crazy news to share

Boy, do I have some crazy news to share with the lot of you! So last week my companion and I were planning at the end of the day, and we got a call from the zone leaders. who told Elder Fiala to hand the phone to me, and then proceeded to say hey Elder Phillips, you have been called to be a new district leader, congrats, be at the mission office tomorrow at 9:45 for training...       WHAT!       So ya, i'm sorta nervous right about now, transfers always rock my world, especially when they go and pull crazy stuff on me like this. So what has been concluded that this means is: 1. i'm losing my companion. Probably the scariest part because he's a boss at spanish. Which is number 2. I am most likely going to get a companion that is younger than me, which implies most likely speaks less spanish than me, which means that i'm all we got. That's basically the pressure thats getting to me. I don't mind being called district leader, because both of my previous companions were DL's too, and i"ve seen them my whole mission. it's just the fact that now, I will be responsible completely for the welfare of this area, at least probably this area, who knows. In other news Elder Cottle was called as well to be a district leader AND training! He's probably freaking out a lot too.

Aside from all that though, because one of us here is going to be leaving soon, we have been able to use that excuse and get in with people that are really hard to set stuff up with.

We also had Maria at church yesterday with her son Daniel! Woo Hoo, thats three weeks strait with the first one being the morning after we first talked to her. She's basically prepared out of her mind. We also had a lesson with her after church, and she accepted a baptisimal date! That was super exciting too! Hopefully tonight comes some more good info on the future

That leadership training was a stinkin long day though, friday. We got up like normal, didn't even have time to do personal study, and the elders I was riding with all had new trainer calls, drove an hour and a half to get to Millcreek where the mission office is. Got there at like 9:30. Had the meeting, but my ride wasn't in that one because they weren't going DL, so they went out and got lunch without me, and our meeting ended at like noon. so I went with Elder Cottle to lunch, Mickey dees, and got back just in time for the trainers meeting to start at 1. So then I sat on the couch for 2 hours waiting for the other elders to get out. then they did and by the time we left it was 3:15. hit traffic coming from Seattle. Didn't get home till after 5, waited for my companion to get there, then had a dinner  appointment at 6. So basically it felt like I was just grilled with information, and then didn't do anything ALL DAY!

There you have it, the excitement of my week in a nutshell. Hopefully yours has been great too.

Oh my heck!!! I just got word that i'm leaving Bellingham!!! What the duce! This is all insane. ahhhhhh! I love smacking Bellingham! Son of a corn. Well, don't send me any mail to Bellingham. Just to make sure of that. whelp, see ya next week.

 

 

Love Elder Phillips

 

I loved this week, so great! I apologize for last weeks hurry, that I was in. its because, as seen in some of the pictures that I sent mom... WE WENT MTN BIKING!!! ah man it was so much fun. I mean of course I would have had so much more fun if I wasn't a missionary ha-ha, since there was a couple of things that looked awesome, and not that difficult, but of course, I mean like I can't do it, I like being a missionary too much ha-ha. we went to galbrith mtn, and it has a hug complex of trails, and the one we did was sweet. unfortunately, because we had been running around all morning trying to get other stuff done, we didn't eat any lunch. well, I threw a ramen in the microwave in passing while running to and from, but elder Fiala didn't eat. and all he had for breakfast was like a banana and some toast. so then when we actually went, in the heat, he sort of got wasted really quick and started having some energy/headache/dizziness issues. so it made things really slow, and we didn't get back on time :P but we should have been more prepared.

also like in some of the pictures I sent, we have been helping a member build a boat for some service, its pretty fun, but I don't know how it will turn out, its kind of iffy.

this last weekend though, was a total smack down of awesome. so I told you already about Maria ( who is from Cuba), who came to church last week. well we had another lesson with her and her boyfriend. and she had talked up church so much, and loved it so much, that martin wanted to come this time too! martin, her boyfriend, was raised JW and came to almost all of the first 2 hours of church! so when we were talking in that lesson, she had in line to go to church with her boyfriend, son, friend (April, the reason we found Maria), and another friend she was just inviting! it was like the best member missionary work I’ve ever seen, except she's not a member! hop on that all you folks back home! so she invited all of those people, but only her and her boyfriend came, but hey still way good. and then she even invited us and a member family over to her place for dinner that night! and in the lesson that we had after dinner, she says she thinks she wants to quedar aqui, stay here (in this church)!

