July 15, 2013 - Fairfield, IA

Dear Family:

Well it has been another great week in Fairfield.  Unfortunately I have heard some interesting news concerning my stay in Fairfield.  I will be transferred this week from Fairfield.  Yep I have only spent six weeks here and the Lord has called me to somewhere else.  Fairfield will actually be changing to a Zone Leader area and Elder Beck will be staying to assist with that.  It was sad yesterday at church when everyone heard I was going away.  This is not something that usually happens to missionaries.  But I am sure there is something I am suppose to do in some other place.

Well this past week, besides getting that phone call, was good.  Nothing very special but it was just a good week.  We meet with a bunch of people and had good times with them.  On Saturday morning we got to help the branch members with a service project.  We painted the side of a less active members home and that was good to do something different.  Well as many of you may have noticed today marks the 7 months until I come home.  It has all really gone by fast.  It is kind of sad but time does that sometimes.

Well I have got a lot of packing to do for this Thursday and a lot of people to say goodbye to.  Hopefully I will only have to do this a few more times.  It is always really hard to do this to people that I have grown close to.  Love you all and this Gospel is true!

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

July 8, 2013 - Fairfield, IA

Dear Family:

Well it has been a great fourth of July week in Fairfield.  The fourth of July was a great day.  We had a branch breakfast that morning so we spent time helping and talking with everyone during that.  Then later in the day we were invited by the branch president son to have dinner with them and some other members of the branch.  It was a very fun day.  Then the other days of the week were kinda hard.  A lot of people were gone because of the holiday and that was hard but we tried to make them as productive as possible.

We had a great time meeting with our new mission president and wife on Wednesday.  They will be great as the leaders of the mission.  I hope everyone had a great week themselves.  It has not been as hot as you guys may have had.  It started to warm up a little bit near the end but it didnt get above 90 very much.  It was a little humid but not to bad so it was very mild.  I remember that last year at this time it was very hot.  It has certainly been a very different summer for me being a missionary.

Well I am glad all is well.  I love you all and I know this Gospel is true!

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

July 1, 2013 - Fairfield

Dear Family:

Well it has been another week in Fairfield.  It has not been as hot as you guys have been getting.  It has been staying around 80 degrees and it is not very humid so it is not as bad as you guys have it. Well this weekend we had the official switch over for the mission president.  We will be meeting President and Sister Jensen on Wednesday for a zone conference so that is exciting.  We will also be having a breakfast with branch members and also other people on the fourth so that will also be very fun for us.  We have been passing out invites like crazy to people so we are hoping that we will get a lot of missionary opportunities with this.

This past week has been a very interesting one.  We had to drive a lot and we also have been giving a lot of blessings to people.  I think I have just doubled the amount of blessing I have been a part of in my entire life with this past week.  But I was able to feel Gods love for people and be able to help them.

Well other then that not much else to say.  We are working our hardest and hoping that we will get some new investigators this week.  Love you all and I know that this Gospel is true!

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

June 24, 2013 - Fairfield, IA

Dear Family:

Well it has been another week in Fairfield.  It has been getting very warm here and humid as well.  Hasn't rained much but last night it was poring and we will be expecting some more today from the looks of it.  It has been very eventful as far as meeting go.  We meet with for the last time President and Sister Jergensen for a goodbye Zone conference.  They spent most of the time giving us advice on questions that we asked.  Then we watched a talk from Elder Holland which was very inspiring.  Then came the difficult part.  We were able to give a hug and say goodbye to them individually.  It was a very hard time for most of the missionaries.  They have helped so many people out here and you could just feel the love in the room.

Well then the next big meeting was last night with the worldwide broadcast.  That was a very special meeting.  We may never get the chance to have something like that happen ever again.  I was very surprised about the announcement for missionaries using the internet more as a missionary tool.  This is something that may be hard for many missionaries to do.  I really enjoyed all of the talks and I am hoping that many people will use the advice given to further the work.  

Well not much else beside that happened.  We are still teaching a lady that wants to meet with us but will not be baptized.  It is frustrating to teach her since she will not progress but she has agreed that she will not argue with us about our beliefs as long as we dont do so with hers.  Other then that we are trying to meet with people that have potential and always looking for new people to teach.  

