Week 56 - Merry New Year's, and to all a Cold Night!!

December 29, 2014

Wow, what a week. We had a wonderful Christmas here, got to spend it with some absolutely wonderful families, and were very blessed. We got to Skype our families too!!! That was really cool to see them. It was wonderful watching the other 3 missionaries in our ward have such a good time talking to their families as well. I may have accidentally said hi to all of their families by pushing my face in the screen... yep, they loved it. Haha it was a wonderful day. Something even better than Christmas for missionaries was Barbara's baptism!!!! It was very spiritual, and just like Bob's baptism there were a lot of members there. Bob was there too. :D haha Barbara was just glowing the entire time, and after her confirmation on Sunday, she was sitting a row in front of us with some members, and she looked so at peace and comfortable, it felt like she had a been a member for years. Haha it's just so wonderful to see the joy in people's faces as they come closer to Christ. There truly is nothing like it. And now her 10 year old grandson is committed to be baptized in a month! So much joy for that family, really happy for them.

        It is the end of the year, and so is this the last e-mail of the year 2014. It has been an absolutely wonderful year, undoubtedly and incomparably the best year of my life. The most I've ever grown, the most memorable experiences I've ever had, the most joy I've ever felt. I cannot adequately explain what this year has been for me. I'm so grateful God has been able to change me so much, and I'm so glad I have almost a whole year to keep on changing and growing. I give my thanks to all those who helped me get to this point, and to all those who support and give help to missionary work. As well as all the missionaries in the world right now! You all rock! :D

           Happy New Year everyone!!! Don't let this one go to waste. Remember the good times, and forget the bad, that's my new motto. Its pretty helpful. :D I love you all! Thanks again for all that you do!!

-Elder Cameron Ellis

P.S. life rocks! :D

                                                    Dillmans

Week 55 - MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

December 22, 2014

     MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!! Holy cow I can't believe its Christmas already. It came out of nowhere, I swear it was like Easter yesterday. Jk Thanksgiving was yesterday, Easter was last week. But really!! I'm not gonna have enough time to do all the Christmas letters I need to... Well, I just won't send any of them. No Christmas this year!!!! Ye-ah, that's better. :D Love you mom!!

     So other than Christmas being cancelled, there have been a few exciting things happening this week, the chief of which is Barbara's baptism!! She is so awesome, I have so much respect for her. She relapsed for a few days after conquering the hardest first 72 hours, which would crush almost anyone, then turned to God and committed to quit again, and has done amazing!! God's power is manifest in her life, and she knows it. It's a miracle! She is so amazing. We're gonna have to wait a few weeks for her 10 yr. grandson, Tommy, he's not quite ready yet. But God has told us to forward with Barbara's baptism, so that's what we're doing! She's so ready for it too, she has so much faith. Really excited for Friday! Its going to be great.

     The next on the imaginary agenda is the Christmas Conference!!! We had an all-day conference on Thursday up in (guess where) MUNCIE!!! Half the mission was there, and it was so fantastic. Very spiritual and uplifting, and our mission President pulled some strings and we got to watch 'Meet The Mormons'!!!! Absolutely wonderful movie, loved it so much. Amazing stories and life experiences. My favorite one was definitely the last one with the single mom whose son ends up going on a mission. That one really touched the depths of my soul. I hope they give us the movie as a teaching tool!!!! Everyone needs to see it, especially all those people out there with misconceptions about the LDS faith. It would help them all out a lot.

     Can't really OH WAIT We got to go to the Columbus Temple on Saturday with our recent convert Paul!!!! It was AWESOME!!! We got to help with the ordinances and everything, got to feel the spirit, and it was an amazing experience. SO COOL!!! It brought back a lot of good memories. Go to temple everyone!! Its so cool!! :D

     I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas!!!! Also, make sure you all keep the real meaning of Christmas in your hearts. Not just Christ's birth, but His entire life. He is the reason for all of this. Try to share the life of Christ with someone in the next 24 hours!! That's my challenge to everyone. Christmas is amazing!! I love you all, and wish you the best!! :D

-Elder Ellis

P.S. #sharethegift  There's a really cool share the gift video that the piano guys put together with David Archuleta. They showed it to us on Thursday. :D Check it out!!

That's our Christmas tree. :D and Barbara

Week 54 - Barbara> Word of Wisdom

December 15, 2014

     Haha if any of you didn't get the subject line, it's supposed to mean that Barbara is way stronger than her addictions. She quit smoking on Friday. BAM!!! Just quit. She's committed to living the Word of Wisdom, and the law of tithing, and everything else. She's preparing to be baptized on December 26th, and now there is nothing holding her back!!! She is absolutely amazing, we have seen so many miracles with her this week. I believe I already said this, but she finished the entire Book Of Mormon. She read the whole thing!!! That shows real intent and pure desire if I ever saw it. She joined us for dinner yesterday at bishops, and she had a wonderful experience. Her family is not supportive at all, but her attitude of a 54 yr old "I'll do what I want and shove it in your face" Is pretty awesome when its against the opposition of her family. It used to be aimed towards us. Haha so much love for her, she is doing amazing. Her grandson Tommy wants to get baptized as well, we just need his Dad's permission (Barbara's Son) for it to happen. :D Pray for them!!!

