An awesome week!

December 17, 2013

Hello hello,

Last week was an awesome week! We had another baptism! A member had been telling us how he was talking to his friend and answering his questions about the Church for a long time now and how he wanted to invite him to church. Of course we told him to do it right away lol but it still took a little while until he finally did and sure enough he came to church. 4 weeks later he was baptized. I know I say this probably every email but the Lord seriously is preparing people for His gospel. I can guarantee we all know someone who is being prepared. We just have to make the hard yet simple step to invite them to come to church or to a church activities. Its simple things like that that lead to someone being baptized and having their life changed forever. After teaching Tyler just once he had a scheduled baptism date for the 1st of January which was so awesome! We continued to teach him and make commitments with him and he wanted to get baptized sooner! So we were like okay sweet now we have to cram a lot of information in him and teach him about the word of wisdom cause we knew he had problems with that. But when we taught it and he understood what it was for he was willing to completely give it up. I even asked him what he would be willing to give up to be baptized and he said, "Anything except my family." It seriously is so amazing to see someones life change right before your eyes. I can only imagine how his friend who introduced him to the gospel felt after he had baptized him. There is so much joy in seeing people you love change their lives for the better. That baptism was also the most spiritual baptism I have ever been to. Its amazing what the spirit does to people when they open their hearts to it.

We were able to have Elder Foster of the 2nd quorum of the 70 attend our zone conference yesterday. He truly is a man chosen of God to do the work that he does. It was the best and most spiritual zone conference I have had as well. He talked most the time and just really helped us understand how important we really are to our Father in heaven. It was actually really cool. He talked about how NASA pointed the Hubble telescope into what they found to be the darkest spot in space. They had it on there for 10 days straight and what they found was millions of other galaxies. They did that again a few years later and found the same exact thing. It made us all feel very small in comparison to the other things God has created yet we are the MOST important thing for us. So important He sent His only begotten son to die for us. It really was an amazing conference. At the end we all sang the primary song "A Child's Prayer" I've never felt my Father in heavens love for me that strong. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. 

We have another baptism coming up this Saturday which is pretty awesome! We are excited! We are also excited to get to Skype with our family next week! I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas break! Remember what really is most important during this time of year :)

Love Elder Espinoza

ps. Totally forgot last week to congratulate Chiawana for winning that state championship!!!!

Tyler Nelson and Bro. Davis!

"It still amazes me to see the spirit work through my companion and myself"

December 10, 2013

Hey, so last week was a crazy busy week! We have been teaching lots and lots of lessons with investigators and lessons to less active or recent converts. Its pretty crazy how fast time flies when you stay busy doing the Lord's work!

I think something I noticed this week is how sensitive the spirit really is. And just how hard it can be to tell when you are being led by it and when you aren't. I think the more and more you act on any prompting the more you will be able to tell when the spirit really is prompting you to do something. Also your little every day things like prayers and scripture study have a lot to do with it as well. I noticed last week that when my studies weren't the best that there were some times where I just did not know what to say to people. And the days where I had better studies and really opened my heart to our Father in heaven through prayer is when I said exactly what needed to be said.

We had a lot of pretty sad and crazy things happen this week with families not having enough to make ends meet and needing to find a new place to live or families trying to move to another city to find a better doctor to help for some needs. Its so sad and heartbreaking especially when there really is'nt a whole lot you can do as a missionary but give them a spiritual uplifting. But those moments where you say exactly what it is they need to hear is truly an amazing experience. It still amazes me to see the spirit work through my companion and myself. And there are times where I did'nt even notice the spirit working through us but the more and more I pay attention to it the more I recognize it and realize how much God really does love his children. It's truly amazing to see his hand in every ones life. Its also sad when people don't realize it. But the closer we get to our Heavenly Father the more we see the many tender mercies He gives us throughout the day and the more gratitude we have. This is also the time of year for much gratitude and giving! I hope we can all remember what Christmas is really about.

So we have a baptism coming up this Saturday! A member had been talking to his friend at work for a while now answering all his questions and what not. So he finally brought him to Church a few weeks back and we started teaching him and next thing you know he's getting baptized! Crazy how people are sooo prepared for the gospel. This is something that will never get old because so many people go through so many experiences yet they are all somehow in some way being prepared for this. His life story is very interesting and his life has been saved on a few occasions! So he knows he was meant to do something here on this earth life. And now he has found it! We also have another baptism coming up next Saturday which is also exciting! Its an exciting time to be serving the Lord!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Jaden Espinoza

Merry Christmas!

