Elder Joseph Espiritu: NARAGSAK A PASKUA

Time really flies by doesn't it? 2017 is the only year that I did not spend at all at home and it's already coming to an end.

So, NARAGSAK A PASKUA KEN BARO A TAWEN, MALIGAYONG PASKO AT BAGONG TAONG, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Isn't this season just the greatest? How grateful am I to have spent another Christmas here in the Philippines. Next year It'll be in America, so I'm making the most of it.

So speaking of how fast time flies, this week felt like a blink of an eye! Filled with fun and great memories I'll be sure never to forget it.

On Thursday right after our P-day we headed to Laoag for our "Christmas Conference". We got there around 8 and waited for all the missionaries to flow in. We had all missionaries from the streets of Vigan in the south, all the way to the coast of Santa Ana, which are the ends of our mission. Of course it was awesome to see everyone and talk to them again.

We had a blast. We had a bunch of games similar to last year. We wrecked in a tug of war, had a fellow missionary get sprayed in whipped cream and cheese puffs, had a "Filipino snowball fight" (It was girls pantyhose filled with flour), had a human battle ship with water balloons and a bunch of other activities. No one finished those activities unscathed. Right after, we handed out our mission shirts and the MLC (missionary leadership council) learned a new dance in 30 minutes.

After eating, buying a couple of stuff and practicing again for our zone performance, we headed over to a nice hotel in Laoag for our "Social night". Fun fact: I didn't shower after the activities so once I got there people started telling me it looked like I had a bunch of dandruff in my hair. Turns out I still had a butt load of flour in my hair and once it got wet, it started clumping in my hair. Elder Mortenson told me it looked like a spider sac in my hair. Oh well, it was aiight and I got most of it out.

So now on to the social night. Very much like last year, each zone had a performance. We all had a dance prepared and a lip sync. There were some pretty hilarious lip syncs and great dances. We did ours to the Pentatonix version of "Merry Christmas, Happy holidays" And "I'll be home for Christmas" also by Pentatonix. There were only 4 that did the lip sync, but it was funny. Everyone had a blast and it was really successful.

The following day was the more spiritual side, the actual Conference part of our Christmas Conference. Elder Havens and I woke up and left the hotel we were staying at around 7:10, ate breakfast at McDonalds, bought a pen at SM market, and headed over to the Laoag stake center. It got pretty jammed packed but we managed to get all 160+ missionaries in.

Our focus during that zone conference was the importance of sacrament. One of my favorite statements by one of the apostles is "Just as every piece of bread is different, we also all have different sins we need to repent of." We actually taught this to a couple of people during the following days.

Lunch was the awesome part. Every missionary got assigned to buy a gift for a different missionary as a "secret santa" or such. I was surprised and happy when I found out Sister Faoa got me. She got me a watch, a couple of ties and some chips. I was really grateful.

I was even more amazed with the generosity of President and Sister Andrada. Sister Andrada made all the missionaries candy sleds and every missionary received a set of missionary clothing and supplies. This meaning every Elder got a new shirt, tie, belt, socks, and Sisters got a new dress, makeup and such. Everyone also got hand towels, soap, colored pencils, and a lot of the Elders got new shoes.

For 160+ missionaries I know that's not easy or cheap. I'm very grateful! We finished the Zone conference spiritually (and literally) filled, and also edified. As soon as we left we went straight to our ward party and had more food and sang too. It was lots of fun, even though we were tired.

Saturday was also an unexpectedly busy day. We went to a far area in our zone for a baptismal interview and suddenly had to take care of something in Badoc. By the time we got back on Saturday it was 6:30, so we went to 2 families, which are both Ulits and talked about the sacrament.

The following day, we were happy to see Marylyn and Ethel come, while the others were busy. I am still grateful for those two. They also went to the ward party last Friday.

I am once again grateful for the members and non members here, because right after sacrament we were invited to about 5 different dinners. Our night consisted of dinner appointments. We first went to the Lutops, then to the De Leons, taught the Calsado family (who also unexpectedly fed us) and then to the Yapo family. Then, dropped by the Nalupta family. We honestly missed a couple of people who wanted to feed us. I was very full by the end of the night and very happy!

Once again I can't believe how much time has flown by! 2017 is coming to a close and I'm grateful that I was once again able to talk to my beloved family earlier today, love em, and I'm ready for a new year! Love you all! Happy New Year!

Elder Espiritu

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