February 4, 2014 - Chariton, IA

Dear Family:

Well I am a day late because we had a zone p day yesterday and we had no computer time available.  Well right now outside we are getting a lot of snow.  Today we are expecting maybe around 8 inches or so and a blizzard.  So my companion is really excited to be in his first blizzard.  Well hopefully we will stay warm the rest of the day.  This week will be very interesting because I have my temple trip on Tuesday and we will be gone for 2 days from that.  So I have a lot to look forward to with that.  It will be the first time since May that I have been to the temple.

Well this past week not to much happened.  A lot of appointments fell through because people didn't answer so that was sad and frustrating.  But oh well, God gave us agency for a reason.  So this next week we will be visiting with a lot of people.  But we will be gone from our area for about two days so that will just make things interesting.  And this snow may eliminate another day from our week.  We will see how this goes.  We will be busy so that will help me from getting to trunky.

Well this is my second to last time sending this email.  It is sad to say that but it is time to move on with life.  We shall see what God has in store for us this week.  Love you all and the Gospel is true.

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

January 27, 2014 - Chariton, IA

Dear Family:

Well it has been a good week in Chariton.  It is very cold outside right now so I am very happy to be inside right now.  Last night we had some very wild wind blowing and a blizzard in the northern part of Iowa.  Today it is in the single digits as far as temperature goes.  And tonight we will be in the negatives.  Lucky for us our apartment stays very warm for us.  Feel bad for those people that don't have a home when it gets this cold.

This past week we had exchanges with the zone leaders which was fun.  We tried to see a lot of people but it was hard to find things to do.  That was actually my last time doing exchanges in the area that I am in.  The next exchanges I will be doing will be in Osceola next week.  Exchanges are very stressful especially for the missionaries that are in the area.  But we do often see the most miracles happen on exchanges. 

Well this next week will be a calm week.  No exchanges but we will need to be careful with how much we drive.  We are getting very close to our limit with miles.  Our investigators are doing fine.  Hopefully we will be able to visit with all of them this next week.  We will continue to work our hardest here.  Love you all and the Gospel is true!

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

January 21, 2014 - Chariton, IA

Dear Family:

Well it is very cold right now in Chariton.  On Sunday It was in the 40s.  Yesterday it was about in the 30s and then it dropped way down to around -1 at night.  And it started snowing last night before we came in.  So it is very cold here and we have some fresh snow.  They say it will be a roller coaster for the rest of the week.  Switching from 30 to the teens throughout the week.  But we will continue to work our hardest here!

This past week has been fun.  We had exchanges with some Elders in our district which was fun.  Had district meeting as usual and we had some very strange weather that night.  Blizzard like wind and snow for 20 min then it was sunny.  Then switched back and forth for a few hours.  That was some crazy Iowa weather.  I haven't even seen stuff like that before!  Then had church meetings.  We have been teaching a primary class for the third hour for the past few weeks at church.  It has been hard because she tells us at the last min.  But we make do.

Well this week we will be having one more exchange here with our Zone Leaders.  That should be fun because I know the two Elders well.  But hard because we really don't have a lot of stuff to do here in Chariton.  But we will make it work.  Maybe we will go and see a new potential investigator that we have received from the 2nd councilor in the bishopric.  Some of the members here have been just awesome in the past few weeks. 

Well not much besides that.  We are working with our investigators to get them to church here soon.  Our leaders have really pressed on that, which is kind of annoying.  Love you all!  Cant wait to see you all in a few weeks!  Gospel is true!

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

January 13, 2014 - Chariton, IA

Dear Family:

Well it has been a great week in Chariton Iowa!  We have been experiencing very cold weather but now it has all passed.  It has been getting close to 40 for the past few days and it feels great!  We have had two big meetings this past week.  The first was a Zone meeting which was my last one in the mission.  It was sad to think about it but it is time to move on.  We also had interviews with President Jensen and that was great.  He gave both me and Elder Croxall good advice about doing what our bodies can handle.  He is such a great guy and I will miss him. 

