Sept 28, 15

Hey Everyone! 

This week I´d like to start by extending an invitation to all of you: Watch "Ephriam´s Rescue" and if you enjoy it, share it with somebody else!

 I had the opportunity to see this movie this week and it was really good. We watched it with a family and we could see them as they were touched by the spirit. It was so good and spiritual!

Today marks the last day of this cycle in the mission. My companion is getting transfered to some other part of the city, and I will be put with Elder.... Ok, I already forgot his name. But I won´t actually meet him until tomorrow.

This week was a good one. We met a new family this week, Familia Dias. They are having a few troubles in their lives right now and really need the gospel. The mother is Christian but I believe that she´s willing to open up and listen to us. I know that the gospel can help them in there lives and all of you too. No matter what your problem or your trial, The Gospel Will Help. And by holding firm to that which you know is good and true, you will be upliften and guided in these times of need. 

D&C 6:36 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

A little something to help you remember. Look to the scriptures when you need a bit of help. You´d be surprised in all the ways God is willing to help you.

With another investigator, he had many questions. So many questions. And in truth, questions are wonderful things. The most important revelations have been given as the result of honest questions. However, We need to remember to ask God for the answers. Because when God gives you an answer, you can be sure it´s good.

Well, that´s it for today. Have a good week everyone. Do something different this week to help someone else. Give your mom a hug. Pray for the Investigators.

Elder Phillips

Just thought I would throw in MY letter to him just in case I ever need to remember what I said :)

Hola eldero philipo!!
Como Estas? Como eran los crepes? Tan bueno como sus madres? sus imágenes eran divertidos! Pensé que tu compañero se veía como un niño!
Enough Spanish for me!
I bet the rain felt awesome! I LOVE a good rainstorm!
We had Wild West night Friday, missed having help me decorate. I only have one more Wild West night to do....EVER! Next year Anna will be in 5th grade and then I graduate from elementary school. They served the best food of all Wild West nights, delish pulled pork. Mmmmm.  Saturday was the kick off for general conference, women's conference. This will be a fun general conference for you, remember how they started broadcasting people in their native language? You will actually get to listen to some in Spanish! Also, I think you'll also finally figure out why we all love conference so much :-) I doubt kids understand that very well. I've been listening to a lot of talks by elder Holland, he is such a rockstar! I can't wait to listen to him this time. On Thursday morning I am driving to California to see Katherine! I will take the kids and aunt Sally maren and Emma.  Since we will be driving on Sunday back home I'm not sure if we will be able to hear the broadcast :-( good thing we have it on the Internet! I still haven't got on your Facebook, sorry. It's the busy season of fall with all the sports, and photography, and school events! I barely survive the fall.
Today was Parker whiting, and Sterling Boelter farewell. I only got a picture with Sterling but you will just have to imagine what Parker looks like :-)
Did u see the eclipse tonight? It was pretty cool, just thought it was fun that we could all be staring at the same moon!
Well, we all miss you, but not so much that we want you to come home!!
BE A GREAT MISSIONARY!
Love, mom

And now for his reply! He always writes me, that good little missionary of mine!

Funny story, I did see the eclipse! We were with familia Gallardo watching "Rescate de Efraim" (Ephraims rescue) and we went out and watched it for a while! I took some pictures but learned something profound: When taking photos of a lunar eclipse during the night, it´s all just going to look black. yup, who would´ve guessed. Oh but that movie is so good! I love it so much!

The Elder from the photo is Elder Brazell, and  he´s from Nevada. He´s going home tomorrow! He is an awesome missionary and was our Zone leader. And yes, he still looks like a child in those pictures :)

I´m afraid that i´ve just realized something, I won´t have any other Wild West Nights! I´m crying a little now :´(

So tomorrow we have transfers. And I´m staying here again! And my companion is going off to who knows where. This will be 4 transfers here with 4 different companions! Crazy! This means I have 6 more weeks of Chapultepec 1.2! Wahoo!

So recently I started thinking about family history work, how much do we know? how far back has it been traced in our family? Who were the first members on your side and dads side? Any awesome stories? I´d really love to hear anything that you have! I really didn´t do any family history work before the mission, but I´d love to get working a bit after if I can! 

I love hearing from the family every week, I love the stories and the photos and everything! I love hearing about all the little things that happen back home. 

I still haven´t heard back from chris. He´s gotten my letters these past months but I haven´t heard anything.

