Anziano Ruiz in the Italy Rome Mission: There is always some one than can help and guide us, no matter how lost we might be. That is our Lord Jesus Christ.

January 1, 2018

Last week, sorry I didn't get it off in time.

It's been a good Week! And fast of course! We had a district meeting and Anziano Velardi gave great training! After that we did a scambio which was fun. Back when I was in Olbia I did a scambio with Anziano Velardi and we saw some cool miracles, so going into this we were both pretty pumped to see some miracless and we did so that was fun! We got out and talked to a lot of people about the light the world which in Italian would be Sii Una Luce which actually translates to be a light. Anyway it was cool we talked to this guy who was selling poinsettias. He was super interested, we talked to him about the restoration. He loves prophets and asked me who my favorite prophet was and I told him I thought that Abinadi was pretty cool, he was pretty confused so we taught him about the book of Mormon and he was pretty into it. So that was really cool.

We also met with a girl named Claudia this week with a return missionary from our branch named Lina who served in the Colorado Colorado springs (the same mission as Marcos Tome! She knows him small world) it was a great lesson we all felt the spirit.

Church was good we had just one hour of sacrament and it was really good. There were a lot of people that had like 5 min talks it was cool. Something that really touched me was. How much people talked about service. I feel like you hear so much that without the events of Easter then we wouldn't celebrate Christmas. But it's not only that it's the whole life of Jesus Christ that makes him special. President Monson once said "He lived not to be served but to serve, not to receive but to give, not to save His life but to sacrifice it for others" this is the testimony of why we have Christmas.

This week

This week was great! I feel like so much has happened but I can't really remember what it was haha. We started with another DDM by anziano Velardi in Crotone and it was super good as usual. After that we drove up the Calabria coast for a couple of hours to catch out train to Napoli! It was so good to be back there! I had two pizzas and they were bomb! It was super good to see Anziano Wagstaff again! I'll have to go back here the 10th for some more permesso stuff. On the way up and then back down I had some awesome conversations with people on the train. On the way down Anzaino Bellucci and I got to our seats and there were 6 other people sitting with us I was one one side and he was one the other so I started talking to the people by me and there was this older guy named Mario who started asking all these questions of who we are. So I started explaining to him what we do and and that we share messages of Jesus Christ with people. He must have been pretty interested because he got everyone's attention around us and told them all to listen to me because I was going to teach them. Haha it was pretty sweet I ended up teaching them the whole restoration and talked to them about the doctrine of Christ, they were pretty interested. Mario (the original guy i talked to) asked for a Book of Mormon and wanted me so sign it and write my testimony, it was super cool. I know one day I'll be able to see the impact on his life from it.

Sunday we went on a walk through Centro with our friend Francesco, he's cool and wanted to take us to play some tennis for p-day. There was a huge concert set up for new years and there was like no one out haha. After that we went to visit a member who has been in the hospital for quite a while now. She's from the north so it was a lot easier to understand her haha. We took them the sacrament and it was really cool. They were so grateful. It was pretty loud all night with fire crackers and what but when new years turned, man it was crazy, it was just non stop.

At the start of the new year we all make goals. This next year is going to be filled with lots of big changes for me. I'll finish my Mission and start college, more than ever I'm going to need the Lord's help and guidance. In all moments of life; adversity, temptation, affliction, joy, sadness, happiness there is always some one than can help and guide us, no matter how lost we might be. That is our Lord Jesus Christ. I know that he lives and is with us. In the introduction to the book of Mormon it says that “...a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”. My goal this year is to not miss a day of reading the Book of Mormon. I know that it will guide me so much and that it can guide all of us. I hope you all have a great start to your new year!

Vi vogliamo bene! Buon nuovo anno!

Love Anziano Ruiz

Leaving Cosenza in the morning.

This was our drive along the coast, we got to watch the sun set it was super pretty!

It was super good to see good friends back from Napoli they went crazy when they saw me haha. And of course it was good to see figlio mio Anzaino Wagstaff!

The guy to my side is the master at cutting the cheese! I'm not sure why I haven't sent a picture like this before! There is cheese this big and bigger all over Italy.