am definitely excited for it!

We will have zone conference tomorrow which will be really good! Hope that you are all doing well and enjoying life. There is a scripture that I would like to share that is from Alma 38 where the prophet Alma is teaching to his son Shiblon and sharing with him his conversion story. He says.

8 And it came to pass that I was three days and three nights in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul.

9 And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness.

I love those verses and the testimony he shares of the reality of what happened to him. I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and will cleanse and purify each one of us as we turn to him and do all we can to obey his gospel. I love my older brother Jesus Christ and all that he has done because it is truly only through him that we can receive salvation. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Garrett

[This photo is courtesy of Sister Daniela Battezzato, whose daughter, Stefania (center in blue dress) returned from the mission two months ago.  She and Taylor both served in the Rome East Zone when Taylor was a greenie]

 

Sorella Battezzato (center) returned to Italy to visit family in Catania and this is a picture of her with our district at church on 7/31/16.

Sorella Battezzato (center) returned to Italy to visit family in Catania and this is a picture of her with our district at church on 7/31/16.

Filed Under: Assignments, Catania Tagged With: ,

Catania – Week 8

July 25, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Ciao tutti!

Hope that everyone has had a great week! This week has been really good for sure and we really enjoyed it. We are still on the search for a lot of work right now, but we were able to go and see our really awesome investigator that has been reading the Book of Mormon. He was really impressed with the way that the Book of Mormon is so similar to the bible. It was really cool to get to meet with him again. It was really amazing to explain to him the plan of salvation and he had looked ahead at the pamphlet so he was able to understand really easy all that this plan that our Heavenly Father has prepared for us. We were also able to have a really special meeting with the family of the sisters’ investigator where the spirit was really manifested strongly in that meeting. Another awesome miracle that we were able to see was the effect and results of that lesson to the less active family that I shared last week while we were in the trio. The son of the family met the Anziani earlier in the week and he said that his dad wanted the Anziani to come back to their house again. He wanted to meet with us but not only that he said that the whole family was going to come to church! Yesterday the whole family was there! It was super awesome and was so good to see how the spirit really touched and changed his heart. We are really enjoying Catania and the increase of missionaries here will really help this ward continue to be excited about missionary work. We are excited to see in what ways we can help them and do our best to serve them in any way possible. We are doing our best to try to find people that are ready to listen to our message and act on the invites to see if it is true or not. That is something that is so nice about our message is that there is no middle ground to it.

It is either completely true or it is not. I know that God can confirm to each one of us that it is true. I know that the scriptures are ways for us to know the truth and especially reading, pondering, and praying about the Book of Mormon. At the beginning of the Book of Mormon there is a story of Lehi, this father and prophet, that is leading his family into the wilderness and they have a type of compass that works by faith for God to instruct them on where to journey to. I was reading how Alma, another Book of Mormon prophet, later counsels his son using this story as an analogy to the scriptures. He states

38 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the thing which our fathers call a ball, or director–or our fathers called it Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lord prepared it.

39 And behold, there cannot any man work after the manner of so curious a workmanship. And behold, it was prepared to show unto our fathers the course which they should travel in the wilderness.

40 And it did work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.

41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey;

42 Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions.

43 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a shadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual.

44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

45 And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.

46 O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.

47 And now, my son, see that ye take care of these sacred things, yea, see that ye look to God and live. Go unto this people and declare the word, and be sober. My son, farewell.

I love this profound teaching that shows that if we look to the scriptures we may live forever. It truly will lead us down the paths of life and help us become who God wants us to become. I know that if we take heed, study, and treasure up the word of God we will truly be lead “into a far better land of promise” after this life. I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week!

Anziano Garrett

Anziano Goode taking Catania District selfie

Anziano Goode taking Catania District selfie

At church with Anziano Albello and Sorella Bellomo.

At church with Anziano Albello and Sorella Bellomo.

4 of the 6 missionaries working in Catania before the last transfers. There are 8 now.

4 of the 6 missionaries working in Catania before the last transfers. There are 8 now.

Housemates in Catania

Housemates in Catania

Catania District baptism

Catania District baptism

Anziano Goode's district selfie

Anziano Goode’s district selfie

Catania District before the last transfers

Catania District before the last transfers

Anziano Goode

Anziano Goode

Saying goodbye to Anziano Goode. He's off to home.

Saying goodbye to Anziano Goode. He’s off to home.

District meal!

District meal!

Filed Under: Assignments, Baptisms, Catania, Missionary Work Tagged With: , , ,

Catania – Week 7

July 18, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Ciao tutti!

I hope that everyone was able to have an awesome and amazing week this week! This week went by really well for us and we were able to accomplish a lot while we were in the trio this week. We had some really good and powerful lessons throughout the week and it was a super good experience to be able to teach and testify with three of us and bear solemn witness of the things that we were teaching. I am thankful for the opportunity that we had and I was able to learn a lot which I love doing from other missionaries. It helps you really be able to see how you can improve and in what way you can do better. I am so thankful for that.

