TEMPLES, EXCHANGES, BIRTHDAYS AND BBQS!!!

Hello all! So, I forgot my journal! However, I'll try to remember all that happened this week :) 

Hanging with Sister Herbine during companionship exchanges in Alameda.

Monday (5/22), We went on exchanges!! I was left to lead the area that I've only been in for 3 weeks.. Yay!! It was super fun with Sister Herbine! Plus I got to drive a 2017 Chevy Malibu for a day while our car got fixed! :D But when we switched cars at the dealership, we forgot to bring our clicker to open the gate to our apartment. So when we got there that night at 9:30 we realized that we would have to park on the street. If any of you have ever lived in Alameda you will know that finding a parking spot on the street is nearly impossible, especially at night. But Heavenly Father gave us a miracle by allowing us to find a parking spot on the same street as our apartment that late at night. Plus the Malibu is a really long car and it fit perfectly! Blessings!! 

Sister Herbine and I having lunch with Elder and Sister Pimentell.

Tuesday (5/23): We had lunch with Elder and Sister Pimentell. Elder Pimentell is a member of the Area 70 for the San Francisco/Oakland Mission and since they live in our ward boundaries, they invited us over for lunch and gave us some awesome Ideas for missionary work. They they used to be over the Berlin, Germany mission :) Funny story about going to lunch at their house though: We parked in front of their house about 60 minutes early to tract around their house and at 5pm we knocked on their door and it didn't look like anyone lived there. Then I remembered Sister Pimentell telling me they had just moved! So we rushed over to their new house which was about 10 minutes away and thankfully it was ok because they were waiting for family that hadn't shown up yet and when we got to their house, they found out they mixed up the dates and their family was coming next week. BUT! If we wouldn't have made the mistake, we wouldn't have talked to a lady named Debbie! She wasn't interested in sharing a message but she was super nice and asked us questions about the temple since she has some LDS friends :) we also talked to a super cute lady named Kaitlyn who is a Quaker :) 

Other things that happened this week:

I got sunburned while out knocking on doors. Guess I'll have to make sure I have sunscreen in my bag.

My locker at the Oakland Temple Visitors Center

My Uncle Steve will laugh at this; he's a big Jack Black fan.

We had a missionary fireside on Saturday (5/27). We also had a really great lesson with our investigator Kam! She hasn't been putting in the time to read the Book of Mormon and in this lesson we taught her the Plan of Salvation really simply so she'd understand because English is her 2nd language. By the end she really understood why this life is important and the things we need to do. She also mentioned, by herself, that she needs to put God and Christ more as a priority than other things in her life; so we're hoping that she'll keep her commitments! We're having another lesson with her tonight as well :)  

On Sunday (5/28) we also had a couple who are from Russia but who live in the Bay area come in to the Visitors Center. We gave them a tour and talked a lot about the Book of Mormon with them and the guy said "You've almost sold me!" a few times. So we hope they'll come back soon :) 

Tuesday (5/30), we had Zone Conference!! It was really awesome! We also had someone come and talk to us about stress management and taught us breathing exercises and committed us to do them 5 times a day. 

Lunch at Zone Conference

The Relief Society decorated our tables so cute!

Sisters trying to eat healthy but look at all that yummy food!

Today is Hadley's Birthday (my little sister) and my companion, Sister Mikkelson's as well! We also got to go to the temple today and had a really fun BBQ at the mission home where we also got to play sports! My mission president is awesome at basketball! 

Happy Birthday Sister Mikkelson!

-- 

Love,

Sister Phillips

Sunburned... but happy :) 7 months!!

