Monday, December 26, 2016

Christmas Conference & Such

This week overall was such a great experience for me spiritually and personally. 

Last week when I emailed I was in the middle of the Christmas party for all of the Philippines Laoag Mission. So the 2nd half of the day all 9 zones performed dances coming from different cultures. One of my favorites was the Haka which was performed by the Laoag East zone. But my absolute favorite was my own zone’s, the Gonzaga zone. 

We performed the Samoan Slap dance and we sang some Filipino songs. Our zone just left their hearts on the floor and gave it our all. The rest of the mission laughed and cheered so much for us. I loved being able to perform here. 

During our dance, all of the Samoans joined us and it was just a great and fun dance. Everyone loved it. I really enjoyed that night. I also got to talk a lot to my batch from the missionary training center. Everyone here is always really close to their batch, and my batch is no different. I love seeing them during these, especially since right now I am the farthest zone from everyone. 

The fun experiences were great, but one thing I especially enjoyed was the testimony of Sister Andrada. The next day after that party we had a conference as a mission. It was great overall and there are changes coming to the mission. But when Sister Andrada bore her testimony, it was amazing and beautiful. I loved it so much. She bore her testimony on the power of prayer.

For those of you don't know, her and President Andrada's son died in a car crash in Manilla a month or so ago. He was only 28. When I found out I was devastated. I and many of the other missionaries and families have been praying for her. And that is what she talked about. 

The power of having 180 missionaries and families pray for her, she and President could definitely feel it. That is another thing I realized I loved in this church. Everyone is so supportive, and 180+ people praying for you is so powerful. It strengthened my testimony of prayer. 

Now after these great multiple experiences in Laoag, even though it was really quick, we had to return to our areas as soon as it was over. The bus didn't leave until 8pm Tuesday, so we got back 2:30am Wednesday. Let's just say no one got up on time. 

I got up at 9 and tried to get right to studying. So I studied while everyone still slept, which was okay with me. I am really starting to enjoy studying the Book of Mormon. I wish I realized how great it was earlier. Even at the missionary training center, I had trouble studying it for 30 minutes. Here it's getting a lot better. I still can't read for too long because my eyes start hurting a little, but I studied for an hour and a half 1 day just in Alma, which is a lot for me. 

A Sister from the Manilla missionary training center told me a really cool quote that I enjoy. "The only person you should compare yourself to, is who you were yesterday and who you are going to be tomorrow." I do my best to not compare myself especially when it comes to language or studying, but I am not perfect. Especially with numbers.

So even though my studying is getting a lot better, my will to work wasn't very high, especially since lately our numbers for lessons taught and such haven't been as high, and since my companion is district leader I can see everyone else’s numbers. I tried to not let it affect me that our numbers are lower but it still did. That is something I am currently working on. 

Last Thursday helped me a lot. We taught Sister Janeth. I am not sure what it was about that day. Elder Daclag told me to share something I read in my personal study. I have really come to love Alma 26:37 now, especially here in the Philippines. It talks about how God is mindful of everyone, no matter where they are. 

I shared my little part and the background and Elder Daclag expounded. As he was sharing, I realized how strong I felt the Spirit. Then I realized how much I have been neglecting it for a little while. I was so focused on numbers and the language and the recent party that I didn't even realize how powerful the Spirit is capable of being. 

It reminds me of a quote I heard back at the Provo MTC. "I hope that you never forget to smell the roses, even when you live at the flower shop.”

Through all of my teaching I probably did have the opportunity to feel the Spirit, but I just couldn't feel it as much. It was because I wasn't paying attention to the feeling. I was humbled when I realized this and now my new goal is to make sure I am paying attention to the Spirit I am capable of feeling, or whatever the Lord wants me to feel. 

I didn't realize how distracted I can get with the other aspects of the mission, that I forgot one of the most important. If you're not trying or can't feel the Spirit, how can the ones you're teaching feel it? I have so many opportunities I just need to remember. So one little piece of advice for all of you (especially in Utah ;) ). That even though you live at a flower shop, don't forget to smell the roses. 

This will be a big week because I am getting a new companion! It was actually a pretty big transfer this cycle. From my first cycle here to now, Elder Mortenson, Elder Bermiso, Elder Pongyan and I will be the ones in the zone the longest. 

