En serio! con Hna. Ellsworth

So we´re just going to flashback a little bit to the days where I tell a story... because it´s just too hard to figure out what to tell you from week to week. So... this last week, my companion and I have decided to make a goal to sit with Spanish speakers at every meal. This has been really helpful in our Spanish. We sit with about 20 Spanish speakers from South and Central America who we like to call the nativos. So imagine with me, if you will, an entire table of South Americans and two white girls. En serio! It´s a beautiful sight.

Anyways, during a particular meal, I sat by an Elder from Mexico. I talked mostly to the Hermanas but decided to try to start a conversation with this Elder. Just a simple Cómo está? So that´s exactly what I did. And he replied with the usual Estoy bien. But I usually repeat everything they say to make sure I understood it right and that I can also say it right. But I mixed it up a bit and apparentely said something back that meant I was hitting on the poor Elder. I had no idea what I said but he started laughing and then the people next to him started laughing until the entire table was laughing. Apparently, the only thing I can understand in Spanish is laughing. En serio! Anyways, I was pretty embarassed and felt pretty down on myself. How am I going to be able to speak and understand Spanish when I can´t even get a simple greeting right. En serio!

Well, i was feeling down and got back to class and the opening hymn was ´Tengo gozo en mi corazón.´ En serio! I felt like the world was mocking me. I had never felt so frustrated and discouraged with the language or even in the MTC and they throw this song in my face. I couldn´t even sing. And then I got to the middle of the third verse and I started to remember a little bit about humility and patience and started to really listen to the words. I was seriously thinking to myself, Ellsworth, you can probably learn a lesson from this. (Because I usually speak to myself in third person)

So I did learn an important lesson. Spanish is hard. and it´s kicking my trash. But getting discouraged about it won´t help anything. I will fail at times and make a fool of myself but all I can do is laugh at about it and tengo gozo en mi corazón. I was really grateful for that experience and for that hymn. At first I thought Heavenly Father had a sense of humor and was making fun of me, but then I realized it was a tender mercy. And it taught me an important lesson about being happy through frustration.

Well I love ya, Hna. Ellsworth

In the MTC, "weeks are like days and days are like weeks..."

So another week is gone and done and I'm excited to report that I am now teaching lessons completely in Spanish. CRAZY!! Especially because I can't speak Spanish. We have our 'big tests' every Friday night aka tonight, so I'll have to teach the Restoration for the first time in Spanish to someone who actually knows Spanish. I've been practicing all week but it's really hard. Yesterday I was trying to bear my testimony about how Jesus Christ suffered for my sins but accidentally said, "Yo sé que Jesucristo surfrió por mis pescados.¨ I´ll let you figure that one out... I'm pretty much really nervous but I'm just trying to remember to do my best and put my trust in the Lord and he can do the rest.

Well, the devotionals were superb this week. Sunday was fast Sunday so we had mission conference which was amazing! All of the MTC Presidency and their wives spoke. It´s hard to pick a favorite but I´m going to have to go with Bro. Brown because he compared our missions with growing a garden. You know how much I love our garden back home. (Just a tad bit of sarcasm in that last sentence.) He mentioned five things a missionary, and farmer, must do to become a successful missionary. First, we must 'prune' our lives by removing all impurities that would prevent the light of Christ from coming into our lives. Second, we must 'thin' ourselves from the outside world and forget ourselves. Third, we must 'irrigate' our deep roots by personal and companionship study. Fourth, we must 'weed' in our missions which he compared to diligence and work. Be diligent, steady, energetic. I still remember our early morning field trips to weed the garden, so I appreciated this analogy the best. Lastly, we must 'spray' the garden which he compared to faithful daily prayer, fasting, and keeping the commandments. I'm a big fan of the analogies so I really appreciated this talk and it taught me a little more about being a successful missionary.

Tuesday night devotional was one of my favorite devotionals I've heard thus far. It was Elder Costa on the importance of planning and teaching by the Spirit. He was very funny and still taught important principles. I think my favorite part was just about putting yourselves in the hands of the Lord. It made me think of Sis. Ellsworth's (aka Kris) email this week in her Tender Mercy. I just have to remember to put all my trust in the Lord and then I can be an instrument in his hands.

Anyways, Christmas is coming!! I'm excited to spend it in the MTC! I'll be excited to know what we will do for it, but whatever it is, I know it will be great! I'm glad to hear all is well! Thanks for the Christmas tree! It pretty much made my week! Okay, well, there are way too many exclamation marks in this paragraph, so... k... bye!

Hna. Ellsworth

The District

Hermana Ellsworth seems to be the 'white sheep' in the the district

i went to the MTC for a month and all i got was this lousy t-shirt...

