Letter sent from Investigator, April 2011

Hi

I just wanted to let you know that I am getting baptized on May 7^th and Aaron is the one doing it for me (as long as I do well on my interview).

He came over to the house for Easter dinner and also yesterday for dinner, he seemed a little off to me, so we had a good talk and he is all good. I cannot tell you home much your son means to me, I really feel that he was sent to our family to help me realize what I need to do for myself.

He is a wonderful young man, he has also helped my ex-husband tremendously just by his words and his strong spirit. I know that you and his mom must miss him so much, but just know that he is doing well and he is doing what Heavenly Father wants him to do. I am very grateful for him. And on a side note he is so excited to get to talk to you guys on Mother’s day.

I just wanted to let you know.

Thanks so much.

Lori

April 27, 2011

Yes, my friends, I know I am getting chubby! I am doing my best to loose weight. I am still working out like a madman, so that is not the problem. There is just too much sitting and eating! I was doing really well and lost 7 pounds and then there was EASTER! Food, food and more food...I think people think we are going hungry even though people tell me I look like I have gained weight, hmmmmm stop giving me dessert every dang meal! Ha ha! We are very blessed, but maybe a little to blessed.

How is everything going? I miss you all and you are all in my prayers. Easter was a great day. I always like pondering the resurrection on a sugar high from all the candy that we got! It was great!

I am thoroughly enjoying my mission. It has been great with ups and downs. I am half way finished with this transfer with the same companion that bothers me, but that is OK. Hopefully, I will get a change soon. We spend most of our days in silence and I spend a lot of time trying to stay un-frustrated and un-bothered. It is good for me and it is my building character.

I had a cool experience with my dad and an investigator that is about to get baptized. I gave her my dad's phone number and told her to call because she was going through similar issues that my dad had before he got baptized. It was so good. She said that he answered a lot of her questions and said that it was so special she ended up crying.

The next day we got to hear a General Authority speak, Elder Zwick. He said that he knows Elder Ringwood (from my home ward) and we talked about him in Spanish. He brought a really good spirit and answered some of the questions that I have had in my prayers It was like a mini-General Conference. The only downside was that we got trapped all day inside. I sat for something like 13 hours and had two sets of meetings. It was rough...my back was killing me!

I love you all! Peace and Blessings!

Elder Phillips

April 20, 2011

Hello Family and Friends,

All is well. This week was a good week. We have been very busy. I don't think I have ever been this tired in my whole entire life! I just want to die every night! It is bad and I am beat but I love it because I know that I am doing all I can when I am this tired!

Monday, we got to go to the re-enactment of Lexington. The shot heard around the world! Since we are so far away, we got up at three in the morning to go and then we went to the temple after. Then we got to go to the Marathon and Patriot's Day. It is a really big deal around here...even in Worcester.

Last week, we got to go to a different church. We were invited by this kid we contacted, so we went. There was a band and the message was really good, but I felt something was missing. It was really different from what I am used to. I could see how people really like it. It makes sense.

Friday, we painted a house and did all these things for a sister in the ward. She is really nice. We like her a lot and have done service for here before. It was fun and she gave me a good compliment. I said a prayer while I was there and she said that was exactly what her family needed. She said thanks for being in tune with the spirit. It was really special to hear that from her.

Saturday, we got to go with an investigator to see this musical concert for the stake. Half of the people in the concert were from the Worcester Ward. It was super cool. I was happy to see how much talent that is in our ward. They are some of the coolest people that I have ever met.

Saturday my dad did a triathalon....well Sunday I did one too! First, I had to translate in Sacrament Meeting. Second, one of the Sunday School teachers didn't show up, so I taught the class. Third, I was in charge of presenting the Ward Mission Plan. I felt important, it was good!

I love you all. Peace and Blessings.

Elder Phillips

April 13, 2011

Doing Service

Blessing the Sick

Hello, my friends!