I Love You Mom!!!

Elder Phillips

AND Dave's letter:

On Sun, Sep 27, 2015 at 7:48 PM, Dave Phillips <boisedwp@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey --

So it was a good day at church today. Sterling boelter and Parker whiting both had their farewll today. Sterling is going to Florida Tallahassee and Parker is going to riverside California is speaking Spanish. The both leave this week.

This weekend will be general conference   It will be great. It always is. The buckners were out of town this past week so we did not teach them, but we are scheduled again for Monday night. It should be great. They are coming to church for all 3 hours for a few weeks in a row and seem to be liking it. It will be awesome when they join the church!

So Thursday is official slack off day here at the Phillips home. Megan whines cuz she doesn't want to get up early, mom whines cuz she doesn't want to do 2 leg days, and so I decided to go to the temple early on Thursdays. So I got up at about 5:10 -- earlier than a work out day! I went and did a session at the temple. It was great, but the.on the drive home I got rear ended by a driver not paying attention. So much for blessings for going to the temple!!

The guy who hit me was a nice guy. He is a construction worker who used to do MMA fighting and has trained with Phil Lott. He was a great guy. We were sitting there for an hour waiting for the police to come so we just talked about stuff while we waited. I spent about half the time talking about the church and stuff. It was kind of cool!  He was a nice guy. He lives in the neighborhood by the Neal's.

The bummer about the accident is that it jacked up my neck and head. Not as bad as the time when the semi truck smashed us, but it is sore. Bummer. So I did not work out on Friday. Not sure I am going to tomorrow or not. I am afraid of not having it heal quick. That would suck.

We had the ward chili feed last week. There were so many people there!  About 50 non members were there. It was a great event with lots of good people. It seems to get bigger and better every year.

I hope,you have another great week. We love you and pray for you every day.

David Phillips

Holy Guacamole! 50 non members! That´s awesome! Down here a real struggle we have is that the members are afraid of inviting people to events. It´s great to see that you guys don´t have the same problem! Haha, think about the potential temple blessing here: You met someone new and can send the missionaries to visit him! Those sound like some pretty awesome potential blessings! Good luck with your Head, not that you used it much anyways :) I hope you get better soon! 

One thing we did new this week was watch a church video with a family and it really brought the spirit. It may be a good thing for you to do with The Buckners. Just a fun little movie night or something. We watched Efraim´s Rescue. I had forgotten how amazing that movie is! Super good. 

In our ward the members got challenged to assist the temple more frequently. In the talk of my companion, they were compared to children asking their parents for a toy. Begging, and asking every day until they get it. And they use it and enjoy it for a while, but soon enough, they set it aside. I´m so glad that you´re not doing this with the temple! Keep going often! 

I Love You! Share the gospel today! Slack off next Thursday!

Elder Phillips

September 21, 15

Hey Everyone!

Life down here is just full of surprises! It Rained! A Lot! And we ate Crepes, Which are actually a traditional Mexican Dish! Ok, not really. But they were still really good!

So I wasn´t really expecting this to happen, but it was raining for nearly a full day! Back home, yeah, that might happen. But here? Almost never! I have truly developed an apreciation and love for the rain.

Spiritual Thought for all of you: I was watching some Mormon Messages and this phrase really struck me: A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So let´s make sure that step is in the right direction. Make sure that it´s the step you should be taking. Every action we have has far-reaching consequences. Sometimes good consequences, sometimes bad consequences. Most of the time we can´t see the consequences, not at first. Most of the time we want to see the promised blessings immediatly, but that´s not usually how God works. First we have to take a few steps of faith, and then the path becomes clearer. So remember to trust in God. Remember to rust in his plan for us. God kows all things, and we truly know so little. 

So who are we to doubt God and his ways?

Also, Mexican Holidays! El Grito! the 15th of September! 

And Mexican Independance day! the 16th of September!

We had divisions that day and I was with Elder Brazell, our Zone´s Fearless Leader. Basically what you do is stay up until about 11:00PM and then shout "¡Viva México!". This was the night that their war for independance began. And they celebrate their Independance day the following day. Here are some photos of our "Grito". As well as our trip down to the Centro

So that was this week´s fun activities! Have fun everybody! 

Sincerely,

Elder Phillips

September 14, 15

Hello Everybody!

I´ve got photos this week! Woohoo!!