Elder Mortenson is also getting a new companion (he started the mission the same time as me) so we will both be leading the area and have 2 new Elders in our apartment! I am so excited! Can't wait to tell you all how it's going next week! 

Love you all! Stay true to this gospel!

Elder Espiritu

**You can email Elder Espiritu at joseph.espiritu@myldsmail.net






























Monday, December 19, 2016

Twas the Week Before Christmas

Very fun week! Lots of changes and lots of great things coming! Lots of busy days too. 

Tuesday we ended up staying in the Gonzaga chapel the whole day because we had interviews with President and Sister Andrada. They were great. President Andrada interviewed my zone separate and sister Andrada as a companionship. Sister Andrada definitely makes sure you are following every rule and guideline, which is good. If one line is out of place, she'll be sure to fix it.

Proselyting this week was a little more difficult for me. Our proselyting used to go from 8-12, study 1-4 or 5, then proselyte until 9 afterwards. It was the schedule I was used to, but now it was just barely changed to study 8-12, then proselyte until 9. This was pretty challenging for me just because all the hours were at once. I know it will take some getting used to but I know that this is what the Lord wants the missionaries to do. I know even though it is hard, I can do hard things through His help!

Though our teaching numbers this week were low, they were still powerful. I strive to push myself to use different vocabulary in my teachings, just so it doesn't sound as repetitive anymore. I think it is getting better, and I am really pushing myself to learn the language more. I found myself actually sort of being able to carry on a conversation with some people here, so I feel I am improving! I am grateful for the gift of tongues to help me on the way!

The weather here has been quite fun lately. It’s been nothing but gray clouds and rain, not much sun. I've gotten pretty used to it, but I never ever thought I would get cold here. Surprisingly I have. But it is mainly from how strong the wind can get here, mixed with being wet from the rain! Still way colder in Utah, but it was definitely a surprise to me. Since it rains so much here, the mud is pretty bad too. Got to learn to be more careful! I have to wash my clothes and shoes a lot more often at this time :P.

We had a branch Christmas party, which actually turned out to be pretty fun! It didn't really start off that way, just because it was supposed to start off at 4, which we were there then, but most people didn't show up until 6. But it became pretty fun! There were a lot of games which I wasn't too fond of, but they strived to get everyone involved and it was great! 

Everyone was laughing and smiling which made me happy. There were lots of performances by the members which were really fun to watch! I was a little sad just because I wanted to perform too, but that's alright, one day I will get back to get back to that! After we ate everyone just started socializing, and at first I played basketball, (which I am awful at) so then I went inside were there was music playing and just started dancing for fun. Some of the members asked to show me some ballroom, so I showed them how to Jive. 

They were pretty impressed and tried to mimmic, which made me happy that they appreciate it. Karaoke here is huge in the Philippines so they had a Karaoke machine which everyone participated, the good singers and the bad! The whole party was a success. We got some of our investigators to come and they had fun too! It was great to see everyone happy and laughing, which made me really happy. :)

I hope everyone is able to have a good Christmas and vacation this week! As of right now I am in Laoag with the whole mission, attending our party and conference! I hope you all remember what Christmas is all about too! Always remember that you can't have Christmas without Christ. Part of the Philippines Laoag Mission motto is "Christ is the Reason". Especially during Christmas, I hope that you spend time with your families and really do your best to serve everyone! 

Love you all! Have a great Christmas! 

Elder Espiritu


P.S. for all of those who know my brother Derek Espiritu, make sure to wish him a happy birthday this December 20th! He is been a great example to me and I love him very much! Be sure to show that you love him too! :)

**To email Elder Joseph Espiritu, send your message to: joseph.espiritu@myldsmail.net


Opening up Packages from Family :)




 Elder Daclag and I's attempt to be gwapo :P





Pictures from the Christmas Party



Just me and a Tree

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Little Growth In Comfort

I definitely felt like I went through a good amount of growth this week! Lots of great things happened and lots of growth through them! 

In the Philippines Laoag mission, turns out we were the only mission who had different proselyting hours which were proselyte 8-12, study 1-4 or 5, and proselyte from 5-9. 

This last zone meeting, we were told that our proselyting hours are changing to what it says in the missionary handbook. There were some complaints from other missionaries but there is nothing we can do about it! I am completely fine with the change, that means less missionaries can nap during study haha. It might be hot during proselyting but it's alright! Whatever the Lord wants is what I will do.

