Psalm 118:8 "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."

July 31, 2017 

  This week was great! So last Monday Anziano Parker and I had a sweet p day at Santa Teresa di Gallura. Then later that night we got transfer calls and I found out that I was going to Napoli!!  Napoli is every missionaries dream so I'm pretty dang lucky to be here! I'm serving with Anziano Hyrum Smith. He's in the same group as Anziano Parker which is cool. I've also been asked to be the District leader, that will be really fun. So I've been here for 4 days and I love it so much! The members are sweet, the pizza is the best in the world (literally) and my new companion is awesome.

  So for our last night of finding Anziano Parker and I went singing in the centro of Olbia and that was interesting haha but pretty fun. It was great serving with Anziano Parker I definitely grew a lot those two transfers. And I really grew a great love for Olbia I love all the members there. It was too bad I didn't get to say bye to them; we had planned to do a big dinner together but plans got changed and I had to be on the other side of the island to catch a plane. Transfers can be pretty crazy here. I first took a plane to Rome and from there to Napoli. First thing we did when we got there was get a pizza.... man that was good. My second day here we had probably the best weekly planning on my mission! We set up some awesome goals for this transfer and have solid week ahead of us. We have been seeing miracles already We went finding and were able to teach a quick restoration and set up an appointment for this next Tuesday it was sweet. I'm really pumped to work with Anziano Smith.

  I just want to share a really quick scripture from the Bible Psalm 118:8 "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." It can be easy to put confidence in men weather it be a friend or even yourself.  Maybe the idea of man seems like the right things to do logically but the difference is that that is according to our logic. God has the logic of a God and an eternal perspective that is why we should always trust him, even if we can see in our own eyes the joyfully outcome. I know that we can always trust in the Lord no matter what situation. As long as we stay single to his glory we will always have joy. 

Have a great week! 

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Ruiz

From the Branch President in Olbia-

 "Thank you for sending a wonderful young man on a mission. It's always a pleasure to talk to him with his level of maturity and spiritual strength. He is loved so much here in Olbia and we all will remember him." 

Santa Teresa Gallura, Province of Olbia-Tempio, Italy

Transfer time. Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome, Italy.

 First stop in Napoli to get the worlds best pizza!

View from our apartment in Napoli.

View from our apartment

Some old Ruins

Argued as the best pizza in the world!

It's pretty crazy to see how a little bit out of your day can make such a big difference!

July 24, 2017

  Another transfer in Olbia done! They just keep getting faster! I did a little scambio with Anziano Sellers this week and that went really good, we talked to this guy in the park who was agnostic and it was really cool to be able to help him come a little closer to the light of knowing he has a loving heavenly father! We used a lot of analogies while teaching him and they just came straight from the Holy Ghost, they just worked so perfectly! 

  Church was so awesome yesterday! We have a woman from England visiting for 10 week and she gave  a talk yesterday; So I stood up there with here and translated it into Italian for her and it was sweet. Then after her talk, our African member, John walked in with 9 of his Nigerian friends following him! Haha it was awesome! So then my companion Anziano Parker got up and started translating with the next speaker from Italian to English. Then I did the last talk from Italian to English again! It was super sweet and the spirit was really strong! We taught gospel principles in English then translated all of the last hour into English. We had an investigator in church named Fara, she seemed to really like it so that's good! So two Sundays ago we visited a less active family they are super cool! The mom came to church. They have been visited by the missionaries for years and nothing has come from it. She told us that with Anziano Parker and I they really felt something different, and they talked about it and are now thinking that it is time to come back to church. It was so awesome to hear that because we have been working so hard to build up the church here in Olbia and after months of diligent hard work we are seeing the fruits of our labors! I said the last closing prayer for church and when I opened my eyes our little church was full! Such a great sight to see! 

  We get transfer calls tonight so that exciting! I’m ready for another great transfer! This transfer I studied the Christ like attribute diligence every day and man it has changed my mission! It's pretty crazy to see how a little bit out of your day can make such a big difference! I know that being more diligent is going to help me for the rest of my life! Scripture study is so powerful! 

I hope you all have a great week!

Vi voglio bene!

Anziano Ruiz 

All things in this life are done in his wisdom for us to experience joy.

Pictures from last week

July 17, 2017

  This week was seriously a blink of an eye! We have had some pretty cool experiences. I've been really focusing on finding those who the Lord is preparing here in Olbia. One of the things that preach my gospel says is "God will place in your path His children who are being prepared to receive the restored gospel" and to search for unplanned opportunities to talk to people. So we have been focusing on that this week, and just about everyone that we talked to about the gospel was on the way to other scheduled finding activities. On the way home one day we talked and stopped this guy in the street named Francisco. We thought he was young so we first gave him an English course card and then ended up talking about the restoration, it turns out that he was married and has a little family which is sweet! When he was younger Francisco wanted to become a catholic priest so he went to school in Cagliari. After time he realized that something was not right so he stopped that and stopped believing in the church in General. He seemed really interested in the restoration which was sweet. He told us he had to go to work because if not he'll stay here all day talking. He had our number from the English course card so we weren't able to get his but we really hope to see him around! For now we'll let the spirit work on him. 

  Santo has been in Sicilia for a couple of months now and I called him the other day and he wasn't available but called back the next day and the missionaries were over for pronzo! So that was good to hear. It was awesome talking to Santo, I just love that guy so much. You can even hear the change in the happiness of his voice ever since he got baptized, it's just amazing!

  So this is kinda late but as most if you might know President and Sorella Pickerd had to go back to America for a bit to take care of some health issues. Right now we have a part time new mission President and his wife from Paris, the Euvrards, they used to be over the Miliano mission. I'm not really sure when they got the call to preside over this mission but I'm sure it was a very short notice. They dropped what they were doing and accepted the call to serve! What a great example for us as missionaries, for love of the Italians and faith in the Lord and his will.

  I read a talk from Elder Stanley G. Ellis this week and he said "We don’t have to be lost, confused, deceived, or less effective. This is especially true in the case of our Heavenly Father, who has taught us and shown us not just a way but the way." I just want to bare a simple testimony that we can always feel at home and in warm arm as we look back to the love that our Heavenly Father has for us. I know that God is our father, that he does love us and that all things in this life are done in his wisdom for us to experience joy. This joy comes from following his path. 

I hope you all have a great week!

Vi voglio bene!

-Anziano Ruiz