August 24, 2015

Hola Familia y Amigos!

This week was really great even though it was the last week of the
transfer. But to start off we had a really great experience this past
Tuesday with service at our Elders Quorum's house. So our Elders
Quorum President's  name is Hermano T and he is building a big
gazebo next to his house and we mixed concrete by hand with shovels.
It was probably one of the hardest service projects I have done so far
on my mission but it was definitely rewarding. Wednesday we had
Interviews with President and had a really great zone meeting about
charity and how we can better ourselves as followers and servants of
Jesus Christ. It was a great meeting and I learned a lot about the
missionary I want to become by the end of my mission. On Thursday we
had a great day. We had two really good lessons with investigators.
One named V. V. She went to Temple Square and gained a crazy
testimony about the Book of Mormon and the Church. She is super
prepared and loves the Gospel. We gave her the Plan of Salvation
pamphlet to read and she read it all and had some good questions.
There was a really spiritual experience that we had with her. We were
talking about family history and she told us a really cool story that
when she was like 14 her grandpa always said "V, you're going to
be the one who saves us" and when we told her about proxy baptisms she
said "this is God giving me that opportunity." That was a really great
experiences and a show that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ.

Saturday we got transfer calls. When we get transfer calls and
President calls that means that one of us was either going to train or
becoming a leader. Well my Companion, Elder P is getting
transferred and training another missionary as well as becoming
District Leader. So President trusts him a lot. Also exciting news I
am staying in Lawrence 3 (the area that I have been in since I got to
the mission field) and I am going to be in a trio. I think it will be
fun because I have a pretty good idea who my other two companions are
going to be and we should get a lot of work done. Also yesterday we
got to go up to the Joseph Smith Memorial and it was a great trip a
lot of people were able to go and V. was able to go as well and
she loved the trip.

I know that this is the work of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that
as we strive to live as best as we can to follow the commandments of
God that we can have a conviction that not only Christ is our Savior
and Redeemer but that through Him we can live together with our
Families for eternity. I also know that if we want to be a true
follower of our Savior we need to find opportunities to show true love
or charity to others which if we want to have the pure love of Christ
we need to serve others as much as possible. I would invite all of you
to read Moroni 7 that chapter can be found in the Book of Mormon it
teaches us how we can develop the attribute of charity and what
charity means. Have a great week and go out and serve others as much
as possible.
Love
-Elder Espinoza

Sent from my iPad

August 17, 2015

Hola Familia y Amigos!

This week was kind of a blur but it was a good week. As far as
contacting investigators but unfortunately we did a lot of walking and
all the lessons that we had set got canceled. We had a really good
miracle though where we had two investigators at church and one of
those is a girl named D and she has desires to get baptized the
only problem is that her mom won't let her until, she turns 18. So if
you all could pray that D's mom's heart will be softened and let
her daughter get baptized that would be great. Other than that
unfortunately not much else happened. You are all in my prayers. Keep
serving the Lord and you will be blessed I know that is true. I know
that our Savior Jesus Christ lives and loves all of us and knows each
of us individually. Have a great week and love you all.

Elder Espinoza

August 10, 2015

Hola Familia y Amigos!

Another week has come and gone and it is crazy how fast time actually
goes on the mission. I feel like I wake up, study, work for two hours
sometimes and then It's already 10:30 and I am asleep again then
repeat the process. As for this week it went way better than last
week.

Miracle 1: So we have this awesome investigator named J, probably
one of the most prepared people I have meet to receive this Gospel. We
had a lesson this past Monday on obedience, scripture study, prayer
and church and she loved it. Also we felt prompted to extend her a
baptismal date and she accepted it for September 12. I know that as we
continue to read the Book of Mormon, be obedient, pray, and attend
church that we can become more converted to the Lord than we already
are.

Miracle 2: This week we were able to pick up a couple new
investigators so now our teaching pool has gone from 10 to 12 or 13
now and they are all pretty solid investigators and have desires to
learn and make changes in their lives.

Miracle 3: There was a baptism for a girl that I was teaching before
my area got split up and it was great. The Spirit is always strong
during a baptismal service and it was really cool for me to see her
make this amazing step in her life.

Lawrence is one of the most interesting places that I have ever lived
in but I know that I am here to help others come unto Christ and help
be their guides in the learning of this wonderful restored Gospel. I
know that my Savior lives and that through His infinite love for each
and everyone of us we can have peace in this life. Have a great week
and go out and serve others as much as possible.

Love
-Elder Espinoza

This photo was taken when our mission president, President Stoker, came to our Ward to do some training.  It was taken two Sundays ago.

 

August 3, 2015 - Not Much Going On

Elder Espinoza with all the other 7 missionaries in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Hola Familia y Amigos!
   Well honestly this week there is not much to explain because
unfortunately I was basically recovering from my infection. The
doctors told me to try and not walk outside for long hours in the
humidity so we did missionary work through the phone by trying to set
up appointments so that we could use the car to get to appointments
that were set. Although we were able to set up appointments and the
week would have been great if they happened but almost all of them
fell through, so we only had a total of 3 lessons this week. We also
got an app for our I-pads that we can put all investigator and other
information into. (For those that have been on missions or are serving
right now it is an app that is the Area Book and Planner combined,
super awesome and makes missionary work more efficient.) Other than
putting information into the app and trying to get up to speed on how
to use it ,that is pretty much all that has been going on here. I know
that this is the work of the Lord and that through this, His, restored
Gospel we can have a life full of happiness and joy. I know that my
Savior lives and that through him we can feel of this happiness. Hope
you all have a great week.
Love
-Elder Espinoza