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Catania – Week 8

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!

Catania – Week 5

Ciao tutti!

Hope that everyone is doing well! This week was really awesome! We had a good week trying to get our work rolling and find those solid investigators that are willing to act on the message that we are bringing. I really hope that we will be able to do our best to really find those that are willing to choose for themselves to come unto Christ through the invites that God wants them to do.

One really cool miracle that I saw this week was when we were park finding. I was having a rough morning and the families hat really looked so sweet turned us down pretty fast when we went up to them, but it was cool to see that the lord puts us through trials for a reason and the last guy we stopped before going back in for lunch was willing to listen to us and was willing to act. He is a very intelligent man and is a sincere guy. He was really happy to meet us and I am so glad that we had he chance to get to know him. He will be coming back to town this Thursday and we will hopefully be able to see him at the end of the week. We really think that he will be keeping to our invites and be willing to search to find the truth. He said intellectually these things don’t sound crazy at all and could be true, but it has to be something done within his heart. Such a great guy though and it strengthens my testimony to know that God gives us little obstacles for our own good and to test us to see if we will continue to do the things he asks when it may be hard or tough.

Last week President and Sorella Pickerd arrived to the mission field and went to 4 different conferences around the mission in 4 days to introduce themselves to everyone. It was super fun to get to meet the, and feel the great love that they have for each one of us. We are all definitely looking forward to working with them and doing all we can to work hard here together in Italy. [Read more…]

Catania – Week 3

Ciao tutti!

I hope that everyone has had a great week! This week has gone by pretty fast for us and we are really trying are best to find as much new work as we possibly can. We did a lot of finding this week and were able to have a good amount of lessons with people on benches and in the parks.

I am thankful for the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the opportunity that we have to bring this beautiful news to the world. It truly is an amazing and unique thing that we are offering people to come and find out if it is true. We are really trying to work at finding the elect of God here and find those that are truly ready to receive us and will listen with the intent to know and find the truth that we bring forth.

So we recovered well from last Sunday’s nice run and then the next day at zone soccer my callus decided to rip off on one foot and then a nice big blister formed on the other. It wasn’t too bad at all thank goodness though. It was a good time being with the zone and then doing a blitz with park finding and an English group Geso afterwards. It was a lot of fun and we are really hoping to see more people come to English group these next couple of weeks. So then we had to have 17 Anziani stay at the house the night before our specialized training.

It was a packed house for sure and I am thankful that we had enough mattresses for everyone. It was packed hahaha. The specialized training went really well though! It was really bittersweet though because that was the last time that we were able to see Presdient and Sorella Waddoups here in Italy. It was a really special and good conference and I am so thankful for the opportunity that I had to get to know them and love them over this past year. I am so thankful for all the work that they did here for the people of Italy and also for us. It is really awesome to see all of the miracles they have witnessed and  the love they show everyone and especially all the missionaries.

I saw two really big miracles this week that were really awesome. The first was when I was on scambio with Anziano Goode and we did some park finding and we saw these two ragazzi [boys] sitting on this bench and they were smoking and we didn’t really know how it was going to go. We were able to share the whole restoration with them and they were really pumped to learn and know more. We set a return appointment for two days later. I was a little nervous because they weren’t there on time and I called three times and they said they were coming. They finally showed up an hour late and it was cool to hear that they took that much time to come to the park to learn more. We started off the lesson with a prayer and one of them offered it and it was almost just right. It was super special and very heartfelt. They are cousins and one of them commented on how that was better than the one they offered the other night. That was super cool  and the lesson on the plan of salvation went really well  and they are excited to read the Book of Mormon. The other miracle that I saw was on the way to the church. I started talking to this guy and he opened up with me. We ended up sharing a video and testified of the love of the Savior and how he is always here for us. I am thankful for that knowledge. He then said that he wanted to try to make it out to church. Saw him again a couple days later and he said that he would see us Sunday when he came. Well Sunday morning I was really expecting him and he didn’t show up until like 40 minutes into sacrament meeting he came! It was super cool  and I really hope that he will be open to start meeting with us and coming to church more.

Yesterday was Father’s Day and I am so thankful for fathers everywhere. The divine role of fathers is so important and it is a calling that we are never released from. Lately I have been able to see how the characteristics of our parents here on the earth correlate with the feelings that our heavenly parents have for us. I am thankful for the undying love that they have for us and always trying to provide what is best for each of us. I am thankful for my dad and his example for me that has truly changed my life, his love, support, kindness, humor, unselfishness, charity, and so many other qualities and attributes that I have been able to learn from him. He has truly done so much for me and I am thankful that we have a day to recognize all that they do for us as well. Elder D. Todd Christofferson talked about Fathers this past General Conference. I love this quote.

