November 16, 15

Yup, transfered. This new area is really big and at the edge of the world. It´s Desert. We´ve been having some pretty cold days lately too, but fortunately we were prepared. And the members here are super nice and offer us avena, maizena, atole, or one of their many other hot beverages.

My new companion is alright. Elder Escobar was super awesome and we had a great time so it´s hard to adjust. But Elder Gonzalez is cool, and likes to sing and stuff. So we´ll see how it goes. 

And the package did arrive! And just a few days later, It vanished! That´s right. Gone! Because we ate it all :) It was super delicious! And the photos are wonderful, and the t-shirt is super cool, and all-in-all It was awesome! I´m still working on your package, but it will arrive late. There are some things that I have purchased through our Mexi-mission black market that I won´t be able to get until Nov 30th, so we´ll see. I´ll send it as soon as I can, but it will most likely be late.

And surgery! Crazy! How did you end up growing a cyst on your thyroid? And the size of a golf ball! Does it hurt? i hope that the surgery goes well! 

Maren is working on her mission papers!!!! She emailed me today, and holy guacamole! They grow up so fast. 

And how´d the band concert go? will Ellie be in High School next year?

And of course, Ellie´s manners. Oh boy, what are you going to do with that silly kid :) Just about everything is a fingerfood around here, they eat it all with tortillas too. Haha, here in the mission we only have a certain budget each month. And this month, let´s just say that I´m running short on money. Fortunately, potatoes are really cheap and warm and tasty! So I too will be enjoying a plethora of papas (potatoes in español) :)

I´m super pumped for this Christmas! Not for parties or celebrations or anything- because we spend 2 whole days in our house- but because it is a wonderfully fabulous season! We celebrate Christ´s birth, something that I haven´t been too focused on these past weks. We focus on his life, but I haven´t been putting much thought into his birth. I love the christmas season!

We will have our meeting on the 7th of December. And This year I would love a pair of thermal underwear (1 top and 1 bottom), and a deck of regular playing cards :)

Remember, I am out here far away preaching the gospel, but you have oportunities to preach the gospel every day back home too! Make the most of these opportunities!

I Love You!

Elder Phillips

Oh, here´s a picture of our puppy. His name is Brian. Somebody left him here about a week ago and we´re trying to find him a home.

November 9, 15

Hello Everyone!

It has been another wonderful week down here in Juarez, with a somewhat sad ending. That's right. Transfers. For those of you who don't know, transfers are like a disease. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don't. And there's no vaccine. And yes, I'm afraid that we have once again been struck by transfers. I will be leaving the Chapultepec 1st Ward and the Juarez South Stake, to join the Mezquital (Mosquitoville?)Ward in the Las Torres Stake. I have today to pack up all my things and then yea I leave in the morning. I hope everything is awesome over there. From what i've heard, it's on the edge of Juarez. Basically the edge of the world. I Can't Wait! I'm super pumped and can't wait to meet my new companion: Elder Gonzalez! 

In Chapultepec, we have a baptism this weekend! That's right! Ana Maria Rojas Dias will be baptized by her husband this Saturday! I'm a little sad that I won't be able to see it though. 

It's a sad thing to leave an area, but it's the will of God. Remember: there is always a purpose. Sometimes we can't see it from the start, but with a little bit of time, it will become clear. This doesn't just apply to transfers in the mission, it applies to life in general. As humans, we want to see the end from the beginning. We want to walk by sight and knowledge. However, that just isn't how God works. And as the apostle Paul said:  "For we walk by faith, not by sight."  2 Corinthians 5:7

So although it may be difficult, put your trust in God. Accept his will in your life, for this is how you will obtain the blessings and happiness that God has in store for you.

So take a step of faith this week.

Elder Phillips

My letter to John mentioned that we went and saw Crazy For You at Centennial. He loved his music teacher, Mr Blackwell, and I sent him a picture of him and some of the cast he would know.

