Boca do Inferno, Chuva, e Não vou sair (ponte final)

(Sister Ellsworth)\

Então hoje vou ensinar vocês como  é para ser mesmo português. Vocês vão aprender quâo incrível é para ser parte deste pais.

Estou a brincar... Vou falar o inglês...

So this week was so much fun I can't even begin to describe all the crazy things we did. We climbed mountains in the rain and found these two adorable Angolan girls. The Elders had a crazy hectic baptism and we had the biggest ward activity in Portugal! Today one of our members took us on a long car ride all over Sintra and Cascais. We got rained on all week but 5 umbrellas later I'm beginning to dry out!

On Tuesday we got a phone call from a member I had never heard or seen in church but he called with two references of two young women that had come from Angola that day that wanted to talk to the Sisters. We were like YEAH! And we ran over there and met them and we found two best friends. The older is Lavinha and she's 14 and her younger sister is Sira and she's 9. Basically their mother died a few months ago and they got shipped to live with their uncle (the member). They walk with us in the road constantly asking questions and joking around, happy to have two new big sisters.

We also had an awesome miracle this week! One of our friends Jorge straight up stopped smoking! After smoking 40-50 cigarettes every day for 40 years, he read the Book of Mormon and gave us his cigarettes saying that he was done not having control in his life. #WINFORJESUS

This is the dedication site when President Thomas S Monson dedicated Portugal for Missionary work back in the 70's. It's on top of this huge mountain and then in the middle of a little forest but from this rock you can oversee Lisbon and the ocean. It's beautiful! These are Sira and Lavinha!

BOCA DO INFERNO!!! This is probably the coolest thing I've seen  yet in Portugal. Its this rock bowl that has a tiny opening to the ocean and when the waves come water just explodes through this hole. Today it was stormy and the water was even more agitated.

We hiked up to a little lighthouse.

Mem Martins!! Whoo!

(Sister Ellsworth)

This week was fantastic! Despite the really cold rain I am absolutely loving this new area. It's a very busy area with a ton of people! We have appointments and new lessons coming out our ears! I love my new companion too, Sister Haws. She's so cute and fun! We hit the ground running and had a blast getting lost and meeting a ton of new people together. She's been on her mission for about 8 months and it's been fun to teach her new teaching tricks and funny Portuguese words. We went to Sintra for Pday and wandered around talking to people there. We bought some Christmas presents and met up with some other missionaries.

I think one of my favorite moments this week was when we passed by an old contact named Catia. She let us in and explained that she was learning about 4 or 5 different religions right now, searching for which one was true. She asked us how we know which church is true and we were like "WELL LET US TELL YA!" We began to teach her about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When we invited her to pray to receive a confirmation she looked at us and said, "I never thought to ask God which church was right.... How do you do that?" and  we got all excited and basically blurted out "PRAYYYYY!!!!" So then we committed her to pray and read and go to church and to be baptized and it was awesome.

Here are some pictures of our adventures in Sintra!

 [pics to come]

​Have a great week!

Sister Ellsworth

2 Emergency Transfers and a Baptism later... We Survived

(Sister Ellsworth)

So this week was an ADVENTURE!!! On Monday we received a call that Sister Herrera would join our companionship and we made it a whole week together and it was awesome! We arranged Antonio's baptism! While we were waiting for the baptism to start Sister dos Santos taught me and Sister Herrera how to tie ties. We tied them all by ourselves!! Heehee

Look at Antonio... He's so happy!! Haha. I've never seen someone make such a huge change in such a short amount of time. After a lifetime of smoking and being involved with other less-good things. Antonio grabbed his last box of cigarettes and chucked them out the window, stopping stone cold. He grabbed the beer in his fridge and poured it down the toilet, laughing and smiling. When he was  baptized he sat there a moment, smiled and said "It's good."

This week we are also having another transfer! Heavenly Father thought I should spend my last 20 days on my mission in another area so I'll be transferred to Mem Martins tomorrow.

I'm just so grateful to be here. I don't pay attention to the days... (honestly I'm hoping that if i stop looking then the time will start going backwards). I love being a missionary. I love being a representative of Christ. It's the best thing you could ever do. Every sacrifice is worth it. Every tear, sore muscle,  sigh of disappointment, everything is worth coming to know my Savior.

And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Sister Ellsworth

Sweet Hour of Prayer

(Sister Ellsworth)

This week was fun.

We were looking for one of our investigators in these shacks and we came across a woman who was clearing this lean-to that had fallen down. We offered to help, tied our hair back and started hauling broken wood and metal to the dumpster. The little neighborhood heard all the racket we were making and started smiling at the two girls in skirts ankle deep in mud and garbage that they started coming out and talking to us. With mud smeared faces and snagged skirt hems we started teaching this family of 20 or so people. IT WAS AWESOME!! We marked one for baptism and are coming back this week to teach more.