another awesome happening from church yesterday, is that when we were waiting for Maria and martin in the English sacrament meeting (because martin doesn't speak Spanish) we saw a family that we haven't seen before, and they looked Hispanic. so we sat behind them, and then after the meeting talked to them, found out they are both active members, he is from Honduras and she is from Mexico. and they just moved into the Bellingham 1st boundaries (which the Spanish group is attached to) not even knowing anything about the group. but they followed us into the Spanish Sunday school anyway, had really good fellowship there. so hopefully they choose to be a part of the Spanish group, because if they did, then we would be one more family, and one more priesthood holder away from making a branch!!!!!!!!!!!!!! which will be so awesome!!! so basically, things are getting exciting. of course, transfers are next week, and I might cry if I get moved right at the brink of some success again. I don't think I will, but I didn't think that last time either and it happened anyway. plus, our new mission president is here ( president and sister Bonham, they are boss!) did I mention that we got to meet them? anyway, now you know, and you should look him up, he has quite the history, quite the resume as well.

anyway, got to go. love you all, wish you the best always!

Love Elder Phillips

Dear Everybody!

I’ll be honest, this last week has been pretty smackin slow. I don't know if I’ve already mentioned about our small little Spanish group or not, but since were so small, none of them could come out with us this week and have member present lessons. That and with the final push before the real start of summer out here, its like no one could see us because all the smackin Hispanics we visit usually work anywhere between 50 and 80 hours a week! Ya that’s right, I said 80. It honestly felt, like nobody was home this week. made our numbers look kind of crappy. Oh well, we set up this next week really good.

As for my B-day! I think thanks is in order for practically the entire world! Thanks you guys so much! Saturday night we celebrated our birthdays which was really fun. We both had presents too! So it wasn't like just someone chilling waiting for the other to open presents ha-ha. On Elder Filia’s birthday on Saturday the zone leaders took us to get some ice cream at cold stone, I love ice cream, and then also we had a dinner with a member, SO GOOD! Then we opened presents that night, had a blast. then on Sunday, we had a great time at church, which included a shout out from the pulpit to us as well as a ton of extra chocolate that they didn't give to the fathers ha-ha( HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!) eh yesterday ha-ha and I got to play the piano for sacrament as a last minute sub because some people couldn't make it. Lets just say I need to toss some WD40 in my finger joints or something, cuz that was scarier than I remember ha-ha. Then after church we ate some cake and ice cream that the Spanish group had brought/made for us and then after that we left to go see some people, which was probably one of the best parts of the day! Because we were finally able to get in with this guy who we’ve been trying to see for the last like 3 months! He’s so hard to get in with though because he gets up at 4:30 to go to work. Gets home at 5 in the evening, then showers and takes off for school that starts at 6. Reasonably when he gets home he eats and then passes out on the bed and he works 7 days a week! So really hard to get in with is what I’m saying here. But we found him outside grilling with his son (a recent convert 12 yrs old) so we had a great lesson where we could feel the guidance of the spirit. Wonderful! I hope with summer coming up and him out of school, things start rolling. Anyway after that we had another member dinner on my birthday, super yummy as well. So I guess even though this week didn't turn out like we had wanted it to, we really did end it this weekend with quite the bang ha-ha.

So how was everybody’s fathers day? Anything exciting going on? Well, hopefully it sparks the beginning of a fantastic week for you guys. Love you so much and always wish the best for you!

