Best Decision of My Life

I can't believe that this time has come! Today will be my last weekly email as a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! These past two years have been the most spiritually uplifting time of my life. There have been a lot of trials and heartaches but the Lord has been able to show forth His love and power within my mission and has helped me so much. I'm eternally grateful for the opportunity I've had to serve our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

We got to do a lot of things this last week I felt were like pre pandemic...

I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Brown in his area in Compton. Compton is such an amazing place and has a lot of prepared souls to receive the gospel in their lives. We were able to go street contacting at the projects and talk to many different people. It was motivating to talk to more random people on the street about Jesus Christ.

We spoke with this one guy who was a hard-core atheist. He wasn't shy about sharing his beliefs. It saddened my heart as he told us that he knew he wouldn't see his son who has passed away. He knew he wasn't going to see any of his loved ones who have also passed away. Elder Brown and I talked to each other after that. We were so grateful to know of the Plan of Salvation. Because Heavenly Father loves us we will see all our family again and as we trust in His plan we will become happy! Overall it was a great exchange!

Throughout the week we were able to do some lessons with our friends either at the church or at their homes. My last week here is when most of the restrictions were getting lifted including the mask mandate!  I wish this would've been lifted early but I'm glad we were able to meet with people in their houses and in the church building for at least a week.

I've really enjoyed serving in the Centinela 1st ward. The people I've met are amazing and I'm so happy I was able to share my testimony with them. I will miss everyone I've met on my mission. The people and this area will always have a place in my heart.

During a Visitors Center tour this week we saw two guys walk in as Elder Christensen and I were leaving. One of them was pointing at me and I didn't think much of it. Then I saw the other guy who was behind him and I recognized them both immediately! They were some missionaries that served in the Philippines! One of them was my last companion before I returned to the U.S.. That was a blessing to see them! It helped me recognize that I've been able to serve around such amazing people. I've created a lot of friendships that I know I wouldn't have made if I wasn't on a mission!

I've loved my mission with my whole heart. Being able to testify of Jesus Christ every day has changed my life forever. Jesus Christ and His atonement has changed me into a better person and I know He's always going to help me even more after my mission.

I love you all and I'm so grateful for all your prayers and support. Going on a mission has been the best decision I've ever made in my entire life! I love Jesus Christ and I know He loves every single one of you. See you all soon!

Elder Espiritu

My Zone

Exchange with Elder Brown

The departing missionaries in the zone 

My District

Last ward coordination 

Went to a car museum on my last P-day

Last companion in the Philippines

Visitors Center Tour with Bryan

The Auton Family

             

I Love the Temple

Hello Everyone! 

I loved this past week! It went by fairly quickly! I'm loving going out and talking to everyone. Elder Christensen and I try our very best to talk to everyone we see. I've become so comfortable talking to random people on the streets about our Savior Jesus Christ. As I've I've built a stronger testimony of Him on my mission I've been more confident and courageous to preach about Him and His gospel! It's amazing to see what the Lord can do for us if we are willing to put in the work and be obedient to His commandments! 

This past week we had our prayer drive thru. We did this event at the beginning of last month and it turned out great. We decided to do it again and try to make it better. This time around we advertised it much more. During the days leading up to the event, Elder Christensen and I were sending a digital flyer to everyone in our area book. We received a lot of responses and started talking to people that we haven't been in contact with in months! This was a huge blessing! 

The event itself was amazing! People love prayers and free food:) We had a good turn out and it was awesome to see so many people come. A lot of the people didn't attend just because of the free food. Many just wanted the prayer. We saw how humble people are to come and seek help through a prayer. Hopefully we will see fruits from our labors as we go thru all the names and numbers! 

Yesterday we got to go on another Visitor Center tour with one of our friends, Alexis! One of our members was able to bring him there. We had a very spiritual time talking about the Savior and the Book of Mormon. You could tell Alexis loved it and was able to feel the Spirit so strongly! I'm grateful I've been able to go to the temple and the Visitors Center so frequently while I've been here in LA. The peace that comes from this place is indescribable! 

