8/30/2011

Hello everyone,

It is tuesday, which is my P-Day, yahoo!!! We just got back from the temple this morning and like always it is such a blessing to be able to go there. How are you all?? I miss you guys all so much.

All of the Elders and Sisters in my district give me and Elder Killpack a hard time because we usually get letters everyday. It actually makes me feel really bad for some of the Elders/Sisters because two of them haven't gotten anything :( But I LOVE letters. They aren't lieing when they say it makes your day).

I will try to answer all of your questions really quick. We only have a half hour to email, but I have a lot of time to write letters!

My first day was, well....INSANE! I walked into the MTC ready to dominate and the Lord humbled me REALLY fast. We are always busy,busy, busy. We wake up at 6:30 and lights are out at 10:30. That means if you loose sleep or can't fall asleep some nights (like me) you never get a chance to catch up! My comapion is Sister Daines. She is from Colorado Springs, Co and has 22 kids in her family :/ Crazy ey? She is a really nice girl though. We have a lot of differences, but we also teach each other a lot. Everything else you don't see eye to eye on you just try to get over because the spirit cant teach you if you and your companion have tension between each other. The poor girl got stung by a bee today as we were walking to the temple...ouch!! We have 5 girls in our room. Four of us are going to Tacoma and then Sister Johnson is leaving for Cambodia next tuesday and we are SO excited for her. She talks to us in Cambodian all the time and then translates it in english for us, so she can practice. The food here is ok. You really can't expect much when you are trying to feel 2700 missionaries, but for them most part it's not to bad. They usually have around five different choices of food to choose from. The bad thing is there is dessert with every meal :/ That was not a good thing the first couple of days here. The 1st counselor in our MTC presidency wanted us to committ ourselves to being a healthier missionaries. That means getting enough water (which is hard here), exercising 5 days a week, and watching what you eat. So, thats what I am doing. Starting tomorrow Sister Holman and I are waking up at 6:00 a.m. to run arond the MTC for 30 min. We have gym time everyday, but tuesday, the hard thing about gym time is it is usually in the middle of the day and HOT. Therefore, running is not fun to do and then you have to shower after and get all ready again...blah! If we do that then we can just play volleyball or four square during the day and not have to shower again! Our teachers are amazing people. I want to hook Kaylen with one of them. His name is Elder Farley. Seriously I think he is here eternal companion hahah! Our branch presidency here are the coolest people. The president is a shrink haha. So, you cant get past him with anything.

Well my time is running out, but I love you all so much and miss you more than you know.

I want you to know that the Lords hand is in our life EVERY single day, if we will only look. I have been so blessed while I have been here, already! I testify that the bringing forth of Isreal is happening right now. It is the coolest thing to hear 2700 missinaries sing called to serve, the spirit in the room almost knocks you over. I really love this place, but even more I can't wait to leave and really start to spead the message of the restored gospel.

P.S. sorry for my sloppy writing. I am typing like a mad man, because my timer is up..eek!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO SO MUCH!!!

XOXOXOXO

SISTER PHILLIPS

Sister Lakyn Marie Phillips

Lakyn reported to the MTC on August 24th 2011.

She asked me {Kaylen} to keep her blog up while she was gone, so if you want to keep updated on Sister Phillips' journey then come back every Tuesday for an update!

MTC MAILBOX:

Sister Lakyn Marie Phillips

MTC Mailbox #149

WA-TAC 0912

2005 North 900 East

Provo UT 84604

DEARELDER.COM

If you want to send her a note via dearelder.com then you need to put her box number {149} and her departure date from the MTC {September 12}!

"Never Had an Ordinary Day"

When I heard this song by Mindy Gledhilll & Dan Truman I instantly felt the peaceful power of the spirit. I hope by listening to this song no one will question the Faith Emma Smith had. There is much to admire and respect in the life of this “elect lady.”

Nauvoo Part 2

This is a quick post to sum up the rest of my trip to Nauvoo!

Brigham Young is one of my favorite prophets, so I was SO excited to go see his home. He gets a lot of wrath outside of the church, but if you really study his life you come to know he was one of the most amazing men that ever lived!!!

We then ventured to Carthage Jail Sunday after church.

Who wouldn't want to enjoy Bishop's fried chicken and spend the 4th of July on the Mississippi?! Me!!!

Luck fell upon us and the night before we left was the opening night of the Nauvoo Pageant. I had never been to a pageant before, so I was enjoying every bit of it...even the RLDS thinkin there going to crash our party, Rude!

Far West Missouri

It is prophesied that before the second coming there will be a temple built here :) They have all 4 corner stones ready to go. I hope I am alive when that happens!!!

