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Catania – Week 24

Ciao Tutti!

I hope that everyone had a great week and that you are all enjoying life! Don’t know what the weather is like back home but it feels like the fall here. It is really nice during the daytime and is a good temperature. It cools off at night enough to throw a sweater on.  People here though have been wearing pants, coats, scarves and what not for months it seems like though. So it definitely feels like the fall! We had a great week this week and we were super busy once again!

This week we had two awesome lessons with our part member family again and we are doing our best to help them out in any way that we can.  It’s amazing to see their progress and all that they have learned and are putting into practice. We really feel the spirit strongly when we are all together and we know that they are really making a lot of progress spiritually. They have been keeping their commitments and we are just really trying to find a way for them to arrive in church.

That is the big struggle right now for all of us to try and figure out. We hope that we will find a solution and we are positive that Heavenly Father will bless them as they continue to do all they can to obey His commandments and continue to grow their testimony. I feel very privileged to have been able to know them and be able to work with them. They have such a big faith and are really doing what they can to change their lives through the gospel and working hard at it.

We had the opportunity to do two scambi this week that both went really well. For one of them we were here in Catania again and I was able to go and work with Anziano Parkinson in his work which went really well. We had a great time and were super busy the whole day with lessons and some other errands that were necessary to do. We had a great time teaching together and I felt like we did a great job clicking in the short time we were together. It was super fun and we had some really cool lessons. Anziano Parkinson is awesome though! He has a great fire about him and is willing to work super hard. He has been fun to be around in the house and he is a great kid. We are always messing around with each other like brothers so we always have a very supportive and fun atmosphere.

Traveling to Siracusa was nice this past Saturday to get down there for a scambio with the Anziani. It was a great time and they did a great job planning it out so we had some great lessons all together.

It is so cool how many youth they are meeting with and are helping down there. It is awesome to see these youth accept the gospel and commit themselves to such change. We have been able to feel a great spirit with them and we are all really hopping they will continue to move forward with all that they are learning and putting into practice. I love how excited and happy Anziano Andersen is and how he is always sharing the great miracles that they are seeing down there.

We had a cool P-day today and what we thought was a service project. We went to go and help pick apples off trees up on the mountain so it was really great to be able to go up with the these members. We felt bad thinking that it was a service project that we were headed to. We were able to get some Catania Jerseys that are throw back from the late 50s early 60s which is super awesome. It has been a great day and we are looking forward to a nice family home evening tonight and hope that the lesson on eternal families goes well. We have been super busy this whole transfer and I can’t believe how fast it has gone past. I would love to stay here and keep working here in Catania so I am really nervous about the transfer calls tonight.

This past Sunday I was able to give another talk, but this one ended up being a little different than normal. We were invited by our wonderful senior couple, the Edgels, to come and join them for church in Sigonella on the military base and we each gave talks. It was super weird to be around so many Americans and hear English in such abundance. I was able to talk on the importance of faith and it was a really good learning experience to be able to write and give the talk.

Something that came into my head in a lesson this week while teaching on faith was to ask an inspired question where I learned something really neat. I asked this guy what the fruits of faith are. I was really intrigued by this and was able to reflect on all the blessings that come because of our faith. I was intrigued to see and study about all the things that come because of our faith. These are just a few:

Hope, Charity, Repentance, Knowledge, Miracles, Answers to prayers, Guidance, increase of faith, etc. I really enjoyed speaking on the subject and learning much on faith and how important it is in our lives. I had some quotes that I shared and I want to share this one with you all. This is a quote from Anziano Neil L. Andersen.

My dear friends, your faith did not begin at birth, and it will not end at death. Faith is a choice. Strengthen your faith, and live to be deserving of the Savior’s approving words: “Great is thy faith.” As you do, I promise you that your faith, through the grace of Jesus Christ, will one day allow you to stand with those you love, clean and pure in the presence of God, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I know that we can all have the choice to act on and grow our faith now, see, and reap the blessings the Lord is so ready and willing to give us. I am thankful for the gift of faith that we can all obtain in this life and cultivate as we go through our mortal journey. Thanks for all the messages this week and I will talk to you all soon!

Anziano Garrett

Catania Zone Soccer, Nov. 2016

Catania Zone Soccer, Nov. 2016

Enjoying some Sicilian pizza

Enjoying some Sicilian pizza

sicilian-pizza sicialian-pasta

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016.  Playing musical chairs.

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016. Playing musical chairs.

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016.  Playing musical chairs.

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016. Playing musical chairs.

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016.  Playing musical chairs.

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016. Playing musical chairs.

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016.  Playing musical chairs.

Catania Ward Halloween Party, October, 2016. Playing musical chairs.

Catania – Week 20

Ciao Tutti!

Hope that everyone is doing well and that you all had a great week!