Then we went to pass by a reference that we had received, we knocked the door and the Guy named Antonio opened. Antonio looked like a drug dealer with a leather jacket, a Rottweiler, and a scowl from a life of who knows what. We smiled and offered to teach him about how he can have a better future. He accepted and listened to use with the Rottweiler at his feet. In the middle of the lesson he started to get a little worked up, yelling about how some guy was trying to kill him and that he had to hide. We tried to calm him down but there was something there besides his memories. Sister Dos Santos started to sing Sweet Hour of Prayer and I quickly joined in. after one or two lines Antonion stopped yelling and slowly sat down, looking at us, puzzled. We continued to sing until the end of the song (in Portuguese). The Holy Ghost came into the room so strongly and tears began to well up in Antonio´s eyes (and we don't even sing that well.) He just continued to listen.

1. Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!

That calls me from a world of care

And bids me at my Father's throne

Make all my wants and wishes known.

In seasons of distress and grief,

My soul has often found relief

And oft escaped the tempter's snare

By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

And oft escaped the tempter's snare

By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

2. Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!

Thy wings shall my petition bear

To him whose truth and faithfulness

Engage the waiting soul to bless.

And since he bids me seek his face,

Believe his word, and trust his grace,

I'll cast on him my ev'ry care

And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

I'll cast on him my ev'ry care

And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

We were able to finish the lesson and mark him for baptism. That lesson was a lesson that changed my whole mission. We saw how the Holy Ghost can calm an afflicted soul. His soul was hurt, had been betrayed many times, and was tarnished with sins and wrongdoings. But in that moment, he felt the love of God touch his heart. That touch changed him, humbled him, and know he knows that he's a son of God, an eternal being on a mortal journey, and that God has a plan for him. Hearing Antonio pray for the first time was the happiest moment in my life.

#beachbums

Until next week!

Sister Ellsworth

Devotionals, Talks and Other Stuff

(Sister Ellsworth)

Alô ao todo mundo!!

Another week has come and gone. We had a blast with miracles! First off on Monday I brought my poor companion to the Mission Home and she died. Hehe. The next day I went with some other sisters to go get our new companions. I'm serving with Sister dos Santos now and she's awesome. She's from Porto so I'll finally be learning how to speak Portuguese!! Haha. She loves to laugh and have fun and has a super strong testimony.

On Wednesday we went to a Devotional with Elder Owen and Elder Durrant. It was awesome! We learned a lot and we were excited to try new contacting and teaching technics. During the week we starting contacting people using the new phrase they suggested which is: "Would you be willing to hear a brief message about ....." There was one day when we were walking towards the chapel and I looked to the side and I saw a woman sitting in the passenger seat of a parked car. She was older, about 50, and it looked like she was sleeping. I had the thought to go talk to her but thought, no she's sleeping. Then I was like.. What the heck am I doing?! Don't ignore spiritual promptings!! So I stopped in my tracks and ran back to tap on the glass. I told her that we were doing a project to help people have more hope. She gave a smile smile and declined. I could tell that something was up so I asked her what was going on and she gave me a surprised look. Then told us that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer. I gave her card of Christ and she offered to let us come by and talk to her for a bit. #MIRACLES

On Sunday my companion and I were emergency speakers lol. It happens more often than you think... But we talked about prayer and scriptures. I realized that I while I was speaking you could see exactly who was reading and praying. You could see it in their faces... It made me think a little bit about our personal preparation for the Second Coming. Recently and ever since Adam the prophets and apostles have asked us over and over to have daily scripture study and to always have a prayer in the heart.

Have a good week!

Sister Ellsworth

Transfers, Baptism, and Holy moly its cold!

(Sister Ellsworth)

This week was good! We got a call from Miguel and he passed his baptismal interview and was baptized Sunday after church! He's a great guy. The way we found him was a miracle! We were having a few weeks where a lot of our investigators weren't progressing and a lot of appointments were falling through. Our faithful District Leader promised us that we found find someone that was prepared for baptism. The next day we lost even more appointments but then we got a call from a random number saying he was at the airport on the way home from Angola and wanted to talk to us. He got to Costa da Caparica and sat down with his suitcases to talk to us. We marked him for baptism and he was baptized two weeks later! It was an awesome experience.

​Miguel and a random member lol

Tanya!!! She's a recent convert and we're training her to be the next sister missionary! haha!

​Rodrigo!! He's one of our super good friends. He's from Brasil!

As for my last transfer I'm going to stay here in Costa da Caparica! I'll be serving with Sister dos Santos. It's gonna be good!!

As I was listening to the testimonies during Sacrament meeting this week one of the members talked about how this week she felt frustrated about not receiving answers to her prayers and that she felt sick of always having faith. Then she shared an experience about how the Holy Ghost comforted her and reminded her that these experiences are what will help her grow. I smiled and remembered all the times I felt too tired. I think in my journal I wrote that I was exhausted more times than I can count but it's so worth it. I look back on the last 17 months and it's the best thing I've ever done. I learned so much, met so many awesome people, and really come to know who I am and who I can become. I love being a missionary!! Haha

Love,

Sister Ellsworth

Puzzles, Sacred Cigarettes, CTMM

(Sister Ellsworth)

Hey!

