I believe in miracles

It´s hard to explain all the miracles that are happening here in the mission but I´ll do the best I can with the 5 minutes I have left. Haha

First off, Kendra´s dad who has been fighting against his daugters baptism but authotized his son´s baptism went to church yesterday!

Vicki and Milagros are mother and daughter that were going to be baptized a while ago but then Vicki decided that she didn´t want to get married and so long story short it impeded the baptism of her, her husband, and her daughter. Vicki this week read our pamphlet of temples and temple marriage and decided that she wanted to get married!

Cecilia is girlfriend of a less active guy that got baptized about 4 years ago and she is just begging to be member of the Church :)

Sergio is also boyfriend of a less active woman that just started coming back to church and he is progressing like crazy and reading everything he can get his hands on about the church.

The Branch is finally starting to get a little more motivated :)

I know that for most of you it´s just a bunch of names but man is God bringing forth His work in South America. Our Father never rests. Our Father works, we must work. I know it, I live it, I love it!

Elder Philpot

Noche de Talentos

Let´s get right down to meat! This week´s talent show was a success. About 2 weeks ago we decided that the branch needed some fun so we planned a talent show. Unluckily, nobody did their part in prepare the chapel or invite their friends but, the same, many went and enjoyed it a lot! It was a blast. Santiago del Estero is one of the oldest cities in South America so it wasn´t a surprise that there is a wide variety of talent, of which mostly is musical. Since we Elders don´t have too much talent, we decided to do a bunch of stuff all together and make everyone laugh their heads off. Haha it worked :) But it wasn´t so much the music or the dancing or the joke telling that made us more happy but just being together as brothers and sisters fighting the same worldly battles. The secret to making a ward like Zion: bringing people together, inviting others, and visiting those that don´t come. If we could all do our little part in making our ward like Zion, the world would advance at a very rapid pace towards happiness and peace.

I would also like to emphasize the fact that we often put too much emphasis on doing things perfectly or it isn´t of much value. The talent show was evidence that it isn´t like that at all. I don´t have to know how to sing or dance well to participate but I sure can be Me. I don´t have to know the scriptures to value their importance and understand the need to read. I don´t have to see God to express my testimony. I don´t need to be perfect to be a missionary. But I do have to try. If we try, if we do our best, it counts for something. God knows us. He knows our hearts. He loves us. He values our efforts. I know it, I live it, I love it. Don´t feel inadecuate, don´t get down, don´t give up :)

Elder Philpot

Traps

With the nice little voice recorder that Elder Mann has been letting me use it´s starting to get harder and harder to think of things to write down in the weekly email. But I´m sure the Lord will guide me in my efforts to make you all laugh and remember the Saviour. 

First off, my beloved Elder Mann was touched my a ghost this morning. Yes, you heard it, a ghost. To my alarming surprise, while putting laundry in the washing machine this morning a heard a childish yelp come from within. And then a beckoning for my presence. Haha Elder Mann said that something black, wet, and hairy had grabbed the back of his heel and was about to climb up when it was scared by the screams of poor Elder Mann. Yes, a rat. A black, wet, leg-climbing rat. I´m sure it could teach me a few things about rock climbing actually. Anyways, in quick response to the emergency situation, we glued two cups together, put a stick through the ends, put the stick over a big bucket of water, and then covered the cups with honey and crackers... The perfect mouse trap. (Elder Mann´s idea). We hope to see results when we arrive home this very afternoon.

Sometimes we are like that little, I mean, big, black mouse. We start to do great things, but often we get too confident and touch people´s legs. Or as we will soon see, we are too ignorant of our very unsafe surroundings and we fall into the trap, seemingly without escape. In the Gospel of Jesus Christ we are taught to Stand in Holy Places. Are we really striving to choose our friends wisely? Are we too prideful to see the impact that our actions have on others when we make mistakes? Or are we aware of the dangers that surround us? Do we willingfully choose to stear clear of temptations? We must stear clear! I love you all. Your choices affect your destiny. I know it, I live it, I love it! 
Elder Philpot

Whooo yeah, Frias, Whoo yeah

This week was pretty normal but man did I love General Conf! General conference here in the mission is like spring break but better because we are being spiritually uplifted at the same time. Elder Mann and I started doing voice recordings every day so if you want me to send them to you your gonna have to ask :) It´s a lot easier than writing down everything I did during the week in a single day! Haha 

But this week we also travelled 3 hours in bus to a little town called Frias at the edge of the mission world. It´s the furthest area from the mission home so if you take the wrong road you might walk out of mission boundaries. It was fun. I was with Elder Walde again. Elder Walde is a great friend that I lived with in Salta so we did divisions together and had a lot of fun.