I'm so happy to be serving Heavenly Father and preaching about Christ! I hope everyone has a great week! :) 

-Elder Espiritu 

Prayer drive thru event 

First station (the form) 

Second station (prayer) 

Third station (free food) 

Visitors Center with Alexis, Brother Gardner, 

and his son Josiah! 

Video call with Elder Snooks and Mike earlier today 

The Gospel Blesses Lives

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ so much! Coming out on my mission was the best decision I have ever made in my entire life. This past week was one of the most spiritually filled weeks I have ever experienced. So let's get right into it...

We had a 3 meals with families that are members of the church this week! It was so nice to get to go into members' homes, get to know them, and share the message of the gospel with them. All 3 of the lessons were with less active members. This ward is really amazing and our members are very nice. Now that the COVID restrictions are lifting more people are being receptive to the gospel! We have quite a few less active families in our ward. We're excited to get going on that and start visiting them more. I love this ward and we are trying to do our best to help as many members come back into the fold of God! 

We we able to start teaching 3 new friends this week! The first one was Lilian! Here is a little background story about her. We have a member named Sister Timothy and she is amazing. We had a Come Follow Me lesson with her at the beginning of the week and the Spirit was strong. We felt like we needed to ask if she knew anyone who would need help or hear this message. She gave us about 3 names of her friends that live in the area. One of them was Lilian! 

Both Lilian and Sister Timothy are from Nigeria. Lilian is so prepared! The day after our lesson with Sister Timothy we had a lesson with us, Sister Timothy, and Lilian. It was a very spiritual lesson. We taught her about the Restoration. She was so receptive to everything we taught and after the lesson we brought a Book of Mormon to her and she said she would read and pray about it. My testimony of caring and working with members was able to grow with this amazing experience. We're excited for Lilian and her progress!

The next friend we found was Ana! Ana was the lady I talked about in my last email. She is the lady that lives in our apartment complex. She is super nice. We were able to have a lesson with her and one of our members (Sister Rodriguez!) We had a lesson plan but we didn't follow it one bit. Elder Christensen and I both felt prompted to teach something completely different to address Ana's needs. It turned out really well. She was able to open up a lot and we got to help her quite a bit. We're meeting with her again on Tuesday at the church building while her daughter is going to the youth event! We have high hopes for her :) 

Our last new friend was Alexis! Alexis has been taught in the past several times. He actually was supposed to be baptized but something was always holding him back. One night we got a call from one of our members named Brother McOmber. (Side note Brother McOmber is an absolute beast when it comes to missionary work. He goes street contacting for us missionaries all the time. He is a huge inspiration to us missionaries) He told us Alexis called him and said he has been reading the Bible a lot and he feels like he needs to belong to a church. 

The next day he was at church with Brother McOmber and his family! The McOmbers were able to pick him up and sit with him for both hours of church! (BTW we had 2 hours at the church building for the first time since the pandemic started) After church we had a lesson with all 4 of us. Alexis is a very quiet guy so it was hard to get him to open up, but the Spirit was able to guide us. 

Alexis said he felt really good during church. We asked him if he would want to feel this feeling more often. He smiled and said yes. We asked Alexis if he would be willing to follow Jesus Christ and prepare to be baptized. He said yes! We are so excited for Alexis and we know he is ready now. He may not have been ready in the past but the Lord works in mysterious ways. Everyone please pray for Alexis! 

THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

ROBERT'S BAPTISM! 

On June 5th our friend Robert was able to enter into the waters of baptism and was confirmed a member of the church! He truly was a prepared soul that was placed into our lives. He has taught us so much. He is by far the most humble and caring man I have ever met. After he was baptized and confirmed he gave one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever witnessed. Robert is an amazing example that the Gospel really can bless and change our lives forever. Elder Christensen told me while they were changing Robert asked, "What do I have to do now to go into the temple?" It's those words that bring me so much happiness. Robert knows the blessings from the gospel and he's always wanting to improve. I'm so grateful to be apart of this part if his journey to Christ. 

I truly love this work and I'm grateful to be a representative of Jesus Christ and his Church. Love you all 

-Elder Espiritu 

Brother McOmber and Robert!

Robert's Baptism June 5, 2021

Robert drew this

Baptismal font prep