Selfie in front of the Oakland Temple Visitors Center

Monday (5/15): like I mentioned in my last post (last Monday) we went on a hike/walk around Lake Chabot with some of the other sister missionaries in our district :) Then we washed the car, and got a referral :)

Tuesday (5/16): We had interviews with our mission president :) This transfer period our Christ-like attribute to focus on is Knowledge. So, during our district meeting we shared our favorite scripture about knowledge and how it helped us or someone. We also went out to lunch with our recent convert, Joaquin, to a fancy Italian restaurant :) And when we were on shift at the Oakland Temple Visitors Center the young men and young women from my last ward (San Lorenzo) came up for a missionary activity (which I totally forgot about even though I reserved the space for them xD). So it was a really nice and happy surprise for me because I got to see them and say hi! :D I also was able to talk to a girl online who was trying to decide if she should to go on a mission or not and I was able to put her at ease about it and give her some info about what a missionary's daily life is :) Also, something really cool happened while at the Visitors Center today!! A Chinese sister who works in the temple was waiting outside for her ride when she saw a group of Chinese people taking pictures of the temple and brought them inside. Luckily her ride was delayed and she was able to sit down and tell them a bit about our basic beliefs (because we only have 1 companionship of Chinese speaking sisters at the moment and they had already left for the day) and we were able to show them the 6 minute "special witness" movie on the restoration of the gospel and afterwards the Sister was able to tell them more about Prophets and Apostles and we gave them referral cards in Chinese and the Chinese sister's number and they said they would call. 

Sister Ye

Wednesday (5/17): We had an awesome lesson with Lashaunda! She's a former investigator as of a few years ago and we set up an appointment for today and we committed her and her family to read the Book of Mormon and pray daily as a family. We also gave her kids a storybook version of the Book of Mormon as well. Then, when we stopped by a few days later, she said she and her family had read it!! So her family of 5 kids are potential investigators!! We also had another wonderful lesson with our investigator Jennifer! We were actually there for about 2 hours.... luckily it didn't interfere with any other appointments... She's a talker! But we have high hopes for her!! Then we had an awesome lesson with our less active sister Keh (kay) and she have us dehydrated banana chips :) yummm :) And she said yes to our invitation to come out to the Ward’s Relief Society chili cook off!! And she’s super excited!! We also saw a less active family who has some health issues. The family we found last week from our district finding activity told us they weren't interested, but thankfully we have 2 other potential families to teach instead! :) Blessings :) We had dinner with the Sherwoods (ward mission leader) and we had an AMAZING experience! We went to the chapel to do some preparation for our missionary fireside and we walked out and our member was with her co-worker who is interested in our church! We were able to introduce ourselves and give him a copy of the Book of Mormon!! Then we went to contact a referral and we saw him walking to his house but didn't realize it was him until he was walking in the front door while we were still in our car. After we parked and knocked on his door no one answered :(

I'm finding that you come across all kinds of unusual people while you serve on a mission.

Thursday (5/18): WE HAD AN AMAZING VISITORS CENTER TRAINING!!!

The San Francisco/Oakland Visitors Center Sister Missionaries

It was about what we do with investigators that we remove from our active teaching list because they are not ready to progress right now and what we can do to get them ready. The local ward members play a HUGE part in doing this because they are able to spend the time getting to know them, etc. when we aren't able to!! So please help the missionaries!! We also talked about other things as well which I don't have time to write. We had our Relief Society Chili cook off and sister Keh came!!!! And When I was online I got a Book of Mormon referral I called to verify his address and he said he already had one and had been taught by missionaries but went to jail and that's when he read the Book of Mormon and knows it's true and wants to meet with missionaries again!!! We also did our studies in the Young Woman’s room at the church building and it's decorated SO cute! (I guess you can do that when there's only your ward in the ward building :) ) And I had an AMAZING PERSONAL STUDY!!! 

The cute Young Woman's Room in the church building

LOVE the seat cushions!

It's decorated SO CUTE - they even have curtains in the window!

Friday (5/19): At the Visitors Center we had a guy (member) come in and he was about to leave but I asked if we could give him a tour because he hadn't been back for 25 years (he used to work there). We showed him ‘God's Plan for His Family’ even though he made bad choices and lost his family/marriage and afterward we were able to talk and he said he was grateful for the trials he's been through because it brought him closer to God but was still sad about it and I told him something about how he can now help someone else because of his experiences. He said that that's what he'd been thinking about while watching the presentation and said we helped confirm what the Spirit was telling him. We committed him to pray on his knees and ask God what He thinks of him and to not get up until he gets his answer. (I suggest everyone do this regardless if they think they have problems or not)! :) Also, I had a really golden referral I sent to missionaries! He said he wasn't ready for baptism yet because of old habits and addictions and I was able to begin teaching him and he said thanks for supporting him. He's going to keep trying to overcome his addictions and prepare to be baptized later on :) Also! The 2 referrals we sent the Zone leaders are now investigators and are awesome!! And a really inspiring guy came on Mormon.org to chat. He's investigating the church and overcoming a drinking addiction and asked us for scriptures to help him because his missionaries were asleep. 