How awesome! I do miss my old Musical days. Was it High School Musical? or a musical put on by our high school? Either way, I bet it was super fun! 

And yes, I'm afraid that we have once again been struck by transfers. I will be leaving Chapultepunk and heading over to Mezquital(Mosquitoville?) 2. I have today to pack up all my things and then ya. I leave in the morning. I hope everything is awesome over there! The bad news, I have not gotten the package yet. Our zone leaders are in our district and we're pretty tight so I was asking them about it. Unfortunately, they didn't get any packages for our zone :( I'm hoping that tomorrow when we go to the offices They'll be waiting for me. But who knows.

We had a primary program down here too! It was super awesome! They sang about 8 different verses of "Follow the Prophet" and some other awesome songs. All-in-all, It was great!  

Our zone meetings are held in our stake centers, once a month. I would still love some thermals (Thermal underwear!) because yes, it gets really cold down here too. Not quite as cold as idaho, but it has been known to drop below 0. The Americans send their packages to El Paso and our president brings them down for us monthly.

Thank you so much mom! I Love You!

Elder Phillips

Nov 2, 2015

To my dear friends and family,

Only 1 week left in this transfer! It's crazy how fast this time has flown by! Things have been going well down here in Juarez, And Halloween was a blast! No, we didn't actually do anything for Halloween, but we pass by a lot of kids with fun costumes!  This year I was dressed up as a Mormon! During the night, a few cars drove by and we could hear the kids yelling out "Look! Mormons!", so I think I nailed my costume too :)

This week the thought on my mind has been about our trials and our faith. I was reading a quote that I had in my scriptures (one of those nifty little things that you get in seminary) and it was talking about such trials. It more or less said, "When we are struck by an extremely difficult trial, we will find out what it is that we truly believe. And these beliefs are what either anchor us, or betray us."  So pray. Read the scriptures. We know that trials will come, they always do, but how will we prepare ourselves? Will we be able to respond with an increase of faith? Or will our faith diminish eventually fade away?

So I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, and I hope that all will remember me while eating your Halloween candy.
Sed de buen animo! Dios provera.
Elder David Phillips

First off, let's talk about all them rules!

1) That's difficult, because I'm not trying to sell off my sister. I just have a photo in my wallet and when the other missionaries see it, they suddenly decide that after the mission they want to visit Boise. Honest, I don't even have to try. 

And yup. That's it. But oh well. I guess i just won't show off photos of my wonderful family :'(

Haha, ok. And yes, we have our Zone meeting this Monday (not today, but the 8th i think). 

It is super sad that Sister Nettles passed away this week. I'm glad that you're helping take care of Kate and I hope that everything goes well for them!

Thanks for the photos too! It's crazy how fast everyone is getting married! I've only been gone a few months but everyone's getting hitched! And happy Halloween! Did you know that here on the border they celebrate Halloween too? It isn't nearly as big, and it's a lot more dangerous, but you can still see groups of people going door to door in their costumes. I love the pumpkins and all the costumes this year, they're super awesome! And tell the girls that they look super adorable in their outfits! 

And a bit of bad news. We did not have a baptism. It is difficult when this happens. We've been trying to help this family so much, but It's time for us to let them go for a while. They still have problems that they need to sort out, but in time, I hope that we will be able to help them again.

Wish Katie and Connor andTom and Kelsey the best of luck for me!

I Love you mom! Thanks for all your help and support! 

Elder Phillips

Heyyo Daddyo!

It is a real downer. But I'm kinda glad. Not in a mean or rude way or anything, but because she's not suffering anymore. And like you said, there are some good things coming out of it too. Parker learning more about the church, Hunter going to the BSU Ward. I'm glad that they're looking towards Christ in these difficult times for them. I remember going with you one time to give Margi a blessing too. It was a very spiritual experience. I am glad that she is now resting.

