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

Batac zone 

Tug of war (we won)

My boyz Elder Tauilili, Elder Johnson and Elder Mortenson (the second picture is when Elder Johnson stuck his face on my shirt)

My fellow zone mates sister Licausi, Elder Young, Sister Kaufusi, Sister Wikaira, Sister Salde and Sister Taumopeau

Sister Quinco and Sister Faoa

Some people from Bangui zone

My favorite Sister ever Sister Andrada

Batac zone again

Sister Corpuz, a fellow RM of PLM

The batch mates (we all went into the MTC the same day)

Batac ZL's and STL Sister Hicks and Sister Altre

More Fellow RM's Sister Corpuz, Sister Aquino and Sister Gallier

The Texas boys Elder Ruiz, Elder Hair, Elder Hernandez and I

The Holy ghost is complete with Elder Espiritu and Elder Santos

My homie Elder Petty and Sister Quinco

Elder Mortenson, Sister Alatini and Sister Faoa

Sister Kaufusi and Sister Ofualo

Got that winkie face down with Sister Pestano and Sister Pangilinan

Elder Seegmiller, my son Elder Yranon, Sister Bagadiong, sister Castanares, and Elder Jamisola

The Batch again

My beloved son Elder Yranon

My fellow Phil am Sister Novilla, Sister Morton, Sister Galves, Elder Seegmiller, Elder Johnson and Elder Mortenson

Running around and more cool experiences

Hey there to all who read this, it's been a little while hasn't it? Not emailing on Monday feels really weird, but surprisingly it passed by fast! No doubt having a ton of things to do every day affected how fast these last 9 days felt. The 9 days were jam packed with lots of awesome experiences which I am once again grateful for! Some highlights for this email include (but to not limited to): 2 exchanges with awesome Elders, a surprise FHE with members not even in our area, a person who has surprisingly finished the Doctrine and Covenants before I even did, a long unexpected thing to take care of with an unexpected way home, and just a bunch of awesome people.

I have officially been in the mission for 16 months now! How is the area going here? Really good, and I love it. Elder Havens and I for these last several weeks have honestly been running around from place to place almost every day. This last Tuesday we attended 2 district meetings in Badoc and Paoay. 

On Wednesday, we had an exchange with Elder Ruiz and Elder Abenis who are assigned in Badoc. I had a lot of fun because I went with Elder Abenis, who was one of the first missionaries I had exchanges with when I was still new and my trainer Elder Daclag was the district leader. It was fun reminiscing about the first time we had exchanges. We had some good work. While we were finding we did run into a girl who told us her brother was like us (as in missionary) and was coming home from his mission! We weren't able to see him that day though due to him not coming home until 9. It was a good day, and we got a lot done. 

The following day we had another exchange, this time with Elder Magadia and Elder Kiima. I was with Elder Magadia, who is new in the mission, around 11 weeks in the field. I surprisingly spoke a lot more Ilocano than I thought I could so it was interesting to see that. Here's the awesome thing that happened with him: Right before we were going to teach the Ulit family we decided to try to talk to some other people where they live. We talked to this one 15 year old who was taking care of his pigeons. We gave him a pamphlet, but I felt like I should ask him if we could meet his family. He agreed and he took us into his house and met 2 members of his family, his mom and brother. While we were getting to know them the mom (Nora) brought up the fact that her son Jaypee knows a lot about our church. When we talked to him, we found out that he has already read ALL of the Book of Mormon AND the Doctrine and Covenants. The crazier thing is: we were the first missionaries he's met. Elder Magadia and I were stunned and amazed at that fact. Also a funny thing he told us: He started learning more about the "Mormon church" when he searched what church was true online! So we taught him and his family about the Restoration. The Spirit was strong. We also invited them to be baptized, and they said yes! Of course we were very happy at the result but also know it will still take a lot of time and effort, because aside from Jaypee, the family is still new to the gospel. Elder Havens and I were able to go back a couple of times on Sunday and Tuesday and they really seem to want to learn more about the gospel, especially Jaypee. Hopefully we'll keep helping them progress!

Right after Elder Magadia and I left the house of Jaypee Ulit (they're cousins with the other Ulit family) we went to the Ulit family (the one I have already talked about several times) and were about to teach them when we got a call from Elder Havens and Elder Kiima. Turns out the missionary that Elder Abenis and I heard about was home and wanted the Elders to come over for a family home evening so we rushed over there. 

We then met brother Crismar Bulato, a return missionary from the Cagayan de Oro mission, which is an all Filipino mission. He is nice and actually met someone I knew from my first area (Elder Pajarillo) who I was pretty good friends with before he went to serve. Even though Crismar lives in Batac he goes to the San Lorenzo ward (about 30 minutes away from Batac) and so we met several members from San Lorenzo who were really fun. The FHE went great! Crismar is actually the only member in his family and has been praying these past 2 years that his family would listen to the missionaries. As of now we still haven't been able to teach them but we're hoping!

