Hello, family!
Well, more miracles were received this week in Cuiabá, BR! Lourdes was baptized in a joint baptismal service with one of my old investigators. It was a very sweet experience. Really, Lourdes´ baptism was a huge miracle! She´s an elderly lady with lots of back and knee problems. It took 3 priesthood holders 2 times to baptize her correctly! We tried to warm up the water before hand, but it didn´t help much. She was shaking uncontrollably the whole time in the font from cold! (We had a cold front come through this last week-end). It got down to below 50 degrees!! CRAZY! Esp. for Cuiabá! But, Lourdes did it! She came out of the font exclaiming that she was a new woman. It was very cute. How I love her! Now we are working with integrating her with the members as much as possible so it won´t be too hard for her after we are transferred.
I´m very grateful, Mom, that you made me bring that coat on the mission because I´ve used it 3 times now! What crazy weather changes I´ve experienced here in the heat of Brazil. Thank you!
Thanks Darrell, Rob, Kit, Mom and Dad for the emails.
Kit--President said that you could go ahead and do a DVD of the family videos and send them! :) I´m so excited to see everyone!!
And for everyone else, if you have a video to send, ldsmail doesn´t allow me to see it. So, if you really want to share something with me, if you could make a DVD and send it, then I can watch it on PDay. Thanks!
Lots of changes are happening on the mission and I have a feeling that only more are yet to come. But, change is good. Monday will be our PDay now. So...now yáll can program your weekly emails to me on Sunday (the day of rest to write to family members, etc.) and I´ll get to read them Monday! What a deal! :)
Mom and Dad--I would really appreciate it if you could buy some CDs in Portuguese for Lourdes to listen to. (She only listens to CDs and radio from the Universal Church and it would be much better for her to be nurtured by the truth instead of apostasy). :) You can go ahead and buy them with my money from my account. Thanks.
Also, I know yáll are winding up loose ends and preparing to go home, but if you could buy some new garments, that´d be great. Mine are getting pretty dirty even though I wash them every week with agua sanitaria. I use bottom size 26 and top size 28. I like the silky bottoms fine but cotton tops please. Or, you can buy the brazilian garments when you get back if it´s easier for you. I liked those ones too. Thanks.
Urgent: I borrowed the Preach My Gospel DVDs from the assistent for a fireside here and tried to get a copy of it. But, during the days I had it in my bag (in a protective plastic case), it got scratched up. The assistent is going home 10th of August. PLEASE!!! I need someone to buy this DVD for me (you can use my money) and mail it ASAP so I can give him the new one. Jamais eu iria devolver um DVD riscado!! Que vergonha! These DVDS have the training DVDs called The District used in the CTM and other trainings about PMG. Thank you so much! What a wonderful family I have!!
Dad--why is the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible not available in Portuguese?
Love, Sister Ellis
Laura and Nat--I´m waiting patiently to see pregnancy pics of you two. I made a contact with a pregnant lady yesterday and it made me miss my two pregnant sister-in-laws! Thanks!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Miracles...
Well, the biggest miracle I can think of right now is that my email is at 31% thanks to Ze Great DalMuti! :) THANK YOU SO MUCH ROB!
Another miracle is that I finally received emails from my family: Kit, Rob, Emily, Mom, and Dad. I had begun to think my family had forgotten about me. (I haven´t been receiving any letter as of late and very few emails as well). I know it´s silly, but I was beginning to plan to write a depressing email to yáll to get yáll to write me again. It seemed you all emailed me more in the beginning when I was having trouble adjusting to mission life, but now that things are fine, I don´t hear from basically anyone. But life is good and I´m grateful for all the blessings Heavenly Father gives me everyday.
