Miracles in the Driest Place on Earth: Week #2 in the CCM--Everything is Awesome!

Hola family and friends!

Thank you so much for your kind emails. I look forward to them every week. The guys in my district are all super nice and positive. We are lucky that we get along well.

General Conference (bi-annual televised meetings of the Church with many speakers) at the CCM was awesome! Everyone was right in telling me that the first time you really pay attention to conference is on the mission. Granted, it’s easier to focus when you are sitting upright in a chair, not in pajamas, and you are constantly taking notes. But maybe the reason we all love conference on the mission so much is because it is the first time we desperately NEED the words from living prophets.

I loved a lot of the talks from conference but I won’t bore you with the details since I know you already watched it. I just want to tell you how amazing it felt here. When they spoke, I could literally see truth escaping their lips. When men of the world speak, they speak to the mind. When men of God speak, their words shoot light into our hearts. What a wonderful thing it is to have such Christ-like and experienced men helping run the Church.

One thing I love about the CCM is every hallway has pictures lining the walls from missionaries out in the field who went to the CCM. There are pictures of them with the families they are teaching, baptizing, and taking to the temple. Their faces glow with joy from the work. It makes it easier to work hard when you are constantly reminded of what miracles you are about to witness in 4 weeks.

4 WEEKS! THAT’S CRAZY! It’s ok if I completely fail at a lesson here because it is training--there are no lasting consequences. But out in the field, it will be real people with REAL questions and problems! Good thing it’s not all up to me. When my words fail, the spirit will help me make sense J

Singing is helping me get through a lot. I already have the reputation as the Elder who can quote/sing a myriad of musicals--the whole Sound of Music, Tangled, Frozen, Wicked, etc. My companion Elder Swain says I am rubbing off on him. Good. Mission accomplished. My district says I should go into voice acting. I will keep that in mind J

Food: Before I left, I received a blessing. In it I was blessed that my stomach would be able to digest the food. I’ve been blessed! I can now eat ALL of the food here--and like it! (Austin has never liked Mexican food much, so this is good to hear) Maybe I will even get fat...or at least normal looking. Thank you Aunt Christy and Uncle Marty for the Krispy Kreme Donuts!!

I’ll tell the truth, it’s still hard here sometimes. Fatigue + frustration + stress+ self doubt + homesickness = some challenging moments for Elder Phillips. But they are just moments (maybe minutes), not the majority. I wouldn’t be doing this unless I was certain I knew all of this was true.

Love you and pray for you always.

Everything is awesome,
Elder Phillips