A really special part of baptism is receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Having its companionship is really the way we can walk with a newness of life!

January 30, 2017 

  This week was great! When I look back it seems like nothing happened and it was slow but when I actually think about it quite a bit happened. This week started with an exchange with the Pescara Anziani, it was really good! I was in my area with Anziano Hansen who is a greenie, so that was interesting. Haha it was actually really cool to see just how far my Italian has come! It was a successful scambio. We were able to teach and have great conversations on the street. It was kinda difficult to do all the talking myself and not being able to ask my comp for words haha but it was all good! 

  Yesterday night we had a cool experience from following the spirit! We just had a lesson and were on the way home, when we were about 2 min away from our door and I saw that it wasn't 9:00 yet I said, we need to stay out till 9.  If we wanted to do more finding it was about a 20 minute walk and we didn't have time for that. So we were stuck with finding something to do near our house but it was dark and cold so no one was out. Then a name popped into my head, Giorgio! Giorgio is an old investigator who has worked with the missionaries a bit before I was here and he lives close to us. So we decided to go to his apartment and ring him. His wife (who didn't like the missionaries before) answered the door and was very friendly with us but said that Giorgio was at work. So we were bummed, but then remembered that he also worked close so we walked over to where he works. The gate was locked but the lights were on so we walked around the side to see if we could see anyone and we saw him outside but then he walked inside so I started calling his name for him to come out but he couldn't hear, so that was a bummer. We wanted to check the gate on the opposite side of where we were so we walked over there and it was open! We finally got to talk to him and he was really excited to see us! We started talking just to see how he was doing then he started talking about when he took the lessons and he said that he has been missing the missionaries lately and their message! So he was really happy that we came and we are going to meet this week! So we are pumped for that. Giorgio owns a soccer/tennis campus and rents his fields so he's really into sports just like me, we connected pretty well! I'm pumped to see where the Lord takes this! I'm so happy to have his hand in this work and the Holy Ghost to lead me; if it wasn't for them we wouldn't have had this sweet miracle last night!

  Speaking of the Holy ghost, this week our investigator Silvano was baptized, confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and given the Gift of the Holy Ghost! It was truly an amazing experience for everyone! Silvano just has an awesome testimony and great faith in Jesus Christ, it's so amazing to see and be part of bringing a soul unto him! When we met with him yesterday he said he can really feel the difference from having the Holy Ghost. Hearing his testimony just makes mine grow so much, a really special part of baptism is receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. Having its companionship is really the way we can walk with a newness of life! Being a missionary is just awesome and I love it!!

  I hope everybody has a great week finding more joy through serving out Lord! Thank you all for the prayers we feel them!

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Ruiz 

Where you baptize someone if you don't have a baptismal font or even a church building because your town only has about 10 or so members in it.
- In a portable font in the missionaries apartment! 

Anziano Ruiz had the privilege of baptizing

 Sylvan Reno Mbenza Miangua!

Dinner while on scambio (exchanges with other missionaries)

 with Anziano Hansen.

When we serve, we grow a greater capacity to love others, develop more selflessness and gain Christ like attributes

January 23, 2017   

  Man this week was a crazy one! So Monday night it started snowing/raining and it didn’t stop till about Friday so we have had only about a foot a snow but so much rain! So a good week of wet feet! We also had quite a few earthquakes this week and pretty big ones! The first one happened while I was shoveling snow to make a walk way to the other parts of our apartment. We live right next to the train tracks so we heard something and felt the ground shaking a bit and thought it was a train but after a second everything started shaking pretty hard. The next couple were while we were at a Store called Globe looking for snowshoes. The second earthquake hit hard! It was just so loud, people yelling, running in every direction, and everything was shattering and falling off the shelfs, it was definitely a frightening experience. Then a couple more hit while we were there. After my companion got shoes (they do not have my size) we went over to have pronzo and a lesson with a nonmember family and they were super awesome!  They made some really good food too. So the mom, Gabriella, was a referral from our awesome member Andraya!  We haven't taught her all of the restoration yet but we gave her the pamphlet. While we were preparing pronzo we started talking about the Restoration and her daughter (28ish) asked the mom what it was and Gabriella explained the restoration pretty much perfect to her daughter! It was super cool. We talked a little about eternal families and it was good! There was also another pretty big earthquake while we were at their house haha.

  Because of the snow this week we had the opportunity to do a lot of service and that was super awesome! We stopped to help some people get their cars unstuck and that was really fun it just feels so good to helping people! So if you ask people in Italy if they want some help they'll usually say no. So I tried a new approach and it worked! I just go to them and say "hey! I can help you!" then take the shovel out of their hands and start shoveling haha so I'll remember that for whenever the next opportunity comes! 

