If we want to be able to partake of all of the blessings the gospel has to bring then we have to offer up our only sacrifice the lord has asked us to give, "

Hey everyone,

Guess what.....

We got our transfer calls this Saturday and it was a SHOCKER! All day we were so anxious because I never get transfer calls since I usually always stay and have only been in three areas ha ha. But this time I knew that I was leaving, I just didn't know where. Late Saturday evening the AP's called us and they told Sister Baylon she was going to Port Angelas and I was going to Lakewood Steilacoom Ward. We were floored-They doubled us out? I just started crying I was so sad. I had just felt peaceful about Sister Baylon taking over the area and watching over everyone. Plus Sister Baylon thought she was staying and the area that she is going to is what we call "china",because it is 3 hours away from any civilization. You can see Canada on a clear day :) She is serving with a comp. that she has already been with and was by far the hardest six weeks of her life. She is really nervous and devastated. I think she cried herself to sleep that night :(

But one the flip side I am excited to serve in the Steilacoom Ward and Anderson Island Branch in Lakewood-Yep we have an Island! My new companion is Sister Grenfell and she is awesome and from Kentucky! President Weaver said, "We work at the same pace", so it should be an adventure.

Yesterday at church was a little overwhelming. Our phone quit working Sat. night so we were not able to tell anyone what went on with our transfer calls, so everyone found out over the pulpit at church from Bishop. I wish I had it on camera because you could probably have herd the gasp that everyone made. After Church My brain was trying to juggle getting investigators to class, investigators upset because were leaving, members wanting to tell you goodbye AND wanting a detailed explanation etc. It was intense. I will miss this ward very much, especially the people I was able to teach and see accept the gospel. They have such a tender spot in my heart that I would do anything for them. My greatest desire is to see them happy in the gospel. To see them change and repent and sometimes you get so protective of them you just need to let them go so they can spread there wings and fly.

I was so worried this weekend about what would happen to everyone we were teaching and our recent converts, but the Lord took precious time to teach me something very important. I was reminded not to always jump to asking why? Why did this happen? Why me? Why, why, why? Instead I needed to ask different questions.

What do you need me to do dear Lord? Where do he need me to go? When do I need to do this? Who do you need me to find?

When I changed my heart, I had this overwhelming feeling of peace come over me to confirm that things would be alright. This is what needed to happen and I needed to trust in Him.

 I learned in Tacoma that Change is essential if we want to grow, if we want to be better and if we want to be more worthy for the spirit. Sometimes that change comes with aches, pains, and bruises, but that is God teaching and preparing us to be the servants worthy to bear his light. Like Paul in I Cor 9:23 "And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I may be partaker thereof with you." If we want to be able to partake of all of the blessings the gospel has to bring then we have to offer up our only sacrifice the lord has asked us to give, "A broken heart and a contrite spirit." (2 Ne. 2:7) President Weaver told me something that has stuck with me through out this transfer. He said, "Repentance is becoming something you weren't when you started."

I know that to be true. Not only have I seen it in many lives here in Washington, but I have experienced it in my own life. How grateful I am for the patience of the Lord. I can never repay him, but I can Change to closer to him!

I love you all,

Sister Phillips

My new address is:

135 View Rd. Apt. A

Steilacoom, WA

98388

p.s. I got to go to Lacey for another one of the fireside's and Lacey is close to OLYMPIA! So guess what? Keri and Jane came to surprise me and sister Eichenmiller :D Oh we were sooo happy to see them. They are both doing great and are preparing for temple. I so over whelmed with love last night. I am so happy the I was able to be a small part in helping them receive the gospel. That is my joy!

Family,

 

How has everyone's week been? Is Utah rolling over to fall yet? The trees here are already turning orange and yellow :) It is so pretty, but I am NOT ready for winter. I think back and have no idea how we survived, but I know with our heavy coats, stockings, and scarves, toasty toes, and umbrellas we can conquer again!

 

This week Lisa Cosgrove was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! The first day we met Lisa was on August 30th and she was baptized on Sept. 15th, SIXTEEN days! She was so excited and told our bishop many times that she finally felt like she was at home.

It amazed me when we first met her at her openness of her heart. She already had a foundational testimony of Jesus Christ because she had been searching for truth most of her life, since she was about eight years old. Being a doctor/psychiatrist she had many experiences that should have deterred her away from the church, but amazingly she was able to see that it was the people, not the gospel. Lisa I think taught me more than I could have ever taught her. She is an amazing women who I hope will always be apart of my life.

