weeekly~

Dearest Family-I hope everyone’s Christmas was BEAUTIFUL and BLESSED! I hope you all made it back safely and Santa was able to find you  Christmas on the mission is pretty fun  A couple nights before, I was lying in bed and couldn’t sleep. I rolled over and was looking at the Christmas tree and thought, “It’s already almost over. My only Christmas on the mission and it’s already almost over! Oh no!” So from that moment on I decided to make the last moments the best! Thursday was our missions Christmas Eve devotional. I woke up early and curled my hair. It was fun to spend a little extra time on me  I got dressed up all Christmas like  We got lost on the way and stepped in right as they were introducing the new missionaries! Haha! So we busted through the door and my comp introduced herself. It was pretty funny lol. It was really good. There was a slide show and then we had a lunch in the gym which was decorated with Christmas lights and a tree, behind the tree were a kazillion packages from friends and family for all the missionaries. The last 2 hours was a musical number from each zone (we have 8 zones) so it was all music. It was SO good!  It was so much fun to see ALL the missionaries and catch up on things! We got home and made/decorated cookies for our door man Al. He is so great and fun and was super excited. He is a widower, all alone in NY, away from his ranch in Texas and retired, we thought we could try to cheer him up with some cookies, we think it worked! Then we decided to pull our matrices off and sleep by the xmas tree. When the sisters got home we invited them to join. I asked if any of them had done the Nativity Scene and S. Stephens had, so we decided to do it! Afterwards, we sat in a circle and told xmas stories and traditions! It was a ton of fun! The next morning we opened all our gifts…thank you so much for all of the cards and gifts! Oh my goodness you are all so darn sweet to me! It was so fun to have gifts to open and feel so much love from my incredible family. Thank you so much. We then got ready for Combined District Mtg and the Sr. missionary couple, Elder and Sister Edwards, fixed us a Christmas lunch that was so good! After that we headed to our other Dinner Appt at a members…sooo fulllll! On the way I was able to chat with the fam for a bit and it was INCREDIBLE! HOLY MY COW! I realized that it had been 6 months since I really had last talked to them and then realized how amazing it is to hear voices! After our DA we went to the church and called our families for real and were able to talk for a bit. It was just beyond amazing! I do admit that Saturday was a bit hard to get back in the rut of things, but man, I so look forward to my next call….and my last????....Anywho, as far as work goes, we continue teaching everyone we possibly can. I do admit that things are pretty rough here. Park Slope is just so ritze and stubborn…we are really fighting to find someone who will listen to our message. But, we keep the faith knowing that the Lord has a plan and when we are on His errand and keeping His commandments, that he will provide a way for what He wants to be done. It can be hard and at times you feel like a failure…but that’s when you step back and see the miracles and trust in the Lord. Well, I love you all so so much and can’t thank you enough for all your prayers, love and support. It’s all greatly needed and so much help. Have a happy New Years and I’ll be back next week!Love,Sister Phillips

WONDERFULL

It was so good to hear from Nette on Christmas! We talked for a while. She sounded so good and i can hear a change in her voice and the way she talks. she can do a pretty good impersonation of a new yorker! oh how i love that girl!

weekly~

Hey everyone!I’m sorry I don’t have a lot of time, but I don’t have a whole lot to say! So my poor little compie had a bump on her shoulder that was about pea size and has had it for 2 years and the dr said it was fine. Well after a week of being out she informed me that it had tripled in size. Of course I FREAKED! So we called Sister Nelson and she found us and ER to go to on Staten Island (places are pretty sketchy here.) So we went and turns out that she had a cyst. They opened it up right there and it was infected. It was sad bc it hurt her and they were going to town, popping it like a big zit  and this made her sick, about to pass out. I felt so bad. It is true that the mission intensifies any medical prob you may or may not have. So we will be going back for the 3rd time today to repack it and hope that it isn’t infected anymore. But  we do get to go on the ferry and see the Statue of Liberty! Yeahhh! So we’re excited for that.  As far as missionary work goes, we have had a horrible dry spell. It’s been pretty rough. You tend to feel that you are the only ones with no investigators and get discouraged, feeling it’s bc you aren’t working hard enough. But we know that we have to go through the tough and have a test of faith, and that when the sweet times come that they are even more sweet bc of the rough times. It’s hard but rewarding. Yesterday church got cancelled bc we had a good storm. Of course for us Idahoans we were like, “Church canelled for this???” We had the joys of tracting in a storm and I the stupe that I am forgot a hat and just had ear muffs, I got in the train and whipped a pile of snow off my forehead….NOW THAT IS BRAIN FREEZE! It hurt  lol. So Sunday night we layered and went out to look up some Single Adults that we don’t know about and both had moved. We still had a half an hour till we were going to a members house. So we got to their street and I was like, Hey! Lets tract this appt. So we buzzed some places and of course they weren’t receptive, when all a sudden, one buzzed us in! We go up the stairs wondering who will be behind the door. This Spanish lady opens and before we can even finish our names she excitedly invites us in. We thought maybe she was a member! Well we were able to have a sit down lesson and she told us that she was raised catholic but doesn’t practice anything. She has been writing back and forth to the St. Matthews church for a year. She said she wanted to be fully committed when she joined the church and didn’t know if she was ready to give herself to the Lord. We told her about how he would make a way and strengthen her and she set up a time for us to come back! :D We got a new investigator! The power of fasts! I believe it was bc I was so temped to eat while being at home but held strong lol. Also, on Friday we were able to meet with Denise. She was a miracle as well. The week before we were planning at the church and took a break. I went to go to the bathroom and people were coming out of the family history center. I remember that a lady in our ward told us that the pple who go there are like all non members and that they aren’t allowed to proselyte. So I decided to stop a lady and talk to her. She told me of how grateful she is for the LDS and the services they provide and how she has had so much success with her ancestors, even finding slaves! I then asked if she knew much about the church and she said she’d occasionally watch BYU channel. So I told her about why family history is so important to us and what we do about that with the temples and how it connected with Joseph smith and the BOM. She accepted to meet again next week (Friday) and learn about the BOM!!! So on Friday I planned on just giving it to her and giving a brief message about it, but she wanted to hear our message! We had a sit down lesson in the chapel! It was so incredible! I loved it! The spirit was so strong! She has been a devout presbetirian and says she was raised in the church and well, we are keeping the faith! So please keep your prayers for Denise and Kizzi! Thank you so much for all you do and all your support. The true gospel continues to spread and I’m grateful to be apart of it! Merry Christmas everyone! I love you all and I am so grateful for this time of year! Remember the reason for the season! I’m so grateful for our savior Jesus Christ and his sacrifice, and I know it can free us from any burden or pain we have. Love you! Love,Sister Phillips~

