TEXAS IN AUGUST | 8.8.16

Hey y'all!

Wow this week really flew by! We usually text and call people on Saturday to remind them about church... Sister McKee was like, "let's remind people about church!" And I was like, "shouldn't we wait until Saturday?" And she said.. "Sister.... It IS Saturday..." I don't know where the week went! Can I just say that I LOVE Sunday.... We have church at 9am and then again at 2pm so we are there all day and it is so wonderful. I just love church. How inspired that we have a whole day to take a break from our normal day to day life and think about eternal things... I love hearing everyone's testimonies and taking the sacrament. There is nothing more refreshing!

Our investigator Essie came to church! She is 9 years old and she is she daughter of a less active member... We are trying to activate the family and baptize Essie. Her mom is a single parent of 6 kids.... I don't know how she does it! Pray that her concerns will be resolved and that she will be able to come back to church! Agh! The gospel will help her so much if she will just let it!

I wrote a little about sister McBride last week... The hippie. She definitely belongs in Austin if you know what I mean. :) we taught her again and WOW I just love her. She played her guitar for us again. She is so awesome! When we ask her to read scriptures.... She just gets so into it!! She really dramatizes it and it makes it so fun! She loves reading conference talks and just loves all that we share with her. Hopefully she will come to church soon!

We are also working with Cathy... She is GREAT! When we read Moroni 10:3-5 with her, she whipped out that highlighter of hers and marked the page. She wants to "deepen her spirituality" is what she says so we are so excited for her to read and pray because we KNOW she will get an answer. We asked her how she thinks she will get her answer and she said "I don't think it will come all at once... " she loves meeting with us and talking. I love how the gospel is so simple... And it is for everyone! But at the same time... It can be so personalized to each individual's needs. Cathy is really looking to come unto Christ. Those simple things like reading the scriptures and praying will get her there! We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end) and she LOVED it. She said.. " I've got faith.., I'm working on
getting to the repentance part." Ah! I Love her!!

I have learned a lot this week about the Savior and His character. I have been focusing on the Christlike attribute of charity and love. Charity is a gift from God.

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail--

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

I have been studying ways that Christ demonstrated charity. Even when His people rejected him in the worst way possible, even when He suffered so much pain and injustice, He showed love. He was meek, submissive, and humble. He loves so freely and perfectly.... Even those who were cruel to him. I have learned that I need to love even those who reject our message and who are unkind without cause. Even when I am exhausted and it is HOT and we are biking around.... It can be challenging! But as I turn to the Savior, it is more and more possible each day. He is the example of perfect love. I am so grateful for my mission and how it has brought me closer to my Savior. I have learned so much about Him because of my mission and it only makes me want to learn even more.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen. (Moroni 7)

Love y'all! Xoxo

Sister Rachel Philpot

AUSTIN, TX | 8.1.16

Hello!!

Wow what a great week! I made it safely to Austin on Tuesday. It was sad leaving Las Lomas and Stone Oak because I LOVE the people there with all my heart!! I miss my cute Trainee, Sister Olsen, but I know that she is takin good care of the area. We drove up to Austin and transfers are just nutso. There were a million Elders with their bikes... But guess who I saw?! My MTC companion, Sister Kirby! AND! I also saw my beautiful and perfect trainer, Sister Jones!! I hugged her so tight I'm surprised I didn't squish her to death.

My new companion, Sister McKee, is PERFECT. She is straight outta the 50's with her beautiful naturally curly hair. She is such a great missionary and I am learning SO much from her. I have been out only 6 weeks longer than her and this is her first area. She also danced in high school so we have a lot in common with that. And she also plays the piano and sings. She plays hymn arrangements and I fall in love with her because of it. It is great, I love her and I love the area. This area is a bike area too. Definitely less hills than Las Lomas! But Sister McKee's legs are a lot longer than mine so I still get a workout tryin to keep up! Haha!

We live with members here and they have a dog named Abby! Haha she is so much fun. She helps us out with our planning sessions. ;) I am kinda attached to her already.

