Dear Family,
Hello! I love you all so much! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for everything you all sent me! I really appreciate everything. I know it´s really expensive to send anything these days—esp. to Cuiabá, Brazil! Please know that I know I am in your prayers and that is the best thing you could send my way. I don´t expect yáll to send anything else the whole rest of the time I´m down here. You all have already gone way above and beyond the call of duty. Thank you for being so wonderful!
Question: Is it better to drink a whole bunch of soda—and get fat--(that´s what they always offer at lunch) or possibly contaminated water?
Spencer—In Portugal, do they normally feed yáll lunch or dinner? That´s great that you are getting so much help from the members! That really is so helpful!
Natalie—Thanks for the email. I loved hearing from you. I´m glad yáll had a good Christmas with your parents and John/Laura and Mark/Aup. Tell Sam my Christmas was great! I loved hearing from him! Give him a hug and a kiss from me.
John—Brother Moses sent me a card this week asking for word of my ´mission successes´. He asked you to pass along the word to him. I´m going to write the ward a letter today so could you let him know I´ll send it to his address? Also, I trust you can pass along any other good news I´ve shared in the last weeks with him in the meantime. Thanks!
So, Christmas was wonderful. We ate dinner at Pres. Milder´s house and it was amazing! I´m pretty sure I gained a whole bunch of weight just this last week with all the good food we ate! They had pb and chocolate parfait and a chocolate fountain for dessert. We performed Rudolph with paper red noses and choreography and it was a hit! Pres. Milder recorded it. Dad—can you ask him to email you a copy of it and save it for me too? Christmas day, I talked to Mom, Dad, Em, and Spencer (THANKS Dad for making that work! That was the best present ever!). Then we had another huge meal.
But…in other news, I helped accompany the stake choir as you all know. They had a Christmas performance a couple weeks ago. We were running home afterwards to make it home on time, and I tripped on the uneven sidewalk and ate it in front of a whole bunch of members!! It was really embarrassing, and yet hilarious at the same time. Somehow, Pres. Milder found out and now he always checks up on me, asking if I´ve had any recent falls! Hahaha!
Right now, we are working with a couple inactive girls and their families. Heavenly Father really is in charge of this work. We went to this neighborhood to contact a referral. He wasn´t home and I really had to use the bathroom. So, we stopped next door at an icecream place. The girl behind the counter said she had been baptized in the church! (This happens about every day—us finding someone new who has been baptized already). So, we started teaching her and her sister. They both went to church Sunday. We´re trying to mark the baptism of the sister, but she´s being kinda difficult. However, we are still going to show love for her and trust in the Lord´s help. It really is amazing how Heavenly Father guides us. I am so grateful for the Holy Spirit and the promptings I receive to do this work.
We see so many miracles everyday, just from following the promptings of the Spirit. By following these promptings, we know exactly where to go and what to say. It is so wonderful to be an instrument in the Lord´s hands! Another sweet experience happened Sunday. We went back after a week to do acompanhamento with an aunt of a member. I thought she wasn´t going to want anything b/c she didn´t go to Church 2 Sundays in a row. We were waiting for the bus and it completely passed us by even though we were giving the signal. By the time the next one came by, we were already over half an hour late for the appointment. Sister Bulhoes was considering not going, yet I just wanted to get it over with. I didn´t want to be accountable for not following up with an investigator—esp. a referral from a member. When we arrived, she greeted us saying, she had begun to think we weren´t coming! Yet, she had been waiting for us (even though we marked the appointment over a week ago). She had prayed, read, and received an answer! Her 7 year old daughter had also read the whole livreto we left with them. Luciana (this lady) had a lot of questions about baptism. The whole family said they´d come to church this Sunday! I´m so excited!! They are such a beautiful family and I know Heavenly Father has been preparing them. I am so grateful we didn´t give up on them before even giving them a chance. What a blessing it is to have the guidance of the Holy Ghost, helping us to know where we need to be, when we need to be there.
I just want you all to know that I am so grateful to be a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can´t believe I have been so blessed to serve a mission. This really has been the best decision I have ever made. I am learning so much about how to serve others, and improve myself. Thank you for all your support, love, letters, and prayers. I appreciate you all more than words can express.