Saturday (5/20): talked to someone investigating the church online who wants us to talk to a Catholic friend of hers who isn't happy with her church. She said that because of her friend's example she contacted the missionaries to have them teach her!! We had five large group tours all at 9:30 am!!! 

Sunday (5/21): Saw a less active part member family at church! 

Monday (5/22): Got sunburned while mini golfing on our P-day today! :) 

I'm going to have a tanline where my watch is!

Guess I better start carrying sunscreen with me.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!

Picture with Sister Hilton while we were hiking at Lake Chabon

Hi everyone!!!! I hope your Mother's Day was as fantastic as mine!! I got to skype my parents!!! 

I can't believe I've only been in Alameda for 2 weeks! It seems like I've been here longer! 

Monday 5/8/17: P-Day! We went shopping for groceries and then we had some extra time so we went to Daiso (A Japanese dollar store where everything is basically $1.50) because Sister Mikkelson hadn't gone to one yet :) Then we met the other sister missionaries in our zone and ate at Chipotle. Then we visited a LOT of people today. We saw our investigator Felipe and he hadn't read the Book of Mormon and said he'd study on his own first and then ask us questions. So we'll check back in a few weeks. If anything it was a seed planted :) We also went to see a less active part member family and it was the first time in history that someone buzzed us in without knowing who we were and then opened the door! The non-member wife answered and asked us to come back (she's a cute Korean lady :)) because we could obviously tell her husband was asleep by his snoring. :) Then we went to contact a potential/former investigator named Rafael; but when we got to the house 2 guys answered the door and said he's in El Salvador and they don't know if he'll be coming back. But they said they'd be interested in learning about our message so we gave the Zone Leaders their info :)

Tuesday 5/9/17: We did a service project at Joaquin Miller Park where we cut back the invasive grass, pulled out lots of Hemlock and a plant called "broom" and we saw 2 scorpions and a newt (which I held ;) - the newt not the scorpions). I learned a lot about plants and stuff! We also saw a wild strawberry plant and there were wild blackberries and wild mint leaves and an edible kind of lettuce and bay leaves and learned about poison Oak. There were 2 ladies in charge of our service project and one of them used to be a long time news caster lady! Oh!! We also saw some awesome flowers too! Forget-me-nots, Scarlet Pimpernels, English Daisies and a cool grass or plant called Rattle Snake because it has pods that rattle when they are shaken. The news caster lady also had her cute dog named Lucy with us :) I also learned that Redwood trees are really cool because the super tall ones can have like 3 different climates! We also had some awesome deep doctrinal conversations while at the Oakland Temple Visitors' Center with the other Sisters there. We aslo had some miracles! Sister Heath and Sister Madsen talked to a lady who was having a hard time and came into the Visitors Center. They talked to her in front of the Christus statue for an hour and the lady agreed to learn more and possibly meet with the missionaries! Now here's the BIGGEST MIRACLE!!!!   I was on Mormon.org chatting with people and a GOLDEN person comes online! His mom and her family were LDS but she got ex communicated but he's been praying and wanting to come closer to Christ and he got an answer that he should join the Mormon Church. So he wanted to meet with missionaries to learn more!! 

Heart Stump at Joaquin Miller Park

Hanging with Sister Rice (my last companion) at Joaquin Miller Park during our service project.

Redwoods at Joaquin Miller Park. It was really cool to learn about the ecosystem here.

Wednesday 5/10/17: I chatted online with a member who had her name/records taken off of the LDS Church Rolls because of some stuff and she wanted to know how to bring the Spirit back into her. We were able to help give her some ideas about family home evening, reading scriptures and praying daily. Eventually, when she's ready, we talked about going back to church. More happened but I'm almost out of time. We went to visit a former investigator and she knew it was us before she opened the door because her son went like this 🙏. Cool huh?

