Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 5: 13


Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.

Monday, August 28, 2017

It's been amazing being able to see people accept the gospel so fast and watching as it changes their lives!

August 28, 2018
This week was awesome!  And it flew! We we met a lot with Austin and Moses and had some great lessons with them. We had a pretty cool experience when we were teaching the Plan of Salvation to Austin. We were talking about the spirit world and how all those who did not have the opportunity  to accept the gospel  in this life will have the opportunity to accept it there. Austin's dad grew up in a royal family in Africa and was always taught that there was no God because of the work his father did. As he became an adult he continued in his father's foot steps, had a family but unfortunately died at a young age. He never had the opportunity to accept the gospel in this life and sadly left his kids in the same position. Years after the death of his father Austin started hearing from his siblings and some relatives  (who lived in different parts of the world at this time) that his father was appearing to them in dreams and telling them that they need to give their life to Jesus Christ. From this experience Austin told us that he knows his dad has already accepted the gospel on the other side. It was to cool hearing this story. I know that the plan of salvation is so true!

  Saturday was awesome, Austin had his baptismal interview and will be baptized this coming Saturday! We are so excited for him. Right after his interview we had the baptismal ceremony for Sapele which went great! And it was awesome because Austin and Moses stayed for it. Richard and Peter both gave awesome talks! After the meeting in the church we all went to get into the cars and there were two more of our investigators waiting outside for us! So we piled in the cars and headed off to the Mediterranean sea to perform the baptism. And man that is an experience I will never forget! Peter, Sapele, Anziano Smith and I walking into the sea together. It was a little windy so we got hit by some small size waves haha it was just so so cool! When Austin saw the baptism in the sea he decided he wanted to do the same next week. So that was pretty sweet!  It was a miracle that we had enough cars for all of us to make it to the beach. We'll see how next week goes. 
  The next day in church we had 4 investigators in church and they loved It! It was so awesome! We have been working with so many Africans here in Napoli. It's pretty crazy, they are talking about an African branch here! We are on our way to that. With that being said I do love the Italians so so much. The culture is just amazing and Italy is just beautiful! I am so lucky to be here. 
  Today for pday we took a bus to a little coastal town called Amalfi! It was a good one! 

  This is the last week of the transfer and man it has flown. It's been so awesome being here in Napoli, its a town of great miracles. I can't wait for another week and I hope I get to stay! It's been amazing being able to see people accept the gospel so fast and watching as it changes their lives!

Have a great week

Vi voglio un sacco di bene!

Anziano Ruiz 
Lido di Licola NA, Italy
Anziano Ruiz, Sapele, Peter, Anziano Smith



Amalfi Coast

Pianillo NA, Italy























Praiano SA, Italy







Monday, August 21, 2017

I know that Jesus Christ is our savior and that because of him we can find joy while enduring through the trials of our life!

August 21, 2017

  This week has just been awesome! President Pickerd is back and we had a zone conference, that was good! Sorella Pickerd should be back soon! President Pickerd was also able to interview Sapele for his baptism and he will be baptized this Saturday! So that's sweet!

  This week we got two more referrals from Richard (Austen and Moses )  and met with them Tuesday to teach the restoration! That was really good.  Then had the opportunity to meet with them Saturday night to follow up on their reading of the book of Mormon they said that they have been reading together, then bore testimony to us that it was true! That was so cool. We went on to teach the Plan of Salvation up til the Atonement then invited them to be baptized and they accepted. The lesson was so full of the spirit I was learning and my understanding was deepening of what we were teaching it was just crazy cool. They both want to be baptized and we are so happy for them! 
 So I got a call 2 days ago and answered in Italian like normal and a girl is asking if we are the missionaries from the Naples Italy branch. So I was just like, okay maybe just a tourist. Then she introduces her self as a sister missionary and I didn't catch the name so we start talking, I was assuming that it was just some random sister giving us a referral. I was right, but it wasn't just some random sister!  She's says "is this Elder Ruiz?" And I say yes... and she said this is Sister Haertling!! It took her a few times for me to understand Haha but it was sweet! So that was pretty crazy, it turned out that she had a referral for us. We both just got transferred into our cities so it's just crazy looking at all the logistics of how that happened. It was cool tho, so I talked to Sarah this week over the phone.
  It's been a good week of missionary work and I'm looking forward to another great week! I love the Alma 7:11 "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people" I know that Jesus Christ is our savior and that because of him we can find joy while enduring through the trials of our life! If you want to hear more testimony I invite you to invite your local missionaries over for dinner! They love you. I love you guys and hope you all have a great week!

Vi voglio bene!!

Anziano Ruiz 
Zone conference

We had an American lunch with our ward mission leader. He shops at the American base here so we got a little taste of home. It was neat.

When in Napoli...


This is where I was when I got the call from Sister Haertling!



Some random Piazza I saw while on the bus through town




Pday biking










 So this is the second biggest palace in the world we had a look around for this pday. So all the pictures before this are mostly from here.

Just thought that this was funny and that Cortez would appreciate it!