Caterpillar Days

Hola famila y amigos,

As missionaries we set daily goals to help us be more effective--goals such as how many lessons we will teach, referrals, new people to teach.  This week there were a couple of what I call "caterpillar days" where all your numbers for the day turn out to be 0 0 0 0 0 0 which if you draw a little legs and cute face it looks like a caterpillar! And feels like one too :) But as I am a third of the way done with my mission...yes it is true--I am able to handle those days when nothing happens, even when you are trying everything you can think of to have something happen.

Despite the menacing insects invading my agenda, we did have an interesting week.

On Tuesday, we went to lunch at our mamita’s house like we always do but as we entered the house, a 7 foot white man jumped out and attacked us with hugs. It turned out to be my first zone leader, Elder P., visiting the mission with his parents.  It was so good to talk to him and his parents about what he is doing with his life—like his girlfriend and all the fun things he is doing... But can I say TRUNKIE ATTACK?  After lunch my companion and I just sat there in our apartment stunned by it all. I got over it though. Some day I will be able to watch my mom and dad eat Chilean food and attempt to speak Spanish :P  BUT THAT DAY IS NOT TODAY and that’s ok!!!

We met with various people this week who all seem to have problem with drugs and alcohol. Their lives are completely controlled by these substances that everyone told me in high school "weren’t bad and had no lasting consequences".  I beg to differ. As they tell me, "I only was going to try it once but now I have to sleep every night in jail and demons haunt my house".  It makes me glad that I listened to my parents when they told me not to try things even once—it’s not worth it!

Yesterday we were looking for less active members to teach.  We knocked on a house but couldn’t really see inside since the power in the city had been cut off. A woman’s voice told us to come in. I couldn’t see much but I could tell she was very glad to see us.  We talked with her family and her a little bit before she explained that she was a very active member for many years but had fallen away.  A few days ago she was praying for a way to come back to church.  The next day a missionary in a taxi gave her a Book of Mormon and two day later we showed up at her door!

After 8 months, this is the first experience like that for me--where I really felt like an answer to someone’s prayer. And she was an answer to mine because 20 minutes before that, I prayed that we could find someone, anyone that would listen and let us sit down.  Yeah!!

Ward conference was good, 137 people! I sang a solo in the choir and fell asleep on the stand :)

Have a great week!  And don’t tell me anything about the new Beauty and the Beast movie with Emma Watson.  Talk about distractions haha

Everything is awesome,
Elder Phillips

We are short or he is tall :)

Broken and Prepared Hearts

Hola,

This week we had interviews with the Mission President, a somewhat rare occurrence since my mission is about the size of California.  This time I came with questions--one of them being, “How can I be happy even when things are so difficult sometimes?"  His answer was simple, but as he said it, it seemed as if the room brightened and I felt warm inside: "When you live your life in such a way that you certainly have the smiling approval of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, how is it possible to be sad? The way to have that satisfaction is to live a consecrated life, where you have no fear to give up whatever might be asked of you."

We’ve been seeing lots of miracles the more I try to not just follow rules and work hard, but also to try to want to do those things (a much harder task).

 As we were walking one day, we talked with a man washing his car, who after 30 seconds told us to come in to talk with him and his wife.  Their 30-year-old son had recently died of cancer and they were looking for answers in their lives.  Their TV in the living room didn’t work so we went into the room where their son died to watch on his TV a short video how Jesus has impacted our life called, "Because of Him".

Standing together watching the words, "The tomb has no victory, we will all live again" was just so powerful.  We passed by later with a member to teach the Plan of Salvation, to tell them that their son is in a place called the spirit world waiting for the resurrection—and that he is being taught the same things we were teaching them now.  The member talked about how they need to fight for their family so one day they can all be together.  The big, tough Chilean man broke down with so many tears that his glasses slipped off his nose.

It was a very tender moment.  I realized many people go through this life not thinking about what happens after we die. Not thinking until something happens to make them question everything. I’m glad to be one who can give real, hopeful answers to their breaking hearts.

Our investigator family had some progress this week.  After much struggle and a change in work schedule meaning we can only visit them twice a month, we finally committed them to read the Book of Mormon and pray.  They were scared to do it, maybe because they already know what their answer will be (that it's the word of God just like the Bible! :P)

My new companion is the bomb and we get along great.  He did mention I sometimes talk to myself....I've heard its a sign of intelligence. But there is a fine line between smart and crazy :)

Have a great week.  I might have to take an Advil after this because this cyber cafe where I send my emails is full of screaming children playing Call of Duty :O

Everything is awesome,
Elder Austin Phillips

Random Chilean Statue 

Lunch!