We have a big district! There are 5 Sisters and 4 Elders. I love having sisters in the district again! I love love love district meeting. I used to be terrified to role play but now I love it because it honestly helps so much! Even in a role play, you can feel of the spirit and it is so much fun to learn.

Sister McBride... We are working with an ex'd member and she is such a hippie. She joined the church in her youth and was later excommunicated. She said it broke her heart but the bishop told her it was not to hold her back, but to help her move forward. She says she has really taken that to heart. After, she got married and her husband has recently joined the church! Crazy how that works out. We talked with her about covenants and the temple... She says her favorite hymn is come come ye saints and she played it on her guitar for us and sang. I wish y'all could have been there. I love her!!

The Lord watches over His missionaries. I LOVE my mission and I LOVE my Savior. The gospel is so true! I know that when we live worthy of the spirit, we will have true JOY! I love the time every day that I have to spend studying the gospel. God's love is real. ❤️

Xoxo
Sister Philpot

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THE RESTORED GOSPEL?" | 7.25.16

Hey y'all!

Wow! What at amazing week!!

First, transfer news!! Tomorrow I will be leaving Las Lomas/Stone Oak and headed up to Austin! My companion will be Sister Mckee. She is just out of training. I am so excited! I will miss everyone here in Stone Oak and Las Lomas. I have honestly grown to love them like my own family. It's hard to describe how much I love the people here and how much I will miss them. Sister Olsen will be getting a new companion here who will finish out her training. I will miss her but I know they will do great work here! I'll tell you more about the new area and my new companion next week!

There is so much that happened this week! We have been blessed to see so many miracles!! I will just share one of them. Over a month ago, Sister Jones and I were biking through a neighborhood and we stopped to talk to this man who was getting out of his car in the driveway. As we talked with him, he opened up to us a lot and told us about how his wife had recently passed away. The way he talked about her, you could tell that he loves her so much and that he is so heartbroken and misses her like crazy. He didn't really accept anything that we told him and said that he has a very scientific mind. He says he would like to believe in God, but there is no way to know for sure. We told him he would be able to see his wife again but he just didn't believe us! My heart really hurt for him! We would stop by occasionally and try to see him again, but he was just never home... we left him scripture notes every once in a while and even left a Plan of Salvation Pamphlet on his porch. :) I didn't think too much of it and didn't really expect to ever hear from him. Sister Olsen and I stopped by this week and he actually answered the door!! He told us that he is really looking for God now. He started crying and told us that our notes are so wonderful! He says he looks up the scripture and goes and reads the entire surrounding chapter in the Book of Mormon! He even came to church this Sunday and wants to meet with us this week! It makes me SO HAPPY!! It's amazing to see the power of the Atonement and the comfort that Jesus Christ offers, especially through the Book of Mormon. He was asking us all sorts of questions like, "What is the Restored Gospel?" Haha! I felt like such a missionary... well, let us tell ya all about it!! :)

We had another investigator promise us that she would read the Book of Mormon every day. She even gave us permission to text her and remind her to do it. ;) In another lesson, we were able to read the Book of Mormon with a less active couple and it brought the spirit in SO strong. You could just see their faces light up and their understanding increase!

I LOVE seeing the miracles that happen as we read God's word from the scriptures. My own testimony has grown so much as I have studied the scriptures daily. There is so much power in that! The real miracles are the changes that happen in the hearts of people. If you are ever worried, stressed, or have doubts... READ THE BOOK OF MORMON! The gospel of Jesus Christ brings true peace and joy and changes the way we see things. I love my mission with all my heart.

Thank you for all the love and support! Hope y'all have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Philpot

FROM THE SUBURBS OF SAN ANTONIO... | 7.18.16

Hey y'all!

It has been quite a week! It's not getting any cooler... but that's okay! We love it! This week we had exchanges again so Sister Gillespie was here with me. I love her so much! I'm pretty used to the biking by now but Sister Gillespie took a spill! Haha I felt so bad... I just heard a big ol crash behind me and she was laying there on the ground! Sister Olsen's bike had to go to the shop... Sister Gillespie was a bit scraped up too, but all is well. We got to see lots of people that day and she was a trooper! 