December 4, 2009

Today I have hit my one month mark aka my halfway mark of the MTC. Can i get a woot, woot?! Time flies when you're having fun! It really does feel like I just got here yesterday. Crazy! Anyways, since it has been exactly a month, I feel it is time to do an inventory. A sort of "Top Ten Things I've Learned in the MTC" (Not at all comparable with David Letterman) This should be interesting but here we go...

10. After being one of the only Hermanas that plays basketball during gym, I have learned to beat every Elder in my gym in the basketball game Speed.

9. I have learned how to tell the story of "La Princesa de la Bolsa de Papel" in Spanish, sorta'. Our district made this goal to talk Spanish all the time and I wanted to tell one of my roommates that story. It took me a while but she understood the most part. It was muy bien.

8. And to continue on the lines of Spanish, I have learned over 500 vocab words, how to conjugate verbs in present tense, preterite, present progressive, and command. I have learned direct objects, indirect objects, and reflexive verbs. And I can pray, testify, contact, and teach someone how to pray in Spanish. Miracles do happen in the MTC!

7. I have learned patience to deal with thousands of 19-year-olds boys. Need I say more?

6. I have learned to sit in class for over three hours without falling asleep. Definitely never learned that in high school/college. ;)

5. I have learned that I look forward to 1:00 and 6:00 aka Mail time. I'm embarrassed by it, but I succumbed to the temptation. Highlight of the month - Letter from Dad and Grandpa in the same day - Happy Day!

4. I have learned the most valuable time of the day is personal study and/or companion study. I never have been able to use my study time so effectively and efficiently before, and I am grateful to have that time everyday to study the scriptures and Preach My Gospel.

3. I have known and learned more about the Restoration of the true Gospel. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and I am grateful that a humble, young boy came across the scripture James 1:5 and decided to know for himself which one of the churches was true.

2. I have already known but learned more that I am a child of God. He loves me and has a perfect plan for me for my happiness. His ultimate goal is so that I can return to live with Him someday and be with my family forever.

1. I have already known but learned more that Jesus Christ is central to that perfect plan and that He came to this earth to atone for my sins. He overcame sin and physical death so that it is possible for me to return to His presence. I know and feel His love ever so strongly while I am here in the MTC.

Well, I hope that wasn't too 'David Letterman' for you. But I am really grateful that I am here in the MTC and learning what I am learning. This really is an amazing place, and I'm glad that I'm here for another month; and I just hope that I continue to learn as much as I possibly can. I love you all!!

Hna. Ellsworth

Happy Day!

The anticipation was building. The suspense was painful. Whispering could be hard throughout the entire gym. Bets were being taken to wager which apostle was coming. I placed my bet of a candy bar on Elder Andersen due to my sources. Ever eye was watching the "chosen door" that would soon be opened for an apostle of God. Bro. Angus (a very ominous looking man) kept walking through that "chosen door" just to torture us. While waiting, guesses had been eliminated to two choices. Elder Oaks or Elder Andersen? The suspense was killing me. But then, as we were singing the last verse of "O Thou Rock of Our Redeemer," Elder Oaks in all his apostle/supreme court judge majesty walked through the doors. Apparently my sources were faulty, but it was worth losing a candy bar. My favorite part was when every Elder and Sister in the room stood a little taller and sang a little louder for an apostle of the Lord. It was truly power or shall I say... AMAZING!

Elder Oaks and his wife spoke to us. Sis. Oaks was so cute, I love her sense of humor. Speaking of humor, did you know that Elder Oaks is a shoulder laugher. I never knew. And he also quoted "Wicked" in his talk. Oh the irony! Anyways, I loved Elder Oaks' talk. I have never taken so many notes in all my life. I just want to tell you my favorite part because there's so much more to report of the week. My favorite part was the three different challenges we would face as missionaries and in life in general. Face the challenge to change, to achieve, and to become. To become a missionary, I need to have a "mighty change of heart" and be converted. Elder Oaks had trouble describing it but he said "To become a missionary is to get something to happen within." I may not know exactly what that means, but it gives me something to think about and work on.

Two days later, the anticipation and suspense was back. Well maybe not so much suspense. It had already been confirmed that Elder Holland and his wife was coming for Thanksgiving. I feel so blessed to have heard from two apostles in less than three days. I love it! Elder Holland's devotional was a question and answer forum that was very enlightening. But I'll just share my favorite part again. He describes that all of us missionaries are diamonds that need refinement and pressure. Life is hard but we need it to be, so we can become disciples of God. He shared a poem that basically said, we needed to push to the edge. Even if we are afraid to fall, we need to continue to push to the edge. And then when we get there, the Lord will push us and then we can fly. I'm not sure if I explained that clearly enough, but let me just say that it was great. I also loved it when Elder Holland testified. His testimony is so strong and I always love hearing it.