On Saturday we had the opportunity to go to Banna for a baptismal interview. Another fun fact: The town of Banna at a point was renamed "Espiritu". Around that time my Dad was serving and saw a jeepney with Espiritu written on it. So my hope was to find one while I was there in Banna but sadly there were none.

After we went to one appointment around 12:45 we hopped on a bus and started the journey there. Banna and Batac are neighboring towns, but because there are no major roads that go directly to each other, we have to up and around. Our hope was that we get there around 2 and get back at 4. 4:30 at the latest. We ended up getting there at 3:30 and waited for 45 minutes because of a parade, then had to wait for the baptismal candidate. By the time we finished everything it was 6. At 6 apparently there are no more buses or jeepneys going out of Banna. So we were stranded. 

While walking in the dark trying to find a way back, Elder Havens took a leap of faith and turned towards a random van and flagged it down. To our surprise, it stopped and let us hop in. Even more surprising, one of the passengers was a member from Laoag coming back from a birthday party. They were nice enough to take us back to San Nicolas so we could wait for a bus. The amount of luck we had that day was just unbelievable. After finally getting back at 8:30, a nice member left us a dinner that we were able to pick up. God is really watching over us!

Sunday rolled around and the Ulit family was able to come again which made me really happy! This time Mom and sister came again, and one of the brothers came for the first time! We taught them all at once for the first time. At the end we invited the 2 brothers who didn't have a baptismal date to be baptized. They said yes, but wanted to do it as a family. So we had to move the Dad, Mom and Ethel's baptismal date from Dec. 30 to Jan 27, but the fact that the whole family is willing to be baptized is amazing. The mother told us how much of a sacrifice it is for her since she was Catholic, but is okay if all her kids and her are baptized. We just have to continue being patient! The power of the Gospel really can change lives.

So as a conclusion: life is great as a missionary here in Batac, as a zone leader in Batac zone, and in general. So far Elder Havens and I are doing great too. We have been together for 4 weeks but basically feel like we have 2 weeks of teaching experience together due to how many things we've had to do. We have not completely adjusted to how we both teach so we're working on that. We get along really well! I am happy, and I know this church is true!

It's weird to think how much time has passed! It's so fast! Thanks for your support! Love you all! Next time I write it will be Christmas! Can you believe it? Can't wait! 

Elder Espiritu

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

Helping catch some fish (it ended up taking too long so we didn't even get to see what we caught)

Meeting an RM here while on exchanges with Elder Kiima and Magadia

Our favorite (most common) transportation 

The Batac Zone earlier today after practice for Christmas conference

I'm Living a Busy Christmas Season

The life of a zone leader mixed with Christmas time can equal a really really busy life, or maybe that's just me. Nope I'm pretty sure all the other zone leaders in the mission are just as busy! But for me, busy is good. Busy makes the time fly by and to me it felt like this week flew! I had a lot of great things happen which I definitely won't forget. Especially "Light the World." 

We had a condensed P-day last Monday. Around 1 Pm we left Batac and headed back to Laoag. The whole day we practiced for a performance called "Light the World" which the Laoag stake was holding. As part of that all the missionaries of Laoag zone and the missionary leadership council (all the zone leaders and sister training leaders) got to participate in this event. We all sang! It definitely wasn't easy to prepare 4 different songs (one being a pretty complicated tagalog song "kumukutikutitap") but the experience was awesome. 

On Tuesday night we performed at Laoag plaza and I felt the Spirit. It was also awesome because I got to see lots of missionary friends (some that I haven't even seen for a year) and some members from Laoag and Vintar came to watch! I'll never forget that awesome experience. 

So Monday and Tuesday our days were taken up by that. Since we stayed so late in Laoag we ended up sleeping there until the next morning. We traveled back and had a district meeting. 

Every day last week we had some sort of place to go in the morning. On Thursday we had to go to a meeting with the STL to talk about a couple things. On Friday we had a meeting with the Stake President (which ended up being cancelled) and Saturday we had to go to a different area so Elder Havens could interview 2 investigators from our district (turns out he is also the district leader on top of being a zone leader). Because of all the places we went to, our work did suffer a bit. However, we still did have some great lessons taught and some success.

On Sunday, we were happy to see the Ulit family come again! I'm so glad they came. They have been progressing really well. The 2 girls have really been progressing, and are always reading the Book of Mormon, and always have good insights to share with us. The dad is still progressing but still doesn't understand a couple of things we taught. He loves the Bible and of course, so do we, but he does believe the Book of Mormon is true. We still have a couple of lessons to teach so we'll see how they progress! 

So my experience as a zone leader so far has been busy, but great. I actually enjoy the busy life because it gets the time going. We did officially find out the details of our upcoming Christmas conference will be this December 21st and 22nd. Turns out we will be doing a dance and a lip sync this year, so later today we'll be practicing that (I still have to figure out more choreography for the dance and lip sync). 

For anyone who actually does read this: Our P-day next week will be on Wednesday instead of Monday (I'm pretty sure that's set unless President says otherwise again) so we'll have a proselyting Period of 9 days until next P-day. It'll be fun, and we can get a lot of work ton! I know this work is true, and I know if I continue to do my part, the Lord will bless me and my Family! Love you all!

