Letter #66 12/30/2013 "La Cucaracha‏"

Dear Friends and Family,

This morning my personal study was interrupted by shrieks of terror emenating from the bathroom. While Hermana West was in the shower, a cockroach creeped onto her loufa and from her loufa onto her body. This is life here in Sarandí del Yí. I've killed about 8 spiders in as many days. Don't worry though-- I got the biggest one and put it in a jar so I can show you when I get home. I know you wanted to see it...

Better news: BAUTISMO!!! María Gopar was baptized and confirmed on Sunday, right after the church meetings ended. The reason I haven't talked about her before is because I barely knew her. She is the good friend (almost "adopted" daughter) of our mission leader's family. She had already been taught everything and then went on vacation for a week the day after I got here. I only got to meet her for one lesson and at her baptismal interview. Fortunately I'll be here to teach her all the retention lessons, so we'll be best friends in no time. She's 19 and amazing. I sang "I Stand All Amazed" at her baptismal service.

IT IS SO HOT. Fortunately we have a fan, and the sacrament meeting room has air conditioning. It's the first chapel I've seen outside Montevideo that has controled temperatures.

I'll tell you a little about the animals here. We have a cat. Kind of. It's against the rules to have pets, but this tiny kitten appeared in our back yard one day and I feel too bad to throw it out into the street. It's too young to have any chance at all of survival. So we let it be in the back yard for now while we try and find someone to take it in. In case you were wondering--. no one wants cats. :(

There are frogs here. I very rarely have seen live frogs here. In my first area they were everywhere, but they only came out at night and got run over by cars. In the morning they would be dead all over the road (I know, it's disgusting). But here they're everywhere. Small ones. Big ones. Ugly ones. They get in our house and hide under the microwave, under the suitcases, and in the space in the ceiling above my desk. Frogs everywhere.

There is an insect here called Chicharra that sings when it gets really hot-- which is all the time. I say that they sing, but that's just what people say they do. It's a high-pitched trilling noise that gets louder the hotter it gets. Some days it's deafening.

My watch broke, which has been a huge annoyance. Not only do I not know the time, but now have a brilliant white tanline on my wrist where my watch used to live. It has found a temporary home in my bag until I can figure out how to fix it.

Sorry this letter hasn't been very spiritual thus far. We continue to both see success and challenges in inviting people to come unto Christ. I have learned a lot about patience and mercy already from being in this area. I have been working on a talk called "12 Keys to Building Faith unto Power." Ít suggests working on one of the 12 keys every week during the mission. Since I only have about that much left I thought I should get to work on it. The first three are 1 - Stop complaining and murmuring. 2 - Commit to 100% obedience and 3 - Prayer, which are the three I've been working on the past three weeks. It's not easy. Faith is a spiritual gift, and as such can only be obtained by asking our Father in Heaven. Today I read, "I have yet to discover a scripture that suggests that the Lord will give us what we desire even if we do not ask for it." Did you know that the phrase "Ask, and ye shall receive" is state 233 times in the standard works? It must be important.

It was so good to see the family at Christmas. I hope you know how much I love you and pray for you.

Love you forever,

Hermana Phillips

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 #50 09/02/2013

These past two weeks have been completely oposite of each other, but each has been really amazing. This week we had an intercambio with Hermana Neufer and Hermana Figueroa, who are two of the Traveling Sisters of our mission. Also I completed a year on Friday! And, for the first time in my mission we completed *almost* all our weekly goals. We actually went over on most of them. I normally try not to stress out about numbers, because they are simply not the most important thing, but in this case I'll use them to illustrate the hand of God. He really heard my prayers and after each one followed a tender mercy designed to increase my faith and my love for Him. I truly do love my Heavenly Father and my Savior; every day I find that love growing more and more.

Along with that thought, last week was particularly hard for Hermana Nelson and I, as far as the numbers were concerned. It was probably the lowest of my mission. Even so, that Sunday night after verification talking to a disappointed district leader, I felt the best I ever had at the end of any week out of the past 52. I had tried my best that day and the days before to bear pure testimony of Jesus Christ, felt the Spirit so strongly and been guided by it, and I felt that my faith had grown and my love for God had expanded in ways that before I hadn't considered. Hermana Nelson felt the same. We spent some time talking and came up with the following True Key Indicators by which we now evaluate our work every day, along with the normal ones:

1- Have I testified of Jesus Christ?
2- Have I helped someone in need?
3- Am I exhausted but happy?
4- Have I felt the Spirit today?
5- Do I love the members, the people I teach, my companion and the Lord more today than I did yesterday?

