Monday, October 9, 2017

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



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