We´re starting to teach with the members more effectively now. We plan with them beforehand and talk about what compromissos we´re going to do, what part we want them to teach, what scriptures they can use, etc. It´s great to see the members in action! They really make all the difference. It´s just a matter of training. :)
Today we finally were able to contact a referal we already tried to contact several times. It truly was a miracle because we weren´t even planning on contacting him. We were looking for an internet place and happened to walk past the lanchonete where he lives and we walked in to find Julio Cesar! Que coisa boa!!
So, President is going strong on the rule to not email anyone but family so I would really appreciate it if someone could PLEASE provide me with the following mailing addresses: Abby Hogan, Dan McIntosh, Matt Coffin, Jared Smith, etc. You can find them probably through facebook or something like that. Also, I heard that TJ, Paul, Chris Ricker, and I´m sure others are getting married. I´d like to see the invitations if someone could scan them and email them or copy and mail them. thanks.
Love, Sister Ellis
P.S. Many of the people I found and prepared in Ala Cuiabá are getting baptized! One of which is Eunice (mother of Mara who I baptized with sister bulhões). She´s getting married this saturday and I´m going to have a joint baptism with the elders who are baptizing her on Sunday. So, I´ll get to see her wedding (in my area) and her baptism!! I´m so excited! Heavenly Father is so good. What a tender mercy.
Another miracle is that I finally received emails from my family: Kit, Rob, Emily, Mom, and Dad. I had begun to think my family had forgotten about me. (I haven´t been receiving any letter as of late and very few emails as well). I know it´s silly, but I was beginning to plan to write a depressing email to yáll to get yáll to write me again. It seemed you all emailed me more in the beginning when I was having trouble adjusting to mission life, but now that things are fine, I don´t hear from basically anyone. But life is good and I´m grateful for all the blessings Heavenly Father gives me everyday.
We´re starting to teach with the members more effectively now. We plan with them beforehand and talk about what compromissos we´re going to do, what part we want them to teach, what scriptures they can use, etc. It´s great to see the members in action! They really make all the difference. It´s just a matter of training. :)
Today we finally were able to contact a referal we already tried to contact several times. It truly was a miracle because we weren´t even planning on contacting him. We were looking for an internet place and happened to walk past the lanchonete where he lives and we walked in to find Julio Cesar! Que coisa boa!!
So, President is going strong on the rule to not email anyone but family so I would really appreciate it if someone could PLEASE provide me with the following mailing addresses: Abby Hogan, Dan McIntosh, Matt Coffin, Jared Smith, etc. You can find them probably through facebook or something like that. Also, I heard that TJ, Paul, Chris Ricker, and I´m sure others are getting married. I´d like to see the invitations if someone could scan them and email them or copy and mail them. thanks.
Love, Sister Ellis
P.S. Many of the people I found and prepared in Ala Cuiabá are getting baptized! One of which is Eunice (mother of Mara who I baptized with sister bulhões). She´s getting married this saturday and I´m going to have a joint baptism with the elders who are baptizing her on Sunday. So, I´ll get to see her wedding (in my area) and her baptism!! I´m so excited! Heavenly Father is so good. What a tender mercy.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
ps
ps...thanks for the pictures. Everyone looks so beautiful and happy! I can´t believe how huge Nolan, Jared, Brian, Cameron, Ethan, and Sam are! sniff, sniff....everyone´s getting so big without me! :(
Just kidding. I´m happy to see they are all growing up well. What amazing siblings I have that are raising my nephews and neices. Thank you for taking good care of them. :)
O yea! Today I learned how to do bead embroidered havayanas. Chique, huh? :) I´m really excited to get back and open up a business selling flip flops. HAHAHA! But really they turned out very pretty. I´ll show yáll when I get home. ;) HAHAHA! Tchau!
Just kidding. I´m happy to see they are all growing up well. What amazing siblings I have that are raising my nephews and neices. Thank you for taking good care of them. :)
O yea! Today I learned how to do bead embroidered havayanas. Chique, huh? :) I´m really excited to get back and open up a business selling flip flops. HAHAHA! But really they turned out very pretty. I´ll show yáll when I get home. ;) HAHAHA! Tchau!
