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Cosenza – Week 5

April 18, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Ciao tutti!

I hope that everyone is doing well!! This week was really good and we were able to see a lot of really cool miracles throughout the week with what we had going on. I am sorry I don’t have a ton of time to write this email today. I lost a little bit of time with email this week.

We weren’t able to see a ton of our investigators this week, but we were able to have a lot of good lessons and that went really well. We were street finding and this guy next to us was walking right by us so we started talking and had a really good conversation with him, but we wasn’t too interested to hear what we had to say, since he was pretty firm in the things that he believed. At the end though we asked him if he would be interested to meet so that we could just share the message with him and then leave it up to him to find out its truthfulness. He said I would but you guys would have to come to me first. So we said yes right away and were able to go to a Catholic mass this week. It went well and then we had a lesson with him a few days after. It was super cool to see that it all worked out like that.

We had a member that wanted us to meet these two friends of hers so we were able to go over to her house and have a short lesson with her and then dinner, but it was a super cool miracle. The member was explaining these people to us and the fact that one of them was from Romania and such and that they were super cool. Well they were late but when they showed up I immediately recognized him. He was a guy we talked to on the street the previous Sunday with the same lady. It was super cool to see how the Lord works and was with us that evening as we explained about who we are and the Book of Mormon. It was super cool and we will be looking forward to getting to see them in the future. They are super nice and just genuine people. Another miracle was last night at our Geso we were able to see a group of kids about our age walking and we were doing a little survey and they stopped and were super interested in what we were saying. I was able to share the restoration with them and they were super interested and want to learn more. We had met one of these girls early when putting up posters for English Course during the week. These two sisters gave us their numbers and want to learn more and are smart girls so we hope that all goes well. We also had another ex-investigator move back recently so we picked her up again and she is super cool and really smart as well. We hope that all goes well with the work that is growing right now. [Read more…]

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Roma 1 – Week 24

September 28, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

OK, sorry this email will be pretty short this week but I don’t have much time! I hope that everyone is doing well!

OK, so this past week we didn’t see a ton of people, unfortunately. We only got to see one of our investigators, but he brought a friend which was super cool! He hadn’t been answering the phone because he was sick, but then we got ahold of him and were able to meet with him once. He is doing well but hasn’t been answering the phone again. I hope that everything is going well with him though.

We got to see 3 of our less actives which went really well and they are doing well. We are still trying to find new work right now.

Anziano Rasband is doing better now. He had a doctor’s appointment but had been feeling better a little before we went. He is finally eating normally again, which is great.

So today I had no clue what we were doing for pday but the whole district did. We had to go somewhere, but the metro was broken for a fair amount of the A line and we had to take a bus from one stop all the way across Rome which took forever. It was crazy hahaha. We went to this place called Escape Rome where they put you in a room and you have to find clues and try to get out. It was really neat. Definitely made me feel a little dumb for sure. They gave us a lot of help sometimes hahaha. I don’t know if I wasn’t in the right mind set and not knowing how this all was set up or anything. I was a little confused and they didn’t even let me know what the place was when we went in hahaha. It was neat but I wonder if they didn’t help us if would have got out. They only give you an hour to do it. There was like a Vatican themed room and a CSI themed one.

We were in the CSI room with Sorelle Rossi and Nagliati. It was fun and I think that we all felt a little dumb from getting the help and finished with 5 minutes left hahaha. We then went and ate a really nice meal. I had a a mozzarella di bufalo pizza it was super good.

They then gave me some cream puffs with a candle and then we got gelato to finish it all off. It was a super fun day and the whole district had a great time. It was cool to see Sorella Nagliati before she goes home tomorrow.

I am really excited about General Conference and really looking forward to hearing from the prophets, apostles, and other general authorities. I really enjoy hearing the messages that we need to hear in this life. I am really excited to hear from them all.

I like this scripture in D&C 1:38

What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.

We are hearing these messages from the Lord and they are all specifically for us and I am really excited to hear the messages and hope to be prepared to receive them. I was sad to hear about Richard G. Scott. Having three vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will be really interesting to see if they will all be filled and who the Lord will call to fill them. I am really pumped for this weekend.