Family!

Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm! It was definitely a cold week here! Lots of rain and very strong wind! Brrrr!!!! Well we had fun with Frodsham’s, now Jenny’s parents. Her mom Lenore got me the cutest lil Christmas gift. Cute lil pJ’s and fuzzy socks and an advent calendar! Monday we spent getting Jenny ready to go home! Tuesday I woke up quite sick and was a little worried since we needed to leave early for Transfers. It was a great blessing though, as we were walking to the train the Dr called! He was able to get me a prescription for a sinus infection so I was super grateful. I went to a trainers meeting and then…met my new compa! She is from….MONTEPILIAR ID! Hahaha, yup! Her name is Sister Bartschi. The first couple of weeks are hard so I think she is just trying to get in the kick of things. She is great and super sweet. Her laugh is BOMB! I love it! It makes me laugh. Right now we are just looking up Less Actives and fearlessing on the busses and trains (to stay warm) to try to find some investigators. We found a lot of great people who then dropped off the face of the earth, so now we’re trying to find some solid investigators. So other than that we are just working our little booties off! Yesterday was the Christmas Program. We had yummy food after…trying to stay thin on a mission freaking sucks. LOL. I can’t believe that it’s already mid-December. What!? Crazy! Well sorry I don’t have much new stuff going on. I hope everyone is staying warm and enjoying the Holidays. Find someone who you can lift during this beautiful time!  I love you all so much!

Hey everyone! I’ll just jump right in with the happenings! Last week we went to Manhattan and had a lot of fun! We went to Time Square and took pics. It was incredible. The only sucky thing was that it rained the entire time! A man actually stopped us and asked us about the church! :D We gave him a pamphlet with a number, so that was way awesome! We didn’t go to Rockefeller Center bc the tree wasn’t lit yet. But we did get to Canal Street and got some gifts  I wish I had lots of money! Stuff is so cheap here! It was way awesome! These people are walking around from the stores and Frodsham asked a random lady that was passing by if they had hand bags. She asked me if I had heard about when they take you down to the basement…. I was like, “NO!” Then we’re following this lady somewhere and she is talking on a walkie talkie and steps into the store and this other guy takes us through the back and through a door (by now I’m really freaking out) and another guy takes us down these stairs to the basement and down a hall. All a sudden a Chinese lady opens a random door and motions us in. (this basement was unfinished, so it was pretty creepy) She shuts the door and locks it and continues to whisper to some other girls who were in there. The room was like 11’x11’ and hand bags aligned the wall. It was so crazy!!! Frodsham found out about this from her sister. She ended up buying a hand bag; they sell the good ones for cheap down there! LOL that was an experience! Tuesday was President Interviews and they were good of course…he asked me about training, I just told him that I saw a trainer as this incredible missionary and I can’t wait to be that. Well, Wednesday night I got a call from President. Yup, I’m training. Frodsham told me that in the temple he came up to her and asked if she thought I was ready to train. She said she’d pray about it. Later he went up to her and said he felt really good about it. He told me over the phone that he has a lot of confidence in me and that he doesn’t pick his trainers lightly. I then heard that quite a few people told him I should train! I felt really good that people think I’m a good missionary, but man, I’m only in my 5th transfer! I’m super nervous! I have huge butterflies! I pick her up tomorrow! I’m so scared to have to figure out public transportation on my own! But I know that out of weak things come strong things and from this I’ll grow and gain lotsa strength. She’ll teach me a lot. Oh and there are only 2 sisters comin…one is from good ol Montpelier Idaho! LOL. So then on Saturday we got to go to a baptism of the elders, Chris Brown.  He is incredible! His ex gf that is at BYU (he is from Pittsburg) sent him a BOM and he couldn’t stop reading it. He showed up to church one day, already to Alma, and has been doing everything pretty much on his own! He was totally prepared. It was the perfect time. He is 18 and wants to go on a mission. He is exactly what the missionaries want! He goes to all the activities and everything on his own. It was awesome! Then yesterday we got to hang out with Frodshams parents!  We’ve had a bunch of fun. Transfers are tomorrow, we have to go early bc of training meetings. Anyways, that is all for now. It’s getting super cold here. It’s been way wet and freezing. It started snowing the other day but of course it was too wet and didn’t stick. So! I’ll be back next week with updates on my KID! Love you all! Be safe and I’ll talk to you soon~
Love,
Sister Phillips