This week was fun! Sister Selman and I went on another adventure. So here in Portugal they have Chinese stores that sell super cheap junk... Kinda like the dollar store and it's literally a missionary's favorite place. We went hunting to find something to help one of our investigators understand how the Restoration works and that being part of any church doesn't save you. So we found this little puzzle book with lots of little puzzle pieces. It worked out that we took one piece from each page to create a new puzzle that didn't make any sense at all. Kinda like this:

So on our way to our lesson we found two of our friends and one asked why I was carrying around a kid's puzzle book. I explained that the puzzle was broken and asked them to fix it. The Jose and Zé, two grown men started to try to put the puzzle together without 90 percent of the puzzle. It was so funny to watch them argue about where the pieces go. Then we explained how we created the new puzzle using parts of the old puzzle, in the same way how people created churches using parts of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then we gave them the rest of the puzzles and explained how God restored all the pieces of the Gospel.

We also met with one of our investigators that has problems to stop smoking and we came up with the classic idea to make some celestial cigarettes. We took an empty box of cigarettes and decorated it with pictures of Christ and inspirational quotes. We passed Rodrigo by and told him that we had a surprise for him and we wanted him to guess what it was. He laughed and said... "Hm... What is the most rediculous thing I can think of..... Something you guys would never do... I know! Sacred cigarettes!" We looked at each other and started laughing and showed him the box. He looked at us and was like.. Seriously? and then busted up laughing!

Other than that it was a week of lots of work!

Love you guys,

Sister Ellsworth

​

BATISMOOOO!!!

(Sister Ellsworth)

WHOOOOO!!!!!

We had a miracle baptism this week!

One of our friends Elton who was marked for baptism next week called on Tuesday and said he was going to move to Germany on Friday. We were like..... what..... So we asked him if he wanted to be baptized before he left and he said that he wanted to receive an answer from God first. So we fasted like never before and on Wednesday we met with him and asked if he had received an answer and he looked at us completely distraught and said that he hadn't and that he wouldn't be baptized. I thought a little bit and asked him what he did to look for an answer and he responded that he prayed and then went to bed. I was like... did you read the scriptures..? Or listen for the Holy Ghost? And he said no. We smiled and explained how if we want to talk to God then we pray but if we want God to talk to us then we read the scriptures! Elton didn't even wait for us to finish. He dropped to his knees and said a long silent prayer. After he was finished he sat back in the chair, grabbed his Book of Mormon and let it fall open.

It opened to 2 Nephi 31. He started reading in verse 13 which says:

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.

Elton start to laugh! He look at us and said "Well, I guess God wants me to be baptized in Portugal!!" So we ran to get everything organized, called our District leader for an interview and called President for permission to confirm him and on Thursday night Elton was baptized!!!

WhOOOooOOHOoOOOO!!

My comp and I are also writing a song because both of us are going to stay here forever. It goes to the tune of Let it Go.

The lights glow bright on the airplane tonight, no companion to be seen.

14 hours in isolation, and for the first time, I'm in jeans.

You feel like crying when your mission bids goodbye.

They didn't let me extend, heaven knows I tried.

Don't let me go, don't make me leave,

I still haven't made it to AP!

Just 6 more weeks and then I'll see...

Family!

I won't go.

I won't go.

You can't make me pack anymore!

I won't go! I won't go!

I'm gonna stay here in Portugal!

And I don't care what President will say

Let this song be sung!

We were never gonna train anyway.

It's funny how the mission makes you gain 15 pounds

and the fear that now controls me is when the plane hits the ground!

Still some time to see what I can do

To teach some lessons to the foobs (foob = fubeca =lazy investigators in Portuguese slang).

No job no school no boys for me! I'm free!

I won't go! I won't go!

You can't make me pack anymore!

I won't go! I won't go!

I'm gonna stay here in Portugal!

And I don't care what my family will say

Let the mission roll on!

My faith is growing from my head until my feet!

My soul is reaching out to every person in the street!

The thought of going home is like a death sentence.

I'm never going back.. The mission is my life!

I won't go! I won't go!

You can't make me pack anymore!

I won't go! I won't go!

I'm gonna stay here in Portugal!

And I don't care what my boyfriend will say

Let the mission roll on!

We were never getting married anyway.

​Haha we walk in the street singing this song and duet it with the other sisters in our district.

I love my mission... so very much... I'd love to say that it's the best two years but they're only going to let me stay for 18 months... I've learned so much about who I can be and who others can be and why we're here and why everything is so important. I'm so grateful for every day and I'm grateful for a companion who loves running. (I have never ran to so many appointments or buses in my whole mission... The people here in Costa know us as the Maratonas, the Mormon marathoners.)

Love you all!!

Have a great week.

