The Things That Happen in The Philippines

Well for starters just wanted to say Happy 4th! Even though I’m a week late I apologize. But at the moment I'm away from you in another country I love: The Philippines. Alright pretty good week this week. Had a couple of cool experiences and random things happen so here it goes!

First I would like to start off with a small victory, and a fun fact. Our mission in every apartment has either water filters or water jugs for filtered water. We were told we should have at least 5. When they checked the apartment Sister Andrada told the mission that she told us that only the Sister Training Leaders in the mission and the CLAVERIA ELDERS (that's us) were obedient to that request. Small little random victory that's not super important, but hey it's a victory nonetheless. 

Other fun fact, we have lots of spiders that chill around the house and I always notice a particular one with 7 legs. One day we came home around 8, and around 10 I noticed something different on my desk, turns out he was chilling there for a while and was camouflaged. So why don't we kill him already? Because he keeps away/ eats cockroaches for us, so we prefer him over them. He doesn't bother us either so it's all fine. 

One more small random thing that happened this morning: I found a frog in my shoe. He was about the size of my heel. I can tell you it felt weird trying to put on my shoe and having something squishy inside, and when you try to see what's inside have water start pouring out. That doesn't happen every day.

So now for more of the mission/spiritual side of my week. Here's a cool start of what could be a really cool experience: One day we were exploring more of an area we haven't been to much, and after talking to some people we learned that there was a member close to their house. So we decided to go, and we discovered it was true. 

When we met her, we learned that she was baptized into the church back in the 1990's and all of her siblings are members. She's even had a couple that served missions too. Sadly she became inactive quite a while ago and her husband is Catholic (his parents are Jehovah's witnesses) so her kids aren't very religious. 

She does have a lot of kids and she told us she actually really wants them all to go to one church, and she want's it to be the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She has wanted to explain to them about the church but she doesn't know how and only now have Elders come to her after all these years. 

Here's a cool part: She told us she has a child that died awhile ago and the day before we came (July 3rd) she had a dream about her and she had 2 people with her in white. Then the next day (the daughter’s birthday) 2 Elders dressed in white show up. It was a very cool start and I hope we will be able to teach her. We weren't able to teach her because she had to go somewhere the day we wanted to come and her children are always in school until 5 which is a busy time for everyone. Hopefully we'll be able to teach her so we hope to go there this week!

As for our other investigators, it was a slower week. We only had 2 of them show up to church which made us a little sad. One that we have really been wanting to come to church (Sister Dae Shin Keith, 13) was busy again taking care of a small store they have and a small pool resort. but her cousin and friend came. We decided to move her baptism again to make sure she is really ready and active. It makes me sad because there's a chance I won't be there for her baptism, I might not be there for a lot of our investigators’ baptism, but there's a chance I could stay. 

I've come to realize it's not important if I am the one at their baptisms, but what is important is they're gaining a testimony that this church is true and they want to be baptized. So even if it's not me there, I'm glad I was able to help them on the way. Who knows, maybe I'll still be able to be there for a couple or all of our investigators that are progressing. 

We are praying for them every day and doing our best to help them gain a testimony that this church is true! I know it is, and I can help others know too! We are going to keep continuing to do our best to help others come unto Christ through this Gospel! I know it's true, and I know it can change lives for the better. Thank you again for everyone who supports me and hopefully I can continue to help others! Mahal ko kayong lahat! Tandaan niyo po lagi ang kahalagahan ng ebanghelyo ni Jesucristo! 

Elder Espiritu

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

Here's my monkey friend

This guy has been chilling at our apartment for a couple weeks now

Another shot of Mabnang

Just a tree a dirty fishpond and I (with some effects to hopefully keep you all entertained)

Fast and Time

Well time certainly does fly doesn't it? At least that’s how it was this week with several things, such as traveling to and back from Laoag, zone conference, fasting, and seeing lots of good people I've met start to go home.