Thursday 5/11/17: Happy birthday mom!! Go read Matthew Chapter 7 and read the footnotes! Mindblowing! Now compare it with 3 Nephi Chapter 14!!

Saturday 5/13/17: We got 6 new investigators today because we had a District Blitz in our area. Basically our whole district came out to our area to help contact potential investigators and tract in our area!!!

Picture of my district. These awesome missionaries helped us with our district blitz in our area last week.

 Sunday 5/14/17: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! It was amazing to hear the talks in Church today and also to skype with my family!!

Sister Hilton and I climbing a tree on our hike at Lake Chabon.

Breakfast courtesy of Elder and Sister Grow! They're the BEST!

Monday 5/15/17: Today for P-Day Elder and Sister Grow made us breakfast and we hiked at Lake Chabot <3

-- 

Sister Phillips

Alameda Week 1!

Meeting my new companion, Sister Mikkelson, in Alameda for the first time.

Meet my new companion sister Mikkelson!

We are already seeing miracles here in Alameda!!  We went to go contact a referral from one of our local members and when we got to the house it was a care facility and the referral had just moved out about 1 week prior. BUT!! We talked to 2 of the girls that worked there, Kam and Kekela, and shared a brief message about the restoration and they said they'd like to learn more so we got their info and gave them both pamphlets on the Restoration of the Gospel and copies of the Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment so we added 2 new investigators!!! Later we went back and taught Kam about the Restoration of the Gospel and Book of Mormon intro and extended a soft baptismal invitation which she accepted! 

We also went to visit a less active member; Sister Morales. Apparently she has had bad feelings towards missionaries in the past because they push to try to teach her daughters (Alex 11 and Sophia 6) so we decided we'd just go over there and get to know her better and not really mention teaching her daughters. Toward the end of our visit she did bring up that missionaries wanted to teach her daughters in the past and how she didn't like that. She brought that up a few times and we tried to let her know we were there just to get to know her and see if we could help in any way and we talked about prayer and out of the blue she said “On one of my next days off, you can come and teach my daughter Alex.” Totally unexpected! But it made us very happy afterwards :).

So Alameda is doing pretty well! :D We're just trying to gain the members trust and show our competency and love for this work and that we really do want to help out in any way we can. We also went to see another less active member in our ward (he’s the son of a member in our ward) who recently married a Catholic woman from Mexico. When we went over to visit, he (Brother Pope) was working in the back yard but his wife, Lori, came around the front and was talking to us while we waited for him. She is a really nice lady! We got to know her a bit better and gained her trust. After we talked with both of them for a few minutes she left and it was just us and Brother Pope outside. He said that now that he finally gets weekends off with his job he and his wife were going to try going every other week to each other’s churches! And he really wants his wife to convert! He just says that slowly but surely she will :) So those are some of our awesome miracles that happened this past week :)    

Some Random Thoughts...

*I really loved this Mormon Messages video about the ‘Music of the Gospel’ because it reminded me of when my mom would take me to "Indian pow wows" when I was younger. I find the culture, their music and dance fascinating. And I love how this video related the gospel to their beliefs about music and dance.

*Here’s a great message that addresses all of the negativity we see in the world and how we can look for and find greater optimism and joy.

My last P-Day in San Lorenzo!

Love you all!!!  

Sister Alyssa Phillips

TRANSFERS!!!!!!

