Ciao tutti!
I hope that everyone had a great week and that everything is going well wherever you find yourselves! This week went really well and flew by too! Monday we were able to have a couple of lessons with people and one which was just spontaneous, but ended up being really cool. It is super neat to see how when we have these unexpected opportunities the spirit really guides us to know what we need to share and it’s been really cool to see that this past week. The lesson with our one really sick [awesome] investigator went really well and it is awesome to see that he doesn’t try to find criticism whatsoever in the messages any more, but he just adds things that go right along with the message. It is super cool to see his progress even if it is slow sometimes. I will definitely miss him a ton.
Tuesday we were able to have DDM [district meeting] in the morning, which ended at 11:45 and we had to catch a bus at 11:50. We made it to the bus station and bought our tickets, but we ended up missing the bus. We asked one of the workers for the bus line where the next closest stop was so we could go and catch it. He said there wasn’t one and so we took off running after the bus and we ended up making it! Then 2 minutes later there was a stop that we could have easily made it too hahaha. We had a good visit with a less active person and were able to share a talk with him by President Uchtdorf entitled, “You Matter to Him.” It was a great visit and he is such a funny guy. He is really lonely so he really loves the comapany that we give him as well when we are over there. One of the few people that I have met here that really understands sarcasm hahaha. We then almost missed the bus that was supposed to head back into town as well, thank goodness we were blessed with another miracle. We had English groups that night and then we had a meal appointment with a member where we were also able to bring our sick investigator to. He is so cool and is awesome to see how integrated he already is into the ward and how polite and kind he is. He is so cool. We were able to have a good dinner with a good spiritual thought as well.
Wednesday we got on the train and headed down to Messina and then to Mistretta. Before we got on the train we did notice a sign that said something about a strike so we were a little worried, but it said our train was coming and we ended up being fine. We got down to the right station and then we were able to catch a ferry over to Messina. Once we got there we walked to the train station and then we were trying to find out where our train would be and this guy comes around the corner and starts speaking perfect English with an accent to us. Of course we were at the train stations so someone came up asking information about trains since they think we look like workers hahaha. It is good for service!! He explained how the train may get cancelled because of the strike so we needed to ask about what was going on. Well he commented on us in what rubbed us the wrong way and walked off. We went over near him and he started talking again and then we were able to get a good conversation going. He is half Italian and French, teaches at a university in the DC area, has 4 doctorate degrees, studied at Yale, speaks 4 fluent languages and has studied some others, and was just such a smart guy!! It ended up being a super cool miracle though since we were able to talk to him the whole ride down. We were able to have some really good things in there and he accepted the mini Book of Mormon that I had. We wrote our testimonies in it and gave it to him. It was super cool to see that we were supposed to go down there for even just a miracle like that. We were able to have some really good appointments up in Mistretta as well. It was really cool to see some of the work and the people that Anzinao Nessen had worked with and the love that you can see and feel between all of them. There was a family in particular that was super fun to meet, and it was so great to really see the love they have for the missionaries and the great faith that they all have. It felt super good to be in Sicilia again and was a lot of fun/productive trip!
Thursday the permesso was easy to pick up and took 5 minutes and then we were headed to the train station to head back home to Cosenza. We were able to have a good and safe trip home and were able to grab some cannoli for some friends in Cosenza as well. It was good to talk to some people on the train to and have a lot of fun conversations. We finished up the night seeing our investigator just on the street and giving him his coveted cannolo.
Friday we were able to see a new convert family that was a lot of fun to go and visit and they are just such an awesome family! The littlest kid may have had the measles so we felt super bad for him. It was a good visit and we were able to talk them about the priesthood and the power and responsibility we have been blessed with the opportunity to hold for the blessings of others. We had a good meal appointment with some members and were able to give a good spiritual thought and taught them how to make grilled cheese as well!
Saturday we made our way up to a town called Saracena to visit with two member families that don’t get many visits at all. It was good to go and see them and get to know them better. We had a good time up there and also had the chance to buy some American candy which Anzinao Nessen ate like all of his in 5 minutes on the way up to Saracena. We also saw a miracle in Castrovillari with a less active member. The sisters had been there 2 days before and we were able to see this less active in the city and it ended up being a really cool experience. Before we knew all this we knocked on another less active door and this lady answered trying to explain that missionaries had just been there, but I knew we hadn’t been there in at least 4 or 5 months so it was funny to connect it all when we figured out the sisters had just been there. Sorella Roberts in Crotone knew this less active since her brother 18 years ago baptized her and her daughter. So it was a pretty cool miracle for sure.
Sunday was a nice day and we were able to have an awesome time in church. It was fast and testimony meeting since the branch has a lot of conferences coming up and what not. We had two American tourists in town and they enjoyed the service, then it was cool to see that our investigator stayed for all three hours this time and then spent pratctically his whole day helping these tourists out with getting to the right spots. It was really neat to see. We then finished up passing by a member that wasn’t feeling well at all and sharing a short message with her. It was an awesome week and we are excited for another one.
For transfers, I was surprised to find out that I am headed back down to Sicilia. I thought I was going to be staying, but I did have a feeling that it might be a little different. Well I will be headed back down Thursday to Catania and I am not sure who my new companion will be and I will meet him on the train going down because he is one of the new missionaries coming in next week. It will be a lot of fun to get to meet him and get to know him. I am little nervous not knowing the city or anything, but it will make for a lot of fun memories together and will be a ton of fun! It is crazy to be leaving Cosenza so soon and the time passed so fast! I have made a lot of good friends here though and I am excited to see what the future has in store!
I really enjoyed that talk from President Uchtdorf this past week and this is something that really stuck out to me.
We Are Less Than We Suppose
The more we learn about the universe, the more we understand–at least in a small part–what Moses knew. The universe is so large, mysterious, and glorious that it is incomprehensible to the human mind. “Worlds without number have I created,” God said to Moses. The wonders of the night sky are a beautiful testimony of that truth.
There are few things that have filled me with such breathless awe as flying in the black of night across oceans and continents and looking out my cockpit window upon the infinite glory of millions of stars.
Astronomers have attempted to count the number of stars in the universe. One group of scientists estimates that the number of stars within range of our telescopes is 10 times greater than all the grains of sand on the world’s beaches and deserts.
This conclusion has a striking similarity to the declaration of the ancient prophet Enoch: “Were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations.”
Given the vastness of God’s creations, it’s no wonder the great King Benjamin counseled his people to “always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness.”
We Are Greater Than We Suppose
But even though man is nothing, it fills me with wonder and awe to think that “the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.”
And while we may look at the vast expanse of the universe and say, “What is man in comparison to the glory of creation?” God Himself said we are the reason He created the universe! His work and glory–the purpose for this magnificent universe–is to save and exalt mankind. In other words, the vast expanse of eternity, the glories and mysteries of infinite space and time are all built for the benefit of ordinary mortals like you and me. Our Heavenly Father created the universe that we might reach our potential as His sons and daughters.
This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast. We have the incomprehensible promise of exaltation–worlds without end–within our grasp. And it is God’s great desire to help us reach it.
I really love this message to know that we are truly everything to Heavenly Father. That he works to help us do all we can do to obtain the blessings that he has laid out for each one of us. I know that he love you all as well. I am thankful for this knowledge of a loving Father in Heaven whose love is truly too big to understand.
I love you all and hope that you have an awesome week and I will talk to you all very soon!
Love,
Anziano Garrett
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