July 13, 2015- Transfers? Not Really.

Hola Todos!

    This week was transfer call week so everyone in the district was trying to predict where we all would be going and doing. Since Lawrence is the only Spanish area in the entire mission all of us are staying besides my companion Elder H who will be going home basically tomorrow. So I get a new companion tomorrow. It is a bittersweet thing but it should be fun to get to know someone new and a new outlook on missionary work. My area is also getting split. My area covered the entire south of Lawrence called Lawrence 3 and now that it is getting split into two half is Lawrence 3 and half is Lawrence 4. Because of the split the Lawrence ward will now have 8 missionaries. This last week with Elder H was great and we were able to see some good miracles this week. I am also staying in South Lawrence in Lawrence 3 so my area just got shrunk down. It will be fun to work with the part of the area that I did not really work in. 

Miracle 1: We picked up a new investigator last week named J  and she came to church. This past Monday we had dinner at there house and she said that she loved it and was asking us great questions. It is great to see such enthusiasm from an investigator who is truly seeking truth and guidance which is exactly what this Gospel provides.

Miracle 2: A miracle for me because I love Mexican food. We have a member in the ward and she makes the best Mexican Food and I was finally able to have some of her amazing tacos. They were nothing fancy but the way they tasted brought me back to my childhood and all the amazing food that I had when I was living in Arizona so that was a great treat. 

Miracle 3: We have been working with a less active family who hasn't been to church in like 2 years. They have come to church the past two weeks in a row and have been loving church. This week we had a lesson with them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how important it is to be able to be worthy to enter the Temple. The mom of the family told us that she wants to prepare to enter the Temple and that to do so she is going to continue coming to church. Please pray for the Familia Z. to continue having those righteous desires to come to Church and feel of the peace that comes from coming.

Miracle 4: Last Night was one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission so far. We were teaching a lesson to a recent convert and her little sister named D. As Elder H and I were teaching I had a prompting from the spirit to ask D if she has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know if it is true. She said that she has been kind of reading and that she has prayed about it but doesn't feel like she has received an answer because she has not made it a priority during her prayers. I the asked if she would pray tonight for that answer and then Elder H was prompted to ask if she would pray right then and there. She said one of the most powerful and fervent prayers I have ever heard and she received a confirming witness from the spirit that the Book of Mormon is true.

   I know that through true sincere prayer that anyone can receive a spiritual witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that anyone who reads it will be able to come closer to God. You will be able to feel greater peace and happiness as you read and apply the things that it says to your everyday life. I hope you all have an amazing week. A promise from Moroni the last prophet of the Book of Mormon about how to receive a witness of its truthfulness:

 "3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

I would challenge all of you to take this challenge and read the Book of Mormon even if you already have a conviction of it you can receive another one and grow in your faith and conviction of its truthfulness. 

Love

-Elder Espinoza