Love, Sister Rachel Ellis
P.S. This week, Pres. Milder had us study John—3 chapters a day—so we could come to know our Savior more and understand the honor it is to be His representative. It was a very sweet experience for me. I highly recommend studying John to everyone with a desire to come to know their Savior better. He gave us His perfect example of obedience and service. He invited us all to follow His example. Yet, how can we follow His example if we don´t even know what all He did?
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
NATAL!!
Dear Family,
Hello! Feliz Véspera de Natal! (For those of you who don´t “fala português” that´s Portuguese for …. Merry Christmas Eve!!) ;)
I can´t believe it´s already Christmas again! This year totally flew by! And another Christmas finds me in sunny, warm, exotic, tropical Brazil! (aka Paradise—at least that´s what Webster´s Dictionary told me Brazil meant!) hahaha!
I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! I am so grateful to serve my Heavenly Father and Savior—especially at Christmas time!
Well, life is going well here. I´m still in my first area, Cuiabá with my trainer, Sister Bulhões. Now, we have two other sisters living with us which is a blast! One is a gaucha (from the South) and the other is from Utah. Everyone thinks Sister Reynolds and I are sisters because she has auburn hair and basically the same skin tone—I believe Anne of Green Gables described it as a ´rose leaf complexion´. Hahaha! Really, that´s a poetic way of saying pasty white, but with this sun, our arms and faces are getting quite tan.
We have been witnessing many miracles every day here. I love it! Among other things, we visited both Patrícia and Guilherme (the Pasqualin cousins that live here in my area). I know it isn´t chance that I got sent to the exact mission where they live. Our visits were very fun (they are very sweet, good people), but they don´t really want anything with the Church at this point. I´m still going to call to invite them to Church though. Who knows when they will be touched with the desire to know more. We gave Tuka a Mundo Feliz DVD and tried to mark with her and her husband, but she gave an excuse that she´s really busy til after Christmas. So, after Christmas when Marina comes to visit, I´m definitely going to hold her to that compromisso! We taught Guilherme and his wife the first lesson, gave them a Mundo Feliz DVD and Book of Mormon, but they didn´t pray because they stayed up with family til about 2am. It was really good we visited them though because even with all the years of contact with our family, they never really knew much about the Church or what we believe. God moves in mysterious ways and the seed has been planted! I am going to continue to pray on their behalf. Both women are pregnant so maybe this will open up another opportunity. :) We had our Christmas Zone Conference and us missionaries (sisters in our apartment) received a call from Pres. Milder, asking us to prepare 2-3 hymns. They turned out really well and helped invite the Spirit even stronger into our conference. I love learning more about the gospel and strengthening my relationship with my Savior! I have such a long way to go to arrive where I want, but I am taking things one step at a time, one principle at a time, one attribute of Christ at a time. I feel stronger and stronger every day God´s love for me and the direction of the Spirit. It is such a blessing to serve a mission! I wouldn´t trade this experience for anything in the world!
Tonight we are going to have dinner with Pres. Milder´s family. We are going to sing some more hymns for them (Sister Milder asked us to). But, we´re going to start with a special rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer complete with choreography! HAHAHA! I´m really excited! We´re going to video it for y´all to see when I get home. We´ll see how President Milder likes it! Hahaha!
We have planned a great service project for Christmas Day, but I´ll tell y´all more about that after it happens (next week). How´s that for a cliff hanger?! Tune in next week!
Love, Sister Ellis III
P.S. Thanks for whoever helped with my email, but it´s again at 91 %. Mom and Dad—could you please start printing off and deleting the emails for me? Thanks!
P.P.S. Thanks Matt for the email. I appreciate all your insights and experiences and encouragement.
P.P.S.S. Thanks, Kit for the photo book. And Kev, Ryn, and Elle. I loved it! Sorry I opened it before Christmas, but I already knew what it was and wanted to show off my beautiful family!
P.P.P.S.S. That sounds awesome Mom and Dad and Em the program at the CTM. Who´s going to be Joseph?! ;) Remember Em, you have to wait for him for 2 years. Hahaha! I´m excited to hear how it goes. Til tomorrow! I´m so excited to talk to y´all I can hardly stand it!!!!!!
