Always Have The Light of The Gospel

Once again I am thankful for another good week here in the Philippines. Lots of great things happening here and lots of blessings!             

So the work here is still pretty slow, but that's expected especially since we are picking it up from nothing and starting from scratch. We didn't do as much finding this week, but we did meet more members that were willing to work with us. The members here are very friendly, and we really need their help. 

Every day this week when we went places there was no one there so we just walked around a lot. My legs got pretty tired a lot of the time but hey, at least I got a work out. Everyone says I look thinner now than the pictures they've seen of me at the beginning of my mission. Maybe I can get more toned here. Who knows?

The heat of the Philippines is starting to affect me more. Aside from it being tiring after doing a lot of walking every day in the hot sun, my skin gets a little cooked. Apparently Laoag is the 2nd hottest place in the Philippines. So maybe one day I will be able to turn brown like a true Filipino but for now I guess I am just kinda getting a farmers tan. 

I guess the weather here is starting to heat up again, because I have been sweating non stop. Even in our apartment, if I don't have a fan on me at all times, I will be soaking through my clothes. Maybe I can sweat all my fat off. It is hot, and it's only going to get hotter from here. But it's nothing I can't handle.

It's been awhile since I have updated you all with the language so here is an update. Last week I felt like I struggled a lot. It was not super fun. This week felt better. I am still certainly not fluent, and I definitely struggle in a lot of areas of the language. I am learning a lot of new words here though and it's fun to talk to the members about it. 

Them, my companion and other missionaries are a big help. To be honest it's still a pretty big struggle. It also depends on how comfortable I am with the people. I've noticed myself speaking a little more English here and even though it's alright to them, I want to be able to say all I want in Tagalog. I will be very excited for the day though when I don't have to worry about how I say things. But it's not going to be a sudden day, relating to the saying "line upon line, precept upon precept." It's a slow and gradual process that can be pretty frustrating. But one day, it will all be alright.

So we got a surprise text the morning of our district meeting, the text was from our mission president saying he was coming to our district meeting and having another special meeting with us! Our District leader got a little stressed after he saw that text, but he did great. We did practice teaching with President Andrada, and he taught us how to more connect what we are teaching to fit the investigators needs. 

When he did it he taught so smoothly and connected so well. I admire his skill and wish I could do it just as well. But I know I am just in the middle of learning and he has many years of experience more than I do. After that he gave us basically a review about what Elder Bednar said to the Laoag Stake last week. We need to really try to work with the members and get them to help out. We read in the PMG that we can use any worthy cause. 

So we tried to think of fun ways to get investigators interested. An example was free piano lessons. I really wanted to do basic dance lessons, but I don't think it's allowed. So we thought of other activities and had a ward council with the Bishop, his counselors and the members. The meeting went well and hopefully we will all act after what we said instead of just saying it.

On Saturday we got to listen to another broadcast of Elder Bednar for the Philippines. This time it was in Manilla for the whole Philippines. It was more like a Question and Answer, but it was a great broadcast. I had a couple of points that I really enjoyed. One was about how home teachers aren't just there to teach. They are there to watch over, be with and strengthen. So as members and home teachers, we have a responsibility to watch over each other.

The second thought I liked was modesty. It was mostly for the youth but it talked about how important modesty is. It's not just for girls, it is for guys too. In the Articles of Faith 13 it says "If there is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." So we always need to seek after goodness. Modesty is an outward representation of your commitment to follow God. So always strive to be modest.

The last one I liked was about RM's struggling with doubts. Of course in this time and in this Church there are so many people trying to attack and tear us down. There is a lot of anti Mormon things that can make us fall away. So David A. Bednar asks this: With all the time you are spending finding and reading anti Mormon literature, are you spending as equal amount of time reading in the Book of Mormon? He then made an analogy. 

Picture you are in a room with no lights and a bunch of very dangerous traps and such. All you have to protect yourself is a flashlight. The flashlight is the Book of Mormon. If you are not using the Book of Mormon and reading it often, you just turned off your flashlight. So of course, you are going to run into something that can hurt you if you have no light to guide you.