And Halloween! This year I was dressed up as a Mormon! During the night, a few cars drove by and we could hear the kids yelling out "Look! Mormons!", so I think I nailed my costume too :)

That family sounds awesome! I'm glad to hear that ours isn't the only nerdy family out there :)

This box of yours sounds pretty amazing too! But unfortunately, it has not arrived yet :( I believe that it may be here already, but I won't get it until next monday at our zone meeting. I Can't Wait!!

Also, Our mission president gave us permission to grow out a mustache this past week. So Here's a picture of your son: An official fat mexican.

I Love You!

Elder Phillips

On Sun, Nov 1, 2015 at 9:19 PM, Dave Phillips <boisedwp@gmail.com> wrote:

So this has been s tough week. Margi nettles finally passed away. It has been a long time in the making. I think that it was a year and a half ago that I first went over there to help Greg give her a blessing. I still remember it. The spirit was so strong. Unfortunately she never got better. Just last Thursday Greg asked me again to come over and give her a blessing one last time. She actually looked pretty good. She was weak and had lost a lot of weight, but she looked good and was talkative and had some energy.  I blessed her to be comforted , able to sleep, able to rest, and have peace.  It is crazy that less than 5 days later she had passed.

During the past year or two Greg and I have met for lunch many times while Margi has been fighting the cancer. It has been known for some time that she would not get better. Many times he cried and we would just talk about things that are really important. It is crazy to think now that he has kids to raise by himself. We try to help all we can. Kate and Tadman come over a lot. It is great to have them here.

A few good things are already happening though, Parker has asked to take the discussions to learn more about the church. And hunter has asked for when and where the BSU student wards meet. I hope they come back. That would be great. Also, Greg has never been stronger in the gospel than he is right now. He is a great guy.

Sorry for all that stuff. Kind of a downer. The important take away is that it is only through our savior Jesus Christ that we are able to return to our Heavenly Father, be forgiven, and be together as families forever. This is all so much more real now after watching the nettles go thru this trial.

Now for a change of pace:

Halloween was great. I dressed up as a middle-aged curmudgeon. Yup, I nailed it!!  The buckners had us and others over for chili and then we hung out in the saints driveway with a campfire while we gave free candy to all the beggars that stumbled by. There were a lot this year. It was a good time. There was one family that came by with 3 little girls. They were like 6, 4, and 1 year old. The 6 year old was dressed and Dr Who, the 4 year old was a Dalek, and the 1 year old was an Adipose baby!  They were AWESOME. After the 4 year old got candy from mom, here mother said, "and what do you say?"  Her reply: "EXTERMINATE,". It was the best ever.

So it was about a week and a half ago that I shipped a box to you. Has it arrived?  There is lots of good stuff in it that will be tasty. Be sure to let me know what specific stuff you want:  I do take requests!

Have a great week. Keep up the great work. You are awesome!

David Phillips

October 26, 15

Hey Dad!

I'm glad that my letter was able to help you guys out, How have they been progressing? Do they still go every week to church and activities and stuff?

And I saw some pics from Annas birthday and it looks like she had a blast! And that bike of hers is super genial too. That's Mexican for Awesome or cool. And how was the zoo? did you go too? Did you get to pet the goats?  

And that pizza joint sounds awesome! Down here they have little ceasars, but it isn't quite as good. After eating about 5 slices you get kind of bored. And that should never happen while eating food! But how hot do you think that oven is? doesnt the cheese burn or something?

El Centro just means The Center. Kind of Down town. They have a lot of markets and stuff that are pretty cool and you can find a lot of stolen goods there too. Super cheap.

Hahaha, don't worry! Those photos arent in our house, but in an investigators house! Ours is super nice and cool. Actually, it's really cool. Freezing in the mornings according to my companion. But the weather here is practically the same as Idaho. A bit warmer, but nearly the same.

However, yes. Sometimes we do need to use the "Light Switch Gloves" when messing with the lights. 

Have a wonderful week full of rainbows, flowers and butterflies!

Elder Phillips

Hey Everyone! 