Ok and last, but not least transfer news. I am going to be leaving Rome 1 and I am heading down to Trapani in Sicilia! That will be a lot of fun! Anziano LaPray will be my new companion. I am excited to be going down there but also a little sad to be leaving some people here.

I will leave this Thursday and I am excited to head down there. I will be taking a plane so it won’t take as long, but I will have to watch my weight limit which is going to take some skillful packing I think hahaha. I received all the birthday cards and am really thankful for them! I haven’t gotten to read them all, but will be sure to do so tonight! Thank you all! I hope that everyone has an amazing week, and I am sorry I won’t be able to get back to everyone today! Take care!

Vi voglio bene!!

Love,

Anziano Garrett

[Taylor’s new companion in Trapani will be Anziano Lapray.  He is just completing his 12 weeks of training.  This photo is from Sister Waddoups’ blog]

Anziano Lapray

Anziano Lapray

Filed Under: Recreation, Roma 1, Transfers, Trapani Tagged With: , ,

Roma 1 – Week 23

September 21, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

I hope that everyone is doing well and you guys all had an excellent week.

This week we don’t have a ton to report on. We had a family home evening last Monday night and we invited one of our investigators and a less active we have been working with. They both came, which was super cool, but then before we got started our investigator had to leave to go talk to a guy about work. We called him to set up another appointment but the next day it fell through during study and we haven’t been able to get a hold of him since which worries me a little. I just hope that everything is ok with him.

We got to go see a different less active that we have been working with since I have been here and I always enjoy going to see him and he really appreciates us coming over and visiting with him.

In preparation for General Conference we watched On The Lords Errand, the documentary on the life of President Thomas S. Monson. It was really good and he really enjoyed it and I really love our Prophet. He is truly a disciple of Christ. I have read a lot of talks by him recently and I think of all the stories he has and how many lives that the Lord has touched through him. He responds to those promptings with loyalty and he truly is amazing. I am looking forward to hearing from the Prophet, the apostles, and the other leaders of the church this conference. I am looking forward to the guidance and counsel they offer and give.

Wednesday Anziano Rasband got sick again and we aren’t sure how so we have been at home a lot this week. We made it out enough for English course Thursday, specialized training Friday, and then a church activity Saturday. The specialized training (a zone conference without interviews) was really good and I really loved all the counsel we received from our leaders. It was really good and I felt encouraged by it. A lot of it was on fear and we were able to watch a talk that President Uchtdorf gave to the new mission presidents not too long ago and it was excellent. I was really glad we were able to receive this counsel and I am trying to make sure that I don’t fear anything in this work. This past conference Elder David A. Bednar taught that fear is the opposite of faith and gave this counsel.

“We can be blessed to conquer our fears and strengthen our faith as we follow the Lord’s instruction: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (D&C 6:36).

Godly fear is loving and trusting in Him. As we fear God more completely, we love Him more perfectly. And “perfect love casteth out all fear” (Moroni 8:16). I promise the bright light of godly fear will chase away the dark shadows of mortal fears (see D&C 50:25) as we look to the Savior, build upon Him as our foundation, and press forward on His covenant path with consecrated commitment.”

I really liked this talk a lot and would challenge you guys to read it. Here’s a link to the talk.  I think that we all are afraid of some things, but I learned that we really don’t have to be at all.  With the Lord’s help we will be able to fear not. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Conferences, Missionary Work, Roma 1 Tagged With:

Roma 1 – Week 22

September 14, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

Buongiorno tutti! Speriamo che avete avuto buona settimana. I have a bit of writer’s block for this weeks email so bear with me.

We got to see our investigator that can meet a lot and he is doing so well! We saw him one day last week and he was reading the Book of Mormon which was super cool and we were excited. He was in 1 Nephi 2 and then we saw him two days later and he was in 1 Nephi 15! We were super excited for him. I really hope that he keeps reading and really comes to know that the Book of Mormon is true. We are super excited for him and we had such an amazing testimony brought by the member that came with us on the last lesson. He told a story that I think really helped our investigator understand what real intent is. If we read the Book of Mormon with the real intent of acting on the answer we receive. When Joseph Smith wanted to know what church was true he had the intent to act and join the church that Heavenly Father would give him in response to his prayer. With the real intent we can truly all come to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God translated by the power and gift of him.