Sister Ellsworth

Week of Miracles

(Sister Ellsworth)

This week was a blast! The October chill of 75 degrees left and it was back in the 85-90s! Whoop! I have seriously forgotten what cold is like. On Monday Sister Selman and I went to Belém with Sister Carr and her greenie, Sister Bleyl, and Sister Brockbrank all of which are from my MTC group. We joked around about the good old times in the MTC and when we thought we knew what we were doing. Granted, a year and  a few months later I still have no idea what I'm doing but that´s okay! There's still two more months to learn! In Belém we went to this awesome restaurante called Pão Pão Queijo Queijo (bread bread cheese cheese... weird I know) And had some awesome food. Then Sister Selman and I rode the riverboat up and down the River Tejo.

We found two families this week!! One is a family from Brasil and they have a little two year old boy that is literally the cutest thing ever. He loves to steal my planner and draw in it while we´re teaching lol.

On Tuesday the Elders bought our District Pizza before a Workshop that we had with the AP´s and  ZL's. (Deus vos-abençoe) Then we had a day where we had 10 appointments marked with a few of them being double booked and every single one fell through. It was sad but the next day we set out to find new people. While we were following up with  old contacts and ex investigators this drunk guy comes staggering up to me and introduces himself as Charlie. Surprised, I asked him where he was from because Charlie is not a Portuguese name and he said he was from outer space and that he was stuck here on earth for 3 years. Trying not to burst out laughing, we pretended to be very concerned and asked him what space was like and how he got stuck here. He said that his parents were Priests and Nuns from the Catholic church. Oh man. I love drunk people. We gave him a card and told him to pass by the church someday and we could help him figure out how to return home. hehe. #planofsalvation

The next day Sister Selman and I decided to go break in a rather untouched area called Charneca. After about an hour of contacting and visiting some old contacts and less actives, we were walking past an old abandoned lot that had this cat sitting in the middle of a dirt path just staring at us. Sister Selman looked at me with a grin and said "Do you want to go on an adventure?" I was like heck yeah! So we start following the cat. We walked and explored until we found this huuuuuge white mansion. Like you know the old English estates on Pride and Prejudice? Like that. I looked at Sister Selman and I said "I dare you to knock it." She looked and me, scoffed, and said "Is that a challenge?" She marched up to the door and knocked and an old Portuguese man opened the door. We smiled at him and started talking. I asked him about the history of this old house that apparently the Portuguese Salazar had built it as like a vacation home. Then he gave us a tour!! It was awesome! #makingfriends

Later that day we were back in our main area and we got a phone call from this guy that went something like this:

Dude: "Hey I'm here!"

Sisters: "Oh.. hi... uh... great! Who are you?"

Dude: "I'm miguel, You're the missionaries right?"

Sisters: "Yes...."

Dude. "I met your friends in  Angola. They gave me this number. I'd like to meet with you to talk about your church."

                                 *exchange of surprised and excited looks between the sisters*

Sisters: "Great when can we meet with you?"

Dude: "Well I'm getting off the airplane from Angola right now. I'll be in Costa da Caparica in an hour. Does that work for you?"

Sisters: "Sure!"

Then an hour later this guy gets off the bus with his suitcases, sits down with us on the closest bench and says, "Teach me everything you know. I want to be baptized." We were like... YES SIR. Now he's marked for baptism and eating up everything we teach him. WOW!!

The thought that I can count how many weeks I have left on two hands.... I've entered into the phase of denial. So I might not come home. The only way I'll go down is kicking and screaming.... Sorry fam. But that's life. It's not fair ;)

Giant ice cream cone

Sister Selman is a babe! This is her last transfer and we are killing it. Everything. MUHAHAHA!

​Including me. I died in the park. Actually I was just chilling while we were waiting for the Sisters on Pday and Sister Selman stole my camera.

Love you guys!

Sister Ellsworth  <-- forever

Hey Yall

(Sister Ellsworth)

This week was pretty great! We had interviews with my Mission President. He cracked a couple of jokes about going home. I got my trunk call this week too.... But I survived because I got a package with the best present ever. Two jars of Peanut butter! I think my companion and I ate a whole jar the night I got my trunky call lol. Sister Selman and I made a pact to die kicking and screaming!

The next day we woke up without water in our house. Turns out the main water line to the city exploded during the night and there was a giant sink hole the size of a car. We had to use some bottle water to cook and do sponge baths for a while lol. Thanks dad for the camping trips!

We also taught this cooky girl from England. Apparently she is investigating the church in England and we talked to her about the Plan of Salvation. Sister Selman and I learned that our english is horrible.

Other than that it was a week of a lot of work. We're ready for another!! WHOOHOOO!

Sister Ellsworth

GenConf in Costa da Caparica!

(Sister Ellsworth)

This week was NuTs!! Sister Selman and I hit the ground running... literally. We had to run to put my suitcases in the house so we could get to our first appointment. Since then its been go go go go and then you pass out at 10 pm and do it all again.