  

      The Area is good, we are seeing much progress in our investigators. If all goes well, we will also have a Baptism this Saturday! Our investigators understand the importance of reading and praying, we just have to get them to church. I don't know why, but nobody wants to go to church down here. Maybe we need to offer refreshments after sacrament meeting or something :) This week I will be Ponderizing:

Jacob 1:19

     19 And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day.

I feel like it is a wonderful scripture that reminds us that we need to do all we can to help others to come unto christ.

      I am very grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary here in Juarez and there is so much I can learn during these two years. I know that I am here in this mission for a reason. I know that there are people here who need my help, and I just need to find them. I know that I will be able to. 

Hechale Ganas!

Happy Halloween!

Elder Phillips

Hey Mom!

Thank you so much for all the photos! They are undoubtedly the best part of Pday. I love seeing the family so much! I hope Anna had a fantastic birthday! And from the looks of the photos, I believe she did :) I hope that you are able to fix your Camera too. That's a pretty Schnazzy bike that she got! You say that the zoo has improved, in what way? I still think the zoo is super awesome, but then again, I haven't been to many others. Are there more animals or something? The petting zoo part sounds awesome! And lots of goats :) Do they have the screaming or fainting goats too? Because they are hilarious. Funny story about goats: There's a guy in our ward down here who works with leather and is going to make us covers for our scriptures out of goat hide. They look super legit and hopefully will help preserve our scriptures. I'll make sure to send you a few photos when they get finished :).

My companion was so excited to see the photo you took for him! He wants me to tell you that he loves it very much. He loves it and loves you all too. He says not to worry, because he will take care of Elder Phillips and protect him from all the mean racist Mexicans. And that one day, he will come to Boise Idaho to visit us.

And Elder Sanchez (From Guatemala) says that he will protect me and come visit us someday too.

If you remember Pedro's cousins from Napoleon Dynamite, that's basically Sanchez and Escobar for me.I truly miss Kneaders. French toast just isn't the same down here. Tell Megan that the photos are awesome and that she's half the reason that they're going to visit us after the mission :)​

Tom sant in December! And Katie too! And Kim! Crazy! Send me photos of all those crazy kids and their lovers!

I Love You!

Elder Phillips

October 19, 2015

Hey! Super awesome! Does Colton still have that mullet? I sure hope not. And does he plan on serving a mission? I love the poster (I made a great monkey poster of Megan for D3) and miss the sushi and soccer playing :( I'm sending you a photo of Elder Escobar's face when I told him what happened to your camera and that he wouldn't be getting any pictures soon. (I dropped my D300 off the back of the truck while trying to take a picture for him)

And another of Elder Sanchez (El Gordito) with the train. I'm vey proud of my photography skills :)

I Love You Mom!

Elder Phillips

Hello Everyone!

This week was really awesome. I really feel blessed for the opportunity I have been given to serve a mission. My testimony grows daily and I can truly testify that we have a prophet in our day and that the Book of Mormon is true. We are not left here alone in the earth to stumble our way through this life. God loves his children.

And so, we get to this week. It was awesome. We went to visit some members, who gave us some jackets to help keep us warm this winter. For those of you who don't know, it gets cold down here. Really cold! Like Idaho cold. My companion is from Tropical Honduras, where the weather is always wonderful and there's a double rainbow every morning. Pray for him. I don't think he's going to make it.

Anyways, These jackets are super awesome! So I included a few photos of them.

We have a wedding coming up this week! Rogelio and Anabel are going to Samalayuca for their wedding. I've heard that it's really cool down there, hopefully I'll get to see it some day! 

And if all goes well, we'll be having a baptism the 31st of October! 

 I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.

Moroni 8:3

~Elder Phillips

October 12, 15

John's letter to his dad cracked me up this week! here it is!

