I LOVE ROME! AMO ROMA!

The new AP is Anziano Garvin!!!!!! I'm so stoked.

So things are going really great. Sorry that I've been so busy but with transfers and everything I just haven't had any time at all. We have been also doing a lot to find new investigators because right now we don't really have anyone. I love to find! 
Yesterday we were decided to go to this area of Rome that is known for having lots of Chinese, although it's not technically a Chinatown. Me and Anziano Garvin had prayed that we could find a young Chinese guy around 26 yrs old that could come to church the next day because Elder Perkins was supposed to be here. Anyway, we went around there looking for this Chinese guy, and we were just talking to everyone we could. So then I'm down to my last Chinese pamphlet and a Chinese guy walks by us and I knew that I needed to stop him. It turns out that he was Christian, he was 27, and he wanted to come to church!!! It was awesome! Unfortunately he didn't make it today because a bunch of his friends were going to the beach, but Elder Perkins didn't make it either, so whatever.

While we went to find this Chinese guy we also met a lot of other really cool people. I love talking to people. Just in the afternoon yesterday we got 11 people's phone numbers and a lot of addresses. Then today in church two random ladies showed up and we're actually going to teach one of them today!

Anyway, I know I haven't e-mailed you too much lately. So, Anziano Garvin was my MTC companion. Being companions here in Rome sure was unexpected, especially considering that we were both called to the Italy Catania Mission. haha. It's a total blast.

Let me tell you a little about what my schedule was this last week. So we had missionaries that were coming to the mission from the MTC. 3 from the Madrid MTC, and 12 from the Provo MTC. Well, out of the Provo MTC 3 made the flight they were supposed to, and NINE missed their connection in Chicago.

I guess that they were supposed to go to gate L8 but they were actually in the wrong terminal. So they missed their flight, but then got a later one that put them in London. To come to Italy they had to take three different flights, which means we had to pick them up at three different times. Remember that we already had the first two times with the group of three from Madrid and the other group of three from Provo.

It was a fun and exciting day. The last group didn't get in until after 10pm. President Kelly asked me to be his companion to go out to the airport with him, and so Anziano Rappleye actually stayed at the Villa and went to sleep with the other missionaries. So President and I went out together to get the last three missionaries that were coming in, and on the way home we hit a ton of traffic. We actually didn't get back to the Villa (mission home) until 1 AM!!! hahaha. Then they were really hungry so I got to bed around 2am.

The next morning I got up at 5am because it was transfer day and we had to go pick some people up from the bus station. Needless to say, President and Sister Kelly often tell us to take naps. But I'm not the napping type.

CHECK THIS OUT::: So I stopped typing this e-mail that I was getting around to because we had to teach a lesson to this lady that we met in church today. I'm pretty sure Anziano Acerson (who just finished his mission) invited her to come to church, and so I sat next to her today and then set up an appt for this afternoon. Anyway, her name is Floriana. When she was in church one of the sister's investigators got confirmed and she leaned over and asked me if she had to be baptized and confirmed to become a member of our church. I told her yes and that we would talk about it more later if we could meet with each other.

So this afternoon we started off with a prayer, and then right after the prayer she said, I just want to know how you have so much peace and serenity in your lives. When I came to church I really felt that. We explained to her a little and then invited her to get baptized and she's going to on the 30th of July!! We also have three appointments set up with her for next week. It's going to be awesome. You can really tell that she's had a hard life and I told her that I'm really excited for her because she is going to be really happy and have the peace she's looking for.

IT WAS AWESOME!!!

: )

This transfer is going to be really great. Lately I've been thinking about how selfish and prideful it is to not talk with and share the gospel with everyone. I was on the bus the other day and I wasn't sure about talking to some people because it seemed kind of awkward. Usually I have no problems, but for some reason that's just how it was that time. So I was sitting there, and I thought to myself, what is holding me back? I realized that the only thing holding me back was that I didn't want to make myself look bad or I thought maybe I'd be embarrassed or something. Anyway, I talked to them because I realized that I don't really care about being embarrassed, and it turns out that one of them had met the missionaries before, she gave me her number, and on top of that she gave me her sons number!

How awesome is that!

That's why we're having so much success: Because we talk to everyone. We have one car and two vans, but instead of driving we got bus passes and we take that as often as possible and the Lord is really blessing us.

I love my life. I love the gospel. I'm grateful for the testimony I have. I know that what President Monson said one time is true, that who selfishly keeps there testimony to themselves, loses it.

Thank you for all your support. Sorry I'm so busy, but I'm seriously crazy happy.

Love,

Anziano Banks

p.s. I love missionary work!

Also, I think my new getting home date is on the 4th of November or something. 

I just wanted to let you know that things are going really well here in Rome. We're keeping really busy and we're doing great work. : )