Well all is well here.  Love you all!  The Gospel is true and the Book of Mormon is the most correct book on the earth.

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

June 17, 2013 - Fairfield, IA

Dear Family:

 

Well it has been another week in Fairfield.  Not much special happened.  No new investigators.  One lady we are trying to meet that shows a lot of promise but we are having a hard time getting a hold of her.  She told us that she wants us to teach her sons and she wants to be baptized.  Well I guess I will give you some info of the area.  Fairfield is mostly famous for the Mahirishi (I killed that one).  They are also known as meditators.  They are way into that and some of the members are way into doing it as well.  They also have a business university that they have.  We have a few members that are going there.  They are very interesting people. 

 

Well this week we have a last zone conference with President and Sister Jergensen.  We will be saying goodbye to them and then in two weeks we will meet again to invite our new president and his wife.  It will be sad to see them go.  But I am looking forward to it.  Well in other news we have been cut down 200 miles for all mission vehicles so we may be walking a lot more this month.  It has all been thanks to the weather that has been happening and the service that has been offered.  We had our own share of the weather this week.  Saturday we had big winds and a lot of rain that hit us.  We helped with a Italian festival in town and were making canolies for everyone while it was storming around us.  We did not get too wet. 

 

Well that is about it for this week.  Hopefully this next week we will have some great stories to tell you all.  Loving the area, my companion, our district, and life as a missionary.  This truly is Gods work on earth.

 

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

June 10, 2013 - Fairfield, IA

Dear Family:

 

Well it has been a very stressfull week of packing and then unpacking.  I am now serving in the Fairfield Branch in Iowa.  Fairfield is south of Iowa City.  It has been interesting serving in a branch so far.  The work for the area is slow for now.  We have maybe two investigators but one of them we are having a hard time contacting.  The branch members are great here.  My companion is a Elder that I served around and was actually once my district leader.  His name is Elder Beck and he is from Alpine, Utah (I think).  It has been great being able to serve with him so far.

 

In our district we have a senior couple that is serving in our area.  And the other members of our district are Hermanas.  I can finally say that I know how the sisters felt during district meeting when they were one of the only two sisters in the meeting.  But the Hermanas we have are great.  We have 3 in one area and two in the other.  This is because of the increase of sisters coming out.  After district meeting me and Elder Beck had the great opportunity to give all of the sisters blessings in the district.  It has been hard for all of them because all of them have not been out in the field for very long.  It was a very good experience.

 

Well other then that I guess the only other thing that is going on is that President and Sister Jergensen are preparing to leave the mission.  It will be sad to see them go but I am excited to have President and Sister Jensen come into the field to lead and guide us.  We will be having a fairwell meeting in a week or so to say goodbye.  Then a few weeks later we will be meeting to invite the new ones in.  I will let you know how that goes when they happen.  Well I love you all and I know this Gospel is true!

 

Sincerely;

Elder Spencer Ariotti

June 3, 2013 - Davenport

Dear Family:

Well it has been a very good week in Davenport.  Our golden investigator Harold Briceland was baptized on the 31st of May and confirmed on the 2nd of June.  It was very fun to see that happen for us.  It was a little bit scary at first because we got to the church a little late so we were behind on filling up the font.  The font normally takes about 7 hours so we need to us a hose which takes it down to 2 and a half hours.  Well we were behind on getting there so we had to haul buckets of water in between the font and the kitchen to get it filled on time.  We did so for about an hour.  Me and Elder Bankhead were very exhausted by the time the baptism started and we were grateful to get it done.  After the baptism Harold said he felt 100%.  This is what it feels like to be baptized.

Other then that we had a normal week.  On Thursday I was in Rock Island doing exchanges and we heard the tornado sirens.  Aparently there was a tornado in Illinois close by.  There was also some strong winds and rain and we were walking in it for about 2 minuits and we were soaked.  There were power lines that fell down in Davenport and it caused a lot of the down town area to be without power.  So that was exciting.

Well we got the calls and I will be transfered.  Elder Bankhead was playing with me for a little bit and made me think that he was leaving.  But transfers are on Thursday and all I know is that I am being transfered.  I will really miss this area.  There are a lot of good people here in this area.  But it is time for me to move on.

Love you all!

Elder Spencer Ariotti