Fun stuff!

So we had a pretty good week! We had a lot of interesting experiences and saw some interesting stuff. But i´ll try to find the funnest things that happened this week. Like the great advice of my older brother - ¨¨ïf you´re not having fun, you´re not doing it right!

Obedience Committee - I am proud to announce that Hna. McDonald and I are the Obedience Committee in the Zone Oeste. Pretty much that just means that we can call anybody in the zone and drop cane on obediente. It is a pretty sweet calling and i pretty much love it! We got one elder to take off his bracelet, another elder to get home on time, and another elder to wake up on time. We´re just dropping cane all over the place. I even got mentioned in three of the elders' interviews with President. It´s kind of a fun calling because i just quote mine and grandpa´s favorite scripture – D&C 82:10 – ¨I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say. But when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.¨ I love this scripture and it is so true. If you want to receive the blessings of the Lord, just be obediente!

Splash in Uritorco – We´re going to start doing splashes every week in the zone. And we started in Uritorco. We all did intercambios and i got to spend the day with Hna. Martinez. It was pretty fun! And we got to go to McDonald´s for lunch and I had to order for about 10 people. It was crazy but it was worth it because we had mcdonald´s and donuts for lunch – a little taste of heaven aka america!

Splash in Rosedal – we also had a splash in our area and it was a ton of fun too. We made the goal to do one more than the other splash and we got to it! I´m pretty competitive and i fell like we can always do at least one better. And we also put nicknames for each one of the companionships. Por ejemplo – the area 9 de Julio had the nickname Jamba Jugo. They were all things of the States with a Spanish Accent. It was pretty nerdy but a ton of fun! It´s the little things that keeps me going.

Entrevista con Pte.- And we had interviews with President and it went very well. He gave me some new ideas to do in my barrio. Like he always says, we need to do things that we have never done before if we want to see new results. So ya, we are pretty excited! And he told me that he wants to start doing splits with the hermanas in other areas because they are a lot more new hermanas than old ones. So i might be going to another area this week or the next to help out another hermana/area. I´m pretty stoked! It sounds pretty fun!

Vicente and Church – We found this awesome new investigador this week named Vicente. He´s 73 years old and he´s Evangelist and way funny! We couldn´t really teach him because he lives alone and we didn´t have a member with us so we invited him to church. And he even came but never entered into church because he was too embarrassed to go inside because he saw someone go in with a suit jacket. He was wearing his church best, but it wasn´t anything close to a suit. It was way sad! But we talked about it and explained a little bit more and told him that we would go together next week.

Talk in Church – So we showed up to church yesterday discovering that our names were on the programs. Apparently they forgot to tell us beforehand, so they gave me and Hna. McDonald time to talk in Sacrament Meeting. I was pretty excited because i´m used to that sort of thing. Thanks to being the bishop´s daughter before the misión and now being a missionary, I´ve already played that game several times. But poor Hna. McDonald had never experienced it. But I´m happy to report that she did a fantastic job. She did her mother proud! She talked about the plan of salvation and our live on Earth. Everyone complimented her on her Spanish. And then I gave a talk on the Light of Christ and how we can do the small and simple things to see the miracles and bring about the salvation of many souls. (Mat 5:14-16 y Alma 37:6-7) I was kind of happy about it. I´ve decided that I kind of like giving talks in church, but only kind of…

Awkward Silence with Eli – We taught Eli this week and she´s still preparing for her baptism next week. She got a few doubts this week so we kneeled down and prayed. Afterwards, we just sat and waited. There was a silence for about two minutes and then the member that was with it couldn´t handle it anymore. So she tapped Eli and Eli was crying. She had seen the image of Christ after her prayer, and she had no doubts that she needed to be baptized. It was a pretty intense experience. I love the influence of the Spirit and how we really can know the truth of all things through the power of the Holy Ghost. That is a pretty powerful gift that the Lord gives us. I hope that i never take advantage of this great gift and privilege. I love the influence of the Spirit and the experiences that we have through it.

well, i love you all and keep following the Spirit and having fun!

les kiero,

hna. ellsworth

Dreams of White Dresses

Alright, I´m going to be completely honest and tell you that I have no idea what to write this week. It has been a long week and not a lot of interesting things have happened. The end. Ok, just kidding, but seriously it has been a pretty long week. We are in the triple digits in the temperature and I´m getting more tanned and blond. We have been struggling with finding people to teach because everyone goes off to vacations. It´s probably the worst thing to do to walk in the siesta when everybody is sleeping in their houses and it´s a 100 degrees outside. I´m not a fan! And we tried to knock doors and we actually had a naked guy come to the door. Awkward!!! But thankfully, we keep on going and find the blessings.

