Letter #42 07/02/2013

Family and Friends!

It's cambios week! We found out about cambios last night, and Hermana Hansen (my oro) is going to Treinta y Tres, which is about 400 kilometers north of us. I'm sad to see her go, but I know she'll do great things there. She just finished the 12 week training program and she's going to go finish training one of the hermanas whose trainer is finishing her mission. That's the only change in our house of four. I'm pretty excited for the new hermana to come. Hermana Peña is from Colombia (woohoo!) and she was in the MTC with me. I've always wanted to be able to work closer with her and  now I get to!

I'm finding new energy this week as I got an opportunity to talk to my trainer again, Hermana Vargas. The begining of our companionship when I first got into the field was pretty rough. I have learned so much from her example and over time she has become one of my favorite people in the world. I didn't appreciate her as much as I should have when we were companions and I judged her very harshly at first. Now I want to become the kind of missionary that she is. The hermanas that I'm with are great but it's been really emotionally draining for me. Now I think I'm getting back on track as I'v recommitted to being 100% devoted to and absorbed in the work. There's no other way to do it.

Love you forever,

Hermana Phillips

Letter # 35 05/13/13

Dearest Family and Friends,

Thank you for all your prayers and words of encouragement. I just wrote an awesome email, and then the internet decided not to work, and everything got erased. I don't have time to write it all again, so here's a recap:

There are more changes in our area. After getting off Skype with Mom, Dad and Jackie on Mother's Day the mission president called to tell me that a part-time missionary would be joining us today. She arrived today (Florencia Laurito) and she is my companion. Hermana Calderòn is taking over training my oro, Hermana Hansen so I can start training another new missionary next week.

Vamos arriba!

I love you all, and pray for you often.

Love always,

Hermana Phillips

Picture: Companions

Me, my oro, Hermana Hansen, and Hermana Calderòn.

The sign we're making means "smile" or "capo" (which means "awesome")

Letter # 33 04/29/13

Queridos Amigos y Familia,

Well, there have been a lot of changes since I last wrote. I didn't realize things were so bad with Dad-- or could have been so bad? I'm still not sure what's going on but I'll continue to pray.

 

We got another companion. One of the other hermana missionaries got really sick and had to go home for surgery, so they split up another companionship and we ended up in a tripod. So now I'm training in a tripod while opening up a new area in a white wash. I'm tired. There are pros and cons; the new hermana, Hermana Calderòn (from Lima, Peru) is super energetic (and when I say energetic I mean energetic like throwing flubber against the wall) and she's great to have around because I'm kind of serious. Hermana Hansen speaks very little Spanish and Hermana Calderòn speaks next to no English, so I often have to keep track of two conversations at once going on in two different languages. There have been a few personal/communication issues between Hermana Hansen and I, we have had a lot of problems resolved and I feel much more ready to face and enjoy the rest of this transfer. The problems mainly included the fact that although we have many of the same interests and the same determination to serve the Lord, we have very different forms of expressing that. I am introverted. Hermana Hansen is extremely extroverted. We had a long talk the other night and cleared up a few misunderstandings and bruised pride. I regret that this has been one of her first experiences in the mission but we both learned a lot. There is more responsibility on my shoulders than I am used to having, and that has affected how I interact with my companions. I'm working on it, and the Lord is helping me deal with the stress.

 

We had an awesome experience with one of our investigators, Claudia, last week. We found her on our first day in the area and she has been reading the Book of Mormon. She is a faithful member of a different church (evangelical) but they don't believe that baptism is necessary for salvation. I don't know how you can read the bible and think that baptism isn't necessary, but that aside she has a lot of faith in Jesus Christ. I think she started listening to us because she loved how sincere and tenderfooted my companion is. She keeps listening because she feels the spirit. The elders also serving in our ward were going to have a baptism last Saturday, and Claudia had committed to attending. The baptism fell through, but Hermana Hansen had the brilliant idea to take her on a tour of the meetinghouse, instead. The spirit was so strong during the tour. The youth in our ward were having mutual at the same time, and Claudia has a teenage daughter and I think she was really impressed with the church's youth program. We ended the tour with an explanation of the Sacrament in the chapel, and she committed to baptism! Now to help her arrive at her baptismal date, May 18th. Prayers on her behalf are much needed. I can only imagine how much her baptism would help my Oro, Hermana Hansen-- me too, but your first baptism of the mission is something you probably never forget.

