August 17, 2015

We didn't get a real letter from John this week, don't know what happened…. He managed to get a quick one to Dave though!

      There is 1 huge downside to being here in Mexico: Nobody knows what Mtn Dew is. I have decided that I must begin a quest to find it. There are many little shops (called Tiendas) all around where they sell coke products, chips, peanuts, and more or less everything else that is unhealthy for you. but none of them have Mtn Dew. But I won't give up! Kindof like that guy from Zombieland, This is my objective! There is a slightly chilled can of mtn dew out there in Mexico somewhere, and it aint gonna last forever!

I really hope the Buckners progress. How long have they been talking to the missionaries? And what got them interested? what is really holding them back? 

And Wish Ellie luck for me! I hope she makes A team and becomes one of the best!

So you and I are both slimming up quite nicely from the sound of it, I think we should have a competition! I don't know what it should be, but we definitely need to have a competition! 

I love you dad!

Elder Phillips

On Mon, Aug 17, 2015 at 10:17 AM, Dave Phillips <boisedwp@gmail.com> wrote:

As you can si, my espanol has begun to blossom. I am pretty mucho bi-lingual.

We went up to the lodge this past weekend with the mcombers, johnsons, dahlia, Saints, and buckners. We also had Kate and Tadman Nettles with us. We had a great time. It was a bit crazy with that many people but everyone got along well. There was a bunch of ATV riding, and fishing, and boating, and playing on the beach. There was also way more food than wa needed, so I did my best to gain 30 pounds in two days. I did not quite make it, but I cam close!  Everyone had a really good time.

So we met with the missionaries and the buckners again last Monday and will again tomorrow. It is going pretty good but sometimes I wonder if they (especially the mom) is really serious about it. They love the results of what living the gospel results in: joy, happiness, family, friends, string values, etc but I think that they may have a hard time making the decision and not being prideful and able to admit the gospel is true and not be influenced by others who don't agree. It is great being part of it -- this is the first time since my mission that I haven't been involved in missionary discussions.

Ellie is doing volleyball tryouts. She should know in the next few days if she made A team or B team or something else. She is feeling pretty good about how it is going. I think she will either be on A team or she will be one of the best on B team. She is really enjoying it and wants to do well.

It is good to hear the language is coming along for you. That is something I never had to deal with so I can't give much advice, other than:  Do Good, Be Good. It is also cool to see that you and your companions are having success in bringing people to the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is Awesome!!

Mom and I just finished another FitMania challenge. It was good. I am less fat now than I was before and my Achilles is healing nicely. I am able to do most things now. They say it will take a full year to get close to normal. It has been 8 months and i already feel close to normal. That is one thing that FitMania is good for - it keeps me pushing to do more and do better and strengthen it each day. Just like spiritual health- it is a process that requires constant effort to get better little by little each day.

I love you. You are awesome. Keep up the good work. You are a great example to your siblings and to you cousins.

David Phillips

August 10, 15

Hey Everyone!
This week we had a mini tornado! It was super mini, but it was big enough to tear a bit of the roof off our neighbors house! It was strange because it usually doesn't get very windy here. The weather is usually just kind of bland. But it was fun, I tried to take pictures, but i didn't have my camera with me. And as all you photography professionals out there know, It's pretty hard to take a picture without a camera.

As far as languages go, I think Spanish is as easy as it gets. It isn't easy, and having the gift of tongues sure does help, but it is much harder for the Mexicans to learn English. We use vowel sounds in our language that they dont understand or know how to make. It's tough, but all the missionaries down here learn a new language. I'm also thinking about starting to learn Maya soon. Not super soon though. But I don't know anything about their language, pronunciation is like spanish, but grammar wise? who knows? So I think I'll stick to spanish for a bit longer. But it's coming great! I can teach a bit now, mostly the 1st and 3rd lessons. As well as the Commandments. the 10 commandments still trip me up though(I always forget how to say "Thou Shalt Not Covet and stuff).

Our English classes have been going well, but we don't have as many investigators as we would like showing up. Many want to learn english, but don't want to go to classes. doesn't make a whole lot of sense, now does it?

We met with Alex Leon this week and got to learn more about his family. His wife is a member of the church, and he is a Christian. He loves the bible and is very receptive to the message of the restoration. We are going to teach more about Family Home Evening this week because they want to learn how to strengthen their family. They are super awesome, and kind, and hilarious too! They have 2 kids who are quite the handful but during the lessons they practice sitting reverently. 

"I don't believe in luck. But I do believe that when we work hard, we have better luck."
-Obispo Vargas

Mosiah 4: Super awesome Chapter!

Warmest Regards,
Elder Phillips

Hey Mom!