 

Debbie on of our recent converts loves loves pepper. Not just normal pepper but habanero peppers. Every time we go to her house she is cooking something and you will walk in her kitchen and your eyes start to water because it is so HOT. Sister Baylon and her love it, but I can't handle that hot stuff. People at a time were afraid to come for fellowship because they heard the haunting stories of Debbie making them try her dinner and they leaving with their lips two sizes bigger. haha. In Nigeria they do not eat sugar or if they do it is cane sugar which is not as sweet. So we decided to make habanero brownies to see if she would like them. She gave us some habanero powder and we put about a 1 1/2 tsp. in. It wasn't to bad, but it def. left a good tingle down your throat. She tired one and it didn't even faze  her...ahh. She still said, "to much sugar".

 

The Julians also had there little baby (a family we've been teaching for a while). I got here in Tacoma when Morgan was 3 mon along, She was hardly showing. I was so happy I got to stay until she had it. His name is baby Milo and he had a bad case of jaundice :( But he looked so cute in that little bed, he looked like a glow worm.

 

We also went to Zion's camp with half of our mission. The other half went another day. It was really fun. They have a lot of optical courses that we had to get through. One of them we had to get ALL the sisters over this 18ft. wall. Oh gosh at first I was really worried, but I taught everyone how to do a cheerleading stunt and it went really well. haha. Of course I was the only x cheerleader there. We even had to do the trust fall off of a 4ft. pole. It was cool to be able to help those sisters who were so so scared and see them overcome that fear they had. I also got to see my baby Sister Douros. I miss that girl so much-she just shines her light wherever she goes.

This week I am thankful for the scriptures. They are truly one of the most powerful ways we can come to know and understand our Savior Jesus Christ and his will. I know the Book of Mormon is true. Lisa read the first page and knew without a doubt that, it was a book from God. Why? Because she had an open heart and real intent.It truly changes the heart  I am thankful for the power of repentance and that we have such a merciful God who still forgives us of our weaknesses and allows us to be better-even though we are far indebted to him. I know that the purpose and and central blessing of this life is CHANGE!

sorry I didn't get to finish that last part.

But I love you all and hope you can always recognize the Lord's tender mercies in your life!

Adios!

Sister Phillips 

---

Good Morning!

 

This week has been a better week full of many tender mercies from the Lord!!

 

I don't know how is Utah is, but Washington is already changing seasons :( Today I am wearing a sweater and boots because it chilly outside. The leaves are already changing and you can just feel winter around the corner eeek!! I am not ready for winter again. I don't know how I survived last winter looking back, but I guess if we did it once we can do it again!

 

This week Sister Baylon and I got bit by one of our Recent Converts Dogs, coco! It was scary at first but then really funny. She is a little chihuahua that is so annoying. Anytime we make a sudden move she goes ballistic and starts biting everyone. She bit our toe and would not let off. I thought Sister Baylon was going to kick that dog like a football ha ha. I would have to say that is the first time I have been bitten by a dog. The other times were really close calls, but we were somehow saved.

 

Do you remember Lisa? She is such a miracle and hands down the most prepared person I have met on my mission or life. We taught her the plan of salvation last week and she just soaked it up like a sponge. After we said the opening prayer and followed up with her about her reading she boldly stated that she knew the book of Mormon was true. The spirit was so strong and was a great start to our lesson. At the end of the lesson we asked her to be baptized and she excepted cheerfully and wanted to know when the next baptismal date was. We are meeting with her again tonight and have to go over the word of wisdom. She is a smoker, which is surprising because she is a doctor, but I know with her faith she can quit. Everyone has their own Achilles hill right?

 

This week we also had a mad man scream,swear, and yell at us because we were knocking on his porch. It was the meanest person I had ever met. He was screaming the F word right in our face. All I have to say is good thing I was with Sister Baylon and not a greenie I would have to have a crying session afterward. We just shook it off and laughed about it and kept going. There are some crazy people here in Tacoma, but we love them!!!

 

Church was great this Sunday. We had seven investigators come and most of them stayed for all three hours. It was madness for us, but great for everyone else. I was so thankful for Heavenly Father and his Mercy. That has always amazed me on my mission. Even  though I mess up constantly everyday, he never ceases to show his Love and mercy to me. I hope we can all show mercy to people that we come in contact with because it is one way I truly feel the love of Christ in my life!

 

I love you all,

have a great week.

Sister Phillips 

It seems that last weeks email didn't make it to us. She resent it and it to has been posted. So read the post after this one to catch up.

Hello!

We finally made it down to the library to email, thank goodness! It is now 4:20pm and we have had NO time to email, not to mention-even EAT! I am so hungry I could eat a whole chicken! But we decided that email was more important than food at this point!

I re-sent my email I wrote last week, so I really hope you get it, because it has a lot in their.

This week has been good. The work is still progressing and we are teaching some really amazing people, people I know that I needed to be teaching my last six weeks here in Tacoma.