     Can't remember much of what else happened this week, the other companionship that got doubled into our ward this week has been doing really well. They've been working hard, and the members love them. It exactly what this ward need, these guys are dang awesome. And 1 of them has been out.... 7 days now. :D He's great, I'm really excited to be serving with them. 

     Bob got to be Santa Clause for the Christmas Party!!! Haha he's been a member for 1 week, and he had just such a good Santa appearance. We'll send pictures next week, we both forgot our cameras. I think Bob might have started dating one of the members... Haha we know she was pretty into him. It's so hilarious.

     Well, I think that's all for me!! Met a really cool less-active who invited us back to have his family feed us. I'll never argue with that. ;) Plus, they get extra chance to feel the spirit. Always a plus!! A different less-active brought his family to church for the first time in over a year!! It was really cool to see him there, and his son is adorable! Haha and they're coming back next week. Pretty much reactivated at this point. So happy for him! He wanted the spirit back pretty badly. He's such a great guy. 

     OKAY WOW, I totally forgot, so you know how I mentioned a Christmas party? YEAH!! Our ward had a Christmas party 2 days ago, and it was awesome!! So many non-members and investigators and less-actives came, it was really awesome. And Bob was Santa Clause, like I mentioned earlier :D. Pictures will come next week!! I Love you all! Have a wonderful Christmas season!!

-Love, Elder Ellis

P.S. Life rocks!!!! :D just thought I'd let you all know.

Week 53 - Bob's Baptism!!! + Transfers

December 8, 2014
     Soooo guess what! Bob got baptized!! Here's a picture. Heck yeah! It was an amazing service and he had huge support from the ward, everyone loves Bob. He Absolutely loved it, he had one of the best weekends of his life. And he looked so good for his confirmation! Here's another picture. Haha Love that man so much. And he loves Jesus so much. :D

     That was one of the best baptism's of my mission, Bob worked so hard to bring himself closer to Christ, and he had to go through so much. He's going to be able to help a lot of people because of how much he went through. He also paid his tithing first thing after church yesterday, which I've never seen a new convert do. He's a kingdom builder as they call 'em. And it had nothing to do with me and my companion!! Haha God just made everything fall into place for him, it was all in God's hands. Wonderful week.     

      

     Oh yeah, so transfers are tomorrow, and we just got the call this morning.... Me and my companion are staying!!!!! FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!! :D So happy about that, I thought for sure I'd be leaving. I told everyone I'd be gone, and it worked! A missionary did that awhile ago and he stayed too, so I thought I'd try it out. Yippee!! Haha so happy about being able to spend Christmas in Richmond, this ward is like a family to me, it really is. So many wonderful people here. God wants me to do something here, and I'm gonna do it, whatever it turns out to be. Life rocks.

    

  So no worries about Christmas, I'll be staying at my current address, 117 1/2 N. 11th, Richmond Indiana 47374. Its so exciting!!!!!!! Christmas in Richmond, I'll never get over it. It's been my dream ever since I got transferred here. 

   I wish this thing would let me send more pictures, it only allows 2 at a time. OH WAIT, another really cool story, Barbara came to Bob's baptism, which was super spiritual, and she had a really good experience. She opened up and told her things she's never let out before, and the next day she solidly agreed to be baptized on December 26th. We've asked her almost every lesson, and she's finally agreed to a date. She wouldn't do that unless she meant it, unlike a lot of people we teach here in the Midwest. She also has a 10 yr. old grandson who wants to get baptized as well, and the only thing we have to do for him is get his dad's permission, so pray for his heart to be softened! It'll be good for their whole family. :D

    So yep! Life's great, super excited for this transfer. Its gonna be a good one! I love you all, and God bless you. Have a good week!! :D 

.

Love,

Elder Ellis

My companion Elder Bayly got to baptize Bob! And I got to confirm him. It was a pretty special experience. This is another picture. Man, what a great companion. And he's done training now!! He's excited to drive....his bike hehehehe :D

Week 52 - Thanksgiving + Bob + Pit bull + Life Rocks

December 1, 2014
This week has been absolutely amazing!! Holy cow, it's been awesome. So many miracles and wonderful experiences, I hope I can remember them all. 

   Well, first things first!! That wonderful man in that picture below is getting baptized on Friday!!! His name is Robert Forman (otherwise known as Bob) and he is just such a miracle!!! He has worked so hard and fought for this chance to make a covenant with our Father in Heaven, I have so much respect for him. We found him my 2nd day in Richmond, have been teaching him ever since then, and it's amazing to see him overcoming so much in his life. Former alcoholic, devout catholic, and a few other things, he has felt the spirit and come to know these things are true for himself. Its so awesome looking back to when he barely wanted to read the Book of Mormon or come to church and he sure didn't want to get baptized... But through God's grace he has come so far. He's made intense changes in his life in the past month, and it has been so hard. We had a miracle of a lesson with him last Friday, we studied and studied, but we had no idea how we were going to help him live the word of wisdom that day, and help him do these things he wants to. Previously he's had intense aversion to quitting coffee, and it came around to him doing it but taking a long time for it. We have it at a member's home, mother's a member her whole life, father's a convert with an awesome testimony. I don't remember most of it. But it was so spiritual! It comes to his baptism in a week, and he was just like 'Yep, its time' which just stunned me. I was frozen, I was so surprised that he just went cold turkey how he said he would never do. Elder Bayly was holding back his excitement, trying not to jump up and scream and run and tackle-hug him (as he tells me later.. I added the tackle-hug). It was amazing. Very spiritual. He's been living the Word of Wisdom since then, and it's a miracle. We gave him a blessing after, and it was very spiritually exhausting. Elder Bayly and I both felt that his father (who passed away a year ago) was present for part of the blessing, and it was just an amazing experience. It's been an amazing weekend.

