It was a little sad this week. On Monday morning at 3:35 AM, my trainer and good friend Elder Daclag went home. I really enjoyed being with him for my first 12 weeks in the field. It was sad to see my "dad" go.
Luckily I got to speak to my family later that day. It was so awesome to be able to see them for a short time, but it was so short. Before I knew it, it was over. 5 months now and I can see them again!
After those 2 experiences, I was a little down and sad. I missed my family and my trainer. I thought my follow up companion was supposed to come later that day, and he never did. Elder Mortenson and I kept waiting and they never came.
Finally on Tuesday my companion showed up. His name is Elder Andon. He is from Micronesia, and has been in the mission for about 14 months. Turns out he is pretty cool! So far we get a long well! He's pretty funny too and he's a really hard worker.
It was really nice to be able to work again after not being able to for a couple of days. I didn't realize how much I missed working.
The lessons have been good so far. There are a couple of interesting ones too. Almost all of this week it was pouring rain, especially the first day I was with Elder Andon. We decided to visit some members the first day and the rain would not calm down. So we just decided to risk it.
By the time we got to the house, we were soaked from head to toe. I was never so soaked before. The rain was similar to that almost every day. We also had to travel to Buguey for a district meeting which is about 30 minutes away from our area. We had to take 2 different vehicles and walk about 10 minutes in the pouring rain.
It was pretty dreary to be honest, but I remember reading a section in the "Adjusting to Missionary Life" booklet. One of the big things is don't let the weather affect you. It was dreary and I was soaked, but I just thought of it as a fun experience. I got a little cold but nothing I couldn't handle. Once I saw it as fun it wasn't bad! It was just a small moment and by the end of the week the weather started to clear up.
Elder Andon and I still got a lot of work done, but a lot of this week was just introducing him to the area and meeting members. There is one area that is about a 15 minute drive by Tricyee. It’s called Aridoen.
We talked to the members there and they told us it is actually the part of our area with the most members. It's a pretty area too. Just far. A lot of the time we just need to walk back which is about an hour, with a couple dirt roads and hills included. Nothing too bad, just a little tiring. We plan to go there more often now, maybe twice a week!
The lessons with Elder Andon were great! What I realized is Elder Daclag liked to lead a lot more which I was okay with! But with Elder Andon, we try to switch off more often. It was a little scary at first, but because he has been doing that, I realized how much more I am capable of saying.
I still stumble when I say lots of things, but there is still more I am capable of saying. I am happy I have been able to teach more and it will help me learn the lessons better myself and to learn the language!
We actually had a couple harder lessons this week.
One was with a woman named Nanay Magdelina. The challenge with her is she hasn't read or opened any of the pamphlets or Book of Mormon since Elder Daclag and I visited her a couple weeks ago. She said she needed an assignment in order to read because she doesn't know how to read it.
We did our best to explain that it was up to her, but we ended up having to give her an assignment. Then came her question. The question she had for us was "why was the Book of Mormon only stories about America?" Threw me off a little, but I think Elder Andon managed to explain, though honestly I forgot how he answered exactly.
It was a pretty rough lesson, and I don't think we got all the way through to her. We just invited her to pray and did our best to bear testimony to her. Guess we will find out what she thinks next week!
Something that I have learned is that some people aren't ready to receive the gospel, but for now, if anything, we can just be the ones that plant the seed for later in their life. Sometimes it takes more time for people to accept this gospel, and that is okay! We all have the gift of Agency, and we can use it as we want.
Had a little bit of a crazy experience. Just yesterday we wanted to visit a less active member so we went inside the house. The woman had a husband who wasn't a member of the church. We wanted to share with him so we started with a prayer, and as soon as we started he started ranting to us about how we shouldn't be sharing.
He went to a room and came back with a Tagalog bible and showed us a ton of different bills (like American $1 and Peso's) and said how every bill has a 1 so there should be one God, and 10 pesos meant infinite. Then he showed how the pyramid on the $1 is a triangle, and there was another triangle on a different Filipino symbol.
Then he showed us Acts 4:18 and John 18:36, and told us we shouldn't be preaching. Elder Andon felt like we should leave, so we just left without sharing. We weren't even able to give him a Book of Morrmon. It was an interesting experience. He was a little bit crazy and none of his points made sense with his bible verses easily countered. At least a good story for my journal. :P
Another thing I realized here is how much I really love the members. Sister Yere (our branch president's wife) was hurting in her kidney area, so she asked for a blessing. I was a little nervous, cause I always just annointed. When the time came, I just did the best I can, even though it was English. After it was over, just the small thank you she gave to me meant so much. It was a weak quiet thank you but it meant a lot to me.
I have really grown fond of the members here in Sta. Teresita. I can actually talk to them now during church and other activities. Yesterday I showed one of the YSA investigators my pictures and everyone started grabbing it saying "sa akin na lang!" (this is mine now!) I got them all back but I promised I would print lots of pictures for them next week, I love giving those out too, and I am glad that they accepted me enough to want pictures of me!
I really really love serving here, and although there are down times, it's alright. Especially through the down times, the good times feel even better. I love the people. I love this gospel. I love the language. I love my companion and I love this mission.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to share the gospel with others, even when sometimes they don't want to hear it. Hope you all had a good week, happy new year! Hope we can all improve ourselves this year! Love you all!
Elder Espiritu
**You can email Elder Espiritu at joseph.espiritu@myldsmail.net
Just me and a roast pig (lechon baboy)
Elder Andon, Elder Monterroyo, Elder Mortenson, at the Calabiao family
A little river in my area
Elder Andon and I in a rice field
Just me and a carabao
Some of the young single adults and I
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