Ciao Tutti!
I hope everyone had a wonderful week! We had to email in a cafe today because the Internet is out at the church. Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season back home! It is different here for sure. They have a festa tomorrow so a lot of the shops will be closed because that is the day that they put out their Christmas tree. It’s from the tradition that the Angel Gabriel visited Mary to announce that she would bear Jesus Christ. So tomorrow hopefully will be a good time for finding for us.
This week we were able to see 2 of our investigators and they have been reading in the Book of Mormon which is great. We want to help them progress and really be excited about how much blessings are in store for us as we embrace the gospel. I really know that with the gospel we will be able to have the most joy and happiness not only in this life, but in the life to come.
We were able to have some other really good lessons with some less actives as well as members. It is so nice and amazing to be able to follow promptings on spiritual thoughts and see that it was fit and really needed by the people that we share it with. I am thankful for the people I have the opportunity to know here and the friendships I have made with them. I hope that I will continue to get to meet amazing people and helping them to the best of my abilities.
We got our transfer calls this past Saturday and I will be staying here in Tràpani and Anziano LaPray will be heading up to Terni. It has been awesome to be able to work with him and I am thankful for all that I learned from him. He has showed wonderful examples of love, charity, awareness, and boldness. He is an awesome missionary and he speaks really awesome Italian. He is going to do amazing things. I look forward to being able to see him again later down the road in the mission. My new companion is going to be Anziano Spencer and he is coming down from Terni. We are just switching companions hahaha. It will be awesome though. Anziano Spencer is awesome and this will be his second city. Excited to start work with him Thursday!
It is crazy that I hit my 9 month mark last week. It is crazy. It worries me because I feel as if I have so much more to learn. I really want to do all that the Lord has sent me here to do and trust that as I do my best he will be pleased with all that I do. That is the way of life. We are sent here to grow and progress. We are either moving forward or backwards. No standing still. I like this verse in Alma 12 when Amulek talks about what this life is.
24 And we see that death comes upon mankind, yea, the death which has been spoken of by Amulek, which is the temporal death; nevertheless there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead.
I love that he says it is a time to prepare to meet God. We all have the same end. We will all die but this life and what we do with everything and all the opportunities we are given are so important. I am thankful for this time to be able to prove ourselves and be able to live according to God’s commandments and laws. He has given us these to help us be as happy as he knows we can be.
I am so thankful for this season to reflect on the reason we have all these blessings that are given by our loving Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for his infinite and incomprehensible love he has for every one of us as mankind but also individually and personally. No one is loved more the the next person. Because he loves all of us he gave us his only begotten son.
John 3
16 ¶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I love my Heavenly Father for giving us our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. I love the invite that Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave this Christmas season.
“I think that is a lovely metaphor–just sit with the Lord and let Him warm you like a fire in winter. You don’t have to be perfect or the greatest person who ever graced the earth or the best of anything to be with Him.
“I hope you will take time this Christmas season to sit for a few quiet moments and let the Savior’s Spirit warm you and reassure you of the worthiness of your service, of your offering, of your life. Sit quietly with that little baby and come away spiritually strengthened and better prepared for all that is going to come later. Let that moment be one of rest and refreshing and reassurance and renewal.”
I would invite you to do the same and also to check out christmas.mormon.org and see all the great things that they have on the site. I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week this week.
Love,
Anziano Garrett
Our Christmas tree
Setting up our tree
Putting the finishing touches on our tree
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