7/29/14

So last week was a pretty good week of course!!! We have been getting tons of rain here so its been pretty awesome. Gotta love monsoon season!!!! Can't believe that this is already the last week of the transfer. There is a possibility that we could be swapping wards with the YSA elders. It would be fun but at the same time I would REALLY miss this ward! I've really grown to love this ward a lot so only getting to be here for 3 transfers and having to leave would kill me! But whatever the Lord needs me to do I will do!

We didn't get to meet with that family we helped pick plums with but we have a lesson with them tonight so we are pretty stoked about that!!!!! Hopefully it goes well. Its so awesome to meet with people that are prepared for the gospel and to help them progress towards receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We didn't have as many baptisms as we planned to for the month of July as a zone but next month is going to be such an awesome month, that's for sure! So sorry this is short but I don't have much time today but I hope you all have a wonderful week this week! Love you all!

Love Elder Espinoza

July 22, 2014

So last week was a week full of miracles! We have this thing in our mission where we park our cars for a day to get us out talking to more people. So we parked our car last week praying and hoping for a miracle to happen in our area cause this area really needs it! So we were planning on meeting with the bishop that evening but he asked if we could earlier on that afternoon so we decided to walk to his house. Then he texted us telling us he would be a little late so we were just gonna go to his house anyways and drink some water cause it was super hot that day but then I said we should stop by this less actives house for a few minutes so we started walking towards that house and on the way there were these two ladies and three kids picking plums. As we got there the ladder started getting really wobbly so we ran up there and help it for her so she could come down then we started talking to them and they gave us plums and we asked if we could help so my companion climbed up on the ladder and started picking plums for them! Then they asked us what we do and we explained that were missionaries and we teach people about Christ. Then one lady asked if we do grievance counseling and we said sort of through scriptual study and strenghtening you faith in Christ. she then opened up about how her daughter just passed away and she is struggling so we gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet and asked if we could come back and talk with her about it and she said yes! So a few days pass by and we stopped by. At first no one answered and there was a ton of cars there so we knew they were home and were bummed out but right when we were walking away she asnwered the door! Her mom was there too and they were both excited to see us and had been expecting us! She had told her mom all about us and so she was happy to meet us! So we had about 15 minutes cause our ward mission leader had to leave but we shared a short scripture and invited them to church and they will both be there this Sunday and were going back to have a real lesson with them and they're both really excited about it! And we are even more excited I'm sure haha cause we have been waiting for a miracle to happen!!! Both of these women are so prepared for this gospel right now and its totally what they need to comfort them about their loss.

So miracles just keep happening here in this zone and it really is amazing. Last week we had our stake missionary correlation meeting and the stake president said in the 5 years he has been a stake president he hasn't seen this many baptismal dates. It truly is amazing to see the Lord hasten his work. But it happens when we are the ones willing to hasten the work. He will provide ways and opportunities for us when we do!

Love Elder Espinoza

07/15/14

So last week was a crazy busy week that went by way too fast! The second Sunday of every month we have our SMCM meeting (stake missionary correlation meeting) with the stake presidency, the high councilor over missionary work, our mission president and his 1st counselor. So we have a huge report we have to do and Elder Taylor is a new ZL so I had to teach him how to do the report on excel and all that fun stuff so we were in the library a lot. We also planned a ward mission conference for the stake with Brother Payne, the high councilor over missionary work, for last Sunday and that was such an amazing meeting. Hopefully it inspired the ward mission leaders and everyone in the ward that has to do with the ward mission! I know all the missionaries are super pumped for this transfer so hopefully they catch the same vision that we have for this stake! The Lord is seriously hastening his work here in this stake. The most baptisms we have had in this stake in the last two years for a month was 6 and that was two years ago and this month we should have over 8! Everyone is super pumped! So, I know the Lord is hastening his work here and is doing the same thing back home so hopefully you all jump on the Lords bandwagon, lol.

So last night we met this neighbor kid that lives by one of our favorite members house! He seriously reminds me of Joseph Smith. Lol! This kid is 15 years old and really is searching for truth. He has been studying a bunch of different religions online and already knows more than the average member that is his age, lol, and he can quote the bible better than just about anyone I have met on my mission. He has a ton of questions and wants to know why we believe things that we do. The crazy thing is he comes off as wanting to bible bash but he doesn't belong to any religion at all and just wants to learn, so its pretty neat that a kid this young really wants to learn. So we are excited to teach him. Its gonna be a little difficult to try and not bible bash with him because that gets you no where I've learned on my mission, lol. Although I just about did last night when he was talking to us but then I remembered he is just a young kid that wants to learn. He knows the bible better than me I'm sure and can quote it a lot better than me but he definitely does not understand what it means which is most important. Makes me grateful for the knowledge and understanding I have grown to have on my mission! Hopefully this turns out to be something good and he get baptized but we shall see!

Well I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week :)

Love,

Elder Espinoza

 Elder Espinoza and Elder Taylor

07/08/14

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! And a safe one at that. We had a pretty good day. Our ward had a breakfast bright and early in the morning then we left to set up for zone training! That meeting was definitely one the best zone trainings. The spirit was very strong there and I feel like the missionaries are really applying the things they learned. My comp and I are and are definitely seeing the miracles come from it! There are tons of miracles happening every day in this zone. It really helps bring the spirit and unity of this zone up. It's really an exciting time to be here :)

So we didn't do anything too exciting on the 4^th, just tried to talk to people and teach lessons. We had dinner with members later on in the evening then had a lesson and got to watch fireworks from their balcony for a few minutes. They have an awesome view of ABQ so we got to see a lot of different shows - it was cool!

Our area has been a little slow since lots of people are out of town, so we're trying hard to stay busy! Its been pretty hot outside recently and then at night it rains so with a swamp cooler it gets all sticky in our apartment. But hey, thats what makes being a missionary being a missionary, haha! Fast Sunday was good as usual, we have really strong members here in this ward. Its nice too because we get the opportunity to bear our testimonies every fast Sunday :) There definitely are blessings that come from sharing your own testimony and many scriptures that say that the angels of heaven record what you say. Kinda cool :) I would encourage you all to share your testimony with someone this week especially if you find its hard to think of your testimony or if you even have one. Just testify of the things you know to be true and the Lord will bless you and your testimony will strengthen :) Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love Elder Espinoza

07/01/14

Well last week was a super busy week! We had transfers which is always exciting! Elder Reams went down to Las Cruces and my new companion is Elder Taylor! He came out just a transfer before me. He is from San Diego and lemme tell ya we are already brothers! Haha! We tell people that we must have been comps in the premortal or something 'cause we are always on the same page and think the same things! We get along really. We already know these next few transfers are going to be way awesome! Definitely gonna hang out after the mission.

So basically our whole zone changed. Everyone except 1 companionship got a new companion and a new are opened up. We are pretty excited for this transfer, this zone has a ton of miracles waiting to happen! Most of last week was spent getting missionaries the things they need and getting settled in to their new areas and apartments so we didn't get to do too much missionary work but this week we are gonna get out there and put some serious work in!

It is getting pretty dang hot outside but oh well, we have 2 years to serve the Lord and an eternity to reflect on it. We also have MLC this week which is always really exciting to get together with the other ZLs and STLs and get trained on the goals and plans that President Miller has for the mission. We have zone training on the 4th too but our ward is having a breakfast like right before so were gonna go to that, lol!

Well sorry this is so short but we have a super busy day today so next week will be a better letter I promise lol Love you all!

Love Elder Espinoza