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