Last day in the MTC!

(Sister Ellsworth)

Holy moly... This time tomorrow I'll be on a flight to Portugal! Whoop!

I'm so excited. This week went by so fast that I can barely remember what has happened! First we went to the in-field orientation which emphasized the importance of building relationships between Missionaries and members. I hadn't really realized how big of a difference it is when members are actively involved in missionary work! So my first challenge to all of you is to invite the missionaries over and introduce them to people! Anybody and everybody!

The second thing I've learned this week is the importance of family history work. I have a few stories of ancestors (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!)  and was able to explore my family tree and look up more stories and I felt like I already love those people so so much.

Thanks to everyone who wrote me or sent me a package! It seemed like our whole district received massive amounts of food. Saturday night we compiled everything, which was probably 50 pounds of junk food, and watched a marathon of Mormon Messages and played hangman in Portuguese. It was basically netflixing missionary style. :)

I was glad for the opportunity to go through the temple one last time before I headed out to Portugal. I'm so excited that the Lisbon temple is being built in my mission! I love the temple so much and I want the every person to know how

It was sad to say goodbye to the people in my district. We are closer than family! I'll also miss my teachers and my lovely companion. I'll probably miss American food but at the same time I'm excited to meet the people I've already fallen in love with.

I'd love to hear from you guys! For now my address for letters is

Apartado 40054

1500 Lisbon

Portugal

I'll update you with a new address as soon as possible! Love you all so much! Thank you for your love and support!

Muito amor,

Sister Ellsworth

Saw a dog and an apostle. NBD.

Hey Yall!!!

This week has been improving with each day! We got to host new missionaries on Wendesday, which means you get out of class for four hours!! It was so much fun and I met new missionaries coming and going to and from all parts of the world. We skipped exercise time because I had hauled eight fifty pound bags up multiple flights of stairs. We might have crashed afterwards.... But Tudo Bem!! After we recovered, we had a normal week.

On Sunday though.... Oh good goodness! First off, I saw a DOG, yes a DOG. We walk up to the temple every Sunday and there was this melt-your-heart, squish-him-to-death puppy walking with his owner around the temple. I got to pet the little boogar and I thought the day could never get better!! I sure miss my doggies! 

Meet the most adorable dog ever... Winston!

Contrary to my expectations, the day did get better. My district and I decided to go to the Choir but apparently so did 1500 other missionaries. Now normally the choir is about 400 missionaries but when I first came it jumped up to 900 because there were a lot of people who came in the same day I did. There are close to 2400 missionaries here now! It was amazing to sing with that many missionaries!! After Choir we had devotional where there's usually a member of the mission presidency who comes and talks to us. Well they started the devotional but there was no one there to speak... we were all convinced it was the prophet because he usually walks in late like that but then they announced that we would be watching The Character of Christ by David A Bednar for the devotional. I was a little surprised because we watch it every sunday night after the normal devotional but tudo bem! Love the talk! Well after it's over and basically my whole district was asleep, people stood up. I stood up and turned to leave and then the Sister next to me gasped and started smacking me.

It was at that moment that I realized that David A Bednar, one of the twelve apostles of Christ, had just walked in and was less than 100 feet away from me. The room was suddenly electrified and everyone was so excited. He then calmly walks up to the microphone and says, " So I heard you guys watch The Character of Christ every Sunday. I came to see if you have any questions."

It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life!!! 

Basically the talk, Character of Christ, is about developing charity and humilty in order to become more Christlike. Here are some of the things I learned:

1. You can develop charity by relying and acknowledging your complete reliance on christ for the desire to become like Him.

2. To develop Christlike love, pray to be a tool for the Savior, for discernment, and for sincerity. 

3. Teach charity though one on one lessons, be an example, learn from your mistakes, and be humble and submissive to the promptings of the Spirit

4. You can become charitable though being good, doing your best, don't beat yourself up, try again, learn from your mistakes, and (most importantly) trust in your faith.

Only the God of Heaven, my loving Heavenly Father could have answered those questions of my heart through the Holy Ghost.

#whenmomssendfood

#popcornparty

#ateeverything

​ Pictures hanging up in our classroom.... We get bored...

​"Look at all the Mormons..." -- Elder Stegman

Tudo Bem!

Much love,

Sister Ellsworth

A Igreja e Verdadaires!

(Sister Ellsworth)

Ola from the Portuguese District!!

Well I've reached my halfway mark (in the MTC...) and I think I've finally figured out the trick to falling asleep immediately, knowing which lunchline is the fastest, and when to do your laundry! Haha! This week has been quite a bit calmer than the past two. We're more in a routine so there isn't too much to talk about.