Anyways, that was pretty much the highlight of my Thanksgiving. We also did humanitarian service and I studied Spanish for a few hours. Oh and there was the whole Thanksgiving dinner part, but it just wasn't the same without family. But it was still good. I was grateful to be in the MTC for Thanksgiving.

Well, that's basically it. I'm still just working on the Spanish and Preach My Gospel. We lost a few Elders in our district this week. Not lost, they just headed out to the MTC in the Dominican Republican. They have a few more weeks there and then they'll be in Puerto Rico. Now there's just seven of us left and we're all heading to Cordoba Argentina on January 4th or 5th (i forget which one.) I can't wait! But I know that I have tons more to learn before then.

I love you and miss you and hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving!

Hna. Ellsworth

The Kingdom of God or Nothing!

I have had another amazing week but I think my favorite days at the MTC are Sundays. I absolutely love the schedules and being constantly busy with meetings. Last Sunday was amazing in that I got to hear from Sis. Oaks (yes, the wife of Elder Oaks) and Sis. Sheri Dew. It was (can i say it again?) amazing!

Sis. Oaks came and talked to us in Relief Society. I never knew about Sis. Oak's story in that she was single all of her life and then married an apostle at age 55! She was such a sweet lady. The title of her talk was "The Kingdom of God or Nothing!" and she mostly talked on the five points of a testimony and then gave us a testimony glove, an idea from the Primary "Friend." I'm excited to use it in one of my lessons.

So tender mercy of the week. Sis. Dickey and I loved Sis. Oak's talk and loved getting to know her story about being single so long and we started talking about it and then Sis. Dew's name came up. We both went on about how we loved Sis. Dew and how amazing she is, not knowing that she was giving that night's devotional. And then that night we had a devotional with Sis. Sheri Dew. I love when we recieve blessings like that. Anyway, her talk was one of the most amazing talks I've ever heard. It was on how to become a greater follower of righteousness and seeker of greater knowledge. She gave us three ways to do that. 1. Learn who you are and that you are a child of God. 2. Come to understand the Savior's Atonement and what it can do for you. 3. Learn to hear the voice of the Lord and recieve revelation from Him. It was truly an (just one more time) AMAZING talk! I love being here at the MTC and hearing talks like that.

Well, the Spanish is still coming, slowly but surely. I did my first door contact in Spanish. It was pretty shaky but I can definitely see the improvement from just two weeks. I have a test tonight where I need to get to know an investigator (they're pretend investigators aka volunteers usually from BYU) and talk to them in Spanish for about fifteen minutes. I'm really nervous about it but I know I can do it if I put my trust in the Lord. We then get to teach the first lesson in English. I just love the MTC and everything we're learning!

Love ya, Hna. Ellsworth

Time flies when you're having fun...

It pretty much feels like I wrote you yesterday. This week has literally flown by. You would think that spending my days in class for about twelve hours would seem like forever, but it almost feels like there's not enough time in the day to get everything done. There's just so much information to learn and I feel so inadequate to learn it. But I've learned that if I try my best and then put my trust in the Lord then everything works out.

The language is going great! I love learning Spanish! We've been working on vocabulary and conjugations and how to make a door contact all in Spanish. It's coming slowly but I'm starting to form sentences and understand some of the Spanish that is being. Today we have our first test to see if we can have a full out fifteen minute conversation in Spanish just meeting someone in a park and then testifying to them. I just can't believe how much Spanish is being taught in just one week! It is the definitely the gift of tongues promised from Heavenly Father because I know I couldn't do it myself.

Although Spanish is going great, I'm struggling with teaching Preach My Gospel. We had our first run through of the first lesson and it was way harder than I would've ever imagined. They told us that we needed to teach the person not the lesson. So I obviously have a lot to learn but I'm not too worried about it. I won't give up. I just figure that I was doing too well in Spanish so Heavenly Father figured he needed to humble me a bit with teaching.

I'm still loving the MTC and everything. My companion Hma. Dickey is amazing! We have a rock solid companionship and I'm so grateful for it. She gets me up for 6 am aerobics and talks me into doing the Referral Center. The Referral center used to terrify me because I didn't have the confidence to just talk to complete strangers on the phone but now I love it. I had an hour and half conversation with someone on mormon.org chat. I had to get to class but she still wanted to hear more. I just love the MTC!

Shocker of the week... I joined the MTC choir. I'm pretty much tone deaf but they let me in anyways. We sang for the Tuesday devotional which was awesome. It was a statistical update on temples. I really enjoyed it but the devotional review was even better. We have about an hour to review the devotional with our district and the Spirit was so strong. We have a great district.

Well, I'm just kind of blabbing on now. But I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve as a missionary. I love this gospel and I'm so grateful for the knowledge that I am a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me. The Church is true!!

Hma. Ellsworth