Hello! Feliz Véspera de Natal! (For those of you who don´t “fala português” that´s Portuguese for …. Merry Christmas Eve!!) ;)
I can´t believe it´s already Christmas again! This year totally flew by! And another Christmas finds me in sunny, warm, exotic, tropical Brazil! (aka Paradise—at least that´s what Webster´s Dictionary told me Brazil meant!) hahaha!
I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! I am so grateful to serve my Heavenly Father and Savior—especially at Christmas time!
Well, life is going well here. I´m still in my first area, Cuiabá with my trainer, Sister Bulhões. Now, we have two other sisters living with us which is a blast! One is a gaucha (from the South) and the other is from Utah. Everyone thinks Sister Reynolds and I are sisters because she has auburn hair and basically the same skin tone—I believe Anne of Green Gables described it as a ´rose leaf complexion´. Hahaha! Really, that´s a poetic way of saying pasty white, but with this sun, our arms and faces are getting quite tan.
We have been witnessing many miracles every day here. I love it! Among other things, we visited both Patrícia and Guilherme (the Pasqualin cousins that live here in my area). I know it isn´t chance that I got sent to the exact mission where they live. Our visits were very fun (they are very sweet, good people), but they don´t really want anything with the Church at this point. I´m still going to call to invite them to Church though. Who knows when they will be touched with the desire to know more. We gave Tuka a Mundo Feliz DVD and tried to mark with her and her husband, but she gave an excuse that she´s really busy til after Christmas. So, after Christmas when Marina comes to visit, I´m definitely going to hold her to that compromisso! We taught Guilherme and his wife the first lesson, gave them a Mundo Feliz DVD and Book of Mormon, but they didn´t pray because they stayed up with family til about 2am. It was really good we visited them though because even with all the years of contact with our family, they never really knew much about the Church or what we believe. God moves in mysterious ways and the seed has been planted! I am going to continue to pray on their behalf. Both women are pregnant so maybe this will open up another opportunity. :) We had our Christmas Zone Conference and us missionaries (sisters in our apartment) received a call from Pres. Milder, asking us to prepare 2-3 hymns. They turned out really well and helped invite the Spirit even stronger into our conference. I love learning more about the gospel and strengthening my relationship with my Savior! I have such a long way to go to arrive where I want, but I am taking things one step at a time, one principle at a time, one attribute of Christ at a time. I feel stronger and stronger every day God´s love for me and the direction of the Spirit. It is such a blessing to serve a mission! I wouldn´t trade this experience for anything in the world!
Tonight we are going to have dinner with Pres. Milder´s family. We are going to sing some more hymns for them (Sister Milder asked us to). But, we´re going to start with a special rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer complete with choreography! HAHAHA! I´m really excited! We´re going to video it for y´all to see when I get home. We´ll see how President Milder likes it! Hahaha!
We have planned a great service project for Christmas Day, but I´ll tell y´all more about that after it happens (next week). How´s that for a cliff hanger?! Tune in next week!
Love, Sister Ellis III
P.S. Thanks for whoever helped with my email, but it´s again at 91 %. Mom and Dad—could you please start printing off and deleting the emails for me? Thanks!
P.P.S. Thanks Matt for the email. I appreciate all your insights and experiences and encouragement.
P.P.S.S. Thanks, Kit for the photo book. And Kev, Ryn, and Elle. I loved it! Sorry I opened it before Christmas, but I already knew what it was and wanted to show off my beautiful family!
P.P.P.S.S. That sounds awesome Mom and Dad and Em the program at the CTM. Who´s going to be Joseph?! ;) Remember Em, you have to wait for him for 2 years. Hahaha! I´m excited to hear how it goes. Til tomorrow! I´m so excited to talk to y´all I can hardly stand it!!!!!!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Dec 17
FELIZ NATAL!!!
I am so happy to be serving this month! It is a great month to preach the gospel. Last Saturday, we had a fireside about the missionary work to help the members understand their place and how they can help strengthen the ward. Only 9 members showed up, but it ended up turning out really well. We received a lot of references and have already contacted them all. I´m excited to get these members working with our member lessons teaching their referrals!