We had another zone conference this week which I was really looking forward to. The only downside about zone conference is it's 3 hours away and half of that trip is switchbacks through the winding mountains. I survive though. I do take some medicine every time and just deal with the head pain. The travel is worth it because the zone conferences are always very good.

This zone conference was quite a good one, and I learned a lot. We had lots of different topics that we talked about such as Obedience, the "crocodiles" in our lives and Fasting. The story of the crocodiles goes as follows (or a modified version): The crocodiles are very subtle and sneaky in Africa, and patiently hide in waterholes for thirsty animals to pass by. The point of the story is that they are extremely subtle and can really catch us off guard. We need to always be on guard even when something doesn't seem so bad or it can even help. Just be ready to use the Armor of God always!

The one that really helped me out though was fasting, because honestly I have struggled with fasting my whole life. I just really love eating so it's a bit of a struggle for me. I am quite proud of myself when I actually get myself to do it but I know it's a way to humble ourselves. We talked about a model fast and I decided to work on my attitude when I fast. 

So this last Friday through Saturday I managed to make it. I got off track and distracted a couple of times but I was fine. We talked about letting the spiritual man be stronger than the Physical, so that's what I was trying to focus on. I felt that even though my body was weak. It really did help me spiritually. I know fasting is a very good way to humble ourselves and become more connected with our Heavenly Father. Although 24 hours seems like a lot to go without food and water, I know it really helps. If we don't focus on the hunger or thirst and focus on the blessings, it really helps!

Speaking of time passing by, it's weird to see how much time has actually changed. During zone conference I got to talk to a lot of my missionary friends that are now on the verge of going home. As I come closer to my 1 year mark, I see more and more people going home. Sometimes it's sad to see them go home cause it's fun to hang around with them. Time goes on and we get to meet more cool people! This life is full of great people, so just do our best to meet them all! 

This week was great! We got 6 of our investigators to come to church. I was slightly bummed because 2 that I really wanted to come and fasted and prayed for didn't come but I am happy with our result and know that sometimes Heavenly Father’s Will isn't ours, and we just have to accept His Will and timing. It's not up to us. Although sometimes we may not like it, we just have to know that God knows what He is doing. Hopefully soon we shall see some success in our area!

As for the mission I love it and enjoy it! I learn so much every day and even though sometimes it feels repetitive, we are still just doing our best to stay positive. 

Elder Yranon and I have a great area so we're doing fine. We're celebrating the differences between each other always and we are both constantly working on being a better teacher and missionary in general! Day by day we learn and it's all going well! Thanks once again for all of your support, to all of you who are reading I love you all and hope for another good week! 

Elder Espiritu

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

Bangui zone June 29, 2017

My brothas Elder Ossola (one of the first Americans I met) and Elder Uele (one of my previous zone leaders)

Sister Eclavia, my "sister" here in the mission

Sister Persia, my STL

Elder Anderson and Elder Langeveld, My zone leader when I was in Laoag and my Zone leader now. They're both going home this July :(

Elder Yranon, Elder Odermott (my MTC companion) and his anak (child) Elder Santillan

The Busy Mission Life

Life is busy here in Claveria with many places to go, and things to do, lots of questions to answer and just helping others come to church. But it's all great. Oh random side note we did get to see a monkey here.

Not really anything too exciting about the monkey. It wasn't very nice to us. It was in a cage at an investigator’s house who we have been teaching but it just kinda sat around and stared at us. It tried to grab us a couple of times but he was just a little weird monkey. So that's my newest addition to things I've seen here.

As for the work out here, it's great. We have lots of places to go every day so it's keeping us really busy. We have 5 different areas that we go to which we switch off every day and have some investigators that are progressing in each area. We were happy to able to have 5 of our investigators go to church!

