Loving Where I Serve

Hello to my family, friends and whoever may be reading this! It was another great week. Nothing super special, but a great week nonetheless. 

Elder Andon and I are continuing to find new areas and sometimes they're far, but they are fun to go to. The only problem is now I feel like we have no time to go to the investigators in the farther area! On Saturday we had so many investigators who wanted us to go to them but we had no time. It's a problem I would prefer to have, so I am happy, and I know we will be able to get to them another day.

It still amazes me how nice the people are here. We went to one of the far areas and we wanted to get back fast to our other area so we could teach our other appointments. We found these 2 nice women who were sisters. We asked them the fastest way back and they showed us the way, and came with us until we were at our other area! It was a fun little trip with them and had a couple of hanging bridges, so it felt like an adventure. I love how nice the people are here. 

Another nice fellow came with us this last Wednesday. He saw us at the market one day and asked if he could fellowship with us. He is from a different area in the Philippines and is doing research here. He fellowshipped with the other companionship here first and then us the next day. 

I admire his work ethic. He was the one who wanted us to go to a farther area so we did. His teaching skills are great. After his school he wants to serve. I know he will be great. He told us while we were walking that he really wanted to speak in our sacrament meeting, and he hasn't been able to speak for 3 months! I really admire that. I am not the one to beg for a talk in sacrament. 

You can be a strong teacher without having to be a missionary. There are a lot of those people here. The fellowshippers who come with us help us so much.

I am grateful that I have come to a point with some of my investigators where I am so comfortable around them I can be myself. We have been teaching a 13 year old girl for awhile and even though I can't say everything I want to them, I am comfortable enough where it's not as big of a deal to me. But she is fun to be around even though she is a slow learner. Hopefully she is going to be baptized soon. 

Same with another 17 year old girl we have been teaching. If she goes to church every week she will be able to be baptized at the end of this transfer! I really hope so, because Elder Daclag and I found her before he left, and we have actually become great friends. We are able to mess around when talking to her, and still be able to teach her when it's serious. She teaches me Ilocano sometimes, and other phrases that I would need to know. 

I am grateful I am getting a good relationship with a lot of my investigators. The first thing you need to do when teaching an investigator is build a relationship of trust. I am happy to say that is true with a lot of them, even though the language is still hard. 

I'm sure I say this every week, but, I love the people here, the members, investigators, and all. They are all so friendly, and it makes me sad to think that there is a possibility I could be transferring. A big part of the mission is to love the people, and  I love all of them. I love how much I can be myself around them. One of my favorite parts of the culture here is how nice everyone is. Fellowshipping with them on Sundays is a blast, while we still get a lot of work done. 

There are days and weeks when it feels like this mission is hard, and there are days where I love being here so much. Many days this week I loved it here. I love this mission so much and I am proud to say I am serving here. 

In the few months I have been here I feel like a lot of things have helped me grow as a missionary and person. The hard times and the fun times both help me become a better person. I know that serving a mission is what I should be doing, and I am loving what I do. I still miss all of you, and hope if you ever have the time, write me back! Love you all! Hope everyone had a good week! I hope the snow’s not too bad in Utah! :)

Elder Espiritu

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

A hanging bridge some nice ladies showed us to

Coagulated pigs blood 

Normita and Benson, 2 members who always fellowship with us in Ariodowen

Life's More Fun When You Work

You know you've had fun this week when one day you were riding a carabao while your companion was gathering coconuts from a tree. Random fact for the week: I got electrocuted by an electric fan. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

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

Love the People Always!

I enjoyed this week, and am glad for everything that happened! 

Elder Andon has wanted to go to different areas that I haven't been before. So Elder Andon and I explored some new areas that were really pretty. The problem though was it was a little far and the houses are spaced out. I am really excited to be able to explore more of the areas though! 

I realized my area is a lot bigger than I thought! We went to Aridoen last Tuesday which is about an hour walk. That area is actually where most of the members are, but there are a lot of less actives. We brought Benson with us to fellowship so he could show us the area. We went to a couple of members, less actives, and a couple more members joined us to fellowship. I kept talking to the people I was fellowshipping so I could learn more Tagalog and Ilocano. 

