"I had my first experience with real Puerto Rican food this week and oh boy was it great on my bowels. Ha ha. I was paying for it the whole night. And it didn’t even taste good. Ugh. It might take a while to get used to their food. The love Platanos or plantain bananas they just fry em and eat em. Yuck. Its just like a burnt banana. Although Rice and Habichuelas are great. I really liek eating those and Rice and avacado is pretty good too. Elder and Hermana Reyes, a senior couple here took my companion and i out eat, and it was interesting. They also invited us to Thanks giving.
Here they have many strange words that are not usually in the spanish language. The name for almost any car but mainly bigger cars and vans is Guagua ( Goo-aww-Goo-aww) then name for thanksgiving is Dia de accion de Gracias but they all say sans givin. They say Wiken ((weekend) but in spanish is fin de la semana) and many other silly little words that they know in english and just shorten. It makes me laugh. So as you can tell i am in a much happier mood this week than i was last week. I’m getting used to things and trying to work harder. Trying to forget myself for these two years. It’s a hard task but it can be done. Last night i made a goal to not pass a single house when Contacting and talk to everyperson that we see. I plan on keeping that goal all through my mission becuase i want to have the opportunity to share with all the joy that comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We had some interesting experiences this last week. One was with a lady that said she was baptized but her husband wasn’t and so she didn’t go to church but she wanted us to come back and share a little message with her. So we planned a little lesson and she was very warm and welcoming. We watched the finding faith in christ DVD and then after asked her what she thought of it and she thought it was a great one and loves Jesus Christ. Then after we bore our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and Joseph smith and then began her little rant. She went on and on about how Jesus Christ has no religion that he is the religion and Said that the authority in the Bible comes from the holy ghost which is in all of us. Many other strange things but we just politely excused ourselves becuase she wasn’t allowing the spirit to be there. Needless to say we’re not going back there and are praying for her heart to be softened.
The other day we were out contacting and it started raining so hard. Within minutes there was inches of water on the street and we were soaked. My companion wanted to go drop off our Bicycles and walk with umbrellas but i wouldn’t let him. We rode our bikes to an investigator but her husband wasn’t home so we couldn’t teach her. So we stood outside talking with her and her little son probably about 3 or 4 came out and stood in the rain then Pulled his pants down a little and Started peeing in the rain. =) I started cracking up It reminded me of all the little kids at the pool that would pull there pants down and Pee into the pool. What a life. A little boy without a care in the world. Then his mom noticed and Pulled his pants back up and then he came out a few minutes later and did it again. It quickly turned our wet soggy day very crisp and entertaining. I Laughed so hard.
We have an investigator right now named Manuel, he comes to church every week and faithfully reads the Book of mormon. Although he is having some struggles with some things at the moment. He has lived with his girlfriend for the last 30 years and they are still not married. She recieves Social security and that would be gone if they got married, BUT he is willing to do what he needs to to have the blessings of the Gospel. He also smokes but wants to quit that as well. He is a great man and if he can continue in faith he will be a great member of the Church and great example to his family.
Other than that we don’t have too much else going on. A little wet this week a little busy but i am getting used to it. I still want to kill the rooster. I am going to freeze when i come home. I have noticed a lot of people are recieving social security here and are living in the urbinizations paid for by the government but have Plasma TV’s and brand new cars. Hmmm. Something doesn’t seem right. But i really am beginning to love it. I Love Being a missionary and i love the chance to Grow."
Elder Ellis is now in Puerto Rico
Hello everyone!
Sounds like Elder Ellis is getting a little homesick with the holidays coming up. If you can send him a little letter and say lots of prayers, I know he will be grateful. Thanks!!
NOVEMBER 17, 2008
"Okey Doke! Life here is much different. I will explain.
