Cumming-Week 5

Here is the latest from Elder Phillips......Hey Family, well you just took a huge load off my shoulders today, I was worried how y'all would react to my ticket.  I am not happy about it but I have learned a great lesson from it.  Elder A (a senior missionary couple) will be going to court with me to help me out.  I am glad that dad got a kick out of my whole experience, at least I didn't pull over on the wrong side of the road.  (He is referring to the fact that his brother, Tyler did pull over on the wrong side of the road and removed the side mirror with a mile marker sign.)  We are hoping that we will have a baptism this weekend but we will wait and see.  The pollen is really bad this year here but it is getting warm so I am stoked about that.  So things are going good, just trying to stay busy.  We had 4 legit investigators at church this Sunday!!  It was so awesome.  I know that our Heavenly Father is in this work and that Jesus Christ is out Savior and Redeemer, he lived for us and he died for us.  And he lives today..:)  I love this work...it's hard....trust me....Satan is really trying to get me to quit but I will not quir, this work is too important to me and my Father in heaven.  So things are good, just moving forward.  I got to do service this week at the barn.  I'll make sure to take pictures next time, basically it is a farm where they do riding lessons and therapy lessons for special kids, they get to ride horses and stuff.  Plus a less active member owns the barn, so we go and do service for her there, like moving horse crap.  It is pretty sweet!!  I love this area so much.  But that is all I have this week.  Love ya, Elder Phillips

PS: If you see me pickin up trash on the side of the highway in Georgia, you know my court date went bad......

Cumming-Week 4

Well, here is the latest from Justin (Speedy) this week.....Hey Family, well this week has been pretty crappy....um I have some bad news.  I got pulled over on my way to Leadership training.  I got caught speeding, because I was passing someone who was driving reckless.  So instead of a ticket because I am under 21 and I was going 17 over because I was passing someone I now have a court date on June 3rd.  I am sorry I know that this is going to cost me alot of money (really it is going to cost HIM a lot of money??, how about it is going to cost his dad and I a lot of money.) So we are just going to call him "Speedy" from now on. And there will be repayment in his future.  On a happier note, we have two people on date for baptism, we are pretty excited about that.  And that is where my little miracles come in, so we were trying to decide when to put this guy on date and we decided for April 20th and I was in another area when they went to teach him.  But here is the story....they were talking baptism and he just said that he wanted to be baptized on April 20th.  But none of us brought up when we wantd to have him baptized.  So the Lord inspired us on when this man needed to be baptized.  So he is shooting for this week, let's hope that it works out.  Well, I am good, the weather is getting better but the pollen sucks here though.  The ward we are serving in is great.  Anyway that is about all I have this week.  I hope all is well at home.

Love ya....Elder Phillips

Cumming-Week 3

Here is the latest from Georgia and Elder Phillips.....I really loved conference this time.  I got to sit by my old companion Elder B.  So I was sitting in priesthood session and I thought that next time I'll be home with my family but I feel like my family is here.  I truly love the people of Georgia.  They are just like my family, sometimes they frustrate me to no end but I still love them.  That is why I keep working, that is why I keep trying and never give up because these are God's children and this is their salvation.  I love this work.  It feels so weird to think that it is all coming to an end.  We are gonna do everything we can to get that 6 baptisms before I take off.  I have decided to leave my bike here and hopefully some other Elder will be able to use it.  I am doing pretty well.  The weather is getting better, one day it will truly be warm.  I don't need anything. I am good.  So here is our miracle, we were out knockin' doors and this guy was talking to us, he was super old and set in his ways and he was saying this and that about the church and doctrine and so he asked me if I believe that man can see God and live?  And he was trying to stump us but I testified to this man that I know that a man named Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his son Jesus Christ and it was super powerful.  I've never bore a testimony like that.  I love this work so much.  I love the Lord.  He is in this work.  Love ya bye.

Elder Phillips

Cumming-Week 2

Here is the latest from Elder Phillips......Well this week was super long.  We have been doing alot of work and knocking a lot of doors.  Holy cow!! so I had one of the best Easter dinner I have ever had.  It was amazing.  Honey ham, biscuits, green beans, taters and deviled eggs.  It was crazy good.  They mad so much food.  I love this ward.  They feed us so well here, it's awesome.  I got your package and loved it, the granola bars are super good.  I'd share with Elder A but he doesn't like candy...he doesn't like sweets at all.  So here is something I was thinking about Elder A birthday is at the end of the month and I was thinkin' if y'all could instead of sending me a package send him one with like with granola bars in it.  Could you do it like you did for my birthday last year...y'all could send him one for his birthday because he never hears from his family basically.  He will be 21 years old this month.  So after reading this I had a little "mom moment" as the boys call it and I shed some tears.  How proud I am of him!!!    I have also decided to leave my bike in Atlanta so that another missionary can use it.  The new area is sweet.  It is alot like Dawsonville, it has a lot of open spaces and cows and horses but it also has a lot of big homes and BIG TRUCKS!!  It is the promise land.  Elder A is sweet, he is the oldest of 6 children and from Tonga.  We are slowly having some luck here, the Ward mission leader wants us to have 6 baptisms before I go home, it's gonna be insane.  You know I'm down!  It's gonna take work.  The weather is heating up and I love it.  Being district leader is pretty easy, not too hard.  The other two missionaries are sweet, Elder J and Elder C.  They are good obedient Elders.  The members love us, they miss having missionaries here.  So here is something cool....so the other night I was praying and I was thinking aobut who we need to work with and help in this ward.  And I had this weird impression of this old man that is a part member and he just started coming this week I got here.  So we went to church and one of the member came up to us and said she had someone that she wants us to teach...and guess who it was??  It was the old man, he wants to take the lessons fromt he missionaries, it was so awesome.  I knew that I received revelation.  It was so awesome, this is his work, it is the Lord's work!  I know it, I know that Christ lives and loves all of us.
Love ya, bye
Elder Phillips

Cumming-Week 1

Here is the latest from Elder Phillips.....So Mom I have been transferred to Coal Mountain, which is in the city of Cumming, Georgia.  I am pretty close to Lake Lanier.  It is a super nice ward.  We were given a key, a phone and an address...and here we are....white washing is fun.  That is what we call it when two new Elders get put into an area.  We basically didn't know anything.  We have to drive like 40 minutes to get to church, because our church down here is still being built.  We meet in the same building as the Dahlonega Ward.  I was there like 6 months ago.  My new companion is super legit.  Elder A is my new companion, he is a funny buggar, he is sweet.  He is from Tonga, first time off the island, he has been out for 12 months.  I have to explain all kinds of words to him because he learned English on the mission.  Don't worry I am teachin him all the bad ones. :)  I am doing really well, just stressed as usual, the Mission president dropped me as a Zone leader but I guess the Lord wanted to keep me as a District leader...fun stuff, it is only a 4 man district.  Just us and another set of missionaries.  So here is a funny story, so we got here and the missionaries who were taken out here, chose not to clean out the fridge in the apartment, moldy, nasty food...gross...fun stuff.  But things are good.  The members bought us some food to get us by for the week, the feed us like every night here, it is awesome.  I love this ward already, plus there are tons of people that the ward is sharing the gospel with.  We have had some sweet experience, we were knocking doors our second day here because we had an extra 15 minutes and we got in with this lady, who allowed us to leave a blessing upon her home and the spirit was pretty strong.  And at the end we testified that she was feeling the spirit and she started to cry and said that it was weird that we came because she was just praying for everything that we blessed her with...it was amazing....I couldn't believe it!!  Miracles in the field. But that's about it.

Love ya,
Elder Phillips