February 29, 2016

Hey! Good luck finding another Engineer grad! Weren't you going to get an Intern or something? And is Anna still playing on Juanjo's team? Good luck with the calling too! Maybe you'll be the Ward mission leader or something cool like that! Does our ward have ward missionaries?

Wow, the mission really goes by fast. I can't believe that they're already almost done! But don't worry, I think I won't have any trouble collapsing at the finish line. Being a missionary can be quite exhausting at times. But the best parts are the results. And that makes it all worth it. Every rejection, every slammed door, every day spent walking in the burning sun, it all becomes worth it when that one person says "yes, you can visit me", "Yes, I would like to know more" or "Yes, I will get baptised". Those are the moments that we work for. I say work because that's exactly what it is. It is work. It is a constant struggle to find those whom God has prepared and bring them the message of the restored Gospel. But hey, they never said that the mission would be easy, only that it'd be worth it.

This week we contacted a pair of people walking in the street. Ages 21 and 40ish. We Talked for a while, asked some questions, and came away with their names and address. We passed by to visit them on saturday, but nobody was home. Sunday came and we had a bt of free time, so we stopped by again. This time they were home, and invited us to come in. They wanted to know how they could have more peace and happiness in their lives, and a better marraige. Normally, we'd share a scripture about that from the book of mormon (like 4 nephi or mosiah 2:41) and then teach about the restoration. But as the time came for me to share the scripture, something stopped me. I felt like it just wasn't quite right for them. So instead, I shared Galatians 5:22, talking about The Spirit. We taught them about the Holy Ghost and Repentance and finally, baptism. We closed by inviting them to be baptised, and they accepted! They didn't know us, but they felt the spirit testifying of our words and knew that it was the will of God. 

God is preparing the people for his message. And when they feel the spirit, they recognize it. 

That's all for today, I Love you!

Elder Phillips

How fun! Savannah just learned how to crawl? I bet you got loads of awesome cute pictures! All of my companions think that it's super cool that you're a photographer. They always like to ask me if you have a really big camera with a lense like a telescope. I tell them yes :) We didn't get to see the pope, he didn't drive through my area. And even if he did, we have more important things to do! but yes, it would've been cool. The 11yr old still doesn't want to get baptised. He knows it's true, but just doesn't want to change. I hope he comes around soon.

We'll be having another Zone Meeting (Package day) on March 7th.

So tell me, what are Kats plans? Does she want to have more kids soon? 

So the question for the week... What are those circle fabric things that you sent me? What are they for? Here are some pics of our thoughts...

1. Hats? Like a yamaka? Or a bowl?

2. An oven mitt?

3. A pot holder?

4. A hot pad?

5. a frisbee?

Haha, i don't know :) 

I Love you!

Elder Phillips

February 22, 2016 (10 Months out)

I love the photos! How awesome that they went to the Church Sweethearts dance instead! It really is way better. And it sounds like it was such a blast! Texas Roadhouse is one of those places that they don´t have down here =( But hot tubs and tubing too, Awesome! How much snow did they end up getting? Down here we´ve gotten stuck at a constant 20-28 degrees celsius (60-75 fahrenheit) And I knew that Kutter goes to a different school, but Sophie too? When did she change schools?

And I thought I did send that letter to both of you... Sorry!

Money can be sent in cards (they don´t relly bother opening them to search em) or in packages. And dollars are perfect. This close to the border it´s super easy to exchange them anywhere we go.

I´ll try to keep the photos flowing, but what do you mean by sending them large? I usually just attatch the file to my letter and send it. Is there a better way to do it?

It still feels so weird to think that Maren is serving a mission already! She still seems so young!

Good luck on your lesson, It sounds like it´ll be super fun with some great examples =)

now here's a solid general letter for the public, feel free to change or edit it in any ways you feel necesary 

First off, here's a shout out to The Hines. Thank you so much for the peanut butter!

So this week we went with a former investigator. She hadn´t been progressing much so the last missionaries here had stopped visiting her. When we came to visit her we found that she had read the Book of Mormon completely, knew it was true, but still didn´t want to get baptized. But after sharing a lesson about the importance of baptism, we invited her to pray and ask specifically ¨Is now the time for me to be baptised?¨. The following week we came back and she had her answer. Her baptism is planned for March 5th and now we´re trying to help her son recieve an answer too. He is only 11 years old, but he´s pretty Catholic and is struggling to make his decision. 

Another fun thing happened this week! The Pope came to town! Everyon got the day off from work, the busses and taxies were all closed off. It actually turned out to be a great day though. Nobody had to go to work so we were able to visit loads of people! Street contacting this day was also pretty productive and we found new people to teach!

