Bonjour, ma famille!

I hope that all is well back home. This week was another super week!

On Tuesday, we had a zone meeting for our zone (the Calavi Zone), and that was cool. While planning the zone activity, me and Elder Digbeu had the same idea at the exact same moment. We truly are an inspired team! (:

That afternoon, we taught all lessons about the Plan of Salvation, with focus on the Fall. Two things I learned while teaching:  As we were leaving Edmond's house that evening, our key wouldn't turn the engine over. We said a prayer, and after a few tries, the Lord answered our prayer! I found that very cool.

On Wednesday morning, we had a mission council in the mission home, with President and Soeur Morin, the Bureau elders, the zone leaders, and the sister training leaders. I talked about commitments, specifically coming to church, and I shared our experience we had with Toussain on Sunday. At one point, the Spirit directed me to say "All of the major choices I've made for good in my life were made because of my love for Jesus Christ. As our investigators come to know the Savior, keeping commitments will become natural and easy for them."

President Morin talked about the new in-field training cycle we will now be implementing, our new daily schedule (which is a block schedule in place of an hour by hour schedule), and about smartphones, and he is challenging the missions to fix a 6-month goal for baptisms. There was one part of his presentation that I felt was just for me, when President read Doctrine and Covenants 30:1-2, and he talked about staying motivated for the rest of our missions. He said that if we focus on how the mission prepares us for establishing Zion in our own homes, then we will be more motivated than just focusing on the mission for the mission's sake.

On Thursday, we did some street contacting, we found two new men named Audrey and Lucien. They haven't had too much education, but they want to learn and they're humble, so I know that they'll go far in the Gospel. We also contacted a witch doctor, so that was fun.

In the afternoon, we taught with Frere Yawovi, the Elder's Quorum President, and we taught Toussain, three mamans, and an eternal amie named Odile. Odile has been an ami for more than three years, due to the fact that her and her widowed mother are financially dependent on her older brothers, who hate the Church, but due to a recent change in their financial standing, the brothers are no longer able to support Odile and her mom, so it doesn't matter if she gets baptized or not, so we fixed her baptism for this Saturday. That was an absolute miracle! We fix a baptismal date with an eternal investigator in our first visit. That is without a doubt a blessing from the Lord. Keep us and Odile in your prayers this week! (:

We also taught Bruno, a new ami, with his neighbor, Frere Basil.

Friday afternoon, we taught Maurus and Joel, two promising amis, and a recent convert presented us her brother, Daniel, to be taught. Daniel's a pretty self-proclaimed spiritual guy, so the lesson got a little heated, but at the end, Elder Digbeu had the inspiration to sing hymns with the family. That totally invited the Spirit, and we felt good about the lesson.

On Saturday, Bonaventure requested to have another lesson with us, because he really loved the last lesson. We explained that he was technically under the sisters' charge, but that we could make an exception and squeeze in one more lesson. Bonaventure's a great investigator, and I know that he's going to be a wonderful member of the Church. He asked lots of questions, mostly about how to receive personal revelation. He's still hesitant about baptism, but I felt inspired to tell him "In the Lord's eyes, you're ready for baptism. You just have to realize that yourself." He seemed to understand, and we fixed his baptismal date for the 11th of March. Pray for him, and wish us luck!

After meditating on President Morin's scripture, I felt like two things I needed to improve about myself were always remembering the Savior, and fearing God above men. I read "Always Remember Him," by Elder Gerritt W. Gong, and I realized that if we focus on Christ and His love for us, that helps us to more easily keep the commandments and to not fear men, because "perfect love casteth out all fear," (Moroni 8:16). Super cool.

One evening, after the lights were out, and I had said my evening prayers, I felt the impression to ask Elder Digbeu a personal, bizarre, inspired question. I was scared to do it, because it was rather personal, and we had already hit the hay, but I followed through on the prompting, and Elder Digbeu said "How do you know that that's been keeping me up at night?" We had a good talk. I sure do love my companion, he's awesome. The gift of discernment is real, and it is given for the profit and blessing of God's children.

One last experience: Friday morning, we were driving to Calavi University to do weekly planning with the elders there. On our way, we made a wrong turn, so we needed to make a u-turn. It was a smaller road, so we needed to three-point turn it. Unfortunately, there was a large concrete sewer cover in the middle of the road that got in the way, and the truck wasn't strong enough to mount on top of it, so we were stuck, no way to go forwards or backwards. At this precise moment, all of the motos in Cocotomey decided to take the exact same road, which was blocked by a stuck Toyota Hilux. That was rather embarrassing. A lot of people got frustrated as they drove around us, calling out lots of "yovo" jokes. Luckily, several people stopped and volunteered to help us out. Together, they raised the back wheels with the tire jack, which gave me the height necessary to mount onto the concrete cover, finish my three-point turn, and get out of the way. We offered the men some money, and some took it, but the leader of the group, the nicest, refused, and said it was just a pleasure to serve us and help us out. That totally made my day! We took his contact, and we're going to make sure some great missionaries start teaching him. That was a definite tender mercy of the Lord. I know that angels, seen and unseen, are watching out for us.