This week I can honestly answer "yes" to each of those True Key Indicators. A phrase from a blessing I received in the mission has also become a theme for our companionship and our work: "You will know that you are being successful by the feelings you will have." That is so true.

Here are a couple of experiences from our time here in San Carlos:

Two Sundays ago we decided to spend the last precious hour of our week singing to the patients. The scriptures keep urging us to "raise our voices" and we wanted to try something we've never done before. We only got to be with one family, and we couldn't sing because their precious two-year-old boy was sleeping, recovering from surgery. As we stood in the doorway, the mom told us we couldn't sing, but if we had a message to share to please come in and share it-- which we gladly did. It was the mom, who was evangelical, and her parents, who are catholics. Her father was actually a deacon for the catholic church. I'm not 100% positive what that means, but it sounds impressive. I shared Alma 7:11-13 which talks about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and bore my testimony of Him. My companion went next. By the time we were done, every person in the room (except the sleeping baby) had born testimony of the Savior. The Spirit in that room was so strong, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to hear the testimoies of others from different denominations about the same person.

We've been visiting a young family-- Darwin (investigator), Inès (member) and their baby, Santiago ("Slash"). They are struggling financially, and have been struggling just to eat for about two weeks now. We talked to the bishop about them but I wasn't sure he was very interested in our investigators. Last week Hermana Nelson and I had a special fast for them. On Saturday, we visited Inés, and she looked much better, saying that the bishop had stopped by that day. As we sang the opening song, "There Is Sunshine in My Soul Today," I saw something out of the corner of my eye out the open doorway. When I turned my head, there was Bishop Machado, his wife, and 6-year-old daughter, laden down with grocery bags full of things for a young family. Hermana Nelson and I couldn't finish the hymn because there were tears running down our faces. They looked just like angels. Inès was beaming as well. I love this work with all my heart.

I know that a lot of you, family and friends, are struggling with huge trials right now. I know that sometimes it feels like we are blocked at every turn, that we have no way out, or that the world is coming down on top of us. Please know that I love you and I am praying for you. I love you so much and I know that Heavenly Father loves you so much infinitely more. He knows you. Watch and wait patiently for the tender mercies, which God bestows upon all who faithfully follow Him.

Love you forever,

Hermana Phillips

Letter #49 08/26/2013

SAN CARLOS IS AMAZING!

Dear Friends and Family,

I love life so much right now, it's hard to contain. I forgot my camera or I would send you photos of the area, my companion and our house and our ward-- everything!

First, about the area:

We are whitewashing and opening a new area, which means we got here and had next to nothing to work with, but since the area was just split we took over teaching some of the elders' investigators. There is one amazing couple, Darwin and Inés. Inés is a member who has been inactive for years, and Darwin is her boyfriend. They have an adorable little boy named Santiago (more frequently called "Slash"-- so cute!) It's crazy that they're my age.They have an interesting story. Darwin is trying to stop smoking and doing drugs, and for a few years I think he was going to an evagelical church to help him stop, which he did manage to do. He went to Dios Universal, which was also in my other area. It looks more like a business than a church to me, because instead of walls in the front it has glass windows. Anyway he went to church five times a week to help him overcome his addictions. A few months ago he started attending a different evangelical church called Capanas del Cielo ("Bells of Heaven"). The people there do something special to get blessings they say, but to me I looks exactly like the devil's casino. You sell the biggest thing you have, your car, your motorcycle, TV, house-- everything-- and give the money to the church. You put yourself completely "in the hands of God." In return, God supposedly turns your life around and showers you with blessings and you live happily ever after. So that's what Darwin did, but a few days after his girlfriend's mom (who is an active member) got wind of what they'd done and went crazy, saying that how could they do something so foolish, etc. She also sent them a scripture from the bible that said that obedience is better than sacrifice. That's when the doubts started. Then Darwin lost his job. And that's when another member sent the missionaries to them. They really are a great couple. Prayers on their behalf are much needed.