Costa da Caparica is one of the prettiest areas I've served in! It reminds me a lot of Portimão. We live right on the beach.... Like you leave the house, walk over a little sand dune and it's the beach. I still haven't seen any whales but maybe later... ;) Just kidding. They don't have whales here but they do have a TON of brasilians! One of the first guys I talked to was this brasilian with a brand new blacked out arm tattoo smoking weed next to a panda mural. We're like BFF's now. One day he sent us a message that said (in English) "I'm high as kite. Tired. Wedding today.... booooooring. Can we talk about Jesus?" We responded yeah sure, but it would best if you were sober. We're gonna teach him this week! #makingfriends #everywhere

One day our plans had fallen through and we decided to knock doors of the neighbors. We knocked the first door and this guy opened it. He had this huge BBQ going on with a ton of people inside. He invited us in enthusiastically and we started meeting all the people there. We got 8 people marked for appointments and taught all of them about the Book of Mormon. It was fantastic!

Another day I was touring our church for the first time and all of a sudden this little bird dive bombs us from inside the building. We spent a good 30 minutes trying to catch the little sucker with cups and bowls. Eventually he hid in the supplies closet and we had to take everything out very carefully so we didn't squish him. Then we let him go outside and he flew away. It reminded me of the general conference talk that was given this weekend about how sometimes we freak out about accepting help.

General Conference is always the best on your mission... I was taking notes furiously and I noticed that in every single talk (that I've seen until now) the speakers talked about service and coming to know Christ. It reminded me of a scripture in John 17:3 which says

3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

In Portuguese the word "know" can mean  two different things. They two words to express "know". They are "saber" and "conhecer". Saber means to know something factually such as to know math, to know how to do something. Basically it's information in your head or like computer coding. Conhecer is more personal. It means to be familiar with something and means "to get to know" like with people to to be familiar with a route.  In the scripture I shared above, the word "know" is translated to conhecer. To know God and Jesus Christ is more that to just have a bunch on information and facts in your head. It means to be familiar with them; to understand them.

I think that the prophets are asking us to become more familiar with Christ so that our testimonies aren't repetitions of what we've heard other people say. Instead, our testimonies should be rooted deeply, personally, and uniquely in us. My mission has been teaching me this principle. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to serve and to come to know my Savior.

Love ya'll

Sister Ellsworth

Transfers, Service Projects, and being in the right place at the right time.

(Sister Ellsworth)

Alô!

​

​This week we went to Sintra andI got to see Sister Ribeiro! She's one of my best friends from the Algarve. We got some cool souvenirs. On Tuesday we had the "funeral" for three of our elders that are going home this week. We made brownies, cookies, drinks, and salsa! Afterwards we found a lady named Olinda, this older lady who has been through lots of hard times in the past. When she opened the door she said that she didn't want to talk to use because she believed that God was punished her and she was in the middle of a 40 year long silent treatment since her 3 children and husband died leaving her alone. We were able to kind of talk our way in and she sat down to listen about how the Atonement of Christ can help her overcome the bitterness that she feels. She gave us a little twinge of a smile and I know she felt something there.

This week I also found a little thing of Crab Salad... If you know me you know I really LOVE crab salad. I got so excited and I bought it. We got home for lunch and I opened it and you know what it was? It was freaking coleslaw. Sigh. Some days you just can't win. Haha

We also went to a members' house for dinner and their two year old threw up all over. Awkward. But we put our hair up and helped clean up while the little boy got tossed into the bath.

I hit 15 months this week too. Whoa.

On Saturday we spent 5 hours cleaning a house that had been growing mold for the past ten years. It had mold about an inch thick 

And Transfers are here! I'll be going back to the other side of the river to Coasta da Caparica to serve with............ *drumroll*

SISTER SELMAN!!! I served with her last transfer here in Póvoa! Haha it's going to be awesome!!

​

Until next week,

Sister Ellsworth

AGUINHA!!!

(Sister Ellsworth)

This week our cute little friend Elsa was baptized! It's been kind of an adventure with her. It seems like all of us passed through tests of faith this week. Elsa talked to the missionaries last year for a few months and then the Sisters were whitewashed and Elsa thought the Church had closed. We were walking through the area and she saw us and got all excited. We talked to her and she was ready to be baptized!  But we had so many problems with her work schedule and the schedules for the bishopric that the only day that worked for her and us and everyone else was a Tuesday night at 8:45pm. Here in Portugal we have to be home at 9:30 or 10:00 at the latest so we ran to her baptism and dunked her faster than a major league baseball player at a dunk tank.

We also went to Sintra for Pday! You can't come to Portugal without seeing Sintra and I had to take my baby there for the last Pday of the transfer.

While we were there we met up with one of my best friends here on the mission, Sister Ribeiro. She's going home next week so we hung out and messed around. Here's a picture of her being sacrificed by her greenie in a mock Isaac and Abraham thing. It was actually raining a ton so all of us got soaking wet.