We have AMAZING members in this area. They are all just the cutest and I love them so much. We got a big Texas bbq meal last night.. wow I love Texas. :) 

Yesterday we were really hoping that our investigators and less actives would actually show up to church like they said they would... nobody actually came that we were planning on... but! This man walked in with 4 kids and one of our members just grabbed him and took all his kids to primary! Then she brought him to come and meet us. He was actually at the wrong (but very right;)) church! Haha but his kids loved primary SO much. They said it was the best church that they had ever been to because they actually got to go sing and learn! I thought that was so cool! All you really need to know is what you learn in primary. I thought it was so cool that they ended up there by "mistake" and the kids just loved it. 

Love y'all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Philpot

"Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. Lend your efforts to helping people. ... Stand higher, lift those with feeble knees, hold up the arms of those that hang down. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ." -President Gordon B. Hinckley

THERE'S A REASON I'M IN SAN ANTONIO | 7.11.16

Hello Everyone!

This week has been great! We had 4 investigators at church yesterday! Maggie has now come to church 5 weeks in a row! She is so cute! She has no religious background at all, but she loves coming to church and learning more! After the baptismal service we brought her to, we asked how she felt and she said that she doesn't think she is ready for that yet! But she loves coming to church and I know she will feel ready soon enough. Her husband and her son came back from China this week and we were able to meet them both! CJ (Her husband) was a lot more open and supportive than we were thinking he would be, so that is really exciting! And her son, William,  was so excited and kept saying, "I wanna go to church, I wanna go to church!" Haha Yayyyy! They are the cutest family ever. Even though CJ isn't super interested or ready yet, I know he will be one day too! He has the desire to believe even though he doesn't have much religious background and a very scientific mind. He said it's hard for him to believe things unless its a scientific experiment and something that could be measured. We read in Alma 32 about experimenting on the word and making a place in your heart for the seed of faith to grow! He liked it more than I thought he would. There are so many cute families in the ward that are friends with their family and it makes all the difference! I love to watch Maggie come to church and just go sit by the ward members and feel at home. It makes me feel so successful when people don't need us. It sounds kinda funny, but its true! When people are friends with the members and truly converted to the gospel, they don't need us to tell them what to do! It's so exciting to see her sincere desire to come to church and come closer to God. Hopefully her family will come next week! They were home asleep during church because they are still adjusting to the time difference from China!

A week or two ago we were walking in some apartment complex, and this man was outside. Well we talk to everyone, right? So we gave him a card with the website and our number on it. He didn't seem too interested, but still friendly. We didn't think too much of it because that happens all the time. Later, we got a text saying that he wanted to meet with us and to come by on the 5th! Wow that never happens! Well we brought another sister from the ward and we went over. I was so curious to see what this guy was gonna say... I had no clue what to expect. But he is so great, wow! His name is Matt. He was talking about how he hasn't been practicing religion for a very long time but he knows he needs to. He kept saying, "There is a reason I moved here to San Antonio!" He is searching for something that will make him really happy. He promised us that he would come to church every single week and he accepted the invitation to be baptized! He LOVED the first vision and he gave us a ton of referrals! He is so prepared, it's crazy. It's definitely not a coincidence that he moved here right next to the temple!! Ah! We are so excited to teach him more. 

Wanna hear something funny? it's kinda sad actually... It is SO HOT and we just bike around and get so so sweaty and it's really pretty gross. We biked to a lesson that we had with Maggie, and we were just sitting there red faced and so nasty... haha Sister Morris, the member we brought, was all, "are you okay Sister Philpot? Get her some cold water!" Haha sometimes it is really hard to focus on teaching a lesson when you are a roasted tomato.... Now Maggie always offers us rides and water and it's probably because we are SO SMELLY! Haha its the worst! But it's all worth it. :)

Sometimes I feel like people don't take us too seriously. I mean I look like a 15 year old biking around with my goofy helmet in a skirt... what even is that? I love it but people seriously stare at us! We just smile and wave! Haha! Yesterday, we biked up to this house and walked up to the door the same time as the plumber... and he goes, "Is your mom home?" Hahahah I was like what? We don't live here.... hahahaha oh man I do look 15. 

