Dec 31

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?