In Honor of Mother's Day

Hola,

Not a usual week in the land of shifting dirt.  On Wednesday morning, Elder S. received a surprise call from the leaders for a special transfer that night.  We went around to all the people he knew so he could say goodbye and off he went.  My new companion, Elder P., arrived at 3 am on Thursday morning with the zone leaders.  They knocked on the door; I fell out of bed, opened the door, mumbled something, went back to bed, and woke up with a new companion on the bunk above me. It was a surreal arrival, but he´s great.  This will be his last area before he goes home.

Since I am still new to this area, we have done a lot of walking the last few days mapping things out and even got a little lost.  We went to one of the old investigators Elder S. taught and his sister´s boyfriend was there.  He’s a big guy from Columbia who had secretly been listening to the conversations whenever the old missionaries came over.  We taught him about baptism and he accepted.  He and his girlfriend came to church the next day and we have another appointment with him.  Awesome!

Well, I have to admit the food here is pretty repetitive--beans, noodles, boiled hotdogs, soup with rice, and bread.  I’m not complaining that I don’t have to eat eyeballs and such, but on Saturday the member feeding us lunch made a GIANT meat pizza!!!!  It was such a monumental event in our food situation that we all took selfies with it haha

As for the Mother´s Day call, it was great!  You kind of forget what your family’s voices sound like after 5 months.  It doesn’t feel like much time has passed since we talked at Christmas, but so much has happened.  It was bittersweet to hang up.  But I know we are sealed as a family for all eternity because of the blessings of the temple, so they never feel too far away :)

In honor of Mother’s Day, thank you to all of you who have been a mother in some way or another for me in my lifetime.  And thank you mom for your kindness and your ability to reach into my heart like no one else can.

The love of my family and friends makes every tear shed worth the price.  At least for me, it’s not easy being a missionary sometimes.  There are moments when it feels like you are the only one in the world--that the night will never end.  There´s stress, disappointment, constant exhaustion, and the occasional leaky eye.

But it was rarely easy for our Savior. He really knows what its like to be utterly abandoned and chewed out by people.  He was somehow able to find joy everyday despite opposition, so we can too.  Being a missionary has also shown me how to find the greatest joys in life, even when sometimes it takes some digging around to find them.

Everything is awesome,

Elder Phillips

Happy Mother's Day!

Giant Pizza=Happy Missionaries!

Teach the Children How to Clean the Kitchen, or This is What Happens :)

A Penny for Your Thoughts

Happy Star Wars day—may the fourth be with you!

A little disappointing this week as far as investigators go.  Our family who I love to death is having a hard time, and the 16 old daughter who we were getting ready for baptism decided to wait until she is 18 to make her decision.  And our other investigators...well, we don’t have any others right now.

But on the bright side some members have been giving us references, so we have lessons this week with some new people!!

We went to the feria, kind of like a giant garage sale stretching down many streets, to promote the church’s #BecauseHelives campaign. Sometimes as a missionary, I feel like a giant walking piece of honey that attracts all the lost and disoriented bees—which is fine, it just never happened to me before. Maybe it’s because I look happy and approachable—I smile a lot when I can’t understand words or think of the right ones to say lol.  I was able to talk to one regular lady who didn’t believe in Christ but thought it was intriguing that I could have enough faith in Him to come down here for 2 years.  And for entertainment two women got into a fistfight right in front of us.  I think they were arguing over the price of some shish kabobs.

We were excited for our ward activity on Friday, Si no sabe, ¡baile! (If you don’t know, dance) where you were asked a question and if you didn’t know...you had to dance.  Unfortunately the activity wasn’t advertised well and not many people came—so I had to dance.  I REALLY was hoping that video would never see the light of day.... but members told me they put it on Facebook already. Que vergüenza.

In one of my reflection moments (you have a lot on your mission), I thought, "If someone came right now and did some Harry Potter magic, pulling out my thoughts, what would they be worth?"  Like the saying, “a penny for your thoughts”  Or would my thoughts be worth more than a penny? I hope so!  Everything in our life starts with what we think about--our view of the world, other people, even what we think of ourselves.  If our purpose on earth is to love and serve others like Christ did and we aren’t thinking happy things--how can we expect to be that kind of person?

