March 18, 2013 - Davenport

Dear Family:

Well I am doing fine out here in Davenport.  Elder Bankhead is the name of my new companion and he is one of the great 18 year olds that you all have been hearing about.  He is from Malan Idaho and he is the most friendly person you can meet.  He keeps on telling me how shy he was before but he wants to put all that aside and work his hardest.  For the past few days we have been forced to walk because of the car share we are in now but we have been making up for it with knocking on a lot of doors.  The people usually dont answer but that will not stop elder Bankhead.  If someone even closes the door he just goes on to the next house.  In my opinion he is an unstopable missionary machine.

The work is going a little slow.  We were not able to meet with any of our investigators this past week.  With two of our investigators working hard hours it is hard to meet with them.  And our golden investigator is going through a lot of homework right now.  But it is all good.  We will be working very hard to get more investigators and speed up the work in this place.  We will be getting some snow today mixed with some rain and I hear it will be like that for the next few days.  Looks like spring is getting closer though.

Well I love you all and I know this Gospel is true!

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

March 11, 2013 - Davenport

Dear Family:

 

Well there is big news: I will be training a new missionary!  Elder Wilson will be transfered to a different area and I will be going senior companion and will be training a newbie!  We will be getting 30 missionaries this next week and about 3 of them will be waiting for there visas.  This will be a big step for me to take as a missionary but I am confident that I will be able to handle it with the help of the Lord and a lot of prayer.  Other then that the work is still moving on.  We had no investigators at church because of some events that had happened.  We will be visiting with one of our investigators tonight and he said that he would like to talk to us about some things.  We are hoping that he does not want us to stop coming because that means I will have one less investigator to work with of the 2 we are meeting with a lot.

 

The weather is finally warming up.  It has been raining all weekend so most of the snow is gone.  It is however snowing right now but it is probably not going to stick to the ground.  I made it through another time of springing forward.  The only other time change I get to have on the mission will be falling back.  My knee is still doing good and with the snow going away I will probably soon be able to go outside without the brace on. 

 

Well that is about all for this week.  I am getting very nervous for this Thursday.  I hope I get an awesome missionary to train.  It is hard to think that a year ago I was worried about who I was going to be trained by.  It is always weird to think how life was and how it will yet become.  Love you all and I will tell you the details of what has happened next week.

 

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

March 4, 2013 - Davenport

Dear Family:

Well it has been another week in Davenport.  This last Tuesday we had a zone conference at the stake center and were able to be instructed by our great mission leaders.  While this was happening we had a snow storm going on outside around us.  During the meeting we had to make calls to members to see if they could house some missionaries for the night.  It was a little crazy but we were able to get every missionary a place to stay for the night while the storm ended.  Me and my companion had four missionaries in our apartment.  It was nice to be able to get to know them and we were able to play a few rounds of ninja to get out all that energy that we had.  The rest of the week was used walking around because we will now be in a car share with some missionaries in our district.  Two pairs of missionaries got in a car accident and their car will be gone for a few months so we need to share our car until then.  It will be hard because we are suppose to get a few inches of snow today and that means we will be getting more ice.  I am sure that I will be fine thought.

We also had stake conference yesterday and this time it was broadcasted from salt lake and we heard from Elder Oaks of the twelve.  We heard from Elder Christensen and Hawk of the seventy and Sister Reese from the relief society presidency.  The broadcast was to multiple stakes that are in the mid-west.  This was especially good because we had multiple investigators there yesterday.  We had one that usually comes and another brought his family with him.  We were not able to talk with both of them afterwords but we are sure that everyone that was there had a great time and felt the spirit.  The main highlight of the talk from the talks was about missionary work.  The members need to be ready to help the missionaries that will be coming out.  Many wards will be getting two sets of missionaries and they need to make sure that all the wards have work for them to do.

So that is basically the highlight of this whole past week.  This coming Saturday we will be getting calls from President about who will be getting transferred and who will be staying in the area.  I honestly think I will be staying in the area but who knows.  The Lord plays tricks on missionaries sometimes and throws a curve ball at them.  I may even be training this next transfer.  We will be getting around 30 missionaries this next time and that is a lot.  I am not sure if I told everyone this but when president was announcing that we will be receiving a lot more missionaries and many people will be training he looked right at me.  When that happened I was screaming no in my head.  But a lot has happened in the past few months and I think I will be ready for whatever happens next.

Well that is about it for this week.  I will let everyone know if I am getting transferred or if I am staying in the area.  Love you all and stay safe.

Sincerely;
Elder Spencer Ariotti

February 25, 2013 - Davenport

Dear Family:

 

Well it has been another ice filled week in Davenport.  It has rained and snowed a few times this past week and because of how cold it gets at night it has all been turing into ice.  I have of course been slipping around but catching myself before I kill my knees again.  It has been a hard week with missionary work as well.  We could not meet with any of our investigators this week because of school and other things happening in life.  But no worries, life is still good!

