Elder Espinoza

Elder Espinoza
Alma 26:12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Some of the most exciting news of my entire mission!

                                                                                                                                                            01/27/15

          Well last week was pretty slow!  My comp got sick so we were out for a few days but now we’re back to work and ready to work hard!  Still good things happened last week.  Our ward council is pretty on fire right now it’s awesome.  They set a goal for each active member to refer at least two people to us for the entire year and it averaged out to 10 a month.... we aren't even averaging 1 a month right now so we are excited!  We will also be introducing these family mission plans to each family as well.  I did it in another ward and it did amazing things for the families that actually used it. We have members assigned to come out with us 5 nights a week now so things are going great in this ward :)  We were both asked to give talks on Sunday about sharing the gospel.  Sounds like we did a pretty good job I guess.  Missionary work just might be my favorite gospel topic to talk about. Not like I've been doing it for the past two years and have given tons of training's on it or anything lol ;) 
          So just found out probably some of the most exciting news of my entire mission!  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland is coming to our mission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I remember when I first got here I had heard that Elder Christofferson had just came so I was bummed out because I didn't think I would be able to hear one come and speak to us.  I've had lots of general authorities which is cool.  Not only him but the Presiding Bishop is coming and so is Elder Christensen from the Presidency of the 70 so we got some big dogs coming through!  Also Elder Holland just so happens to be my favorite apostle so I am way excited!  I remember when he came to the Pasco Stake but I was a knucklehead back then so this time around will be way better!  He comes at the end of February so RIGHT before I go home. Tender mercy if ya ask me!
          Lately I have been so amazed at how the Lord works and as we submit our will to His will things will ALWAYS work out to our benefit even though we may not realize it at the moment it will.  I heard this story of this guy in our ward who works for big business and goes to all these meetings throughout the country and one time he was in Vegas I think and after the meetings he would go sit in his hotel and not go out because they would all drink and what not and he didn't like that stuff.  So one time he had a strong impression to go out with them so he called his wife and told her he was going and why.  So he goes and sees this guys who looks very homeless and has an impression to sit by him.  So he does and starts talking to this guy and turns out this guy was an RM and after he was home he fell into the wrong crowd and his family ended up kicking him out.  This kid didn't even know the guy that was talking to him was a member but he finally told him and also told the kid that he needed to call his parents right then and there and to make a long story short this kid recently emailed the member in our ward and told him he is now active and has a calling and is doing great. How amazing is that? What if this member did not follow the prompting of the Holy Ghost to not only do something he didn't want to do but to also go into a place where we as members probably should not be??  That kid could still be out on the streets right now. That’s just one story of the many that have blown my mind as to how the Lord works.  He has so many things in store for us and all we need to do is live our lives to be worthy of the companionship of the Spirit then follow what it prompts us to do :)

Love Elder Jaden Espinoza

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Last week was so great!

                                                                                                                                      01//21/15
Hello!
          Last week was so great!  Things in our ward are finally starting to come together with the ward council and the ward mission.  We are having our weekly coordination meetings with everyone that is supposed to be there in attendance. Not sure if I talked about how many areas will be closing when I go home but 20 areas will be closing!  Our mission yesterday got 1 sister missionary and 17 went home.  When I go home 23 will go and 4 will come out.  So our mission is downsizing and our bishop knows it and doesn’t want our area to close or have to share missionaries so he’s been getting tons of people to take the missionary lessons and keeping us busy!  It’s been wonderful!  We have also been doing a lot of finding ourselves and have this potential family of 5 to go visit on Friday!  We contacted the mom when she was doing work in her garage.  I have been really working on the quality of my contacts and making sure that I share something with them that is meaningful to me.  We have to keep track of our OYMs (Open your mouth) and in order for one to count you have to teach, testify and invite.  So working on the quality of that has been amazing for me.  When missionaries go home they go contacting for a few hours before and I always thought to myself how I’m going to do it since it’s going to be my last time and I’m just going to bear powerful and sincere testimony and invite everyone but then I’m sure it was the spirit that chastised me and asked me why I don’t do that now?  So since I had that little moment my OYMs our contacting skills have really improved.  It’s amazing to bear testimony to people you don’t even know and just feel the spirit that is there.  It definitely has more people interested.  I’m sure they are curious what it was that they were feeling.  So it’s been really fun!  
          So like I said there are lots of great things going on here!  I would love to have this area as busy and successful as was my area in El Paso!  So it’s a very exciting time right now :) Last night we met with this lady and the topic we all decided to pick was Christ like attributes which I though was neat since I’m doing the 9 week study of them.  I think one thing I realized last night while we had the lesson was how easy every single one is.  Like most of us know them and how we are supposed to do them but it’s SO hard.  And you can get way deeper into a simple attribute like faith or hope.  It just shows how the gospel truly is for everyone.  It doesn’t matter who you are, what you have done or where you are at in life.  If you don’t have any understanding about the Christ of anything then the gospel is for you and it can be made so simple for anyone to understand.  Also at the same time if you have a sound understanding of those things the gospel can be so complex and you can dive deeper into the simplest of things so that you are always learning. Eternal progression is an amazing principle. :)
          I heard about Nathan McBride :/ (click here to read the Tri-City Herald article about Nathan) I couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose a brother like that.  But are we not so lucky to have this gospel and know exactly where he is and what he is doing?   In the mission you have things called emergency transfers that happen when something goes wrong.  Sometimes you can be the cause of them or you can be the one to go into the area and fix what is wrong.  I like to think of the missionaries that die on their missions as getting emergency transferred to the spirit world because someone else needed them a lot more than we do now :)  Kind of comforting and makes you wonder how special those missionaries are that the Lord needed them at that time.  Definitely will be sending prayers that way for his family.
 Well I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love Elder Jaden Espinoza