Miracles happen
Hello, lovely family! I am so grateful to be a missionary!!! I have seen so many miracles lately, it´s incredible. Heavenly Father is very, very kind.
First of all, before I forget, here is a referal for Spencer. I don´t know if it´s your area, but if not, could you pass it on? We taught a cousin of the bishop´s wife, and her daughter lives in Portugal! Small world, huh?
Adriana is the daughter of Benedita (our investigator--bishop´s wife´s cousin). ----- Amadora
LISBOA--. Let me know how it goes!
So, we have had some amazing experiences here this week! Heavenly Father is blessing us a great deal. We had a wonderful Zone Conference and then used the Preach My Gospel DVD from the training for a Missionary Fireside in our ward. It talked about the importance of the members and how some sister missionaries taught a couple at the member´s house. They planned out before the lesson with the members, who would teach what. Then, the camera people interviewed the couple afterward and they said that had the missionaries just knocked on their door, they probably would´ve said no. But, because they met them at a friend´s house, they were more open to hearing the message. How awesome is that?!!! The members got really fired up and we got over 25 referals that night out of less than 10 members (who went ot the fireside). Not too shabby. We already taught some of the referals with the members and it has been proving to work real well. Imagine that? Just a little bit of planning and miracles happen! :)
Another miracle: Lurdes. I made a contact with a woman last week. We taught her, but she didn´t show much interest. She gave her neighbors as referals and yesterday we contacted one of the neighbors. Wihtout even asking the neighbor told us to go visit Lurdes bc she likes hearing about God. We knocked before lunch, but no one answered. We returned after lunch and finally she answered. She is a sweet little old lady who lives all alone and is in great pain. She can´t even clean her own house bc of the pain. Immediately, we got to work cleaning her house. It was wonderful! She accepted going to church with us and I just know she has been being prepared for the gospel. She cried from happiness at our kindness and love. Not even her family (who lives close) visits her or helps her at home. She said she had been praying for God to send someone to help comfort her, and then we showed up! What a blessing to be an answer to someone´s prayer! My heart is so full of gratitude. I stand in wonder when I think of how carefully God plans out everything. He truly is a perfectly organized, meticulous, loving Father!
Another miracle. Pedro. We taught him and then he stopped coming to our lessons, didn´t go to church so we took that as he wasn´t interested. Then, we got a message he´d gone looking for us at the church. We tried calling him all week-end, but only got the answering machine. He went to church in another ward where his sister lives and loved it. We finally got a hold of him Monday night adn he went to the chapel for a lesson that minute! We marked his baptism and he is very excited. He is one of the most prepared people I have ever seen. He kept on saying that there is a time for everything...and we have to put God´s will above our own..etc. It is wonderful to see how really we as missionaries don´t do much at all. The Spirit is who does the converting. I feel so privileged to see this process in so many lives up close and personal. I love being a missionary!
Thanks for all your support and pictures, etc. Question: is there cream of milk in the USA? Also, I really, REALLY need someone to empty out my inbox. It´s at 98%. If no one does, I won´t get any mail next week. Thank you for your love and consideration. . Please print out the emails and then delete and purge them from my inbox. Thank you very much, that´s the nicest thing that anyone´s ever done for me! :)
Love, Sister Ellis
First of all, before I forget, here is a referal for Spencer. I don´t know if it´s your area, but if not, could you pass it on? We taught a cousin of the bishop´s wife, and her daughter lives in Portugal! Small world, huh?
Adriana is the daughter of Benedita (our investigator--bishop´s wife´s cousin). ----- Amadora
LISBOA--. Let me know how it goes!
