The Great Weeks

I always find it funny how there's a couple of random differences with every type of person, Americans, Filipinos and Australians alike. Like while proselyting, it's interesting to have one person buy ice cream for a snack and the other buy squid (I bet you can guess which one’s me) and I also found out an interesting fact that it's not part of the Australian culture to leave tips at restaurants. Go figure. 

Also we basically ate leaves of a branch as a vegetable. It's actually not that bad.  Anyways there was a lot of blessings and good things that happened this week, such as finishing the Book of Mormon, people finally coming to church, and a baptism!

After studies one day we needed to get vegetables, so we decided to get malungay. What we did is crossed the streets to the rice fields and searched for some. Some nice people helped us find some so we chopped it up, then took off all the leaves and cooked it in our food (tinola). I am now a herbivore (mom you should be proud).

I am happy to report that this last October 25th, 2017, I finished the Book of Mormon for the 3 1/2 time on my mission! I would say 4th, but I was already halfway done with the Book of Mormon when I entered the missionary training center, so I just count is as 1/2. 

I know this Book is true, and it is impossible for a man to write such a book like this in just 65 days. Every time I read it I learn something new. I still encourage everyone reading to keep reading it every day! It really has the power to change lives and comfort souls!

This Saturday we were able to go to Laoag for Kyle's baptism! Although we only had 2 other people come to the stake baptism for support, we were happy to see him baptized. He was a little nervous as soon as he stepped into the font, but it all went away afterwards. He was baptized that day along with 6 other people, coming from Laoag zone. All is well here.

Other good news: our branch got a little higher attendance again, so we're back on track to keep it rising with an attendance of 44, 8 coming from Laoag. We were also really happy to see that one of our investigators that we have been teaching since last cycle, Sister Karen Melchor, was finally able to make it to church! It's always awesome to see someone you love finally come. We had 1 other investigator come which we were happy to see too. It's interesting to see how much the branch attendance can fluctuate. Hopefully we can keep raising the attendance here!

Life is going well here in the mission. The district is still doing well too. We're all having fun. I'm getting better at teaching as a district leader, and I hope to keep improving! It was a pretty successful week and these weeks always are more memorable than the hard weeks. They make the slower weeks worth it. 

I love the mission and I know this work is true. I love the people here and the experiences that I've had! Until next week! Oh and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Elder Espiritu

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

Kyle and his 2 sisters Shela and Czlea

Exchanges with Elder Vincent (with Kyle and Erika as a guest star)

I can't remember what these things are called but it's some sort of fruit

We ate all the leaves of these branches (it's called malungay and apparently very healthy)

Stake baptism (Baptism of Kyle Soriano) 

Another Sweet Reunion and Happiness

So there were a couple of things that happened this week that I was not expecting at all, like catching a rat in a jar and killing it. On the good side, we got to meet the mayor of Vintar with my Aunt that I haven't seen since the summer of 2013, and my favorite 12 year old kid becoming eligible for baptism!

Aiight so gross story first: While Elder Trinidad and I were eating and talking, he noticed a dark gray blotch on the ground which quickly scurried away. Not wanting it to stay inside the apartment, we quickly got it cornered and put it in a jar. Putting it in a jar was not easy, it almost escaped and tried to bite us a couple of times. I've seen lots of mice in my lifetime, but I can now say that rats are 10 times nastier. We did kill it. How did we exactly? Well we may have used hand sanitizer and a candle. I'll let you figure it out, (don't worry, it died quickly).

Alright now for the good part of the week, at 12:53 pm Wednesday afternoon, (I know this because of our phone) we were about to head out for work when we got a call from President Andrada. So when President calls you, it's either a really good thing or a really. A little nervous as I picked up the phone, I was relieved and excited to hear that my mom's oldest sister, Tita (aunt) Nennette, was in Laoag and was going to come visit me with President's permission! I hadn't seen her since Christmas of 2015. She lives in Hawaii and our family doesn't see her very often.

To make things better, the person bringing her to Vintar was the mayor of Vintar! So at 2 o'clock, we headed over and I got to chat with my Tita for a little and meet the mayor. It was a really rare opportunity. The 3 other missionaries thought Tita Nennette was cool (which she is) and provided us an opportunity to give a Book of Mormon to the mayor! She is in the area of the other Elders so we'll see how that goes! We were all so grateful for my Tita's kindness and generosity to all of us missionaries!