So something random that happened this week. One morning we went out proselyting and it was my first appointment. I noticed mud on my shoe, so I just wanted to wash it off real quick. Our first appointment lives along a canal so I was just going to dip the tip of my shoe in. Turns out it was a lot slipperier than I thought, so I fell in. I didn't fall in too much and I was fine. Got a little bruised but it hurt my dignity more. Luckily Elder Daclag didn't know what that word meant.  

We had a family home evening and it was all good. Everyone is super loud though and sometimes it's hard to get everyone's attention, but I just take it as how well you can teach a spiritual thought while there are a lot of distractions. The hardest part of that FHE for me though is that we had barbecue which included pork (which was gone right away) so what was left was chicken head, intestines or feet. Choosing the least of the 3 evils I attempted to eat a chicken foot. It didn't really work out for me. I couldn't bear eating the whole thing, it was just mostly bone and cartilege which was a struggle. 

A similar experience happened on Sunday, when the YSA asked me to choreograph a dance for them. Surprisingly  it was a little stressful for me, because I had nothing prepared. 

We ended up getting a pretty good amount done, after a lot of time where they were just talking to each other and me stressing out a little bit. Especially when they told me to just teach in Tagalog. I don't know why I was frustrated though. I got to teach something I love. I guess I was just used to my experiences on a team where if you weren't paying attention the coach and everyone would get mad, and I am just used to a different level and atmosphere for dance. But I realized, they are just normal people who don't have any background experience, and they were actually pretty good. It was just for fun too. It taught me that not everyone is the same. 

Last Thursday for Zone Meeting everyone said what their Christlike attribute that they needed to work on. I said mine was patience. That Sunday was an excellent way to help my patience grow. I am not used to people not listening as intently, but the culture is just different here, and it definitely helped my patience. I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to help them, even if it was in a little different way.

There was another day this week where 6 out of the 8 appointments failed again, but I was totally okay with it! I just felt like I was in such a good mood that day even though lots of things fell through. I realized that day the power of how the scriptures can really affect your day. I really studied well that day and tried to remember all of the things I learned and it really helped my day out, even through bad days. My testimony of the power of scripture study grew.

I had an exchange with Elder Arzaga this last Wednesday to Thursday, and through his help and the Lord I gained confidence and grew. All of the other exchanges I have had are pretty relaxed and laid back. Not that it was bad, but everyone else I went with just helped in other ways. But Elder Arzaga wanted to push me past my comfort zone. He kept pushing me in good ways that day. He pushed me to lead more in discussions. I felt bad because we had to teach Chastity for the first time, and I didn't know anything to say. So the teaching didn't start off super well. But as we went through the rest of the teaching, he kept pushing me to talk more and it helped a lot. 

I say this all the time but it's going to be like this for awhile, while I stumble over myself in the language. He lived in America for 5 years so he spoke really good English so I kept speaking English to him. After a couple lessons we were talking in English walking back he said to me "Elder, speak Tagalog to me, don't speak English." 

He pushed me to keep just using the language. It actually ended up boosting my confidence a little. I realized even though I am new, I have a pretty good amount and basic knowledge for 2 months in the field. He told me that too, and just told me to push myself out of my comfort zone.

It reminds me of a quote I really like "There is little growth in comfort, and there is little comfort in growth." Even though it can hurt or be really uncomfortable to grow in some way, once it's over, you'll be glad it happened. 

We had an evaluation later that night and we told each other what could be improved. I didn't really have anything for him because I am new. I just told him how I noticed how he was much more bold than other missionaries in a good way. He told me that my speaking skills weren't bad, but just to listen more. I did realize that sometimes when I don't know what's going on or if they speak for a while I just zone out. So that is definitely something we can work on.

We all have things that we can work on and sometimes it might be uncomfortable to do. But we always have to push yourself to stretch and that is when we grow the most. So I hope that we can all stretch past our limits! It may be hard, but it is all worth it in the end! Hope all is well with everyone! Mahal ko kayong lahat!

