Letter # 63 12/09/2013 ¿Te Extrañas?‏

Dear Friends and Family,

I think I miss you all more today than I ever have.

Some great things are happening, but I don't have much time to write about it all.

1 - I am in a choir that is going to perform for the mission christmas devotional. Fun! I almost forgot (almost) how much I love and miss singing. It's been a great and rewarding experience.

2 - Changes are coming up and I'll probably get transfered out of San Carlos. Here's hoping I don't have to leave! I love it here!

3 - It's raining today. What a relief! I love it when it rains on PDAY because we don't have to be out WALKING in it.

4 - One of the other sisters in the mission lent me her copy of the General Conference report-- GOLDEN! I'm taking advantage of every opportunity to read as much as possible before I have to give it back.

In other news, the church down here is so different! Hermana Linnell and I were walking the other day and we stopped a nice-looking middle-aged lady. Before we could even tell her we were missionaries, she pulled down her shirt to reveal her garment sleeve, saying, "No no no!! I'm already one of you!!" We were a little taken aback. Without even breaking her stride, she walked rapidly away. Haven't seen her before, nor since that experience.

The sad thing is that's not the first time that's happened to me...

Love you forever!

Hermana Phillips

Letter #24 02/26/13

Querida Familia,

We found out about transfers last night. Hermana Vargas is leaving for an area near Montevideo and Hermana Ocampos will be my new companion. From all accounts she is "divertido" (fun) and "capo" (cool) so I'm excited. I've been with my trainer so long (4 months) it's hard to imagine working with anyone else. Hermana Vargas has a special assignment from President Armstrong. She is going to work with one of the other Hermanas to be a "Traveling Hermana." Since sisters can't go on exchanges with their Zone and District Leaders (obviously) we have very little training and the exchanges we do have the opportunity to do are mostly just to get a break from your companion/area for a while, not for training purposes. So Hermana Vargas and another sister will be going around doing exchanges with the other sisters and training, etc. President wants all of us to be ready when the tsunami of hermana missionaries arrive in April and May.

We also moved. We now are living in a house 25 minutes on foot from our area. It's complicated how it came about, but the situation is "temporary" at least until June when the lease is up. I'll probably be gone by then, though.

These transfers are bringing lots of changes to our Zone. We get new Zone and District Leaders, and a lot of missionaries are being transferred. Our new Zone Leader is Elder Harris from Kaysville, just around the corner from Cherry Hill :)

I'm glad to hear you guys had fun at Desiree and Christopher's. Every time I see little kids I think of Ethan and Ryker and miss them a lot, even though Latino babies look nothing like them (blond hair blue eyes, etc)

It's during the transfers when I seem to miss home the most. Take care of each other. Remember that I love you and think about and pray for you often.

Always,

Hermana Phillips