Sand, Daniele, and the Atonement

(Anziano Wilkinson)

For P-day today we made a trip out to Rimini for a zone Barbecue where we grilled and played plenty of beach volleyball and soccer. I was pretty excited to get my toes into the sand and play beach volleyball in particular (although we weren't on a real beach). And grilling is always a great time since it's not every day that we have access to a grill! With all the running and diving I did today, I'd say it's pretty safe to say that I might be a little sore tomorrow, but it was all worth it!

This week we had a very great experience with a man named Daniele. Daniele lives right across the street from our church building and always says hi to us through his window when he sees us. He is super nice and also super Italian, which is fantastic. He is a very kind man, especially towards the missionaries in particular, seeing as he is known to bring us desserts from time to time haha. He invited us over to talk one afternoon and so we happily agreed. We proceeded to have a very interesting conversation about tourism in Europe and which places were the best to visit. He told us many funny stories about the places that he's visited and things he's experienced in foreign countries. Apparently Moldavia is the coolest place to visit in Europe for the cheapest price, so write that down for when you take your next trip to Europe!

During this visit we were able to not only get to know Daniele a lot better but also his mother and father, whom he takes care of and lives with. They are all such nice people and amazingly hospitable. They kept offering us coffee and asking us, "are you sure you don't want any?" each time we declined the offer haha. But the best part of the encounter was when they allowed us to share a spiritual thought with them before we left. We shared with them a short video about Jesus Christ and the impact that the gift of His atonement has on each of our daily lives. The spirit was strong as we bore testimony of the reality of Christ's atonement and it was clear to see that they were touched by our message.

We're excited to see how else we can bring more light into their lives and to share with them the message of the restoration. The hearts of Daniele and his family have been prepared and I couldn't be more excited to share more of the happiness I feel in living the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Have a great week and don't forget to utilize the power of Christ's atonement!

-Anziano Jake Wilkinson

Double Baptism

(Sister Ellsworth)

Hey yall!

This week was craaazy! First off we found out that two of our investigators are related. Apparently we were teaching a mom and her daughter and they didn't even know it! We only found out because the daughter, Nela, drove by as we were talking to her mom. Coincidence? I think not... haha. We also met an evangelical conspiracy theorist this week and if you think that stuff is weird in English, just try to listen in Portuguese!

I ate my first really gross and weird thing... We were at a little cafe for lunch with a member and she ordered me some fried fish... and brain... I didn't know what it was until I did some dissecting. It brought me back to my anatomy days.... Haha! We also met this guy because he hollered out "JESUS IS THE BEST!" in this really thick Portuguese accent, so of course we go talk to him! He had some interesting ideas and one of them is as follows... "The world is a monopoly, the only people who make money are the funeral homes." I think we've met every strange person in Barreiro this week!

BUTTTTT THERE'S MORE!

We had a double baptism! Our investigator Manuella was baptized and the Elder's investigator was baptized as well! Best and craziest day ever! We walked 15 or more miles to get everything situated, took wrong buses, forgot white clothes, made cookies, and arranged the baptisms. WHOO!

This week I was reading about trials of faith and I found a few scriptures I liked. 1 Peter 4.12, Alma 1.25 and 1 Peter 1.7

"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:" One of the most interesting analogies is the refiners fire analogy. the idea that our trials are meant to purify, teach, test, and help us learn  is much more appealing than the thought that sometimes bad things happen when we do things right. Sometimes things are hard.

Another thought. There was a missionary who died (finished his mission and went home to his family) whose last words for us were: "Do you believe in Christ?" of course all of us were like... duh... but then he asked a second question. "Do you believe Christ?" What a difference that makes.... Do you believe Christ? Do you believe that he is your Advocate, your Mediator, your Redeemer, your Brother, and your Savior? Do you believe that he suffered for YOU? Do you believe he felt your pain, grief, sorrow, and joy? I hope if the answer is no, then pray for opportunities to develop your testimony and then go out and do something because testimonies are gained through action.

Sandro, Sister Williams, and Manuella!! WOOOOT!!!

They have packaged cheeseburgers....?

Guess which one is wine and which is a juice box!! Vocabulary is a good skill to have when they're right next to each other...

​ Elder Haws,  Nadia, me, Sister Williams, Manuella, Elder Thomas, and Sandro!

Just going for a stroll in Portugal....

Change of altitude and too much dough and you get a cookie cake! haha

Love Yall,

Sister Ellsworth

Godly Sorrow, Following Your Conscience, and Having a Healthy Spirit

(Elder Cummings)

Dear Family and Friends,

As per a rule-clarification I now have an additional half hour to email every Monday.  My time management skills have not been helped by this and I am still stuck running out of time and writing this at the last minute.

This has been a wonderful week!  Elder Perkins and I were able to participate in mission leadership council and discuss with other zone leaders about the work and to find together the direction the Lord would have us guide this mission.  It was a unique experience. There are many great things happening in the California Fresno Mission!

This week I have seen many people we visit come to recognize their actions as sins.  Whether they be large or small, this theme of repentance motivated by what is termed "godly sorrow" for what they have done has been reoccurring.

I have been giving some thought as to why that "godly sorrow" is necessary in repentance.  Why is it a requirement for us to feel remorse and guilt in order to put our sins and misdeeds behind us?

I found that to answer that question, you first have to ask "Where does godly sorrow come from?"

"When we sin, we feel remorse or guilt, just as we feel physical pain when we are wounded.  This is the natural response of our conscience to sin, and it can lead us to repent." (Guide to the Scriptures "Conscience")

To more completely comprehend that statement we need to understand the church's definition of the conscience.  The conscience is a manifestation of the Light of Christ that helps us to discern from good and evil.  The Light of Christ is the influence of Jesus Christ that is "in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things" uplifting, ennobling, and enlightening (D&C 84:41).  So, the influence of Jesus Christ that is inherently in ALL people naturally brings us to feel remorse and guilt for mistakes we make.  The sorrow we feel is godly in part because it comes directly from the influence of a god.  It can lead us to repent!

