Ciao tutti!
I hope that everyone had a great day and as well as a great Mother’s Day yesterday! Hope you are well! This week went well for us even though some things didn’t go as planned. We were able to see our investigators and it went really well with the lessons that we had with them. We are still looking to help them keep their commitments and realize that is the key for knowing for themselves whether the things that we are telling them are true or not.
This was our first full week together and it was a lot of fun. Anziano Nessen is super funny and I am really enjoying working hard with him each day and we are excited to see what we will be able to do together this transfer. We have some great work going on right now and we just want to keep finding more and more and rely on the Lord to help us in all that we are here to do. We had some good lessons this week and I am just so thankful for the Book of Mormon in my life and how it really testifies of so many things. I am thankful for those in ancient times for keeping records and then for Mormon to bring to pass a work that was truly amazing and compile all the needed records to make the Book of Mormon. I am thankful for this scripture when Lehi teaches his son, Joseph, about Joseph of Egypt who prophesied of Joseph Smith and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. This scripture lays down one of the missions of this wonderful book.
12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.
I like how it states that it will confound false doctrine. Then if we go to another scripture in the Book of Mormon where Moroni explains that it is written to help us believe the things in the Bible.
8 Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record shall come from the Gentiles unto you.
9 For behold, this is written for the intent that ye may believe that; and if ye believe that ye will believe this also; and if ye believe this ye will know concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous works which were wrought by the power of God among them.
10 And ye will also know that ye are a remnant of the seed of Jacob; therefore ye are numbered among the people of the first covenant; and if it so be that ye believe in Christ, and are baptized, first with water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the example of our Savior, according to that which he hath commanded us, it shall be well with you in the day of judgment. Amen.
It does such an amazing job of showing us that the Book of Mormon is there to support the Bible. I know that is true and the more I study the more I can see this is so true. It will confound false doctrine and helps give us a single interpretation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those that truly want to learn more of Christ simply have to pick up the Book of Mormon and read it. That is how you will know that anything the missionaries say is true. We never ask anyone to believe our words and just follow us blindly in what we practice in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We ask that they read and ask God for themselves to receive a testimony of truth and light. The Book of Mormon truly blesses our lives more than we can imagine.
We are working with some really cool people and they want to know if these things are true and we are enjoying being able to meet with them. We know that the Lord continues to prepare people to receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and we just want to continue to work to find those that are ready to accept our message.
The weather has been cold and rainy a lot of the days with the occasional really nice and beautiful day sprinkled in. I hope that will start to become the norm soon. This week we have zone conference so we will be leaving to go to Taranto tomorrow morning after studies and doing a scambio with them there before Wednesday and then continue that afterwards and finish up Wednesday after conference with a zone blitz. Should be a lot of fun and we look forward to helping all the missionaries in Taranto.
So I was able to talk to my family for the third time on my mission and it went really well! We had a good time talking to each other and catching up on just little things, but overall it just felt that I got to hang out with my family for a while. It was super funny and just time well spent together. Definitely miss them and so many others, but I am very happy to be here and doing this work. Can’t believe how fast the time has gone by here and how many amazing experiences that I have been blessed to be a part of. I know that this work is true and it is so worth being away from home for a short 2 years to help those over here in Italy receive blessings beyond imagination through Christ’s restored gospel. It is truly amazing.
Yesterday we had a special day for all moms everywhere and I am so thankful for my mom and all that she has done for me. As well as my grandmas and the love they show their kids as well as us grandkids. I am extremely thankful for them and all the love that they give us all that is truly undying and always there. Moms go through so much with us and are there every moment helping us along the way. I love this video that was made for Mother’s Day, but I would like to still invite you all to check it out. It is really special to think of the divine roll that mothers have! It was so nice to talk to my mom yesterday and I would encourage you all to get to know your moms and continue to grow that special relationship always.
I hope that you all have a great week and thanks for all the support help and love that you send this way! I love you all and will talk to you guys soon!
Love,
Anziano Garrett
