Elder Dallin Espiritu: New Companion!

Hi everyone!

We had transfers this last week! Unfortunately the era of Elder Snooks and I have ended. I figured out that I will be staying here for another transfer (by the end of this transfer I'll be here for 8 months!) and I'll be getting a new companion and Elder Snooks will be moving to another area right next to ours. So he's not too far, but it's still sad. We wanted to stay together one more transfer but the Lord has called him another way! He's still in our zone so I'll see him a ton still. He is such a good missionary and I will cherish my time I had with him 😁🤙🏼

NEW COMP:

This next transfer I have the opportunity to be companions with a brand new missionary in the mission field! His name is Elder Moody. He's amazing, such a stud, and a spiritual giant! He's from Magna, Utah and went to Cyprus HS.

He is also a reassigned missionary. His original assignment is the Tokyo North Mission. He's already a beast at Japanese and so diligent!

Our first day together, Elder Moody and I soon realized that our personalities are opposite! 😂 He's a very quiet guy who is a great listener and I love to talk and can't stop talking sometimes. Even though we are companions I know for a fact Heavenly Father has put us together for a reason. We are both going to learn a ton from each other. Even though we're opposites we both have that love for Jesus Christ that bonds us together. I'm really looking forward to this transfer!

I wanted to share an amazing story with you that happened this past week! Elder Moody's first day was on Tuesday. When we got back to the apartment we had a self referral we still needed to contact that Elder Snooks and I received on Monday. The referral's name is Julia!

We called her and had a wonderful conversation with her. She told us how she found us and her background with missionaries in the past. She said she was actually on another Christian website when a church ad from our church popped up. So she said to herself why not and filled out all the information. That's how we got her number.

Julia continued to tell us in the past she would avoid missionaries at all cost and was very mean to them. But on the phone she was accepting and full of love. Throughout the call some of the church's beliefs came up and we started talking about the Bible and The Book of Mormon. At the end of the phone call we set up an appointment for the next day and said we could drop off a Bible and Book of Mormon to her right after the call. We could tell from her excitement that she was truly prepared by Heavenly Father to receive the message of The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We invited her to a Book of Mormon class that missionaries run in our zone every Tuesday night. She went and absolutely loved it. The missionaries running it decided that they would read and discuss 2 Nephi 31 talking about the doctrine of Christ. The topic of baptism was brought up and apparently Julia was asking all these questions about baptism and was truly curious. Most of the attendees in the meeting were recent converts (including Mike). They shared their experiences with baptism.

Julia loved it and learned a lot about baptism. The next day we had our appointment with her and we re read parts of 2 Nephi 31 and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about the 5 principles that are within the Gospel. She loved everything. Elder Moody and I felt impressed that we needed to invite her to follow the example of Christ and be baptized...so we did...and she said YES! She will be baptized on February 6th! She's so prepared and willing to follow Jesus Christ. She came to church yesterday and she said she felt so loved by the ward members. I'm so excited for Julia! She has already finished 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon and I know she's only getting started!

I wanted to share that experience with all of you because I know it wasn't a coincidence that Julia happened to find an ad from the church on another Christian page. That truly was Heavenly Father leading her into the amazing path towards Christ.

Even during these hectic times Heavenly Father is preforming miracles in the hearts of others. I have a strong testimony this is the work of the Lord and what a blessing it is to be serving during this time. I love Jesus Christ and he is our Savior!

I hope you all have an amazing week and try to serve others around you! 😁

-Elder Espiritu