Elder Dallin Espiritu: Filipinos Everywhere!

Hey Everyone!

Pretty good week! I realized this week that my companion goes home in 1 week so I gotta start figuring out this area and finding people to teach. So every day we call a ton of people that used to be taught and members in the ward. It's been different but I've adjusted well. Elder Tennis and I are teaching well together and the Spirit is so strong when we teach.

It's challenging to find people to teach through Facebook. We've been really trying to go through members. One cool experience we had with finding new people to teach was earlier in the week. We were talking and trying to find out new ways we can find new people to teach, when we got a call from our mission office. They had a referral for us!

They told us about this couple that sounded great. They told us where they were from the Philippines! I got so excited! We got their info and called them immediately. The husband's name is Jann. We got to know them. We talked about the Philippines and he actually grew up in my mission in Manila! It was great to talk to him. He seemed great and told us he would cook us up some Filipino food. I'm looking forward to that! That experience was another huge testimony builder that I'm here for a reason and that each missionary wherever they are has people that need them.

We set up a couple Come Follow Me's with some members, recent converts, and part member families. This week's Come Follow Me was all about the power of words in Alma 30-31 in the Book of Mormon. This week was with the Kim family, Brother Ball, and the Acevedo family!

The Kim family was great. We talked to them and really got to know them. And because the Come Follow Me was about how strong words could be, at the end of the lesson we challenged them to reach out to someone who could use some kind words in their life. And they said they would do it. I just got a text from Sister Kim and she said they all did it and it that it was such a good experience for them.

Our next Come Follow Me was with Brother Ball. He's was baptized about a year ago. He's about 70 years old. He's so funny! His example to me has helped me gain a strong testimony of Jesus Christ.

Our last Come Follow Me with the Acevedos was actually in person. It was nice to go out and actually talk to people in person. They invited us over and we got to chat with them. The two youngest boys in their family aren't members so we tried to make it fun for them. Super awesome family!

I loved this week's Come Follow Me. One scripture that stood out to me was Alma 31:5 "And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God." I love this scripture, talking about how the word can have a more powerful effect than the sword.

What we say and how we say it can affect us in a positive or negative way!

This week I try to encourage everyone to be positive in what we say and try to uplift others! Hope everyone has a good week and stay safe!

-Elder Espiritu

Here are more details about his week from our video chat with him:

His typical days consist of pounding the phones and calling their Area Book. He and his companion have been having texting or calling people the other missionaries used to teach. During one conversation, they got a hold of this lady. She is an elderly lady with a peculiar accent. His companion asked, "Where are you from sister?" Sure enough she grew up in Manila, Philippines (this is a different lady from last week). So, of course, Dallin and this lady had a great conversation in Tagalog. She was very interested and they dropped off a copy of the Book of Mormon to her. She wants to have the lessons in person but she is on the high risk category for COVID, so they are going to try to meet with her over facetime.

He was excited to learn that his new Zone Leader is Elder Bridger Carson, one of his teammates on his High School football team. Another fun and "small world" fact. The other ZL, Elder Peterson mentioned to Dallin:

Elder Peterson: "Oh, yea, one of my friends in my ward went to the Philippines on his mission. He decided to do the 12-18 months option and is going to BYU in the Fall."

Dallin: "Elder Peterson, where did you say you were from?"

Elder Peterson: "From Knoxville, TN."

Dallin, "Wait, did you know an Elder Strickland, he was my companion at the Philippines MTC."

Elder Peterson: "No way, that's who I am talking about. He's in my ward!"

More on the Filipino family referral from the office:

Dallin got a call from the Mission Office. They gave them two referrals to teach. The office gave them the person who referred those names to call first. He told them both are "golden families" (meaning they are willing to listen).

When he called the first referral. He was so excited to talk to talk to Dallin in Tagalog. Eric grew up in the Philippines but his family now lives here and they just moved to LA from Nevada. They used to own a restaurant and as Dallin mentioned in his email, Eric promised to cook him some Filipino dishes. Dallin's favorite is "sisig" (a dish made of minced meat (pork or chicken), veggies and seasoned with onions, calamansi (small Filipino citrus) and chili peppers.

They had a very spiritual conversation and his family has accepted to be taught by the missionaries. They are hoping to set up an appointment this week.

During his calls, he has also reached out to Michelle. They have been sending her a scripture daily to help uplift her. They were able to drop off a Book of Mormon to her as well.

Overall, he has been happy with what their companionship has accomplished despite the challenges of COVID. Dallin has been very positive about the whole thing. He is just trying to figure out how else to get referrals from people so they can teach more people. He and his companion have called and texted members in the ward to teach "Come Follow Me" lessons or a message. One time he said he sent out 17 texts and only got 3 responses. :(

They are now allowed to visit members but only if they are invited. They can't just show up and see if they can share a message. He and his companion meets weekly with their ward council but he has never met any of the members or the Bishop.

Despite all this, Dallin has remained very positive. They have taught a few lessons but they are still trying very hard to teach more people. Next week, he will get a new companion and he really hopes that he will be as hardworking and easy to get along with as Elder Tennis. They have worked well together even it has only been a couple of weeks.