This will be a little way to end this email, but I am going to end it like this: As members of this gospel, we always need to make sure we are doing are duty and to know what path we are on. Sometimes we forget where we are going and forget or our too lazy to do what we need. 

Then a time will come when we are tested. I hope we all have the light of the gospel ready to guide us. I am thankful for the light of the gospel to help me know what I need to do. Of course as a person here on this earth, we have trials and challenges in our lives. But if we stay strong and follow all that we need to do, we can make it through. Then of course, as members we can also help others find the path and come closer to Christ. We are all family right? 

Let's always help each other out. Once again, I love and miss you all and I hope you always remember that we can always help each other out! Till next week, Mahal ko kayong lahat! 

Elder Espiritu

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

Dabbin it up at the Bishop's house

The Mamasig family (and Diane on the left)

We Are All Missionaries

I know it's a little late because it happened back on the 14th, but happy late Valentines! It was fun getting to spend it in the Philippines. 

It wasn't too bad of a week for me. Of course there are a lot of challenges here that I don't think I mentioned last week. So first let me explain what my area is like.

It is Laoag, which is the biggest city in my mission, (but compared to the US it's not much) but the people here have a lot more they need to do and some aren't afraid to say no. So now, I am learning to better face rejection. You got those people who will just say I don't have time for you, or they don't want to change what religion they are, and then you have the people who pretend they're not home. I'm sure they are all nice people, just not ready for the gospel. So I did face rejection, but it's just a couple of painful moments, but nothing I can't get over. I'm trying to learn to toughen up a little more, so this is helping. 

So aside from the different people here, our area is starting from the bottom, as in we have nothing to work off of. So Elder Salazar and I both started here. As we checked the area book, the last time it was updated was in 2015. On top of that, all the active members are in the Sister’s area. So a couple of problems, but it's alright. 

Aside from all the little problems, we actually have found a couple of potential investigators. Of course there are meaner people, but you can't have bad without good so we have met a lot of nice people, who are really friendly. They all have a lot of potential, so I guess we can see how that goes!

Now this last Saturday, we had an amazing opportunity: which was the first time an Apostle has ever visited the Laoag area. Elder David A. Bednar came and visited. All the missionaries from the mission gathered in the stake center of Laoag to listen to him. It was a great meeting. It wasn't him just talking either. What he did was asked what we learned from talks he assigned us to read, and build off of that. He wanted the Spirit to be the one guiding the meeting, so that's what we did. After we talked about the talks, we basically did more of a question and answer. It was very edifying for everyone. 

What I really learned the most is how he told us we need to act on our faith and not be acted upon. If we want something, we need to do it ourselves. He called it being an agent, and not an object. You can have faith doing something, but you have to act and use that faith. It was a great 3 hours and I really enjoyed it with the whole mission. After that all the missionaries had to go straight back to their areas, which was lucky for me this time, because I am in Laoag.

That Sunday, all of the saints of Laoag stake gathered to listen to Elder Bednar. I didn't realize how many members there are, there are a good amount.

Elder Bednar first talked to the nonmembers, and explained what the title of our church meant, some false doctrines people teach and explained some other basic doctrine. After that, he spoke to the members. It wasn't a chastisement, but it was very stern, when he told everyone that the missionaries aren't the full time missionaries. The church has been trying to really stress that the members are the full time missionaries, and the missionaries are the full time teachers. If the members helped more to find and did missionary work, the church could build so much faster. He really pushed to say how important it is to know that we all need to be missionaries, wherever we are. So hopefully after that meeting, we will have a lot more referrals! :) 

So I am going to end this email with a challenge for you all. My challenge now to all of you reading this is, be a full time missionary! The missionaries of course will teach but you can really help in the work of Zion. I know with the help of the members, this church can grow so much. 

People may not accept our invitations, but something else Elder Bednar said that I really liked is if we are living the gospel right, there are going to be challenges. If you're doing the right things, there will always be opposition. So we are all missionaries, and we all need to share the gospel.

