Pretty good week!

Hello Hello,

This last week has been pretty a pretty good one down here in El Paso. It sure is getting hot but we have a car so no complaints here, haha. Our baptism didn't end up happening due to some miss-communication but its rescheduled for the 6th of July! Also the one this Friday is rescheduled for the 5th. The one this Saturday will be happening though. Our investigator is GOLDEN. We also have this guy who was baptized in Germany but never got confirmed and he just moved here and doesn't know what to do so he referred himself to us. We called our mission president and he told us if he doesn't have a record he would need to get rebaptized and the investigator had no problem with that! So that will be happening soon as well.He's a pretty cool guy! 

   I hope everyone was able to watch the missionary broadcast yesterday! If not I highly recommend it! You can watch it on lds.org (here is the link) Hopefully it gets all the members pumped to do some missionary work! Us full time missionaries can go door to door all day and that's not very successful and we wouldn't get much done...OR members can talk to friends and family and get us referrals and we can start teaching people that the Lord is preparing at this time. That is the BEST way to do missionary work. Prophets have said that in the past many times. People are ready for the Gospel right now and we have to find them. Missionaries can use all the help they can get to find! So everyone go and watch that broadcast! 

   So we have lots of hospitals in our area which means we get lots of calls from members and other missionaries to go give blessings. We've had lots this week already. The first couple times it was almost a little scary cause we get asked to give blessings to people we don't know and have no idea what they need and what they're going through. Its amazing to see that as we are obedient and always have the spirit with us that we can give these people blessings according to their needs. And its only through the spirit that we are able to do that. Cause we don't know what they need to hear but our Father in Heaven does. So we just basically start the blessing and let the spirit take over. Its pretty awesome. I feel like I get asked to do most of the blessings cause of my last name, haha! Too bad I don't speak Spanish! But me and my companion are planning on reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish and hopefully learn that way! 

   I'm still loving it down here. There are so many opportunities to teach and serve people here in such a big city. Its a blessing to be a missionary and to see how the Lord works through us to help people come into his Kingdom. I hope everyone is doing well and having a fun summer! Love you all!

Love 

Elder Jaden Espinoza

A week to remember!

First are some pictures that he sent late last week of his new area, then his letter and a couple more pictures.

 View from our apartment in El Paso, Texas.

This is where Mexico, New Mexico and Texas meet.

Juarez, Mexico

  

A storm coming in.

Just part of the view of the city lights!

June 17, 2013

Hey everyone,

This past week has definitely been one I will remember. First off I got a 32 lb package from the Petty family! Thank you so much!!! You shoulda seen my companions face when we got it haha too funny. Also we finally were able to meet with this guy whose been investigating for a couple years now and has had some baptism dates set but he never made them. That lesson we had with him might have been one of the most spiritual ones my companion and I have had on our missions. I kinda felt bad cause I talked most of the time but then again I don't cause it definitely was not me talking, it was all the spirit. I said things that I had never thought about before and it was all to help out this investigator to make that step towards baptism. The lesson was seriously so amazing. We had a member there with us and she said, "Wow I’m already a member and I’ve got chills running down my body." The investigator knew it was the spirit we were all feeling. After talking about baptism his whole attitude changed and he said something like- so when can I get baptized? It was soo awesome and me and my comp were a little shocked haha He's getting baptized next Saturday! We also have a baptism this Saturday and one next Friday. We are soooo excited!!

  This week we also had a priest from our ward give us a referral. It was his friend who just wanted to know more about our Church and he had some pretty deep questions. So we met with him and the spirit there was sooo strong! We were able to answer all his questions with the Book of Mormon. The spirit testified to him that the Book of Mormon is true. He knows it already. He's a really good kid and has lots of questions still but we know we can answer all of them with the Book of Mormon and he knows it too. He's excited about learning more. He's golden. My companion and I can both smell baptism haha.

   Its amazing how the gospel changes people's lives. We had an amazing miracle this week as well with the lady we gave a blessing to at the hospital. She was having troubles with her faith and she was just getting worse and worse but I guess one day her husband talked to her and told her she needs to have faith and then we visited her and she started having a little faith and actually praying. The next day she did some tests and the doctors couldn't find any bacteria in her heart or lower body at all. Everything had completely disappeared and they were all really shocked and had no idea how it happened but she reassured them it was cause we gave her a blessing and she had faith. It was so wonderful to see the huge change in her! Now she’s determined to learn from us and do whatever it is the Lord wants her to do. And we can definitely help her with that :)

   El Paso is wonderful and full of missionary opportunities. I love it here even though it’s getting really hot! lol Luckily we have a nice car with ac haha. Well I’m thankful for all the love and support I get from everyone! You’re all in my prayers!

Love Elder Espinoza

Me and my 32 pound package from the Pettys!