This has been kinda a rough week. I have been with this companion for a while longer and I just don't like him...straight up! I have been doing good and just ignoring all the things that bother me...but I'm just having a rough couple of days. All is fine and I will get through it.

I love being on my mission. This week was really cool. First of all Sunday was so cool. We found out that one of our favorite members got sick and fainted. She had like heart murmurs or something. It was rough. We went to to the hospital to see her and I gave her a blessing. It was so special. She told me after that we were the answer to her prayers. She had been praying for someone to come and give her a blessing and then we appeared. That is the cool part of being a missionary...being an answer to a prayer or being the tool that God uses to bless peoples' lives. It is just awesome and a really cool experience.

It seems like we weren't missionaries last week because we did so much service. We helped someone move, we worked at the Bishop's storehouse, we went and unloaded trucks, we helped someone cut logs and trees, honestly it felt like we had a job! I have not really had a p-day in a while because I am usually helping someone. It was a weird and funky week.

We have about 20 investigators we are working with. My favorite of all is a mom and a little girl, both speak Spanish. The little girl is the star. She is 11 years old and just touches my heart. She loves the Book of Mormon and reads it often with the members that she lives with. She and her mom both have baptismal dates. We taught her the plan of salvation and this girl started to cry because her father had died. Oh, my gosh! How perfect is the plan of Salvation.

Anyway, opening day against the Yankees is tomorrow! I wish I could go so bad! Go Sox! We will go see the Boston Marathon next week! Pretty cool! I miss living in the city!

I love you all! Peace and Blessings!

Elder Phillips

April 5, 2011

Well, hello! It was General Conference this past week. General Conference is like Christmas for missionaries! I listened to all 5 sessions of conference in spanish alone, because I was the only one in the ward that wanted to listen. I kept the door open so my companion could see me and I just watched. It was fantastical! I loved it so much. My favorite talk was by the fantastic Richard G. Scott. Whenever he talks it is the best because he translates his own talk into spanish which makes the spanish better and it is great to actually hear his voice. I think it is cool that he has maintained his spanish so well...he is my favorite now! I liked how he talked about how his kid came up to him and said, "You are my best friend, dad!" I started to cry because that is how I feel about my dad. He is my best friend and I never told that to him very often but I will now. My dad is my best friend and he is the coolest guy in the whole world. My mom is my best girlfriend in the whole world. They were always my friends first, parents second. I love them!

I couldn't believe all the talks on getting married! They pretty much said to stop messing around after the mission and get married! My plan was to mess around for like 10 years after the mission. I wanted to be Matthew McConahey in "Failure to Launch!" Well, I guess we'll see what happens!

I also enjoyed the doctrinal knowledge from Elder Bednar about the spirit. That was cool. He always makes simple topics very deep.

Anyway, no changes for at least another 6 more weeks. Not even a change in the district. So, yah, God is telling me he wants me to work on being nice because I am not so nice to some of the people in my district and my companion at times. I get really bothered by them at times and very short, rude and sarcastic. So, I need to repent and turn to the Lord and look at them the way the Lord looks at them. It will be my goal. I am pretty happy because me and my companion are actually getting along the best we ever have. We are learning tons from each other and I have come to like him, which is a miracle in itself. I must find a way to be Christlike even though it is very difficult for me.

God thought it would be funny to send a little April fool's joke...it snowed on April Fools Day! Very funny, but I bet He is laughing. I really think that God has a sense of humor because after the winter we had he still sent this little joke!

We had tours this week and I went with the district leader to his area. It was fun and we got to go tracting for 2-3 hours. It was not too bad, but it would get old fast! Then as a reward I got to go eat at the Boylston Deli with my friend Rob. He recently started up work and we don't get to hand out on p-days anymore. So sad! He calls me and talks spanish with me. He is trying to convert all his landscaping crew which are from Guatamala!

We are going to a museum today! Peace and blessing to all!

Love, Elder Phillips