With this last transfer, I stayed here with Sis. Bulhoes and two other sisters moved in. Sister Reynolds from Aurora, UT, and Sister Aguiar (fresh from the CTM) who is a gaucha. We are having a lot of fun together! The cleaning of the house got done a lot quicker with 4 sisters so that was nice. Sister Reynolds plays the flute, piano, and sings too so we´re having a lot of fun. Today we´re going to play basketball together with some members.
Sorry, Mom and Dad. I didn´t know I wasn´t supposed to open that til Christmas. I´ll wait with the other ones I promise! Thanks to Mom, Dad, Natalie, Matt, Kelly, and Becky for the packages I received. I loved them! I especially loved the pictures, Nat. Thanks!
Dad—Our cell phone is 9989-9016. That plan sounds great. Let me know what you end up working out. I´m pretty flexible. Dad—I´ve been hearing some rumors about banks closing, etc in the US. I know I shouldn´t worry, but I just wanted to make sure my CDs are safe. Do you think it´d be better to just take the money out of the banks and keep it in a safe or something? Anyways, I trust you.
Mom—Are you printing off the emails from my missionary friends? I´d really like to receive some of those snail mail if at all possible. I know you´re busy. Also, when you get a minute, could you send me the recipie for those cookies you made the first time at the CTM? They are like chocolate, oatmeal bars I think. :)
A special thanks to: Rob, Laura, Kit, Joy, Mick for their emails this week. And as always, thanks to Mom, Dad, Spencer, Kelly, Becky, and Grandma for their weekly emails. I really love hearing from you all.
I´m really excited for you Mick! Start preparing now and study Preach My Gospel!
URGENT: My inbox is at 92% and only to get more full! I need one of my loving family members to go in to my inbox and delete all the forwards, mission journals, doubled emails (sometimes people sent it twice), etc. I would be most grateful if someone could do this for me. My email is rellis7@myldsmail.net and my password is missionary14. Thanks! Whoever does it, it would be nice to start printing off the emails to have a hard copy of them after my mission. (But that´s just extra for right now) The main crisis is cleaning out the inbox. I would do it, but I only have an hour a week, and there isn´t enough time to clean it out and read emails, send my relatorio, and send emails to y´all. Note: You have to delete the email and then purge it to get it out of my inbox. Thanks!
Love, Sister Ellis III
I am so happy to be serving this month! It is a great month to preach the gospel. Last Saturday, we had a fireside about the missionary work to help the members understand their place and how they can help strengthen the ward. Only 9 members showed up, but it ended up turning out really well. We received a lot of references and have already contacted them all. I´m excited to get these members working with our member lessons teaching their referrals!
With this last transfer, I stayed here with Sis. Bulhoes and two other sisters moved in. Sister Reynolds from Aurora, UT, and Sister Aguiar (fresh from the CTM) who is a gaucha. We are having a lot of fun together! The cleaning of the house got done a lot quicker with 4 sisters so that was nice. Sister Reynolds plays the flute, piano, and sings too so we´re having a lot of fun. Today we´re going to play basketball together with some members.
Sorry, Mom and Dad. I didn´t know I wasn´t supposed to open that til Christmas. I´ll wait with the other ones I promise! Thanks to Mom, Dad, Natalie, Matt, Kelly, and Becky for the packages I received. I loved them! I especially loved the pictures, Nat. Thanks!
Dad—Our cell phone is 9989-9016. That plan sounds great. Let me know what you end up working out. I´m pretty flexible. Dad—I´ve been hearing some rumors about banks closing, etc in the US. I know I shouldn´t worry, but I just wanted to make sure my CDs are safe. Do you think it´d be better to just take the money out of the banks and keep it in a safe or something? Anyways, I trust you.
Mom—Are you printing off the emails from my missionary friends? I´d really like to receive some of those snail mail if at all possible. I know you´re busy. Also, when you get a minute, could you send me the recipie for those cookies you made the first time at the CTM? They are like chocolate, oatmeal bars I think. :)
A special thanks to: Rob, Laura, Kit, Joy, Mick for their emails this week. And as always, thanks to Mom, Dad, Spencer, Kelly, Becky, and Grandma for their weekly emails. I really love hearing from you all.