I hope you all accept my challenge, but it's up to you to act. Love and miss you all! Be the person God wants you to be! 

Elder Espiritu

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

The Sisters and us while proselyting

Valentines day with the Nicolas family 

The Laoag sign, (the gate was locked so I couldn't climb up)

Another dinner at the Bishops house after a meeting

Kevin Bituin, a returned missionary from Laoag 5 ward

A New Life In Laoag

This week was quite a change, and quite different from the other weeks! After another 7 hour drive from Cagayan, I am arrived in Laoag on Monday night. The only difference between the other times, is this time, I am not going back to Cagayan. It's still a little rough to me. This is my first transfer.

Well we got to the apartment, which hadn't been cleaned basically for a year. So Tuesday, we ended up spending the whole day cleaning 2 apartments, just because the mission stopped paying for one of them, so 4 of the Laoag missionaries are now in the same apartment! I like all the people in my apartment. 

First is my new companion Elder Salazar. He is a really nice Filipino from Aklan. He is 3 months from going home but still very hard working. We get along well so far! Next is Elder Pongyan, a Filipino who has been in the same zone as me since I got in the field! He is really funny and never runs out of puns. Last is another American missionary from San Francisco! He has been out for 14 months and is a really fun guy. My apartment is great.

Now, I can tell you that my change from province to city is quite fun. The province is very different from the city. So we have to open an area, because the last missionaries in our area weren't the best. Also the AP's misplaced our phone so we didn't have a phone. It's alright. We just did a lot of finding this week. 

Back in Cagayan, the people are really nice, even if they didn't want to hear the gospel, they would just let you share it anyway. Here in the city, they are not afraid to say no. We asked one person if we could just get to know him and he said no. Another just shoed us off and told us they were not interested at all. They weren't very nice. A lot of people here are more busy and don't have time either. 

I faced more rejection in this first week, than I ever did in Cagayan. It is hard I am not going to lie. I still struggle with it. But, I know that this is where God and my mission president wants me to be. Here, I know I am learning how to deal with different types of people. People have agency, so I am learning how to deal with rejection. Although it hurts, I know it will help me grow, and I continue to pray for this area.

Even though some of the people here are a little more rough around the edges, there are still always people to love. I was struggling the first couple days. We did have good lessons during them but I just never faced rejection before. However, we met one family that we are really close to, just from 2 days. The Nicolas family are really nice people, and they are really funny. To me it was refilling my soul and spirit, helping me out in this area! 

Fun fact, our chapel is called the bantay chapel (bantay means mountain) and it's on the top of a hill with 87 steps to the top. The view there is great, and it's fun to go there. The members here are really nice, and I am still pretty shy with all of them. It was fun to meet them all and I know eventually I will better my relationship with them. The only problem is most of the members in our ward live in the area of the Sister missionaries in our ward. Slight problem, but that's okay. We definitely have work to do. I can still build a relationship with them. I remember my first cycle it was like this, so I know I can build trust again!

So to end, I am still adjusting to the city life. But the mission (and life in general) does have struggles, but they are there to make you grow, to make you stronger. I am also probably going to struggle that we have a bunch of fast food restaurants, malls, and so many shopping places, something I never had in Cagayan (Don't worry mom and dad, I am working on budgeting :) ). 

The people here are still nice, even if they can be rude sometimes. I still love the people, and I still love them. I will still pray for them. I'm just going to keep working here and focus on the good! It really helps to always just focus on the good! It can help a lot even if there are trials in life.

Positivity and keeping a good mindset is always helpful. I still love it here! I will continue to preach the gospel! I know there are people waiting for it! Love you all! Miss you all too! Always stay true to the gospel and you will receive blessings! 

Elder Espiritu

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

Elder Salazar and I at the Mission home

First time trying chicken intestines

Dinner at our Bishop's house

The Donate family, some really nice investigators in our area

Dinner at the Nicolas family

 The view from the top of the Bantay chapel

The Nicolas sisters (I FINALLY FOUND FILIPINOS THAT ARE AS WHITE AS I AM) 

Some fellow shippers in our ward and 2 Sister missionaries 

Sister Persia and one of the missionaries from the newest batch in the Laoag Mission, Sister Bagadiong

From One Life to the Next

This probably felt like one of the fastest weeks for me! I enjoyed all that happened and like always, I really enjoy this mission.