After we were done there we got a ride back by the Domingo family, straight into a birthday party for Nanay Genoveva. She turned 72 this week! (Interesting thing is she is actually one of the younger Lolas in our branch) It was a little fun party at her house, and she bought some cake! It's nice to have cake, just because the Filipino desserts are different from American. 

I love the people in this area so much. During the first couple cycles Elder Daclag always told me to stay longer after church and talk to the members to build trust and relationship. I wasn't very good at it at the beginning. Now being here for more than 3 months, I have really started to gain their trust. The kids here have started to like me a lot too. 

Last Sunday after church they hooked there arms on to mine and I swung them around. They kept asking me to do it over and over again, so I ended up doing it for 30 minutes. I love the kids here. I love the YSA too. They fellowship with us every Sunday. I went on splits with them and I was able to hold my ground too when talking to the less actives, members and investigators! If I didn't know a word I could ask them and they would tell me.

I enjoy the older members too. They are all super nice. Although sometimes they are harder to understand just because they know more of the language. I just smile anyways. 

One day we saw a pretty old member, Tatay Miguel. He is really strong in the church and he loves it. He always comes even though he is pretty far, and tries to always look his best. While I was talking to him, he told me he liked the hat I bought earlier this week. So I gave it to him. After that he told me he's really been wanting a long sleeve to wear to church. He's really been hoping to get one. So I decided to give him one of mine. It was pretty big on him, and I told him that, but he loved it. He really appreciated the shirt. 

Elder Mortenson also had pants made here, but they didn't fit him very well, so he also gave it to Tatay. Now Tatay is going to be one of the most stylish members!  

I learned that best way I can talk to people here is to ask them about the language. Elder Andon is really good at talking to people, (he has been here for a lot longer than me). Sometimes I am just quiet and listen because I don't know what to say. But we were at an investigator’s house waiting for her daughter, so I decided to just ask for more Ilocano words and phrases, and Tagalog too. I ended up learning a couple of fun wacky phrases, and a couple of insults. 

I talked to them about how they feel about the different languages here too. Once our investigator Kat Kat came back, she joined in and started giving me more phrases and words. It was a lot of fun and we laughed a lot. Especially right now it's hard to find a way to talk to them, but for me, asking them for words is the best way. They always get excited to teach me and I end up learning more of the language!  

We had another Zone meeting which happens once a month, and my new zone is pretty cool! Our zone leaders are pretty nice too, one of them was the old AP, and one is a new zone leader who is from New Zealand. He's a little quiet, but that's alright. He's good. We also had 2 Sister Training leaders give us a training too. I always find it funny how the Sisters always make the presentation a lot more "colorful" than the Elders.

Elder Mortenson and Elder Monterroyo had a baptism this week! Her name is Angel and she just turned 13 this last December 23rd. She is a really nice hardworking girl. Her father is an alcoholic so she has to care of her family. She has 5 younger siblings, the youngest being 3. She has a really strong testimony of the gospel. She's really caring for everyone too. 

I was a little sick this week, and she noticed that I was really hot, so the next day I saw her, she had bought medicine for me and gave it to me! I am happy she was finally baptized. Elder Mortenson started teaching her during our first cycle here with Elder Taibeti. I admire a lot about her and am happy she is now a member!  

Part of being a missionary here is to love the people, and every week I come to love them more. Working with the members and teaching the non members makes me really happy. We laugh a lot and I love how happy everyone is here. I am grateful for all of them, and all of you who are reading this!

Hope everyone has a great week! 

Elder Espiritu

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

Birthday party for Nanay Genoveva

Nanay Domingo and I

Elder Andon, Elder Solis, and 

Elder Pulvera in Gonzaga

The three sombereros

Vincent and I

Pictures from an area we explored this week

Mary Joy and I, a less active in our area

Benson and I

Pictures from Angel's baptism

Tatay Miguel, and the shirt and pants Elder Mortenson and I gave to him.

Justin and Vincent

Happy New Year 2017

Once again I am thankful for everything I was able to learn this week! I am constantly grateful for everything I learn here in the Philippines. 

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