This is my side kick during the trip, Emma! Isn't she just adorable? We are at Adam-ondi-ahman. Probably, one of my favorite spots, I could sit there ALL day!

I then returned home on Friday and this girl came to hang out with me for the weekend. She even came to the big Dinosaur Round-up Rodeo Saturday night (which is a big deal for her). I don't know what I would have done without here that week, it ended up being one of the hardest weeks of my life! Thanks Klin :) You don't find friends like her very often!

Love me-

We FINALLY made it!

On the road to Nauvoo...

Let's start off by saying...I hate driving long distances! Why would you drive for 23 hours in a crowded car when you could just jump on an air plane?! The ONLY advantage in my opinion in driving across the country is experiencing the beautiful country in which we live in & traveling with the COOLEST family ever-the Christensons. Besides that? Nothin!

Reason #2 {Car Problems}

Day 2 we are entering Nebraska going 85 on I-80 and the McCormick's motor home's break assembly broke. There front L tire fell off and sparks from the road and grease from the broken tire started a grease fire :/ It was one of the scariest moments. We stopped as fast as we could to get everyone out. The nice gentleman in front of us stopped, I looked around the motor home and this 50 year old man about 250Ibs is running down the freeway with a fire extinguisher in his hand {what a good samaritan} and called 911!!! Well the good town on Lexington Nebraska had 2 fire trucks in no later than 15 min from when it happened. Good to say, the fire went out quickly and everyone was SAFE! So now the motor home is stuck in Nebraska and the poor McCormick's had to rent a car and get a hotel room for the time in Nauvoo..boo!

We were suppose to be in Winter Quarters that night and Instead we got stuck here and the newly RV campground....Lovely ey?! All I can say is you never know what is going to happen with the Peterson clan! ;) I love them!

We finally made it the the Beautiful Nauvoo and it was suddenly all worth it. We had the chance to do baptisms this morning, which I think Is by far my most favorite temple! It is amazingly beautiful in there and testifies of Christ and Joseph everywhere!

This trip has been a little bitter sweet for me. I am leaving on my mission in 11 days and am really feeling bad for leaving my mom and family :( I thought I could do it and it would be no big deal, but I was wrong. I miss her more than I ever have. I feel like a little girl when I was 7 having a sleepover at a friends house and gets homesick and nothing could fix a problem in the world besides your mom. And I wont be home until FRIDAY. Crap! How about that plane ticket ;) I know this is a great opportunity for me to be here in Nauvoo with some great families and friends, so I pray I can make the best of it!

Update coming soon.

We will be making a stop at Carthage Jail tomorrow :)

4 weeks and 5 whole days

I leave on my mission

I am currently in the Anxious/Nervous/Excited phase. One day I am nervous w/a tid bit of anxiety and the next day I could leave right then....It's crazy!

When I stop worrying about trying to find a stinkin BROWN skirt or finding a winter coat in the middle of SUMMER, etc, etc, etc...I am reminded why I am going and a sweet feeling of peace comes over me. I'm sure He's up there just shaking his head at me wondering why I even worry! But it's in my humanly nature to worry & I'm a girl!! LOL

Side Not: If you really think about it, how awesome is our church?! There are 51, 000 full-time missionaries serving w/out NO pay from anywhere to 18-24 months! Who would do that if it wasn't true??? I mean, Really?!

It is what I LOVE , it is my LIFE, it is who I AM.

SIGN ME UP!!!

*Remember, the Lord knows us the best! We never know what will be through that next door, but we do know that if we take that first step of faith he will never lead us astray! I pray continually that I will be prepared for the people in Tacoma and that I will be ready to work my guts out!!! :D

"Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks." (Jeremiah 16:16)

(This is a fitting scripture for me ey?! haha)

Here are my fishes and soon they turn into people, just not on a rope :)

So while trying to find missionary standard dresses and friend of a friend introduced me to a site where you can CUSTOM order your dresses :D This is perfect for us LDS women who need them knee length and there not bad priced. Holler!

Check it out here.

What a weekend!

The end of May is always crazy for us. Graduation, two Birthday's and a wedding :/ I wouldn't recommend it! Luckily, everything ended up working out and it turned out to be a great weekend.

One of the best parts was Kaylen and Nadine (my roommate) both came out for Kelsey's reception and It just so happened to fall right smack on my birthday:D

And of course we had to show Nadine the historic sites of Vernal ;) I think she want's to move here now!!!

Brody's birthday is on May 26th and mine is the 28th, so we usually only have 1 party to celebrate us both. I told my mom if I have to share my birthday with him, I at least get my own cake ;) hehe!

Girls of Apt. 212

Love me-