So now for our investigators, Kyle passed his baptismal interview and will be baptized at the stake baptism this Saturday at 2! I've really loved teaching him and he's a fun kid. He did come to church and stayed almost the whole time! We're excited for his baptism!

We had a little less amount of people come to church, but that's okay it was still happy. We almost had 2 people come to church the first being Kyle and one was legit at the front of the church but her 2 year old daughter did not want to go in, (she probably would've thrown a big tantrum if she was forced in) so it was just Kyle. The other 2 Elders also had someone come who has really been progressing. The attendance was 30 this time 22 coming from Vintar. It was pretty low, but the saints here are faithful.

Fun lesson of the week that we taught: We taught a Roman catholic last week who is hardcore Roman catholic (he wanted to be a priest when he was 3) but he respected us enough to let us teach him. As we taught he also shared his beliefs. It was cool, he didn't understand a couple things about the restoration, such as why from 100 AD (or whenever the last apostle passed away) until 1820 the true church of God wasn't on the earth. He also asked a couple of interesting questions. 

I was really impressed with how much he loved his church though, especially since he said he was offended by a priest yet he loves his church so much he's willing to move on. You can still learn many things from different people! I have high respect for him. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon and have his own experience, so we left feeling pretty good. He's very catholic.

We got a new district here in Vintar with me as the District leader, and so far it's alright. We had the district meeting in Vintar for the first time ever (since I got to decide where it is) and it went well. We got 2 Americans from Utah (Elder Bottema and I) 4 from the Philippines (Elder Trinidad, Elder Esco, Elder Pacapac and the newer elder Elder Lalangan) 1 from Malaysia (Elder Vincent) and one from Austraila (Elder Johnson). We're all doing fine here.

The mission continues to be going really great here even though it's not all sunshine all the time (that can be said literally too, since it rains a lot) yet I grow every day. I'm still definitely not perfect and make lots of mistakes but I learn through all of them along with the hardships too. I know this church is true and I know missionary work is the work of God. The time is far spent! Until next week!

Elder Espiritu

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

** From his Tita Nennette's Facebook post:

"I started my day in Laoag where I am part of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii 27th Trade Mission to the Philippines which is led by Hawaii Governor David Ige.

My brother in law Eddie Espiritu messaged me on FB that my nephew, Elder Joseph Espiritu is serving as a missionary nearby, in the town of Vintar.

When I checked with the local guides, they told me that Vintar is still 30-45 minutes away, and with no access to a car, there really was no way for me to go visit him. And of course, any visit would need to be cleared by the Laoag Mission President.

At lunch, our delegation was hosted by the mayor of San Nicolas. And guess who showed up at the luncheon? The Mayor of Vintar (Carissa Furonda)! I did not know her but when I shared my desire to see my nephew, she generously offered to take me to her town and provide me with the transportation to also return to my group. Through the help of my brother Benson E. Misalucha, I called the Mission President and he was kind enough to allow me to see my nephew.

Heavenly Father knows the good desires of our hearts. And thus, this happened.

Elder Espiritu was soooo happy to see me! The last time I saw him was christmas 2015.

Families are forever."

Having fun with big leaves

Meeting The mayor of Vintar and my Tita Nennette

So grateful for my Tita!

We caught a rat

Count Your Blessings

You know, some weeks can seem similar to others, but you can still get something cool out of it if you really look into it. For example: I can now say I've tried duck and dried ducks blood before. You just gotta try new things right? Just to start, Duck doesn't taste bad. To me it honestly tasted like cow that's been cooked in stew or sinigang na baka (hindi ako baliw palagay ko lang iyan). 

So I said last week, we are now at the start of another 6 week cycle. Turns out, all 4 of us in Vintar are staying in Vintar. It wasn't a surprise for the other 2 but for Elder Trinidad and I it was. More often than not you stay with a companion for 12 weeks then switch, so this is Elder Trinidad and I's first time having a companion for 3 cycles or 18 weeks.  

So now that I'm here for 6 more weeks, I've been looking at the blessings of staying in Vintar. 1) I get to be here for a baptism of a kid who is like my little brother, 2) I get along with all of my house mates in my apartment 3) I get to build a stronger relationship with all the members, less actives and investigators here in Vintar 4) I still get to eat fast food every week in Laoag (don't worry i'm not getting fat) and 5) I know that my mission President and God trust me for being able to help a struggling branch.