So my first Area is Arecibo, If you hold your hand up sideways with the thumb up and all fingers together it kind of looks like Puerto rico. San Juan is the tip of the Thumb and i am in Arecibo just about in the middle of the thumb. My first night i sweat like crazy and then it rained like crazy and i was soaked faster than i thought possible. Crazy. Then we went and visited a family that they had contacted and That was a wonderful experience They had a bunch of little kids and my companion just kind of looked at me and expected me to take over. I didn't know what to say so i just bore my testimony about the book of mormon. Kind of silly but at least they could understand me. This first transfer takes a lot of Faith in my companion Elder Ponce from Mexico City Mexico. Becuase i cannot understand hardly a word that is said to me. I understand almost all my companion says but Native Puerto Rican speakers slur everything and it's hard to understand. But they are all wonderful people. They offer us water and juice and soda. Tang is pretty big here. But even people who don't really want to listen to us offer us a glass of some beverage. Its pretty cool! But I am trying and trying to kind of forget my life before here because it is filled with so many more luxuries than here. We don't have windows just blinds with screens. A rooster that Crows starting as early as 1 AM and doesn't stop till about 10 AM My first night was hardest to sleep. All of my papers and books are getting a little warped because there is nothing to protect them from the Humidity. But i am really getting used to it here and learning to love it. There are Iguanas and people ride horses around the neighborhoods and PLAY MUSIC SO LOUD... All over
And mom you think you are decorating early. They had all their Christmas up before i got here. And everyone paints their houses at Christmas time so we will have lots of service to do. It makes me laugh to think of the hatred so many people have for our church when all we do is serve people. Everyone we see we ask if we can help them with anything. We haven't had any takers yet. We had one guy that spoke pretty good English and i think he used to like in Brooklyn or something. He had an English accent and looked like he had some battle scars. But he read my name and he said. "Your from the states. Arent ya" and i replied "Sure am" in English because he was talking in English. And he said " I Like you name" "If you didn't have a badge i'd think you were a marine" "you'd make a [darn] good marine. Nice jaw Strong name and good build" i just laughed. He wasn't too interested and just kept saying "You're born Lifes [hard] and you die" But other than him we have one Woman Named Graciela who is amazing. We asked her to read the Book of mormon and she said of course and then we went back to visit her the other day and she had marked it and was all ready for our next visit. I hope she continues and gains a testimony of the Book of mormon. The wonderful thing about the Book of mormon is if you know The book of mormon is true you know that Joseph Smith was a Profet of God and if joseph smith was a prophet of god then everything else should fall into play. That is why Moroni's promise is so amazing because the whole truth can be found on the simple principle of Praying With a scincere heart and realt intent having faith in Christ. What a wonderful promise. If i could say one thing to our ward, a couple scentances they would be Please read, become familiar with, and learn the simple doctrines contained in Preach my Gospel. Aside from the standard works Preach my gospel contains the basic Simple Doctrines of our belief and as each member has the obligation to be a missionary as well. The growth of the church would increase even faster if every member were to become a Preach my Gospel Missionary.
I Love Preach my Gospel. It really was written on the otherside of the veil!
My email is coming to an end and i want you all to know how much i love and miss you! SOO SOOO MUCH! Congratulations on all your little life Endeavors. Josh good luck with your math class. There will be some pictures in some other emails. Uh This Sunday we got the chance to listen to Elder bednar who came to Puerto rico and did a Question answer session. There was a satellite problem but towards the end we got to hear it. He Was asked one question about a temple in Puerto rico, he gave a great example of when he was a stake president the most faithful members lived furthest away and were always the first ones at meetings. Then he told the people of Puerto rico that the lord will see fit to build a temple When he knows the people won't underutilize it. He said that if they would build one the people would Attend so much at the beginning and eventually it would fall to a number not fit for the lord. So the lord will build a temple when he knows the hearts of the people are ready and have a strong center. There was more but that stood out most to me. Elder Bednar is an apostle of Jesus Christ the head of our Church. Thomas S Monson is a Prophet of God.
Well i gotta go. I'm holding up the other elders.
I Love You!
Elder Ellis"
Sounds like Elder Ellis is getting a little homesick with the holidays coming up. If you can send him a little letter and say lots of prayers, I know he will be grateful. Thanks!!
NOVEMBER 17, 2008
"Okey Doke! Life here is much different. I will explain.