  So this week I was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting and I was pretty nervous to speak for so long in Italian but it was actually good! I decided to talk on service because I did a little extra of that this week. While I was studying for the topic it really hit me how important this point is! If we look at the life of Jesus Christ and strive to follow his perfect example we will find ourselves serving all! The mission has really grown my testimony on service, when we serve, we grow a greater capacity to love others, develop more selflessness and gain Christ like attributes. My life right now is dedicated to serving others and I really haven't been happier. When I look at my 2 year service it's not a loss of two years at all,  but an opportunity of an life time and a lifetimes worth of lessons. I am so great full for the opportunity to be set apart as a full time missionary, it is really such a blessing. And it is just amazing to see the Lords hand in his work.

  I hope you all have a great week and stay safe! Thank you always for all the love prayers and support!

Vi voglio bene! 

Anziano Ruiz 

Lots of snow this week!

Earthquake devastation in Ascoli Piceno. 

This is the 5th series of earthquakes since Roman has been in Italy. He has always been over 100 miles away from the center of them each time but has always felt them. 2 out of the 5 have caused fatalities. 

 Anziano Ruiz- loving the Italy Rome Mission

Ascoli Piceno at night

This is truly Gods work! We see his hand in it every day!

January 16, 2017

 This week was good and very quick! We did a lot of traveling this week with exchanges and zone conference! So Wednesday night we went over to Pescara to do an exchange then Thursday night we left from there to Rome for zone conference, then Friday night we were back in  Ascoli doing some good  ol’ missionary work! It was good.

  This week we had a lesson with Silvano and just talked about baptism and it was super good he really wants to get baptized but is a little hesitant about it. So we talked about a date and during the lesson told him that we don't want to make him choose this date but that he should seek help from God. At the end of the lesson he gave a beautiful prayer thanking God and asking him if this was the right date from him. After the prayer he said that he felt really relaxed and then told us to invite Vescovo Teodosi to the baptism on this date! We were really happy that he is learning to have so much faith and for his decision to be baptized! It's amazing to think of the change that I have seen in his life in just this short time that we have been meeting. It's just a testimony builder to me of how much happiness that comes from applying the gospel of Jesus Christ to your life. 

  Zone conference was great we talked a lot about the Holy Ghost and its influence on the work. There were a lot of sweet mission stories told and it was over all good! It's interesting that we talked about this because that's something that I have been focusing on lately and really just all through my mission. It's cool because there is so much you can learn just from one aspect of the church. Growing up with knowledge of the gospel you don't always realize how special the Holy Ghost it. A mission goal for myself is I want to follow the promptings of the spirit 100% and really just let God guide me in his work. There have already been so many miracles from this goal. I just know the Holy Ghost is so real. I have felt it before it has manifested truth to me and because of it I have the knowledge that we are all children of God and he truly loves us like a perfect father.

  This is truly Gods work! We see his hand in it every day! Thank you all for all the prayers love and support. I hope you all have a great week!

Vi voglio bene!

- Anziano Ruiz 

Rome East zone

 roman.ruiz@myldsmail.net

Anziano Roman Ruiz

Missione Italiana di Roma

Piazza Monte Gemma, 9

00141 Roma Italia

Miracles come when you follow the spirit!

January 9, 2017 

  This week has been great as always! It has also been very busy with missionary work and that is awesome! Also it snowed this week so that was awesome! It was coming down super hard at times but didn't really sick so we ended up with maybe 4 inches it was enough to make me really happy though! 

   We had some lessons with Silvano this week and they were great as usual! We taught the law of tithing and of the fast and it was so good. Its cool on the mission when you teach something then in the lesson you realize how good that thing is and how many blessings come from it. While we were teaching I was thinking of my testimony and realized that it was very strong on these two commandments! A phrase has been starting to pop in my head a lot and it's so true. "The bigger the sacrifice, the bigger the blessing" this applies to so much in life.

  Silvano also came to church loved it! He learned so much and during our lesson later that night he kept referring to church, how it went, how much he learned and the spirit there! In that lesson he mentioned his desire to be baptized and said that he is preparing every day for it! He also told us his story of how he started meeting the missionaries and just how everything worked out. It's just so cool to see the plan that God has for people! His first contact with the missionaries was in 2014. His testimony is amazing to hear and to see the change in his life these past 2 months just brings so much joy!

  We also had another miracle this week! We were waiting for an investigator to show up and we decided to go out and wait for him and he wasn't there so then we just started walking around talking to people and giving out English course cards and there was a guy about to cross the street and so I thought “nah, he's crossing the street I don't need to talk to him, but as I got closer I felt like I should stop him so I did and he seemed interested! Then the next day we got a call from him asking how to get to English course and so we were super excited. After English course we had a super good spiritual thought and everyone stayed after the prayer to continue talking. During the conversation I asked Silvano how he has seen his life change ever since he started meeting with the missionaries and he gave a really awesome testimony. Leonardo accepted to have us over the next day to teach his family and it was awesome! We are so excited to continue helping them. Miracles come when you follow the spirit! 

  Thank you all so much for your prayers I really see them.  This week was awesome, I hope you all have a great week!! 

Vi voglio un sacco di bene!!

-Anziano Ruiz

Our apartment- the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Anziano Ruiz and Anziano Farinotti