So, we have had some amazing experiences here this week! Heavenly Father is blessing us a great deal. We had a wonderful Zone Conference and then used the Preach My Gospel DVD from the training for a Missionary Fireside in our ward. It talked about the importance of the members and how some sister missionaries taught a couple at the member´s house. They planned out before the lesson with the members, who would teach what. Then, the camera people interviewed the couple afterward and they said that had the missionaries just knocked on their door, they probably would´ve said no. But, because they met them at a friend´s house, they were more open to hearing the message. How awesome is that?!!! The members got really fired up and we got over 25 referals that night out of less than 10 members (who went ot the fireside). Not too shabby. We already taught some of the referals with the members and it has been proving to work real well. Imagine that? Just a little bit of planning and miracles happen! :)
Another miracle: Lurdes. I made a contact with a woman last week. We taught her, but she didn´t show much interest. She gave her neighbors as referals and yesterday we contacted one of the neighbors. Wihtout even asking the neighbor told us to go visit Lurdes bc she likes hearing about God. We knocked before lunch, but no one answered. We returned after lunch and finally she answered. She is a sweet little old lady who lives all alone and is in great pain. She can´t even clean her own house bc of the pain. Immediately, we got to work cleaning her house. It was wonderful! She accepted going to church with us and I just know she has been being prepared for the gospel. She cried from happiness at our kindness and love. Not even her family (who lives close) visits her or helps her at home. She said she had been praying for God to send someone to help comfort her, and then we showed up! What a blessing to be an answer to someone´s prayer! My heart is so full of gratitude. I stand in wonder when I think of how carefully God plans out everything. He truly is a perfectly organized, meticulous, loving Father!
Another miracle. Pedro. We taught him and then he stopped coming to our lessons, didn´t go to church so we took that as he wasn´t interested. Then, we got a message he´d gone looking for us at the church. We tried calling him all week-end, but only got the answering machine. He went to church in another ward where his sister lives and loved it. We finally got a hold of him Monday night adn he went to the chapel for a lesson that minute! We marked his baptism and he is very excited. He is one of the most prepared people I have ever seen. He kept on saying that there is a time for everything...and we have to put God´s will above our own..etc. It is wonderful to see how really we as missionaries don´t do much at all. The Spirit is who does the converting. I feel so privileged to see this process in so many lives up close and personal. I love being a missionary!
Thanks for all your support and pictures, etc. Question: is there cream of milk in the USA? Also, I really, REALLY need someone to empty out my inbox. It´s at 98%. If no one does, I won´t get any mail next week. Thank you for your love and consideration. . Please print out the emails and then delete and purge them from my inbox. Thank you very much, that´s the nicest thing that anyone´s ever done for me! :)
Love, Sister Ellis
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
July continues on...
Hello, lovely family!
Life is wonderful here in Cuiabá! I´m loving my new mission president and his wife. They are absolutely adorable! I love that they love to have fun and laugh. I just know we´re going to be great friends! :)
Plus, miracle of all miracles, I found a frisbee here for R$2,70!! Woohoo!! Today we played Ultimate for the first time in over a year! I was in heaven. What a great exercise. :) So, those pictures of us are really life size?
Kit--When you get back, could you send me that picture you adn Kev took when you were pregnant in the snow dressed in black? My ex companion liked it a lot adn wants a copy. Thanks!
Em--Did you ever get your birthday present?
Darrell--Sorry about the finger. I am so grateful I´m not there to not have had another accident too. I still have the reminder from last trip to Aspen Grove! :) But, congratz on the volleyball.
What a great, talented family I have!!
Life is going great. I´m so happy that all we have to do is our part and that the Lord will do His. It really is amazing how you can be up the creek without a paddle, and then you open your mouth, talk to a few people and find a whole bunch of new investigators!! It is so true that God fulfills all His promises. The elect are drawn to us when we live the 3 D´s as Pres. Oliveira teaches: Dignity, Diligence, and Discipline.
Love y´all!