Perhaps the most essential of a father’s work is to turn the hearts of his children to their Heavenly Father. If by his example as well as his words a father can demonstrate what fidelity to God looks like in day-to-day living, that father will have given his children the key to peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come. A father who reads scripture to and with his children acquaints them with the voice of the Lord.

My dad has truly done that for me and aided me in finding my love and testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I will never forget the example that he has set and continues to set for me and for others.

Examples are powerful. I know that we can teach the gospel at all times and then when necessary use words. I am so very grateful for that. I love my dad so much and am thankful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with such amazing parents. My mom and dad truly rock. Well I hope that you all had a wonderful Father’s Day. I would invite you to check out that talk as well as this awesome video.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/fathers?cid=HP_TU_7-6-2016_dPFD_fGC_xLIDyL1-A_&lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-01-002-earthly-father-heavenly-father?lang=eng

Love you all and talk to you next week!

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Garrett

[Here are some pictures from the Catania Zone specialized training, posted by Sister Waddoups]

Catania Zone, June, 2016

Catania Zone, June, 2016

Catania Specialized Training, June, 2016

Catania Specialized Training, June, 2016

Catania Specialized Training, June, 2016

Catania Specialized Training, June, 2016

Catania Specialized Training, June, 2016

Catania Specialized Training, June, 2016

Catania Specialized Training, June, 2016

Catania Specialized Training, June, 2016

Catania Specialized Training, June, 2016

Catania Specialized Training, June, 2016

Pres. and Sister Waddoups, last meeting with them.

Pres. and Sister Waddoups, last meeting with them.

Our goodbye note to the Waddoups, who leave for home on June 29th.

Our goodbye note to the Waddoups, who leave for home on June 29th.

Catania – Week 1

Ciao Tutti!!

So this week went by super fast! We had a nice busy week, full of fun things going on over here! Monday, Tuesday, and Wedneday I was able to have a lot of lessons with people while saying goodbye to less actives, investigators, and members. It went really well and we were able to have a lot of spiritual lessons with people. I was pretty shocked for sure about recieving my transfer call so I had to say bye to a lot of people really fast. It was really nice though and I am thankful for the things that I learned in Cosenza and for what the experiences that I learned there really helped me to gain things that I needed and helped me grow more into who I need to continue to work on becoming.

I definitely made a lot of amazing friends over there in Cosenza.

So Thursday was the day of transfers and it was a pretty hectic day.  We got down to the station and everything with the help of some ward members that gave us a ride to the train station so that we didn’t have to walk. It was really nice and super awesome of them to do that.

We had to wait in the train station at Paola for a little bit and then my train came. So I knew that my greenie was going to be on the train and I happened to get a picture from my Grandpa [from Sister Waddoups’ blog] of the two new missionaries that had just come in. So I thought they knew I was going to be joining them on the train there. I get on to a cart, but I was supposed to be on cart number 5. Thinking that logically it would make sense that the first one started at the front, I made my way backwards on the train trying to get to number 5. I have three giant overweight bags with me as well. I remember that Presdient Waddoups asked me on my first transfer day if I have ever heard about preaching without purse and script but it seems that lesson has still not settled in for me quite yet. I made my way all the way to where I think 5 should be and I am squeezing past people. Well there comes a point when I can’t go any further and I run into a group of people that tell me I am now at number 2 and happened to actually get on the right one the first time.  But I hadn’t seen any missionaries there at all. So at the next stop I get off the train and race back up the platform with the help of the Crotone missionaries and the senior couple and manage to get on the train just fine, but still haven’t found anyone. I left my bags with a nice lady in my assigned box on the train and ventured off in search of my greenie. Finally managed to find 2 missionaries on the front of the train that were headed to Palermo, but that meant that the front part of that train would split off once we got down to Messina. So then I finally got the information (after a ton of time) that they were sitting in first class which happend to be the very last cart of the train. So needless to say I was finally able to find them and meet my companion who is Anziano Albello.

Anziano Albello is from the Philippines and is a super awesome guy!  He is a little quiet, but he is super cool!! He really has so many amazing Christlike qualities that I have been able to learn so much from all ready! I don’t know why he went to the MTC in Provo, because he lived in Milan for 6 years and then moved back to the Philippines 2 years ago. When he first started talking Italian to me I was super impressed and he told me that he had studied for a year. I didn’t find out until we got to Catania (from someone else) that he lived in Italy for 6 years. He is using grammar that I haven’t even been able to scratch the surface of hahaha. That helps out a ton when it comes to missionary work! He is going to do amazing things here with all the skills that he has. I am excited to be with him and get to know him better! He is from a family of 4 and likes movies, music, to travel, and guitar as well! He is going to be an awesome missionary and we have already been able to see some really cool miracles together! [Read more…]