Well, Mark this day down in history. I'm getting transferred out of my first area, San Lorenzo, to Alameda Island! :D Transfers are tomorrow (Tuesday, May 2). To catch you up on this week: 

Last Monday we had a really fun zone activity where we had a HUGE Hispanic BBQ and then played zone sports. :) BUT after our P-Day ended, our investigator, Cat, had her baptism interview and passed! THEN, later that day, we had a miracle!! Our plans had fallen through and I randomly (not so random.. more like inspiration) thought to go see a less active member in our ward who we had been meaning to see. She was home and we were able to teach her about the restoration and commit her to read her Book of Mormon. She let us set a return appointment so we could come back and check on her. The miracle part is that she is almost never home because of her job. She normally wouldn't have been home that day or but she was able to get off work early and went home. And she usually would have been in her back yard or somewhere where she wouldn't have been able to hear the door. But her sister called right when she got home so she was sitting in her car out front when we walked up to her door! :D Then another miracle is we went to "teach" our recent convert Michael Angelo (but really we meant to teach his mom by having her be present with us as the 3rd female – mission rules) But we brought an older lady from our ward just in case. So Mike's mom didn't join us for the lesson, but afterwards the member we brought with us ended up really hitting it off with Mike's mom! And Mike says he thinks his mom might be ready now to listen to the missionaries!! Thanks to Sister Rice; I'm really beginning to recognize the promptings of the spirit in my life :)

I've really grown during the short time I served with Sister Rice!

Tuesday: We had lunch at the Scott's. Sister Scott's step daughter, Stephanie was there with her non-member boyfriend and we were able to teach them about the Restoration of the Gospel while we were there. :) Then we had a “Tim Tam Slam” #byom (bring your own mug) Party before district meeting. Tim Tam’s are chocolate covered, chocolate filled cookies (Polynesian stuff). 

Tim Tam cookies with our Mugs and Nestle Milo Hot Chocolate - YUM!

So the Party is with these cookies and “Milo” which is like a really healthy hot chocolate. What you do is bite off the opposite edges of the cookie and then you try to suck up the Milo with the cookie (like a straw).

But once you do this, it melts the chocolate in the middle of the cookie and you have to suck up the cookie before it melts and falls into the cup (you can't use your hands).​​​​​​​​ Here's a video of the Couple Missionaries doing the Tim Tam Slam for the first time!

Then we had an awesome district meeting about using the Book of Mormon to address investigator’s concerns. We also had a sleep over with the San Leandro Spanish speaking Sisters because their power was out! :D

Sleep over with the San Leandro Spanish speaking Sisters

Wednesday: It was our recent convert Linda's Birthday!!

Linda is such a wonderful person!

Thursday: We had departing missionary testimonies and I was able to say goodbye to my trainer, Sister Muench after she bore her testimony. Our plans for the day didn't work out but we were able to see our recent convert walking down the street and talk to him! 

Saying "goodbye" to my trainer, Sister Muench.

Posterity Picture of Sister Muench and the Sister Missionaries she trained.

Friday: 

Saturday: Cat's Baptism!!!! 

Sister Rice, Cat and I just before Cat's baptism

Sunday: Cat got confirmed!! When she was being confirmed as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, I felt the spirit very strongly during her blessing. It was a reminder to me how important and special the Gift of the Holy Ghost really is.

Cat after she has been confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

Monday: We packed, washed our car went to classic burger. It's SUPER HOT!!! 

Love you all!!!

Sister Alyssa Phillips

Sister Rice and I at "Mountain Mike's Pizza."

April 24, 2017 - Sorry for my last email!!!!

This letter was originally sent on 4/24/17 but it's just now being posted to Alyssa's Mission Blog

I'm so sorry everyone for my last email! It was horribly short... 

Guess what I found out today? 2 of my MTC teachers are engaged!! And my mom graduated from college with her bachelors! And my friend Billy who is working on his mission papers (who recently baptized a friend) just got one of his other friends to accept to be baptized!! 

My Aunt Shannon and her sisters bake lots of awesome goodies from their company Iones!

For Easter I got a box of these YUMMY Macaroons!

So this week, we didn't get any new investigators sadly, but we're still working with the ones we do have :) One of our investigators is an “eternal investigator” who struggles with the Word of Wisdom. The other investigator is homeless and he doesn't know how to read; so someone gave us a CD player to give to him so he can listen to the Book of Mormon on CD. 

Sister Rice and I enjoying microwaved Peeps! There's nothing better than melted Peeps!

Monday: Celebrated "Gotcha Day" with my family for adopting my little sister, Hadley, 5 years ago.

This is our first family picture after we got Hadley in Changsha, Hunan, China 5 years ago.

