April 23, 2015, Week 1

Finally got a letter!! Here it is. He sure is a funny kiddo!

Hello Everyone! 

I`m sure you had a terribly long week waiting for this moment, but it is finally here! That is right, Its P day! 
        So let me get started with day 1. It was pretty boring, I got stopped in every line at the airport for a "random" inspection. I`m pretty sure it is because I`m a Mexican though. But that was a fun experience followed by 1.5 hours of sitting next to Bishop Cleverly and behind President Alhquest on the plain. And let me tell you: Bishop Cleverly snores!
         So we made it to Salt Lake where I met some other missionaries. didn`t really get to know them, but it was nice meeting them. We were all pretty nervous. When we got on the plane though, we were all (all the missionaries) asked to stand up and move to the front of the plane. I thought that we were in trouble at first, but it turns out that they were putting us all together near the front of the plane. It was pretty classy. I got to know the rest of the missionaries pretty well and heard a few of their life stories. interesting stuff. Then I busted out some paper and we played hangman for the next few hours.
         Skip forward to later that night. We were in a devotional before heading out to meet our district, when a girl in front of me had a seizure! That`s right, day 1 in the MTC and a girl had a seizure. Pretty legit. Turns out that she`s in my district. Her name is Hermana Gregson, and she and her companion rushed off to the infirmary. She`s from Auburn Alabama and has a hilarious Southern accent. She loves the word Yàll and pronounces lawyer like laier. The doc said it was caused by a combination of dehydration, stress, lack of eating, and the fact that the day before she did a triathlon.
         I`m the district leader. That means I`m in charge of our ragtag troop of 4 elderes and 2 hermanas. very small district. Hermanas Gregson and Baird both got sick for the first few days, so that wasnt too comforting. They`re better now though.
         My comp is Elder Kopsa. He was shy at first, but now weve found that hes pretty hilarious. I always carry around my "Kopsa Joke Journal" so I can write down all his jokes and let me tell you, there are some good ones. On Friday we began teaching lessons in spanish to pretend Investigators. we didn`t know that they were pretend though. But our first two lessons were absolutely terrible! We tried to teach several different topics at once and didn`t study the spanish words we would need. This led to many pauses that completely detracted from the lesson. The last two lessons however, were great!
          We`ve taken up the tradition of "Cuchara"ing people. For those of you who dont know what a cuchara is, it`s a spoon. That`s right. So here`s what you do: Step 1. Grab a plastic spoon from the comedor (food hall). Step 2. Bend it up near the head so it forms a 90 degree angle. Step 3. Slide the head of the spoon up someones suit collar while they aren`t paying attention. that was they walk around for a while looking ridiculous with a spoon sticking out of the back of their collar. It`s very entertaining, but it also means you have to watch out. you can also slip the spoon into their back pockets if you`re careful, but I`m still not very good at that one.

       Our main teacher is Hermano Hernandez. He is so cool and such a spiritual guy! he tells us great stories about his mission and his life. We`re trying to convince him to bring his guitar and play it for us, but he still hasn`t agreed to it.

       Please forward this to anyone who may enjoy it, because this is going to be a crazy experience!

       Your favorite Misionero

            Elder Phillips (often pronounced like peeleeps down here)

PS. Here`s this weeks Kopsa Joke for ya. Warning: East coast people might not get it. Elder Toledo (The darker Skinned dude in the pics below, who happens to be in our district) is from Maryland and didnt get it until we explained it to him. But here it goes:

What did the corn say when his clothes fell off?

Aww Shucks!

I`ll send more pictures later. Enjoy!

Translation: Diarrhea schedule. AKA the meal plan

This is Elder Kopsa unpacking on the first day

My District outside of the temple. From left to right:

Hermana Baird, Hermana Gregson, Me, Elder Toledo, Elder Asquith, Elder Kopsa

And then this is the letter he sent to his dad—seriously, he is too funny!

(Dave's letter ) Hola!

My Comp is pretty awesome! We get along and we have quite a few things in common. As for my language, I feel so fluent! And it has only been 1 week! I`m teaching all about prophets, restoration, apostasy, and prayer in spanish! I feel so proud of how fluent I am, until I try talking to a native. Or simply hear one of them pray. Praying was the first thing I learned to do in spanish, but I still only understand the last few words "en el nombre de jesucristo, amen". They talk so fast!

      I miss you guys already, but just wait til you hear some of the stories i`m going to have! The Maestros (teachers) who`ve gone to Juarez have all had great times. 

     Today for P day we went to the temple! just the visitors center though, the rest is under reconstruction. but it was fun! I bought a new tie too. they`re not too expensive down here, ranging from 3-8 dollars depending on where you get em. Tell the girls i already have their souveneirs: plastic spoons with faces and unicorns drawn on them! Haha, I`m sure that`s what they`re hoping to get :)

      It`s very hot down here, but every day around 3:30 we get a thunderstorm. that`s right, we got on e right now. its a thunderstorm because there is 1. thunder, 2. Lightning, 3. No rain. It is awesome! It cools off and the wind blows and I love it! Every night we can hear the sounds of mexicans singing and partying and getting hit by cars. Very loud, but we got used to it fast. Cannons go off at random times during the day, so we stop, whistle the mockingjay whistle from hunger games, and hold up 3 fingers in salute to the fallen tributes.

     Yesterday was P day`s eve, which means we get together with the rest of our branch (the district that taught us cucharaing) and sang chrstmas hymns in spanish! So fun! I really like them too. 

         

The hardest thing so far is the Hermanas. So many and I just shake their hands. I am going through flirting withdrawals. My comp helps keep reminding me of the story of sampson and delilah. That`s right, girls are nothing but trouble.

See ya in 2 years!

Elder Phillips