December 3, 2013

  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I sure did. Got to hang out with members of the ward all day. They're basically family to me now so that was really nice :) I am sad I had to miss out on all the get togethers but I know this is where I am supposed to be. Last week was a little slower cause of the holidays so lots of people were gone but we were still able to have a very productive week and taught a lot of lessons! It really is so amazing to see people progress in the gospel and the blessings they receive from it :)

  Iris Fox was baptized the day after thanksgiving. We have been going over to her house since September now and now all that are over 8 are baptized! :) We have grown really close to that family and it will be sad when they move :( But we definitely have made life long friends with them! And lots of other people here in El Paso.

  The work here is going so great. We might have a baptism this week and will have one next week for sure. We are trying to have a baptism once a week this transfer and we really feel as if we can do that. And if not, at least average a baptism a week. The ward is doing so wonderful at introducing their friends so they can learn the gospel. Member referrals really are the best way to bring people into the gospel.! So everyone go share the gospel! I know I say that a lot but it really is sooo important. My comp and I were talking about how the hastening of the work has been prophesied and prophesied in the scriptures and how we feel as if a lot of people don't realize that that is happening. Those specific words have been prophesied. "Hastening the work of salvation" What is the church's newest addition to the website? That same exact thing. That prophesy is coming to pass. But it is up to us as members of the church to share the gospel. A lot of people have the mindset that they need to go out with the missionaries to help them with the work. Which is not a bad thing at all. But missionaries real calling are to assist the ward with missionary work. We are here to help all of you with missionary work! Its the members duty. Ours as well but the most successful way is through the members! So like I said earlier go and share the gospel with your friends! You would be surprised at who is prepared now and who is being prepared.

  I hope you all have a great week! I am looking forward to Christmas so I can skype with my family! No offense to anyone but when people ask me what or who I miss the most its my little bros! lol

  Congrats to Cortez and Roman for making it to the state title! Good luck and make good ol' Pasco proud! Love you all!

Love ,

Elder Jaden Espinoza

The Fox family! all over 8 are Baptized!

Snow in El Paso! 

Thanks again and El Paso got snow!

November 25, 2013

  Well I would like to thank everyone again for all the birthday cards and packages. I got a lot more after my email last week so thanks once again! I really appreciate all the love and support I get from everyone back at home. I also got a lot from members here! Had a few birthday dinners and lots of cake and ice cream haha.

  So transfer news...IM STAYING! 'Im so glad to be staying here another transfer! I've almost been here for 6 months now and have loved every minute of it. There is so much work to do here in El Paso. We have lots of baptisms coming up. One this week actually. Our investigator whose kids got baptized last month is finally getting baptized! She asked me to do it so that was also really exciting. We are working with lots of other people who have been prepared for the gospel. It still and never will fail to amaze me how many people are so ready for the gospel. I hope no one ever thinks that the gospel is'nt for someone cause first off its not our place to judge someone and second off it IS for EVERYONE.So don't hesitate to share the gospel with your friends!

  So like I said I'm really excited to stay here for another transfer cause that means I get to be here for Thanksgiving Christmas and New Years! I have a feeling this might be my last transfer here so i'm determined to have the best one yet! It's gonna be hard to leave all these wonderful people here and the sad part is none of them will be here for when I come back after my mission cause they're all military! But I have made life long friends in this area. Lots of people I really look up to.

  So this may sound crazy but El Paso got some snow! Kinda of a sad excuse for snow but it snowed nonetheless! It was pretty crazy it went from 80 degrees on Thursday to 35 on Friday! It maybe wouldn't have been so bad if it gradually got that cold but over night? It wasn't all that fun! haha but I think were used to it by now and all the snow is melting off the roofs today. Its supposed to snow again but we will see! Supposed to be a cold winter I guess. Well once again I want to thank everyone for all the love and support! It was wonderful to get cards from everyone! Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Espinoza

Thank you!

November 19, 2013

Well I would like to start out by thanking everyone for all the birthday wishes, cards and packages I have been receiving! I love you all very much!

So this last week was so AWESOME! We finally had a busy week where we were teaching lots of lessons and helping people build their relationship with God. We had to push back our baptism that was supposed to be happening this week sadly :/ BUT we have someone else getting baptized on the 30th! The mother of the two boys we just baptized. We had a really amazing lesson with her and set the date! Its amazing to see and feel the spirits presence so strong in lessons. We were also able to confer the priesthood on two people we baptized. One was baptized in the summer and the other one was one of the boys we just baptized. That was definitely a new experience for me but its so awesome to see people you helped enter into the waters of baptism progress even more! I love this area so much. We have transfers coming up this week and we are both praying we don't get transferred! We both feel that if we stay together for at least one transfer more that amazing things will happen in this area! A goal that our mission has is to baptize weekly. Which almost seems impossible. We have that potential in this area. Especially if we stay together! We are working with about 23 investigators now. We've done a lot of finding and now were doing a lot of teaching! It really helps the time fly by when you're busy serving the Lord. Its crazy to think I'm almost at 9 months out now. It's going by too fast! I'd be devastated if I had to leave this ward. I really have grown to love the people in this area. They are so wonderful to us! They already started feeding me birthday dinners and what not haha I'm gonna have wayyyy to much cake this week. Time to start working out even harder I guess! ;) lol

Well once again I'm so grateful for all the birthday stuff and all the love and support I get from everyone! I love you all and hope you have great week! 