We had another lesson with another one of our investigators we didn’t have the chance to meet with for awhile and we are really seeking to establish a plan to get him to read every day and really help him to develop the wonderful habit of daily scripture study and then as well as easing him into church attendance.  He is doing well with it and the last lesson we had with him went really well!

We didn’t have a chance to see anyone else this past week. We had stake conference on Saturday but we had to go up to Terni so that Anziano Rasband could do a baptismal interview since both the zone leaders had taught her. We went up there and did that Saturday and came back down after helping them do a little finding up there. It is so wonderful to see the beautiful Italian countryside and Terni is such a cool city. It would probably be about the size of Champaign.  It is a little slower than Rome but still has foot traffic. It was a really good time to go up there. Getting to see Anziano Calvagna is always a good time too.

We had plans fall through here and there but we had a great week and we were able to see some new faces at English course which is really exciting. Three of the new students are super awesome and we had this one kid that we stopped for street finding the other day show up. We were sharing the “Grazie Lui” video with people on the street and he passed it up, but we gave him an English course pass along card and he was interested and he came! That was a super cool miracle we had last week!

We did some district singing finding on the metro the other day that went well! It was the first time we tried something like that and we want to try it again with some of the members. Should be fun to get to try it with them. [Read more…]

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Roma 1 – Week 21

September 7, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

I don’t have a ton of time to email this week. We had a busy day and we have to head out a little early so we can get to a family home evening. We had a nice pday though. We went for some groceries this morning and then we headed to the church and downloaded our emails before heading out to centro. We wanted to go get some granita (shaved ice) that we had tried before, and I made sure I knew how to find that restaurant I went to about 4 months ago with Anziano Calvagna. Then we walked toward the forum and we were going to go to a church that has the chains that held St. Peter during his martyrdom. We found it by luck because the stairs and the building looked cool so I decided to walk up and it ended up being the right way. We got there and then it was closed for the pranzo hours so we couldn’t go in. We had a good walk through the forum though and got “Hey Eldered!” twice today which was cool. We went to a tie shop and got companionship ties which are Phoenix Suns colors (that’s for Wyatt). I got an orange one and he got a purple one, we are going to wear them to District meeting tomorrow to see if anyone notices.

We didn’t get to see a lot of different people this past week but we had an investigator that was willing to meet with us 4 times which was super cool. He really has a desire to learn more and sincerely find the truth. I am really enjoying getting to meet with him and get to know him as well. We were able to have a few more people we hope to meet with more this week. We had a great week, though, and some awesome lessons with our new investigator. One that we had with a super cool member helped so much. He really answered the investigator’s question so well and he brought a testimony that was super good for our investigator. I have really high hopes for him. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Food, Roma 1, Tourist Sites Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Roma 1 – Week 19

August 24, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Buongiorno tutti!

I hope that everyone had a nice week and that everyone is enjoying the rest of their summer as it winds down.

So this week I accidentally left my wallet in the house. I always carry it around in my bag because then I don’t have to worry about pickpockets. So I keep my abbonamento (metro/bus pass) in there. The day before we had walked to the store to get more water for the house and I forgot to put my wallet back into my bag. We leave the house and catch a bus the next day and about 5 or 6 stops down bus workers start to get on to check if people have there passes or a ticket. I then realized I had forgotten my wallet so I got written up for a nice little fine. So they said to go to this bus office and they will waive it. So we travel over there and the lady tells me I have to pay it at a post office. So I went from having a €1.50 fine to a nice €56 fine. Well then Sorella Cano explained that I have to go back there and show them the abbonamento and they will waive it. So we head back again the next day and then tell the lady that I have the abbonamento, and she says of great we can waive that but the office to do that is closed today so you will have to come back next week. So now we have to go and travel all the way back for a third time. Well I definitely learned not to forget my wallet anymore. So we will head back there Tuesday and then start a scambio after with Anziano Calvagna and Anziano Palazzo. I will stay here with Anziano Calvagna and Anziano Rasband and Anziano Palazzo will head up to Terni. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Italy, Roma 1 Tagged With: , , , ,

Roma 1 – Week 18

August 17, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

We are alive and well and finally were able to return to working normally again. I really am excited to be back and at it. Well I will start with the big news since we received our transfer calls Saturday.