My companion, Hermana Nelson is amazing. She motivates me so much! She just finished her training and I am loving every minute being in San Carlos working with her! The other day we went running, and I was doing great-- until I stepped off a curb. You'd think it'd be nothing, right? But as I stepped off the sidewalk onto the road I think I pulled or twisted or did something to my lower back. The pain got worse and worse for the rest of the morning and by the time we were done with comp study at 10 I couldn't even sit. I had to lay in my bed all day. That was two days ago. Yesterday my back hardly hurt at all and I could go out and work but today it's been acting up. Not sure what to do. My district leader (now nicknamed the "Hawaiian Medicine Man") let me use some of his DoTerra essential oils, which helped a lot.

I am really learning so much here and I love life and I love my area and I love my companion and I love GOD!

Yesterday we went to a hospital to sing to some of the patients there-- I wanted to try something new and the scriptures are always urging us to "lift up our voices." We found this incredible family-- one evangelical and two catholics. The grandpa was a deacon in the catholic church. We shared a scripture about the Atonement from the Book of Mormon, and the spirit was incredible. By the end, every person in the room had borne pure testimony of Jesus Christ, and I felt like He was standing there with us. We said a prayer, they gave us their heartfelt gratitude, and we left. It was one time I have felt almost worthy to wear the name of Jesus Christ next to my heart.

The experiences I've had in this area have made me reevaluate what really are the "Key Indicators" we should pay attention to.

Love you forever,

Hermana Phillips

Letter #23 02/18/13

Querida Familia,

We finally had another baptism! Ramon was baptized and confirmed this weekend! I'm really happy for him. I never imagined that the conversion process could be so drastic nor so visible as it was with him. He was found, taught, and baptized in 3 weeks. He's devouring the Book of Mormon, and is willing to live all the commandments. His prayers are incredibly beautiful and humble. And most importantly, he's happy and he knows why.

Before the baptism our branch mission leader was working so it fell on us to get everything ready. There were crickets in the font so we decided to scrub it out. The water heater is broken, so the water was cold. It's a good thing it's only for a few seconds...

At his baptism I sang "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and one of our other recent converts, Gabriela, gave one of the talks. She also gave one of the talks in Sacrament meeting yesterday, and she said that from this experience, she was able to see her own baptism in a new light and committed to attending every baptism possible in our ward from then on to help welcome the new member. She is the best! Another recent convert, Pablo, baptized Ramon (he was so nervous he kept messing up the prayer, and we had to do the ordinance twice.) My companion and I really wanted the recent converts to be involved in baptisms of new converts, because it helps with fellowshipping.

I have a hard time thinking of things to tell you about while I'm sitting at the computer, so I make a list during the week of things that happen. This week, the only thing on my list was "basket trees." Let me explain:

For some reason, Uruguayos seem to really love lawn ornaments. Everyone has ceramic frogs and turtles in their little front gardens, and many have these giant lawn gnomes that appear to be drinking matte. These aside, what seems to be the stranger tradition to me is cutting hedges and bushes into the shape of baskets. Is this common? I don't ever remember seeing this in the States.

Also, could you send some money? One of my pairs of shoes died this week. The information about the weather in my call packet was a little misleading. Thus, I have a lot of clothes for temperate weather (Uruguay is not temperate.) I don't know how to coordinate money sent to me from home, though, which I will investigate more.

Letter #14 12/17/12

Dear Family,

Sounds like it's been an exciting week! Sorry this email has to be short, but there have been some technical difficulties this PDay and I have less time than usual.

I'm not sure what to report that would be interesting to you guys-- I can't get my head out of the key indicators. I've been asked to sing in our Rama's primary program and as part of the program for the District Christmas activity. Also our zone is in charge of the musical number for our mission Christmas activity. Our zone got together today to practice and afterward we had an asado (barbeque). We have a great zone!

One of the things that surprised me most coming on the mission is how awkward missionaries are. It seems to be just the nature of being a missionary-- you get to witness awesome miracles and be an instrument in the hands of the Lord, and also you get to endure some of the longest awkward moments of your life. I could list examples, but I'll spare you. It's difficult to explain awkwardness here, because there's simply no word for it in Spanish.

I have to go, but I love you so much! The baptisms last Saturday were amazing, see the pictures.