August 13, 2012 - Canton, IL

Dear Family:

 

Big news everyone.  We got the family that we where teaching back!  Monday night Pres. Jergensen gave us a call and told us what to do for them.  Tuesday we traveled to there home and asked if we could talk.  They happily let us in and explained some of the things they where concerned about.  We found out that the wife of the family had looked at some Anti-mormon information and was concerned about it.  We are still talking about how to address it but they still want to learn from us.  We also got another investigator just yesterday.  We where visiting our other branch we are in charge of and one of the part member families pulled us aside.  The father of the family wants to learn and be baptized.  Turns out he has really thought about it and really wants it.  We will only be able to visit him every once and a while because of miles but we will begin teaching him.

 

So that is about it.  I also gave a talk yesterday about Faith and obedience.  Surprisingly many people like it and commented a lot.  Other then that we have just been visiting less actives and getting them reactivated.  It has been cool in the area for the past week but we have been warned that it will be getting hot again this week.  Ok.  Now that is about it.

 

As usual I love you all and love to recieve letters from everyone anytime.  I know that this Gospel is a life changer and really does bless lives!

 

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

August 6, 2012 - Canton, IL

Dear Family:

Well it has been another week in Illinois.  The heat has been more berable and I have survived.  We actually recieved our first five minuits of rain last Saturday.  It was long awaited and we are happy that we got at least a little bit of rain.  Other then that we have just been doing our best.  The family that decided to put us on hold still have not moved much.  We are just constantly praying for them and hope that they will soften there hearts to know that there family will change.

In other news we had a missionary couple that use to serve in the area a few years ago come to visit the branch yesterday.  We had so many members come that day.  Elder Pass said that he has never seen so many people in this building before.  We had a Break-the-Fast potluck after church and we had a great time talking with the members and getting to know them.  This coming week we have decided to spend a lot of time finding new investigators.  We are really desperate for new people to teach. 

That is all I have to report on.  Sorry it is not very long this week but not a lot really happened.  I just hope that we can find someone new to teach this week.  We have some extra time on our hands since we had to drop that one family.  Keep me and Elder Pass in your prayers as we go out finding this week.  Love you all and love this Gospel!

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

July 30, 2012 - Canton, IL

Dear Family:

Hello everyone!  It has been another warm week in Canton.  It has cooled down and has not been as hot as it has but I can still feel it getting to me.  This past week we have been having a great time teaching this non-member family.  Last Tuesday we gave a church tour and also talked about the restoration of the gospel.  We fasted all day and had a really spiritual lesson.  There only problem is that if they join there family will cut them off completely.  They where Jehovah's Witnesses but they left that church and the family did not like that.  We had another lesson on Thursday and that went well.  We talked about the Holy Ghost and going to the temple.  They really liked it and had a really great discussion with them.  They seem like they already accept the Gospel they are just lacking in the courage to join.  We will be teaching them again on Thursday so we have plenty of time to think about what we want to teach them next.

Well that is all I have to report on.  Glad to hear that Andrews party went well.  Cant wait for that letter from Grandma.  Let everyone know that I love getting letters as well if they can afford it.  Well that is all I have time for.  Love everyone and Love this Gospel!

Sincerely;
Elder Spencer Ariotti

July 23, 2012 - Canton, IL

Dear Family,
Well it has been another week in Illinois.  It has been great getting to know the area.  I have also had the amazing opportunity to go to Nauvoo last Wednsday!  It was such an awesome experience.  I saw the Jarmens there as well!  We went to a bunch of the tours there of the houses.  Whent to the Young home and really felt a great spirit in that home.  Got plenty of things to show you guys.  I took plenty of pictures as well.  Cant wait to show them to you!  I also took some videos of the pageant and the bagpipe band that was there.  The little play they did was just amazing.  The music was great and it was really nice to learn more about Nauvoo and what history it has.

Let everyone know that I do love Emails but I also love letters as well.  Send some pictures of the parade when you can!  I love you all and I do know that this Gospel is true and that is why I am out on a mission sharing it with everyone!