          Thanksgiving dinner was great. It's paled in comparison to Bob.... I don't have much more time, but a pit bull tried to attack me the first time on Wednesday!!! It was crazy, but I got away clean, and it just left Elder Bayly alone. He got in a defensive stance and just scared it off.

     I love you all! The prayers make a difference, thank you so much, all of you. Have a wonderful week!! :D

-Love, Elder Ellis

Week 51 - Why I Believe

November 24, 2014

     You'll figure out why this is e-mail is called "Why I Believe" as you keep reading. But before that, I would like to tell you why I believe what I do. I believe in the Son of God, The Savior of the world. I believe in Jesus Christ and his gospel. I believe because of what I have lived. I know because of the way that I have lived. I know that His way is the only way, and I know that the authority of God can only be found within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Only through that authority can we receive the blessings of salvation. I do not know everything, or even much at all, but God has witnessed unto me that this is the path that I am to take, that this is the path that we are all to take to live with him again. Know that I love you, and that He loves you even more. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

        

     Just thought I'd start with my testimony instead of ending with it, and I hope that it can be conveyed properly through e-mail. There was an amazing fireside last night, called "Why I believe." What happens at these firesides, is that they are organized by a ward or branch, and convert's who have joined the church will tell their conversion story and bear testimony of it. Its all throughout the Muncie Stake, we had one when I served up there. This one was in a branch close to us, and we drove 40 min to attend. President and Sister Porter were there as well, which was a first. We brought our infamous investigator, Bob, (who calls himself an instigator by the way, super hilarious) with us. It was an absolutely wonderful. Powerful meeting, powerful testimonies, not to mention powerful President Porter who always brings the spirit so powerfully. At the very end, we ask him how he felt, and he said that all of his concerns had been wiped away, everything lined up perfectly. My awesome companion (Elder Bayly!!!) felt impressed to extend Dec 5th to him, and he fully accepted. He later went up to the mission President and invited him to come, and magically President was open that day. Bob has finally committed to a date without reservations!! We knew it was inspired of God, because we had forgotten about the Why I Believe during planning Saturday night, and we felt that there was something we needed to do Sunday night. So we didn't plan anything for those hours, just a few back-ups. Then BAM! Bob feels the spirit so strong, now he's gonna get baptized in a week and a half, and it was just amazing. And the Mission President is coming! President Porter mentioned at stake conference last week that he wanted to be there for his, which doesn't happen every day. IT WAS SO COOL!!! Life is just too awesome sometimes.

     Well, that's why its called Why I Believe. And I invite you to share with someone what you believe, and why you believe it. Bear your testimony to anyone in the next 24 hours!!! Try to focus on people who need it the most, and e-mail me back what happens! I promise that as you do this with real intent, you will have amazing experiences. I Love you all! And I thank you all so much for taking the time out of your life to read these e-mails, it really means a lot. I love you! Have a wonderful week! :D

-Love, Elder Ellis

P.S. Really, you're all just wonderful. Keep smiling! :D

                                         These two are doing great together!

Week 50 - Stake Conference + Zone Conference

November 17, 2014
Wahoo!! Had such an amazing weekend, we got to go to Muncie 3 days in a row!!!!! Talk about blessings!! :D Had an amazing Zone Conference and Fireside Friday with President and Elder Wilford W. Anderson, it was awesome. Got to see so many old friends, with 2 stakes there it was 1/3 of the mission. 3 of my previous companions were there! All of my companions were there except for 1 who's in Ohio, and the other who finished his mission at the end of our companionship. Haha that was pretty cool. I've had really good companions, all except 1, but I'm pretty sure he's better by now. I hope so at least. :D He's a wonderful child of God. So yeah, off that rant. It was stake conference the next 2 nights, and I saw so many members from Muncie!!!! It was absolutely wonderful to see their smiling faces again. It was very spiritually enlightening as well. Our investigator that drove us, Bob, got to meet the mission president as well!!! It was his favorite part of the whole 3 days. He said he's never met someone with so much love and outpouring of the spirit. The mission president told me afterward that he wants to come to Bob's baptism, which is really cool. It was a great step in Bob's spiritual progress. I want to be here for his baptism so bad!!! 3 more weeks till next transfer, and all he has to do is give up coffee. He can do it. Haha I love that man. And President Porter, he has so much faith and is so inspiring. I've learned so much from him!! Every time I talk to him I feel the spirit so strongly. I love him a lot and consider him as a true friend. :D He's going to be like the next prophet or something. I can't even describe what it's like being around him.