It is a good thing they make us wear helmets though. We were biking down the street and stopped to talk to these people. Just picture it... these two sweaty sweaty girls in their helmets trying to talk to people about Jesus on the street... Anyway, we were in the middle of our conversation and all of a sudden some rock or something super hard fell from a tree or something and just whacked my helmet! Haha sometimes I just think it is so funny! I would never be biking around talking to people with a helmet on and get whacked in the head if I were at home in Utah. I'm so glad for all these fun adventures and I am SO grateful that God sent me on a mission. I love it with all my heart! And I love all the people here in Texas. Haha what a great week!

Love y'all!

xoxo

Sister Philpot

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! | 7.4.16

Family and friends,

I hope y'all are having a great holiday! It has been a great week here for sure. Today our ward had a bbq picnic so we got to go to that. I even wore a festive red white and blue skirt. Happy 4th of July!

Last Monday evening, sister Olsen and I were walking to an appointment on one of the busier streets. Our area is kind of like a mini Utah up by the temple so we get people honking and waving at us all the time. We were walking down the street and I hear someone yell, "sisters!!" And I turn and look and the AP's are parked over in this parking lot and are waving at us to come over... I was so confused. I thought they were offering a ride but I was thinking don't these Elders know we can't ride with them? Haha I was so confused.... THEN! There was some senior missionary that I had never met before that was driving the car. He got out and started walking over to us. We met him halfway. I was kinda confused but alright, sure I'll meet this Elder. So I shook his hand and said nice to meet ya. He said, "We saw two delightful sisters and we had to stop and meet them. I'm President Polley." What?!! I was NOT expecting that! Oh my goodness I was so excited! And that is the story of how Sister Olsen and I were he first sisters in the mission to meet President Polley.  Ah! He is so amazing and I am so excited. I don't know why it didn't click in my mind when I saw him... And don't ask me why I didn't look at his name tag. I just wasn't expecting to meet President until the meeting the next day!! But that was a really cool experience. I was freaking out about it all
night. Haha. :)

I am loving the mission. Even though some days are hard, there are so many things that make it worth it! I love the people here so much. Even when we are dying of heat biking up these hills all day I still love it. Haha and people are really nice and offer us water all the time. I can tell the difference when a family is centered on Christ and I know that's exactly how I want to live my life. A mission is just the best thing!! It breaks my heart to see people struggling and I know how much the gospel could bless their life if they'd just let it! Everyone go make a new friend and help someone out this week!

12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit. (1 Nephi 8)

Love y'all!

Xoxo
Sister Philpot

BIKING AND BAPTISMS | 6.27.16

Hello Everyone!

It was another amazing week in the great state of Texas! This week the YSA sisters had a baptism and we were able to bring three of our investigators to the service! It was a great experience. We are continuing to see miracles every day. It has been getting HOT though and its pretty killer biking these hills. I remember how hard it was my first few weeks though, and I feel so bad for Sister Olsen! Haha. The biggest news this week is that President Polley gets here today! We all get to meet him tomorrow. I'm excited to see what it's gonna be like. I love the Slaughters so much and I will miss them! I have learned so much from them. We are all excited for our meeting tomorrow. The whole mission will be there to welcome our new President. 

I think one of my favorite things about my mission so far is getting to meet all different kinds of people. I've really been able to see the way I want to raise my family and the type of person that I want to be. It's so fun to see so many different people. I love the members in these wards so much! There are so many young families and it just kills me because they are so cute! You can tell the difference when a family is centered on Christ and that is what I want in my future home.

Love y'all! Don't forget to write.