Elder Espiritu

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

Sister Hicks (our Sister training leader in our zone) and I

My cousin in law Elder Maroket and I 

Sister Naavales and Sister Fontinilla

Sister Morton and Sister Galvez

Elder Tauilili, Sha-Sha, and Elder Johnson

Sister Alatini and Sister Quinco

My fellow batch and Zone leader in Sta. Ana, Elder Seegmiller

Kevin (a member from Laoag) and I

My fellow Phil-am (except she legit looks like a Filipino unlike me) Sister Novilla and I

My fellow batch and batch before who are also assistants to the President, Elder Jenkins and Elder Holmes 

Sister Pestano (and sister Pangilinan)

My other fellow zone leader Elder Francia

Sister Ofualo and Sister Mariano

 Elder Havens and I under and arch

The Paoay chapel

The New and Busy Life in Batac

It's great to have lots of experiences filled within one week, because those are always the most memorable, such as this week. Lots of random things happened that I didn't expect, such as observing a surgery, my suitcase breaking during transfer, a maggotty floor, and some new special people I have met here in Batac!

So right after we left Vintar last week Elder Trinidad had to go to the doctors to actually get a wart removed. Surprisingly, because they knew as missionaries we are supposed to stick together, I was allowed to accompany him. We did wait 4 hours just to have that surgery so I definitely won't forget that day. 

After that I was talking with Elder Johnson and showing him a couple of things from my luggage. As I tried to close my luggage, both zippers broke on one of them leaving my suitcase wide open. So what we had to do for an hour and a half is sew my suitcase shut until I got to Batac. That will definitely be something to remember. 

So now I'm here in Batac with Elder Havens, and so far it's been an awesome experience! It's also been really busy, but I like it so far! Fun fact: Elder Havens and I are both used to just having our companions do the cooking and we just clean, and since we are 2 Elders from America our cooking skills here aren't exactly up to par. So I guess we are going to learn now! It hasn't been too bad so far. I am good at making french toast and a couple of others, and he's testing his skill. 

As for another fun/gross fact: We throw the garbage out every Saturday morning, except last Thursday apparently our trash was highly attractive to the flies, which I did notice there were a lot. When we came back from work I noticed there were several maggots on the floor, all over the apartment. It wasn't something I was expecting to happen anywhere in my life. So we took the broom and swept them all out, and destroyed their base in the trash can. 

Alright now to the more mission/spiritual side. Batac is great. I'm grateful to be in a ward now after being in a little branch for the last 4 1/2 months. Our attendance last Sunday was 175, which is actually lower than the week before of 200. The area is a little big, and I never expected that one of the main transportation in this area is actually bus. It may take me a while to get the place memorized.

As for people to teach, we actually have had a lot of days where we weren't able to hit everyone! There is this one family that we are contact every day though. I haven't even known them for a week and yet I already love them so much and feel so close to them. Their names are the Ulit family. They're actually a pretty big family, but I have mostly gotten to know the dad (Antonio) the Mom (Marlyn) and their 17 year old daughter (Ethel). 

I have taught them twice so far and every time I go I feel the Spirit so strong. I was complimented when they actually told us that with past other missionaries from different religions, they get really bored while they teach and just want them to leave. But for us, every time we come they say they always feel "magaan sa pakiramdam" which would be basically good feelings. They also told us that even though we teach a little longer, they love listening to us. This last Sunday all 3 of them came to church and had a good experience. I'm glad that the Ward is doing well.

As for one last awesome fact that happened this week is I met a couple of people who knew who I was. The first is our next door neighbor to our apartment who served a mission in Hawaii. Turns out when he came back from a mission, he knew and sometimes worked with my parents, Elder Espiritu and Sister Misalucha when they served around here back when this was under the Philippines Baguio mission. He told me my parents were both the model missionaries of the mission and he found my mother very attractive back then. 

I also met another woman by the name of Ann Yapo, but who was known as Ana Repotula back when she met my Dad at the age of 4 years old. She didn't remember much about my Dad except his face, and would see him often at their house when she lived in Pasuquin which was one of my Dad's areas. She also told me that apparently my Dad was her crush when she was a 4 year old, and they have a picture together (but she hasn't found yet). Several months ago she found out I was serving here in the Philippines Laoag mission and has apparently been hoping for a long time that I would be assigned here. Now here I am! 

I can't even express how lucky and grateful I feel that I am here in this specific mission. I know God sent me here for a reason and I love all the good that happens here. I love meeting people who have known me through my parents back in 1987-1988. I'm a little sad to see that that one member is less active, but I'm still grateful for the opportunity to help her come back to church. 

I know this church is true, and sometimes we just have bumps in life. If we stay true and faithful to the end, we'll receive the greatest reward. I can't wait to see what opportunities I still yet have to see in this mission! Let's see what it holds!

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

Attending Elder Trinidad's surgery

Going back to the beach

Yoh bettur bee cuatious heehr

Elder Havens and I

The Batac chapel

the Batac apartment