So here is what happened. Usually we get our call sometime during the study hours which are from 8:00-10:00 but this time we didn’t because we had a “deep cleaning” day in the house since it was a holiday and a ton of people leave to go on vacation the same day. So we got our call around 12:00 or so while we were cleaning. It was a super fast call because Anziano Rasband and I are both staying here in Rome 1! And the sisters are all staying here too and we will receive a new sister Thursday. Definitely crazy we are all staying here. I would never have guessed that to happen again. We are excited about the new transfer and really think we can improve on some things together and see some amazing things happen.

Last week we got back into the work and we were able to start seeing people again. A lot of our investigators have been out of town so we haven’t been able to see them for a while. We are really looking to get new investigators and keep pushing to find more, especially referrals. We saw some less actives that I always enjoy seeing and helping them with what the Lord needs us to do. I am excited to see some of the people getting back on vacation soon.

We had English Course as normal this week, which is going well, and we are seeing new faces pop up here and there, which is nice.

The weather has been nice here and I hope it will stay this way. We had a nice day today we went to St.Peter’s Basilica which was really neat and had an amazing view from the top. Before we went there we had an amazing conversation with a younger couple that is on vacation. We were just waiting for the order missionaries and the guy comes up to us and says he was trying to explain about the Mormon church to his girlfriend just earlier that day. Then he said I figured you guys could do it better. It was a really fun time and we shared the restoration with her and I really hope that they will have further exposure to the church down the road. I really really hope so because they were so nice and super awesome!

We had a good time at church yesterday and was great to see the members again. We are looking forward to this coming week and really looking to kill it! I am excited about it and just hope that we can keep pushing forward even when things always don’t work out the way that we expect.

I read in Ether 12 this past week and enjoyed reading about faith. I was feel like there is room to always look to improve our faith. I read this in True to the Faith and it can say it better than I can so I want to share this with you guys. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Roma 1, St. Peter's Basilica, Tourist Sites, Transfers Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Roma 1 – Week 17

August 10, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao!

I hope everyone had an amazing week and that everyone is enjoying the end of their summers!

So I really don’t have much to report on from last week. Last p-day we saw some really neat things. We went to this place called the keyhole where they say you can technically see 3 different countries because you look in this keyhole at the Malta Embassy and then you see Vatican City and then of course Italy as well. It was pretty sweet! We then had a nice view of Rome nearby which was really cool. We then went and saw Circus Maximus which was really big but nothing too spectacular at all either. We then finished up with La Bocca Della Verita (the mouth of truth). It was pretty cool, but I don’t really know the history behind that at all. We of course finished up the day with some gelato too which always hits the spot especially when it is this hot. We finished up the proselyting day with some finding in the park. We had some good conversations but unfortunately they didn’t pan out beyond that.

Tuesday we had our district meeting and it went really well and then the Memmotts had us for lunch and that was a lot of fun. They are so nice and I really enjoy getting to know them and talk to them. They are so sweet and are truly disciples of the Lord. Tuesday evening we finished up with our English course and I really started to not feel too good that afternoon. By the time we got home I really wasn’t feeling to hot at all. So Anziano Rasband and I ended up getting food poisoning and we have had to stay home for the past 4 days. It’s definitely been hard but that’s ok I think we are finally getting through it. I feel better today and I hope that just lasts. So sorry I really didn’t have much to report on this week at all!

I really enjoyed reading 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon when Christ makes his appearance to the Nephites. It really would have been amazing to be there and experience that. He manifested himself to the people because he loves them too and I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon and the ever flowing knowledge we can gain from it. It truly testifies of Christ and shows that Jesus is the Christ and that he lives. It stands as another witness of Him and the things that He did in the Holy Land truly occurred. I am so thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ and the infinite love that he has for every single one of us. I am thankful for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the faith I was raised in. I am no where near perfect at all, but I try to be like my Savior and I have to just keep on working to be like him everyday. I know we all can have a place for Christ in our lives and that he will become the center of our lives as we live by his teachings and live in the manner that he did.

Love you all and I hope that you all have an awesome week!

