Week 11 - What Up!

February 3, 2014
So I just wanted to say that I love you all, and I hope no one's getting tired of hearing that ;). Another amazing week, Lots of lesson taught, and many new investigators found. The Bartleys are making awesome progress, and the 2 Millers kids are on date for the 22nd, and they're totally going to get baptized. We just hopefully won't have to push it back another week. Amanda finally got confirmed yesterday, our recent convert Chris went and picked them up. He's such a fantastic guy. He'll make a great missionary! Bobby and Patty and their kids would be coming to church, but they don't have a car right now, and a family of 4 isn't the easiest to transport. But we're trying. 

   We met this sweet guy who just came up and talked to us in the bus station asking us if we were Mormons, and we got into a sweet discussion about God and the Book of Mormon, and we're meeting with him again tomorrow, pretty excited for this guy. He's from like Jamaica or something and he has sweet dreads. haha His name is Steven.

   We also met some really nice guy who invited us into his home, then went off about how he's pretty sure the second coming is going to happen this summer, and he thinks he's a prophet, and I don't think we'll ever see him again... But he's a really nice guy. Nothing like some of these people in the Bible Belt ;). Lots of Pentecostals around here.

    WOW we had a lot of snow, and we're just supposed to have more this week. :D Its crazy up here, its usually in the teens or less with the wind chill, but Friday and Saturday weren't too bad. All we have to do is dress warmly, and Jesus makes it warmer for us missionaries anyways, I haven't had any problems with being too cold. Preparation + Faith = Blessings!! Spiritual geometry, that's a book someone should write one day.

    Well life is amazing, thank you everyone who sends emails, I really appreciate it. I hope that you guys are uplifted by these ones, and if there is anything in particular you want to know, feel free to ask! The Lord is progressing his work, and we see it everywhere around here. The Lord does this work, and the Spirit is truly amazing. Gratitude is the gateway to all blessings!!! Said by Thomas S. Monson. So lets be grateful for all that we have, cause every single one of us has been given so much in life. If we have the Gospel, we have more blessings than we can count. And Earth is just beautiful. So are pandas, I'm going to raise one when I get back. Love you all!!!! 

Love

-Elder Ellis :D

Broken Records

January 27, 2014
Yo what up! This week has been insane. We had an awesome baptismal service on Friday, Chris and Amanda both had a great experience. Haha one funny thing though... Elder Ewell told the bishop to get the water out faster, and we think he turned the cold water on all the way, cause it was super freezing... well, they got an experience like the pioneers of old, freezing cold water!! Amanda was so cold, we felt so bad... But it was still good. Church was only sacrament meeting and that was optional for people who wanted to go. So Chris got confirmed, and Amanda didn't... I guess next week. It was really great though, Chris is such a boss. He's going on a mission in a year!!!

       Anyways, so our zone broke some more mission records this week, it's insane. We've got this family, the Millers, whose Dad is starting to get active again, but none of the kids are members, so we've got 4 potential baptisms for February. I know we're gonna get at least 2 of them, the other 2 are older and I don't know how long they will take. But we'll get them eventually, I'm sure.

      We're teaching quite a few people, 2 others are scheduled for baptisms in March, pretty hopeful for them. Man things are just going so good!!! I've been getting sick, but hopefully that will get better. I just need to get some extra hours of sleep and I'll be fine. Plan in 10 min then go to bed at 9:30 haha jk. But if I can make that work, I will. 

      I love Muncie, this place is awesome. We convinced this satanist to listen to us, she's open to praying now, haha. Satanism isn't as bad as it seems, at least according to her. Haha anyways, Life is great! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Things are super busy, so I hope I get a chance to respond to everyone, but if I don't, feel free to keep writing! I read them, and I appreciate them. I Love you all!!!!

-Love 

Elder Ellis

Wow...

January 20, 2014

So this week was like super insane, miracles were just happening. In our Zone we broke mission records, things were crazy. We had what was called 'Social Media Split' day, and people got really good days organized because of it. Members would go out with the missionaries and post pictures of them doing all their stuff, and hash tag all the same thing, all over the mission. Pretty smart idea from President there. But yeah, our Zone went insane this week. Good job zone!

