Miracles in the Driest Place on Earth: Bendiciones and a Chilean Halloween

November 2, 2015

Hola,

Today has been a roller coaster of emotions. It started hearing the sound of a ringing cellphone with the caller ID "Mission President". That does not go well with eggs and toast. Good thing it turned out to be nothing, just to ask us what happened the day before with church. It was in a new church building and no one had keys so we started 30 minutes late. Whoops!

Then while eating at a Subway in town, another missionary and I were talking and he told me how he wasn’t feeling so well about the mission, and was thinking about throwing in the towel. Then on the bus home, we saw two less active members who when we saw them starting crying because their grandchild had died of health complications the week before. It made me think of my other investigators this week who got kicked out of their house because they can't find a job, others who can’t get married because they don’t have money, and some members who help us and barely have enough to feed their kids. Another member told us that her husband abandoned her and she has to walk an hour to church because she has no money to call a taxi.

I don’t tell you all this to make you depressed, even though it gets to me on a daily basis. I hear all of these and many more stories of people in real situations and think "I get mad if someone takes a couple of my french fries at lunch or when I step in dog poop and have to clean it off".

How can I forget all the blessings in my life? Money isn’t happiness, but I have a stable home, never have to worry about my next meal, AND I have the gospel of Jesus Christ freely in my life. I have it all! But still I fall in the trap of thinking I deserve more. I think it’s one of the reasons I’m here in the mission, to live the harsh realities of others that happen everyday. They are like sledgehammers to the icy portions of my heart.

Halloween was interesting since it is relatively new here. The other churches say it’s a devil holiday so they hide in their houses until the demons pass by haha. We went over to a family’s house who lived in America, so they know what Halloween is like. Then all the lights in the city cut out for 30 minutes. It must have been the demons.

Everything is awesome,

Elder Phillips