​cute little Portuguese veranda... oh i love this place so much!!!

Have a great week!

Sister Ellsworth

Roubando Cigarros

(Sister Ellsworth)

Hey yall!

This week was fun. We ran around talking to people and having fun. I think one of my favorite moments was when our investigator, Antonio, gave us a huge handful of cigarettes. We have been working with him for nearly 4 months and finally he called us almost in tears saying that he was sick of being addicted and brought us these. I saw a man really come to his knees and plead for help. We taught him about the Atonement and before he left he managed a smile and promised to read.

Take that!!! Haha

The later at church we had all these cigarettes in my bag (i forgot to take them out) and in Gospel Principles I pulled out my scriptures and all of them came tumbling out. Then the Patriarch asked for all of them and took the filters off and handed me back the white part. I was like... why?? and apparently the filter stops cuts really well. LOL I love being in an area where all the members are converts!

Other than that it was pretty uneventful. The Church is still true!

Sister Ellsworth

Fall In Portugal

(Sister Ellsworth)

Hey! There are many stories that happened this week... It rained once. Apparently that means it's fall now! And it rained on Pday and I'm not quite sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing but we went out to see Rossio and Santa Apolonia anyway. We went with a huuuuge group of Elders. Our zone has 30 elders and 6 sisters. It was us and half the elders so it made for some pretty fun and crazy adventures.

We had a couple of lessons with some lazy investigators and gave them the whole 1-2 thing. It's basically where you give a really powerful stop-being-lazy-and-do-the-things lesson and they wrestle with the spirit the whole time. One decided to start reading and the other kinda just backed off and continued to run. That's okay. Area book, right?

We had a fantastic Zone conference though. Our president gave an awesome training on being a Woken up missionary. You can look the scriptures up later because they're pretty cool. (2 Nephi 1:13, Alma 12:11, 2 Nephi 4:28,  Psalms 24:3-4, Mormon 9:27, Alma 5:7, and Mosias 4:5.) I would also add Revelations 3:16 and Mosias 4:27.

He talked about waking up is when your conversion takes place and you being to understand how the Atonement works and why it works. You start to work because you love the Lord and not just because your District leader is going to call that night and ask when happened or that the Zone leaders are pushing and pushing for numbers. One of my companions asked me once how she can work tirelessly and we had a good long talk about how the good missionaries are the ones that try and don't stop trying. They're the ones that work hard when no one is watching, the ones that smile and are happy when talking to people even if they know that they are standing in fresh poop (that happened this week too XD).

I think the most important thing I've learned so far is how to love being a missionary. This is the best thing I've ever done and I've never been so happy (and so exhausted) in my life. I mean just look at this beautiful place....

Rossio

top of a restaurante named Bellalisa in Rossio. You could see all of Lisbon. We stayed there for a long time :)

​bahahaha *points finger and laughs* Oh tourists. You're so funny with your crazy sunburns. She had a white hand mark on her arm from sunscreen.... you gotta rub it in honey......

Love you all, Sister Ellsworth

Raw Eggs, Animals and Brazilians

(Sister Ellsworth)

Hey yall!!

This week was pretty fun... Telo smashed a raw egg on my head. C'mon guys I need ideas for missionary appropriate revenge.... LOL!

We had divisions this week with Sister Salas and Sister Pastrana. Sister Salas and I stayed here in Povoa while our greenies wandered around in another area... lost and scared without their moms. Haha! Sister Salas and I had a party here were we hit the ground running.... Literally. We were late for like everything but we taught a bunch of lessons and contacted a bunch of really cool people.

We were walking in the road and we basically found a picture of Portugal.

This is an underground trashcan that is so full of beer bottles that it's over flowing. We left a Word of Wisdom pamphlet :)

We found a new best friend!! It's a little teeny tiny lizard that hung out with us and rode around on my shirt for a while. He was so cute!!!

Also there's a petting zoo really close to our house and one day the peacocks got out and we helped chase them back into their pens!

Okay I swear I'm doing missionary work and not just playing with animals XD

We also found this Brazilian family this week. The mom had talked to the Elders a while ago and invited us back and we heard their whole life story in an hour. We laughed and cried and groaned and now we're best friends. The best part was hearing that they believed that God sent us to teach them about God.

Love you guys! Have a great day!

Sister Ellsworth

Greenie Happenings, Resurrection of Investigators and Cake

(Sister Ellsworth)

Hey Yall!

Well this week was quite interesting... Training is really fun, exhausting, and lots of work. My comp is still learning the language so it makes teaching and talking in general hard for her but she's a trooper.

This week one of our investigators was resurrected. Like his family told us that he died. And then he tapped me on the shoulder in the park. You could have picked my jaw up off the ground and restarted my heart. He was one of my first investigators here in Povoa and after he went to church on that Sunday he had a stroke. we didn't know so we passed by for an appointment during the week but his wife was wailing that he had died.... But then we found him again this week happy and smiling. It was super weird and I'm still half convinced that he died. But you know you can't shake a dead man's hand...