Really cool sunset the other day! Normally the whole mountain is red but only half of it was!

 


Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Life is a lot happier when you have charity on your mind

  Well we had heard that we should wake up to more snow today but when we got up it wasn't snowing which was sad but after I finished getting ready for they day I looked outside and the ground was already covered! Pretty sweet! We're hoping it actually stays this time lol 
  Pretty crazy how next week is transfers already. Elder Taylor goes home next week then its crazy cause my group is next. My group was the 1st big group this mission ever had and so now that we're all going home and the sisters have all left our mission is really downsizing. I guess 20 areas will be closed. So sad but at the same time the work will continue to go forward and missionaries will be being more productive throughout each day! The Lord is totally hastening his work here in this mission. Even in our area He is. Last week we had 4 referrals from our ward. 2 of them were people that were supposed to be in YSA so we referred them to the Sisters and one is getting baptized at the end of the month! We started teaching one already and are excited for that! The next one we should start teaching this week and another family is having some good friend over for dinner who have questions and might be coming to Church this Sunday. So it is SUPER exciting in our area right now! Its been pretty slow lately but its definitely picking up that's for sure! So I REALLY hope I don't get transferred for my last transfer. I love this ward and don't wanna pack and then pack again in 6 weeks haha but I've learned whatever happens in this mission as far as where we go is what the Lord wants. So we will see. 
  Well sorry today's is so short! We don't have lots of time to email :/ But this weeks Christlike Attribute is Charity and Love. Such a good one for all of us to study. I has helped me to see people the way that Christ sees them. Even when He was on the Earth. It honestly makes life a lot happier when you have charity on your mind and are trying to be charitable to those around you in any way that you can :)
Love Elder Espinoza

We actually got some good snow today!!!!!!!!!!

​Tried using M&Ms for the eyes but they fell out so i gave up hahaha


Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Attitude is the difference between a trial and an opportunity

                                                                                        01/06/2014      

        Well I hope everyone had a safe and fun New Years!  Ours was pretty fun. We couldn’t get any appointments with anyone that we teach and everyone we tried by wasn’t home or was really sick so the work was pretty slow last week, but we still had lots of fun!  We got snow New Year’s day and went and did service for all the older people in the ward.  The snow here was like saw dust so we used big brooms and pretty much swept it off their driveways, haha, kind of weird to be honest!  But a few hours later it was all melted anyways, but hey it’s the thought that counts right!?  Lol!  
        Friday we had our first zone training of the year  Most of it was about attitude and our mission president had this like 10 keys to a positive attitude but I totally forgot to bring it with me to share with you all so hopefully I remember to next week.  But it was a great zone training that’s for sure.  Pretty much.  It reminded me of my buddy Blake and what he always says which is so true except if you know Blake he mainly says it to annoy you or to be funny, haha, but he always says, 'Depends on how ya look at it."  So true though!  Our mission president also said something like attitude is the difference between a trial and an opportunity.  That really hit home for me.  If we can look at our trials as opportunities then how much easier and happier will we be as we endure that trial.  It kind of helps knowing that if we do endure the trials and sometimes even if we don’t that they will be for our good and for our benefit but how much more can you benefit from it if you look at it as an opportunity?  I think a good attitude is what has been helping me the most on my mission.  It’s been interesting because in all honesty my mission has not been THAT hard.  I’ve had people tell me it’s okay to tell them that I’m having a hard time on my mission and I can vent to them but I really haven’t had much to complain about. It’s hard to complain about things when you have a good attitude not because normally you have fun when you have a good attitude and how can you complain about having fun?  Not saying my mission has not been hard but it has been fun at the same time :)  Not saying I’m perfect or even close to being the best at having a positive attitude but it truly has helped me on my mission.  So I can just imagine how it helps for anything else with a normal life. :)
        Well things are still going great here!  It’s getting pretty crazy seeing all my good mission friends going home and knowing that I’m next.  I think I do pretty good about not thinking about it!  Haha!  Well I hope that everyone does alright adjusting to the new year and that it was a great one :)

Love you all!

Love Elder Espinoza

 Got some snow new years day! we went that morning for a few hours and shoveled sidewalks and driveways and then later on that day it was all gone anyway... i guess its the though that counts! haha