Hola, the bottom of the earth says hello!
We had a sweet baptism of an 11-year-old girl who due to family circumstances could now get baptized. She is a family member of the family we baptized a month ago and everyone was happy to finally see the day come. That same day we went to a wedding reception of a young couple I helped teach a month ago. FOOD and wedding cuteness. Good day.
There are lots of people in the 20 apartment buildings we have in the area; sometimes we spend the whole day going from one to another! I feel like much of my time is dedicated to going from apartment to apartment trying to solve people's problems ranging from drugs, smoking, depression, little rascals running around, no answers to prayers, fear of going to church, exhaustion from working in the mine, and more recently a family whose parents as kids were living on the street begging for food at age 12 but somehow now they have a house and 3 healthy kids. My mind and soul are stretched and twisted everyday trying to help find answers to all of these needs.
It’s been fun reading my journal entries from exactly one year ago. I whined a lot—haha--and I guess I really didn’t like Spanish when I first started out—it was hard for me. Wonder what I will say of my current self in one year. It’s one reason I write in my journal, to see if I’m really making progress in life.
As missionaries, we have little (or zero) downtime, but while filling up the baptismal font I recently found a good 20 minutes of thinking time. In the tranquility of the freshly swept corridor my eyes fixated on the giant framed painting of Jesus Christ visiting the Americas. That perfect circumstance allowed me time to offer a prayer to reconfirm what I already know is true, the Book of Mormon. I felt a warm growing presence filling my heart reaching across the dark, doubting crevices of my chest.
My question has always been, is there really a God? But now I have changed my question. Do I have a spirit or soul? That is easier to answer because when I listen to music, when I read the scriptures, when I sin, and when I receive answers to prayers like my experience this week, I feel something more than a body with flesh and bones. There is something alive and sensitive in all of us. Really, it is the essence of us--who we are. So if we have a spirit, who created it? God. So now for me in this way, it’s easy for me to answer the first question.
Have a great week!
Everything is awesome,
Elder Phillips
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| Nice View! |
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| Selfie in the font |
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| The Family! Great day |
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| Wedding treats! |
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| The Cute Couple |
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| My companion and I enjoying the food table |
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