Anyways, Elder Andon continues to try to find new areas for us to teach in. One day we tried to go to a far area, but it turns out there was no transportation there and the only way was very expensive. So we decided to walk to a new little area with a fellowshipper. It was one of the farther areas, but not the farthest.
We found a couple of nice people and taught them. We also asked this one lady if she wanted help with trimming a bush but I guess she thought we were making fun of her, so she said something in Ilocano and shooed us off. We were really confused cause we didn't know what we did. Our fellowshipper had to tell us.
We did so much walking that day, my calves were so sore by the time the day was only halfway over! I was happy that day even though my legs were extremely tired. I know that sore legs are a small sacrifice to be able to share the gospel with other people.
I had another exchange with our district leader Elder Pongyan this week. He is a good district leader, and always checks up on each companionship. I appreciate what he does. Although we didn't get many lessons done, we still had a lot of fun.
One of the lessons we didn't realize that we were used to different styles of teaching, so it was a little more rough. We ended up just laughing it off. At the end of the day, he complimented me, and told me my Tagalog was way better than the last time he had an exchange with me a month ago. That really helped me, because I felt like I have been struggling with the language a bit. There are a lot of up and down days to be completely honest.
District meeting was enjoyable. Elder Pongyan gave a lesson and his teaching skills are really good. What was fun though was when we did practice teaching. We were paired up with Elder Solis and Elder Motley. Elder Motley is another American in our zone so it's nice to see a perspective of another American.
They pretended to be a less active with a problem with coffee. They definitely didn't make it easy for us to teach them. It was a struggle for me. I felt like my Tagalog was off that day, but it was fun and he showed us how he would teach it.
After we all went to a place to eat and I talked with Elder Motley for awhile. He told me one day that the language isn't even going to be a barrier, which I am excited for. We also ended up talking about how much we loved Elder Daclag, because he was companions with him too. He told me Elder Daclag was one of his favorites. I do miss that guy.
One of the days we did a ton of work, more than I have ever done. I realized how much fun it is when you work. It's very tiring, but it's super fun. We taught a lot of less actives, a recent convert, an investigator and a couple of members. One less active gave us a referral. It was a 19 year old girl. Elder Andon taught a good part of it and when I started to speak to her she started laughing. I was really confused and I thought I said a lot of things wrong. Turns out, she thought I actually was Filipino, and it threw her off when my accent was weird. That's a first.
It's a little harder to teach when the person you're teaching doesn't even know the key word. We taught a recent convert who is 13, and it was about not murmuring. The only problem, is the only word she didn't understand in the scriptures was murmur. We couldn't figure out how to explain, so that was a lesson of growth for everyone. We just laughed it off. It was funny to try to figure it out.
We have been helping a girl in our area prepare for a mission, so we do practice teaching with her. It's fun to do it, because I don't feel like the "greenie" anymore. She get's scared to do it, which is alright. I can understand where she's coming from. She's actually a pretty good teacher.
I enjoy having fellowshippers with us. They are important in this work. They can add a lot of things to the lesson that we as missionaries can't do. We are only part time here, but they can be full time. I say this a lot but I have come to enjoy the members here.
I'm grateful for all the experiences here, good and bad. There are always hard and bad times in life, but when you look back at your life, you remember the good a lot more. I still will remember the bad, but I know through the bad I grew the most.
Hope that everyone is having a great time in their life, and even when we have bad times, those are when we can grow the most. Love you all! Keep writing me if you ever have time!
Elder Espiritu
**You can email Elder Espiritu at joseph.espiritu@myldsmail.net
Sometimes a ride on a carabao is all you need in life
A hanging bridge in Aridowen
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