       So yeah!! It was an absolutely wonderful weekend. Trying to take more vitamins since the mission president's wife said that it would help boost my energy levels. I've been super duper exhausted all the time. But it's a good thing!! Always more work to do. If everything goes to plan, with a lot of God's grace, Destiny and Chandler are gonna get baptized this week, but it's still up in the air. You guys should pray for their parents, cause they need a lot of it. So do they themselves, they've got a rough house life. 10 kids from at least 3 different fathers, unmarried parents and not enough to provide for all of them. The kids themselves are great, these 2 at least. And their brother, who got baptized little less than 2 years ago. We'll see what happens!! Thanks again for all the support and love! I love you all and wish you all a wonderful week!

-Love, Elder Ellis

P.S. IT IS SO COLD OVER HERE, the windchill makes it drop a ton. It snowed really badly last night and today, first real snow of the year. Which bodes really bad for Indiana, its used to mild winters, almost no snow. Now it's already got snow in the middle of November... Haha which is nothing to everyone back in Utah. Well, I'm glad we've got a house to live in! Think how terrible it'd be to be out in that cold with no house...Holy cow that'd be horrendous. :D Thanks for giving me a house God!! :D

Week 49 - 1 Year !!!!

November 10,02014
HOLY COW I HIT MY YEAR MARK ON THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!! That's kinda really crazy thinking about it. Everyone has always said that once you hit your year mark, the next year passes by so fast. Now, I guess I'll find out if that's true or not. HOLY COW I still can't believe it, I really can't. I feel like I've been out here my whole life, there is nothing but missionary work. Haha I was born 1 year ago, and that's all that's happened my entire life. Its really cool being lost in the work this much, just completely lost in all of it. My mission has been the crowning event of my life so far, I've changed more than I ever could have dreamed, and want and need to change so much more before I'll be ready for all the things that are ahead after my mission. Its been the hardest thing I've ever done. And Its been the best thing I ever done, been happier out here than I ever have in my entire life. In truth, I don't want it to end. Ever. Well, decision made. Sorry parents, you're never seeing me again. :D Sure Love ya! I'll be out here until my body decays and falls apart. Have fun!!

     Had an awesome week this week! We got to see a bunch of people, including Bob, who asked if he could still be baptized on Nov 8th the day before. I felt so bad telling him that we had to push it back cause he has to be living the WoW for at least a week! It crushed him a little, but we told him that before and he hasn't stopped drinking coffee. He's gonna make it though, he's going strong with everything else, including alcohol. Which is super impressive. He had such a desire to get baptized... still has it, my heart just goes out to him.

       We saw a few other people, and there was a bunch of people committed to coming to church yesterday, and they almost all had completely legit life reasons come up that stopped them from coming. Like death threats(not concerning the church)... that was scary. So only 2 people came. Then BAM! This less-active, who has 2 daughters, and who hasn't come in the entire time I've been in Richmond, came to church and brought an entire family with him!! They wanted to check out the church and they're looking for the Gospel. The coolest part is, is that our mission president has promised that if we pray and fast for families, if we do everything we can to find them then they'll come. And they brought themselves to church!!! Promises of the key-holders, they are a real thing. So that's been cool to see.

      It's Stake conference this weekend for the Muncie Stake!!!!! I am so excited, I get to see all the members of Muncie 1st and 2nd that I used to serve with, as well as a bunch of missionaries from my old Zone. Yeah!! And a 70 is going to be there, which is going to be really cool. There's going to be lots of spiritual enlightenment, and we're all really excited. 

       Well, that's my week! It's been a good one. God's grace has been many places this week. Oh yeah! I have to tell you this hilarious story of an alley cat we met last night. So its pitch black out, and this skinny cat comes up to us and starts cuddling us, and I was like "ooo what a cute cat" And my companion was like "that cat totally just wants food from us" and i was like "ok, bummer, I thought he loved us". So that's when I pull out a milky way and try to feed it to the cat, and he totally rejected it!!!!! so I broke it up into pieces and threw it at him (dunno if that still counts as rude if its alley cats) and then he ate it!!! And he was really happy. So if a cat doesn't like your food, throw it at them. Until you actually hit them, that don't like that. Then they run away. :D

    I'm going to come up with a funny story every week, just to entertain you guys. Love ya!!!!

-Love, Elder Ellis

p.s. for the record, I wasn't trying to actually hit the cat. That's mean. :D At least I don't think I was....

                       Elder Ellis is in the middle of the mission photo just above the sisters.

          Elder Ellis is in the top left corner of the photo above, and on the left side below.

Week 48 - Well, hello there!

November 3, 2014

     Oh, hey there! I see people on the other side of this e-mail in my mind's eye... Oh no... They're getting really bored... HEY DON'T GET BORED THIS LETTER IS SUPER EXCITING AND YOU KNOW IT!!!!!! Haha there we go, no one's gonna fall asleep now.