Well this past week we also got one new investigator.  She seems like she is interested but mostly in the information.  Not sure if she is expecting to convert.  Hopefully she has that real intent so that she can feel the Spirit confirm to her the truth.  We had a very creepy experience with another investigator.  Elder Croxall had not even met her but we still headed over.  When we walked in we just felt spiritually dead.  It was just very empty feeling.  We asked her questions but she just said yes or no.  When we bore testimony we felt the spirit but then he just disappeared.  We were only in there for about 30 min and that was enough for us.  We will visit one more time and see what some other missionaries think about her.

Which leads me to this next week.  We will be having exchanges Tuesday here which will be good (I hope).  Then we have our usual district meeting and that is about it.  Other then that I am still working hard and doing my best.  Love you all!

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

January 7, 2014 - Chariton, IA

Dear Family:

Well it has been a cold last few days in Iowa!  That is why this email is a little bit late.  Yesterday it was at about -4 all day and the wind chill made it about -30.  So we were told to stay inside most of the day and be careful.  The times that we did walk around outside were not for very long.  The cold here can only be explained one way:  Bone chilling.  Good thing it is a little bit warmer today.  But it will only last for a little while.  We are going to reach 30 by Thursday which sounds like heaven.  It has definitely been colder then last year.

Well I bet you are all wondering where I am right now.  I only moved down south about 30 miles from Indianola to a place called Chariton.  It is a little town of about 4,000 people.  It is part of a large ward that meets in Osceola.  Takes about 30 min to go to church but it is all good.  My new companion is Elder Croxall.  He is from Nevada and has been out for about 3 months now.  He is about as quiet as I was when I first started.  We will see if I can bring him out of his shell a little bit.

Well the work is going pretty well here.  They had a baptism two weeks ago to an 18 year old.  They have a large group of people that we are teaching which is good.  We don't have a lot of members that live in town, which is a little hard.  We don't get fed a whole lot but when we do, I hear It is good. 

Well that is about it.  I am looking forward to my last few weeks in the mission field.  It will be sad to leave Iowa but it is time for me to move on with life.  Love you all!  Stay warm!

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

December 30, 2013 - Indianola, IA

Dear Family:

Well greetings from Indianola.  Big news as far as transfers go!  I am going to be closing Indianola for a transfer or two.  Sadly we once again dont have a lot of Elders coming in so we need to close a few areas.  So I will be spending my last transfer in a new area.  It is a little exciting but I am feeling kind of empty that I need to close another area.  Hopefully I wont need to do it again with the time I have left to serve.  So next time I send an email I will be in a new place!

This last week it has been a lot of fun to have skyped the majority of my family!  Sadly I have forgotten most of the names of all the little ones so I will need to refresh my memory when I get back home.  But it was a lot of fun to do that for the last time.  After that the weather started to warm up for the weekend and then yesterday it got really cold.  We are told it will be cold for the rest of the week and maybe a little snow will be coming.

So we have a big next three days coming with packing and cleaning.  Hopefully we will be able to say goodbye to some people as well.  Well I will let you all know where I end up.  Love you all!

Sincerely;
Elder Spencer Ariotti

December 23, 2013 - Indianola, IA

Dear Family:

Well I give you a snowy and cold greetings from Indianola Iowa.  It is about 2 degrees outside and will be getting even colder tonight.  And it snowed about 6 inches Saturday night and Sunday morning.  Yesterday church was canceled because of the snow so me and my companion went out shoveling snow all day.  My back, knees, and feet are killing me right now but it felt good to do that for people. 

Well other then that it was just a normal week.  We had exchanges with the Zone leaders this past week and that was fun.  Not much happened with Investigators since everyone was out and about doing christmas stuff.  And this next week we will be trying to visit families and bringing that Christmas spirit into the home.  There is a new mormon video out that captures perfectly what christmas is all about. 

Well that is about all for this week.  Hopefully we will be having a great christmas here.  And merry Christmas to everyone in the west!

Sincerely;
Elder Spencer Ariotti