 

La Paz is the best area in the best mission EVER! We are seeing so many miracles every day and I am so grateful for the prayers on our behalf. The Lord is pouring out blessings over us.

 

With all my love, yours always,

 

Hermana Phillips

Letter #32 04/22/13

Mis Quieridas Amigos y Familiares,

¡Cuanto les amo! I am so glad to hear that everyone is doing well, that you are happy and that God takes care of you all. I knew He was, but it's so good to hear it from you!

PDay has already gone by so fast and we have about a million things to do. So we finally have gas in our stove, and a washer! We had an interesting experience last night. While we were trying to take a few moments to relax after a hectic week, Hermana Hansen and I decided to put a load in our shiny new washer to FINALLY have some clean clothes. While they were in the machine we watched a 20 minute church movie (the conversion of John Tanner, excellent) the sink where the water drains decided to clog. Water spilled all over the floor, where the extension cord and plugs were O.o. We seriously have guardian angels all around us. Nothing was damaged and no one was hurt.

My companion is fantastic! It's interesting because our personalities are almost completely opposite, but we have a lot of the same interests. Lots of things to talk about, and different points of view. She is super dedicated and has had a lot of experiences in her life that have helped her grow closer to the Lord.

We have had the opportunity to meet quite a few people who (we think) are prepared to hear the gospel. We don't want to jynx it, so that's all I can say, but I CAN say that the Lord works in some mysterious ways. We're still trying to figure out how we found one of our investigators. We thought we were contacting a referral from a ward member-- but apparently it's a different woman with the exact same name and with the exact same description of where she lives and is friends with someone with the exact same name as our ward member. Weird. So we're teaching her and also still looking for the original referral.

I love you all! I LOVE THE MISSION! I am so grateful the Lord called me to be a missionary in this crazy place. Even though I will probably never live up to this calling the way I sometimes want or the way some people tell me I should, I know that the Lord loves me and I only try to live worthy of being an instrument in His hands.

All my love,

Hermana Phillips

Letter #31 04/16/13

Querida Familia y Amigos,

Well, I'm in my new area and we're trying to settle into our new house. I LOVE La Paz, this change is going to be SO awesome. A few things about La Paz:

It is close to Montevideo, and closer to the coast than my last area, so it's much colder, especially since it's turning autumn.

Our ward is AMAZING! We have an awesome, proactive bishopric and Relief Society President. We share the ward with a pair of Elders. There haven't been hermana missionaries in this zone for a long time, and the ward has apparently been asking for sisters for a long while. In fact, the bishop told us in our first meeting with him, "For us, you are angels. We fought to get you here." Wow. Lots of expectations to live up to there, but I know if we just work and work and work the Lord is going to give us success. Fortunately, my new companion, Hermana Hansen from Cedar Hills, Utah, is a hard worker. She's my oro, so she's brand new, but she has zero fear of talking to people, even though she doesn't speak hardly any Spanish. She actually starts more of our contacts than I do! She's wonderful, and I'm so grateful to have her. Lots of energy, which is good because we are opening a new area (which means we have next to nothing to work with). Whitewash! Woohoo!

Lately I've been pondering the impact that the mission has had on me. As all of you know, I am kind of an emotionally unstable person by nature. My first 4 months of the mission were extremely difficult because I couldn't find a balance, and being so tired and hungry almost all the time made it worse. Sometime the months since then, however, the Lord has stepped in. I feel at peace-- I still feel really overwhelmed by the challenges I've been presented with in this transfer (training, opening a new area, whitewash, etc.) but I also just have this feeling that everything's going to work out. I wish I could transmit this feeling to my companion. I remember feeling so lost when I first got here. My trainer was my only point of reference and I got really stressed out just not knowing when we were going to eat next. We've had some problems with the electricity and with the stove in our house, so my companion, coming from the security of the CCM is a little frazzled. I'm trying my best to help her adjust. With patience and diligence, the Lord changes and enobles our character and our nature.

I love you all so much. I hope all is well. Love God and keep the commandments.

Love always,

Hermana Phillips