So this week has been super awesome. Eating Ice Cream, Rededication of the Mexico City Temple, Zone Meetings, and other amusing tidbits!

We had some Ice cream this week. This doesn´t happen too often down here. And it was delicioso. Chocolate covered strawberries and tres leches. Super good. yup.

1st Photo is of my companion and I. Elder Ramirez with the red tie, and me with the purple tie (in case you couldn´t tell. I´m looking pretty brown these days) 

2nd photo! My Zone of missionaries! all 20ish of us after our Zone Meeting!

3rd photo! Because you know, there´s always that 1 selfie.

So This week was also the Rededication of the Mexico City Temple! We were able to watch the Cultural Celebration and then the rededication and they were super amazing! The Celebration was all about how the church arrived here in mexico and the pioneers and missionaries and stuff! It was really awesome and you can probably still watch it on LDS.org if you´d like to see a bit of Mexican culture!

Fun News! A missionary down here is from Boise Idaho! Elder Engberson I believe is his name. He´s not in my area, and we only met once, but yup! he went to Rocky Mountain. Cool beans, right?

The Lord has been good to us here in Juarez, Blessings are flowing in constantly. And when we look at the big picture (The Really Big Picture) We can truly understand how little is truly required of us to recieve these blessings. Blessings of families, safety and health, and in the end, eternal life with our families. And all we are asked to do is keep the commandments and live our life as Christ lived his. Now is that really too much to ask? I don´t think so.

And so I end this letter. I know that the gospel is true. And I´m here to share it. If you know that the gospel is true too, I invite you to share it with those you love. 

Read your scriptures,

Go to church,

Stay in School kids 

& Stay Classy Boise,

Elder Phillips

Hey Mom!

That is all so wonderful! Mostly. I´m glad to hear that Margi was doing well. And all them girls heading out on missions! I think it´s just something they decided to do to help pass the time until I get back :) If you get their emails, send them to me! I´d love to hear from them all!

Thanks for the pictures, I always love seing the family! Remind Taylor and Tyler that they look like goofballs. And the package arrived! Awesome! Thank you for sending the Mormon Messages and The Hymn Books! I had started to think that you´d forgotten! Can you believe that I´ve already been out here for 5 Months? Crazy how fast the time flies! And the Star Wars Fruit snacks too! Super delicioso! 

Don´t tell him I said this, But has Brother McOmber been putting on weight? maybe it´s just the picture, but dad´s looking slim and Brother McOmber is looking a bit bigger in the middle. Just Saying.

So people in this area have begun asking me for my Facebook. Which is totally fine and all, But I need to enlist your help. I need you to update it! Like go through and remove the worst photos (from back when I was super fat and stuff) And maybe add some new ones of the Idaho Scenary. I seem to remember 1 picture in particular of Jack and I during Mary Poppins that may need removed... You know the one. If I remember correctly you have the Facebook info and all. jdphil@cableone.net. password: I think it was 123soccer123. I think. maybe just soccer123. or something like that. Por Favor!

I Love You Mom!

Elder Phillips

Heyyo Daddyo!

It sounds like BSU was having a bad day. But I do really like that CTB picture you sent me :) it´s pretty legit! I think they should make CTB rings. Which reminds me, did I ever tell you I lost my CTR ring? I can´t remember. But yep, life happens. You should start calling on those punks at church to give last minute talks. That´s not unrighteous dominion, right? I´m pretty sure that the man upstairs would understand :)

And how did Ellie´s talk go? was this her first one ever? That´s pretty exciting!

So our mission president has a son on a mission right now. He has told us, As an official rule of the mission, That writing your parents and answering their questions is a MUST. It is an official rule now. But yeah, ok. I guess I could do that. I was trying to write more anyways, but sometimes it´s difficult because we dont have too much time.

The package did arrive and it did make all of my wildest dreams come true! Thank you for sending the hymn book! It is super awesome and I bring it everywhere with me now. And the fruit snacks too :) totes delish. I have been cursed with another companion who doesnt like star wars. I don´t understand, Is God Punishing Me? It´s been a real trial of faith.

I´m glad you saw Justin! I think he´s been trying to avoid writing me or something. But I´m glad he has a calling and is going to church! 

And Pedro is from Juarez! I´m going to find his house! or maybe just call him: "Hey is pedro there." " Who is this?" "I´m a missionary, I like his best friend ever. Gosh"

That´s how our conversation would go.