And as a famous song says, "You’ve gotta have a dream if you want a dream to come true!" Many people here and all over the world lack purpose because they have nothing to fight for.  They don’t realize the fight between good and evil continues to wage on.  And if we stand on the wayside, that is where all the flying debris hits.

Have a great week!  I’m excited for Mother's Day (I get to skype with the family) :P

Everything is awesome,
Elder Phillips

Speak The Truth, Even If Your Voice Shakes

"Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes"

I might have shared this quote before but it explains how this week of teaching felt.

There is a returned missionary in our ward who just got back from Provo, Utah. He is so much fun because he randomly says things in English. I hope I can do the same with Spanish some day!

This life is like a race. If we run super fast for 80 meters in a 100-meter dash, but stop 20 meters short, we won’t get the prize.  We visited with a family who had been members for 35 years, but when they got promotions at their jobs they stopped going to church because they already "knew it all".  They sat there arguing with us about attending church, saying the church only sees us as statistics or numbers anyway.

As I listened to them I realized the only thing I could do was testify why I went to church.  Even though I was a little intimidated by the family who "knew everything", I told them the most important reason I go to church is because I need a constant remission of my faults, mistakes, and sins only made possible through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  We obtain this cleansing when we partake of the sacrament--weekly repenting of our sins and renewing our covenants with God.

Though it was a little out of character for me, it felt right to tell them they had forgotten God, and at the current moment no longer had a remission of their sins. They did not “know everything” because they had forgotten the reason why this church exists. If they were to die at that moment, they would not be counted among those who fought to the end—they had stopped 20 meters short of the finish line.

My voice shook, my Spanish stumbled, but I felt a power beyond my own. The room was silent and their faces changed.  I spoke out of love for them but told them the truth.

I don’t tell you this to show how cool I think I am. I’m just a 19-year-old band boy :)  I tell you because I wish I had spoken the truth earlier in my life.  When opportunities came my way in school and other situations why didn’t I speak up for what I felt inside?

I’ve realized this is not the time in our world to be wishy-washy.  The opposing voices are too strong for that.  We don’t need to be louder, only more powerful. When we speak what we feel, we will be joined with the voices of heaven.

Thank you for your thoughts and kind support!  I’m glad to be here--even when I feel the need to speak the truth in broken Spanish with a shaking voice.

"We ought to live life sacrificing, singing, and dancing" -Plato

Everything is awesome,

Elder Phillips :P

Didn't know freezers could ice over #missionaryproblems

Slowly Getting Back to Missionary Normal

April 20, 2015

Hola!

Transfer Day--no changes here, all four of us missionaries are staying.  Maybe this transfer we can actually be missionaries!  My sector is normalizing.  We finally had all three hours of church!  The city will take a while to clean up, but my life is returning back to missionary normal.

This experience has taught me to: 1. Listen to the Prophet’s counsel. Many people have to leave their houses in the middle of the night. If you didn’t have a emergency backpack, well, tough luck. 2. Material things don’t matter.  People lost everything, but it made them kinder to each other.  It’s like literally watching the pride cycle in the Book of Mormon!

On Tuesday the two zones got together to dig out one of the chapels downtown.  It’s incredible what you can do with 30 missionaries.  The zone leaders told us the next day we could buy rubber boots and they would reimburse us. Thanks for telling me now!! My tennis shoes would have appreciated knowing that 3 weeks ago :P

I’m happy to be in the driest, flooding mission in the world!  It might not be pretty or easy, but I love what it’s doing to me.

The family we were reactivating moved to Antofagasta (6 hours away) for a job opportunity.  We went over to their house to say goodbye.  They thanked us for our service, that their young little family can go to the temple next year to become an eternal family.  Well, it wasn’t a baptism, but I did help them see the light of the gospel again.  This was the returned missionary father who my first week here sat next to me at stake conference crying. He knew what he had been missing.  It’s been very fulfilling to work with them.

On Thursday there was a conference with Elder Oaks, one of our church leaders, for all of Chile.  The two zones got together in a chapel to watch the live broadcast...but there was no signal.  So someone at the actual conference used their cell phone to let us hear in Copiapó. For two hours I listened to an unrecognizable, muffled voice with occasional laughter through a cell phone.