We had a lesson that sticks out to me in particular this week to a less active family. It was really cool and there was a really special spirit there as we taught them about how the Book of Mormon is written for us in our day. It was lesson that was based right out of the Book of Mormon accompanied with strong and powerful testimony on the divinity of the Book of Mormon. I know that it is is true and we were able to bear witness on the truthfulness of it and the blessings that come from living the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that we all felt the spirit in the that lesson and I know that that they did as well, but it is up to them to accept it for what it is and understand that is what they were feeling. That is all that we can do as missionaries is present the message and allow the Holy Ghost to teach and bear that witness to them that it is true. I am thankful for that and knowing that we don’t have to get this knowledge from anyone else but the Holy Ghost and that is Heavenly Fathers way of allowing us to know of spiritual truths. Those feelings we get, the burning feeling, the pressing upon our minds, sudden strokes of ideas, etc. comes from the spirit and allows us to know what is the truth.

Transfers days have come and gone once again and everyone here has survived from them! so it was a little different this time because Anziano Berger had to travel all the way up to Rome in order to go to a Missionary Leadership Council. So he had to endure the entire travel up there even though he was staying here in Catania for the transfer.

So since the zone leaders have the car here in Catania I was given the opportunity to drive it in order to help out with the transfer day. It had been a whole year and half since I have sat on the driver’s side of a car so it was so weird. Driving here is so different in Italy and is a lot more hectic. This is also one of the craziest cities in the whole mission to drive in probably all of Italy honestly. It is pretty nuts for sure. It was cool and we were able to get everything where it needed to go and transfer day was a good success.

So Friday evening we went and visited a member that lives a little outside of Catania and we were able to go and share a message with them. on the way out on the bus that we took we saw that some man was obviously burning his orchard of olive trees. It was pretty interesting and the fire was pretty big. So we visited the family and shared our spiritual thought with them and then headed back outside of the neighborhood in order to take the bus back into Catania. We were waiting there for a while and the smoke got really bad so we decided to walk down to the end of the route at the next stop where the bus turns around and heads back into town. We waited and waited and the bus never came. We decided to walk back to the other stop hoping that maybe the members could give us a ride back into town. We then realized and saw that the fire had gotten out of hand and had hit the tree line along side of the road. It was dangerous for the cars to pass even though they were just doing it so we didn’t know when the bus was going to come or be able to make it through. We called some other members and they were going to come and get us, and then they finally were able to put out the fire and we got through on the bus that came shortly after. it was pretty nuts hahaha. I guess that must be something that people are doing right now because yesterday over that side of town from the station you could just see smoke raising up into the sky all over the place.

We had a super amazing miracle this week! We received a phone call during weekly planning and it was this guy that wanted a Book of Mormon from us and so we were free Saturday and were able to grab a train to go and see him after picking up people from the airport. We went past the stop that he was waiting at since the door didn’t open for us. We got off at the next one and it in my head I was thinking with the little time he had that he said that he had that we wouldn’t be able to do the lesson. We called him and he said that he called his friend to give him a ride. So he showed up to the station and we walked back into town which took about 10 minutes and were able to have a lesson with him. He is our age and he is so awesome! He is honestly prepared to here about he gospel  and believes that the truth can be found out there somewhere. I was so thankful and grateful to have met him and that we had the opportunity to teach him the restoration. he is so cool and was really excited to be able to receive the Book of Mormon.

It was really special and we really look forward to seeing where it all goes!

Another miracle was that the lady that called me the other week came to church! She has been living in Italy for 15 years and hadn’t been able to find the church until she called the number that she found on the Internet. It was so awesome! She was so excited to be back and she brought her husband as well. I was privileged to sit next to her in sacrament meeting and she was able to partake of it and renew her baptismal covenants that she has made for the first time in 15 years.

It was so very cool! She was definitely blessed with a wonderful day to return where we had an amazing sacrament meeting with wonderful talks that were given. It was super cool and super special for us. Her husband isn’t a member and he really seemed to enjoy church and hopefully their son, about our age, will be able to come next week. It was so very special and we were able to enjoy it with them.

I am so very thankful for the power of prayer and that Heavenly Father has blessed us with divine communication that we can have with him. We can truly be able to receive so much help and blessings from on high as we pray to our Father in Heaven. He wants to hear from us indivually and is ready to give us the blessings that he wants to give us and is ready to do so. We have to ask of course according to his will. I love this scripture that is found in the Book of Mormon when Jesus Christ is teaching the people how to pray and what can be accomplished through prayer.

19 Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name;

20 And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.

We are always to pray to Father in the name of Jesus Christ and we will be able to receive all that which is right that we ask of him. I know that the responses and answers don’t always come in the time that we think or in the necessary way, but I know that they come to all. I know that he is listening to us and is ready to respond. I know that we have a Father who is so willing to bless us with the highest of all blessings as we call upon him. I know he wants to give us these wonderful things. Jesus Christ teaches on the sermon on the mount in Matthew 7 about prayer.