Glad to hear your making progress with the island too! It looks awesome!

I Love you!

Elder Phillips

September 7, 15

Hey everyone I hope you are all having a great week! Not to much has happened this week, but I guess I learned something knew. The more one understands the Atonement, the more they can bless others lives by being an example of the believers.  I hope you are all having a great week! Thanks for all the things you´ve done for me! Te amo!

Share a smile with someone new this week! A little thing that means nothing to you could mean the world to someone else!

Love,

Elder Phillips

How Awesome! I´m glad to hear that all´s been going so well! Fitmania, Work, Everything! And how did Eli ask Megan to Homecoming? Was it supercool? I will get a new mission president in July I think. They serve for 3 years. I will be here for his last year and the first year of the next one.

I´m glad that your lesson went so well too! do you have a calling as a teacher right now? I don´t remember. In the young women, right?

I will recieve the package today around 7pm, at the end of our meeting. 

So I didn´t have the chance to take any really good pictures yet, but I have been scoping out a few good places. Next time we´re close, I´ll take some pictures for you!

Unfortunately, I don´t think that 6 months of fitmania is a prize. Shouldn´t it be a punishment for the losers? Just saying. "Congratulations! You worked so hard here´s your prize: More Work!"

haha, sorry my letters have been pretty lame lately. Not much has been going on down here. We´ve been struggling a bit. Numbers are looking down, but we´re trying to keep our spirits up! The members are a wonderful support and I´ve been trying to work better with them. And my companion too. We´ve had some troubles, we don´t always get along well, but we´re trying. We havent had a fight yet [lucky for him, cuz I´d totally win ;) ] and we´re trying to work better together. 

I actually was starting to think about a mission extension. However, the President of our mission always says no. So I think Ill ask him one of his last days, and then ask the new one too when they change :) that´s the plan!

How´s school going for the kids back home? Any fun things going on? Any other thinggs you´d like to know about this area or my ward down here?

Love you always!

Elder Phillips

Sorry, I´ll send photos to you next week! I´ll have a bunch for ya!

Love ya!

Elder Phillips

Sounds like you did have a fun week! I do miss hamburgers. They have them here, but they just arent the same :( And how are the boyces doing? Seth has been out for 3 weeks now? maybe 4? Pretty awesome!

I´m still hoping that BSU creams BYU. Sounds like a good game, but nothing BSU can´t handle. Any new players with a lot of potential I should know about?

And Russell got his call! To Kentucky! That is so awesome! What part? 

Elder Ramirez and I are partying it up pretty good down here. He doesn´t really understand English (only about 20%), so we almost always speak in spanish. It is rough, but pretty awesome. I have been practicing my jokes in spanish too. The only problem is that none of the puns translate well :( He has 15 months in the mission and hasnt learned english yet. Thats bad news. All the Mexican Missionaries are required to learn/study english for 1hr every day. But... I dont think that most of them do. I´m trying to push him, but he really doent want to learn. He´s a little bit "frito" as the Mexicans down here say. Just means he's kinda started to relax. But he´s still a good missionary.

And yup! We have our Zone Meeting today in about 2 hrs, so I´ll get to open it! I´m hoping for a pony (we´re not allowed to have pets, but I think I can just hide it in my room and my companion won't notice).

The only things that I dont think you can find down here are Mini English Hymn books. If you could find one up there, that would be awesome! And of course, Reeses Peanut-Butter Cups. Yup. They dont have those delicious american candys down here. they do have a bunch that are a bit spicy though. but they´re kinda strange. I don´t know if I like them or not yet.

And I think that the study group idea is great! if you need a good chapter to read, Ether 12 is always a winner. But also starting from the beginning is a great way to do it to help them understand more of the book. What are your ideas?

We had some complications with a lady we were going to baptize. Her name is Anabel, the almost wife of Rojelio. First, she has to marry her husband legally. However, it turns out that he´s married to another woman in the US and has, as she so kindly puts it, A "Concubina" in every other state (in mexico).

Did you know that Mexico has states too? I didn´t know that at first. 

Anyways, their wedding got postponed a bit because of this. But She´s stilll going to church regularly and stuff. Pray for them! They´re going to need it!

Well, thats all for today. Any other questions? Comments? Concerns? Ward Gossip or Jokes?

Elder Phillips