​Bonjour ma famille!

This week was out-of-the-water-fantastic! (I hope y'all got my joke). (;

Monday evening, we had the FHE with Frère Hubert's family, which went really well.

On Tuesday, we taught with Arnaud, which was great. We taught the Akakpo Family about the Plan of Salvation. On the way to the lesson, I was inspired with a really great parable: A pair of parents wish the best for their children, so they send them away to a school for some years. The children find their examinations and tests difficult, but they learn that they can never succeed and pass the classes if there are no tests. Most of all, their oldest sibling helps them, and teaches them how to overcome their tests. At the end of their schooling, the children return home, experienced, grown up, and ready to receive all that their Parents have prepared for their inheritance. It worked really well! The family loved it, and had some fantastic questions! Philomenne's brother passed away later on in the week, so we didn't have the opportunity to talk with her, but she did ask a question about baptisms for the dead, so we're hoping to help her out with that one.

Tuesday night, I vomited, and I woke up the next morning to stomach problems, so we took the morning off to rest, but I felt good enough to go in the afternoon. Wednesday was Elder Joseph's 20th birthday, so we celebrated by eating dinner at King Burger.

My back is the same, we're still waiting to transfer out my mattress. Thoughts and prayers are much appreciated.

We're teaching several less active families, and one of them has a short attention span, so our strategy is entertaining and fun lessons! We taught them the organization of the church of Jesus Christ by making a human pyramid. We then asked the person on top what would happen if we removed the person representing the Apostles, and they freaked out! Likewise, we applied that to the Apostasy. When the Church doesn't have Apostles, the whole church will fall! It was super cool and fun. Overall, I've had a major breakthrough in teaching this week. My focus is now to just make creative, fun, enjoyable lessons. When we sit and talk for twenty to forty minutes, it just bores people, so we've got to make it an adventure. It's kind of how I've imagined running a chemistry class: why talk and talk when you can get your hands dirty and have fun?

Missionary confession: As proven by one of our Thursday appointments, if I've had a hearty lunch, and I sit down, I'm still at risk of falling asleep during lessons. Hey, no one said we were perfect. ;)

We were teaching a recent convert about the temple and eternal families, and Arnaud gave this young lady a commitment to go to the temple one day and marry a very handsome, nice young man. Elder Joseph and I looked at each other, snickered, and afterwards told Arnaud that he gave a great commitment, but normally one should give it on his knees. Haha, we had a good crack up on that one. (:

We're still doing great on the service train. We've been washing dishes, fanning fires, doing laundry, and we got to help one of our investigators make dinner, and she asked us to eat with her. We did the pepper challenge (eating a whole pepper), and I totally smoked Arnaud, I did it without flinching!

Saturday afternoon, we showed up at the Church to teach. Our investigators weren't there yet (they ended up cancelling the rendez-vous), so we sat down to rest in the sacrament hall for a bit. Another ward was having a baptismal service. All of a sudden, a less active member we've been working with came into the room to say hi to us. She said that today was the baptism of her son, and no one was showing up yet. We asked the missionaries baptizing to keep the water in the font in case we would need to do an impromptu baptism. After some calling around and discussion, there seemed to be a misunderstanding, so we ended up scheduling the baptism for another day. At that point, there rested only one problem: how do we empty the baptismal font, now that the baptismal service was long over?

I don't know how we keep the font drains closed back home, but here we plug the drain with plastic bags and a brick, and when we're finished we budge the brick and remove the bags. We tried to reach the brick from the viewing glass with mop handles, but that didn't work. We tried going in from the bathroom (the girls bathroom is the one with doors to the font), standing on a thin ledge that is under the handrail of the staircase, and reaching the brick with our sticks from there. After much work, the DMP of the other ward finally got the brick off and some of the bags. Unfortunately, the ward clerk (who had been assigned to fill the font Friday evening by the bishop) had stuffed the plastic bags in good, so we could no longer pull them out with our sticks. With no better option, we decided someone had to go in and get wet to unplug the font. I volunteered. The other ward's DMP dug out the wet baptismal clothes, and I changed out of my pants into the baptismal pants. I tried to reach in and unplug the drain, but the water was too deep, and I would've gotten my shirt wet, so I snuck out and took my shirt off. I didn't think to grab a baptismal shirt, but I hopped in, reached in, and unplugged the drain.  

