Letter # 70 1/28/14 "Lluvia Imponente‏"

Dear Friends and Family,

It is raining.

It is impossible to describe the rain in this country in a way that my desert-dwelling loved ones can understand. Last week after church, the sun was shining when we left the Familia Barrreto's house after lunch, and 15 minutes later a huge wind blew through Sarandí del Yí, and in seconds we were completely soaked, running through the pouring rain and hail, trying to find shelter. I thought of Helaman 5:12, when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty ^cstorm shall beat upon you... Before we were a quarter of the way home, the sun came out-- but it was still RAINING. I am not making this up to make it sound cool. After a few minutes of the strange sun-rain, it all stopped and we trudged home to change. The sun came out again, smiling innocently.

20 minutes later-- RAIN AGAIN. Even harder.

Guys, my umbrella is thrashed.

It will be raining all week, rumor has it, but that doesn't stop the gospel from being true, and it surely doesn't stop the good people of Sarandí del Yí from needing to accept it. Therefore, out we shall march, trying to find them.

In other news, we had changes this week, and it looks like Sarandí will be my final resting place as a full-time missionary. I'm staying here with Hermana Peña another transfer. There were no changes in our house, so we'll all be here another 6 weeks.

I feel like I am waking up from a lifetime of dreaming. I thought I knew what the mission, the gospel, were all about. I had no idea. This work is so important. Not important like remembering to pay the bills is important. Important like breathing. Like food. It is a basic human need. I don't know if we full realize that not obeying the commandments is like not eating. We will die if we don't give heed to the scriptures and repent. That's been a theme of the last few weeks. The urgency of the gospel of Christ-- He didn't say tomorrow, or next week. He said NOW. Let the work consume you.

I have been called of God to declare repentance to all people, including my friends and family. So I invite you to search the scriptures and repent. This sacred calling has required that I do the same, and I will thank God every day of my life for opening my eyes to to consequences of sin. Search the scriptures. Pray with earnestness. Attend church with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. You will thank God every day of your lives if you do.

As always, I run out of time before I'm halfway done.

If you can, this is a list of our current investigators that you can include in your prayers:

Familia Medina Rivero (Isidoro, Rosa, PAMELA, Fabián, Leonardo)

Familia Zipitría (Gustavo, Andrea, Noemí, Melina)

Familia Mendilarzu (Hector, Mercedes, Cristofer)

Familia Castro (part-member family) (Carlos, Giovanna, Sofía, Laureano, Luzmila)

Love you forever,

Hermana Phillips