We were really working on getting these 3 girls from our farthest area to get to church. Sister Dae shin (13), Sister Mhaye (16) and Sister Jhesamin (14). They are all interested so we talked to one of our member friends who has a tricee and so he could pick them up. Turns out he is related to Dae Shin (but a pretty far relation). I was so happy to see Dae Shin finally come. She's been wanting to come since May but has always had something she had to do. We also visited her this last Wednesday on June 21st to wish here a happy birthday. She seems happy and I'm happy with the result.

Her cousin Mhaye is progressing more than I thought she would at first glance, but she is really smart. She actually reads all the lessons that we give her and she actually highlights them too! So hey now her pamphlets are colorful but she is doing very well with reading and praying. It was great to see her at church too. 

A couple of other good things happened to me. We visited one of our investigators one day and they gave me a little watermelon. I don't know why but it made me pretty happy. With another group of families (the Delos Santosfamily and Pedronan) they always feed us every time we are over. I'm usually not a fan of fish, but the fish they feed us is good. We've gotten close to them. 

On a more spiritual side of the work, it's really interesting to see sometimes how unaware I am of feeling the Spirit in my life as a missionary. Sometimes it just hits me and makes me feel really happy. I know I should be more aware but sometimes I forget the most important factor in what I do. 

This week reminded me when I was reading in Alma about Lamoni and Ammon. It was basically about missionary work and it just made me happy. I also read in True to the Faith about prayer, and it says after we finish praying we should wait for a little and just listen. That makes a difference and I am grateful for prayer. 

In the lessons too with one man who was asking a lot of questions, we all knew what we needed to say to answer his questions. I am thankful for the Spirit helping me remember what I studied. 

With another investigator (Jolina), we've taught the lesson of the Restoration to her a couple of times, and I have felt the Spirit so strong. I hope she did too, but I know it's her choice to bring the Spirit in. 

As missionaries we can only bring the message unto their heart, not into. It's up to them to accept it. I hope she does. She is a little shy but she's smart. We'll just have to see how it goes!

Every day I come home and I feel exhausted, but it's a good feeling to me because I feel physically and spiritually drained, which means I am doing my job. 

Elder Yranon and I are blessed with a really nice area, and we're working on doing our best every day! Things are going well! Hope it stays that way! Love you all! 

Elder Espiritu

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

Working in Mabnang

Partying with Dae Shin and Mhaye on Dae Shins birthday

Got them mini melons and machetes

Birthdays and Such

Well I'm a little disappointed in myself because I freaked out when I held the spider and it crawled up my arm, but hey, my areas still great, and the members were really nice to me last Saturday and Sunday!So we're not sure what or how it happened, but lately we have seen a lot of bigger spiders in our apartment, but we mostly ignore them, because they help by eating all the cockroaches. 

On Tuesday we saw a pretty big one (about the size of your thumb and index finger extended) and my companion likes holding them. I'm usually not scared of spiders but the bigger ones kind of intimidate me. The other 3 started holding it and playing around so I decided I needed to too. Slightly nervous, I let it crawl onto my hand, and I lasted about 8 seconds. It was calm when it was on everyone else, but as soon as it was on me it reacted a lot faster and suddenly started crawling up my arm. So I swatted it off. But hey, I still held it, and for now we continue to find big spiders around our apartment and play around with them.

As for the work, it's still great and fun. The slight problem we have started to face is that several of our appointments have to be 5:30 PM or later, because most of them are school kids. We have to start going to switch off appointments so we're working that out! It's amazing to see how smart and willing to learn teenagers are ranging from 12 and up. 

We have some other adults we teach too but they also have work in the afternoon so we're working that out! It's still going great and it's always fun to teach. 

One really cool "ah ha" moment we had was when we were teaching a nice lady Sister Nelia and her daughter! As we were teaching about the Restoration of the Gospel we came to the subject of the Apostasy. We used the example of the Gospel as a big picture of Christ. When Christ returned to Heavenly Father and the Apostles were killed, the picture of Christ was shattered. So many good people took pieces of the picture and tried to duplicate it but no one could. 

