Letter #51 09/09/2013

Dear Friends and Family,

We woke up Friday night to rain pounding furiously on our roof of corrugated metal. It rained all day Saturday and was blowing like crazy. The elders told us it was a "Santa Rosa," which means it would be raining with strong winds for at least four days. Three days later there's hardly a cloud in the sky, and the weather warmed up so much people are starting to walk around in their shorts and tank-tops-- minus the missionaries, of course, and everyone thinks we're crazy. When I looked up "Uruguay" on the internet before the mission, it said that the country is "susceptible to frequent weather changes." An understatement if I ever heard one.

This last week was full of challenges, ending with a beautiful tender mercy and answer to prayer. We began the week with a really high number of new investigators (30), but by Friday we had dropped almost all of them, or they had dropped us. The Lord is full of tender mercies, however, which we knew, so Hermana Nelson wisely suggested that we fast this Sunday. The first person that we talked to after ending our fast was an incredibly prepared single mom of three kids who believes strongly in God and in family values, and who now has a baptismal date for the end of this month. Without us even bringing up the subject, she informed us she would be coming to church, and she would be bringing her kids (all above age 8) with her. An incredible experience-- it humbled me and filled me with gratitude. I am so happy here and learning so much about myself and about the Lord.

I've also been seeing my ordinarily pessimistic attitude gradually changing, mostly due to my wonderful companion. She is always so happy and enthusiastic, and so aware and grateful for her blessings. She makes me play her "gratitude game" with her, in which we basically take turns naming our blessings until you run out of blessings. Of course, we're still not finished.

I've been reading "Our Heritage" in my personal study, and loving it. It shares so many stories of the incredible sacrifices made by the early saints. It's basically about how no one had food or clothes or money or a home, and had to travel thousands of miles. It's very humbling. I looked up from reading yesterday and looked around my house. I realized that there was literally nothing there that I could see that those early saints, much less those early missionaries had. When the sun is really hot and my feet hurt, I think, "At least I'm not walking barefoot over the sharp, frozen wilderness of Iowa to escape a Mormon-hating mob." It gives me a little comfort, and also motivation. That is not just the heritage of the church-- that is MY heritage. I come from a long line of noble disciples of the Savior Jesus Christ. Because they sacrificed so much, I am able to preach the gospel and become the means through which people can learn about the Savior's Atonement.

Mom, a few weeks ago you asked me to send you something for Grandma's birthday. I guess that's it-- a giant "THANK YOU." There are no words that can express how grateful I feel to my Father in Heaven for placing me in a family that loves me, keeps it's covenants, and is strong in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When I was 15, I got my patriarchal blessing. In it, it states that "There are those who are very close to (me) who have been great examples of faith, endurance, and stability." Every day I begin to realize how true that is. My family is the greatest blessing the Lord has given me, apart from my testimony of Him.

Grandma, I love you. I love your love of the Lord, and I love your testimony of Him. Thank you for the countless hugs and kisses you gave to me as a little girl, a struggling teenager, and a confused young adult. Thank you for your faith in me and our family. Thank you for the numberless pounds of mashed potatoes. Thank you for the opportunity to make testimony gloves with you. Thank you for supporting me in my mission. Thank you for countless hours of fun with cousins that I had in your back yard and at the crater. All those blessings (and so many more that I can't even count because I only get an hour on the computer) were possible because of your personal righteousness and your faithfulness to your covenants. Thank you. You are a huge part of my heritage.

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 #48 08/19/2013

SAN CARLOS IS AMAZING!

In district meeting our district leader talked about a parable. It's called "Kill the Cow." Trust me, it sounds even weirder in Spanish, but it's a true principle. I'll tell you the story.

A young man was finishing his training with his wise mentor. For the final lesson to his diligent student, the wise man took him to the house of a very poor family. The wise man took his student to the barn and where they found the poor family's only cow, upon which they depended heavily. The wise man said to his student that for the final lesson, they had to kill the cow. The young man was very confused, but in the end he did as his mentor instructed. The wise man and the young man parted ways.

Two years later, the man came back to the poor family's house. However, instead of finding the humble home there was in its place a much better house. Surely the family moved, the man thought, and he knocked on the door to inquire what had become of the poor family that had lived there previously. The owner of the house, however, told the man that they were the same family that had lived there for years, it was just that two years ago someone had killed their cow, their only source of income. As a result, they had had to find other ways to provide, and those other ways turned out to be much better than just getting by on their one cow. They were now quite well off, thanks to whoever killed their cow.