Love, Elder Espinoza

We ordained Danny to the office of a Deacon and gave him the Aaronic Priesthood!

The Fox family

Elder Espinoza and his companion Elder Hoggan- still goofy!

November 12, 2013

So there are about three things going around El Paso right now. A stomach flu, really bad cold and head lice. So far I haven't gotten the lice and I really hope it stays that way!!! lol For some reason or another diseases and sickness spreads thoughout El Paso like wildfire! I've heard lots of different reasons as to why lol

The missionary work is going great though!!!! I feel pretty lucky to be the district leader of the Mt. Franlkin El Centro district at the moment. This district is doing absolutely wonderful! In this last zone training I had to account for our district to the zone and not trying to toot our own horn here but we definitely had the best month last month! lol ;) It really is a privilege to see this district improve in every single aspect this last month! Now we just have to keep it up and continue to show improvement as missionaries!

A challenge we were given at our zone training was to prayerfully pick a Christlike attribute we feel we could do better on and set two goals on how we plan on doing better. I would encourage everyone to take that same challenge and see how much of a change you can make in your own life and in the lives of others around you. Christ really is the best and ultimate example. He set the perfect example for us. We should all try our best to be like Christ. If anyone has access to a preach my gospel I would highly recommend reading the 6th chapter which is all about Christlike attributes. It talks about lots of them and then give you scriptures to study and things to think about. Its something that would only benefit each and every one of us!

So last week was another slower week than usual. Yet we still have wonderful lessons with people and are finding new people to teach every week! Its crazy how when we do what we are supposed to and have the spirit with us we will be lead to places where someone who needs the gospel is. (Which is EVERYWHERE) But its our job to open our mouths and overcome that fear and just talk to people. We have a wonderful promise that all we need to do is open our mouths and it will be filled. I've seen it just about everyday. My favorites are when we are knocking on a door and the people pull up in the drive way and were just like, "Oh boy get ready for the awkward moment!" haha but it never is. Cause we open our mouths and things just always work out. its great!

We have a baptism coming up on the 23rd. We are really excited for that! I feel like that will be my last Saturday in this area! I reallllllllly hope not cause I just love this ward! I wouldn't mind being here for a few more transfers lol But we will see!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful week! Love you all!

Love, Elder Espinoza

ps. Congrats to Chiawana and Richland for putting an end to those Spokane football teams! Payback! ;) lol

November 4, 2013

Well this last week was definitely a lot slower than any other week I've ever had. There's been something going around El Paso for a while now and we finally got it lol. We traded the illness back and forth for a while so this week wasn't as productive as it normally should have been not to mention our car has been in the shop all week. Luckily we have wonderful members to give us rides! Other wise we wouldn't have been able to get much teaching done from walking place to place. Our area is massive haha But its still crazy how we were able to see blessings from the Lord. Whenever we were able to go out we had so much success in finding new people to teach! We have a baptism coming up in a few weeks! This investigator has to be one of the most humble people I have ever met. He was homeless for a while and now has a home but still has no car or phone. He is sooo prepared and ready for this gospel. He really wanted to change his life around and this gospel has done nothing but help change him. He's noticed the change in himself as well. Last week we had the primary program and he absolutely loved it and the rest of church. It was crazy cause he really saw no problem in being at church for 3 hours. That's definitely not very common for investigators lol. But we are very excited to see him get baptized in a few weeks! He is too. A little scared but he's so ready for it :)

Halloween was a fun night. We had an appointment with this investigator and we were only able to get a ride there so we were like what the heck we can just walk back home cause we didn't have anything else scheduled for the night. After the lesson we were walking home and wondering what our parents would think if they knew we were walking about half a mile from the border of Mexico also one of the most dangerous cities in the world on a Halloween night. The roads we were walking down were pretty sketchy too. But we weren't scared or anything at all lol. We're missionaries! We got the Lord on our side ;) lol. We finally got our car back today and are feeling much better. We're lucky to have such wonderful members in the ward who really take care of us! We have a bunch of homes away from home in this ward haha. Well I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween! Love you all! Have a great week :)

Its sad to hear that my grandma passed away but its also comforting to know that she's in a better place no longer suffering. Please keep her and my family in your prayers. Thanks!