Miracles in the Driest Place on Earth: Changing Times and Seasons

Hola from the land where it freezes in July,

We finally moved into our improved apartment so now I have a warm bed, a semi warm shower, and two rooms with Disney banners on the walls. Who could ask for more? Seriously, when I saw the Disney stuff I laughed. However, I did super enjoy living in the other apartment with 6 elders. Never a dull moment!

As far as the work goes, it’s been a bipolar week. The family we were working with kind of dropped us. My companion called them and they said rather shortly they would "call us". I don’t know why. This is one of the hardest things about the mission. As my brother once told me, "As missionaries we hand our hearts over on a silver platter to watch the people pick it up, look at it for a while, throw it on the ground, and smash it. Then we have to pick up the pieces for the Lord to stitch it back together."

Sometimes I don’t want to give people my heart for this reason. After so much rejection and false hope, it is easier to close myself off. But to find the people who want to change their life forever, I will go through this process many times in my two years. The question I ask myself is--will my heart harden over time or will it become faster and easier to repair it?

We are having some great success with a teenage girl whose mom is returning back to church. We got permission to baptize her in these coming weeks so I will keep you posted. :)

I did hear through the grapevine that same sex marriage was legalized in America and that Donald Trump has been saying some controversial things. News travels even way down here in Chile.

We had a wonderful talk in sacrament meeting from a woman (Hermana) in the ward about the temple. As a member of the church, one must follow certain requirements to enter LDS temples once they have been dedicated. If you follow them, you can obtain a recommend, a little piece of paper with your name on it. It represents your willingness to obey God’s commandments and to make certain covenants with God.

The Hermana said, holding her temple recommend up for all to see, "The difference between immortality (the free gift to live forever given to all of us) and eternal life (to live with God) is this little slip of paper."

I don’t care what the world says, or even what my own mind thinks sometimes. I choose to believe God knows more than me even if according to the world I am stupid, intolerant, and behind the times. I know for myself that God is real, and I believe in his words and those of his prophets. The covenants we make with God in His temples are important.

Tengan una buena semana!! (Have a nice week!)

Everything is awesome,

Viva Chile! Elder Phillips