So here's the lesson: in life, we are all trying to reach our destination, and we all make bad decisions and get stuck. There will be people that get mad at us or make fun of us, but there will also be people willing to help you out. Recognize that you've made a mistake, focus on those that are cheering for you and helping you, and keep moving forward, remembering not to get frustrated with those that get stuck as well, or who drive differently than you. There are angels, seen and unseen, always ready to help you. Most of all, the Savior Jesus Christ, is always, always, always there for you. He will never ask you to repay Him, but His charity and selfless sacrifice will motivate you to live your life on a higher level, and to do as He commands.

I testify that God is our Heavenly Father, that He loves us, He answers our prayers, and He fills our daily lives with tender mercies. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and I invite each of you to seek His grace and apply His Atonement daily.

I love you all very much, and I wish you a wonderful, inspirational week!

En avant! Avec tout mon amour,

Elder Brian H. Phillips
"Travailler comme c'est votre premier jour, témoigner comme c'est votre dernier."

Bonjour, ma famille,

This week was something special. It was a week filled with spiritual experiences, and I truly enjoyed it.

Tuesday afternoon, we went out teaching. Cocotomey is less urban than most of the other sectors in Benin. There's a lot of sand (so we have fun with our 4x4), and it's a pretty chill town. For one of our rendez-vous, we went into the bush a bit to teach a super-dedicated ami named Edmond. He's a great guy, and we're working on his civil marriage so he can be baptized.

Wednesday morning and lunchtime was dedicated to preparing for the zone conference with Elder Vinson. We arrived at the new Benin stake center, organized chairs, tested the sound, and organized the missionaries. It was great to see a lot of old friends, and to make some new ones. I really like the missionaries here, we've got a great group of missionaries.
Anywho, Elder and Sister Vinson came in with President and Sister Morin, and we all stood up as we sang hymns for them. Elder Digbeu directed the conference, and bore his "last testimony". I taught my small lesson on "Reponding to Objections with the Book of Mormon," which was great. Other missionaries taught and testified, Sister and President Morin talked about convert baptisms. Sister Vinson talked about obedience, which is something crucial for a missionary to understand.

When it came time for Elder Vinson to speak, I got ready to translate, but I was surprised at the fact that I didn't have to do much translating. Elder Vinson has really put a lot of effort into learning French, so I only had to help him with three or four words, and translating missionaries's responses to his questions. That was super cool to see. Elder Vinson talked about faith, and how faith is central to obedience. If we don't have faith, then why obey? His main message was that faith in Jesus Christ will lead us to do anything He asks of us. If we truly love the Savior, then we're willing to do anything for Him.

At one point, Elder Vinson was bearing his testimony about President Thomas S. Monson, and how even though he's old, he testifies with power. At that moment, I felt the Spirit bear strong witness that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. That was super cool. In all, a good conference.

Thursday morning, we had the mission council with Elder and Sister Vinson, and President Morin. I conducted. We focused on the needs and successes of each zone, and the sister missionaries. The main focus, I felt like, was again on faith, and helping investigators keep the Sabbath day holy. Elder Vinson read Exodus.31:12, 14, and 17 , and very passionately testified that coming to Church is how we show our love to the Lord. He, at one point, said "Coming to church is not just important, it's crucial! Missing church is not an option! Even if it's your mother's funeral, you can go on Saturday, but on Sunday, you go to church! We can't afford to miss out on church, not once!" That was pretty powerful. Elder Vinson at one point got teary, and said "I love my Savior; I'd do anything for Him." Elder Vinson promised us that if we would lift our efforts and our vision, then the Lord would rain down blessings upon this mission, and that we'd have much more success. That was a powerful promise, and so now we're ready to serve the Lord!

In all, the mission tour was a marvelous experience to learn at the feet of a General Authority and his wife. It was so cool! Definitely a moment I'll never forget.

Friday morning, President had a training/council meeting with us. We watched a clip from the seminar for new mission presidents, which talked about in-field training for missionaries. The idea of being an assistant is to be in the sector as much as possible, and to have a model sector in  which we can occasionally bring the zone leaders to train them on what President wants us to focus, so that they can in turn apply it, and then bring the district leaders into their sectors.  After the video, we discussed different ideas and concerns for the mission. We're going to hold another mission council next week, and Elder Digbeu, President, and I will present different training. I'm going to talk about commitments, and focus on the commitment to come to church.