That is quite the DI steal! I like it. I'm glad to hear you've been having fun (and Fit-Mania), and that The Buckners are taking the discussions! Awesome! That really is super cool! And don't worry about Ashley. Usually when they aren't mature enough there isn't really much you can do for them. Just pray, teach them, and hope she makes the right choice.

I would like you to know that my teeth are beautiful pearly whites. Perfectly taken care of. Except I might have forgotten to brush this morning... But other than that, They're very well taken care of!

We have transfers coming up next week. It went by crazy fast. I feel like I've only been with Elder Aguilar for 2 weeks. I'm hoping that I can have 1 more cycle here in this ward. Hna Gomez (the recent convert) has a son named Rojelio. He has been a member for almost 2 years but fell away a bit about a year ago. He started working a lot and got a girlfriend and they were living together for a while. She left him about 3 weeks back. We taught about baptism and Rojelio wanted to get married, come back to church, and live the commandments again but she didn't really want to. So she took her 2 kids and left. But last week she came back and now they have a wedding date! Yesterday the Bishop visited them with us and talked to them about marriage. And the kids want to be baptised and the mother is thinking about it too! everything is just now falling into place but it may be time for me to leave. If it is, I pray that the next missionaries can do a good job here. That family is super awesome right now and very enthusiastic about the church. 

Just thought you'd like to know a bit more about what's been going on down here.

Lots of great experiences, wonderful food, spicy food, and spiritual experiences. So what are megans plans? Mission? College? 

Love You!

Elder Phillips

Aug 3, 2015

Got a few letters this time!
Hey Mom!

Everything is going great down here! My shoes are great, My belts are great, My ties are great! I even found an awesome use for that towel you sent me! look!

I'm the first Mexican Ninja ever!​ And here's my companion too!

My feet are super awesome, and I think the bigger Clarks are a bit better, but both are good, they just needed to be broken in a bit. I am eating pretty healthy most of the time, but when we're eating with members and they offer ice cream, we can't really say no, now can we?

The only thing I can think of are a few mini english hymn books. My comp asked me to see if you could send us a couple because we cant order them down here or anything. But we don't really NEED anything. But thanks mom! I love you and I love the pictures!

Love ya!

Elder Phillips

That sounds like a crazy awesome weekend! I hope your tooth doesnt hurt too much and the dentisty stuff goes well! And Seth is leaving tomorrow! CRAZY! Where's he going again? Spanish speaking in the south, right? How cool. And russell and Parker too! Everyone's leaving! That is so awesome! Did everyone else in the family enjoy the Cruise as much as you did? Because with that much food, how could you not have a great time, Right? 

The mission is super awesome! We had divisions again so I went with Elder Sanchez, from Guatemala. He is super cool and has only been out here for 1 cycle more than me (6 weeks) so we're pretty close! We had a great time and ever went to help set up at a Quincenera! And took a picture too! Quinceneras here are super big. There was almost as much soda here as at a Phillips family reunion! About 20 2L bottles of it! They sure love to party hard.

Let me tell you though, Agua de sandia is truly the most refreshing substance known to man. It is Watermelon Juice and is super delicious. You have to try it some time! 

My spanish is going great right now! i'm not near fluent yet, but I can communicate pretty clearly with most of the people. Understanding them used to be really hard, but it's gotten easier now. Reading the scriptures in Spanish helps a lot! 

Hey Everyone!

This week was super awesome! Where else can you have random people come up to you and ask if you can teach them the gospel? Only here in Mexico! (And possibly many other places). 

This week we ran into a family from New Mexico who were talking with the missionaries but moved back here. Awesome! They are ready to keep learning and want to know more about the gospel. We have been blessed and guided out here in Mexico. We have been led to those who want to hear the gospel.

Another awesome "Family of the Week!" : Familia Gonzales. They are a young couple who have 1 baby and have been together for about 2 years now. They are very receptive to the gospel and are beginning to understand the importance of marraige and baptism. Unfortunately, many people around here arent married. That's usually our biggest problem down here. 

There are many members in our ward who are super awesome. Wonderful people who are doing everything possible to help the missionaries and spread the gospel. They are awesome and we love these families! However, there are many who are "Passive" members. Members who go to church, but aren't really doing anything. They aren't really living the gospel. They go to church enough to be counted as active members, pray when they need help, and read their scriptures when the TV is broken and they cant sleep. Do they do the basic things they need to do, Yes. But why do they do them? Why do YOU do these things? Is it out of Convenience? Fear? Because you need help? Or is it out of love? Out of the love you have for God and your fellow man? That is why we need to do these things. Reading the scriptures. Praying. Going to church. The good news is: we can always improve.

Many people out there are just waiting to hear the word, many people are searching for the truth. As Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it is our privilege and our duty to go out there and share it! Don't be selfish, there's plenty of truth to go around! So go and share it with someone that you love! 