But we are teaching Eli and she´s pretty awesome. I can´t remember if I told you about her but she studied with the missionaries before but didn´t get baptized because she had a complication. Anyways, she asked us to pass by urgently and she wants to get baptized now. It was pretty much a miracle! Anyways, in our first charla we talked to her about prayer and how she needs to ask Heavenly Father if she needs to be baptized. And then we explained that she has to wait for the answer afterwards. Here´s the example I used… Sometimes we say our prayers and then end it with Amen and get up and go on with our day or go to bed. But really, if we were talking to a friend or family and we asked a question, we would wait and listen for the answer. It is the same with Heavenly Father. We always need to wait and listen after our prayers so that we can receive the answers. And it is always a good idea to have a paper and pen to write down the impressions that we receive. So we explained that and invited her to do that. So she does and you want to know what happened. She saw herself dressed in white and Jesus Christ with his arms open. If that´s not a direct and specific answer to a prayers, I don´t know what is. It was pretty amazing!

And the same thing happened to another lady that we are teaching, the familia Gutierrez. Actually she´s the one with the hellian kids, but we taught her and and we ended it with a prayer. She then asked us why she saw herself dressed in white while she was saying the prayer. Crazy, right!? Anyways, they are amazing but they just have to make it to church on their own. But we are trying to help them to get there. We also have another investigator that had studied with the missionaries before and asked us to pass by urgently and she asked us if she could get baptized! Adriana is pretty awesome but she left to go to vacations. But she has a testimony of everything and is excited for her baptism. But ya, we are just seeing a ton of miracles and blessings! The mission is great and I love you all! Keep all of the missionaries in your prayers and remember that every member is a missionary. Go and Do!!

Love ya!

Hna. Ellsworth

Email home on Jan. 17th: "Come What May and Love It"

Well this week has been way too much excitement for me. But I am so very happy to report that we received transfers and I will be staying with Hna. McDonald in Rosedal for another six weeks. Woot! Woot! The other hermanas have moved on to bigger and better things but I am very grateful for their work and help in these last couple of weeks. We have shared a lot of great moments together and I’m definitely grateful for their help in improving my gringa accent. Well this week was full of exciting and dramatic moments. But as always, I’ve tried to take the counsel of Elder Wirthlin - "Come what may and love it!"

Broken Toilet – So we started the week with a broken bathroom. Apparently the Argentinean toilet can not withstand four hermanas. Well, it broke on a Saturday night and we couldn’t get anyone to fix it until Monday. I’m glad that we sanctified the Sabbath day but let me tell you, I was not a happy camper about it. We ended up having to use the bathroom in the church, which is a thirty minute walk. Yep, another blessing that I have taken for granted. Well, not anymore.

Oops President, we lost one… Saturday was probably one of the most dramatic days of my entire mission. I was working with Hna. McDonald with the help of a member and we were in an amazing appointment with this beautiful family. Anyways, I had my phone off and when we left, I found six missed calls from the other hermanas. I called them back to find out that they had split up. The mini missionary was lost, alone, and crying in the street. So we had to run and find her and I had to call the zone leaders, and then talk to the assistants and mission president. Ya, it was pretty crazy. We finally found both of the hermanas and they just started sobbing in my arms. Anyways, to make a long story short, they’re both fine now and I learned the importance of patience and charity.

10 Hellions in the Church – Well the other companionship invited a couple of families to church that had a ton of kids. But there was a communicational error. They explained church to be a place where you get breakfast and you have a little party. So all the kids came alone and the parents stayed home to sleep. So we had a ton of kids asking for food and a party. We had to explain that we were in a house of the Lord and that they would be learning about Jesus Christ. I am sad to say, but they were a tad bit disappointed. They started teaching the other little primary kids (and the gringas) curse words and even started to find with a couple of them. They were out of control and the primary teachers were begging for our help. Anyways, we finally ended up searching for the parents and asked them to control their kids. They decided just to take their kids home. It was kind of a sad, but I think it’ll be fine. But we don have to go make cookies for all of the primary teachers now. At least it makes for a good story in the journal.

Anyways, I ran out of time to write but I’m excited for this new transfer with Hna. McDonald. We are going to baptize and work hard and be obedient and see all of the Miracles. I love being in the mission and learning all of these fun lessons. And having that fun reminder to come what may and love it!

Love ya,

"Do Your Best" and "Dance in the Rain"

Well the mission work continues in Rosedal. With doubling our forces, we have also doubled our efforts and results. We have twice as many investigators, baptism dates, church attendance, and everything. The Lord is truly blessing the hermanas in Rosedal. I have a had a lot of amazing experiences this week and I would like to share a couple of things that I have learned this week.