Tuesday: Zone conference! We had to make an extra stop before our zone conference. So we ended up driving straight to zone conference right after we had played sports. We had to get ready in a gas station bathroom! The gas station employee asked me if Sister Rice was my mom! (That’s the second time someone's asked that xD) An online investigator sent me a really amazing poem that he wrote for Easter. 

Wednesday: Happy 6 months to me!! We taught Harry our homeless investigator today. 

My Mom sent me an awesome goodie box to celebrate my 6th month mark!

Thursday: Chelsea, a convert who is 17, is really wanting to serve a mission. She started her “mini mission” with us today! So she will go with us for the next several days. And I had a break through with my teaching while role playing today!!!

Chelsea, me and Sister Rice out doing the Lord's work.

Chelsea and me.

Friday: Got some awesome revelation from my patriarchal blessing today :) And a member who was having a hard time with understanding the gospel and having a desire to go to church randomly emailed me today and thanked me for helping her understand!  

Sister Rice

Saturday: At the Visitors Center today we saw two couples who got sealed in the Oakland temple today!! :D So presh [precious]!!

Sunday: The end of Chelsea’s mini mission. It was also the last day of the really cool Bible exhibit at the Visitors Center.

Luther Bible (1536)
Martin Luther was the first person to translate and publish the Bible in German. Her relied on a 1516 Greek translation by Erasmus. Luther's New Testament was first published in September 1522. The translation of the Old Testament followed, finally yielding an entire German Bible in 1534. Luther is also known to have befriended William Tyndale and may have helped provide him safe haven in Germany, where Tyndale had fled to escape punishment by King Henry VIII of England for translating the Bible into English.

King James Bible with Fore-Edge Painting (1770)
This Bible has the unique feature of double fore-edge paintings, which appear when the book is open and the pages are fanned. The paintings were applied after the Bible was bound. This is quite rare and was a significant, added expense. As few as one out of ten thousand Bibles has a fore-edge painting. The scenes depicted in this Bible are: 'Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden,' 'Noah's Ark,' 'Birth of the Savior' and the Crucifixion. The images disappear when the Bible is closed.

Victorian Era Family Bible, King James Version (1888)
This is the type of Bible likely to be seen in most homes in the late 1800's. An ornate Bible like this was a fixture in many homes and would have cost about a day's wage: $3.00. Bibles printed in the 1800's are generally not considered rare, since about 100 million Bibles were printed during that century.

J.R.R. Tolkien's Bible (1947)
This Bible was used by J.R.R. Tolkien while he was writing 'Lord of the Rings.' He finished 'The Hobbit' in 1937 but did not finish 'Lord of the Rings' until 1954. This is the Westminster Version of the New Testament. The Westminster Version was published in England by the Roman Catholic Church. Tolkien was a devout Catholic. He made numerous notations throughout this Bible. His iconic signature can be seen on the flyleaf.

Geneva Bible (1560)
First Edition New Testament
The Geneva Bible was the Bible of the Protestant Reformation and one of the most historically significant English Bibles. It was published by English Protestant reformers in Geneva 51 years before the King James Bible and remained the most popular English Bible long afterward. The Geneva Bible was used by Shakespeare in his writing and was brought to America by the Pilgrims on the Mayflower. The Bible on display is a variation of the Geneva Bible called the "Breeches Bible" because Genesis 3:7 states that Adam and Eve made "breeches," rather than "aprons," to cover their nakedness. The Geneva Bible was the first Bible to be divided into numbered verses.

Chained King James Bible (1633)
During this period the local Church's Bible was sometimes chained to the pulpit. This practice was most prevalent when the Bible was first translated into English. The purpose was to make the Bible available for parishioners to read while preventing its removal from the Church.

King James Bible (1770)
Copy Bound for King George III
This large, ornate King James Bible was bound for use in the Chapel Royal, or household, of King George III, who was King of England during the American Revolution. This Bible weighs 30 pounds.

Monday: Today we had a really fun zone activity where we had a HUGE Hispanic BBQ and then played zone sports :) 

Love you all!! <3

Sister Alyssa Phillips