We had a couple of really hot days this week and at 3 pm there was no shade so we visited some recent converts and they gave us cake. Cake is awesome.

As we were leaving their house this lady in a night gown hollered at us from across the road (it was like 4 in the afternoon). She was waving her arms around and hollering "Jesus girls, Jesus girls!!" So I smiled and went over to talk to her. This 40 ish yeah old woman was completely drunk. She was drenched head to toe in very strong perfume. She began yelling/slurring that she need us to pray for her friend who wouldn't open the door. I asked if her friend was sick and this lady turned around to this brick wall, knocks on it like it was a door, and hollers to her "friend" to come out. Trying not to laugh I suggested that we pray with her and then she can come back in a few hours to see if her friend came home. She agrees and then raises her hands above her head and starts hollering the Lord's Prayer at the heavens. But instead of saying "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost" she starts repeating "In the name of the Pope, the Son, and the other one." As she was praying her eyes were rolled back and she stumbles backwards and bumps into the brick wall and says to the wall, "Oh sorry, sir. Have a good day." I almost lost it. My companion wasn't understanding this crazy drunk lady but I had to stuff my hand in my mouth to keep from laughing. Then the lady thanks us and walks away for a couple of feet and stops, turns, comes back, and the whole situation repeats itself three times. It was probably the funniest thing that has ever happened here.

Then we taught English class which was a whole other adventure. We had a race in between the missionaries and the students to see who could list the most words in the other language. Some of the words that the Portuguese students wrote were so funny... including these new "recently discovered" animals: Beax (bear) Birde (bird) Snack (snake) Kankopoo (kangaroo) Rabbic (rabbit) Camil (camel) Chark (shark) Pavo (peacock) and other beauties. It was a really fun class. :)

Sunday afternoon in Povoa... 98 degrees and not a living soul on the road. Knock all the doors!!!

Love you!

Sister Ellsworth

Transfers! Flooded Church and God Loves You

(Sister Ellsworth)

Olá!!! This week was great! Sister Selman and I worked until we died. There were a few times this week that we had so many lessons planned that we had to teach two at the same time. Sister Selman would teach one at one end of a bench and I would teach one at the other end. It was fantastic!

So I'll be staying in Póvoa for another transfer but not with Sister Selman :( But I'm going to be a mom!! :D I'm going to finish training a sister named Sister Warren. I think she's from the USA but I'm not sure... It will be fun!

This week a prank war started in between one of our recent converts and the Sisters. It started when Telo (the recent convert)  put ketchup in my shoes while we were teaching his wife. I was wearing sandals and was so focused on Catia that I didn't even notice that he squirt this big ol wad of ketchup in my shoes. Then when I stood up the ketchup was cold and squished all over my toes! I about fell over because it was slippery! Then I tried to chase Telo down but he ran laughing like a 12 year old boy who is annoying his older sister. So I went to the bathroom while his whole family laughed and laughed. But Telo had turned off the water!!  Then I decided to get my revenge and I hid his backpack in the church a few days later.  he didn't find it for about 2 hours. Then, knowing that I had hidden it, he took a big bucket of water and tried to dump it over my head while we were teaching English Class in the church!

Then I managed to get a hold of his phone, wallet, and keys while he was hiding in the secretary's office and Sister Selman and I tried to run home so he would be stuck at the church alone. But he caught up to us and stole my name tag. We had a stubborn stand off where I wouldn't give him his phone and he wouldn't give me my nametag.

Let's just say its war now... Any of you that know me had better warn Telo! Haha

Also on Saturday we were using the buses quite a bit and every time we got on the bus it was the same bus driver. After the third time in a row he shouted "You guys are following me!! Well I just gotta give you a hug because we're family now!" And then he reached over and grabbed Sister Selman in the most awkward hug ever but she tried to protest and pull away which pulled the bus driver out of his chair and he fell on to the floor of the bus, still clinging to Sister Selman. I about died laughing and the nearly full bus laughed too. We helped him up and gave him a pass along card. He was cool! Making friends wherever we go! Haha

We found this sign this week... It is a road called "Turn from the Shower". It's funny. hehe.

We also found this gem knocking doors.... "Propoganda religiosa aqui não" means "Here there is no religious proselytizing." It reminded me of those southern signs you'd find in the USA.

We also found another door sign that says "Jesus te ama" Which means Jesus loves you!! How sweet ^_^

​Also the church flooded. Oops. We helped mop up water for 2 or 3 hours. It basically turned into a disney song sing off. :) *insert Tangled song*

Book of Mormon Miracles!

(Sister Ellsworth)

This week was full of miracles!

We were so busy this week... Every day we had appointments every hour and sometimes even two or three backup appointments.

