Anziano Ruiz in the Italy Rome Mission: "All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ."

March 6, 2017

Well this week flew! Today is the 8 month mark which is super crazy to think of. I'm already 1/3rd of the way done! Just crazy.

This week started with a scambio with Anziano Daniels in L'Aquila which went super well! Anziano Daniels is a greeny so it was pretty cool to be able to help him out and teach him some of the things I've learned since I’ve been out. They have this guy, Andrea, that they have been teaching for quite a long time now and I had a chance to teach him! The missionaries have been trying to help him to read and pray every day, but he's had a very hard time. So that was the goal for our lesson. We were able to apply some of the principles that we learned together during the 12 week missionary training program and have a great lesson. I heard back a couple of days later from Anziano Daniels and he told me that Andrea read and prayed! So that was a sweet blessing we saw from that scambio. We also did some service and worked this big kitchen with a bunch of Italians making food for the homeless, that was really cool!

This week we had the lesson with the group of elderly people and it was sweet! So we went with a couple of members for help because we were expecting to have a hard time filling a whole hour of time about the gospel. But we should have known better! We had a hard time fitting the lesson in and ended up going like 30 minutes over! Haha, they all had so many questions about such random aspects of religion haha. But we funneled it all back to the Restoration and ended up teaching a great lesson and bearing testimony. The spirit was so strong it was such a great feeling. After the closing prayer we asked who wants a "Book of Mormon?" And everyone raised their hand! We gave out our whole big box that we brought. It was really cool, there were people that just went back to their seat and started reading. There were also a lot of people that came up to us after and didn't have words to explain what they felt and all they could say is that there was so much light coming from us, it was so cool. It's amazing what work the lord does in helping his servants preach the Restored gospel. I can't wait to see the fruits that will come!

Missions are full of cool experience! Last night we went with a member to teach a lesson and he brought us to a Friar/exorcist.. haha it was interesting teaching a lesson in a big catholic church!

Today for Pday, it was fun, we went and played tennis again and I'm actually getting pretty good so that's sweet! After tennis we played volleyball with the high school students and that was super sweet! They all really like us and keep telling me they want to come to Washington with me when I go home haha I think they still don't understand I'm from Washington State not DC.

This week I had a neat experience with the Atonement. I want to start out with a quote from Peach My Gospel about the Atonement so we can have a better understanding of what it does as we use it “As we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ." (Preach My Gospel p.52) So the Atonement is there not only to cleanse us from our sins but to help us in any way possible. So like I said last week the mission isn't easy. So one point in this week I was frustrated and just feeling down so I decided to turn to the Lord in Prayer and ask for strength from the Atonement. Shortly after as I lost my self in the work I felt completely fine! I had the desire to work and loved it! Now this is a simple experience but I just wanna share it to show that no matter how small or dumb something might seem we can always rely on the Atonement. I know that Jesus Christ not only is ready but is waiting to help us in any situation.

I can't wait for another week and another 16 months our here! I hope you all have a great week!!

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Ruiz

Anziano Parkinson getting a nap in on a Bus ride home

The District