7 ¶Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

I know that this is true and that he can give us all that we need. I am thankful again for prayer and know that it is something that we can always work on to be more sincere and genuine with our prayers. I want to invite you all to look for ways that you can improve your prayer and be willing to ask Heavenly Father for these recommendations to improve and he will help us pray with more power. I am thankful for all the prayers that you guys have been giving me and all he missionaries in the world. We really appreciate it a lot! I love you all and hope that you have an excellent week!

Con tanto amore,

Anziano Garrett

Filed Under: Assignments, Catania, Missionary Work, Transfers Tagged With:

Catania – Week 6

July 11, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Ehi tutti!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful week back home and that you are all enjoying your summer!

This week went by super fast and we were able to have a lot of really cool moments this week where we were able to teach some sweet lessons! One of the really cool miracles for me this week was while we were doing some less active finding in a part of town that we hadn’t been to and we were searching for two families that a member had mentioned we could go and check out. We went in search of this house and it ended up being really strange. The number that we had of the address was 123 and we were on the right street, but we made it further down and noticed a problem.

We got to 121 on the corner and then the very next house was 125. It was really weird and seeing as I forgot what spell we were supposed to cast to get into Sirius Black’s house we had to resort to asking people where the heck this house and family lived haha. They unfortunately didn’t know either so seeing that it was kind of late we moved on to go the next family’s house. We ended up finding the daughter of a less active and she is not a member. She and her husband were home and we were able to come in and share the Restoration with them. They agreed that they would read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if was true. It was really awesome and they have two kids! One that is 9 and the other is 2. We really hope to get back over there this week and see what we can do to help them out even more. It was a really special miracle and I really pray that their hearts will be open and they will be willing to just try their best to search for the answers.

We were doing finding in the park here in Catania the other day searching for some people and we had 3 lessons that morning with people that we were meeting on the bench and it was going really well.

The last lesson we had ended up being one of the better ones where they were into what we were saying and it was the last one that we had before going home for lunch. We are doing our best to search for as many people that want to act on the message to just find out if it is true or not. It a was amazing to see at the end of the week on Friday we were able to have two baptisms one from each of the companionships. These girls are super awesome and they were so happy to be baptized.

It was really special to see and I am so very thankful that we were able to be there to witness it. They have really grown spiritually and were so happy to make these covenants with Heavenly Father. I was able to confirm one of them on church Sunday which was the first time that I confirmed the gift of the Holy Ghost to someone. It was a special opportunity for sure.

Anziano Goode went home Saturday and we sent him off nice and safely up to Rome. It was a pleasure to work alongside him and I was able to learn a lot from him over the past few weeks. He trained Anzinao LaPray in Trapani so we would often chat about Trapani and all the great and wonderful people there. I do have a friend that decided to go on his mission again from Trapani and I am so excited for him! He will leave this September I found out today! Super cool!

After that we went and did service at an English Group member’s house and we primed the tile on his porch. We then ate pranzo with him and I have never eaten 3 arancini [stuffed rice balls which are coated with bread crumbs and then deep fried. They are usually filled with ragù (meat and tomato sauce), mozzarella, and peas.] in one sitting with 2 mini pizzas, fruit, and gelato to top it off. It was super fun and great to be able to do that service for him. We were also able to share the restoration with him and his wife. It was super special and they were so very nice to us. Hope all goes well with them as well!

We have been in a trio ever since Saturday and it is going really well. We are doing a good job at trying to stay as busy as possible and we hope that we will be able to continue to be as effective as possible until transfer day. We are all staying the same and Anziano Berger will be getting Anziano Neilson who served with Anziano Rasband in Sardegna. I am excited to talk to him some more and he likes to run so we will all be going running in the park here in town. Been able to pretty much run everyday lately and I was able to go for a nice 6 mile run the other day. It definitely feels good to be able to run. I am excited to stay with Anziano Albello and we hope to continue to be able to do all we can to find as many people to teach and work side by side with all the members. We will be getting 2 new Sorelle in the city so we will have 8 missionaries in the ward. That is a ton! It’s the most I have ever heard of in one ward so we really hope that we will see a lot of great things this summer as we help as many people by inviting them to come unto Christ.  [Note:  Several other missionaries have reported that this transfer is affecting 72 out of the 75 companionships in the mission, so it looks like only the two anziani still in the middle of training new missionaries, including Taylor, and the two assistants aren’t changing this transfer!]

We have been studying a lot about repentance, change, and coming unto Christ as a mission. I enjoyed this scripture from the part in the Book of Mormon when Alma and the sons of Mosiah are converted. They are going around destroying the church and bringing people away form the truth. An angel appears to them and commands them to stop. Alma falls and loses all his strength. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Assignments, Baptisms, Catania, Food, Italy, Missionary Work, Transfers Tagged With: , , , ,
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