This week we found a young man named Tiago who had this beautiful husky and we decided to contact him so that we could pet the dog... Our contact ended up turning into an hour long discussion about the Apostasy and the Book of Mormon. Apparently he had seen the Elders and Sisters all the time, for years even but no one had ever stopped to talk to him. He asked for a Book of Mormon but we had given our extra away. We told him to just wait in that spot so we could run back to our house and grab another one. We ran back to find him, marking scriptures in the book as we were half walking half running. We gave him the Book and invited him to read and pray about it. A few days later we had a follow up appointment and had another deep discussion, him being intrigued the whole time. My companion and I gave each other that "You know what I'm thinking right??" look and invited him to be baptized. He smiled and said that when he received his answer that he would be baptized on the beach.

Then on Sunday he came to church and sat through all three hours!! The Elders quorum wouldn't let us sit with him during the third hour so all during Relief Society I was having an anxiety attack about what was being taught but after church ended we found him again in the middle of the Elders quorum talking to the Bishop asking questions with a Principles of the Gospel book in his hand. It was awesome!!

Then we got to visit with a recent convert named Sony... He's absolutely hilarious XD He was talking to us about how he was having a hard time getting his citizenship here and one night he was on the train and the train conductor stopped him and asked him for his ID. (they do that every once in a while with foreigners. We carry our ID cards with us always). Sony didn't have his ID, just his train ticket and the Book of Mormon in his backpack. He told the train conductor that he didn't have his ID and showed him the nearly empty backpack. The train conductor pulled out the Book of Mormon and started to read it a bit. Then he gave the book back and in Sony's words "The Book of Mormon saved my life!"

Last week I talked a bit about a family... Well they are like the coolest people ever. The dad is named Ricardo and he's married to Jaci and they have three adorable little kids, Madelaine, Ricardo, and little Laura (in the picture). It was Laura's birthday and Sunday so we stopped by and gave her this little stuffed lamb.

I think I'm getting to the point in my mission where the end looms like a rainy cloud. I feel like Heavenly Father has known exactly what people I needed in order to be able to better myself. I feel my mission can be summed up in one phrase: "You're gonna suffer but you're gonna be happy about it." I'm honestly 100% truly truly happy here. It's hard... I'm always exhausted... But I'm so happy to be here serving these wonderful people.

Com muito amor,

Sister Ellsworth

What Even Happened... I don't know

(Sister Ellsworth)

Well!! Um... Haha... Things happened I guess...Hm....

*looks in journal to find something to write*

Oh yes!

So we taught a lawyer this week! We were knocking doors and this older lady let us in and we started talking about the Book of Mormon with her. She asked a lot of questions about Joseph Smith and the Restoration, mainly not believing that we had had a period of time when the priesthood had been lost. Normally to explain how authority works we tell a little story about how an Ice cream man couldn't give someone a ticket for running a red light in a car because he's not a policeman. Well come to find out (thanks to our Lawyer friend) that in Portugal Ice Cream Men actually CAN give people tickets. It's something like a citizens arrest I think... But she was cool about it haha!

We invited absolutely everyone we taught this week to be baptized due to a challenge from our District Leader. No one accepted... YET. We're gonna do it again. Muhahaha.

We treated for lice again!! Hopefully we're lice free. We found out that the Primary kids all came down with lice the week before we got it and no one told the missionaries. The Sunday after we found the lice half the kids in the primary came to church with shaved heads XD

This week we taught Joana about the Atonement and how faith and repentance are like steps on the ladder in order to get out of deep a hole. She sat for a moment looking at this little picture we drew and then clapped her hands and had a eureka moment! She looked at us and said, "Sisters!! Now I know why I love Jesus!" We smiled and my heart was filled with sunshine ^_^

 We treated for lice again!! Hopefully we're lice free. We found out that the Primary kids all came down with lice the week before we got it and no one told the missionaries. The Sunday after we found the lice half the kids in the primary came to church with shaved heads XD

This week we taught Joana about the Atonement and how faith and repentance are like steps on the ladder in order to get out of deep a hole. She sat for a moment looking at this little picture we drew and then clapped her hands and had a eureka moment! She looked at us and said, "Sisters!! Now I know why I love Jesus!" We smiled and my heart was filled with sunshine ^_^

We had an activity at the train station again!! From left to right around my head, My companion, Sister Selman, Marisa (a RM), Tolwer (the Elders quorum president and a recent convert of the sisters) Sony (recent convert), Carla, and Lili (recent convert and soon to be missionary). IT WAS AWESOME!!!

​We also had this heart attack of a dinner with the best family ever. I think They're trying to kill us XD This is basically 3 grilled cheeses with a steak in between every sandwich, stacked on top of each other in a tent of cheese on top of French fries drowned in sauce and sautéed onions and mushrooms. So yummy!! Heehee!

We also had a tour of the church with one of our families that we're teaching. They really liked it! The kids went off to play in the nursery and the ping pong table that we have and we talked to the parents about the youth programs and the temple. They are such a great family... I'm just praying every day that they'll be able to get married so they can be baptized.... SOON:

Well, that's all folks.

Love you!!

Sister Ellsworth