This week was another busy one for us and we had a lot that we were able to accomplish this week. We had DDM this week on Tuesday and that went super well and we were able to have another really spiritual addestramento together about service and rendering service to others. We read some great things and something that touched me was reflecting on this verse.

8 And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers.

We are laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven as we serve our fellow man and those around us with our full heart and for the welfare of them. I am so thankful that God offers all of us the opportunities to serve those around us. It is always a blessing to be able to help those in need around us. I know that service is such a wonderful thing that we can render towards others.

We were able to have a great evening making sure that things were ready for the zone conference in the church and gave a ride to the church to President and Sorella Pickerd. It all went well and we finished off the night with a scambio with the Assistants to the Presdient. It was a great scambio and I was able to work with Anziano Rosenberg and I learned a lot from his boldness and his excitement that he has about the work. It is amazing to see his dedication and love to the Lord. We had a good lesson together and were able to give one of our former investigators a baptismal date. It went super well! We shuffled some people around after their interviews to finish off the night and we were all able to get settled down in order to be ready for the zone conference.

Zone conference went super well and we were able to learn from so many wonderful leaders. Sorella Pickerd talked to us a lot about attacking the day and I enjoyed talking about improvements on prayer and study which is something that I have been trying to put into practice continually. I know that working on and adjusting the little things help so much to see the big miracles in the work that we are doing.

The assistants talked about two things that I really enjoyed about studying and taking strength form the Atonement. The other was about being the message and being those Angels for others. We can present the message to them with joy and happiness showing truly that this is something that does work for us as we put it into practice. I am thankful for that blessed opportunity to be one to present that message to others. We then talked about the successes and the stories of the past baptisms in the mission. They were truly amazing and inspiring to hear about and it was really neat to talk about them and get us all excited about having our own stories.

This week we had a service project at our part member family’s house and it was super awesome. We helped gather the olives from their vineyard. It was super cool to work out there with them all together with all the other missionaries. We had a good time with the family and we really feel that we helped them with the little things that we could do for them in gathering the olives. We had lunch out there together. They had us break the piñata that she was so kind to make for my birthday a few weeks ago and we got back to work. It was a long day and it takes a lot more time to accomplish than we had anticipated. It was super interesting work and I was shocked to think that it takes 25 kili [kilos] to make 1 liter of olive oil. We shared a message at the end of the night before heading home and closing the night out.

We had a good rest of the weekend with other various lessons and a great three hour block at church along with a wonderful Geso Sunday evening. The service that we were able to render though of course made me reflect on Jacob 5 in the Book of Mormon that talks about the allegory of the olive trees. It is something that made me think much about laboring in his vineyard over here in the Italy Rome Mission. I love these three verses that conclude the chapter.

75 And it came to pass that when the Lord of the vineyard saw that his fruit was good, and that his vineyard was no more corrupt, he called up his servants, and said unto them: Behold, for this last time have we nourished my vineyard; and thou beholdest that I have done according to my will; and I have preserved the natural fruit, that it is good, even like as it was in the beginning. And blessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the natural fruit, that my vineyard is no more corrupted, and the bad is cast away, behold ye shall have joy with me because of the fruit of my vineyard.

76 For behold, for a long time will I lay up of the fruit of my vineyard unto mine own self against the season, which speedily cometh; and for the last time have I nourished my vineyard, and pruned it, and dug about it, and dunged it; wherefore I will lay up unto mine own self of the fruit, for a long time, according to that which I have spoken.

77 And when the time cometh that evil fruit shall again come into my vineyard, then will I cause the good and the bad to be gathered; and the good will I preserve unto myself, and the bad will I cast away into its own place. And then cometh the season and the end; and my vineyard will I cause to be burned with fire.

The Lord truly works and does his best to bring all his children to the truth to immensely bless their lives here and in the life to come.

I am thankful for this final hour that he has been working since the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ about 200 years ago. This work is truly a great and marvelous work. We all can partake of the blessing and be counted among his good fruit as we do all we can to learn of him, follow him, and then help by laboring beside him in this great work. It takes time and a lot of work and that is what he is willing to with each of us as it describes all the necessary steps stated in verse 77 for example. I am thankful to have found this gospel to be true and that it has truly changed me and who I am. I know it can do the same for all of you as well. I love you all very much and hope that you have a great week!

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Garrett

Catania Zone Conference, October, 2016

Catania Zone Conference, October, 2016

The birthday pinata

The birthday pinata

Hitting the Pinata

Hitting the Pinata

The birthday pinata

The birthday pinata

Working Catania

Working Catania

Anziano Parkinson

Anziano Parkinson

Catania – Week 16

Ciao tutti!

We have been really busy this past week! We had a lot of conferences that we had to go to and then all in between that we did our best to get over and visit all the people that we needed to visit. We had a lot of fun and we really learned a lot as well.