Love Elder Phillips

Dear family, June 10, 2013

This week has been crazy folks, always is. This week has been soo good! Numbers wise it has been the best week we have had in Bellingham. Wanted to share a quick bit. I don't know if I told y’all before, but a few weeks ago our Mission Pres told us that we don't make goals of 0. Even on baptisms for the week if we don't have anyone on deck. Because we never know what plan the Lord has or if someone is going to move into our area already to take a splash. Saturday night, we had been working all week trying to hit the standards for the mission, and the only thing left that we needed was to get 2 investigators to church. We already had one of them locked in because his son was getting blessed, so he was going to be there. Anyway we were looking at what we had on our plans for Sunday, and it was suggested that we make a goal of 0 for lessons with a member present, because we had tons of meetings and no where in our plans could a member from our little Spanish group accompany us to a lesson. But then I said no, remember we don't make goals of 0, our act of faith is going to be that we have a goal of 1 lesson with a member present, so we put it down. The next day we had studies and ward council. Then right before church we had a lesson at noon. So we skipped lunch to head up there. They flaked us, really annoying. But we were already 20 minutes from home and really close to the church, so we started doing some work in the area for the next half hour. Nothing. Then we get to church at 1, and Miguel was there looking so fresh! We had no other investigators there, even though 3 others said they would. So we did not hit standards this week. A feat which hasn't been done in this area for at least 8 months. So smackin’ close! Just come to church! Well, after church we had a couple people set up in Custer, even farther from home. They flaked us! So smackin’ annoying, so we tried a few people for the next hour and a half. Nothing. So now its 5:40, we’re starving our corn off and a bit frustrated at the moment with flakey people. Then we were looking at our plans, and we didn't have a member dinner, and it was Sunday so we can't stop anyplace, and home is 20 minutes or more away. After a little bit of weighing the options, we decided to head back home. And then as we turned on the car we got a text from Bro. Quintanilla: “hey guys we wanted to know if you'd like to come over for dinner at our house around 6? Miguel is going to be here too.” The Lord extended his arm in our time of need by the means of this brother in our ward. Who lived not 2 minutes from where we were, to give us some food. AND! They had invited Miguel and his family. AND! ANOTHER one of our investigator families ( the Torres-duce family) was there! Thus giving us the means to reach our goal of getting a lesson with a member present, and not only that, but the means to teach 3 investigators. With 5 members present (numbers excluding kids), AND give us an abundance of food that was for sure not going to be found at our apartment by any means. It was wonderful indeed to see the hand of the Lord in our work. That and the BBQ was DELICOUS! Chicken breasts, rice, beans, hot dogs wrapped in bacon, chips, soda, tons of desert! Ten fold what we could have dreamed was at the apartment. So basically, yeah. Good stuff.

We were hoping that this coming weekend would be fruitful for us in the baptism area. Since Saturday is Elder Fiala’s b-day and Sunday is mine. Baptism by water on his, baptism by fire after church on mine. However, none of our investigators are ready and have not been to church enough times for it to happen, but hey, I mean there’s always hope right.

On Saturday we had a Spanish group activity playing futbol out in the field by the church building again. I LOVE FUTBOL! that was the second time that we played soccer here, and fortunately we weren't nearly as sore as we were from the first time.

Also, after transfers our districts got a ton smaller, like cut in half, because they added a new district to our area, which is nice I guess so that Elder Fiala doesn't have to account with so many on Sunday nights. It’s just a bit different having only six people there.

Thanks for all the early b-day wishes everyone has sent me, the mail has been doing well between my companion and my birthdays back to back this weekend, its really nice; real nice. ha-ha.


Love Elder Phillips

Holy smokes what a crazy week! I know that gets said all the time, but still! So last Monday, right after I got done writing my last letter. We went to play basketball with the YSA ward and the zone leaders. Did that for like an hour. Then we stayed there because it was district p day and we were going to make some home made ice cream. While it was going we were playing volleyball, but just like at home it wasn't working so well with the ice cream. So we left it in there for like another 2 hours as we continued to play volleyball, basketball and Frisbee. Then when we got home after eating that slushee, we basically passed out on the bed, and woke up 15 min before we had an appointment. We got dressed really fast and booked it over there. they flaked us, so we did some work in the area for like an hour. THEN! We went over to the church where the Spanish group was having an activity. So basically what I’m saying is we went over there and played soccer with them and the non members they brought. SO MUCH FUN!!!! For 2 HOURS. It was so much stinking fun, but my legs have seen better days fitness wise, and I couldn't really even walk once we stopped playing. ha-ha and not to mention my companion, who hasn't had a lifetime of soccer to give his legs any preparation! Lets just say the next morning we didn't go to the gym ha-ha and we might have looked more or less like penguins walking around. Heck we were so sore!