These past pew days we have been visiting some less active families and we found something very surprising: All of their marraiges are falling apart! After talking to about 4 families in the same situation, we came to a solid conclusion: 4Nephi 1:11-13 

11 And they were married, and given in marriage, and were blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made  unto them.

 12 And they did not walk any more after the performances and ordinances of the law of Moses; but they did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God, continuing infasting and prayer, and in meeting together oft both to pray and to hear the word of the Lord.

13 And it came to pass that there was no contention among all the people, in all the land; but there were mighty miracles wrought among the disciples of Jesus.

It is such a simple promise! These families got married, but stopped keeping the commandments: going to church, fasting and praying. But if they were to just keep doing these things (going to church, fasting and praying), the lord promises them that they would have more peace in their lives! They could have a happier, closer family!

So remember this. If ever you feel like your family has too many problems and you´re always fighting, Ask yourselves ¨Am I keeping the Lord´s commandments?¨ 

Receive the Holy Ghost, [for] it will show unto you all things what ye should do. (2Nephi 32:5)

Elder Phillips

So yeah, the pope came to town and for many it was a huge deal! He was on 24hr TV Broadcasting. Makes me wonder, when did he go to the bathroom...

Haha, but yeah. All the Super-Catholic people were camped out by the road from 4am til noon just to see him pass by in the pope mobile for a few seconds. Many people were kissing his hands and kneeling and bowing down to him too. They sold T-shirts everywhere that said (translated) "Juarez is love" or "The missionary of Peace and Mercy" with a picture of the pope, the virgin guadeloupe (kind of a second virgin mary. they have a few different ones down here), and "The X" (a landmark built here in Juarez).

How cool that they know each other! Does he have any good embarrasing stories about Elder Aguilar?

And yeah, $ is perfect. The exchange rate is pretty good right now too!

Tell Aaron that I'm proud of him and glad that he was able to make this step in his life! Did everyone in there family end up getting baptised, or did a kid or two not want to?

So what is your advice for sending a package to you guys, Fedex? UPS? I'm not sure which'll be best but I'm trying to get it to you guys soon, cheaply, and in 1 peice!

I Love you dad!

Elder Phillips 

That is some pretty scenery there!

February 15, 2016

Happy Valentines day!

Fun fact for you: Si means yes in spanish, but to slang it up like a street thug you say "simon"( Pronounced "Seemown"). Yup. So now you can talk like all the hip kids here in mexico! "Do you have any siblings?"   answer "Simon"

Haha, so the game went more or less pretty poorly? But they beat the silver team! That's good! Does she practice her serves a lot at home? And are her overhand serves good?

Woah! They already are going to the temple? That's great! How awesome!! And when will the Meridian temple be up and functional? And now you have a Mexican? How cool! I had a companion from down there in Puebla. HHis name was Noe Aguilar. The mexicans are very bold in naming their kids. Very common names here are Jesus, Jose, Maria, and occasionally you can find a name like "Jesus el salvador Martinez" which means Jesus the saviour Martinez. yup. I know a guy named Gazalem too! crazy right?

And how did the Photoshoot go? Did Kimberlee just get married or did that happen a while ago already? What are those two kids like? Do you have pictures of them? That's a problem that many people have down here too and lots of kids end up on the street at a young age. I'm glad that they were able to get adopted.

And Alex is going to Japan! Awesome! How cool!! Does he already know the language a bit, or is he going in green?

The package did arrive this week and we wasted absolutely no time in eating some of that candy and sausage with easy cheese on crackers! So good! Thank you for helping send it and pack it all in there :) I Hope that you all love the package that I'll be sending you! Only problem is that I may be waiting til about may on some of the stuff, so I think I'll have to send you guys 2 separate packages. Darn. 

I do have one problem: My pants. They've started to develop holes. I'm gonna try stitching them all up as best as I can, but I'm afraid that it's almost time to retire the colors if you know what I mean. so If you could send me a solid durable pair of pants that would be great! Or cash, pants are pretty cheap down here.

So this week we had a blast! I'm sending you some of our pics of the Juarez scenery. It's pretty desolate and dry, but the mountains look pretty cool. Also, there are loads of little stores in every neighborhood that have huge Coke signs that sell just about everything you need. Eggs, potatoes, avacado, milk, shampoo, gel, cereal, Coke, You name it! so that's a part of the scenery pic.