     So we had a few super sweet miracles happen this week! For one, I'm not dead!! I always think that's a miracle considering everything I've done in my life... Specifically the one story about flipping a green car and getting my ankle ran over by a truck, those got brought up in a conversation this week. Reflecting on how much of a miracle is was that I came out the way I did, both times... God's blessings are just so fantastic. ALSO, Becca's grandma has given her permission to get baptized!!!! YEE-HA, that was a definite miracle! Kaylynn is still coming around, but she'll make it by Thanksgiving. They moved out from Chrissy's place (Which is best for all) and they should progress a lot better now. We gotta get G-ma to come to church and feel the spirit and stuff, it'd be really good for eternal salvation. But we'll let God worry about the big stuff and just do what we're told, it's a lot funner that way, and better. :D

     

     Sadly, Bob couldn't quite kick drinking coffee yet. He's living the Law of Chastity (Big change) and completely gave up alcohol (BIG Change) but he still wants his 1 little cup of coffee! Oh my goodness Bob, its bad for you, don't ask why, God told you it was. Accept the facts! Haha but it's ok, we'll just have to wait a few more weeks for him. He's got a stellar testimony, and we love him a lot. Good guy.

     Not much else to report, they'll be more next week, I can feel it. Lots of cool things are going to happen. :D Know that I Love you all! Have a great week!! :D

Love, 

Elder Ellis

P.S. Don't drive crazy if it gives your companion anxiety attacks, we had to go to the Hospital a few times for him. JK BWahaha we bike everywhere!

                                                Chrissy's baptism

Week 46 & 47 - Marriage + Baptism = Happiness for new family

October 27, 2014
SORRY ABOUT LAST WEEK!!!! Just had to get that out, didn't have any time to e-mail. Had a Zone-Fun Day in Anderson that the ZL's made me plan, and a survey for a member of the Seventy. So, again, sorry about that.

     SO MUCH HAPPENED THE PAST 2 WEEKS!!!!! Our Investigator Chrissy finally made the decision that she wanted to get married. (She and her Less Active boyfriend have been living together for 12 years and have 2 daughters.) So they bought a marriage certificate (Funded by my wonderful companion) and got married 1 week later!! And then she got baptized!!! Woo-hoo!!! Miracles have rained down upon us. And she was able to kick smoking in the butt, which was super hard for her in the past!! You rock Chrissy!!! :D Sadly her 2 daughter's can't get baptized (yet), their Grandma has the actual custody and isn't allowing it. So we've got to soften her heart. Actually, let's just baptize her too, it'll make her life a lot better. 

       Yep, there's a picture of them and their marriage certificate. :D Everyone was so happy at the wedding. And the baptism, which a lot of investigators came to see. Very good week, lots of blessings. And now she's super excited for them to go to the temple in a year! Keep going Chrissy! 

        Wow, that felt good to get off my chest. Somehow I spaced getting pictures at the actual baptism..... whoops. I'm so bad with pictures. Oh, speaking of pictures, there's an adorable one of these 2 boys! One is LA returning to activity, the other is his non-member brother. We have permission to teach them, but their parents really need to get more on board. Chandler and his sister Destiny are getting baptized soon though!! Woo-hoo!!! LIFE IS SO AMAZING!!!!!

   Oh yeah, and Bob is still doing great, still on track for November 8th for baptism. He's just got to get the Word of Wisdom down, and he'll be good to go!! He's committed to live it by this Friday, so he should be good... Pray for him though!! Satan doesn't like people getting baptized, so he works harder on them the closer they get. He can do it though, with God's help.

     I hope I'm not forgetting anything!! Probably am, but whatever I got missionary work to do! Well, The Spirit is the one who does the actual work... So I got scriptures to read! Or something... Haha jk, I know exactly what I'm doing out here. I love you all very much, and know that the Savior loves you even more!! He is watching over you, whether you know it or not. Stay Strong!! :D

Love,

Elder Ellis

P.S. And keep smiling! It makes you live longer. I've survived all the way to 19! :D

OH YEAH!!! I totally forgot that it's Halloween on Friday. Happy Halloween everyone!!! I'm listening to a church hymn from lds.org right now, does that count? hehe  :D

Week 45 - Well Hello There!!!

October 13, 2014


     The start to another great week! Goodness, missionary work can be so exhausting sometimes. Its ok though, exhaustion is good for your body, as long as you take long naps on p-day. :D Naps naps naps, they heal the body. AHHH I don't think I'm gonna be able to take a nap toady.... uh-oh. It's like a whole entire week until next p-day!! Until the next nap time! That's kinda sad. Oh yeah, guys don't tell my parents (Mom, Dad, don't read this next part) But I just recovered from being sick for like a week and a half, so that's really the biggest reason I'm exhausted, it took a lot outta me. But I healed with lots of sleep and the ward here is just absolutely fantastic, they took very good care of me. lots of food and drugs and other good stuff. Go Richmond! OK, Mom you can start reading again. :D

     Sometimes I don't really know what to write about other than missionary work... Our investigators are doing great, OH YEAH Chrissy started living the Word Of Wisdom yesterday!!!!! WOOT!!!! She's on track to get baptized next weekend, and she's doing great. Her and her family have come 3 weeks in a row now, its becoming ingrained in them, and they are changing a lot, its really really cool to see. We're super excited for them. :D Bob's committed to live it by Oct.31, and to get baptized on Nov. 8, and he says he's ready for this one. He was always timid about completely committing, but he's ready now. He's come to church every week for the past 2 months, and he's awesome. Born and raised catholic, he's finally found the truth. :D yeah. 

