To Eternity and Beyond--Chile here I come!

Hola familia y amigos!

This is my last email from the CCM! Just got my flight info—I am leaving on Monday afternoon and arriving in Antofagasta on Tuesday afternoon...how fun! I will probably be pretty tired by the time we arrive. Hopefully we don’t go out the first day visiting with people door to door, I will definitely fall unconscious on some poor Chilean while I attempt to give them a Book of Mormon haha.

We heard a great story about the first day of the mission during one of our classes. Whether it is true or not, it doesn't really matter. An elder was on the bus going to his first area in South America when he saw a lady he wanted to talk to, but all he could say in Spanish was ¨Jesucristo Jesucristo¨. So he pulled out the Book of Mormon and said those words. He found out where she lived--a house with a red sign. The senior companion thought it was dumb to go find her since he was sure she didn’t understand what the new elder was even talking about. But he convinced the older elder to come. They wandered around seeing multiple houses with red signs. Every time they came up to a red-signed house, the new elder would say ´´nope, that’s not it´´, until he finally saw a particular house with a red sign and said, ´´this is the one.´´ They knocked on the door and there she was. A few weeks later she was baptized.

So though I may not speak their words well yet, I can speak words of love. If I can pour out my love for them and rely on the power of our Savior to touch their hearts, I can change someone’s life just by uttering his name. But I will still work hard to learn the language! :)

Since I am so close to leaving the CCM, I have been thinking about the purpose of missionary training centers—why they even exist. My conclusion is that the CCM, MTC, whatever you call it, exists to build and strengthen the missionary, blasting them with the spirit, pounding positive experiences into their confidence, and then teaching them obedience--all in a structured environment, so when they get to the field, they will have progressed in their own conversion process. You CAN’T convert others to this gospel if you yourself do not have the strength of your own testimony—it would be like the new iPhone that bends from just a little bit of pressure (at least that is what I have been told). No, you need to be like the Nokia phone, INDESTRUCTIBLE against evil.

Don’t get me wrong, I doubt things sometimes, but I have worked hard to make my testimony strong enough to stand firm against those dark forces that try to penetrate these castle walls. Did that sound a little like Harry Potter? haha

Well, this is it. Talk to you guys from Chile!! Here comes the fun!!

Everything is awesome,

Elder Phillips




Famous map pointing picture






Ready or not, these Elders are on their way!