April 8, 2013 - Davenport

Dear Family:

 

Well it has been another hard working week in Davenport Iowa.  This past week we had a lot of meetings to go to.  Wednesday we meet as a zone to recieve some trainings by the zone leaders.  Thursday we meet as trainers to talk with President Jergensen.  And friday we meet as a district to talk with President Jergensen in interviews.  Then we had General Conference this past weekend.  So it has been a very long and spiritual filled week.  The work is going very well and is speeding up.  One of our investigators is preparing for Baptism on the 27 of this month.  She is very excited and so are we.  We may need to push the day back a little bit because we do need to get permission from her parents to get her baptized and that may take some time to do.  But she seems like she is ready.

 

Well Conference was very good.  A lot of talks about member missionary work which is good for the members out here to listen to.  They have many friends they are just a little hesitant about sharing the Gospel with people.  There where other talks that really stuck out to me about talking with people and helping those that we notice are a little sad.  All the talks were very good though.  We were able to have our two main investiagtors at a session of conference and they both liked it.  It is so great to be able to have inspired leaders that listen to the councils of God.

 

Well this week we should be warming up a lot with the weather.  I think spring is finally here.  We will be working alot this week with investigators and preparing them for baptism so keep them in your prayers.  Love you all!

 

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

April 1, 2013 - Davenport

Dear Family:

 

Well it has been another big week in Davenport Iowa.  The biggest news is that on May fourth we will have a member of the 12 and a president of the 70 in town and they want to have a visit with all the missionaries in the IDMM.  We just found out about this not to long ago so it is very big news.  We also have general conference to look foreward to which is going to be great.  Me and Elder Bankhead this week were able to teach 21 lessons with people which is the most we have ever done together and the most I have ever done in one week as a missionary so far.

 

This past week we set up a date for an investigator to be baptized on April 27.  As long as everything goes well with teaching her she will be baptized on that day.  Her mom is a less active that wants nothing to do with the church so we are hoping that she will not say no.  Other then that we are just trying to find new investigators.  We have a lot of potentials but we are just not able to meet with any of them.  The good news is that we will be getting the car back on wednesday which will be nice.  Riding on the bus is fun but it is so time consuming.  Well spring looks like it may be hear for good.  It is starting to warm up and that is good.

 

Well I had dinner with a member this past week that many of you may recognize.  The last name is Roderick and he says that he lived down the street from us when we lived by Dicks.  When he said that I about died.  He seems like a very nice guy and he is on the high council for the stake.  Anyway I just thought that that was cool.

 

Love you all!

 

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

March 25, 2013 - Davenport

Dear Family:

 

Well it has been another good week in Davenport.  Me and Elder Bankhead have been working our hardest this past week to get the work moving in this area.  We got a new investigator this week.  She is the granddaughter of a member and has expressed interest in learning.  She was unable to come to church yesterday and neither was our golden investigator but it is all good.  We did have two of the Zone leaders Investigators in our church meetings but that does not really count since they are not in our area.  This past week me and Elder Bankhead have been getting really familiar with the bus system in town.  I dont like the bus but my companion loves it.  It is a big headache to do planning at night since we need to figure out which bus we need to take but it is better then walking everywhere, especially in the more darker parts of town.  We have also had more funny experiences with the bus then with the car.  So on our way back home on the bus Elder Bankhead talks to this old black lady and she asks for $5 from him.  He pulls out a $10 and he says that is all that he has and he gives it to her.  Well we got off and Elder Bankhead wanted to eat out so we went to A and W.  After he ordered the manager comes up to the cash register and gives him a discount.  She then looks at him and says:  I heard what happened on the bus.  She had heard from a guy that came in what he did and he got blessed for it!  It was very awesome that it happened to him.

 

Well we will be moving back to riding on the bus this Thursday.  We are hoping that we can work as hard as we did this past week.  It will be hard but with the Lords help I know we can do it.  Everything is just going great.  Love you all and I hope you all take some time this weekend to thank God for the atonement that his son went through.  It is a great and very beautiful thing in this world.

 

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

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