So my first Area is Arecibo, If you hold your hand up sideways with the thumb up and all fingers together it kind of looks like Puerto rico. San Juan is the tip of the Thumb and i am in Arecibo just about in the middle of the thumb. My first night i sweat like crazy and then it rained like crazy and i was soaked faster than i thought possible. Crazy. Then we went and visited a family that they had contacted and That was a wonderful experience They had a bunch of little kids and my companion just kind of looked at me and expected me to take over. I didn't know what to say so i just bore my testimony about the book of mormon. Kind of silly but at least they could understand me. This first transfer takes a lot of Faith in my companion Elder Ponce from Mexico City Mexico. Becuase i cannot understand hardly a word that is said to me. I understand almost all my companion says but Native Puerto Rican speakers slur everything and it's hard to understand. But they are all wonderful people. They offer us water and juice and soda. Tang is pretty big here. But even people who don't really want to listen to us offer us a glass of some beverage. Its pretty cool! But I am trying and trying to kind of forget my life before here because it is filled with so many more luxuries than here. We don't have windows just blinds with screens. A rooster that Crows starting as early as 1 AM and doesn't stop till about 10 AM My first night was hardest to sleep. All of my papers and books are getting a little warped because there is nothing to protect them from the Humidity. But i am really getting used to it here and learning to love it. There are Iguanas and people ride horses around the neighborhoods and PLAY MUSIC SO LOUD... All over
And mom you think you are decorating early. They had all their Christmas up before i got here. And everyone paints their houses at Christmas time so we will have lots of service to do. It makes me laugh to think of the hatred so many people have for our church when all we do is serve people. Everyone we see we ask if we can help them with anything. We haven't had any takers yet. We had one guy that spoke pretty good English and i think he used to like in Brooklyn or something. He had an English accent and looked like he had some battle scars. But he read my name and he said. "Your from the states. Arent ya" and i replied "Sure am" in English because he was talking in English. And he said " I Like you name" "If you didn't have a badge i'd think you were a marine" "you'd make a [darn] good marine. Nice jaw Strong name and good build" i just laughed. He wasn't too interested and just kept saying "You're born Lifes [hard] and you die" But other than him we have one Woman Named Graciela who is amazing. We asked her to read the Book of mormon and she said of course and then we went back to visit her the other day and she had marked it and was all ready for our next visit. I hope she continues and gains a testimony of the Book of mormon. The wonderful thing about the Book of mormon is if you know The book of mormon is true you know that Joseph Smith was a Profet of God and if joseph smith was a prophet of god then everything else should fall into play. That is why Moroni's promise is so amazing because the whole truth can be found on the simple principle of Praying With a scincere heart and realt intent having faith in Christ. What a wonderful promise. If i could say one thing to our ward, a couple scentances they would be Please read, become familiar with, and learn the simple doctrines contained in Preach my Gospel. Aside from the standard works Preach my gospel contains the basic Simple Doctrines of our belief and as each member has the obligation to be a missionary as well. The growth of the church would increase even faster if every member were to become a Preach my Gospel Missionary.
I Love Preach my Gospel. It really was written on the otherside of the veil!
My email is coming to an end and i want you all to know how much i love and miss you! SOO SOOO MUCH! Congratulations on all your little life Endeavors. Josh good luck with your math class. There will be some pictures in some other emails. Uh This Sunday we got the chance to listen to Elder bednar who came to Puerto rico and did a Question answer session. There was a satellite problem but towards the end we got to hear it. He Was asked one question about a temple in Puerto rico, he gave a great example of when he was a stake president the most faithful members lived furthest away and were always the first ones at meetings. Then he told the people of Puerto rico that the lord will see fit to build a temple When he knows the people won't underutilize it. He said that if they would build one the people would Attend so much at the beginning and eventually it would fall to a number not fit for the lord. So the lord will build a temple when he knows the hearts of the people are ready and have a strong center. There was more but that stood out most to me. Elder Bednar is an apostle of Jesus Christ the head of our Church. Thomas S Monson is a Prophet of God.
Well i gotta go. I'm holding up the other elders.
I Love You!
Elder Ellis"
Nov. 9, 2008
"Woohoo! So this week was wonderful! Coming to the close of our firsty week here in the CCM it has been a different week but good. We had our teaching experience this last week and it was wonderful. We were able to go back and forth very smoothly and understand the investigator much better. Having the dominicans here makes it so much easier to understand spanish. We have continued to sing with Elder Gonzales and we sang i have a family here on earth and i started crying. Man i hate crying but i just really had a wonderful feeling of confirmation that i do ahve a fmaily here on earth and i will be able to live with them forever. I am so grateful for the wonderful blessings that i can experience here. Then the second verse i realized if i serve him well and do what i need to do i will be able to have a family of my own for eternity as erika will soon understand. What a great blessing we have to be born in the dispensation of the fullness of times and have the blessings of temple work in our day and age.