On Tuesday we traveled again to Appari to listen to a worldwide mission broadcast (which was delayed for us :P) It taught us about not rushing baptism and focusing on how the investigators feel. At the end they announced the new schedule, which has all the same components, but we now have the ability to use our agency to choose when we want things to be done. Our mission has already started doing that and I enjoy it! We can go to sleep at 9:30 if we want! But we still need to wake up at 6:30, which is alright, just one of my challenges!

So, because I was trained in Sta. Teresita and this is was my 3rd cycle here, Elder Mortenson and I knew we were going to be transferred. We knew it wasn't for sure but knew it probably would happen. So throughout the week we were gradually telling people goodbye, even though we weren't sure. I didn't want to say goodbye. I love this area so much. I have become friends with so many of the members and it is fun to see how many more people have come to church now. My first cycle our sacrament attendance wasn't high. Now these last couple of weeks, almost every row has had at least a couple people in it! I am so happy to see how many people are coming back, or how many people are investigating. 

Every day this week I loved, and the more I didn't want to leave this area. I was hoping I wouldn't. I felt like now this was my home. On Saturday, I had the wonderful opportunity to baptize my good friend here in Sta. Teresita, Katrina Mae Crisostomo Mallari (Kat Kat). I am so happy to see her baptized the last Saturday in Sta. Teresita. We got her family to come too, even though they aren't members. I hope they felt the power of the Holy Ghost at her baptism. When she bore her testimony, I could feel the Spirit so strong. I am happy she is now a member and I really hope she continues to stay strong after I leave.

That night, the text came. I am being transferred. I am excited to move on to a new area and life, but I didn't want to leave all these people here. Luckily that Sunday was fast Sunday, and I got to hear a lot of my good friends’ testimonies. Kat Kat again bore her testimony, and it made a lot of people cry. The Spirit was strong that meeting. After church ended, Elder Mortenson and I (he is being transferred too by the way) had so many people coming up to us and saying goodbye, and that we should return to this area. A lot of the Nanays gave us letters as remembrances. I took pictures with a couple of people and said my goodbyes to everyone. A couple of people told me Kate (a 16 year old member) and Kat Kat cried because I was leaving.

Later that day Kat Kat cried again, and afterward she told me she didn't want to accept the fact that I was leaving, and I was like the big brother she never had. I have definitely grown attached to this place. I am grateful for being able to serve in the Sta. Teresita area, and I will definitely miss it. 

It's hard to grow to love something, but I know I must move on to new things. This is what the Lord wants. I have done my job here and it's time to help others find the light of Christ. Maybe one day I will see the people of this area again. I know they will still do well once I am gone! 

Now I'm being transferred to Laoag, and I know it's going to be a change! I am going from the farthest area which is rural to the capitol and city life! Elder Andon's first area is where I am going and he says it's a very good area. I still am sad, but now I move on from one life to the next! Can't wait to see how life is there! 

Elder Espiritu

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

Elder Andon and I decided to match!

Kat Kat's 2 younger siblings Norvin and Brian

Kat Kat and some of her family at Kat Kat's baptism

Nanay Calabiou, Lola Calabiou, Tatay Milanez and some friends of Vincent (Nanay Calabiou's daughter is currently serving in the Utah Orem mission!)

Last selfie with the YSA of Sta. Teresita

Angel and Kat Kat both made me a parting gift ^.^

One last picture with some of the Mallari family 

It's the Simple but Powerful

Hello to family, friends and whoever is reading. How is Miss Universe? :) I am technically pretty close to where it is happening, but of course I couldn't go. Oh well I'll find out who won later :). Can you all believe it's already January 30th? Time flies!

So this week there were a couple of struggles, but it is the simple and powerful things that made me love the experience this week. One of the harder parts of this week is one day it rained without end. I ended up getting cold actually and we were soaked for the whole day. We didn't let rain stop us though. It can be hard to go out like that but that can't be a reason to stop. 