     Some other exciting news, we have 2 baptisms on Friday! This amazing guy, Chris, is the most golden kid I've ever met. He was asking what the requirements for serving a mission were after our 3rd lesson with him, his testimony is insane. SO excited for him!!! He's so committed to going on a mission, he's already saving up his money. Love that guy!!! He's 23, so he'll be like 24 when he can go. He's so sweet. We met this other kid, Brandon, who also wants to serve a mission after the 1st lesson, but we had to turn him over to the other elders in our apartment cause he lives in their area. But it's insane. The other girl getting baptized is Amanda. Hopefully.

      Been working so hard this week, sleep deprivation is real. I always just slept in before, but can't do that anymore ;). Not that I'd even want to, I get so pumped to get out there. Working out every morning feels so good. I love life!! And it's P-day today, so we go to the church with the other missionaries and play awesome sports, so much fun. 

      Enough about me, how are you guys doing? If you have anything super exciting you want to tell me, go for it! There's nothing like getting lost in the work, just focusing on what you have to do that day to be the best missionary. I love teaching the Gospel, nothing better out there. Anyways, I love you all!!! Have a fantastic week!

-Elder Ellis

Week of Awesome Amazingness!!!!

January 13, 2014
OH MY GOSH I LOVE MY LIFE!!!!! haha so this week has been absolutely amazing, I got transferred to Muncie Indiana, and just in the past 4 days we've been getting sweet work done. My companion is on his last transfer, so he goes home in like 5 weeks, haha which makes me end up doing a lot of the work, which I'm perfectly fine with, working hard is what I want to do. He's a really sweet guy, super strong testimony, deep doctrinal insights, and really nice. His name is Elder Ewell and he's from Murray, Utah. Yeah, he's way excited to go home.

     Another awesome thing about transfers is that we're with the zone leaders in the same apartment, and they are the funnest guys in the world. Elder Collimore is from American Fork and it's his last transfer as well. Haha but he's like the coolest guy in the world, and our zone is tied for the top zone in the mission. So we have sweet zone leaders haha. The other one is Elder Carter who is from Morgan, Utah (The same place as President Porter and 3 Senior Couples) and is related to the senior couple I was working with down in UC. So yeah, I'm so excited about this transfer. And our apartment is super nice and it's above an animal hospital owned by a member, which is pretty cool.

       So on Saturday we had a sweet lesson with Chris, a single man in his 20's, and we went in planning on following up with the BoM, but I felt impressed to turn it into the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and so by the end he agreed to being baptized! So we've got him on date for February 8th, and he came to church yesterday and got some sweet fellowship from some members. Man we have an awesome ward here, that guy is totally going to get baptized. We've also got Amanda, a 15 year old who's mom is a member but inactive, and she was planning on getting baptized this Saturday, but didn't come to church yesterday, so we have to postpone it until she comes to church. 

         Another miracle we had on Saturday, we went to follow up on a potential's address, but it was a complete failure, but when we went to the house 2 doors down, we found this sweet lady who wants the Gospel in her life. We taught her lesson 1 right there and she agreed to get baptized on February 15. Woot woot!! Her name is Daisha, and she was in tune with the spirit during that lesson. We've got 3 people on date, and 2 of those we got yesterday out of nowhere. We've also found like 5-6 new investigators just in the past 3-4 days, and a whole lot of other potentials. It's been going great!!! And we're going to work just as hard this week and do awesome. Go Indiana!! Oh Yeah, and this girl Zeni that we met on the bus said in the middle of us talking to her that she felt the Holy Spirit from us, and we hadn't even talked about the Holy Ghost yet... Tons of potential there. She's getting baptized (prophecy) haha

         Well, one amazing week over, and the rest of the mission still to come! I am so excited to work my butt off here.The Lord strengthens us to do His will, I have definitely felt strength beyond my own keeping me going. The Lord loves every single one of you, and I do too!!! Feel free to tell me about your lives, and shoot any questions you have. There is nothing like the peace that comes from the Savior. Good luck with all of your personal endeavors and you're all amazing!!!! And I mean it, every single one of you!!! I Love you all!!!! Have an amazing week!

 -Love, 

Elder Ellis

P.S. My new address is 1505 W Riggin Road, Muncie, Indiana 47303

Week 6 Everyone!!