When we taught that, Sister Nelia had an "ah ha" moment, and told us she finally understands why there are many churches! We then invited them to read and pray about it, and this week we will track their progress!

So fun little fact this last Saturday was my birthday, (just for the record 19 doesn't feel any different from 18 yet haha) and all I had planned for my birthday was just to have another normal day of work! So for my "birthday cake" I got a little cake bar (similar to a twinkie) and lit an candle, and that's all I had planned for my birthday. We headed to work, and it was pretty good work. We taught a lot of smart students and then in the afternoon visited a couple of other families! 

Turns out 3 of my favorite families (the Diza, the Pedronan - Sister Florida is a recent convert - and the Delos Santos family) planned to have a little party with food and such! I was a little surprised because we also were attending a baptism later around 5. 

So after the baptism (which was amazing and the Spirit felt when a little 9 year old was baptized was great and very powerful) we returned and they had some food and made a little card and a key chain ship with a bigger ship for me! I really love those families and it was great to feel like I had a family here on my birthday. 

I had another surprise on Sunday too. After church I was really hungry and we had a couple of meetings and were told to wait for another meeting. Suddenly they told us the other meeting was canceled and I didn't think anything of it. When we got home I noticed that our front gate was unlocked and was really confused why. Then I saw a little platter of food and a cake-ish thing with a poster was inside, and suddenly lots of our good member friends here came out and surprised me. I was really thankful and it was great to feel support from the people I've come to love!

So that was my adventure for this week, and next week hopefully will be just as fun! I mean it won't be my birthday again for awhile but we're just going to continue in the work of the Lord, and hopefully we'll keep finding more people to teach and helping people find the gospel of Jesus Christ! 

I love the mission with all the ups and the downs and I love the people here! Thanks for everyone else who supports me too back at home and I really appreciate it all! Till next week! 

Elder Espiritu

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

My only plan for my birthday

The district (plus a member)

A little party with the Delos santos and Pedronan family (plus one from the Diza and Alex)

The Pedronan, Diza and Delos Santos' 

little gift for me

The members' little surprise for me

Can You Not Wait?

It's cool to see the effect of the gospel in people’s lives, no matter what age. It can also be cool to wake up at 4:20 and leave at 5 to go to a meeting, but all is well. Even though it started later than expected, all is well.

So fun little fact, I got to do my first baptismal interview as a District Leader for a little 9 year old named Claret. She is a part member who has 2 sisters that are already a member and one very active. As I was going through the interview I was quite impressed with what she knew and what she remembered. She wasn't too shy either and I know that if I was her age I would probably be pretty scared of an interview. But I found no reason to delay her baptism, and even though she still has a lot to learn, it's amazing to see what a 9 year old knows about the gospel! It's amazing. I know she will be happy!

So with our area, it was a pretty normal week, going to different houses and teaching the message of happiness to others, the work’s still going well. Still got some shy investigators (who I feel are getting shyer) got some really great ones who are still very young and got ones who ask lots of questions which I enjoy answering. It's great to see them all progressing and we're continuing to do our best to help them come unto Christ!

We also had an Family Home Evening on Saturday in our area which was quite enjoyable. Once we got to the FHE, I was randomly picked on to give the lesson. It was practically no time to prepare. So I decided to talk about decisions and how much they can affect. I got to tell the story of how my Mom and Dad met (sorry Mom and Dad I hope that was okay) as missionaries. Even though they had good lives and had things to do they were willing to put their life on hold for a little and if they didn't they never would have met and I wouldn't be where I am today. They all enjoyed the story, and it's cool to see what a difference you can make. 

There are even times you don't notice how much of a difference you are making. So know that every choice you make always has a consequence and can affect others!