     So do you guys ever want to hear about anything other than the same people, occasionally added by a few others? Destiny's doing great. Barbara came to church yesterday too! Usually it takes longer for people to get there, but she just wants to know where God wants her to be. She's pretty cool. Jim's pretty cool too. Oh yeah, still talking about people you've never met... Um, i had a delicious bowl of Honey Kix this morning. A member bought it for us last week, and it is just delectably delicious! It just about gone in like 2 1/2 days. Haha.

     My companion likes to cook food.... He likes quoting movies.... He likes missionary work.... I hope he likes being exhausted... I like him, he's a cool guy. :D He's gonna do great.

     So there's a few other people we're teaching (we've been blessed with many investigators) but they're still in the works right now, so we'll talk about them when they start coming to church. But I really do love all of them. Life's just great right now. 

     Pics:  That was the Reds game a few weeks ago. Elder Horne, love that guy.

               I don't know if I already sent this one, but its a good one. Elder Boden with Mini-elder. Haha

     Well, guess what!!! I love you all!!! I hope you all have a wonderfully fantastic week! :D Talk to ya later.

-Love, Elder Ellis

#missionarywork    <---- (I finally figured out what those are) :D

Week 44 - General Conference!!

October 6, 2014
I know that you guys care oh so much about which talks were my favorite, so fine, I'll tell you. Haha just kidding, but it was Uchtdorf's and Bednar's. They were great, and our investigators that were there got so much out of them. My favorite General Conference that I've been to yet! I guess that I've seen yet... because I wasn't there. But it was pretty sweet. :D

   We had our mr. awesome investigator Bob attend ALL 5 SESSIONS WITH US!! Holy cow, he wants the spirit so bad. He's great, still on track for his baptism later this month. We had our other investigators there as well, it was great. It looked like they all had a great time. And Destiny, the adorable little 9 year old girl, she just loved it so much. She loves Jesus, and church, and is just fantastic. Haha and she's hilarious, just a hoot to have around. She's preparing to get baptized as well. Along with her 11 year old brother chandler. Haha life is just so great, God's grace has been all over the place. Chrissy's family is doing great as well, she's just gotta kick that smoking out the door and she'll be good to go! And her daughters are doing great, they're making lots of friends with the youth there. And luckily they don't have Word Of Wisdom issues, so they're good to go haha. 

    There's a huge virus going around Richmond, but I'm not going to tell any of you about that because you'll just worry. Well, if it makes you feel better, I've already gotten it, and got over it! So I'm good to go, but now my companion's gotten it, so it's pretty ironic. He'll make it though, it's not death-threatening or anything. And this ward takes great care of us, best ward I've ever served in. :D Life's great! OH YEAH I finally remembered my camera this time. :D

    This first one is me and Elder Horne at the Reds game. Funnest P-day ever! Woot! Let's go share the Gospel!!! I love you all! Have a good week! :D

-Love, Elder Ellis

   and his sidekick, his trusty hammer.

                                             Elder Horne & Elder Ellis at the Reds game

 

   

                                                   Brand new Elder Bayly with Elder Ellis 

                                                                Cincinnati, Ohio 

Week 43 - Fantastic week!

September 22, 2014
     OHHHHHH man, this week was great! So much growth and learning, it's been fun. Elder Bayly is the most prepared greenie in the entire world, he is just on fire. He's a quick learner and is just catching on to everything so fast. He hasn't complained about one thing, and he's just awesome. I thought every new missionary just complained a lot and had problems... haha well that's not true. (haha I wasn't the same as this guy when I first came out.) He's going to be like an assistant or something before he goes home, he's utterly fantastic. So yeah, Elder Bayly's awesome and I love him to death. He's an 18 yr old from Lehi, Utah and went to UCAST or something like that. Very smart kid.

     Anyways, people are still progressing well. Olive came to church for the first time yesterday!! And she absolutely loved it. She says that she knows this is the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth. It's really cool to see her faith and sensitivity to the spirit. She committed to get baptized in October! So we're really excited for that. Bob is still doing good, 5th week in a row coming to church, he just has some WoW issues to work through. Chrissy came as well, but her daughters were sick or something. Sometimes it feels like she doesn't want to bring them like she doesn't like them or something.... we'll work on that. :D Met some really cool people this week as well that we started teaching, and turns out this one family already knows one of the church members when we brought him over... That was really cool. Instant fellowship! Bam, cool miracle there. Lots of grace and miracles, they just keep coming. Life's great!! Dang it, I left my camera in the car again. Sorry about that. I'm trying to get better. Don't be afraid to ask questions or anything! I really am trying to get better about sending pictures.

     Well, I want you all to know that I love you! God takes care of us missionaries out here, and it's really nice to have Him on our side. Really really nice. :D Have a great week everyone!!

     Love, 

     Elder Ellis

Week 42 - Transfers tomorrow!!!