January 6, 2014

Hey, so this week was just awesome, I think I finally got over that new missionary phase. Other than that, we've had an insane week, a bunch of snow of Thursday which actually made the landscape look really beautiful, and just super cold temperatures the rest of the week. Today as we we're walking to the Library it was like -5 or -10 with the wind chill, my trainer's face almost fell off. (He needs to dress warmer haha)

      Our AP's told us on Saturday to stock up on food that day to make sure we had enough to get to Wednesday, cause apparently they were predicting death by blizzard to all who walked outside. But luckily it hasn't been that bad. But really really cold.

      So we had one of the coolest experiences ever this weekend, we had a Book of Mormon read-a-thon for the Branch and all the investigators. We didn't have as many investigators show up as we would've liked, but it was really good for this one guy that came at the end of Saturday. We were doing it in 24 hours, 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Friday and Saturday, all day, so 12 hours each day. We did it at the church building and they provided food and stuff.  It was a fantastic spiritual experience, and the best part was when we were reading about Jesus appearing to the Nephites. It was pretty powerful. We ended up only getting to page 500, Ether 8, but still, 500 pages in 24 hours, with food breaks in between. Not too bad. We're gonna finish up the rest of it tonight before FHE. Man, I really loved it, wish I could do that every weekend.

      SO CAMPUS IS FINALLY OPEN AGAIN!!!!!! man, the 3 week drought is over, we're gonna start tearing it up. SO excited to be able to start doing real work again. But then again, transfers are on Thursday, so I might ironically be transferred right as it opens up again... well whatever happens is gonna be God's will.

       Well everyone, I hope you all had a fantastic New Year's, feel free to tell me any crazy stories you have! Make good new year's resolutions, like skydiving and cliff jumping and stuff, those are the healthiest I find. Good luck to you all in your personal endeavors, and may you feel God's love in your life. You all are fantastic people! I mean it! Every one of you!!  I Love you all!!!! 

-Elder Ellis

                                       Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio

Week 4!! Merry Christmas!!!

December 23, 2013

Hey what up world!!!!! Man this week has been so much better then last week! We had the BEST Christmas program ever, all about the Savior and his life. I've never had the spirit testify stronger to me that Jesus is the Christ and the Savior of the world. I've never had a stronger love for my savior. We had a few lessons this week, but campus is practically deserted because of Christmas break, but hopefully we'll have things to do this week. And I just bought 5 pounds of bananas and for some reason that makes like super happy!!!! And some apples. Go produce!

       There was an awesome baptismal service yesterday for the sisters in our branch, the spirit was good and strong there. Her name is Sierra, and she was just all smiles the entire time. That's their 2nd baptism this month, which is dang good, and they had a 3rd on date but had to push it back. We also have a baptism this Saturday, Ken, for me and Elder Davis, so WOOT, that will be my first one here in the mission!! Ken is a sweet guy, so happy he's gonna be able to have all these blessings in his life. The YSA Branch is a really good area most of the time, just not during Christmas... and the Sisters have a car, so they can actually go out and do more than find on campus unlike us. But they're great.

       We went on exchanges Friday morning until Saturday evening, which were by far the best 2 days I've had on my mission. It was with Zone leader Elder Tavake, and me and him are super tight, He's a poly from San Francisco, and is just the coolest guy ever. Haha we planned to take me back at like 4 on Saturday, but he kept for like the entire day cause we were just killing it. Love that guy so much. He's in one of the pictures. We were just busy the entire time, going to appointments to less actives to potentials, and we got a new investigator named Alma, and she's like the sweetest lady ever, she loves God so much. Best time ever.

      Well, Christmas in in like 2 days, so MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! I hope you all have an absolutely fantastic Christmas season!! Keep Christ close in your hearts, he can make everything better in your life if you let him. He's the reason for the season, and He loves all of us so much!!! I Love all of you so much and send the best of wishes to everything in your lives!!! Love life you guys, it rocks!!!!

Elder Ellis

Week 3

December 16, 2013

Well I don't know if there's really anything to tell, this week was super long and terrible. Everyone was having finals this week, and they'll be gone for the next few weeks because of the break.  We had a super sweet tour yesterday though! 1st lesson and she wants to get baptized! Too bad she said she wanted to wait 1-2 years for it..... so we'll see what happens there. I hope I'll have some stories or something for next week! Happy holidays everyone!!! I love you all!! Stay strong!!

Love,
Elder Ellis