December 31, 2012 - Clinton

Dear Family:

 

Well it has been another week in Clinton.  It has been rather crazy.  The baptism last Thursday went well.  She was definately ready to be baptized.  I bring good news: we acomplished the goal of 400!  We were short about four but thanks to our little miracle and a few others we were able to reach the last 4 and complete our goal.  It is so great to know that God does answer prayers and that he loves all of us.  It was a great testimony builder for me and I am so grateful for that.  Well today is my companions birthday and we are in Geneseo so we could spend some time with the Elders there.  Today is our P-day and since it is new years eve we need to be in by 6 tonight so it is basically a free day for us.

 

Well sorry this is so short.  I dont have much time left so I will say a little bit more next week.  Love you all and I do hear your prayers.  Have fun with the new year and be sure to set some good reachable goals.

 

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

December 22, 2012 - Clinton

Dear Family:

Well this is a surprise early email.  We found out that the library will be closed on Monday which is when we usually go to email so we are emailing on Saturday.  Well these past three days have been crazy.  On Wednesday we went to Davenport to go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders which was fun.  The next day we had planned to have the other pair of missionaries come to Davenport to have District meeting with the Zone Leaders.  However we got word of a blizzard warning for the next day so we decided to wait until in the morning to decide if we would cancel.  In the morning we looked out and it was raining and was very windy but nothing bad so we told the Geneseo Elders to come to Davenport.  Well, during their drive it started to snow and blow hard.  We were then told that all missionaries were grounded because of the weather.  So we had 6 Elders in one apartment and only four of them had supplies to stay the night.  Also one of the Geneseo Elders is diabetic and did not bring any extra stuff with him to keep him alive.  We decided to have District meeting in the apartment and then decide what we would do.  We made the decision to have us and the Geneseo Elders go to Geneseo and stay the night.  There home was closer then Clinton and it would be easier to do that instead of having 6 Elders stuck in an apartment.  So we went to Wendy's to have lunch and then we got a miracle call.  We are also in charge of another area called De Witt because of the shortage of missionaries.  Well they had a 18 year old girl that was learning from them and was ready to be baptized but her father said not until after college.  Well just recently her fathers heart softened and he said that she could be baptized on the 27th which is her birthday.  So we got this call saying all this information.  We gave President a call after that and he said that as long as we get to review with her we could meet with her two times before the 27th and have an interview and we could get that baptism.  It was an answer to our prayers for 400!  After that we made our journey to Geneseo.  So we made a hour long drive in the blizzard on a drive that normally would have been twenty.  We saw large trucks stuck in ditches on the highway.  It was terrifying.  I finally knew how the people in the Book of Mormon felt after they were in bondage to the Lamanites and told not to pray so they kept a prayer in there hearts.  After we got to the Geneseo apartment we just sat around and played Star Wars Risk and monopoly because of the weather.  Then in the morning we headed back to Clinton after it warmed up a little bit.

Yep, that's all that has happened this past week.  Well we did make fudge on Monday to send out to the members.  But lets be honest, the Blizzard story is far more interesting.  In other news I will be calling on Christmas Day in between 2:30 and 4:00.  I have been told to keep it around 45 minuets.  I would love to talk to everyone but that will be hard.  Everyone is more than welcome to come over and talk with me for a little bit.  Little kids included.  I will be calling the home phone so be prepared when you see an Iowa number on the phone.

Thanks to all that have already sent me gifts and those gifts that are on there way.  It is great to know that I have family that is willing to send me gifts.  I don't have much to give in return but my gratefulness and my testimony.  I do know that God and Jesus Christ both live.  I know that this is His work that I am doing right now.  I am so grateful that I have a family as great as you guys that support me.  Love you all!

Sincerely;
Elder Spencer Ariotti

December 17, 2012 - Clinton

Dear Family:

Well it has been another week in Clinton, Iowa.  It is continuing to get cold here and very gloomy but no snow so far.  We are told to expect some very soon in the area.  We have not been able to see much success from missionary work this past week.  The excommunicated member we are trying to help quit smoking has not been doing well.  He has relapsed multiple times this past week and last time we talked to him he was contemplating stopping his meds so that he could be miserable.  Keep him in your prayers.  Not much else happened.  This coming week should be good since we have some appointments with investigators that we have not contacted in a while.  The mission is up to around 365 for this year.  We have two more weeks to do this.

Well I am not really sure about what time we will be calling you guys on Christmas.  I will give you an exact time next week in my Email.  Hopefully it will not be too late to let you all know.  I have received packages from Mom and Dad and also the Burris family.  We do not have much planned for Christmas.  We will try to visit some members on that day.  Hopefully we will be able to figure that out because contrary to some people belief, missionaries are not very welcome on holidays.  Thanksgiving day me and Elder Barson learned that the hard way when we set aside an hour to go knock on some doors.  Nothing was thrown at us but we did get almost all doors slammed in our face.

Well this is about all that I have time for.  Thanks for all that every one does for me and I appreciate the prayers that are said.  I pray for all of you every time I get the chance.

Sincerely;
Elder Spencer Ariotti
400 for 2012!