So I have been dubbed the first hermana district leader. I have to say that i´m a little proud of my title. (I know that pride is a sin. I´ll try to repent.) But I have learned a lot from the short calling and I´ve decided to be more grateful for all of my leaders in the mission and church. I´ve decided that it is not as easy as it looks. But I have learned a lot about patience and charity and all of those other great Christlike attributes. I absolutely love the other hermanas! It´s crazy because we all have our strengths and weaknesses. I might have more time in the mission than all of the other hermanas put together, but honestly I am learning more from them than I could ever teach them. I am so impressed with the other hermanas. One is a mini-missionary and the other has a week in Argentina. Neither of them know the area, investigators, members, ni nothing. But they went out on Sunday morning to search for investigators. They arrived late because they got lost, but they brought four of our investigators with them! It was AMAZING!!

The Lord honestly blesses when we do our best. Just always remember that´s the only thing that the Lord asks of us – our best. Whenever I have some hard times, I think of my grandpa´s counsel - ¨Do Your Best! Just work on getting better. Don´t become perfect or you might be translated.¨ I love that! I realized that I´m not perfect but I can do everything I can to do a little bit better and become more like Him. It´s a hard process but i actually have been studying the Christlike attributes a ton. And i have had a lot of revelation and understanding of charity and patience this week. I really can feel the stregnth and help of the Lord with me. It´s crazy! I really do feel like an instrument and the hands of the Lord. I love the mission and how it shapes me to be a better person. I still have a ton of imperfections and a long way ago but i´m grateful for the things that i´m learning.

Another quote that has helped this week was one I found in my journal from Liz (THANKS LIZ!!!! I love it!! And p.s. the grass hair is growing and I named her Macarena, nickname Maca!) Here we go - ¨Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain.¨ I have applied this quote in my life literally. There has been a lot of rain and I remember one day in particular. We had a hard day with appointments not being there or not having time. We passed by an inactive and talked with her and then she kicked us out while it was raining. We left and then it started to rain harder. It was not one of my happier moments but then I remember this quote and I decided to apply it to my life. And you know what happened, I felt this overwhelming feeling of joy! That is what life is all about. We have trials and problems and challenges, but if we can just learn to smile and enjoy it, we can find the happiness and joy that only our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can give us. I just want to testify that I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that Heavenly Father loves me and knows me. Everyday I work on having a closer relationship with Him and I can see the blessings and tender mercies in my life. I love you all and I hope you too do your best and learn to dance in the rain.

Les amo,

Hna. Ellsworth

Rain Shower and Shower of Miracles

So it’s been a long time since I’ve written. Sorry about the wait, but it has been a crazy last couple of weeks with Christmas, New Year’s, new companion, mini missionary, and everything! It has been a little difficult but the blessings always outweigh the trials. I have seen a ton of tender mercies these last couple of weeks and I hope you enjoy hearing about them.

La Navidad - I possibly had the best Christmas in my life. The only thing that it lacked was dressing up as a wicked Nephite in the family nativity. (That will always be my highlight of Christmas.) But this year was equally special because I was in the Mission Argentina Cordoba choir of missionaries. We went around singing Christmas hymns in parks, Wal-Mart and everything. We were singing at a park, and a news station started video taping us. And we sang in a shopping mall and I got to do a ton of contacts and give out Books of Mormon, and I saw and talked to my favorite member family in the mission. Huge tender mercy for me. And we sang with Pte. Salas´ family. It was just a ton of fun. And when we were traveling in a bus, we were still singing some of Christmas carols in English. It was a ton of fun and I think the people liked it! It was crazy to be singing Christmas carols in 100 degree weather, but I was definitely feeling the Christmas spirit. We also had a kilo of ice cream and met up with the other hermanas – Hna. Mortensen and Hna. Dickey! It was so much fun! We continued singing carols in my area for members and investigators. And then we returned to the pension and ate tacos and enjoyed some fun Christmas traditions – American and Argentinean. We went up and slept on the roof and got to see all of the fireworks. There was a ton!! And then the next day we opened presents. I opened mine a little bit early and gave most of them away. But I loved it all the same. After, we had a party with the zone. We played signs aka señales (Spanish style) and werewolf (it´s like mafia/murder in the dark). We changed the game a little bit so that it was mission style. It was a little sacrilegious but a lot of fun! But the highlight of the day was calling home and talking to the family! Best Christmas ever!