Well your decisions can also affect yourself, which did to me when I woke up at 4:20 to get to another town for an area broadcast. We left at 5, waited until 5:45 and got there at 8. Even though it was supposed to start at 8:30, the broadcast didn't end up going until 10:30, but I don't regret being there early. That's how I was raised and I would rather always be early than be late! I enjoyed the broadcast though and I learned a lot from Elder Bednar, Elder Bowen, Elder Arderl, and Sister Oscarson and all of their talks. I know they have authority and that they are teaching the doctrine of the kingdom. Though I can't apply all the principles they taught yet (such as Elder Arderl's talk about marriage) I know they are here to help us out and we just need to listen, no matter how tired we are.

It reminds me of a talk I read in the Liahona the other day about when Jesus was performing the Atonement. He brought some of his Apostles and while performing the Atonement, came back 3 times and found his Apostles sleeping. He told his Apostles, ”Could you not wait one hour?". That really made me think. I'm not going to lie, sometimes I'm really tired during Church meetings and other things. But God asks just 3 hours of our time, and especially that 1 hour for Sacrament. So could we "not wait for 1 hour?". 

I hope that we can all strive to do our best to always listen to the council of our authorities and our parents and I hope that during church none of you fall asleep! I really need to get better at that one myself but I know if we always improve ourselves we can keep growing. Once again love you all and stay strong in the gospel! 

Elder Espiritu

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

Got them rice gainz (We decided to help a member move some sacks of rice)

Just hanging with some Diza siblings at a FHE

Went to Pasuquin found a sister missionary there (just kidding Sister Persia and I became good friends back when we were in Laoag)

Everyone Helps

Happy Start of June to you all! Happy summer! Funny thing is here, today is the start of Schooling! But as always, it's been a week of lots of walking teaching and continuing to build patience! Side note, our first P-day so far consisted of partying at a waterfall and stopping on the side of the road to grab some coconuts to drink.

So this week I was really reminded about how important working with the members are. Sometimes we are so busy I don't even remember to think about inviting someone to join, and we always have this same one member help us in a certain area. But now that college is finishing up here we have more people wanting to work. Sadly high school is now starting so it's gonna be a little more difficult to get to the people we used to teach. There can be a lot to learn when you start working with the different members, and it's nice to have someone who can really relate. It can also make the work more fun to have an extra person who also knows the areas we're going to. 

One time this week we had Angelo join us in the work for a day and he mostly listened and did his best to testify. At the end of the day he told us our work that day just made him want to start his papers already, even though he's 17. He has a lot to learn but it helped him spark his desire to serve!

On the other hand on another day, I enjoyed laughing a lot with our Branch Mission Leader Rheinz. He is a Return missionary from the Philippines Davao mission and just pretty fun to be around. I really like fellowshipping with him because he can really express himself very well. I learn a lot from him just by listening to him teach. We also get along well so we joke around a lot and laugh a ton. The members in this work are really important and I love being with those who also have a desire to help their fellow neighbors.

Speaking of the fellow neighbors that we are teaching, I'll give an update on the ones who are really listening. We still got 2 really shy ones who it takes a ton of work just to get them to say yes, and we also have a 12 year old who understands the doctrine extremely well and is very sociable. We also got 2 Mothers who really want to go to church, but only as a family, and some who are seeking the truth and ask lots of questions. There's also one who very much believes in God but has a couple of trials in her life. 

Lots of different types of people here but we can do our best to help them in one purpose, which is coming unto Christ! That is our purpose as missionaries and we're doing our best every day to help them really understand the importance of this gospel! We're also always there to help them in their hardships and help them understand how much this gospel can help in their lives. Helping people is what we're here for, and whether if it's helping members or non members, we just always have to do our best and follow Christ's example! Once again Love you all and hope you're all continuing to enjoy your summer!

Elder Espiritu

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

Some kids wanted to take a picture

Working with a fellow member Angelo (that whole things made from recycled plastic, go green!)

Some girl wanted to take a picture with us so we did

Some of our fellow learners of the gospel: Arlin and Liza

Party at the Falls