Love,

Anziano Garrett

Sorella Gates sharing with some tourists

Sorella Gates sharing with some tourists

View of our area in Rome

View of our area in Rome

Roma 1 District selfie, plus Sorella Nagliati and Sorella Gates from Roma 5

Roma 1 District selfie, plus Sorella Nagliati and Sorella Gates from Roma 5

Roma 1 District selfie, plus Sorella Nagliati and Sorella Gates from Roma 5

Roma 1 District selfie, plus Sorella Nagliati and Sorella Gates from Roma 5

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Roma 1 – Week 13

July 13, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Buongiorno!

I hope that everyone has had a great week. This week for me was a little nuts. We were all over the place and it just all seemed like a lot of traveling and stuff.

So Monday night we went and picked up Anziano Calvagna and we were planning on going to Terni that night but we had to wait for the train so we went and grabbed some dinner while we were waiting. We went and ate at Asian Delight again which was so good. That place is really awesome. Well we were sitting there and felt like we should call the sisters because we knew that one of them could probably use a blessing because she had something happen earlier that day. So we went and did that and then got a call and we totally forgot that we had an appointment set that night but we got all thrown around with having to go to Terni for a couple of days. So we stayed in Rome 1 and then rescheduled that appointment with that sister for the next day and had a good service opportunity there as well. We then went to Terni after that and we got there to have enough time to get to an appointment. The lesson went really well and we taught about the Plan of Salvation and she was really struck by some things that she hadn’t heard before such as Spirit Prison and Spirit Paradise and the three different Kingdoms of Glory. Instead of just heaven and hell. It was really nice and the member was really good as well. We then had a good English course and we watched Legacy the movie about Joseph Smith. One guy seemed really interested about it so that was sweet!

After English course we had another lesson that went really well. This investigator really accepts things easily and she seemed super cool.

We taught on the word of wisdom there. It was a really good lesson. To finish off the night we went and picked up some pizzas from this place that cooks Napoli pizzas and the guy was from Napoli. That was the best pizza I have had while I have been here hands down. It was so good. Well the next day our appointments fell through so we headed back to Rome 1 with all three of us in the afternoon, and had a lesson with a less active and a new investigator. It went well but it will just be a slow process for sure. The next day were transfer days so we went and dropped off Anziano Calvagna in Termini where all the transfers basically go down and helped a little with the bags as well. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Food, Italy, Missionary Work, Roma 1, Transfers Tagged With: , ,

Roma 1 – Week 12

July 6, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Ciao tutti!

I hope everyone had a great week! It’s been nice and really hot here.  I really wouldn’t mind the heat too much if I could wear shorts and didn’t have a collar choking me, but I can’t lie it is pretty hot here.  It’s nice though!

Ok first things first.  TRANSFER CALL.  So we had transfer calls last Saturday on the 4th of July and we got our call at the beginning of companionship study.  So the big news is I am…. Staying!  I am staying in Rome 1 with Anziano Rasband and surprisingly Sorelle Nagliati, Cano, Kennedy, and Harmon are all staying too!  We are the only district in the entire mission that doesn’t have a single change!  I thought that was pretty sweet.  The Sorelle here in Rome 1 are really hard workers.  They get work done that is for sure.  They have awesome work going on right now and have some really cool investigators.  So yeah we will all be here for another whole transfer.

I am looking forward to this next transfer and I really want to keep working hard to do all I can do to help those the Lord has prepared.  This work can’t be done alone.  We have so much help and I am constantly seeing miracles and blessings that are always coming our way.  We see miracles that are made up of mini miracles and it just leads to things that are so rewarding and so cool to witness and experience.  I know that when we do all we can to live righteous lives and do all we can to follow Christ and obey God’s commandments He will bless us.  No sacrifice goes unnoticed.  He works on His own timetable and in His own way, but He will always follow through.  He blesses us with way more than we even put in sometimes.  I know that this is true for all of us.

We are still working to try to find some new investigators and we are really working to press forward and continue to find people to teach.  We only got to meet with a couple of people this week.  We are hoping to meet with some new people we have found and talked to earlier this week.  I am really excited to talk to some of them.  I have a super good feeling about some of these new people. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Conferences, Roma 1, Transfers Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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