This message was brought to you by: Elder Phillips, 1Nephi 8: Lehi's Dream, and 2Nephi28:20-27. Read Them.

Anyways, It is always important to do what we can. It is important to have love for those around us, especially when it isn't easy.

Warmest regards,

Elder Phillips

July 27, 2015

Hola!

Hey Everyone! This week we had several exciting events! first off, Ruth Gomez was baptized last week and confirmed just yesterday! It has been such a wonderful experience getting to watch her progress as she learned and accepted the gospel. She was a little nervous about being baptised and confirmed, but her son, Rojelio, Was baptised about a year and a half ago and was able to encourage and help her to make these changes in her life. Rojelio was baptised, but about 6 months ago fell away from the church. It started with him working on sundays. That is the #1 most common cause for people falling away from the church. If you are missing church to go and provide for your families, stop it! Don't you understand that you can better provide for your family by going to church with them? That you can gain all of the blessings of a closer, more loving family? That these are the things that really matter? And you can get them by attending church more regularly! Think about it: Eternal Blessings, or Money. 

But anyways, he's now active again and it's going super great! And Ruth is super happy too!

Share a smile with someone new today!

Love Elder Phillips

July 20, 2015

Hey everyone!

Really sorry, but this will probably be the shortest letter ever written! 

This week we had a baptism! Ruth Gomez was baptized and it was a super funny experience! Her grandkids were actually gone this week so they'll have to be baptised another week. but anyways, here's what happened.

Ruth Gomez is about 60 years old, and as you can see in the picture below, she's kinda big. We had a lot of trouble finding baptismal clothes for her, but that's a story for another day. She wanted my companion to baptize her (see elder Aguilar below? he's 135lbs soaking wet.) As he baptized her, she didn't quite go all the way under at first, so he let her down a bit more (so she was fully submerged) and then was unable to bring her back out of the water! So he just stood there for awhile struggling to raise her back out of the water while we just watched from our seats. After desperately trying for about ten seconds, he gave up and just took a step back, letting go of her and letting her get back up on her own! It was a super funny experience, but super awesome as well. Being able to watch the Atonement take affect in peoples lives is truly a blessing.

And remember, God will always listen to your prayers. If you ever have any questions, doubts, concerns, comments, or jokes, God is there and he will hear you and answer you! Unless it's like a Knock-Knock joke. I'm not sure if it works like that.

Love you all

Elder Phillips

(wow, isn't John skinny!!)

Hola Familia!

Tengo un chiste para ustedes: Cual es la diferencia de una pera y la novia de un misionero? una es una pera, y el otro no espera!

If you don't understand, I'm sorry. But it doesn't really translate well into english. But if you speak spanish you'll think it's hilarious! Anyways, I was thinking about starting a general family email to save a bit on time. If you don't like it, I can go back to how it was with individual letters, but I'd like to give this a try.

First of all, Thank you so much for the package! We recieve packages between the first and second monday every month during our Zone Meeting. It was so awesome seeing your pictures, and food, and a super awesome towel that I use to cool off after running, and food, and talks, and letters, and that Mexican Flag that Anna made for me, AWESOME! Thank you all so much! Down here in Mexico Beef Jerky is just yesterdays beef that they left out overnight so it got really hard.

Mom and Dad: Thank you both so much! Those talks by Christensen and Bytheway are awesome! My comp doesn't understand any of the jokes, but it's good practice explaining them to him in Spanish :). He's been out here for 1 year and it nearly fluent in English. However, he doesn't quite yet catch all my subtle puns and phrases in english. So i've been teaching him some slang. Because you know me, the Thug from Boise ID. Yup. He also loves singing songs, both in spanish and some pop songs in english. It makes me very grateful for (and miss a lot) those road trips and long drives we had singing songs in the car for hours on end. I miss you both and I love you so much! I hope you have fun on your cruise and I hope that there are more to come! 

Kat: Hey! I already wrote you! But still, I love you! Have fun with your baby! And just think, You could have another baby by the time I get home!! Crazy Thought, right? Some families down here have like 12 kids! how many are you thinking? 

Megan: Heyyo! I love you! I'm glad you're having fun with girls camp and stuff! And almost a full month down in Pokey? Crazy! I hope it goes well and you and Maren have a good time! Have you made any specific or extra fun plans yet? And thank you so much for your wonderful drawings of Johnpoleon Dynamite and Johncho Libre. My companion didn't quite understand them, but hey, they've never even heard of Nacho libre down here. Any new epic movies come out lately? And everyone out here in Juarez wants to know if you plan on serving a mission. What are your thoughts there? And if not, or if not now, What school would you like to go to?