We have lots of spiritual experiences as missionaries, and we also have straight-up silly experiences. Oh well, another day on the job. Oh, and while changing out of my wet clothes, I needed to use the restroom, and since I was already in the girls' restroom, I figured I might as well take advantage of the opportunity. (;

Yesterday was a fantastic Sunday. In the afternoon, we taught some great lessons with Frère Bakana, and we went in search of a less active family in the more bush-y parts of our sector. We'd never been there, and Frère Bakana had forgotten where they lived, so we spent over an hour wandering the nameless streets, winding in between grassy fields and little brick houses trying to find them. In the end, we found them! It was a tender mercy from the Lord, and it was great to visit the family. The dad's name is Kpatcha, pronounced just like the Emperor's New Groove! He wasn't there, but we had a good spiritual thought with the mom, Soeur Clarice, and her kids.

If I had to put a reflection on this week, it would be "have fun and be kind". We've been having such a blast doing missionary work, and it makes all the difference. "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down". Really, teaching has become so much fun, trying to apply the Gospel to peoples' lives, and making it click for them. Sitting down and having a hearty laugh over lunch makes a huge difference. Talking with friends lightens your spirits. Seeing peoples's lives change is something I wouldn't trade for the world. As Alma, I can say that "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy." (Alma 29:9). So go out, become a delightful person, and watch the Lord transform lives before your eyes! There is no greater blessing!

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Phillips

Bonjour ma famille!

This week has been fantastic! I hope all is well, and that this letter finds you safe and sound, on the way to Yellowstone! Woohoo!

On Monday, we had a mangez-vous with a member family in the others' sector, to wish Elder N'Guessan Bi au revoir. The family is so nice, and it was a great evening.

The Assistants came Tuesday evening, picking up Elder N'Guessan Bi and dropping off Elder Joseph.

Elder Joseph is a blast to be around. He's absolutely hilarious, and we've been having so much fun together. I feel like he's got the perfect balance between work hard/play hard; we work when we have to and then some, and then we have fun in every other possible moment.

My back is about the same. I've been putting everyone's suggestions into practice, and they help lots. We've decided that the cause is my mattress, so we're hoping this week to change it out for a sturdy, hard one.

In the fall (around October), the Attiegou ward will move out of the stake center and into a for-rent building. It will be sad to lose the Spirit of an actual Church building, but the new building will be closer to less active members who can't afford to pay transport to the stake center. The new building is in our sector, so we've had the idea to do street contacting and door-knocking in the area around the new building, to prepare the area for when the ward actually comes. It's showing a lot of promise, and we're hoping to have several progressing investigators in the coming days and weeks.

Our ami Pierre is doing well. He's fallen sick this week, but he's clean from alcohol, so that's great. I don't know if I've talked about Pierre, but if not he's a contact from our DMP, who has/had a Word of Wisdom problem, but he's had several dreams that have shaken him out of the habit. He feels like the Gospel has been helping him, and it's the right direction to take, so we're just happy to help! He accepted a baptismal date for the beginning of August.

Philomenne and Brigitte are doing well. We've decided to teach the entire Akakpo family, to better invite the Spirit. They're baptismal dates are fixed for the end of the month. I really hope that we'll be able to "complete the family," so to speak. There's a really big power in converting families, and you can feel the Spirit more intensely as you teach and baptize families.

Islene is doing good. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he loved it. He wants to get baptized, and we fixed a date with him. The only thing getting in his way is coming to church, and the only thing blocking him from church is his mom. She goes to her church every Sunday, and she insists that that is where Islene wants to go too. She said that right in front of him, and, looking at his face, you can tell that that's not what he wants. Don't get me wrong, she loves when we come over to teach, she just sees it as supplementary scripture study, not really demanding any commitments. Nevertheless, we are planning on talking to her and teaching her this week. Pray for us! (:

The members here are wonderful! Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, we have Arnaud come teach with us! Arnaud is a priest-aged young man who just moved into the ward this week. He's awesome! Frère Bakana also teaches with us every Sunday afternoon. Haha, imagine this Sunday schedule:
-Go to church at 7h30, finishing at 10h30.
-Ward council, directly after church, until about 11h30 or 12h00
-Home teaching a group of members preparing to go to the temple
-Coming to work with the missionaries from 14h30/15h30 until the end of the day.
And, during all this time, Bakana is a street contacting stud. As a mission, we have a standard of excellence to find 7 new investigators each week, and thanks to Frère Bakana, we found all 7 yesterday afternoon! We would be walking to a different rendez-vous, and Bakana would just stop people on the streets and start doing OVB with us. Me and Elder Joseph gave each other looks as if to say "Oh my goodness, this guy doesn't stop! He's awesome!" I loooooove working with the members here! (:

During weekly planning, we made a lot of ambitious, but accomplishable goals. We were both excited for our plans, and I think that Elder Joseph will be going out on a considerable bang!