We did have a little pranking back and forth between my district and the district across the hall. They started it by putting smiley face stickers all over our classroom. Then a few days later we "BOM"ed them with Book of Mormon stickers that we got from the book store. In retaliation, they put crickets -- yes crickets-- in our room. They were dead "edible" crickets which was enough to make one of our sisters gag. We gathered all the crickets up and put them in a baggie to which we taped to their whiteboard and said "Temos nao medo!" Which means "we have no fear".

My companion and I had a really good lesson with one of our investigators this week as well. One of the best things about teaching the Gospel in Portuguese is you have to be super simple. Simplicity helps so much when teaching because the Spirit testifies so strongly of the simple gospel truths like Heavenly Father loves you and we can be with our families forever because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

We also get the opportunity to watch "movies" on Sunday nights, which are usually gospel movies like Meet the Mormons or old devotionals from the Apostles. This sunday we watched the Joseph Smith Restoration movie and I hope that everyone gets a chance to watch that move with 300 missionaries. There was a part where Joseph kisses Emma for the first time and the whole auditorium went absolutely nuts. My companion leaned over to me and commented that that one very chaste kiss was all the action we were gonna see for a long time.  After the movie was over someone started singing Praise to the Man and all of us joined in. That was one of the most powerful moments I've ever felt.

One of my goals for my mission is to develop Charity. I'd love your support and feedback with scriptures or quotes! Some really good scriptures I've found about charity are Moroni 7: 45-46 (though that whole chapter is the bomb.com) 2 Nephi 32:2-3, D&C 42:6, and D&C 4:5. Charity allows us to feel Christlike love for those around us and nothing could change the world faster than some charity!! I love all you guys and I hope you're well.

very generous and nameless package came! The district might have eaten all the candy in less than a day... whoops! :D

We walked up to the Provo Temple and we lost half the Elders by the time we got to the top... :)

Minha Companeira!​​​

We bought all the ice cream in the vending machines and had an ice cream party! BYU ice cream is the bomb!!

Stay classy!

Tudo Bem!

Love,

Sister Ellsworth

p.s. sorry if you go this twice... i added a bunch of contacts that weren't saved so I wasn't sure who had gotten it. Hope we can still be friends!

Week Two: fireworks, long lost cousins and the church is still true!

(Sister Ellsworth)

Happy 4th of July!

Well I made it. Woot! Everyone told me the first week was hard but they didn't mention that it would feel like it last 6 months! We've hit our stride, learning Portuguese out the wahoo and teaching investigators in another language. We pray, sing, and talk in class in Portuguese pretty easily when it comes to gospel related topics. 

So super weird thing... .I met two long lost cousins this week!! Both are descended from Edmund Lovell Ellsworth (Thanks Grandpa for teaching my my family History). I think it was an amazing blessing to have family alongside the work with me. Sister Ellsworth (not me) is going to the Philippines and she's from Arizona. I didn't catch where the other is going but she has the same red hair I do! 

On Saturday night they let all 2000 of us missionaries out into the parking lot to watch the fireworks. We sang songs and had queso, chips, oreos, and lots of junk. It was great to see the fireworks.  :) 

Everyone has asked me about the MTC food and honestly it's not too bad. The eggs are probably the nastiest thing ever but I usually prefer just to get a salad and fruit bowl. Even then, there's a lot of food XD Something interesting that happens here is that people sing and harmonize while they are getting ready in the morning. Our room is across the hall from the showers and bathrooms and we woke up this morning to the national anthem ringing through the halls. Everyone has such a brilliant light of Christ about them!

We got to clean the Temple and go on a temple walk which was a great experience. I have a great district (or group of people I learn with) who are all so nice and dedicated to serving Heavenly Father and sharing the happiness that Christ brings. 

Something I loved this week was a devotional given by Jolene Swenson. She talked about mistakes and how they are a part of out lives. Can you laugh at you mistakes? Being in the MTC i make more mistakes in one sentence than i have in a very long time. It's very humbling to ask for help and to take advice from someone who knows more than I do. Mistakes change us and help us learn. Act for yourself and don't be acted up. You have the freedom to choose, thanks to the free country we live in and to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Have the faith to throw yourself out of your comfort zone, because refusing to progress because of fear of change is the worst thing that can happen to someone. We are here to learn, progress, grow, and have love for each other. You are free to change into something better. 

My cousin, Sister Ellsworth!! 

​I have the best Companion, Sister Johnson!

​We both struggle with Portuguese... But Tudo Bem!

​Getting all Artsy Fartsy. This is one of my favoite pictures!

​The sisters in my zone.

​Our district mascot!

​Our zone on 4th of july

​

Tudo Bem!

Much Amor,

Sister Ellsworth

More pictures: 

My awesome companion

terrible picture but this was our "we are not impressed by these fireworks" faces

There are nearly 2000 missionaries at the MTC right now!!