This story has helped me a lot to recognize a lot of habits in my life, a lot of perceptions about myself and about the people around me that have worked in the past and that are good (and probably would continue to work) but that are also impeding my personal progress. So here's my challenge for you: find out what your cow is and kill it. You'll be so happy you did!

I tried sharing this parable in a lesson once. Goodbye Spirit...

Anyway, love you all, hope you have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Phillips

Third Area: San Carlos

San Carlos is on the southern coast, east of Montevideo. 

With a population of 27,000, San Carlos is the second largest city in the Maldonado Department. It was founded in 1763 by the Spanish governor to discourage Portuguese settlments in the area.

Historical sites include the oldest Catholic Church in Uruguay, Iglesia San Carlos Borromeo, built in 1763.



Letter #47 08/14/2013

Dear Friends and Family,

I got transferred! My new area is San Carlos B, and it is near the coast, north of Montevideo. We leave tomorrow morning. I will miss La Paz; I realized yesterday how much I love my investigators here, even though none of them got baptized. Sometimes you reap, and sometimes you sow. I am grateful for the relationships that I have formed here. Yesterday when I was in a lesson with Lourdes (who I´ve been teaching since April and can´t bring myself to drop) I told her that I might be leaving. Here eyes filled with tears and I was so surprised when she suddenly got up from her chair and ran and hugged me. Such a fantastic lady; she is so sweet. I´ll miss her a lot and keep praying that someday she´ll be able to get baptized.

Our zone got together and played for our last Pday. They made me play fútbol. Latinos are crazy good at this sport. I told them that if we loose it´s their own fault for making me play. I am seriously the worst. However, serving a mission in South America I just kind of have to get over it.

I don't know what this new transfer will bring. My new companion´s name is Hermana Nelson. I sat behind her in my ASL class during my last semester at the U of U, so we already kind of know her. She was trained by my trainer, so we´re sisters! She´s blond and really likes talking to everybody. I wonder what the ward in San Carlos will be like. I doubt anything could beat Barrio La Paz, though. Our bishop promised to come bring us ice cream tonight to wish us luck. This transfer was kind of tough living in a house of four missionaries. It was fun, but after three transfers, it's enough.

A few days ago I accompanied my housemate, Hermana Peña to the doctor in Montevideo because she had to have surgery. We stayed in the mission home that night and we got to know our new mission president, Presidente Newsome, and his family. They came with their youngest son, Reed, who is thirteen. It was really weird to wake up and have breakfast with them. Presidente is apparently extremely wealthy, but you´d never be able to tell-- he´s so down-to-earth and humble. Hermana Newsome is so willing and anxious to learn Spanish. After dinner we asked her if there was anything we could do for her and she said, "Yes, you can give me a Spanish lesson!" Then she went and got a piece of paper and a pencil and we helped her write out her testimony and a simple prayer. She´s really awesome. Reed is a typical thirteen-year-old boy and eats a Cajun seasoning called "Slap Ya Mama" on everything. They have a teacup Yorkie named Lucy that is officially the first lap dog that I´ve ever liked.

My first companion in the field, Hermana Vargas, finished her mission last week. Crazy how time flies. My one-year mark is in 17 days.

I love the gospel!

Love you forever,

Hermana Phillips

Letter #46 08/09/2013

Dear Family and Friends,

I am writing to you from President Newsome's office. My house companion is sitting in his big chair. I'll tell you how we got here:

We live in a house of four and one of the other Hermanas had to have surgery on her eye today. It's been a long and tiring process, having to go back and forth from the doctor's office four times in the past three weeks. It's an hour and a half bus ride one way. Fortunately, the Pugmires, who are the senior missionary couple here, have been helping us with transportation. (Hermana Pugmire is the mission nurse and Elder Pugmire is in charge of fixing things in the missionary's houses-- Mom and dad, you guys would be really awesome missionaries. Just saying...)

Anyway, I'm supposed to just say hi and let you all know that I'm alive. I didn't write on Monday because I was stuck in a waiting room at the eye clinic all Pday.

Love you forever! Thank you so much for all your support and words of comfort.

Love, Hermana Phillips