Xoxo

Sister Philpot

MARRIAGE! | 6.20.16

Hello everyone! I hope y'all had a good Father's Day weekend. Shout out to my daddy and all the great fathers in my life.

It has been quite the week! Lots of big changes with transfers. Sister Olsen and I are here in Las Lomas and Stone Oak. I can't believe I am training! Hopefully I don't ruin her;) But it's just the two of us in our apartment, instead of living with two other sisters. So it is definitely a lot quieter. Sister Olsen is probably the sweetest girl you will ever meet. She is from San Diego. I feel so bad for her biking up these hills because she got here right as its starting to get really hot. But she is a trooper, I'll tell ya! She is very smart and knows her stuff so that is good. She studied genetics at BYU for a year before coming out on her mission. 

TAKE ME TO THE BEAUTY PARLOR! | 6.13.16

Hello Everyone!

It's getting really hot these days! I don't know how we even survive but I am constantly dripping sweat! Haha I am loving it though and we are seeing success! We had a few investigators at church this week and it was so exciting! 

The biggest news is that this week is transfer week! Sister Jones sadly will be leaving. I'm pretty jealous of her next companion. She will be training again, this time up in Austin. She gets to go to a brand new ward that has just been created! So exciting for her! I will miss her a lot. I will be staying here in this area and getting a trainee myself! I'm a bit nervous seeing as I just finished my training and still have no idea what I'm doing... but this is the Lord's work so I know it will be so great! We will have fun and see lots of miracles. I can't wait to meet her. I'll tell y'all more next week.

We are teaching Maggie, who came to church! She is the sweetest lady I have ever met I'm pretty sure. She is so cute and sincere. She had never prayed before until we taught her and it was so cool to hear her pray for the first time! She is from China so just picture this in a cute Chinese accent. She said, "Dear God Father, thank you in this beautiful day for Jones and Prophy to introduce me to the word of Christ. In the name of the God, Amen." Ahh! I will never forget that experience because it was just such a special moment. We invited her to be baptized and she said she will think about it. I love her even though she can't say my name hahaha. :)

We are also teaching Alex who came to church too! He is becoming fast friends with a lot of the ward members which is great! He loves to sing the hymns and he really listens when we teach him... which may not sound like a big deal but it is such a great feeling!  We also invited him to be baptized and he said he has already been baptized. We talked more about the priesthood and why it is so important. He understood and then he just said, "I have one question. Do you think I should be baptized again?" It was such a sincere question and he was so sweet about it! I wish y'all could have been there. Of course we said yes! Haha and he said he will think about it.

Poor Justin... he was so excited for his baptism... he is really struggling right now though. We went and saw him last night and he was just a mess. I think he gets stressed out thinking that he isn't good enough. He just needs that personal relationship with the Savior and understand that his sins can truly be forgiven! I just love him so much and it's so sad to see him get down like that. Needless to say, he won't be getting baptized on the 18th, but it's okay because I know he will be one day!

We saw Myra quite a few times this week as well. (The less active member we found who's records were lost. She has health problems.. no toes and only one eye. Her.) I promise we are just best friends. She is so cute! We have been trying to get her to take a picture with us forever but she just say's, "I'm too ugly! I look like an old hag!" We just laugh and tell her she is beautiful and try to talk her into it. We asked what it would take for her to let us take her picture and she said, "Take me to the beauty parlor first!" hahahaha Well, finally we talked her into taking a picture so here it is! Once in a lifetime opportunity to see the cutest old lady Texas. Myra... wow I love her!

PICTURES! | 6.6.16

Hello everyone!

It was an amazing week as usual. I am loving it here!! I was really bad at writing in my journal this week, but that's okay because we took a ton of pictures! It was really rainy this week and we got caught out in the rain quite a few times, walking and even on our bikes! It's crazy how fast it just starts pouring here! Haha I love it. We also did service for some members who are about to move in. We ripped out some carpet and tile and got to knock some walls down. They are totally redoing the house before they move in. So that was a lot
of fun! It will be really nice once they're all done! I can't even tell y'all how grateful I am for my mission. I have met people and had experiences that I will never forget! There is nothing I'd rather be doing.  Love y'all! Have an amazing week!