I´m really excited for you Mick! Start preparing now and study Preach My Gospel!
URGENT: My inbox is at 92% and only to get more full! I need one of my loving family members to go in to my inbox and delete all the forwards, mission journals, doubled emails (sometimes people sent it twice), etc. I would be most grateful if someone could do this for me. My email is rellis7@myldsmail.net and my password is missionary14. Thanks! Whoever does it, it would be nice to start printing off the emails to have a hard copy of them after my mission. (But that´s just extra for right now) The main crisis is cleaning out the inbox. I would do it, but I only have an hour a week, and there isn´t enough time to clean it out and read emails, send my relatorio, and send emails to y´all. Note: You have to delete the email and then purge it to get it out of my inbox. Thanks!
Love, Sister Ellis III
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Dec 10
Hey fam!
I am so sorry to hear about Nolan. I will be praying for him, Joy and Darrell. He must be huge now to be able to ride a bike! They are all growing up way too fast!!!
OK, so question: Did you all write in your journals in English or in your mission language? I pray some of you will answer me since there´s been a famine of sibling emails of late. What is up with y´all? Don´t have time for your favorite redhead?! Joy and Darrell have an excuse, but as for the rest of you…
Anyways, aside from lack of support and love from my siblings whom I love dearly, life is going well. We are waiting to hear the transfer! I am so anxious!!! I know I´m staying here, but I think Sister Bulhões is going to be transferred. I am staying here because I am accompanying for the stake choir here and Pres. Milder promised the conductor I´d be here through the holidays.
I´ll write you a letter, Dad with all my convert´s names. Sorry I don´t really write those anymore. There is a lot of work going on and not enough time to tell about everything! Thanks for the info of marinha´s daughter. I haven´t received their address or the other Pasqualin who lives here. Could you email that to me, Dad? Thanks.
The work continues on. We have a lot more to do esp. with it being Christmas. What all is everyone doing for Christmas? Who´s going where?
Anyways, I love you all lots. Thanks for being such a wonderful family.
Spencer—what do you want to do for the Christmas call? I´d love to hear your voice if Mom and Dad could do a conference call, but what do you think? My call can only be 40 minutes (as outlined in the Missionary Manual). Mom and Dad – what do you think?
Love, Sister Ellis
P.S. We visited a recent convert whose daughter died this week. She was engaged and the fiance was in coma crying out for her in the hospital, but she died on impact (it was a car accident). We sang a lot of hymns and it really brought the spirit. Lots of family came from SP and Brasilia to support her and we got all their addresses to send the missionaries to their houses!! Yea!! The Lord works in mysterious ways. Funny note: her nephew that we´re teaching has a crush on me and always asks questions about missionaries dating and getting married, etc. HAHAHA! We have to find him a girlfriend in the church PRONTO!!
P.P.S. IMPORTANT NOTE!!
Please do not send any forwards to this address. I love you all and am grateful you want to share funny things with me, but this email is already filing up ridiculously fast so please, exclude this email from forward lists. Thanks!
I am so sorry to hear about Nolan. I will be praying for him, Joy and Darrell. He must be huge now to be able to ride a bike! They are all growing up way too fast!!!
OK, so question: Did you all write in your journals in English or in your mission language? I pray some of you will answer me since there´s been a famine of sibling emails of late. What is up with y´all? Don´t have time for your favorite redhead?! Joy and Darrell have an excuse, but as for the rest of you…
Anyways, aside from lack of support and love from my siblings whom I love dearly, life is going well. We are waiting to hear the transfer! I am so anxious!!! I know I´m staying here, but I think Sister Bulhões is going to be transferred. I am staying here because I am accompanying for the stake choir here and Pres. Milder promised the conductor I´d be here through the holidays.
I´ll write you a letter, Dad with all my convert´s names. Sorry I don´t really write those anymore. There is a lot of work going on and not enough time to tell about everything! Thanks for the info of marinha´s daughter. I haven´t received their address or the other Pasqualin who lives here. Could you email that to me, Dad? Thanks.
The work continues on. We have a lot more to do esp. with it being Christmas. What all is everyone doing for Christmas? Who´s going where?