Nuevo Año – We ate banana pancakes in honor of Jack Jackson’s song with some ice cream on the side. It was delicious! And then we went to bed on time and woke up at midnight to see all of the fireworks. It was crazy! There were so many fireworks. They don’t have any laws against it here, so I saw some pretty crazy illegal fireworks. I kind of want to buy some for home. (jk!) But they were pretty intense, so we got too scared to go on the roof. But it was still fun to watch them through our window. The next day we had an asado with the zone and played some soccer. It was a pretty fun day, and I was very grateful to have time to take a nap. It was lovely! And then we tried to find a cyber to write home, but everything was completely closed! I’m embarrassed about it now, but I got pretty upset about that. So that’s why it has been a while since I’ve written. I’ll try to make up for it today…

Step-Daughter – So we had a little surprise come to us for the New Year. A new hermana arrived in the mission, and she got called to be my companion. She has 6 months in the mission, but she had problems with her visa. Hna. Martinez is from El Salvador, and she’s a pretty neat girl. She’s 29 years old and kind of timid but sweet. I kind of felt like her step mom. In mission terms, when you train someone new in the mission, you become their mom. So Hna. McDonald is my daughter, along with Hna. Mortensen. But Hna. Martinez has already been trained, but I had to show her a little bit about the Cordoba mission and how we do it here, along with the traditions and customs of Argentina. Thus I’m not the mom but I’m kind of a step-mom. But it only lasted a week. She is now off to bigger and better things.

Terrible Trio – So for a week we were in a trio. I was kind of training Hna. McDonald and Hna. Martinez. But it was pretty difficult because Hna. Martinez doesn’t understand English and Hna. McDonald is still pretty new to understand all of the Spanish. So I spent a week translating and trying to say everything twice. Let me tell you, it’s not as easy as it looks. But I’ve decided that trios are not my favorite thing. I’m glad that it was just a week.

Mini Misionera – So yesterday we got a mini missionary that ended up being the companion of Hna. Martinez. Hna. Quinteros is her mini, and she’s pretty much amazing! I met her at the beginning of my mission. She’s this way cute member that always has a smile. I was way excited to see her. It’s a little hard for Hna. Martinez because she doesn’t know the area, investigators, members… But I plan their days, and we share investigators and contacts and everything. It’s great to have four hermanas in the ward. Yesterday was a little hard because it was their first day, and they got lost. All they had was the map and the Spirit. We had lunch at 1, and they weren’t there. Hna. McDonald and I left to go search for them, but we didn’t have too much luck. It was pretty crazy, but they showed up about a half hour late. But I think they’ll be fine. We just have to put all of our trust in the Lord, and everything will turn out fine.

Rain Shower and Shower of Miracles – We’ve been getting rain every day at about 3 o´clock. We try to get into an appointment; and if not, we rely on our little umbrella. I’m sad because I used to love rain, but the mission has kind of changed my opinion. But we are happy to see all of the miracles that are happening. We gave all of the members Books of Mormon to give to their friends, and we received a ton of references at church. And we were able to put some more baptism dates. We are excited to baptize in January! We had an appointment with an older lady named A_. She has had a ton of problems in her life, and she practically asked us if she could be baptized. The Lord is blessing us a ton. We are happy to see the miracles!

One Year in Argentina – Yesterday I completed my one year birthday in Argentina. I made a list to eat all of the things that are just specially made in Argentina – facturas, criollos, dulce de leche, alfajor, empanada, y grido! It was a pretty fun scavenger hunt, and we even did a service for a member so that she could practice her English and Hna. McDonald could practice her castellano. We even had an amazing charla with a family. We’ve been working with D_ and C_ for a while, and C__ told us that she knows that this church is the most perfect church on the earth. Overall, it was a great day!

Package from Liz - Today we are spending the day in Centro and we ate a Mexican burrito and visited the Catholic church and we are going to go shopping next. The highlight of my day was to receive my mail and I got a package from Liz Huber. She is pretty much amazing! I have to tell you why. I had just finished my first journal in Argentina yesterday. And I’ve been looking for another one but I haven’t found the time or the money. But the package came today, and she gave me a new journal! It was the most perfect thing that I have ever seen! I loved it! And this journal is pretty much amazing! It is full of scriptures and thoughts and everything. I just love when I can see the miracles that happen in my life. I love when God blesses me through friends, family, companions, and other people.

I just have to tell you that I love all of the blessings and miracles that I am seeing in my life. I am so incredibly blessed! I know I am where I need to be. I know that this church is true and we need to share this gospel with everyone that is ready to listen. I know that Christ lives, and I testify that Heavenly Father loves me. I’m grateful for this New Year to put goals so that I grow closer to Them. Thank you for all of your support, love, and prayers! I love you all!

Cuidense,
Hna. Ellsworth