Friday we got special cookies from presidents wife and they are amazing. She makes the most amazing cookies. and i don't know if i told you guys but a few weeks ago President Harris's wife Made cookies "in honor of me" for every elder and sister here. She had them all bagged and everyrthing. They were amazing! Then Saturday, saturday's are the hardest day of the week here. We don't have Gym, we have MDT Class MDT Missionary Directed Time where we study and study and study. and only breaks for Breakfast Lunch and Dinner. ALL DAY IN THE SAME CLASSROOM! AAAHHH but We started adding in some verb games to not make it so Aburrido. Then sunday was fast sunday and probably one of the most spiritual fast's i ahve ever had! I have never really taken the words to heart of Fasting from food but feasting on the words of the lord. Being that the scriptures are our way of personal revelation It is so amazing how people including all of us can be directed to a certain scripture at certain times in our lives. Monday, i don't remember much of monday morning because our whole monday is focused on gearing up for our trip to the university. We went and it was wonderful the first few people we talked to weren't interested and it didn't bother me but my companion was having a hard time with it. We remembered the alst time we talked to a big group of people and decided to try it again. So we walked up to a group of 4 people and started talking to them and it was great things went smoothly then we asked if they wanted to elarn more and by what he said i became so frustrated. He said he had written his name down three times with three other missionaries like me and has never gotten a call. I was so frustrated with missionaries here and all over the world that don't do their job. I go out and make such an effort and try and make mistakes and work up a sweat to help other missionaries do their job and it makes me sad that they aren't doing what they need to to reap the fruits of our labor. We ended up walking away without a name or number. Then We walked over to another couple and they both signed. Then again our next one got angry with us and let us finish our short message and then told us he has one problem with us missionaries. He said "i was studying and trying to learn what i needed to and then you came along and just took some precious moments of my time. She has an exam now and we were trying to use these last few minutes to study so she can pass her class. My problem is this, you come and waste our time and say it is from god. I have a hard time believing that servants of God would interrupt people from their education."
we apologized for using his time promised him that our message would be worth the short amount of time and moved on. Then we met another man who Sincerely wanted a book of mormon and wanted to attend the church. He said that he loved what our church does for people that endure natural disasters and he wanted to be part of such a church. What a wonderful experience, now i hope he doesn't turn into one of the lost names that we seem to have from our contacting. It is a big pain in the rear. Our goal was 12 but we only got 5 contacts with lots of people that weren't ready. Tuesday we had our last large group meeting with president and his wife and that was good. I was in the back of the room and had elders falling asleep left and right and just sat and tried to catch what i could since it was in spanish. Then the last few days have just kinda passed by. I will write more a little later but now i need to get get my hair cut."
Friday we got special cookies from presidents wife and they are amazing. She makes the most amazing cookies. and i don't know if i told you guys but a few weeks ago President Harris's wife Made cookies "in honor of me" for every elder and sister here. She had them all bagged and everyrthing. They were amazing! Then Saturday, saturday's are the hardest day of the week here. We don't have Gym, we have MDT Class MDT Missionary Directed Time where we study and study and study. and only breaks for Breakfast Lunch and Dinner. ALL DAY IN THE SAME CLASSROOM! AAAHHH but We started adding in some verb games to not make it so Aburrido. Then sunday was fast sunday and probably one of the most spiritual fast's i ahve ever had! I have never really taken the words to heart of Fasting from food but feasting on the words of the lord. Being that the scriptures are our way of personal revelation It is so amazing how people including all of us can be directed to a certain scripture at certain times in our lives. Monday, i don't remember much of monday morning because our whole monday is focused on gearing up for our trip to the university. We went and it was wonderful the first few people we talked to weren't interested and it didn't bother me but my companion was having a hard time with it. We remembered the alst time we talked to a big group of people and decided to try it again. So we walked up to a group of 4 people and started talking to them and it was great things went smoothly then we asked if they wanted to elarn more and by what he said i became so frustrated. He said he had written his name down three times with three other missionaries like me and has never gotten a call. I was so frustrated with missionaries here and all over the world that don't do their job. I go out and make such an effort and try and make mistakes and work up a sweat to help other missionaries do their job and it makes me sad that they aren't doing what they need to to reap the fruits of our labor. We ended up walking away without a name or number. Then We walked over to another couple and they both signed. Then again our next one got angry with us and let us finish our short message and then told us he has one problem with us missionaries. He said "i was studying and trying to learn what i needed to and then you came along and just took some precious moments of my time. She has an exam now and we were trying to use these last few minutes to study so she can pass her class. My problem is this, you come and waste our time and say it is from god. I have a hard time believing that servants of God would interrupt people from their education."
we apologized for using his time promised him that our message would be worth the short amount of time and moved on. Then we met another man who Sincerely wanted a book of mormon and wanted to attend the church. He said that he loved what our church does for people that endure natural disasters and he wanted to be part of such a church. What a wonderful experience, now i hope he doesn't turn into one of the lost names that we seem to have from our contacting. It is a big pain in the rear. Our goal was 12 but we only got 5 contacts with lots of people that weren't ready. Tuesday we had our last large group meeting with president and his wife and that was good. I was in the back of the room and had elders falling asleep left and right and just sat and tried to catch what i could since it was in spanish. Then the last few days have just kinda passed by. I will write more a little later but now i need to get get my hair cut."
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