Adjusting to the Mission..

Hey!

Well, it’s been another long hard hard hard week. We basically have to knock doors and find people all day every day, because our area was dead before we came here. It is really cool and i am already noticing the blessings that i receive from working hard and especially being obedient.

We have 4 new investigators now! That is really exciting because two of them already want to be baptized and we only met them this week. I have already learned that hard work pays off. However, I am always tired and always hungry hahaha but what’s new right?

I have also learned that while out on a mission, a lot of people get depressed. it is pretty hard getting rejected so much and like i said before, some people are just mean. But my trainer has showed me the way to stay happy. haha really, all they have to do is work harder. So i feel bad when i see sad missionaries, because they just won’t give up the world and immerse their selves in Christ's work. I read a talk on "Consecrated Missionaries" That is what i am trying to be and i am thankful for all of the support you guys are giving me:) it is hard though but completely worth it. There are tons of people who really need a Savior here in St. Louis. A lot of them just don’t know it yet.

This past week, because my companion is the District Leader, I got to go on exchanges, and i will probably every week. But I was with an Elder Bean who looks like the dorky guy off of the Best Two Years movie. Anyway, we went "Sing Tracting", where you knock doors and instead of offering a message about the restoration or Jesus Christ, You offer to sing them a song. It is so fun and people just love it. So many people invited us in and they still rejected our message, but we planted that seed. It was great.

Also, just yesterday, we were walking to a dinner appointment, that happened to be way farther than we thought it would be, when we knocked a door and a devout Lutheran man came out and tried to "bash" us. Now, I have nothing against Lutherans and they are usually very nice, but he really just didn’t know his stuff and by the end we gave him a book of Mormon and challenged him to read and pray. The trick is to stay calm. haha but honestly everything he said about our church was crazy. And people always try to say that in revelations it says that we can’t add to the bible. That is the dumbest argument ever. hahaha It also says that in Deuteronomy and it means to the specific book of revelations. People don’t even understand their own bibles. lol But we were polite and he accepted our challenge and challenged us to compare the bible and book of Mormon in depth and look for inconsistencies. So that is what i am doing now. Even though I know there won’t be any. lol

Anyway, I am loving it out here. It is getting super cold though and Rains a lot. But the Cardinals won the World Series, and so basically everyone is really really happy. I love meeting what they call the ghetto people here, they always have the craziest beliefs.

I Love All Of you!.

 Elder Phillips

St. Louis!

Mom!!

Way to slack on the emails hahaha. Dad has sent me letters and emails he is definitely winning lol. well first off my new address is:

Elder Phillips

1022-H Rue De La Banque

Creve Couere, MO 63141

I would appreciate it if you would put that on facebook for everybody so i can get lots of letters:) Thanks!!

OK, so here I am in St. Louis Missouri.  We arrived on Tuesday and from there drove around and went to the mission home. The mission home was so nice and it was a lot of fun. There were 22 of us coming in on Tuesday. We got to know the Mission President and he is a really cool guy, then the next day we had transfer meeting. That’s where I got my companion Elder Hardman. During the transfer meeting i met a lot of Elders from Vegas. you wouldnt know them but i met the Kimoto's cousin Elder Burley. He was super cool. (Thats more for the Vegas people that you forward this to) Anyway so my area is one area north of the mission home in a town called Maryland Heights. What part of St. Louis were you born in?? Maryland heights is so diverse from rich to poor, black to white, nice to seriously mean. haha But i already love it here and i have only been here for a week. So much crazy stuff has happened too.

In the first week, we got a Qu'ran, met a prophet, got screamed at about how Obama is a great president, a guy asked us to help him beat his nephew, and so much more it sure is crazy. The ward is so different too. There is one ward for an area that is way bigger than Ely and way more packed. People have to travel pretty far to get to church, There just isnt enough members anywhere to have a chapel that is close. It is crazy to me how different the West is.

Our ward is really good though and they really want to help all that they can as we try to get the work here going again. They haven’t had an investigator in like 6 months or something like that. My companion and I have a huge task in front of us but through working really hard we are already seeing progress. Work has an entirely new meaning to me. This is crazy every day we get up and exercise then shower and study, then we are about the door  tracking, and knocking doors, and just trying to find people. We drive all over the place trying to visit Part Member families and Less Actives. It is really crazy how rude people can be even though they claim to be good Christians. I have already learned to not take offense, because they really don’t know what they are rejecting.  But ya, basically this is a whole new world to me. and it is kind of dangerous haha. But i am doing ok and even though i miss home, this is where i am supposed to be.

So the prophet!

As my companion and i were tracking in a lower class area, we knocked on a door and out came "Prophet Duncan" hahaha he was wearing an apron that said so, and had a bible that literally looked like he feasted on the words of Christ it was extremely torn up. This was like my second day here so i was kind of in shock. Then began my first bible bash. As he proceeded to tell us everything that was wrong with our church, we calmly and politely answered. It was crazy and as it went on he got louder and louder and louder. Then his congregation came out which consisted of 2 other people... It was sad. But he knew his bible really well and I didn’t have answers for some of his questions, but in the end we had the spirit and he didn’t, so we were able to leave there before it go to out of hand.

I didn’t know that Islamic people believed in Christ at all?? They believe a lot of the same things as Jewish people, they just have Muhammad. It was really interesting as we visited with a lady about her religion and talked about ours. It was a lot of fun and she was really one of the nicest most Christ like people i have ever met. Weird right??