September 15, 2014 

AHHHHHHH just kidding, transfers aren't that scary. Another transfer gone by, and boy, it has been a good one. So much work to do all the time, seeing people change their lives, its pretty awesome..... Lots of great experiences, and just even more work to get done next transfer. woohoo! Lets go! :D

      The calls came in this morning, and the news is: I'm getting transferred after only 6 weeks in an area again!! AHHHHHHH Just kidding, my companion Elder Horne is leaving, and I'm staying. Haha finally! This is going to be the first time I've received someone into an area. Pretty crazy. And its going to be a brand new missionary too, so he'll need some prayers... a lot of prayers.... Maybe a few angels. Yep, its gonna be fun!! :D SO Glad I'm not leaving Richmond. Love it here so much! :D 

    Well, other than transfers, this week was really fun. The REDS game was super awesome!!!! Literally got to see every missionary in the mission there, and it was blast. I didn't really watch the game, it was pretty boring and they lost 0-5, but talking to people for 3 hours was so much fun! its crazy how many missionaries you know after getting thrown all over the mission. :D Great fun. I would have pictures that I took but I left my camera in the car, so maybe next time...

     Investigators are doing well, except for Christian, he thinks God's telling him to go to another church.. so we're gonna have a talk about how the spirit speaks to us. c'mon man. :D he'll get there. Chrissy... might be homeless in a week... But she still wants to get baptized and is in the process of quitting smoking. So that interesting, but she'll be alright. BOB!!! gosh, I love bob, he's doing great. Getting baptized in October, he's reading and just having a grand old time. He's come to church every Sunday for a month now, so its great to see his commitment. He's just got to live the WoW and he's good. He's a great guy.

     OH YEAH!!! WE got to see Steph again today!! We haven't met with her for a month, and she's been super busy and we all but lost contact with her. But she was home on Friday! And she's doing great! And she quit one of her jobs! and she should be able to come to church this Sunday! And its... just.. ajbfhisbdfiubf miracles, woo!!!!! :D she's a rockstar. (Elder Horne is super sad he's leaving now that we got in contact with her again.)

     So all in all, its been a great week, a great transfer, and a great year. :D Life rocks everyone! Keep at it! I love you! 

-Elder Ellis

At Cincinnati Reds Baseball Game

                                                  Photo bombing President Porter

Week 41 - Paul got really wet...

September 2, 2014

Heck yeah Paul got wet! He got Baptized!!! WOOHOOO! It was a fantastic service, and he gave a great testimony. Very sweet and simple, but the spirit just came into the room and pierced us all to the heart. It was really cool. And Bob, another of our investigators, came to the service and he felt the spirit very strongly. He agreed to be baptized on Oct 4th if he knew by then. Which is a great step! He's been doing great, and I am confident that he will have his answer by then. He's been absolutely loving church, and receiving awesome fellowship. He's a great guy, and his whole demeanor has changed in the past 2 weeks. Go Spirit!!! :D

   

We had a lot of other cool miracles this week, and people are progressing well. Christian came to church for the first time this Sunday, and he loved it! Which is always awesome. He's a really nice kid. Chrissy's doing good as well,  her husband(ish), Chris is a less active and his testimony just came roaring back into him after 28 years of not going to church or anything. His last time there was when he was 12, and it's just awesome to see that change inside him. Miracles really are just everywhere and they continue to happen. It's really cool to be able to see God's hand in all of this.

     

Oh yeah!! We get to go to a Red's game next Monday! It's going to be with the whole mission, and it's going to be the funnest thing ever! Haha I will have to take lots of pictures and tell you guys about it. Well I love you all! Have a great week!

-Love Elder Ellis

Week 40 - Happy Monday everyone! My favorite day of the week. :D

August 25, 2014

    So, life is still pretty stinking awesome! I dunno if you guys ever get tired of hearing that, but you shouldn't, cause its so true. This week was so full of grace and miracles, and it was just amazing. Lots of really cool experiences, I hope I can remember all of them. Probably won't, so pay attention! :D Cause they're really cool. I mean it.

    Haha so first off, we had an amazing lesson with Randy, Nikki, and ChrissAnne. They were about to get kicked out of their apartment last week cause they couldn't find a job, and it was pretty scary. But Friday night, we went over with the Battraws, a couple that just got back from serving a mission in South America, and the spirit was very strong the whole time. Randy was crying a lot, just wanting help and direction from God. We showed Moroni 10:3-5, and told him the pattern for receiving answers to prayers from that. We promised him that if he got down on his knees right then, and said a prayer, that an answer would come. So he got on his knees and prayed with all his heart. And the answer came, from a source none of us thought it would. 5 minutes later, the Brother Battraw offers them both a job working in his house, fixing it up after they had been gone for so long. It was an answer to their prayer, and it was just amazing the spirit that was there. They came to church for the first time on Sunday, and they said they enjoyed it and will come back next week. I was just amazing to see how the Lord will work through people.

    We had a lot of people come to church for the first time yesterday, and they all had a fantastic experience and the members just welcomed and fellowshipped them really well. It was really cool to see them all there and people introducing themselves to them, and..... just.... miracles!! everywhere. :D It was an awesome day yesterday.