What I took out of the Conference has been a great blessing previously in my life and will be a blessing for the rest of my life. It is the principle of remembering. Elder Gerrit Gong of the 70 spoke about how we sometimes seem to forget and how important it is to remember our Saviour in spite of the trials that so often make us forget of His great love for us. I testify that He loves us ESPECIALLY in our trials. It´s true. I know it, I live it, I love it! 

Elder Philpot

Happys Easters

Felices Pascuas! This week was a fun one :) Elder Mann and I are doing fine here in Autonomía. I can´t complain either because the weather is awesome until now, the bikes are in the shop being fixed up from minor damages caused by Argentine designed potholes. Haha we are super excited for General Conference that´s for sure. SInce it´ll be our last one, we´re going to try to make it the best one. We´re planning on printing out little pamphlets for the investis, bringing recliners to the stake center by truck (Jando´s truck), and inviting everyone to receive revelation through the modern day prophets´ words. 

We´ve been wrestling a little bit with the baptism of Paula but if we can just teach her to resolve her own doubts, she´ll be an active member the rest of her life. Outside influences can often times have a negative impact on her view of the Gospel.

The Bulacio boys (Esteban and Franco) (members) have been helping their parents(non members), who actually went to church on Sunday to see their two boys give their testimonies which we had assigned them the day before :)

We found an awesome new investigator named Leopoldo! Elder Mann about two weeks ago said that it would be nice if someone would actually read the pamphlets and then explain us that they understood and that they followed its instructions and prayed. Well, later that night we visited Leopoldo, who had a pamphlet from our contact in the street, and he DID it! Except the part about prayer, which he didn´t do. But he understood everything front to back and he taught us the message of the Restoration when we got there. 

The Moreno family is close to being able to get married but they´re just waiting on the father´s divorce papers. Pray for miracles! After marriage they´ll be baptized.

Last but not least, the girlfriend of a random less active guy started to come to church about two weeks ago so that was a miracle and we´ll start teaching her this week! She even brought dessert to church to share with the members afterwards. WHAT?!?! Even members don´t do that. Haha

Anyways, the mission is fun. But we are all missionaries. Our families should have baptismal goals! They should plan on giving a certain number of references to the missionaries every month. There´s no time to lose. Nothing to lose either. Jesus Christ lives. He´s quickening His work. I know it, I live it, I love it!

Elder Philpot

New Stuff!

I got a new area. I got a new companion. I got new bikes. I got a new pension. I got air conditioning. And best of all, I got a new chance to change people´s lives :) I am now in Autonomía which is situated in Santiago del Estero. It´s a little ironic because the weather is just like Arizona so looks like God is preparing me for the scorching heat of Phoenix. My companion is Elder Mann from Murray, Utah. He´s tall. For some reason I´m always with tall companions and the people stare like no other. He´s awesome. I´m super excited for these last few months. We´re gonna work super hard and finish with fire since he will also be finishing a little after me. Everything seems to be set up perfectly for a fun finish. But let´s not talk about the end! I´m still in it. 

Something that I´m really coming to know for sure is that our Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for us and if we get all sad because things don´t go our way it´s because we are being too prideful. I´ve come to learn that lesson many times. We Philpots are a little too prideful so it´s been quite the ride. Haha but with more time in the mission and seeing His hand even more in my life, I feel a deep love and confidence that He will always do what´s best for me and my happiness. I know it with all my being. I know it, I live it, I love it!

Elder Philpot

PS. Elder Blake, I know that you´re gonna want me to visit a few people. Forget about it ;) Nah, let me know and you can count on me.

PSS. I didn´t write very much. I´m sorry. Next time!

Deja que el Espíritu te enseñe

I don´t have too much great news. Overall things are going really well here in Belgrano, Tucumán. I´m enjoying my time with Elder Romer and we´re seeing quite a few miracles.There are lots of people that are so close to baptism and we are just waiting on the decision of parents and the wanting part so they can be baptized. I´m just realizing that you guys know very little of the people that we´re teaching here in Argentina. Well, here´s a description.

Melani- a young single mother of 17 that is best friends with the daughter of our ward mission leader. Nough said.... Haha she accepted very quickly the Gospel and knows more than many members. She loves the scriptures and has made many friends in church already. She just needs permission from her parents. They aren´t very willing. Pray for her :)

Jose Rios- a member´s dad. He´s about 67 or something like that. He loves joking around with the missionaries. Haha he almost got baptized about two months ago but had a little problem and then got lost from the face of the earth. We found him about two weeks ago and started to teach again. He´s getting warmer! Haha

Nestor- the father in a family of all members. He´s very open. He´s just looking for his own testimony. He told his family that he would get baptized if they asked him to but we all know that it doesn´t work that way. He´s close :)

There are a few others but I´ll tell you about them next week :)

The Spirit is our guide. He is our teacher. He leads us in times of trouble. I know it, I live it, I love it! Search for opportunities to share the Gospel by following His guide :)

Elder Philpot