Me and My Companion Elder Bushman. El Paso, Texas.

So, El Paso...I love it!!!!!

June 10, 2013

Hello!

So, El Paso...I love it!!!!! There’s so much going on here and so many opportunities to serve!! Our first week as new missionaries to the area was a new experience for both of us. Luckily my companion has a gps otherwise we would be lost in El Paso. We cover the whole city cause of the university ward. It’s pretty hard to stay within our mileage limit and none of the missionaries before here have been able to but we got a pretty good game plan so we think can do it haha

   So we taught part of the first lesson to the lady we gave the blessing to in the hospital and it was pretty great! She really wants to change her life but she’s afraid it’s too late but we aren’t giving up on her. It’s kinda sad cause she's just getting worse and worse every time we see her. The blessing she received was amazing and if she can just have enough faith I know she will heal and get better. We’re gonna talk about faith when we see her next. It’s nice going there cause we've been getting lots of potential investigators from her nurses haha. They sit in and listen when we visit with her.

   We also met two other investigators who previously had baptism dates but weren't able to make them for some problems they've been having but after a few visits they are ready now! So we have two this month and I’m very excited for them! It’s funny cause one of the guys name is Jesus Espinoza. I dont even know how many Jesus Espinoza's I’m related to haha kinda funny.

   The ward here is wonderful. We cover an army base so again there's lots of young families who love us and really take care of us. Our dinner calendar was completely full within a day of us being here and now we are scheduling lunches cause people wanna feed us. Kinda cool. We are still getting used to the area and still have lots of people to meet! Maybe next week I’ll have a cool story cause we have to go to this families home who aren’t members and have been experiencing paranormal activity and they want us to bless their home. It will be a new a very different experience but it should definitely be a wonderful missionary opportunity!! Well I hope everyone is doing well and I’m very thankful for all the love and support I get! Love you all!

Love,

Elder Espinoza

This has by far been the craziest week yet!

June 3, 2013

Hello Hello,

So this has by far been the craziest week yet. I am no longer serving in Alamogordo or New Mexico. I'm down in good ol El Paso Texas!! So there was a tripanionship down here and we don’t know exactly what happened but they all got emergency transferred outta here. So I got a call from the Mission President Wednesday night telling me that he was inspired that I should come down here and basically fix whatever happened. But he didn’t tell me what happened. So we are trying to figure out what went down haha. I have a new companion who came down from Albuquerque. His name is Elder Bushman. He's from a small town called George in Washington. I actually worked righ by there this last summer so I know where that is. kinda by moses lake. He went to Quincy High. He’s a really cool guy and has two transfers left.

  So we had to white wash this area so we have no idea who is who and what has been happening. And we cover two wards. One is the 1st ward and the other is the UTEP (University of Texas El Paso) young single adult branch. We went there on Sunday and there  is a lot of really cool young people there. It sounds like there are a couple baptisms coming up here but we need to finish teaching the people and get them to the point of baptism. We actually had a baptism on our first day here. It was for a little girl from a less active family and we went and met her before and she chose me to baptize her. So that’s my fist Baptism as a missionary! Kinda cool. But it seems like this is a really great area to be serving in we just don’t know anything that’s going on haha. So we have been really busy trying to figure it all out. We are gonna finish out the rest of this transfer and the next so I’ll be here for about 7-8 weeks for sure. It sure is hot down here but that’s alright. We got lucky with a car again! The ysa covers all of El Paso so we have a HUGE area lol!

   Last night we got a call from someone we didn’t know who is less active and his sister in law was in the hospital and he wanted us to give her a blessing. We were with our ward mission leader so he took us. The lady was not a member at all but we explained what a blessing is and how it happens. So she chose me to anoint her with oil and the mission leader to give the blessing. The experience we all had was so amazing. He gave her an amazing blessing and the spirit there was sooo strong! She started crying during the lesson. Like out loud. It was different but we know she was feeling the spirit so strongly. After she told us how she felt during it and we explained how we feel when we are feeling the spirit and she didn’t even know what it was!!! She wants to change her life around and wants us to come back and teach her and we gave her a book of Mormon to read. We’re very excited about this opportunity we have.

  It’s a little different down here but I’m already loving it and I know this is where the Lord wants me to be. I have a funny little quote that I saw at the institute building. It said, "Studying your scriptures is like brushing your teeth. Trying to do it all on Sunday just doesn’t work. It’s an everyday thing." Kinda funny. Well I hope everyone is having a great week and I’m so thankful for all the love and support I get from everyone! 

Love Elder Espinoza

New Address

Elder Jaden Espinoza 

2425 McKinley Ave. #C26

El Paso, TX 79930

Sand dune jumping at white sands. My old zone, just the Elders.

 

The Berryhills