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

July 16, 2012 - Canton, Illinois

Dear Family:

 

Big news:  I am in Canton, Illinois!  My new companion is Elder Pass.  He has actually served in Mt. Vernon before me.  We talked a lot about what has changed in the area and had a great time talking.  I am also an hour away from Nauvoo and will actually be going to the pageant this Wednsday!  I am way excited about this and will take plenty of pictures.  Well to give you some information about my area I am about an hour west of Peoria.  It is a nice area.  It is still a little humid in the area and is still causing me some grief.  I am in charge of missionary work for two branches that are close together.  So far we have been doing a lot of driving to get to our destinations.  It was about two and a half hours to get to Peoria and then an hour to Canton to our appartment.  We drove an hour to get to our district meeting and will need to drive an extra hour out on some weeks.  We need to drive a half an hour to get to our other Branch area.  It is a little hard to sit for that long but at least I am cool.

 

Well so far I have met a few members of the branches.  They are both small and have an average of about 30 people in church per week.  They all want new members and are willing to help.  They for some reason don't like to feed us too much so we will be eating at our appartment for most of the time.  We mostly spend our time talking to less actives.  We do have some potential investigators but they are hard to get a hold of.  So far I like the people.

 

In other news I have said goodbye to two Elders that I have befriended in my last district.  One is from Holiday, Utah and his name is Elder Webb.  Another is Elder Melling and he is from Cedar City but he will be coming up to Salt Lake for school.  We are also expecting 18 new missionaries to come in for this next upcoming transfer meeting!  I may end up in a car share which will be hard but we still will be getting more missionaries.  Well that is about all that I have to report on.  I will send you guys some pictures soon and will take plenty while I am in Nauvoo.  Love you all!

 

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

7/9/2012 Mt Vernon

Hello everyone!  Hope this last week has gone well for you as it has for me.  This last week it was in the 90s or above.  We had a little bit of rain but not much.  It was still humid and that only made it worst.  We did a little bit of service and helped the city with their antique festival on the fourth.  It was hot all day and we had exchanges with two other Elders that day.  We mainly walked around and handed people free waters.  It was awesome to see how happy people were when we gave them a water.  I completely drenched my shirt in sweat and so did a nother Elder and we all went to the apartment and took cold showers.  It was a lot of fun.  We also went on exchanges with the ZLs and helped the rest of the Cedar Rapids Elders with their service.  We worked at the Habitat for Humanity service place and helped with their grand re-opening.  We also helped them with packing up some stuff to send to kids in Africa.  So that is pretty much it.  We did some work but mostly tracted our area.  Didnt see much success but at least we still did our job.  I also found out I am being transfered this Thursday!  I am really excited and can't wait for that.  I will let you all know where I am next week!

July 2, 2012 Mt. Vernon

Hello everyone!  It is getting hot in Iowa!  The temperature has been in the 90's all week and the humidity has been in the 50%'s.  When you have the humidity above 50% it is hot every where you go and you feel like you are walking through water.  I have not overheated at all and I dont plan to.  I have been hearing about those fires in Utah and am glad everyone is safe.  We have been having some fires of our own in some nearby houses.  Nothing to seriouse and no one has died.  On Friday evening we had a big storm pass over us.  That storm we had at the end of last year with those giant winds, those are the kind of storms that happen a lot in Iowa.  The thunder I heard was earth shaking and the wind and rain was just crazy!  We actually got grounded into our appartments for the night because it was so crazy out there.  They say that this is the price that people have to pay to live in heaven.
We did help a less active with removing some old carpet in his trailer home and that was disgusting.  He has three dogs and one of them is a little chihuaua (hope I spelled that right) and it has a small bladder.  We also helped a part member family with some gardening this past week.  As far as lessons go we had one good lesson with this part member family that we are trying to get reactivated and baptized.This next week the one exciting thing going on is on the 4th of July!  We actually have exchanges planned for that day with the district leader and we are also helping with the city antique festival for the day.  We also have a nice member dinner planned so that is way exciting.  It will be nice to get a little help for a day and to have some different people to learn from and teach with.  We also have a heratage day festival this saturday and we are helping with family history that day.  After that the city has a firework show going on so that will be a lot of fun!

Here is a quote I have from an Elder in my district that will be leaving for home in a week:

 

"Be excited to share the Gospel!"

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti