Mom May 15, 2015

Hey Mom! 

How's everything going back home? I loved hearing about Charlie throwing up everywhere, mostly because I'm not there to clean it up :) Thank you for sending the sheet music! I dont think I can print it though :(

I had a great experience that was actually terrible! You'll have to share this with dad, I dont have enough time to write him this week :'( But Kopsa and I were teaching Josue and reviewing his questions about the Plan of Salvation and The Holy Ghost. We felt the spirit so strongly! We had several chances to ask him to be baptized, but we choked! We both thought the other would ask and eventually we would just continue the lesson. It was terrible because we completely ignored the spirit. But It was otherwise an amazing lesson. We were killing ourselves about it all day afterwards.

I just heard I got a package today! But I havent checked it out yet. But Thank you for sending stuff! So far only 1 person has gotten mail and the rest of us are confident that nobody loves us... Not really though, we just tease each other about it.

Gotta Run!

Elder Phillips!

Oh, please include my email address in all the main emails!

WEEK 4

Hulloha!

    Hey everyone, it's me, your favorite missionary! 

       (Elder Phillips)

    First is the most important thing. Guess who's still our district's undefeated Ping-Pong champion? This guy! Also, I've won 100% of my rock-paper-scissors matches! Yup, we've had 1 and I won. So yeah, things have been intense around here. I have also decided that P-day is proof that God loves missionaries and looks out for us. We've been playing volleyball a lot lately. I am grateful for the time before I left that I spent practicing volleyball.

    I have officially decided that I love Mexico. Or at least this area of it. We have gotten storms every night and there is legit lightning constantly! What could be better? Just last night we were out watching lightning and my companion got struck! Just kidding. I thought he would be though, because it was getting pretty intense. We saw several huge bolts strike cell phone towers on a nearby hill. I love it!

    My official nickname around here has become Cinderelder. I think it's because of my pure heart and luscious flowing locks. and my radiant smile. Don't forget about that smile. During our service project last saturday I was in charge of explaining the job to several Hermanas. We were wiping down the bleachers and cleaning up the gym. So my way of explaining the job to them was handing them each a rag and asking them "have you seen the movie Cinderella?" (the new one of course) and they nodded their heads. "Great! That's you now!" So they started calling me Cinderella. And then when playing volleyball, if you mess up a serve we call it a "Princess" and give them a reserve. So whenever an elder messes up we give them a hard time and ask which princess they are. One thing led to another, And I earned myself the nickname of Cinderelder.

    On a more spiritual note: David A. Bednar is a Legend! We heard a Christmas Devo of his and it was so good! I recommend looking it up and watching it. It was So Good! We finally got a new district in our zone! I was so excited! 4 Hermanas (1 from Boise! Hermana Stark) and 2 elders! So great! We plan on visiting them tonight and giving them some welcome cookies. They just arrived last night, so we dont really know them yet. But hopefully they're cool.

    "I dont really have anything to say. But if you vote for me... All of your wildest dreams will come true" -Pedro Sanchez

Sorry that there isnt much more. It was a pretty boring week. 

      But yeah, 

             ~Elder Phillips

May 7, 2015. Week 3

Hello Everyone!

How have you all been? Good? Good? Good! I've been good too! The MeciMTC has been a blast, but I'm already halfway done! Crazy, right! We've been able to confirm recent suspicion: The beans here are a blend of beans and yesterday's dinner. In this case, Corn dogs. yup. my companion found piece of the hot dog in his beans. and he loved it. 

Most important thing first! Remember last weeks game of Mexican Roulette we played with the street tacos? We lost. We each ate two tacos (because they are incredible delish) but the next morning... let's just say we lost big time. My comp was unable to go to classes for the whole day and he had a pretty gnarly fever too. I was slightly better off, with just a mild case of that good old fashioned "Mexican Vanilla", if you know what i'm saying. I'd like to say that we learned our lesson, but next time we leave the walls we're already planning on buying a few more. WORTH IT!

Hermana Baird is an artist! This week she drew pictures of Elder Kopsa and Elder Toledo, and they're pretty legit! Elder Kopsa actually looks like a man in his! I'm hoping to get a portrait done of me soon. While we were writing home, the Hermanas went out and made cookies. They brought some back and they were great! Oatmeal Chocolate Chip! I'll throw in some pictures so you all can be jealous of my cookie.

The Tie trade was a great success. Once a week about a dozen or so elders would meet in Casa 47 with all their ties and trade them. Of course we act like complete gentlemen too, "Good sir, Might I be able to hold your blue paisley tie?" "Why yes, of course my good man!" "Thank you, you are a gentleman and a scholar!" And so on. You get the picture. My favorite tie I have is a wonderful flowery one that I got from my sister Anna before I left. I think I have a picture of it that I can send. But anyways, we got busted by the local authorities and had to return home for the night. That's right, Presidente Call was on patrol and saw the lights were still on. It may mean that it was the last of the Great Tie Trades. But probably not. We will not be silenced! And we will not go down without a fight! Unless he tells us to. There really isn't much we can do about it.

In other news, This weeks heist was completed without a hitch! We "stole" a nice comfy chair from our casa's living room and relocated it into our bedroom. We didn't have a lot of room, but it's still a wonderful addition. We have named it "The Chair of Truth". It's pretty legit. And as the name implies, so long as you're sitting in it you must answer all questions with 100% honesty. The local cleaning ladies either haven't noticed it missing, don't really care, or haven't cleaned our house in the past week. Hopefully they just haven't noticed.

Great News! David A Bednar  will be coming here next week! It has officially been proclaimed by the choir director! So I'll be in a choir singing for him! Super Legit!

On May 4th I wore my Star Wars Pajamas whenever I could. Even to the Gym! It was one of the few times I would have that chance while on my mission. May the Fourth be with you! And then the next day was The Return of the Fifth! AKA: Cinco De Mayo!!! Guess how much they party here on Cinco De Mayo? Bzzzt, Wrong answer! The correct choice was not at all! Surprising, right? Mexico's independence day isn't until like September or something. I was very disappointed. 

Just Yesterday Hermana Gregson was sick with a fever, so we gave her a blessing. And just a few minutes later she was feeling much better! Which was awesome! Especially because the topic of our lesson we taught Jonathan was The Priesthood. We shared the story and at the end of the lesson we asked him to be baptised... And he said Yes! AWWW YEAH!!!! 

So for those of you who don't know, it is very important to learn the language. I have had a few...Experiences that I would Like to share. 1st one was while I was teaching some investigators. I told them that when we pray we close our ears instead of our eyes (orejas instead of ojos). They looked very confused and started laughing once they realized my mistake. 2nd story: While talking to some workers, they asked where Elder Toledo and Asquith had gone. So I told them that they had gone to Hell (Infierno), instead of the infirmary (enfermio i think). So remember, Learn the language!

And Email me!

Love ya all!

~Elder Phillips