    Everything is going well with Paul, he's committed to live everything, and he's going to get baptized on Friday! We're putting the program together tonight, and everyone needs to come because the spirit at baptisms is very strong. We're excited for him.

     Chris and Chrissy... will wait till next week, don't want too much information. But they're amazing! and another miracle. Chrissy's preparing to get baptized next month, (Chris is a LA) and everyone's loved her so far. Randy's family is as well, so if everything goes to plan, next month is looking really good.

    Oh yeah, Steph's great grandma died, so that's taken up her whole week, we only got to see her once. So hopefully she'll have a lot more time this week. And hopefully she quit that second job she works on Sunday! God will bless her for it. :D

     Anyways, I'll send some pictures of the baptism, and hopefully I didn't forget too much! Life is just grand. I just love you all! Have a fantastic week! :D

-Love Elder Ellis (Love can include letters, cookies and chocolate. :D Haha just kidding)

Week 39 - Life's Great!!!

August 18, 2014
    
    As the title states, life is great. Really, it is just so great. Being a missionary is incomparable to anything else, and there truly is no way to describe it. The only way to know how it feels is to be one yourself. And everyone can do that! Members make awesome missionaries. Haha, anyways, life's good.

    Another fantastic week, lots of good lessons. We had Steph and her 3 kids over at the bishop's house and had dinner with him and his wife. We have an awesome bishop here by the way, he is very missionary minded! And he loves the heck outta us. :D Love that guy. So the dinner went really well, and she had a great talk with the bishop and his after dinner. She's reading the Book of Mormon, she believes everything we've taught her, and is progressing really well. She's made lots of friends in the ward as well, and they're willing to help out. She wasn't able to come to church yesterday because she wanted to put in her 2 weeks notice before just dropping the job, she feels bad for her employers cause they need her alot.  But she's awesome! Oh yeah, and she was getting a bunch of crap from friends and co-workers about coming to our church, and she just puts them in there place! haha tells them they don't know anything about the church so they can't say anything about it. She's sticking up for us! We're very excited for her, and her kids as well, they're so dang adorable.

    Paul's doing very well also, we had dinner with him in a member's home, he's keeping commitments, and he was at church yesterday. He's still working towards August 29 for baptism, and he's loving the church. He's like 52. Cool guy.

    There were also a lot of other people that we've been teaching, but most of them ditched out on church yesterday, which was pretty disappointing. But we've got a lot more up our sleeves to get them there next week, so through faith the miracles will happen. Randy and his family agreed to work towards Sept. 13 for baptism as well, so we just need to get them some awesome fellowship as well so they'll come to church. The fellowship opens people up for the spirit to come in and testify of the truthfulness of our message, so its very important. But anyways, its great here in Richmond!! :D The work in going forward. Don't be afraid to pray for these people! it makes a difference. You are all amazing and I love you! Have a great week! :D

-Elder Ellis

Week 38 - Richmond, IN

August 11, 2014
Guess what!!!!! I got transferred to Richmond, Indiana! Woot! Back to Indiana I go! Haha, and its in the Muncie stake, so amazingly I got here right in time for the stake priesthood meeting, and I got to go back to my old building! And see all the amazing people from my wards up there! All the men at least. It was a really cool experience. And we have zone conference tomorrow, so I'll get to see all the missionaries again! Haha I am so blessed. (Gave Elder Price a HUGE Hug haha :D)

     So Richmond, Indiana.... is amazing!! I love it here so much. I have a fantastic companion (Elder Horne) and he is just great, love him to death!! We have seen immense miracles every single day, finding prepared people, super spiritual lessons, and things are just amazing. Good job, Man upstairs! :D Cause its all Him thats doing it, and its just cool to see it happen. I do truly love it here. Oh yeah, my address is 117 1/2  N. 11th, Richmond, Indiana 47374. So yeah, its amazing.

    Oh my goodness, so the biggest miracle this week is Steph and her family. She is a single mother of three boys that we started teaching my first day here. The boys are Braden(7), Chase(5), and Riley(2). She is having rough time with life, and she wants to raise her kids to know God. We've had super spiritual lessons, they came to church yesterday, and she's preparing to get baptized August 30. She's amazing. And her kids! haha they are so hilarious! We had dinner with the family at a member's home saturday, and Penelope is doing an amazing job of fellowshipping them, and she loves them all so much. I also understand why its so hard for parents to focus during sacrament meeting. Haha, they really are just a miracle.

     We also found a few other families, which are planning on coming to church next week, which is gonna be sweet. Gave an amazingly spiritual church tour to Damon, single dad of 3 kids, and was gonna bring them Sunday, but his ex-girlfriend kept them for the weekend after a fight that they had... Which was very sad to hear, he's had a rough weekend. But he's another miracle.

      So, all in all, its been an amazing week, and the work is progressing. God works miracles everyone!! he really does. There was no reason for any of this to happen with these people, but it did. So keep believing, and keep working hard! I love you all!

-Elder Ellis

p.s. Never be afraid to pray for these people, specifically Damon. He needs it. And Steph's family just cause their amazing and Satan's gonna start working on them really hard in the next few weeks. Thanks!

                                             New companion - Elder Horne