It's easy for me to focus on the blessings like the song says "count your many blessings name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done." I have a lot of blessings that I have received in my life, especially in the mission! We have have to have hard days and better days in order to experience life! 

So for some good news: we got our branch attendance up a slight bit again! This week we got it to 46, 8 coming from a different ward and 4 being us 4 missionaries. So 34 from Vintar including children. But it's still going up slowly. Maybe I'll see the day where they hit 50-60 here! If we can get the less actives to come back, that's possible. Another fun fact: I also got to teach primary yesterday, or at least attempted to. It wasn't very easy to keep them all paying attention. Let's just say I have more respect for our primary and Sunday school teachers.

Although we still don't many progressing investigators we still have one almost for sure baptism this cycle (Kyle Brent Soriano) and we are just going to prepare him for his baptismal interview. Other than that, we're still working on the less actives and finding people. I don't really think much about it anymore when people hide from us or say they don't wanna switch religions. I have respect for them.

Here goes to another start of the cycle, and I'm happy with my mission. Looks like I'm a District leader again here for Bantay district! I'm grateful for all the lessons I've learned about hardships and blessings, and about obedience and just the gospel in general. 

The message we bring is still the message of happiness and we just gotta keep looking for the people who need it! Happy 3rd week of October to you all! 

Elder Espiritu

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

Vintar Elders for 1 more cycle 

Just me and the church meeting house

Spiritually Filled

Another week passes here in the mission quickly for me, being filled spiritually and physically this week! As for another milestone, I have officially been in the field for over a year now! Also, my father is now half a century old as of October 7th! Crazy to think that, especially since Mother is barely turning 30. Hehe Love them both. Anyways as I was saying, got lots of things done! Funny thing is it was mostly in Laoag and not in my area Vintar.

Every day aside from Tuesday and Thursday we were in Laoag, going about having interviews, and conferences. I enjoyed it all. Especially since we got to eat fast food every day in Laoag :D The work in our area was short. We had a couple of interesting lessons and another test of patience. Due to there being no transportation and Laoag being a little far from Vintar, we only saw 5 people from Vintar branch in Laoag for General Conference.

Before General Conference, we had Zone Conference with Laoag and Bangui Zone! Like always, it was a great conference and I learned a lot. It's interesting to see how much better I've gotten with long time sit down meetings. Growing up I always struggled sitting through 1-2 hour meetings and now here I am feeling 8 hour conferences go by really quickly. It's a blessing but I really do enjoy them. I mean not all meetings go by fast but I feel blessed how I enjoy the long conferences. 

One thing I learned which has been stressed for a while is about visions and goal setting. Plans are essential for success since you need to know what you are doing. We are currently planning how to better help Vintar branch, since they are currently struggling. I have a lot of respect for the faithful members here and we're still praying for a miracle. Feel free to pray for them too. We're doing our best here, so I guess we'll see where our planning and work takes us!

Speaking of another long (but amazing) meeting, the Philippines always broadcasts General Conference a week later, so we just barely watched it. Let me say it was a great conference and I was very edified. I learned so much and felt the Spirit so strong. I just remember sitting there thinking how grateful I am to be able to listen to prophets and apostles of the Lord speak to us. 8-10 hours isn't a lot for 6 months worth of preparation. One thing I now regret is never actually going to a live session. The people here get pretty surprised when they find out I've never gone. I'll certainly plan for that when I get back! 

So I noticed a lot of them talked about not being a part of the world and trusting in the Lord no matter what trials you are going through. We can find peace in an unstable world through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's true, we can. We are not of this world either, so we need to rise above it always and stick to our standards! 

One of the talks I really enjoyed was Elder Russell M. Nelson. One of the most important parts of this gospel is the Book of Mormon and that's what he talked about. One of the questions he asked was "If you were offered diamonds, or rubies or the Book of Mormon, which one would you choose?" How important is the Book of Mormon to you? He then went on to ask 3 questions 1) What would your life be without the Book of Mormon? 2) What would you not know? 3) What would you not have? I realized even more how blessed we are to have another testament of Jesus Christ to better understand His doctrine. It really is the keystone of our religion and the key to a happier life. 

Growing up in the Church I never noticed how big of a difference it is and how much of a help it can be. There is so much knowledge that I have learned within it's pages, especially here on the mission, and much more to learn. I know that the book is true, and Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God.