-Elder Espiritu

P.S. I have realized that my weekly emails are pretty long. I hope you all have the patience to read them! Thank you for everyone who does read them! So if you ever have the time to tell me that you read them, email me! :)  

**Elder Espiritu's email is joseph.espiritu@myldsmail.net



First time trying Chicken feet (it wasn't very pleasant)


I'm not sure how we ended up deciding to take this


The rice field and I


Sometimes in life you just gotta climb :P


Exchanges with one of my zone leaders Elder Arzaga 


The best picture we could get together as a zone 

Monday, December 5, 2016

There's Always Good to Find in Life

Even though I wasn't able to teach nearly as much this week, it wasn't too bad. I got to teach a couple of people, our 2 recent converts Janeth and Nanay Genoveva, and they are always so fun to teach. 

I am starting to use different phrases now to extend my vocab. Even though I mess up basically every time that's okay! One thing that was really cool was that we were teaching our progressing investigator Raja, and her mom got interested in learning too! She also seemed really interested in the apostasy, and why there are so many churches. We haven't been able to teach her all yet so that will soon come! 

A similar thing happened, where we were teaching an older Nanay, but we went to teach her and she was still at the market. So we asked to teach her daughter instead. So now we are teaching both mother and daughter too! It was also really cool to teach her to pray because she didn't know how to pray. So we taught her and it was actually pretty cool! I loved teaching them both, the problem was when I did I was with a fellowshipper, and he only spoke Ilocano to her so I only understood about half :P.

This past Sunday we taught Nanay Magdelina again during splits. I was with 5 other members and Elder Daclag was in a different area. When we got there, she already had the pamphlets and Book of Mormon ready. She had questions about the apostasy which I did my best to answer. It was hard for me to explain in Tagalog, but she said she ended up understanding it! I love teaching her, and we learned that she actually does want to join our church and she loves the plan of salvation. She struggles to understand the pamphlets we give her but she will always try. She also told us that she can see how happy we are in this gospel and how friendly we all are. The only problem is she doesn't want to leave her own religion. We will have to figure out what to do with her. I really hope she and her daughter will decide to join our church though!  

Even though I got a couple of really good lessons, the reason I wasn't able to teach as much was I got bad stomach pains accompanied by having to use the bathroom often for 4 days this week. 

The stomach pain started Wednesday night and was really bad for Thursday and Friday, then Saturday and Sunday was slightly less but the pain was still there. I was so mad at myself. I hated having to be in pain and I wanted to just go out and work but I couldn’t. My body wouldn't let me. 

I got stuck at my apartment and bathroom for almost half of this week. It was brutal. When I did work, a lot of times I was distracted by the pains in my stomach. But something I promised my parents that I would always do, is to stay positive. It was actually a little harder, because I felt like I couldn't find anything positive in this little trial in my life. I wasn't able to work for a couple days and I felt if I wasn't sick I could've talked to so many more people and got a lot done. It was really hard for me to find the positive. But sometimes you just have to dig a little deeper than what you can see

I remember a quote that my mom always used to tell me. "I was crying because I had no shoes, until I met a man that had no feet." Even though it seems like the trial you are going through is hard, almost always there are others going through worse. It made me think, I felt like I was in a good amount of pain. But the pain I was in wasn't even as bad as a lot of other people in this world. 

I still have a lot of good to look at aside from the pain. I am in the Philippines and I am able to teach the gospel to the people here. Then it made me think about the Savior. Trying to imagine the pain He went through. He suffered beyond comprehension, and I just had a little stomach pain. He suffered because He loved us. He suffered so much. I just had a small suffering for a little bit. Even though it's hard and not fun, it's only for a little bit. I still have so much good in my life that I can focus on instead of the pain.

Then I related it to life. Everyone has trials. It’s part of God’s plan. But no matter what the trial may be, the gospel can help and comfort you. 

So always look for ways to look up and be positive, instead of focusing on the negative. I felt like when I focused on the pain I was in, It felt worse. So find a way to find good out of it, and everything will be alright. 

After you are finished being sick, you feel so much stronger, so maybe that can be the small blessing! There is always something good you can find out of everything. Sometimes it's just a little harder to see!

The teaching my parents have taught me about staying positive has been such a blessing in my life. I am very grateful for it. So stay positive and find the good always! Hope everyone is alright!

Mahal ko kayong lahat!

-Elder Espiritu 






Elder Daclag and I by the Beach outside of Buguey apartment




Queenie Yere and I (she really likes the camera)





The Pajarillo's dogs had puppies, these are all of them! (It was extremely difficult to get them all in one picture together)