FEB 4th

Hello!

Well, just really quick, I loved the pictures of Téarisa and of Kit and Kevin! Kit—you definitely do not look like a whale and that was such a beautiful picture! All my companions just stared in awe. ;) I don´t know how I turned out the ugly duckling of the family, but at least I have beautiful siblings and nephews/nieces to show off to everyone! Joy—That´s pretty awesome about your half marathon. My friends, Sister Reynolds and I are going to do that when we get home too. You really are my inspiration—thinking of you running 11+ miles when I run in place in my cramped little apartment for 30 minutes every other day! Hahaha!

Mom and Dad—I´m so excited you are getting to see Sister Pinzon! Tell her I said hello and give her a huge hug and kiss from me! Tell her she needs to write me soon cus I wrote her my very first pday and have never heard back! I just got a letter from my friend, Elder Viniscius Sant´Anna from Rio and he said you were going to be eating dinner with his parents. How´d that go? Elder Sant´Anna is really sweet and we joke around that he´s my ´brother´. So, all that was missing at that family dinner was us two! Hahaha!

Did y´all get the video of Christmas from Pres. Milder? Unfortunately, he didn´t really get a lot of our number, but oh well.

Em—Sister Bulhões thinks from the looks of your pictures that you are really quiet!! HAHAHAHAHA! I laughed so hard! Can y´all imagine Emily quiet?! Definitely the opposite of reserved. But, that´s what makes he so special in our family, right? ;) Yes, Em, many people have seen your picture b/c Mom, Kit, and Rob sent pictures and I´ve been showing them to members, investigators, etc. Hey! Did Jarrett email you yet? I´m sending you a letter today with pictures and I think you´ll get a kick out of it, k?

Well…I´m just getting over being sick. I spent Saturday night running to the bathroom toilet. Needless to say, I didn´t go to church. One of the YW came and stayed with me so my companion could go to church and support our cute Milena who got baptized. I was so sad I wasn´t there!! But, everything turned out well, I heard. Lots of members were at the baptism and we had 20 investigators at Sacrament Meeting! The Bishop gave me a blessing and I started working again Monday and yesterday, but I´m still kinda weak. The best thing was that Bishop had promised to buy us icecream when we beat our past high of 15 investigators at church, so, last night after our meeting, we reminded him of that promise. Unfortunately, I ate way too much and started to feel sick again last night and this morning, but it´s passing. I know, I need to be careful. He challenged us to have 150 people in attendance at Sacrament Meeting next and then we´ll get ice cream again. I love having goals to work for! Hahaha! Then, we also have a goal to get 100+ lessons with members in a month. I´m really excited for this one. We´re planning some things to help get these members excited about helping in the work. Any suggestions of what´s worked in the past with y´all? Life is great being a missionary! Heavenly Father truly is blessing our companionship! He has heard our prayers for the past 4 months to teach whole families—mom, dad, and kids—and now we are reaping a vast harvest of beautiful families to teach! Que coisa boa! ;) I love being a missionary and am very grateful to be a part of this work. What a blessing God uses the weak and simple to do His work, b/c otherwise, I definitely wouldn´t have any place serving a mission. I know I have much to improve, but I am learning more every day.

Thank you for your prayers and love. May God bless you all! Know that you are in my prayers always.

Love, Sister Ellis III

P.S. Thanks Nat for your email! I´m excited to hear about your trip! Hope you guys have a blast!

P.P.S. Does anyone have any news about Becky? I´m really worried. I haven´t heard from her in a couple weeks—from anyone in Tribe 5 really. PLEASE, if anyone has any news, share it with me! I promise to still work hard no matter what. I just don´t like being left out of the bubble. Thanks.

P.P.S.S. CHRISTA!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!!! How does it feel to be a year older and wiser?! Did you go to a spice girls concert again this year? I want to know what all you did! Write when you get a chance. Congratulations to Rob about England!! That´s awesome! I´m so proud of you! It´s nice that I get to hear of y´all´s amazing lives from someone in this family....;)