How lucky I am today, to be serving in a place where many people know God, and I get to help them better understand His plan for us. I am thankful for the opportunity to share this pure doctrine of Christ to others here in the Philippines. I am grateful for the opportunity to show them the doctrine written in the Book of Mormon that can help our lives so much. I have gained so many blessings and learned so much through the Book of Mormon and living the gospel, and I'm here to help others. 

Sometimes life has ups and downs, I get areas where the people are more willing to listen than other areas. Some areas aren't as built as others, but that's my purpose…to help strengthen the area I serve in and invite others to come unto Christ. I am a disciple of Christ and I fear no man. 

Wherever I am I'll to my best. Whether it be in Vintar or somewhere else soon. Who knows, this is the last week of the transfer, so I may be transferred, I honestly don't know. I'll just follow God’s will for me! Till next week!

Elder Espiritu

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

I tried to fly by holding a chicken (it didn't work)

I'm not really sure how we came up with this...

Laoag zone (and close up)

Laoag and Bangui zone Elders

Just me the moon and Laoag

Sister Persia and Elder Froerer, old district mates about to go home

Elder Arangali, Sister Panugao and I

 My Polynesian homies plus my Bacolod bud Sister Foaoa, Sister Ofalu and Elder Santillan

My other Tongan friend Sister Latu

Slow, Steady and Blessings

Time for another official statement: I have officially been in the Philippines for over a year now! How did I spend this week? Exchanges with the zone leaders, some family home evenings, teaching a 12 year old, found a couple of interesting things out, and had some small blessings. 

Around 9:30 one night all 4 of us missionaries were laying in bed starting to get a little tried and talking for a while. Elder Trinidad went to go to the bathroom, and when he came back he had a plate covered with a bowl and decided to place it on my bed. As soon as he brought it in we all knew what it was.  Then he takes my sheet and whips it up, releasing the spider that's slightly smaller than my hand. Within 2 seconds everyone was out of the room except me, who could not let the spider run and hide unless I wanted to worry about it crawling onto me in the middle of the night. For a couple of minutes I had to look for it under some sheets and chased it into a corner and put the bowl back on, then slid it outside the room. Once we got it out, we sprayed it up with permit-ox which slowly killed it. To make sure it was dead, we covered him in alcohol and lit him up. We provided him with a proper funeral. 

Now for the more missionary side of the week,It's always interesting to go on an exchange with a different missionary, just cause everyone's teaching style is different. This last week I went with my zone leader Elder Francia, and it was great. He was really good at teaching for understanding, and we taught Kyle our 12 year old investigator. He used a little trick with a friction pen and a lighter (if any of you know that it's a cool example) and talked about repentance. I learned a lot from him. 

We also had a blast this week with a couple of family home evenings. On Monday and Friday we had 2 really successful home evenings with great food and lots of laughter. It's really nice to see the branch come together and have fun. I think it helped strengthen the branch just a little. As for a couple of interesting struggles this week, we went and taught our investigator Kyle Brent again. I learn different kinds of patience and such with every different investigator. I know he has a desire to be baptized and really if we focus on what is says on  D&C 20:37, he's getting there. We just need to get him to church with his sister that's a member.

Speaking of church, we had another small success this Sunday! At the beginning we were a little discouraged due to our investigators again having some place to go and the attendance being low at the first hour, but by Sacrament after counting the attendance we had a total of 43 which beat our last week of 39!  A total of 34 people actually came from Vintar which shows that the attendance is growing little by little. We had a couple more less actives show up, and if we can get a couple more of our less active families to show up, we can get it up to 50 or 60. It's a work in progress but it's getting there. 

While we were talking to the members after church, we asked when this one member was baptized (at least we assumed she was a member cause she lives next door with a couple members and comes to church every week). Turns out she has been an investigator the whole time, and we didn't even realize. So we have had an investigator come to church for the past several weeks and we didn't even realize. Now the problem is we asked when we can teach her, but she told is she is too busy and has no time for that. So we'll see how that works out! 

So passes another week in Vintar. How was it? Slow and steady wins the race. I know this church is true and I know that God is helping us along the way, through the good times and the tough times (which can be often at times) but he loves us and cares for us. Even though there aren't many here, the members and investigators have grown on me. I still love the people here. Just pushing though! Love you all! Until next week!

Elder Espiritu

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

Branch Home evening 

Manilyn and Jillan (guess how old Jillan is)

Keisha loves you

Got them Guwapo boyz

Funeral of a spider