Me and Elder Joseph were talking about the end of his mission, and I asked him "What is the emotion that has surprised you the most leading up to going home?" He told me that he's felt an increasing desire to do service. He wants to leave people here at least a little better off. As a result, whenever we have a ratez-vous, we look for service opportunities instead of street contacting. I really like that change.
All throughout my mission, I've been constantly looking for ways to improve my teaching skills, new teaching ideas and models, etc. etc. To be honest, my teaching isn't a strong suit. But this week, I thought a lot more about service than about teaching.

Anyone can teach or talk about the Gospel. Really, if the Church wanted us to be "teachers only," they'd keep us in our cozy homes and send out a broadcast of the missionary lessons taught by professional missionaries. But that's not what we're here to do! We're "called to SERVE". I think that who we are as missionaries is a more powerful message than what we say as missionaries.

In one of his MTC talks, Elder Bednar stated that he often asks recent converts to describe their first lesson with the missionaries. Not surprisingly, the common consensus is "the most confusing thirty minutes of my life!" These converts say that they invited the missionaries back, not for the message, but for the Spirit that they felt. Elder Bednar then made the point that what is felt is more important than what is said.

So, the journey of the missionary, and for that matter every one of us as well, is to apply the Gospel daily in our lives, and improve our character. As we focus on "being" and "becoming," we feel a more natural and righteous desire to "do" and "serve," not just because it's the "right thing to do". Then, people are touched by the Spirit that follows, and they too are motivated to change their lives for good.
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From hereon out, Elder Phillips will continue to improve his teaching skills, as usual, but he will focus more on doing good and being good. As we continue this work, I know that the Lord will bless us and use us as effective instruments.

I love you all! I hope y'all have a great week fly-fishing and buffalo bowling! (;

Love,
Elder Phillips

​Bonjour ma famille!

Well, this week was kind of a long haul, but I did have some great personal revelation moments.

Cecille, in a complicated situation, has decided to travel north for a while to figure things out. It's sad to see her go, and she seemed so ready for the Gospel, but I know that the Lord works in His own timing. One day she'll be baptized, just not now. It was super emotional to say goodbye to her, but I know that we'll see her again one day, hopefully soon! (:

We're teaching Philomenne and Brigitte, the wife and daughter of a passively-active member. Philomenne doesn't speak French, but when we have a translator, she understands the lessons very well. We fixed a baptismal date with her for the 20th of August. And, after many persuasions, she came to Church this Sunday! How cool is that? Tender mercy, right there.

Friday was, Hallelujah, my Hump Day! Woohoo! Well, it was kind of a longer day. My companion kind of just fell over this week and didn't want to work too much. We didn't get any teaching done on Friday, which really bummed me out. I was really stressed and depressed, so I kind of had a "Mid-Mission Crisis". Luckily, Elder Hammons helped me get back to normal, and I splurged and bought a lot of cookies. That helped me feel better.

But, to balance out the difficult moments, my personal studies were very filled with the Spirit. One phrase that the Spirit has taught me during this transfer is "I'm sorry and I forgive you". Those two are often said separately, but when we say them together, it offers a lot more healing; it's a more complete surrender of the heart. When we're wrong, we need to forgive the other person for any offense they might have caused us, and when we're right, we must also apologize for any offense we might have caused. Whenever there's an argument, both parties can say "I'm sorry and I forgive you," because you either win together or you lose separately.

Transfer calls came! Elder Hammons and Elder Olela are staying together, Elder Adzagah is going to be working with Elder Whitt as a zone leader, and Elder Roundy is the new Togo Office Elder. Elder N'Guessan Bi is going to Doumassesse to work with Elder Ribera, and I'm staying here in Attiegou. My new companion is Elder Joseph, from Layton, Utah. Elder Joseph was Elder Hansen's MTC companion, and has only one transfer left in his mission. So, in mission lingo, I'm going to be killing my spirit uncle. (; It should be a fun six weeks!

Elder Jorgensen, my good buddy, is going home. That's crazy. I wish we had had more time to hang out together, but he was such a good influence on me nonetheless. I got to talk to him on Sunday, and he had "the glow". I could tell that he's made the most of his two years, and of all the missionaries I've seen go home, he seems to be the one who has filled up his spiritual suitcases the most. You did good, Jorgy!

A constant thought on my head, for a long time now, is how I will look back on my mission. I've wondered if I'll be one of those returned missionaries that just beams with pride and talks constantly about his mission, or if I'll try to forget it and sit in the back row, still happy, but keeping that experience to myself. I've decided that my mission is a once in a lifetime event, and that I'm going to make the most of it. With the Lord's help, I can make this the most fulfilling experience of my life. As the Spirit fills this last year of my mission, I'm committed to do my best to serve the Lord, and come home with everything I can, a disciple of Jesus Christ.