So we had a meeting and It really helped me and my companion to notice that we weren't super good at contacting people in the streets. We did it well, but not super well. Afterwards we noticed that it is more efficient to get to know them a bit and just talk to the people. And talk to everyone! When we started applying this in our regular day, we found that we had much more success and people wanted us to visit them rather than us trying to convince them to let us in. As my companion always says "They tell me that you can catch more flies with honey. But I've caught more honeys by being fly." haha, so honestly, I have  noticed that Preach my Gospel has all that we need in it. It is our guide to success. And when we live by it's principles and follow the instructions that God gives us, we have success. Sometimes I wonder "How have I not noticed this before?" It's something so basic and simple. But when we stick to the basics, we can't go wrong.

I Love you all! Sorry your letters are put together today. Love you lots! 

Elder Phillips

 On Sun, Feb 14, 2016 at 7:21 PM, Dave Phillips <boisedwp@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey elder --

I did not want you to feel like you did not get any valentines this year, so that's why you're got some hearts and a missy face from me. (Kind of sad if I am the only valentine your get).

So yesterday was Ellie's first volleyball tournament.  I went. Mom was in Utah doing a photo shoot. It was great. Ellie played really well. Her serves are pretty weak, but otherwise she is really good. The first photo below is her hitting her first EVER overhand serve over the net in a game!  So that is a good thing!  The other photo is just a rondo me one of her hitting a ball.

So she is on the U14 bronze team for Club Idaho. There were 6 other teams in it. Two of the others were the gold and silver teams for club idaho. They played pool and got creamed. Leader who they played the silver team in eight quarterfinal match and beat them. So that was really cool that Ellies bronze team beat the silver team. It was A great win because they have a number of girls who have never played club volleyball before.

Today Aaron Buckner was presented to be ordained a priest. He and Jenny both were given limited use Temple recommend's as well. So now they can go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead. It is really cool to see them progress in the Gospel and see the Joy that it brings to them.

The baptism for the Buckner's was last Saturday. Two days later one of the missionaries was transferred out. The missionaries left behind his only been out three months and he received the green companion who is from Mexico. So he is training and has only been out for three months. That is crazy! But he is a great missionary. I have been very impressed with him.The new elder, Elder Dnura, is from Puebla Mexico. He says it is south of Mexico City.  He seems like a pretty sharp missionary too. He has good English, so that helps!

Keep up the good work!  We love you mucho Bueno. Did you get the package yet?  I hope so. I crammed as much as possible in the box. Mom got all the stuff, so you need to thank her for it, but I did the packing so we could get as much as possible in it. What else are you needing?  Craving?  Let me know and I will make it happen for you.

February 1, 2016

Awesome! Thank you so much mom!

I lovve seeing one of my cousins going to serve a mission! How wonderful and how great that she has overcome her fear of talking in church! how cool that she may learn Kazak too! I´m pretty jealous :) 

Good luck building up your jalepeno resistance, and may the odds be ever in your favor :)

Awesome! I am pretty glad that I won´t be there for that piece of work! But I can´t wait to see the results! How long do you think that project will take you? Congrats on the baptisms! Are there any others in our ward progressing?

I´m glad you had fun playing ascension with Dev, but it sounds like you must be loosing your touch. That´s another thing i´ll have to beat you at :)

Wish Ellie luck for me in her tournaments! Which position is she specializing in? Server, back row, front row, a corner? I´m glad she enjoys it!

Ok, that story is utterly hilarious! How funny! And Kate and Megan just laughed, how great! It´s crazy that Maren is already heading out!

This week our mission president told us that we couldn´t visit any members, so we had a 100% investigator filled week! It was rough because a lot of times we had spare time. But we filled that with contacting new people in the streets. It was a hard week, but it payed off and we found several new investigators that make it all worth it. With one of them, we contacted a lady sitting outside of her house and we asked her if she had time right then for a message about how our loving father in heaven has restored the truth of his everlasting gospel to the world. And surprisingly, she said yes! I say surprisingly because this hadn´t ever happened before in my mission! Normally we contact people in the street and they´re in a hurry, but this time was different. We taught her the first lesson and gave her a book of mormon to read and pray about. Unfortunately, she was only isiting and doesn´t actually live here in our area. But oh well, We´ll send some other missionaries over to visit her :).

The work of salvation isn´t always the easiest, But it is definitely the most rewarding.

It started snowing again today! Which is a huge change from the weather of this past week. Also, today is our day for transfers, but Kopsa and I will be sticking around here in Mezquital for another 6 weeks! Woohoo!!

Here are some pictures of our ward´s missionaries, and a guy in his donkey cart. I had to snap that pic really quickly, so i´m afraid it isn´t a very good one. But Enjoy!