June 22, 2015

First, Here is the letter I wrote to him

     This weeks seem to be long! Hope it went fast for you. We got together with all of our family for our Nielson reunion, I'm actually in Pocatello right now! The symons car broke down on their way to MCall, So I had to go pick them up in Boise and drive them up. Then I had to drive them back to Pocatello. Bummer. We had a good time,
But you were missed! Liam ran through the house calling for you and nobody had the heart to tell him you weren't there :-) devin might've missed you the most though, Chris couldn't come so he was the only boy. We hiked up to Boulder Creek Lake that I think you hiked to as a scout, Megan and maren jumped in the water and froze to death. The Nielson family reunion and the Phillips family reunion are totally different! We never once played a game, although I think the little girls played some cards upstairs, and we explored all over the MacColl area 

     Where was I when I accidentally hit send :-) oh yeah, I was trying to edit the word McCall.             

      We found some hot pools we did a great hike, and we went to the Payette River games where we watch some stand up paddle races. It was pretty fun.
I'm not sure if it was dad's favorite ever Father's Day though, we had to pack up and come home and then I left to go to Pocatello and grandma grandpa Karen and Liam stayed in Boise for another day :-) he didn't get spoiled for one second!
So now to you, you make sure you keep that sunscreen on! I don't need a crispy fried son coming home ;-) as for little dogs I wish I had 1000 of them running around in the streets :-) in fact, I would love to let Charlie come and run in the streets too! Do they eat the dogs there? That sounds crazy hot and miserable weather, but I heard the rainy season will start soon. Did you ever get an umbrella? Thanks for the correct address, we sent out an incorrect one to everybody :-) maybe you will get a package now! 

   We actually bought you something while in McCall. Oh, I bought you some keens, you know the hiking and water sandals that dad has. If you want me to send them I will. So have you done anything fun on your P day? Do you get to go explore or anything? I talked to other missionary moms and they said to tape your memory card inside a letter and send it home when you have some pictures on that you want me to save. I am glad you are working hard and don't miss us too much, it will make time go faster for you and you will surely be a better missionary.I always include in my prayers that you will have the energy to do what you want and need to do, so I hope that you are doing well physically, I know you were a little worried about that.
It was awesome to hear you say you were grateful for fit mania! Can you just hear Karla saying" I told you so"! I had a funny dream about you last night, all of the Hermana's got to vote on a missionary that they would most want to meet their mother and that missionary got to call home, They all liked you so much that they voted for you! I was super excited. But sad when I woke up and it wasn't true!
    Well, I'm sure you have other things you want to do today, so have a fun one! We miss you, we love you, we are proud of you!
Love love love
Mom

Thanks mom!

No they do not eat dogs here. But dogs do eat other dogs. It's a dog eat dog world down here. Our P days are usually pretty busy and we arent allowed to play soccer or sports. Which makes me really sad because at the church gym (the outside basketball court) they are always playing basketball, volleyball, or soccer and I desperately want to join in!

You won't recognize me in 2 years I'm getting so fat down here! They feed us really well and make deliscious dessert. The other day we opened a can of chilled fruit(it was one of those fruit cocktails with many different bits in it) at a members house after dinner, and it was truly the greatest thing ever. Cold fruit after 106o weather if amazing. But the best yet was something that i think was called: Impossible choco flan? look it up, because it was amazing! And also, we only have a microwave and a stove in our house, so if you can find cheap recipes for microwaves... please send them!

     If you do send a package, Could you include some Mormon Messages? Because all of them down here are in spanish :P. and any of your cavorite talks on a Cd too! Thanks :) 

No I never did end up getting an umbrella. I guess it might be a good idea to invest in one... maybe.

     Unfortunately we havent been able to explore either. But honestly there isnt a whole lot to explore around here. the oldest thing i've seen yet was a banana in the back of our fridge that im pretty sure was put there by Joseph Smith himself!

But anyways, that's just part of the missionary life. (the banana was delish)

Elder Phillips

Hey Everyone!

Good news! Jesus Antonio wanted to get baptised sooner so his baptism will be this saturday! Awesome, right? I'm getting super excited for him! I know he is ready for this and he's super excited! And afterwards, he wants to come visit others with us and help us teach them!

The weather down here is hot. Like 106 degrees hot. And it's crazy dry too. But all the people around here are super nice and always offer us water and soda and stuff. Ice cream is rare, but amazing.

This week my companion and I got attacked by a large dog! I think it was a hybrid of 50% boxer and 50% Chupacabra! It was a big dog. it ran up and was trying to bite my comp. So he kicked it in the face. It barely fazed the beast! Then a guy with a bike rode up and scared it off. "Where were you the whole time, Elder Phillips?" some of you may be wondering. Well let me tell you. 

I bravely ran away.

Have a great week!

Elder Phillips

Hey Dad!

So first I'll answer your questions.

The people around here live in much better conditions than Tijuanna. It's still not quite up at American standards, but yeah. The people in our area are for the most part pretty well off by Mexico's standards. Some are very poor, but we have a very nice area. The most wealthy ones are those who learned English and work over in El Paso during the week. the others work really bad hours in factories over here making roughly $50 a week to support their family.

I am serving in the Chapultepec 1 ward. There are 2 different companionships in our ward. Elder Borgel and Sanchez are the others here with us.

I'm glad you had fun at the Reunion! I've been partying it up pretty good down here too. You probably wouldn't even recognize me I'm so tan! ok, I feel like I've almost got a tan. But I'm so close I can feel it!

Boulder lake! I remember that! It really is beautiful up there. Did you take any pictures? I may not be able to send you pictures often, but send me pictures of everything! Send me all your snapchats and selfies! Anything! Ok, I take that back. Not all of your snapchats. Because those get pretty crazy.

Miss you!

Elder Phillips