"So I am curious about some stuff. You have not said anything about being in sketchy places, dodging drug dealers, bull lets, or roving gangs of gradient on robbers. Is that because my little pony land is part of your mission and that is where your are stationed or are you just not talking about that kind of stuff?  I am just curious about the sketchiness that your see and what kind of craziness you witness down there." Dad

Ok, so about all that, this week some major sketch went down. More or less this is one of the nicest parts around here, but the pony land parts are where the Sister missionaries get sent. This week outside the church (monday at 4 PM) two guys from rival gangs got into a fight. One lives right in front of the church and is almost always drunk, and really super tattooed. The Tattooed guy stabbed the other a few times with a knife and now is in jail. The guy who got stabbed walked down the road a little bit before he collapsed dead.

We had a killer storm too! loads of wind and rain, it was crazy! In another part of the city, it was hail the size of a golfball. Those with the wind caused many broken trees and hundreds of broken windows and windshields. it was all over the news down here. In our area we just had loads of rain. just for about 20 minutes, but the streets were flooded afterwards.

This morning we got followed home after out daily run. Fortunately, I have seen about 100 episodes of Psych, NCIS, and Burn Notice, so I was able to ditch him in a nearby park. I'm kind of a professional spy.

That's really all that's been happening down here this week. But yeah, stuff happens occasionally. Not much, but occasionally. you probably shouldn't tell mom about the murder or the guy following us. But the storm, was cool.

Great to hear about The BBQ and all the kids getting sealed together! 11 in total? Any others on their way? And how many were adopted? I hope that everything goes well for them. I really miss BBQ. They have Carne Asada (grilled meat) down here, and they all love it, but I find it's not nearly as good as the ones back home. Nor do they use BBQ sauce much.

What up with dat?

And my companion says that he'll take you up on that offer. And he is my favorite companion yet. He is super fun and really spiritual too. He wants more pictures of Megan, but I think mom is intentionally avoiding them. She sends photos of everyone but Megan, and Elder Escobar is not amused.

Love you Dad!

~Elder Phillips

I will have to take a super BAD picture of Megan to send to him :)
Here is my letter
Hey Mom!

Happy Birthday! Did you really think that I'd forget my Mother's Birthday? No Way! Any presents that you'd like me to send to you guys? 

That car is pretty super legit, I hope it lasts even longer than the durango did! And Tom's engaged! What happened! When? He's only been back 5 months! To Who? send me some photos!

So today is our Zone meeting. Sorry, but now you'll have to wait another month to send anything :'( But that's ok. When you send the next package can you include something for my companion? His family is super far away and it's super expensive for them to send packages. so maybe you could help him out a bit.

 Elder Escobar asked me for a special request from the family this week and I told him that you could help him out. He wants a picture of my family (You, Dad, Megan, Ellie, and Anna [and kat if she's there]) holding a sign (a poster or something) that says "We Love You Elder Escobar". 

If you can, It'd be awesome! 

I'm glad you're meeting with the Buckners, and I hope that they are able to decide soon. Chris wrote me this week. I was so excited! He doesn't currently plan on serving a mission. Really, just show him love. No matter what he ends up choosing, show him Christlike love and help him feel wanted.

GUESS WHAT!! PHOTOS!

1. Yup, Elder Escobar and I had a blast this week, and we have many photos to show you. The first one is of our river crossing. It rained a lot one day this passed week and we had to cross over a a stream using a big old pipe. 
2. The second is of the train tracks. He had never seen a train before so he was super excited. We took loads of pictures down there!
3. The third photo is because we found Cream Soda. And everyone knows that the best way to end your day is with a bottle of cream soda. 
4. And one more of my companion.
5. And one more with Diego, the son of one of our new investigators!

I Love you Mom!

~Elder Phillips

and the one to ALL (those letters are not as exciting as our are)
Hey Everyone!

We had a fun week down here in Juarez, Full of rain storms and other parties.Things have been great this week, but I can't believe we are 3 weeks into the transfer. We are working hard, and partying hard. Yesterday we had a most excellent fast & Testimony meeting, and all of us missionaries went up and bore our testimonies too. 