Anyways, I love you all lots. Thanks for being such a wonderful family.
Spencer—what do you want to do for the Christmas call? I´d love to hear your voice if Mom and Dad could do a conference call, but what do you think? My call can only be 40 minutes (as outlined in the Missionary Manual). Mom and Dad – what do you think?
Love, Sister Ellis
P.S. We visited a recent convert whose daughter died this week. She was engaged and the fiance was in coma crying out for her in the hospital, but she died on impact (it was a car accident). We sang a lot of hymns and it really brought the spirit. Lots of family came from SP and Brasilia to support her and we got all their addresses to send the missionaries to their houses!! Yea!! The Lord works in mysterious ways. Funny note: her nephew that we´re teaching has a crush on me and always asks questions about missionaries dating and getting married, etc. HAHAHA! We have to find him a girlfriend in the church PRONTO!!
P.P.S. IMPORTANT NOTE!!
Please do not send any forwards to this address. I love you all and am grateful you want to share funny things with me, but this email is already filing up ridiculously fast so please, exclude this email from forward lists. Thanks!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Dec 3
Hello, Marvelous family!!!
So, things are going very well here in paradise. Guess what, Spence? I do know both of those friends of your trainer. Elder Winegar is my district leader and Elder Perry I practiced a lot with in our trainings this last zone conference. I´ll tell them E. Prince said hi the next time I see them and I´m sure they will say hi back.
First, the sad news. My camera (from sending those pics at the beginning of the mission) got 2 viruses on the memory card. Now, I can´t print off any pictures at the print place and can´t save them onto a cd. Any bright ideas of what I could do?
Other than that, life is good. Did I tell yáll that I take cold showers every morning and night? Truly, Southwestern was inspired!! Hahaha!
Dad—I asked Pres. Milder about giving English lessons cus some people were asking about it but he said that you said it wasn´t a good idea. May I know your reasoning behind that? I just thought it´d help people get accustomed to the church through a different way and help strengthen the members more.
I forgot to include in last weeks email: THANK YOU so much for everyone´s help with the farewell open house. I really appreciate everyone being there and all my sister´s and sister-in-law´s help with the food, etc. You are so wonderful!
Becky—I have not received your package yet. I have a hunch it already arrived, but the office elders have something against us. They say nothing´s there when it really is. I´ll let you know when I finally get it. I´ll probably get it next week at possible zone conference and definite transfer. Thanks for thinking of me!
Mick—I´m so excited for you!!! When do you repor t to the mtc? Send me an email when you get a chance. I miss hearing from you, cuz!
I have a question: How do I get toned arms? Kev, Nat, I need your help! I don´t have any weights or anything. I only have 3 times a week in which I use an elastic band to do arm exercises. Any ideas of what I could do in that 30 minutes to get rid of these relief society arms? Thanks!
Grandma—I didn´t know you played the organ! How cool is that?!! Joy has that calling now in her ward. I know she´d appreciate any advice you could give. I´m sure the ward would appreciate your help in playing and inviting the Spirit in the meetings again. And now, it wouldn´t be so difficult for you because all the meetings are together on Sunday! Que coisa boa! What a blessing, huh?!
So…life is good. I love my companion and all the members and investigators. Monday night we did a family night with the family of Irmão Rudolfo. He´s the first counselor in the stake presidency and apparently Dad and Mom ate there one time when they were here in Cuiabá. Their family is so sweet. They have two twin boys of 14 years and a younger boy of 12 years. Unfortunately, they don´t really get along that well as friends and brothers. We were inspired to give the lesson on service. We made brownies with them and had scriptures in all the ingredients for them to find and look up and say what they understood about service. At the end, they all made lists of what they would do this week to show love for each family member through service. Irmã Ana was really grateful for the lesson. I also shared with them how Mom used to always sing Love At Home whenever we were fighting! Then, I told how we always gave each other a hug and a kiss after family prayer at night and said I love you. She liked that too and they started it that night! Hopefully, the things we shared with them will help unite their family more. They are such great young men and I know they are going to be great leaders in the church. But, before they can serve others, they just need to learn to serve their family.
