Jonesboro-Week 14

Latest update from Elder Phillips.....it has been another great week in the mission field.  I am doing good, just trying to do the best that I can with what I got.  The work is going good, we have a baptism this upcoming weekend, its pretty sweet.  Jonesboro is great and the ward is super nice and now I know the area super well.  We have been looking for new investigators but the work is a little slow right now.  Well this week we had a miracle that I wanted to share with y'all.  We were visiting potential investigators and the first one we knocked on the people that lived there had moved...the lady that lives there was prepared to hear this message.  She is now one of our new investigators.  Well that was a pretty awesome testimony builder for me.  I want to wish dad a late Father's Day and hope he had a great day.  I appreciate him and everything that he taught me.  In closing let me share with you a little piece of one of my favorite talks by one of m favorite Apostles.  This piece of his talk has helped me a lot and it applies to every single one of us.  "I do not know who in this vast audience today may need to hear the message of forgiveness inherent in this parable, but however late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don't have or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love.  It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ's Atonement shines." Elder Holland-April 2012  I just want to tell you that I know that this is true, none of us have traveled too far from the path, we can always come back no matter how far off we think we are, his atonement is infinite and eternal.  I love y'all so much and miss you too. 

Jonesboro-Week 13

Justin's email from this week....The Lord's work is moving forward.  I feel like I'm doing a great job but I feel like I can be doing more for the Lord...My week has been pretty good, could be better.  We have some new people we are working with but it is hard sometimes to find new people to teach.  But it is part of the work and I just gotta keep pushing forward.  I'm doing good, just enjoying this Georgia weather.  Grateful that I am in a car area.  Lol!!  So this week we were having a family home evening with some of our recent converts, we are actually going over there tonight and one of the neighbor kids was like I want to come so we said of course.  Well she asks should I go get my Book of Mormon?  Turns out she is not a member but her mother is...that was an amazing experience.  I don't know what will happen with it but it helped me out a lot.  Plus...we have had this Laotian copy of the Book of Mormon sitting in our apartment and I had no idea why it was there?  So last week we went to see a lady in our ward and turns out that she has a family member coming into town who can only read Laotian...talk about a miracle, that was powerful.  The Lord is blessing the people here...through us.  I know that he is involved in this work and in our lives.  I love y'all and miss ya.

Jonesboro-Week 12

Well, Elder Phillips has been serving in Jonesboro now for the last three months and he is approaching his year mark.  The year for us has really gone by fast.  I started my email last week with....WHEW!!  What a week it has been and then we filled him in on all the changes; his grandpa is getting married and ward boundaries changes. This is part of his email this week....My week has been great for the most part.  The work is going great.  We got a lot of people that we are working with.  I'm doing great.  I love serving the Lord.  I hope I am making a difference in this area.  The weather is hot, plus we had to take our car into the shop so we were on bikes which was a great work out but it was HOT!!  We had a great weekend as a district, the Flint River missionaries plus the Spanish missionaries had baptisms this weekend.  It was awesome.  I'm proud of the missionaries that I serve with here.  We had a lot of people placed in our paths this week, this is probably my miracle for this week.  If we weren't on bikes we wouldn't have been able to talk to them.  But I know that I am supposed to be on a mission right now.  I know that this work is true, I know that we are so blessed to have this gospel in our lives.  I love y'all and miss ya.

Jonesboro-Week 11

Elder Phillips had a great week in Georgia. His companion and him are getting along great.  This is from his recent email...We recently went on exchanges with the Assistants to the President of the mission.  It was a very uplifting experience, makes me want to be so much better than I am.  The weather is getting HOT!!  I mentioned to Justin in my last email as he is approaching his one year mark that he need to finish strong so that he had no regrets.  The mission president told Justin the same thing about finishing strong and keeping his focus so that he will not have any regrets. So tiny miracle for this week, we finally got in with our long lost investigators so that was amazing, they are doing great and progressing well.  So I am loving serving the Lord, it is such a great experience to be serving around such great missionaries and to be serving as district leader.  In closing I want you to know that I know this this work is true, that this church is true.  I know that the Book of Mormon is true.  I know that this work that we are doing changes lives.  I know the Jesus Christ lives, I know that through him and through him alone I can make it back home to my Father in Heaven.  I know he hears and answers prayers, he loves each and everyone of us.  His work and his glory is to bring us back.  He wants us to be happy.  I know that eternal families can happen if we make it happen.  I love and miss y'all.