But we got together the next day to see it, and after two hours they finally got a connection working. Yeah!  Elder Oaks said this year our church is going to focus a lot more on the importance of the Sabbath day, one of the biggest problems here in South America.  In a broader perspective, this whole church and life in general, he said, is based on commitments we make with each other and God.  If our investigators can’t learn how to keep the commitments we as missionaries ask them to do (read the Book of Mormon, go to church, pray) how can they be ready to make an eternal promise with Heavenly Father to always follow him?

I’m thankful I have the liberty to choose; no one can force us to be good or bad.  We create our own lives. I hope mine is worth making! :P

Have a great week. We have a promising week with appointments just around the river bend.  Love you all!


April 13, 2015 (Last Week)

Hola familia y amigos

The rains came down and the floods came up.  But now the floods are drying away so the normal routine of life begins.

Except on Tuesday and Thursday we went to Piopóte, the part of the city that was hit the worst.  One of the member´s mom lives over there so the bishop asked if we could take the 25 min trek over to dig out her house.  I’ve never seen so much mud in my life!!  Trudging through the knee-deep mud, sunken cars, and trash, we made it to the house.  For 4 hours we slopped the mud from the bedrooms and kitchen to the patio where we added it to the stinking pool of trash and mud on the streets.  It was such a relief to finally touch cement floor after we had finished.

I had to get a shot from a truck just outside the swamp (don’t worry mom, it was a legit medical truck).  They asked me all these questions in Spanish I didn’t know how to answer.  They ending up giving me the shot anyway with everyone staring at me like, who is this weird white kid?  It was one of those, yep, this would be easier in English moments. But its part of the adventure!!

Finally we were able to go out and do normal missionary work. The bad thing is a lot of people are leaving the city due to contamination in the air, especially for the little kids.  Our pool of people to teach has shrunken dramatically.  Ahhhh....well, we keep moving forward.

Everything is awesome,
Elder Phillips

Before the Church Dig Out

Notice how deep the trenches are!

Dirt and more Dirt!

These pants will need some soaking!

Cleaned up

Our Kitchen :)

My Version of the Disney Jungle Cruise

Monday April 6, 2015

Hola!

Hope you enjoyed your Easter! Mine was probably a little different than yours, unless you spent it in rivers of mud and dust clouds--then it would be very similar to mine.

We weren't able to do normal missionary work again this whole week due to the flooding, which now is now a stinky layer of mud covering all of downtown, and dust up where we are (explaining the gangsta mask pic).  That would be all fine and and dandy if the mud didn’t mix with the overflowing sewer waters making for a very stinky Copiapò.  It sure has been an adventure! Might need to buy new shoes after this haha :P

On Wednesday we went to downtown to help a lady dig out her house, a 4-hour process.  Standing in the bed of a truck being splashed by passing cars in the rivers once called streets, watching the water lap up on the muddy shores of people's porches, I couldn’t help feel like I was on Disney's Jungle Cruise! Don't judge me, anyone who knows me understands I just can't help loving Disneyland.

Speaking of Disneyland, we were allowed to go to member’s houses to watch general conference (a bi-annual meeting for our whole church on TV). We walked in the house and BAM, there it was--a giant poster of California Screamin ( a mickey mouse roller coaster) from California Adventure.  I freaked out.  I asked the man where he got it and all he said was, "I bought it cause it looked cool."

Even though watching conference in Spanish was a little harder than watching it in English, it was wonderful anyways. Found it interesting how many talks were focused on marriage and family.  And it got really interesting when the Spanish translator started DYING or something during the talk--coughing and gagging.  There was silence until a new voice came on 30 seconds later.  Hope that guy is ok.

I’m eternally grateful for a family who loves me.  I’m glad that in a world so messed up with values, I have my head on straight. I'm grateful for this chance to really develop into the person I want to be for the rest of my life--a disciple of Christ—which is the most important thing I can do with my life. I am also thankful for the opportunity to share this knowledge with others.  And most importantly, I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice he made for all of us.

Enjoy your Easter leftovers!  I will be eating ramen with mayo, ketchup and chlorinated water.  The mission is so weird it ROCKS! :P

Everything is awesome,
Elder Phillips

My "Gangsta" mask

The Disney Picture!

The Jungle Cruise