One of them is a lady names Lisa (I really like Lisa's :)). She is a Doctor at Ft. Lewis in about her 50's. She works with a member of the church who is a family and marriage counselor. Anyway, they talk a lot about the church and she has had many promptings over her life that has led her to where she is now. She said that when she was nine years old her family went on a tour of temple square. She remembers listening to the Mormon tabernacle and having this feeling like she was home. She also had a dream that her co-worker was saving her "spiritually" from her drowning in a river. That next day when she went to work she told her co-worker what had happened and then that night they called us to set an appt. Wow!

We ended up meeting with her that week and took her on a church tour. She said that same feeling that she felt in the tabernacle came back and knew that Heavenly Father was leading her directly here. She came to church and stayed all three hours and really loved it. Its amazing to see such an intelligent women be so opened to the promptings of the spirit. Lisa is truly one of the most prepared individuals I have ever taught!

Last Sunday I was fasting for some really specific answers. This last week was really rough and to add onto it Lawrence called us the night before and had told us he didn't think he wanted to meet anymore. My heart felt like it had been shattered. I have been working so hard to help Lawrence, I felt like a big part of me coming to Tacoma was to help him and now he is drifting away. But the Lord in his infinite wisdom and love always knows what he is doing and I needed to trust in that. A member got up and shared her testimony with us and she said something that pricked my heart, she said: "When the Lord closes one door, he will always open another." As I heard that and then saw Lisa sitting right next to me I knew without a doubt that that was exactly what the Lord was doing. Lawrence may need a break right now and that is okay. He is still coming to church, but I know that our focus needs to know be on other people and I can finally say that confidently with peace in my heart.

How grateful I am for the blessing of the Atonement. Through that act alone we have the chance to continually change and become closer and closer to God. We will always receive IMMEDIATE blessing for being obedient. They may not always be something we can see, but when we are obedient we are changing, which is called repentance. So, if you don't feel like you are repenting or have a testimony of repentance-just be obedient and the change will come naturally and you will begin to see the infinite blessings that come from the Atonement.

I love you all,

Sister Phillips

Family,

It's good to be a Missionary! This week has been full of lots of walking, talking, door knocking, difficulties and miracles.

To start off, HAPPY BIRHTDAY MOM! I hope you had a great day :)

This week we had a lot of teaching opportunities which went really well. This girl named Makayla who we started teaching is a gem! She is 17 and getting ready to enter her senior year of High School next week. We met her walking down the street one day-got her information and didn't really think to much after that. We went to follow up with her and found out her entire family in Jehovah Witness's but her. We asked her if she could ever see her self becoming one and she said, 'Umm No, I like my birthday!" It was funny. She has a little sister named, Jalilla who is hilarious. Their family is great. We met her mom the last week and she approved of us teaching her! She really understands the doctrine and is so eager and ready to receive the gospel.
I love teaching her because I feel like I can really relate to her. Hopefully one day there mom will allow them to all come to church :)

Do you remember Kim? Kim was baptized this Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. It was great to see Kim make this change in her life so quickly. We met her about three weeks ago and as soon as we started teaching her she said she knew that it had to be true by the way she felt and the way the people treated her. That was just the first week.
Kim progressed so fast each week after. She grabbed on to every principle of the Gospel and ACTED upon it. I was so surprised by her progress and the special spirit that changed in her. Kim lost her husband about 2 months ago and before we met her she hardly could pick herself up and get out of bed. Now- she wakes up no problem for 9 o'clock church and stays for all three hours. Kim was at her lowest of low and I know that allowed for the spirit to talk to her and impress upon her heart the courage to keep going! I learned from her to keep it simple! She listened, then prayed to ask, and she got her answer. She had the Faith to know that God sent us for a reason and she wanted to figure it out. And she did!

"The Gospel is Beautifully Simple, and Simply Beautiful."

This whole week I have had a lot of different things upon my mind and heart, which leads to stress and worry. Sister Baylon and I have both been battling our different wars and this week it seems to me intensified. Trying to help investigators resolve their concerns, finding new people to teach, Investigators dropping us, feeling comfortable in a new area and getting the ward more involved is some of it. But out of all of the tares and road bumps, the Lord never ceases to show us his tender mercies when we are being obedient and diligent.

This Sunday I was all smiles after a long hard week. First Kim was baptized and confirmed and the Relief Society instantly swooped her right up! Gulian who was just baptized 2 weeks ago, received the Aaronic Priesthood and is going to the temple in two weeks, Makayla went to church for the first time and we received two great referrals :) The greatest part out of all of that was the little things that happened were tailored just for me from our Heavenly Father.

How grateful I am to know that not only does He Live, but he gives, cares, and loves unconditionally! I love you all and always remember to look for the hand of God being witnessed in your life EVERYDAY.

Sister Phillips

ps. Oh yes I almost forgot. I hit my big 1yr. mark last week-so what did we do? We had a burn party at our bishops :)
Oh and then while we were tracting we found this little library where people can take a book and then put one of theirs in return. So we decided to give them the BEST book in the world-The Book of Mormon!