Anyway, as a missionary, I am always tired, always hungry, and always busy. Haha I go to bed as early as i can at night which is usually like 930 or 10 haha and i get up at 6 or 630 every single day. It’s great though. I always have so much fun and there are lots of cool things here in St. Louis. One day I hope to go to the arch, we are allowed to on P-day I just don’t know which one i will go on.

Well, the craziest thing that I have heard though, is a guy telling us about the 2nd Mormon war. When the Mormons declared war on Missouri. People despise Mormons here because they don’t know what really happened. It’s crazy hearing peoples thoughts and ideas about Joseph Smith. i will probably send the article home! Then you can be in shock too! lol

Anyway, That is all i really have time for I am sorry. Hopefully, by this time next week, I will be able to tell you guys about an investigator, but basically, we don’t have any right now. Just a few potentials that we have found.

I love you all! And I miss You!

Love Always,

Elder Phillips

Almost to St. Louis...

Well, My time here at the MTC is almost over and it sure has been crazy. My district is very diverse lol but we all get along great. I am more of the comedic relief for the group but Elder Christensen (my companion) and I are incredible teachers and we seem to be the example to the group. That is so cool that you watched a documentary about the MTC i hope it was great! This place is like a whole different world it is kind of  freaky. When we get to go to the temple and see like real people driving and stuff it is so weird!

My Companion and I have been teaching a few people. Fernando, Kevin, and Alexandre Paul. Fernando is a brazilian boy whose girlfriend is a member and we just committed him to baptism after teaching him a few times! That is really exciting. Kevin is 55 years old and lives alone, but we also have commited him to baptism. Alexandre Paul is the best though, He is the Haitian Diplomat to the Bahamas and our first lesson with him was kinda terrible haha. It started really good but ended up in a huge disagreement abdout the whole Jesus and Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost are One God But Seperate Beigns. hahah It s Confusing I know!!! However we found out he is just looking for happiness. We taught him the plan of Salvation and now he loves us. He is the most incredible person ever and so fun to just talk to. Just last night we taught him and in the middle of our lesson he stopped us and said "I will join you" It was very very shocking.I had never heard of anyone asking to be baptized.The holy Ghost was crazy in there. This place is incredible!!!! lol

Now, these stories sound super cool i know but the truth is, these are all members of the church who are being pretend investigators for us here at the MTC. That way we have the opportunity to actually practice teaching real people before we go into the field. It really seems real though. However, their eternal salvation is not on the line.

I leave for St. Louis in just a few days, I hope that you are as excited as I am:) I leave on Tuesday at about 6 a.m. Idk how much money is on that Bank of America Card, but if there is at least 100 bucks then it will be perfect! :) thank you for that!

Now i have to tell you about my district! I love these guys.

Elder Christensen - My companion, killer basketball player, pretty much the same as me in lots of ways, we have a blast

Elder Jones - He is going to Houston Texas South Mission, and he is a really cool guy, one day when we are old i am going to go fishing with him every day and we want to hike Mt. Kilamanjaro

Elder Wilson - For the first week i didn’t even know he could talk. He is a little guy but can dunk a basketball. He is going to Houston also and is one of the funniest kids i have ever met

Elder Gorman - He is going to St. Louis with me. He wants to be a music composer and is ridiculous at the piano. Look him up on ITunes. His name is Aaron Gorman and he has some Piano music on there that is really good. Try Poseidon's Lullaby.

Elder Esplin -  He has super red hair but plays guitar and has a super cool singing voice, He is a bigger kid but is very awesome but quiet, Him and Elder Gorman follow every rule exactly. That is very admirable.

Elder Hanna - The smartest guy i have ever met. He is pretty sure that he has figured out Faster Than Light Space Travel and all sorts of other stuff. It is pretty crazy I Think dad would enjoy talking to him because they remind me alot of each other as far as smartness haha. He is the coolest. We call him Gus Gus because he reminds us of the Gus Gus mouse from Cinderella just really smart and excited about the gospel.

Elder Jensen _ I really respect this guy. He dropped out of high school in order to go on a mission. He knew he couldn’t go unless he dropped out and started working. He still is smart and one of the coolest guys ever. He has some crazy determination.

Elder Gibbs - Elder Gibbs is big and tall, He is our district leader, He is from South Carolina and he pretty much is hilarious. He is a great leader.

Elder Lance - Elder Lance is Elder Gibbs companion and they don’t get along so well. Elder Lance has read a whole library, he turns 21 soon but we are proud of him for being here. He has one incredible testimony.

I want you guys to know that I Love you guys! And I Hope you aren’t worrying to much about me. This mission is great already I can’t wait to see what lies ahead. I will come back very different though i know. I have already changed so much. It is impossible not to. As we grow closer to Christ our wants and our needs change. I want the Holy Ghost with me always. I think that is where i am in my life right now. This gospel is true! I love you! Thanks so much for supporting me :)

Love,

Elder Phillips

MTC

My first week at the MTC was great!!!! There are so many things that have happened. My favorite things is every class we have is three hours longs but every time i go in there with questions, and i leave a completely different person!. it is crazy! The spirit is so strong here and it definitely helps. My companion is named Elder Christensen and we get along really well and pretty much dominate when teaching people. It is a really good experience.

General conference here was so amazing and i seriously see miracles everyday! I tried to read the whole book of Mormon in one night and that was a really bad idea. It messed up my whole sleep schedule lol. Tell the girls that i miss them and i am so proud of Sierra that is awesome. And tell Kylie not to give up just to write a 5 paragraph essay and use that basic structure to make her point she will pass if she does that. I know she can do it!

I love you!!

Be happy!

Love,

Elder Phillips