--Sister Ellis
Life is wonderful here in Cuiabá! I´m loving my new mission president and his wife. They are absolutely adorable! I love that they love to have fun and laugh. I just know we´re going to be great friends! :)
Plus, miracle of all miracles, I found a frisbee here for R$2,70!! Woohoo!! Today we played Ultimate for the first time in over a year! I was in heaven. What a great exercise. :) So, those pictures of us are really life size?
Kit--When you get back, could you send me that picture you adn Kev took when you were pregnant in the snow dressed in black? My ex companion liked it a lot adn wants a copy. Thanks!
Em--Did you ever get your birthday present?
Darrell--Sorry about the finger. I am so grateful I´m not there to not have had another accident too. I still have the reminder from last trip to Aspen Grove! :) But, congratz on the volleyball.
What a great, talented family I have!!
Life is going great. I´m so happy that all we have to do is our part and that the Lord will do His. It really is amazing how you can be up the creek without a paddle, and then you open your mouth, talk to a few people and find a whole bunch of new investigators!! It is so true that God fulfills all His promises. The elect are drawn to us when we live the 3 D´s as Pres. Oliveira teaches: Dignity, Diligence, and Discipline.
Love y´all!
--Sister Ellis
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
July 1
Hello, family!
How are all the preparations for the big family reunion?!! Thanks, Mom and Dad and Em for the emails. I loved hearing from yáll. Thank you for remembering me even with all the chaos of packing and remodeling. :)
Life is good here. Not going to lie, it´s kinda rough being in trio, but I know this experience will only be for my good (DC122). I´m already learning a lot of patience. It´s amazing how you can think you learned a principle and then God places you in another situation, only fro you to find out you knew absolutely nothing! Hahaha!
But, the work is moving forward. Sister Rosa is an angel. I am very blessed to have her as a second companion. She´s our mediator in companionship inventory! :) She´s ridiculously calm and doesn´t ever get offended or mad. I´m learning from her example that I need to simply choose not to be offended. What a great lesson to learn now in my youth!
Today we had a great a pday! The best one yet actually. We played soccer, water balloon volleyball, and Oink Piggy Oink with our district/zone. The only sad thing was that I forgot to put on sunscreen and thus got ridiculously burnt. I look like a tomato! :)
HELP!!!!!!
I am in desperate need of someone´s help. My inbox is 99% full and if someone doesn´t empty it out (printing off the emails and purging them) I won´t get any emails this next week. They will all be sent back. I know you are all busy, but PLEASE...could someone please just take a few minutes to help me out?! Thanks so much!
Love, Sister Ellis III
P.S. Did anyone else ever get put in trio? How was it?! Any advice?
How are all the preparations for the big family reunion?!! Thanks, Mom and Dad and Em for the emails. I loved hearing from yáll. Thank you for remembering me even with all the chaos of packing and remodeling. :)
Life is good here. Not going to lie, it´s kinda rough being in trio, but I know this experience will only be for my good (DC122). I´m already learning a lot of patience. It´s amazing how you can think you learned a principle and then God places you in another situation, only fro you to find out you knew absolutely nothing! Hahaha!
But, the work is moving forward. Sister Rosa is an angel. I am very blessed to have her as a second companion. She´s our mediator in companionship inventory! :) She´s ridiculously calm and doesn´t ever get offended or mad. I´m learning from her example that I need to simply choose not to be offended. What a great lesson to learn now in my youth!
Today we had a great a pday! The best one yet actually. We played soccer, water balloon volleyball, and Oink Piggy Oink with our district/zone. The only sad thing was that I forgot to put on sunscreen and thus got ridiculously burnt. I look like a tomato! :)
HELP!!!!!!
I am in desperate need of someone´s help. My inbox is 99% full and if someone doesn´t empty it out (printing off the emails and purging them) I won´t get any emails this next week. They will all be sent back. I know you are all busy, but PLEASE...could someone please just take a few minutes to help me out?! Thanks so much!
Love, Sister Ellis III
P.S. Did anyone else ever get put in trio? How was it?! Any advice?
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