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)