The next day, we traveled to so many of the far areas we had. We had 11 lessons planned. Almost every person we tried to go to, they either were busy or weren't there at all. On one of the far areas we took a shortcut back, but it was really muddy, especially after the rain. My pants, shoes and socks turned brown that day, and by the end of that day we only ended up having 1 lesson out of the 11. What I am grateful for is that didn't get us down. 

I have already come to know that there are good days and bad days and that's a part of life in general. Elder Andon and I just laughed it off. I liked what he told me when he said, "It's alright, the Lord knows we worked, even if we have nothing to show." 

This Tuesday 3 zones got to travel to Appari to have a zone conference. Sometimes meetings can be dreadful, after all the conference goes from 9 AM to 4 PM. But I actually have come to love them. President Andrada gave most of the talks, but the AP's and Sister Andrada talked too. President Andrada talked about how important scripture study is and how important the scriptures are in general. The AP's talked about how important it is to keep the lessons simple and clear. Sister Andrada talked about how we need to be barges (as in firm, tight and ready for everything.) All great talks and I learned a lot. 

One random thing I enjoyed was a quote by sister Andrada. She was talking about how she fellowshipped one time, and was talking to a non member mom with a member family. She told the non member mother how important it is for her to be a part of the church. The quote she used I really liked is "Mothers are the light of the house. The fathers may be the foundation or the 4 corners of the house, but without the mother there is no light." I really appreciated that quote and remembered how important it was to me that both of my parents built a solid foundation and gave light to my world.

Now towards the end we watched a video about Brigham Young's conversion into the church. In the story, Brigham was listening with his family to the gospel. After one man gave his talk, he asked a simple and shy man to bear his testimony. The man was not a public speaker, but when he spoke, it was simple yet very powerful. His testimony filled Brigham Young with the Spirit. I want to relate this to an experience this week. 

On Saturday I got our 2 progressing investigators to attend the baptism of the other companionships investigator. It was a great baptism and I am glad they were able to attend. Afterwards, 1 stayed a little longer Kat Kat, and she had to walk home alone. We had somewhere to go so we weren't able to walk with her. I knew though she was capable of taking care of herself. I didn't think much of it.

That Sunday, Kat Kat and Raja were able to attend church. We brought them to the YSA for 2nd hour and stayed with them. The YSA are pretty loud so every time I go there I am nervous that our investigators don't learn that much. It's hard even for me to focus a lot of the time there. Then towards the end someone asked Kat Kat to bear her testimony.

She then told us about an experience she had the night before, right after she left the baptism. On the way home it was really dark and while she was walking she noticed a man close to her. She knew that the man was watching her and following her from a distance. As she walked, she decided to pray to God for protection. After she finished praying, she felt as if the roads lighted up for her, and someone was with her protecting her from danger. After she finished she started crying.

At the time she bore her testimony, it was really loud because the YSA were distracted and she was speaking Ilocano. I tried to focus in so hard, and even though I didn't understand, when I focused I could feel the power of her testimony. We talked to her afterwards and had her tell us the story in Tagalog so we figured out what she said. So even with loud people, a different language and all, I felt the Spirit so strong coming from her. I love seeing how much she has grown in the gospel. This experience was worth all the other hard experiences. Really what I have learned is that some of the most powerful things can be so simple. Other people may not have noticed the power of her testimony, but I did and I am so happy to know she will be baptized soon.

Sometimes so many things in life can distract from the important, or sometimes we all have hard times. But if we really focus on the important, even when there is a lot of bad things around, there are good things to find which even if they are small, they are the most powerful. 

I hope you all had a good week again, make sure to always focus on the important! 

Elder Espiritu

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

The sisters and I

The taller Elders in my zone

The Gonzaga zone

Sister Arcayan and I (Both of our Dads served in the Philippines Baguio mission!)

Raja, KatKat, Mary Joy and I at the church

Elder Mortenson, the Pajarillo family and I 

The Flores family and I 

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