 

This coming week we will be visiting with people a lot more.  We have an appointment with an investigator tonight and we will be sharing a movie about Joseph Smith.  He has been struggling with gaining his own testimony of the Book of Mormon and we are hoping that tonight or soon that will change.  The bad news about this coming week is that we will be getting more snow.  I am not looking foreward to the ice that will be coming a long with that.  We will also be spending a lot more time this week finding new investigators and visiting some less actives that the members have given to us.  There are so many less actives in the mid west. 

 

Well I am almost out of things to talk about.  It feels very weird to think that I have been out for about a year in the mission.  A year ago I was in the MTC learning about all these things and now I am teaching it to complete strangers.  I have come a long way in a year.  It will be great to see what changes this next year of my life as I will be turning senior companion and training some 18 year old and maybe going into leadership.

 

Well I love you all and this church is the most true church that we have available to us on this earth.

 

sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

February 18, 2013 - Davenport

Dear Family:

 

Sorry but today is going to have to be a short one.  We have a survice opportunity this morning and I dont have a lot of time.  Work is going well and it is very cold here.  Just last night we got a little bit of snow and slush and it decided to turn to ice.  Very nervous about my knee but I am doing my best to have faith that nothing will happen.  One of our dates that we have is a college student that is getting married to a member.  He has to wait to get baptized in the summer after they get married.  We are trying to make it happen sooner but he is jsut waiting for some prayers.  He is a way awesome guy.

 

Good luck to laura with her surgery on Wednesday.  Keeping her in my prayers as I am with all of you.  Love you all and I love this Gospel and sharing it.

 

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

February 11, 2013 - Davenport

Dear Family:

 

Well to start off there has been a little bit of confusion as to my new area.  If you have not guessed already I will not be going to Canton to reopen it.  There are Elders in Canton now but I am not one of them.  My new area is (drum rolllllllllllllllll, crash!):  Davenport 2nd ward!  Yep I have moved down the street from Clinton.  I am in the same zone just in a ward now!  I am still a little surprised that I am in the same Zone as before.  My new companion is Elder Wilson.  He has been out for 17 months and is from Lehi, Utah.  It has been a great few days meeting the people of Davenport.  Yesterday we had two investigators in church.  For one of those investigators it was his first time in church.  He seemed to enjoy it and he has been befriended well by the members of the Ward.  He recieved help from one of the stake leaders on getting a job for himself.  We had Ward conference as well yesterday and we recieved some great advice from the president for spending time with our families.

 

Well a little bit about the area:  it is another college area.  We have a school called Palmer in the city that is a chiropractice university.  So we have a lot of young couples in the ward that are students at Palmer.  The area that we cover is as big as my other areas which is nice because now I can walk a little bit more and work off this extra weight I have gained.  The weather is trying to warm up.  We hear that it may be getting down to the single digits this weekend but no reports on snow.  We have been getting a lot of wind and rain recently so it is very wet outside.  The district that I am in is great.  One of the Elders that I came out with is in our district so it was fun getting to visit with him.  Elder Barson (my last companion in Clinton)  is not training his best friend from his home town but his friend is in his district that he is now in charge of.  It is still very weird to think that I am still in the same zone as my last area.  Saturday night me and my companion and the Zone leaders helped with a stake valentines dance by serving food.  I saw a lot of the members from clinton there and that was a little weird.  After serving food we sat there as people danced on the dance floor that we had just cleared out.  We got a few funny pictures of four missionaries just sitting there looking bumbed out while everyone around us is dancing.

 

Well there is nothing much else to report on besides that.  I have been enjoying the new area and getting to know people.  The work has been going well and this Ward has a good ward mission leader that has come up with some good ideas to help get the missionary work going.  Love you all and I know that this gospel is true and does change lives!

 

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

February 4, 2013 - Clinton

Dear Family:

Well it has been another week in Clinton.  Big news: I am getting transferred back to Canton!  I don't know if I will be turning senior companion yet all I know is that I am opening up that area to missionary work again.  Elder Barson is staying in Clinton and will be district leader and he will be training a visa waiter.  He has been told that one of the visa waiters is his old friend from back home.  He has been told that he may be training him for however long he is going to be in Iowa.  We have been told that visa waiters can be waiting for either 2 weeks or for longer.  So Elder Barson is very excited about that.

Other then that we have just been packing and saying goodbye to the members in Clinton.  The members here are so great and so very supportive.  I was talking to one of the members last night and saying goodbye and he told me that I was an inspiration to him and his wife and that he will always look to me as a grandson.  I almost broke out into tears at that comment.  It will be hard to say goodbye to all the members here but I must move one and do the lords work in Canton.  I have been told that I should not be there any longer then a transfer.  And this next transfer will be shortened one week because we have new missionaries coming out.  This week we will be getting around 20 missionaries and 9 visa waiters.  There will be more coming especially in the summer with school ending.  I am just glad that I am not yet training.  But my time will come soon.

Well that is about all that I have to report on.  Love you all and I know that this Gospel is true and that this is Gods true church on earth.

Sincerely;
Elder Spencer Ariotti