We also had a lesson with Moises this last week and we brought Bro Chavez with us; it was really, really crazy. So Moises brought up a couple concerns with the Book of Mormon, and also about Eternal Marriage ( because of what it says in Matt 22 I think about the lady and the 7 brothers) but then he wouldn't let us build the foundation to give him a straight answer, and every time we said anything about the BOM he would say “well I can't just choose that over the Bible,” were like you don't have to, they compliment each other, then he would say “no they don't, if they did then they would agree on eternal marriage“. So frustrating, and since we had Bro Chavez there, he has been on a mission as well and knows the scriptures like crazy, he and Moises were just like flying in espanon and the scriptures like crazy and I couldn't barely even keep up in the conversation, let alone know where their references were coming from, or add any comments. I felt really dumb after that lesson because I basically just sat there the whole time while these two were going at it, and in the end we didn't even get anywhere, so annoying.

Saturday we went out into the farmland of Custer on a couple referrals and it was crazy how nice those people were! It’s like they hadn't already been talked to by a million Spanish Missionaries before (like some of the other places here) and they were way chill, pretty nice for a change.

Letters from my friends at Desert Hills High School

In St. George.  Love You Guys!

Slightly Frustrated

This week has been quite a ride, but I was thinking that I would get the small bad, or unfortunate, news out first. However, it comes in the story form like always so bear with me. So, first off... I don't know if people knew this already, but John Schmidt’s son, Elder Schmidt, is a missionary in this mission. Second, John Schmidt himself had 2 sold out concerts this weekend in Seattle; and since he’s a bro, he offered to our Mission Pres to hold a fireside with our mission. Our President agreed, and told us about this fireside on the basis that we had to bring an investigator or less active member; and you had to get a ride, we couldn't drive the cars out of area. So of course I’m like inviting the whole world right?! But it was Memorial Day weekend and so many people could not make it. But we were able to get Pablo and Chica (Chica is our investigator, and Pablo has been excommunicated) to come, but they only had room for us in their car with them. So then we continue to try and find people to come, and the other Spanish Elders in our stake were finding a couple people too.  Their investigator didn't want to ride alone, so all said n done some changes were made and those Elders and Pablo and Chica were all riding with Carlos. Then on top of that, the other people that we thought were going to come with us, bailed on us. So basically what I’m saying is, my companion and I did not go to this sweet fireside. You could say I was slightly frustrated.


Elder Phillips 

Stinkin' Crazy Week!

Man it has been one stinkin crazy week.
Let me tell you about it.
It starts like this; the day after p-day, Tuesday, we had a small issue. Elder Rayburn got sent to the hospital. See now, my companion in the district leader so he's the one that has to do what he can to take care of it.
So we were driving back from a zone conference that we had ( that Elder Caruso and Rayburn missed, obviously, but it was super good btw) and we get this call from Sister Wilson telling us that we have to go over and bring some stuff to them in the hospital.
So we head that way, and show up at the hospital room and President and Sister Wilson are already there talking to Elder Rayburn about what’s gonna go down and what not. We walk in and they tell us that Elder Caruso is going to go with us while Elder Rayburn is in the hospital.
Soooo, ya I’ve been in a 3-pack all week! Its actually been pretty fun, I mean Elder Caruso is super cool, but our place has been a mess!

So now all of a sudden we have to go to all of Elder Caruso’s teaching appointments, which I mean was fine for the most part, we even got to teach one of his investigators who got baptized yesterday, so I mean like technically I could like chalk that one up for me as well. ha-ha.  Also with Elder Caruso's people, there was this one guy who got baptized like a couple weeks ago, and he had been dating this lady in the ward. Alrighty, so here comes the weird part. They’ve basically been dating for like a month, and then all of a sudden they were engaged, and they wanted Elder Rayburn to be a witness at the marriage! Soooo, ya we held a wedding in Elder Rayburn’s hospital room.
I gave Elder Rayburn the extra tie in my backpack and he wore it over his hospital gown laying in his bed during this whole thing.
So then it was Sunday, and we have two different church buildings and wards to be at, at the same time! Not to mention that the baptism that morning was at the same time as our ward council. So we went on like a million different splits to get all of these things done; we were running around all over the place trying to be everywhere at once, which couldn't happen. But we did it!
Then after dinner we went over to see Elder Rayburn real quick, and he was looking a ton better, said he felt pretty good too, I guess some of the new medicine they had tried on him worked. 
Then randomly this morning we get a call from the hospital and it was Elder Rayburn saying he’s getting released in an hour and a half.
So, hopefully your week hasn't been quite the craziness that it has been here, but I wish ya the best none the less!
Have a great one this week!