December 10, 2012 - Clinton

Dear Family:

Hello from Clinton, Iowa!  It has been getting cold here and we here it will be staying this way for the rest of the year.  We have been seeing some snow flakes but nothing is sticking to the ground.  The work here has been going.  We are taking care of two areas since we had to close an area that is next to us.  We went there last week and found someone that the missionaries had been teaching but they lost contact with him.  He still wants to be baptized and is willing to change everything that he needs to.  We also contacted a referral that we had received not to long ago.  She seems like she could become interested and wants us to bring a Bible back with us next time.  She also accepted a Book of Mormon from us.  Now back to the area of Clinton.  Work has been slow.  We have been visiting a excommunicated member and his less active wife and have been trying to get him to come to church.  He finally came yesterday and will be visiting with the Branch President this week to talk about becoming a member again.  Yesterday he began the quit smoking workshop and is still doing good.  He does have some anger issues and will need all the prayers he can get.  With another investigator we have been having a hard time getting in contact with her so we sent a letter to her saying that we are going to stop coming if she does not want us to talk to her again.  She called last night and set up an appointment for Wednesday to meet with us and begin learning again.  We also have been able to find a less active member that has disappeared from the area for a year but has been found by a home teacher.

So as you can see this last week has had its ups and downs with missionary work but it has overall ended great.  This next week should be felt with much promise as we find out if our excommunicated member is ready to learn from us again and if he quits smoking.  We also have found out our goal for this coming year as a mission.  President Jergensen has prayed and feels that the goal of 550 is the Lords inspired goal.  It will be a stretch but with the increase of missionaries that we will be getting this next year in the mission we will be able to do this for the Lord.  This goal has helped the current missionaries with their faith already and I feel that we will be able to do this.  That is with as much praying and as much faith as everyone can give.

The baptismal count so far this year has reached up to 345.  We have 55 more to go in these next three weeks.

I love you all and I pray for you every night before I turn in.

Sincerely;
Elder Spencer Ariotti

December 3, 2012 - Clinton

Dear Family:

 

Well it has been a great week in Clinton!  We had a Baptism this weekend!  Remember that 16 year old that had a date that I told you all about?  It was a great Baptism and it was done by his father.  They have a great family and I can tell that Chris will be a great missionary when the time comes for him.  We also had a death happen in the Branch this past week.  I did not know the man that died but the members spoke very highly of him.  They said that he always had a smile on his face even thought he had to deal with constant pain and had to deal with the fear of having seizures.  There was a great spirit that was in that meeting.  The great news is that he was sealed to his parents in the temple a few weeks ago so he is probably the happiest person in the Spirit World right now. 

 

Other then that the work has been going very slow lately.  Our investigators have not been answering our calls at all and the people that we want to visit with are to busy.  And that chinese family is gone for the rest of this week for the funeral of there Grandfather.  We will continue to do our best though.  We are up to about 330 Baptisms for our mission goal of 400 for those that are woundering.  These next few weeks will determine if we will reach our goal before the end of the year.  President Jergensen has asked us to continue in Faith that we may be able to reach our goal.

 

Well that is about it for this week.  Love you all and I keep you all in my prayers everyday.

 

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

November 26, 2012 - Clinton

Dear Family:

Hello from Clinton, Iowa!  It has been a great week since I had a mission tour and thanksgiving all in one week.  The mission tour with Elder Clarke was very good and he made several promises to us that are truly inspired.  Thanksgiving was a good day as well.  I had three dinners and they were all very good.  I could not move at the end of the day.  We also had a miracle happen on Friday.  We had a zone meeting that day in Clinton and we went to a chinese buffet for lunch.  When the Elders got inside they were greeted by a lady that was very happy to see them.  She then invited them to come to her home with her family to pray with them.  They recently lost a family member and are Christians.  We were able to go teach them but we had to go at 10 pm with a senior missionary couple.  The lesson went very well.  They had about 11 people there and all but one spoke English.  The grandma was the only one that spoke only mandarin.  We were able to teach them about the Plan of Salvation and help them realize that they will be able to see there grandpa again.  They will be going to New York for the funeral and wont be back until the 9th.

While we were waiting for the family to get there we were able to sit and listen as the Grandma of the family sang a church song in Mandarin.  It was very confusing but also very beautiful to listen to.  Well that is about it.  I would just like to take this time to say that I know that the Plan of Salvation is real.  It is one of the many things that I love about this church.  I know that it is something that has blessed us all and can help many others that have lost a loved one, especially children.  I love you all!

Sincerely;
Elder Spencer Ariotti

November 19, 2012 - Clinton

Dear Family:

Greeting from Clinton, Iowa!  Clinton is located north of Davenport, Iowa or east of Mt. Vernon, Iowa (my first area).  It is also next to the Mississippi river.  It is a nice place and a nice Branch.  They have a young man that will be getting baptized December First.  He is 16 years old and is just a nice guy.  The Branch has been growing a lot lately.  They are even considering making it a ward soon.  Our area also goes into a little bit of Illinois.  My new companion is Elder Barson.  He is from Lehi, Utah.  He has been out 13 months and this is his first time being senior companion.  Really exited about serving here.  We have a nice sized teaching pool.  Some of the investigators are having a hard time because of life stress.

Well there is not much else to say since I have only been here for 4 days.  Looking forward to Thanksgiving this week.  We will be eating with some members that have invited us.  We will also be having our mission tour tomorrow.  This is when a member of the seventy comes into the mission to give us some advice and to teach us.  We will be having Elder Clarke speaking to us so it is really exciting.  Well that is about all that I have to report on.  Love you all and the Gospel is true!

Sincerely;
Elder Spencer Ariotti