3 Néphi 5:13

I love you all! Have a grand and glorious week!

Love,
Elder Phillips

​Bonjour ma famille!

Happy Independence Day! The 4th of July is fantastic! Man, I miss home sooo much. We are truly blessed to live where we live, trust me. God bless the USA!

Fun fact: "Pumbaa" is a Swahili word for a highwayman, a thug who stops people on the road, demands money, and beats them up/robs them if they don't give him anything. Usually these people are huge, beefy guys. This fun fact was brought to you by Elder Olela.

On Tuesday, we had interviews with Président Morin, as a companionship. He gave us some training on effective companionship studies, and making finding a spiritual effort. He invited us to pray in such a manner as to rely upon the power of the Atonement to find new amis, and to ask the Lord to present us a new ami. Since then, we've had just a few interesting experiences, such as:
- We passed by a house, and I turned my head to look, and I saw a young man who noticed us at the same time. He just had this look that said "There you are. Come teach me." We contacted him, and got a return appointment.
- A man selling bread was riding his bike that had a large, unwieldy box of bread on the back. Riding on the unpaved roads, his bike chain got disconnected right in front of us. We talked with him, had a nice conversation, and contacted him, and got a return appointment.
Lots of other cool little experiences like that.

Also, for the past couple of weeks, I have been having mild back pain. Nothing scary or terrible (I can still go out into the sector just fine), but still discomforting. I talked with Soeur Morin about it during interviews, and she gave me some recommendations. Jorgy was also listening in, and he recommended a type of backpack to wear out to the sector. Him and Elder Seiffert dug one out for me from one of the missionary apartments. Cons: If I flex my butt muscles, the whole world sees it. It's not very flattering, but Pros: It liberates my back, shoulders, and arms. I love it! It helps a lot. I'm expecting the pain to get better. No worries, all is well.

I helped Eli pay his tithing for the first time yesterday. That was a humbling experience, and it really touched me.

While tracting in our sector, we just arrived at the end of this road, and it was as if civilization ended. Before us was a wide open grassland and forest. It's part of our sector! Better yet, our sector goes out way past it! I'm stoked to try and explore that in the weeks to come.

The members here are fantastic. There are some true saints here. I love the Elder's Quorum President, Frère Bakana. He comes with us to teach every Sunday afternoon, and he really leads the quorum in organizing visits to less actives and recent converts. He's awesome.

This morning, for our zone activity, we went to Kpalimé. Kpalimé is a village in the north of Togo, about to be opened for missionary work. It is probably the most beautiful thing I've ever seen on my mission. Green grassland, trees, blue sky. The fresh air blowing through the bus windows was the best smell I've tasted since I came here, it was like Mother Nature's perfume. I saw mountains. For the first time since coming to these countries, I saw mountains, encircled in misty clouds, and clothed with green trees. The villages were small, spread out, very basic, nothing fancy. You occasionally see people weaving kenté, selling fruit, living life.

The drive up the mountain to the falls was fun; it was like a safari! The car was bouncing and bobbing so much. When we got to the destination, we got out and hiked a little bit. The trail is really short, and starts with large, steep stone steps going down. They were very precarious going down, and super hard to climb going up. It was the winding workout of a lifetime! In the midst of green canopy, we finally arrive at the falls. Water cascades down a black 45 degree slope, slick rock carved by water and time. Beneath my feet are stones colored like the rainbow. The water is cool (not cold), and tadpoles run away from our bare feet. Climbing up an indent next to the waterfall, I can see spiderwebs and vines. One vine extends from the top of the indent and plants itself like a tree into the ground below. Water trickles down from above, like rain, while the fountain roars in front of us. The falls were so cool. That was the best zone activity I've ever had.

Being surrounded by Heavenly Father's untouched creations was breathtaking. It helped me feel the Spirit so much. It was a little note, reminding me of how much God loves me and you, and how mindful he is of us. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father, and He gave us this earth to learn and progress. As we remember Him, the more and more we see His hand in our lives. We are touched by the beauty of His hands. More beautiful than any tree or stone or waterfall we may find, the life that He can make for us is the greatest of His creations. I know that as we are obedient and yield our lives to His will, we see miracles. I know that God loves each and every one of you, and is mindful of where you are. I invite you to pray and ask our Heavenly Father if He loves you (specifically you). I promise you that if you do, with faith, that you will feel His love, and you will know that He hasn't forgotten you, and that He's got a grand plan for your lives.
Have a great week, everyone! Happy 4th of July!

Love,
Elder Phillips

PS This Friday is my Hump Day (1 year mark). I'm ridin' the Hump to Disneyland! (;