I love the opportunity to be here giving all my time and energy to strengthening families and testimonies of Jesus Christ. Every day is an opportunity to draw closer to our Savior, if we but organize our time by putting the things of the Lord first. I love you all so very much!
Love, Sister Ellis III
P.S. I never heard what everyone was for Halloween! I expect an email from all the siblings telling me what their kids were and in Darrell´s case, what he was for Halloween too. I know you all get on the internet to check the family web site all the time, so don´t try the excuse of no time! :) Love ya!
Plus, what did everyone do for Thanksgiving? I only heard about Mom and Dad´s. I´m still waiting...:)
So, things are going very well here in paradise. Guess what, Spence? I do know both of those friends of your trainer. Elder Winegar is my district leader and Elder Perry I practiced a lot with in our trainings this last zone conference. I´ll tell them E. Prince said hi the next time I see them and I´m sure they will say hi back.
First, the sad news. My camera (from sending those pics at the beginning of the mission) got 2 viruses on the memory card. Now, I can´t print off any pictures at the print place and can´t save them onto a cd. Any bright ideas of what I could do?
Other than that, life is good. Did I tell yáll that I take cold showers every morning and night? Truly, Southwestern was inspired!! Hahaha!
Dad—I asked Pres. Milder about giving English lessons cus some people were asking about it but he said that you said it wasn´t a good idea. May I know your reasoning behind that? I just thought it´d help people get accustomed to the church through a different way and help strengthen the members more.
I forgot to include in last weeks email: THANK YOU so much for everyone´s help with the farewell open house. I really appreciate everyone being there and all my sister´s and sister-in-law´s help with the food, etc. You are so wonderful!
Becky—I have not received your package yet. I have a hunch it already arrived, but the office elders have something against us. They say nothing´s there when it really is. I´ll let you know when I finally get it. I´ll probably get it next week at possible zone conference and definite transfer. Thanks for thinking of me!
Mick—I´m so excited for you!!! When do you repor t to the mtc? Send me an email when you get a chance. I miss hearing from you, cuz!
I have a question: How do I get toned arms? Kev, Nat, I need your help! I don´t have any weights or anything. I only have 3 times a week in which I use an elastic band to do arm exercises. Any ideas of what I could do in that 30 minutes to get rid of these relief society arms? Thanks!
Grandma—I didn´t know you played the organ! How cool is that?!! Joy has that calling now in her ward. I know she´d appreciate any advice you could give. I´m sure the ward would appreciate your help in playing and inviting the Spirit in the meetings again. And now, it wouldn´t be so difficult for you because all the meetings are together on Sunday! Que coisa boa! What a blessing, huh?!
So…life is good. I love my companion and all the members and investigators. Monday night we did a family night with the family of Irmão Rudolfo. He´s the first counselor in the stake presidency and apparently Dad and Mom ate there one time when they were here in Cuiabá. Their family is so sweet. They have two twin boys of 14 years and a younger boy of 12 years. Unfortunately, they don´t really get along that well as friends and brothers. We were inspired to give the lesson on service. We made brownies with them and had scriptures in all the ingredients for them to find and look up and say what they understood about service. At the end, they all made lists of what they would do this week to show love for each family member through service. Irmã Ana was really grateful for the lesson. I also shared with them how Mom used to always sing Love At Home whenever we were fighting! Then, I told how we always gave each other a hug and a kiss after family prayer at night and said I love you. She liked that too and they started it that night! Hopefully, the things we shared with them will help unite their family more. They are such great young men and I know they are going to be great leaders in the church. But, before they can serve others, they just need to learn to serve their family.
I love the opportunity to be here giving all my time and energy to strengthening families and testimonies of Jesus Christ. Every day is an opportunity to draw closer to our Savior, if we but organize our time by putting the things of the Lord first. I love you all so very much!
Love, Sister Ellis III
P.S. I never heard what everyone was for Halloween! I expect an email from all the siblings telling me what their kids were and in Darrell´s case, what he was for Halloween too. I know you all get on the internet to check the family web site all the time, so don´t try the excuse of no time! :) Love ya!
Plus, what did everyone do for Thanksgiving? I only heard about Mom and Dad´s. I´m still waiting...:)
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