September 14, 2015 - Good bye Summer of Lawrence

How is everyone this week?
Well this week was eventful and just full of the normal stuff that
happens here in my part of Lawrence. To start off at the beginning of
the week (on Tuesday) we went out to work and it was a bit cloudy but
it didn't look like it would rain... We thought in correctly it
started to pour and we got soaked. We were wet from head to toe but it
was really awesome to see people's reactions as we were walking past
them either if they had umbrellas or were in their cars nice and dry
and we walked past with smiles on our faces (or at least I did because
I thought it was a blast.). Well as a ward we have started a Book of
Mormon challenge to read it before the next General Conference in
April. It is great to see the enthusiasm that a lot of the members
have to read it and it has been great to see the progress that some of
them have made in three weeks. I know that the Book of Mormon can help
us prepare for General Conference and help us to overcome our
challenges in this world and life. Life and challenges in this life
can be very difficult and the temptations of the world are great but
if we hold strong to the iron rod (word of God) we can overcome those
difficulties. Thursday we had another walking day we had four set
appointments but unfortunately they all fell through and we walked a
lot. We had some great contacts and hopefully we will be able to see
them and our other investigators this week. Please pray that we will
be able to have lessons with those people and our investigators. Just
a little info on my companions. Elder B is from Heber, Utah and he
is a skiing, mountain biking, and curry enthusiast. Elder P is
from Sandy, Utah and he loves to go duck hunting, play baseball, and
he loves trucks. We are getting along pretty well and are still trying
to get teaching units down but I think it will be really good this
week as we continue to put our trust in the Lord. Something really
cool that happened this past Saturday was the baptism of a man named
R that I taught who lives on the other side of south Lawrence.  It
is great to see how the gospel can change someone's life and help them
to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. Other than that we all got sick
on Saturday night so we went to church and a members house for dinner.
We were going to go out and work but Elder P wasn't looking
very good so we stayed home. That's all I got for you this week. I
know that this is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that
my Savior lives. Continue to serve the Lord and he will bless you in
many ways you can't imagine. Hope you have a great week.
Love-
Elder Espinoza

Sent from my iPad

September 7, 2015 - Walking..... seems to be the trend

Hola Familia y Amigos!
  Otra vez estamos aqui en una nueva semana... Sorry Spanish happens
sometimes. Another week is here and this week we did a little bit less
walking so that was nice. We had 5 lessons this week and they went
really well. The mission is a great way to start to love walking
though and it is a blast in a trio especially when we are all pretty
big guys. People when they drive by will look at us and get distracted
it is pretty funny. The trio is a blast and we are having a lot of fun
and working hard. We had a really cool miracle this week. I am not
sure if any of you remember J but we finally had contact with her
after a month of not being able to actually sit down. Last night we
stopped by and she was home. It was a relief to be able to talk to her
and figure out why we have not been able to see her. She has been
working a lot recently and things have not been going very well but
she has desires to continue to learn and progress towards baptism so
please pray for her so that she will continue to progress. Other than
that just a normal week with a lot of walking and service to members.
Hope you all have a great week. I know that this is the Gospel of
Jesus Christ and that the Book of Mormon is true and it has the power
to change the lives of people if they apply its principles. I know
that my Savior lives and that he loves each and everyone of us.
Love
-Elder Espinoza

Sent from my iPad

September 1, 2015 - El Viaje al Templo

Hola Familia y Amigos!

This past week there was not much action. We had two lessons and the
rest of the week was full of walking which was ok. Recently a lot of
appointments that we have set with investigators have all fallen
through so please pray that we will be able to have some lessons this
week especially with J. Unfortunately not much else to report
other than the miracle that I saw this week was that we had two
investigators at church this week and hey loved it. Also we went to he
Temple today and that is why I am writing today. I know that this is
the True Church of Jesus Christ and that I know that we can live with
our Families together forever. I know that the Book of Mormon is true
and that we can truly come closer to God through applying its
teachings. Have a great week.
Love
-Elder Espinoza

Elder Espinoza in front of the Boston Temple.

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