Xoxo

Sister Philpot

"GOD HAS LIKE... TEN BILLION EYES!" | 5.30.16

Hello Everyone!

It's been another great week here! This week we had exchanges so I got to go with Sister Jensen in her area. It's crazy to see the differences in the areas even though they are so close by. We taught the CUTEST family about the Plan of Salvation and it was just the best. :) The little kids asked so many cute, genuine questions! They were asking about if it hurts when we die, and if we get reincarnated, and all of these crazy things! We should be more like those kids, the way they think about things is so great! We mentioned repentance and the little boy said, "You have to really mean in when you pray to God for forgiveness because God has like ten billion eyes!! He knows everything!" Hahaha:) They are the best.

An update on Justin, our investigator who I have mentioned before... He is doing great and getting excited for baptism! He just really wants to be a member and officially be a part of it all. :) He paid his tithing! And he was able to get a priesthood blessingSunday night to help him with the word of wisdom. That was probably one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission so far. I just love Justin so much! And he has so much faith. I was crying during that blessing and I just know that Heavenly Father loves him so much and is so aware of everything that he needs. Justin just lights up when we talk to him. Whenever we talk about service, or home teaching, or how he can receive the priesthood one day, he gets so happy! He just wants to be a part of it! 

The pictures are from exchanges, and last p-day when we got to go downtown!

Love y'all and have a great week!

MARVIN THE MARTIAN | 5.23.16

Hello Everyone!

Wow what an amazing week! We had a lesson with Justin and afterwards I was just SO HAPPY! He recently got a job and shaved his beard. He looks so different and so happy! He is really progressing and getting excited about the gospel. We asked him if he would like a priesthood blessing to help him overcome his addictions and keep the word of wisdom. He said, "I didn't know if I was at the level where I qualified for that yet." Haha he was so excited that he could! And when we talked about tithing he was just excited about it and said that it makes him feel like he belongs to the church! He is so excited to be an official member! He is just amazing and I wish y'all could meet him. Sister Jones and I were basically giddy after his lesson because we are so excited for him and all the progression that he is making! He even said he is feeling good about his baptism and might even want to move it to an earlier day.

As for my subject line, we visited these people this week who have a hairless cat! And his name is Marvin the Martian. Hahaha! And I think I am in love with him. There is a picture below. He is actually so soft and fuzzy it's amazing! We also had a really great lesson with them so it was just the perfect night!

Something kinda funny that happened to us this week... we were on our bikes in this neighborhood and this car pulled over and this itty bitty hispanic woman rolled down her window and with her fists waving in the air she yelled in her cute little accent, "Bravo my valient girls!!" Haha! Things like that make the mission so worth it. 

Haha speaking of itty bitty hispanic women... in the picture is this lady who we always "talk" to. We teach her daughter and they live in the same house. Sometimes when we go by, her daughter isn't there and so we just talk to her. But she speaks only Spanish so no one can understand each other but she will ramble on for hours! She loves to talk even though she knows we can't understand her! And so we just laugh. And then she laughs too. We have this kind of relationship where we just understand that no one knows what is going on, but we all just love each other. She gives us water and we just tell her she is beautiful and give her hugs. Haha I just love her. Isn't she the cutest?!

That's all for this week! Love y'all! 

Sister Philpot

"THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR!" | 5.16.16

Hello Everyone!

This week has flown by! I am loving every second of it. Last week I talked a little bit about our investigator, Justin. We had a couple of great lessons with him this week. He was super sick, but still came to church! He loves it so much and he really wants to be baptized, he just has to work through some things first. But he is doing great! We asked him if there was anything that would hold him back from being baptized. He wants to be able to see the blessings that come from keeping the commandments. So as we teach the commandments, we are having him write down all of the blessings that come from keeping each one. He got really excited during the lesson when we were telling him all of the blessings that will come! I wish y'all could have seen him during those lessons. SO excited!! He said, "This is exactly what I'm looking for, what y'all are helping me with." Yayyy!!! I love him so much! Hopefully all goes well and he will be able to be baptized.