That afternoon, we went out teaching. Elder Digbeu had the inspiration to visit an ami who hasn't been to church in a while, Toussain, and teach the Atonement. After Elder Vinson's training, he had the idea to give the commitment to come to church in the context of the Atonement. We planned on sharing that with Toussain. There is a new law in Benin that any type of shop, store, or stand that crowds the roadside must be torn down. It's been really efficient in cleaning up the city and making things less crowded, but it's been hurting lots of people on a personal level. Well, as we showed up to the lesson, we found a shed that Toussain owned, freshly knocked over. Toussain arrived just after us, and so his head was on his knocked-down shed. We taught our planned-lesson, but it didn't seem to click for Toussain, and so we walked away from the lesson a little discouraged, but we still had a prayer in our hearts that he would come to church.  Well, what do you know it? Toussain came to church! That was a hugely pleasant surprise, and we were super happy! The Lord inspires for a reason, folks.

There are two sister missionaries opening up a new sector in our zone, and their branch hasn't been officially created yet, so they needed to do a baptismal service in our branch building. Saturday afternoon, the baptismal candidate, an awesome young man named Bonaventure, got cold feet due to some misinformation from his friends, so we got to teach him a lesson and respond to his questions. I believe that was the first time in my mission that I've had to respond to anti-Mormon media, in my memory. I've had to deal with anti-Mormon rumors, but never had an investigator stumble upon anti media. I consider myself blessed.

Anywho, we had a very special, spiritual lesson with Bonaventure. The gift of discernment is very real. At one point, I felt prompted to ask Bonaventure if he had prayed to know that the Church is true. He said that he's prayed very much, but that God hasn't responded, or that he hasn't been listening well enough, and that he had been praying for a powerful sign. I felt prompted to share Ether 12:6, and share a little quote that I love: "God will rarely use a spotlight when a flashlight will suffice." In other words, God trusts Bonaventure, and knows that he's looking for the truth, and because Bonaventure is very open to the Gospel, his answer will most likely come in a "still, small voice". Bonaventure's a great guy, he walked away from the lesson very optimistic, and I had the feeling that he'll eventually re-accept to being baptized. Good luck, Bonaventure! (:

I know that God hears and answers prayers, and that if we exercise our faith, we have the daily opportunity to see, hear, and feel miracles. I know that God speaks to us in our day by His chosen servants, and by personal revelation. In the words of James, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." I know that each one of you can receive spiritual answers to your questions and preoccupations, and I invite you all to go to the Lord in faith and prayer.

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week! Bonne semaine!

Avec tout mon amour,
Elder Brian H. Phillips

"Travailler comme c'est votre premier jour, témoigner comme c'est votre dernier."

Bonjour ma famille,

For starters, a housekeeping note: effective immediately, my new email time is Sunday afternoons. I'm writing today because yesterday we had an extensive meeting about last-minute details for Elder Vinson's coming.

Things are going super! This week was just an adventure, getting used to new responsibilities, a new area, etc. Because this past week was transfer week, and I'm a new Assistant, I didn't have to shuttle people around.

I spent Monday and Tuesday with Elders Roundy, Ranaivo, and Neubert, the Benin office elders. Elders Roundy and Ranaivo mostly worked on transfers, while Elder Neubert and I did some office chores. It was so awesome to be with Elder Neubert. We haven't seen each other in 9 months. When I went to Togo, he started working in the office. We're practically the same person. He told me that one of the new Americans told him "Elder Neubert, I noticed that at zone conferences, everyone kind of has a buddy that they sit next to, but you're typically alone. Who's your zone conference buddy?" and he responded "That's probably Elder Phillips, he's in Togo". Now, Neubert's going to Togo, so we were both frustrated by the injustice, but it was great to be companions for a day.

​Bonjour ma famille,

First off, I'm writing this email from an English keyboard, and it's super bizarre. Bear with me.

I don't have too much time, I'm currently in the Benin Office.

Well, on an interesting note, I have abscesses on my butt cheek. I've been in pain this past weekend. Imagine sitting on a flaming porcupine, and that describes my physical state today. No worries, I'm going to the doctor tomorrow. Here's hoping!

Biggest news this week was transfers. I'm going to Benin to be an Assistant. I'm going to be working with Elder Digbeu, from Cote d'Ivoire. I'm going to be driving a Toyota Hilux, and my goal over the next two days, while everyone will be doing transfers, is to learn how to drive a manual 4x4 transmission. Here's praying!

Also, Elder Jean-Jacques is going to be training an American! I have a great-grandson! Elder Angbo is going to be district leader at Doumassesse, a really booming sector. Elder Malala is also training an American.

The big focus of this week was saying goodbye to amis, members, and converts in Attiegou and Hedzranawoe. It was bittersweet. I've come to love these people with all of my heart, and it naturally follows that a portion of my heart will stay behind in Togo.

One super cool highlight of the week was Saturday. Elders Angbo and Jean-Jacques organized a baptismal service for 6 persons, and I had taught four of them with Elder Angbo. They invited me to join them in a "family baptism". That was a special experience, to see my mission posterity have so much success, to see friends that I love enter the waters of baptism, and to just feel the serenity of that golden moment.

I love you all, and I wish you a fantastic week! Drive safely! (;

Love,
Elder Brian H. Phillips