Copa America and the Question of the Week

Hola,

A week before I left on my mission I was deathly ill from the flu, lying in my bed watching The Lord of the Rings.  Well, on Tuesday this week, the sequel happened.  The difference was there was no TV to watch, no warm showers to melt away the aches, and no pampering mom to make me food.  Good thing it was only for two days :P

From now until July 4th it is the American Soccer Cup.  So.... people have been pretty busy with soccer madness. Vive Chile!  Our mission president has allowed us to watch the Chile games with investigators. My companion is to soccer as I am to Disneyland, so he is very excited.

Since the missionary work has been a little on the slow side, we decided to do an activity with the branch called "La obra es dulce (the work is sweet)." We are making appointments with all the members to visit them, share a spiritual thought about missionary work, make cookies, and with them take the treats to their neighbors and friends to see if we can show them a quick video about Jesus and teach them.  The moms seem excited, the dads not so much. We will see how it goes!

Missionaries teach, but we also learn a TON about the gospel, life, and ourselves.  I tend to ponder about things on my 40 minute walks to the church, and lately I have been thinking about the responses people give us when we try to talk to them or teach them.

A super common response they give to us is, “No, I’m good. I think all religions go to the same place because we all believe in the same God, just in different words.”

I used to agree with people, that we do in fact all believe in the same God, but I was wrong.  Maybe all the people who believe in God believe in a superior being, but most of the time that’s where the similarities end.

The God we believe in is a loving Heavenly Father with a body of flesh and bone, only perfected.  He is all knowing; a God of perfect love and justice who has always been the same and will never change.  He loves all of his children, but doesn’t control us or many things in this world because he has given us the ability to choose the path we want to take.  He has also shown us the way back to him through His son, Jesus Christ--who established His church, gave men the authority to act in his name, and through his sacrifice provided a way for us to be perfected and live with our Father again.

He is a god of truth, of innovation, of timing, and one who does everything to help us grow, even if it sometimes means difficult challenges, tears, temporary darkness, and pain.

But many people believe in an easy God, one without a purpose or rules. What does it serve God to put us here on this earth just to let everyone come back and live in heaven? If that were the case, wouldn’t it have been easier just to put all of humanity straight into heaven and skip this whole earth thing?

It’s one of the hardest questions to answer: Who really is God to me, and how do I envision him? In my own life, I want to do the things I need to do so that when the day does come and I am face to face with Him once again, I will recognize and know Him.

And in the meantime I’ll be the gringo who tries to rip people away from their television sets to teach them about the true Heavenly Father we all have.

Everything is awesome,
Elder Phillips

PS: I saw the new Jurassic World trailer and about died of happiness....

Lunch at my Mamitas

The view below

I live on the moon

Alto Hospicio--the city on the hill

Vive Chile!

Alto Hospicio Zone

A baptism we helped with.

Homeless in Chile

Oh, que semana (what a week)!

Wow, so we were living in the house of a member of the church, a nice older couple who make desserts and fried food for a hobby (yum!!)  But our mission president called and needed us to move to an apartment with 4 other elders while our apartment is getting the windows and doors fixed. Currently I am sleeping in a freezing hallway on a broken bunk bed, sharing one bathroom with 5 other elders, and trying to train a new elder in an apartment that is a 30-minute walk from our area. The adventure continues.

About a year ago there was a giant earthquake in this area, so all of the church branches in the city meet in one building.  And the church is growing here--they just made another branch!  So now we have church at 4 pm.  Our sector (area) has also started covering part of the new branch--it takes about 90 minutes to walk from one side to the other.

And we had a wonderful week!  The branch members are great here, which helped all of the stars to align and our baptism was a success! I just met our new convert on Wednesday before his baptism, since I am new to the area--he is a nice and humble man.  A nice lady also showed up to the baptism and then came the next day to church.  Her aunt is a member and she told us, "I just had a feeling to go to church last week. I heard about the baptism so I decided to come.  I felt something move inside of me, moving me to tears when I saw the simple, beautiful service." So during the Sunday classes, we gave her the first lesson and we have a lesson tonight with her at the branch president’s house!  Yeah!

Being a trainer of another missionary is a little overwhelming, especially when he speaks the language well, knows the area better than you, and has different habits from his other trainer.  But he is very excited to learn, and says he likes being with me--always a good sign.

But he didn’t get the greatest first impression of me.  On our first day together we were visiting people, and after my 17 hours of travel, fried food, and lots of walking, my body wasn’t very happy with me.  On our way back to the house, I stopped, excused myself, walked over to a light post in the dirt, and hurled everything my body has ever consumed.  I sat back up, excused myself again and kept walking.  He was very quiet and I felt very awkward.  Best trainer ever!!!

The people of this city struggle with many challenges, and it is home to a large mountain of trash littered with drug paraphernalia and stray dogs looking for food. In contrast, I can see the city below us, which is on the ocean and gorgeous to the eye. But I am reminded wonderful things can happen anywhere, even here in Alto Hospicio, “for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” There are lots of great hearts here :P

Have a wonderful week!

Everything is awesome,
Elder Phillips

A Great Day!

Iquique--the beautiful city below.

My Mamita in Copiapo and her family :)

Hello Alto Hospicio!

Hola,

Well, it was a crazy past two days and the craziness continues.

As we were walking to another appointment last Saturday night, the phone rang: "Call from the mission assistants”.  NOOO!  So, Elder P. is staying in Copiapo and is training a new missionary.  And I am now in the northern part of the mission closer to Peru in a city overlooking another huge city called Iquique, in a place called Alto Hospicio.   I’m also finishing the training of a new missionary, Elder M., from Paraguay. AHHHHHHH.  He’s really cool and excited to be here.

The 17 hour bus ride was definitely a journey--especially since our bus broke down, I got the seat by the stinky bathroom, and the homeless looking guy laying down behind me talked in his sleep, or to himself, I’m not sure...

But I made it!!  And....we don’t have anywhere to live at the moment.  About 3 weeks ago the missionaries’ apartment was robbed, so we are waiting for them to fix the doors and put barbed wire above the wall.  Currently we are living in the small spare room of a member’s house.

Its a little more...interesting here...lots of people wandering the streets and for the first time I have streets in my sector that we aren’t allowed to go on.  This is a real mission haha.

The good news is we have a BAPTISM this Saturday, and I am a little nervous because I am in charge of planning it as the more senior missionary.  Yikes!  And because of the big earthquake here a year ago, 5 branches meet in the same building. We luckily got a 3:30 pm time slot at the church, which is about an hour's walk away from our house.

Life sure takes turns we never expect. But life is 10% of what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.

I’ll try to add more spiritual things next week but my head is spinning at the moment so...I’ll leave you with this:  The church is true.

Everything is awesome,
Elder Phillips

Nothing I can add to this :)

I will miss this guy--he helped us a lot in Copiapo

Alto Hospicio is above, Uquique is below

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