Monday night we went and searched for less actives that we are trying to find, people that we can help and go visit. Tuesday we were really busy in the morning with three appointments. It was really nice and we had a good time visiting them all. One was the new convert that we are teaching the commandments right now. She is doing really well and gave her first short talk in church this week so that was really cool! We then visited a member we haven’t been able to see for a while and that went really well too! He is so nice and is a real deep thinker so it is always fun to see what is on his mind and what the has to say. Went and then visited another less active family and were able to eat and share a simple message on the scriptures with them. It went really well and they seemed to really enjoy that simple spiritual thought.

That night we had to go get the car appraised for repairs and then made it over to a member’s house where we were able to watch a young woman open her mission call. It was really cool to see the excitement and remember how it was at my call opening as well. She is headed to the England Manchester mission this December! It’s super exciting and we are pumped for her!

Wednesday we headed to Palermo early in the morning. It was a really pretty drive through the center of Sicilia. It was only supposed to take 2 hours and 15 minutes, but we got stuck in traffic for over an hour and then we went to the Palermo 1 church instead of the Palermo 2 church which is on the other side of the city. Needless to say we were late to the conference hahaha. It was pretty crazy. The conference went so well! There were so many amazing insights that we were all able to take out of the conference. I definitely can’t write all the things that we talked about. Some things that really stuck out to me was having a pioneer mentality and how we as a church have been able to be as pioneers and not take the persecution that they received early in this dispensation. President Kearon then talked about how we are a resilient people who thrive on adversity. I thought that was a very interesting point that we can really put to practice in this life. We are all exposed to adversity and surely Satan tries his best to get us to be anything that God wants us to be. I am thankful for that quality of resilience that we can try to emulate in our life. He also really had many things that we discussed together.

At the conclusion of the conference we took the assistants to the airport and then headed back into Palermo to pick up Anziano LaPray and Anziano Parkinson. Picked up a brioche from Brioscia (best gelateria in Italy) and headed off home. We arrived at home to plan a little and get to bed. Thursday we did our weekly planning session and then picked up Sorella McKenzie and Sorella Pinnegar, who are sister training leaders, and headed to he airport. Our flight was supposed to leave at 5:30 so we got there about an hour in advance or so. Well we then got a delay on our flight which was no big deal, but then it turned into another and another and another. Our flight didn’t leave until 11:30 hahaha. We were there for a long time! They at least gave us a free meal which was really nice. We got picked up by Anziano Guercio, one of the senior couples, about 1:00 a.m.. We passed by the temple at night and the lights were on the inside so that was real neat! We got back to the villa at 2:00 a.m. and went to bed as fast as we could.

The conference was so great up in Rome too! We had a great time at that and there was a really special spirit. We were able to discuss insights and highlights that we felt like we had during he two conferences. We discussed them a little more in depth and President Pickerd went through with all of us and we were able to set goals as a mission to work towards. I am so excited about them, and really think they will help us all be able to reach where we need to be. I am very excited about it and know it will really help us reach our standard of excellence as a mission to have one convert baptism per transfer per companionship. I will go into more detail next week on those steps that we are taking and I sure hope to have some cool experiences as well to go along with that. President Kearon was amazing to have at the conference along with Anziano Sabin and his wife. We were able to gain so much from the insights and the stories they shared with us.

President Kearon shared a really tender and amazing experience when he was a branch president about two years into him being in the church. It was a beautiful experience where I felt there were many lessons to learn and much to just look forward for, have faith, and hope for all the best.

It’s been a great week and I really enjoyed my studies and everything that we were able to do and especially going and preaching the gospel as servants of the Lord. Last night we met an inactive member for the first time and as we listened to her we did our best to make sure that we were involved and engaged in what she was saying and the experiences she was sharing with us. I couldn’t think of something to share when I felt it was right to go for the scriptures. I struggled for a minute as just 2 ideas came into my head. As I offered a short silent prayer and pondered while Anziano Nielsen was talking one of my chapters in Mosiah came to mind from the Book of Mormon. Is is when Abinadi is teaching a wicked King Noah and reads from the book of Isaiah. He reads this to him.

1 Yea, even doth not Isaiah say: Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.

I know that the atonement is real and heals us. All that is unfair in life can be made right through the atonement. I am so grateful for this sacrifice and the love that the savior showed to put his life on the line for us. It is truly through the charity that he possess that he offered his life so we can be saved and clean. So he knows how to comfort us because he has suffered with us in a sense. He knows what you are feeling and you can draw on his love, healing, and strength always. Always. I know that is true. I love you all and am sorry I didn’t have time to get to everyone at all this week! I hope you all have a great week and enjoy yourselves!

Love,

Anziano Garrett

 

Here are a couple of pics from the Rome leadership conference (from Sis. Pickerd’s blog):

 

Mission leadership conference in Rome, September, 2016

Mission leadership conference in Rome, September, 2016

Mission leadership conference in Rome, September, 2016

Mission leadership conference in Rome, September, 2016

Taormina

[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

Catania – Week 13

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