Roma 1 – Week 4

Ciao!

My first draft got deleted so I am trying again right now, so this might be shorter than the first one, unfortunately.

Last Tuesday we had a scambi [exchanges] and I went up north to Terni for the day and stayed the night up there one night.  We had two lessons on Tuesday and we taught this 8 year old, who is preparing to be baptized soon, and he just knew everything.  It was so awesome.  He was really educated and has a strong testimony.  I was happy to be able to teach him for sure.

We had another lesson that went well after that, but he talked a ton and so we had to go straight to English course.  It was a lot of fun and we taught the basic course about computers, but they knew so much that we just had a really complex conversation about technology.  It was a lot of fun and I had a blast on the scambi.

We did some finding the next day, Wednesday, and it’s crazy how many fewer people were walking the streets compared to Rome.  It was very different.

Thursday we had our service day with Silvestro and we did some really hard work in the garden.  It was hot, but we worked hard and were rewarded with trippa di Roma which is boiled cow stomach with red sauce over it.  It was super good.  We are still having trouble getting him to commit, so we shared with him the Because He Lives video and it was really nice and he really liked it.  We shared how living this Gospel can truly bless our lives and that we can all change through Christ.  We really can.  It was really fun and then we committed him to try to live the Gospel for a full 24 hours and then see if he felt and saw a difference in his life.  We tried to follow-up a little bit on the phone, but it didn’t work too well.  We will have to really follow-up the next time and ask how it went.  He knows these things are true, he just has to start committing to that change.

Friday we did some finding that night that went really well and we had some good conversations but only came away with one potential contact, but that is ok.  I have gotten better at stopping people, but I always can do better.  The Italian is coming along nicely. I want to keep improving upon it, though.  I am thankful to have a native Italian as my companion and need to do all I can to learn the language as best as I can with him.

Saturday we had a nice lesson in the morning with a man from Sri Lanka named Sandun.  We gave him a Book of Mormon in his own native language and did our best to explain it to him in English.  He doesn’t speak the best English but he can understand it some.

We got invited over by a family from Sri Lanka for lunch.  They aren’t too interested in changing their religion, but they are so so so nice and really love to serve people.  In their culture the guests eat first so we ate and talked to them.  It was a really good meal and a really good time getting to talk with them.  We shared Mosiah 2:17 [“And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”] with them and talked about the loving service that they offered, and they really did offer loving service.  They are really respectful of other people’s religions and it was super nice to get to share some time with them.  We see them a lot and they are always just happy.

We did some nice finding on the way to our church activity that night and got a really cool girl’s number that is atheist, but agreed that we could meet again.  She texted us later that night and then we ran into her earlier today too!  It was super cool and I am really excited to meet with her.  We had the church activity and had a few people from English course show up.  It was about South American culture and it was really fun.  We closed the night with some food then had to head back home.

We had a great Sunday yesterday and had a ton of visitors at church and we had one of our less actives come which was super sweet to see her there.  There was a talk given about the power of fasting and I have gained a bigger testimony of this recently and I know that fasting, accompanied with sincere and fervent prayer, is so powerful.  If any of you are struggling with something, need an answer, or want to fast for someone else I would invite you to do so.  I am thankful to have the monthly fast that we have as part of our church and I want to continue to grow my testimony of it.

We then had a really sweet fireside that I had to have Anziano Calvanga explain to me, but it was really interesting.  Before that, though, I got to Skype my family, which was so very nice.  I was really happy to see and talk to them and that hour flew by so fast hahaha.  It was really nice though.

We then went to Anziano Calvagna’s aunt’s house to Skype his family and that was a lot of fun for him.

Today we played zone soccer and it was a lot of fun, but my callouses aren’t as strong as they used to be and I have some of the biggest blisters.  Well one is huge on my right foot.  So the next few days won’t be the best thing to walk around, but oh well hahaha.

Something that I want to share that I read this week in the book of Mormon is Ether 5.  The chapter is really short but I really love how it prophesies of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the testimony of the three witness.  It is such a cool chapter and even though 2 of them were excommunicated from the Church they never denied what they saw and witnessed.  Then I love how you can put those scriptures in correlation with 2 Corinthians 13:1 [“This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”].  The Book of Mormon is built on those witnesses and then the Bible and the book of Mormon both witness that Jesus was the Christ.  I just really enjoyed that from my studies.

And I want to share a mormon message with you all that I invite you to watch.  It is a talk given by Jefferey R Holland and I think it is entitled a Testimony of the Book of Mormon.  It is so powerful.  Joseph Smith was a true prophet of god and you can know through reading the Book of Mormon and asking God if the things are true.  He restored Christ’s church on the earth today and I am thankful for all the things He did for us.

I love you all and look forward to hearing from you all soon!

Ciao!

Love,

Anziano Taylor Garrett

Zone Soccer, 5/11/15, Rome. Photo courtesy of Anziano Parker Scott’s blog.

Our team for zone soccer. Left to right: Anzianos Garner, Kennedy, Castillo, Lercer, Martin, and Garrett

Zone soccer match

The Vatican, which is in our assigned area

The Pantheon

The fountain at the Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps

The Rome skyline from our area

Bridge over the Tiber River (Fiume Tevere)

Pizza before scambi (exchanges) with the zone leaders

The Pantheon

Small lizard we found in our apartment

My favorite water fountain in Rome

Castillo di Angello

Dinner at someone’s house. Cow stomach (trippa di Roma). It was delicious.

Castillo di Angello

Canoli

Eating the canoli

Bridge over the Tiber River (Fiume Tevere)