We had a lesson with another man named Steven. We asked him if he had read any of the Book of Mormon. He said yes!! We asked him how it went and how he felt. All he said was, "Peace, comfort, enlightened." What?!!! Haha NOBODY says that. He is amazing! Hopefully next time we will be able to meet his wife and kids. They have a lot of potential.

Sister Jones and I were able to teach mission prep yesterday and it was so much fun!!! I loved seeing all those kids getting ready to serve their missions. It is just so exciting and reminded me of all the reasons I decided to come. It is amazing work! The best decision I have ever made. 

I love y'all! Have an amazing week.

Xoxo

Sister Rachel Philpot

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! | 5.9.16

Hello everyone!

First, Happy mothers day to all of the amazing women in my life! I love you all! It was so good to talk to the family yesterday! 

Things are going great here in Texas! We have an investigator named Justin who I think I may have mentioned before. He has been taking the missionary lessons for about a year now. He knows he needs to be baptized, he just has some things he needs to take care of first. He has had a few baptismal dates set, but so far none of them have gone through. The past few weeks, we had lost contact with him. He wasn't answering any of our calls or texts and he was never at home. This week we tried by his house because we needed to talk to his mom. And guess what?! Justin was there! He jumped up off the couch, and dusted himself off. He admitted that he had been hiding from us! We told him that we missed him and everyone missed him at church! He goes,'Yeah, I miss the services. Those are fun." We ended up teaching him and his mom and it was so exciting! We are helping him to see the blessings that come from keeping the commandments and coming to church. We asked if we could come back and he goes, "That's fine." When we went back a few days later, he was ready and waiting for us and in such a good mood! I said, "Justin, you seem really happy today!" and he said, "Thank you for noticing!" Haha how great:) We are working towards that goal of baptism and we are praying that he will be able to go through with it this time. At the end of the lesson he says, "This has been a great day! Including this." yay!!! And he came to church yesterday. We are so happy for him and hoping that all goes well and he continues to progress.

One more story for this week. We were walking in a neighborhood and there was this lady getting her mail. Naturally, we stopped and talked with her. We gave her a pass along card with a picture of Christ on it. And she just started crying! She said, "Jesus is my Lord and Savior. You make me cry. But these are happy tears."

 I feel so blessed to be here serving my Lord and Savior and spread the good news of his gospel. He truly does take away all of our sins and sorrows as we look to Him in faith. I love seeing the power His atonement has to change people.

I love y'all! Have an amazing week! And don't forget to write!

Xoxo

Sister Philpot

HELLO EVERYONE!! | 5.2.16

Hello Everyone!!

This week was amazing!!! Transfers are this week and Sister Jones and I will be staying here! Yay! We will be getting a new Sister in our apartment and we are so excited!! 

We had quite the adventure this week getting caught out in the hail! We were walking pretty far it was really hot and humid like it gets right before it rains. Were so excited when it started raining! But then we were completely soaked within 5 minutes. And then we started getting pelted with hail! I know I always rave about the weather here.. but I honestly have never experienced such crazy storms until Texas! Haha I will send pictures so y'all can see. :)

Remember Alexis who was baptized? She got her temple recommend yesterday! She is the sweetest. She cannot wait to go! She was telling us all about it and how she wanted to go so bad. she said, " I told the bishop I'll wait as long as it takes and do whatever steps I need to go in order to be worthy to go. And then he just printed it out for me!" She is so excited and just the cutest!!!! And Ray, her boyfriend, got the priesthood yesterday at church! It was such an amazing thing to see and Alexis was crying. Ray said he was missing out on something for a long time, and now he feels full. I just love them both so much! We are having FHE with their family tonight! Ah they are the best!

We are teaching a lot of great people and I am so excited for this next transfer! Miracles happen every single day.

Love y'all!

Sister Rachel Philpot