March 25!!!!

Great day, Great day!!!
Today is March 25!! I´ve been waiting for this day my whole life! This is the only March 25th 2009 I will ever live so I´m going to cherish every second!!
Hahaha! Like that little SW taste? I´m teaching my companions through example about positive self talk in the morning. I´m finding that SW truly is inspired mission prep. I´m using a lot of the techniques here in the mission field and also lots of the activities we did in group meetings. Thank you, SW! :) Hahaha!
So...I´m having a blast with Sister Barboza. Dad asked for more info about her. She is really sweet and a hard worker. She looks kinda serious on the outside and I´ve thought she was upset with me more than once in this last week, but I´m learning that´s just how she is. Not everyone wears their emotions on their sleeves like I do! ;)
I´m having a blast teaching her English and also how to sing and lead music. What a blessing I have to put into practice the things I learned at BYU! I´m trying to remember now all the little song games we used. She has a good ear, she just lacks the confidence to try. We did English study this morning with both pairs. It was really fun for Sister Reynolds and I to be English teachers! It´s so fun to see your ´students´ grasping the concepts and applying what you´re teaching. I love to see the wheels turning in their heads. I know I´m just going to love teaching children after the mission! :)
We did some of the pages in the BYU English Grammar book they got in the CTM and then I taught them ´I like Bananas, Coconuts, and Grapes´. HAHAHAH! It was so cute! They really got a kick out of it and now it is stuck in our heads!! Thanks, Mom, for teaching me so much. It has not only blessed my life, but is now blessing the lives of others around me. We sang it where I stopped singing and they had to continue. It was a really effective exercise to test their intonation and also their pronunciation. What a deal!
Hmmm...in other news, we had a ward activity last night called Noite de Integração. It was an improvement from the last one we did (only 10 people or so --incl. the 4 missionaries). This time there were about 50! We also had a cute investigator couple there. We were really happy they came. He´s jewish (inactive) and doesn´t really believe in much of anything. She is recently baptized in an evangelical church. They were having serious marital issues when we got their referral from a recently reactivated couple. They were hesitant to give it to us since she just barely baptized in this other church (last week in fact), but we persisted and knocked on their door. It was a miracle. She got really emotion because she said we were an answer to her prayers. Eric asked when meetings were at church b/c they wanted to visit and that´s when we invited them to the activity. They arrived early--beating most of the members by half an hour. They really had a great time. It was so cute to see them getting into the games (guestures and do you love your neighbor) and laughing with the members. We´re probably going to have to move slower with them, but I´m really excited to help them out! They have only been married for 3 years and I know the gospel is what they need to have a happy and eternal marriage.
We are going there tomorrow to probably teach them to do a ´companionship inventory´ and then to invite them to a FHE at the house of their member friends who live in their condominium. What a privilige it is to be an instrument in God´s hands!!
So...the short story would be that the work is going forward here in Cuiabá. In other news, we heard that 3 new sisters will be arriving April 8th. I´m really excited!!! (The mission has only ever had 8 sisters on average. Now we´ll be up to 11!)
I love you all very much.
Way to go, Laura with the surprize for John. I thought it was awesome! Hang in there with everyone else getting sick.
Sounds like y´all are going to have a fun get together at Conference this time. Play lots of Nertz for me. ;) HAHAHAAH!
I do have one request. It´s actually a plea rather. I have no body spray/perfume. I only brought lotion with me and it´s too hot and muggy to be overdosing on lotion when I also have to apply sunscreen. My poor companion is probably suffering lots because of my smell. It would be nice to have some kind of spray to put on for church, conferences, etc. Or just to relieve these poor Brazilians who have to hug and kiss me out of custom´s sake when we greet them. Please have compassion on my poor companions and these innocent Brazilians. Will someone please send me perfume/body spray ASAP? Thank you.
Love, Sister Ellis
P.S. Mom--I don´t know if you are already doing it, but Jenny Mobley would like to get these emails forwarded on to her if you could. Thanks!
P.P.S. Grandma--Thank you so much for your email of love and support. I love hearing from you. Please don´t ever apologize for emails. I love hearing your news. Feel free to write me an email of whatever length you desire. The only thing I don´t appreciate receiving are forwards.