Ellie: Thank you so much for your awesome drawings! Did you guys really get a new cat? and then get rid of it again? What for?! I want to adopt one of the stray cats around here, but it's kinda against the mission rules. And was Jurassic world super good? You need to make me a list of all your favorite movies so i can see them in 2 years! I love you and hope you have fun this summer! remember: There's 104 days of summer vacation, and school comes around just to end it. The annual problem of our generation is finding a good way to spend it. So make the most of it and have fun!

Anna: Hey Anna! Thank you for the Mexican Flag and card that you sent me! They are super awesome! I hope that you too have a lot of fun in Pocatello and play a lot with Emma and Layla, and Liam. Especially Liam, because i wont be there to play with him. But I hope you have so much fun! I love you and mis you super much a lot! And keep having fun for me! Let me know about how much fun you're having with your cousins and friends!

Thank you so much everyone! 

Love you all!

Elder Phillips!

July 13, 2015

Hola Amigos!

       So whats up this week? A party, that's what!

Ok, not really a party, but it was fun! First off, we say goodbye to Elder Chalmers. But we welcome Elder Aguilar. He's from Puebla, Mexico and his name means Eagle  in spanish. He's been teaching me a lot about improving my spanish and it's been great. It rained this week! It was wonderful! Unfortunately, three days later, the water is still pouring out of the water main and onto the streets. But the clouds are awesome! Everytime I see a cloud my heart does a little happy dance. 

       So my companion is learning english and I'm learning spanish right now. This means our conversations are crazy blends of two different languages and hand signals. We're pretty good at charades now. However, one of our favorite things to do is sing songs. Mostly just hymns. This is our favorite way to practice learning each others languages. It's been pretty fun so far, and I've almost got a few hymns memorized!

       So this week I tried teaching my companion how to start The Boiler. After letting him try for a few minutes, I attempted a demonstration and lets just say it didn't turn out so well for me. I burnt a lot of the hair off of my right hand and about a third of it off of my arm. My eyebrows and my hair were fine (Hallelujah!) but my eyelashes were singed. Fortunately, nobody can really tell. Either that or they just haven't said anything. 

       Familia Gomez is getting baptized this week! There are three of them, The Abuela, And the 2 Grandsons (about 10 yrs old). We've been teaching them for a few weeks and they are pretty excited for this next step! They have been attending church for about 2 months now and are getting to know the people in our little ward. Our ward is the Chapultepec 1 ward. And it is the best! There are so many wonderful members here that are always willing to help the missionaries in the work!

Adios!

 Elder Phillips

Hey Mom!

I love hearing all about Girls camp and seing the pictures! we cant have bikes in our mission, so i recommended that we buy horses and ride them around. or Donkeys. The Burritos are still good and heres one you have to try. Its called Chile Relleno. Take a large jalapeño and hollow it out. then stuff it with cheese. dip it in a batter of sorts and then grill it. stick it in a totillla shell with beans and some meat and tadaa! chile relleno! they also dont use taco seasoning down here. I dont know why though. Im still trying to figure out some things.

Every P day we have 1hr and 30 minutes to write our mission president, friends, family, and our baptized converts if we changed areas. if you are a DL or ZL, you get more time to write the president and stuff. We havent done anything fun for pday yet. and as for packages, I'll probably get it tonight at our Zone Meeting.

Mark and Seth are leaving already? What!!!! Crazy! I'll have to write my old teacher at the CCM and see if Seth is put in his class. thats crazy awesome! And Steven's getting back home? Already! Time sure does fly out here!

 That sounds like a great object lesson too! even though it wasnt quite as you planned, it went great! 

And you were right! I was doubting what you said about the rainy season, but it rained last week! it was a full on flood almost! I wish I had some pictures to send you. It was cloudy too and felt awesome!

Here's our adress if you want to google maps it! 

Santiago Mendez 1513

Ciudad Jaurez, Chiuahua

Mexico

I think thats it, more or less. 

Love you mom!

Elder Phillips

July 6, 2015

Hey everyone!

6 weeks in the field have gone by so fast! 2 years will be done before you know it!

I know that there are some of you thinking "Only 6 weeks! That was the longest 6 weeks of my life! What ever will I do without Elder Phillips for 2 whole years?" 

You know who you are.

Anyways, I love it here! Jesus Antonio got baptized, my comp is getting sent to the border as a District L​eader, and I'm getting a new trainer. We've been partying it up real good here. But this is the end. So we say goodbye to Elder Chalmers. By the way, He's from Montana. He's almost as white as I am! And so I attatched a picture of us "Straight facing it" And another of Jesus's Baptism. If you can't tell which one he is, let me give a hint: he's the Mexican.

Anyways, I love you all! I love all the people in the world and would give you all a stray mexican puppy if i could. But i cant. And it would probably have rabies.

Hasta Luego!

Elder Phillips