 

Our main highlights this week were: Finding and teaching Diana and Sophia. 

Diana is 18 years old, has a new baby, and is the daughter of one of our contacts. We met her when we came to visit her mom, and had a super awesome doorstep lesson. She doesn't really know what to believe right now in her life but is searching to find the truth. Fortunately, that's kind of why I'm here. We began talking and put another appointment to teach her about God's plan for us. The second visit went great and she better understands her purpose here on the earth. 

Sophia found us and asked us about our church one day, and invited us to visit her. She already wants to get baptized after just 2 visits! She knows that our messages are true and wants her family to hear it too.

Keep them in your prayers!

Also, enjoy a few photos of your favorite Missionaries having a cowboy party and trying to cross a flooded street!

Love you all!

~Elder Phillips

AND I GOT LOTS OF PICTURES!!!! I didn't take the time to put them in order that he numbered them, so just figure it out!

October 5, 15

Hey Mom!

I love all of your photos! And I am super thankful that I get to miss this diaper stage (more or less) and get the super fun toddler :)

So I have a bit of happy news: Transfers! Yup, that's right. I am now here with Elder Escobar, from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. And he is awesome! He has 6 months in the mission (only a little more than me!), and is great at teaching, contacting, and he is super friendly! He loves the US and already has requested permission to marry Megan. He is probably my favorite companion. But I don't know, it's only been a week.
His family is from Honduras and he has a twin brother serving his mission down by Cancun. He's pretty awesome (and loves American candy ;D).

This week we did a lot of contacting! a lot!! However, it all paid off as we found new investigators, People who are ready to hear our message and make the necessary changes in their lives. We have made so much progress in this area (Still Chapultepec 1.2) in just this week, I love it! I know that we're going to have success!

Sorry, once again I have no photos. But Next week! We have some great plans coming up!

And sorry the letter is short (again). If you start feeling down, just remember:

I Love You!

Elder Phillips

Hey Hey Hey! (DAD) 

 

General conference was really amazing! Super powerful talks. I truly learned a lot! I am glad that the Buckners are listening to conference. With the spirit that they undoubtedly felt, I believe that they will make the commitment to be baptized soon.

Did you see that priesthood session? It was awesome! It was in Spanish, so I missed a few things (mostly jokes), but it was really excellent. And then Sunday too! The afternoon session was three or four short powerful talks, one right after the other! I have really developed a higher appreciation of general Conference.

 

Thanks for sending pictures of the Katherine, Ryan, and The Little Beast! Super funny :) I think that child is going to be hilarious! But what did you do for 4 days at home? Working out back? Watching the NFL?

 

So who are the elders in our ward nowadays? do I know them? Do you have any pictures of them? What are they like? My new companion is Elder Escobar. He's from super far away, Honduras. He is super awesome and he's a hard worker too. We are going to have a great time together and a super successful cycle! I don't have pictures today, but next week i'll have some of us together.

 

Love You!

Elder Phillips

Hello Friends and Family!

 

This week we started things off with a little something that I like to call: Transfers. Yup. But guess who gets to have another 6 weeks (and hopefully more) here in Chapultepec? That's right, Elder Phillips does! My new companion is Elder Escobar from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He is super chill and fun, has 6 months in the mission, and has a twin brother serving in southern Mexico, in Yucatan!

 

General Conference was awesome! If you didn't see it, I would highly recommend that you watch it. Right now. Literally, I mean right now. Stop reading this and go watch it, then you can finish reading my letter and write me back. Why? Because It was super awesome and I love you. That's why.

 

This week we spent a whole lot of time contacting. and it paid off. We were able to find the people whom God has prepared. Many times, we were rejected. However, it really doesn't matter. What matters are those few people (Because yes, they are few) who have made room in there lives to learn of Christ.

 

So it has been a good week. The Lord has blessed us in so many different ways. And he will bless you too. Just go out of your way to share the gospel today.

 

With Love,

Elder Phillips