"We are to learn to follow our conscience.  This is an important part of exercising our agency.  The more we follow our conscience the stronger it will become.  A sensitive conscience is a sign of a healthy spirit." (Guide to the Scriptures "Conscience").

Repentance is making an actual change.  It requires us to change our desires and our behavioral patterns.  Because of the guilt we feel when we sin we are blessed with an opportunity to follow our conscience and repent.  Our conscience therefore will become stronger, we will be spiritually healthier, and we will be more resistant to the persistent temptations of Satan.  I am so grateful that we are allowed to grow in this way!  I am grateful for Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us.  All things are possible because of Him.  He lives!

-Elder Jared Cummings

The Fields Are White

(Anziano Wilkinson)

Today we woke up to quite an interesting experience. There was an earthquake at around 2 am a little over 100 kilometers south of Ancona, where I'm serving right now. No one in my city was hurt and the tremors were mild enough for us that we just went right back to sleep after they happened, but apparently that wasn't the case down south. Many people were hurt and an entire village was practically destroyed. I'm doing just fine myself though, so no worries! In fact, this morning my companion and I took a hike up in the mountains south of Ancona and had a fantastic time seeing the beautiful views and breathing the mountain air. I'll post some pictures below!

In the past two weeks we had the wonderful opportunity to meet and teach many amazing people. The first is a man named Effrim from Albania that has lived in Italy for many years. He has met with missionaries in the past and supposedly been taught by them, but it having been a long time before, we asked him if he'd be interested in hearing our message again. He accepted and listened very intently to our message about the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ and one could tell that he was deep in thought as we explained the doctrines behind this concept. He accepted the invitation to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it in order to receive a confirmation of the truth of our message. He also happily came to church the next day and had a great experience! He is expressing a real desire to learn about the blessings our Heavenly Father has in store for him. I don't know what made the difference this second time he was taught, but apparently the Lord has prepared him to take further steps along the path of discipleship in this later stage of his life and the difference is already noticeable in him!

The other is a very humble and sincere woman who has been searching for years for a stronger relationship with God. Her name is Rosy and she is from Peru; our week has been a very international one to say the least! As we shared with her the concepts of the restoration she asked us many intelligent questions and paid close attention to what we shared with her. A recent convert in the Ancona Branch named William had invited her to learn about the doctrines of our religion that have recently changed his life and she accepted the invite. She has studied with many other churches in the past and had not found success in her search to know God better. As we taught her the doctrine of personal revelation ("if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God") and asked her if she had ever received an answer to a questions she proposed to God in prayer. She told us that one of her prayers was answered during our lesson with her. The spirit was strong and her humility and sincerity allowed her to be taught during this lesson more by the Holy Ghost and less by the actual words that we used.

It's such a special experience to be a missionary for our Heavenly Father and to be in his service full-time for these two years. Above all I've been thinking about a verse in the scriptures that contains a promise concerning missionary work of the church of Jesus Christ in our times. The verse says, "Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men." I love this verse because of the surety of the statement. "A marvelous work is about to come forth." It doesn't say "might come forth" or "could come forth" it says "is". The Lord is pulling things together to fulfill his promises that he has been making since the beginning of time and today those promises are being fulfilled. We see so many people every day that have been and are being spiritually prepared to make greater promises with their Heavenly Father and the hand of the Lord is quite evident in all of their lives. It's humbling to be a part of the fulfillment of this promise because the gospel of Jesus Christ means so much to me personally. We have the chance to become perfect through a life of faithful trust in our Savior and He is anxious to bless us beyond our wildest dreams. We have a Father in Heaven who loves us and knows us each individually; He has a plan for us and is moving mountains to help us become the amazing people that we have the potential to become.

Have a fantastic week and remember to thank our Heavenly Father for His many blessings!

-Anziano Jake Wilkinson

There was a leaf hanging from a spiderweb and I couldn't resist taking this picture hahaha.

Miracles Come From Fasting!

(Sister Ellsworth)

Dear Peoples of my email list... I love yall!!

Two weeks ago was a week where all of our appointments fell through at we practiced contacting on the road, in stores, in apartments, and at parks for the whole week. Last week we decided to fast for our current investigators and to be able to reach our goals.

We saw progress! We taught quite a few lessons and I was able to make 5 contacts by myself in Portuguese! Woot! Unfortunately Paulo dropped us because his mom said he couldn't have the lessons anymore. We hope to be able to see him soon! We met a lot of new people this week as well but our investigator Manuella came to church and kept her commitments! She has my heart, lock and key! I love her to bits! She is very accepting and honest, educated woman. And she's patient with my Portuguese!

Crazy funny thing this week... We kept running into the old Russian man, like two or three times a day! He loves the Missionaries but doesn't speak a lick of Portuguese or English! That doesn't stop him though! He chatters on and on and introduces us to random people in Russian to people who don't speak Russian. He's a funny guy!

Something I studied this week was the Riccardi Letter. We practiced doing one thing we learned from the letter every day and saw results from it every day. One of the teachings that was the hardest thing for me and yet the most rewarding was confidence in the gift of tongues. To practice this, the four missionaries in our area went to a store and practiced contacting people! My companion stayed close to me but made me contact people by myself. It was kind of fun! A lot of the older people couldn't understand me very well but those who were younger did. Some of them even wanted to talk in English with me! We gave them references to our English classes and made appointments to meet with them later.

Another topic I've studied this week is the Atonement. It never ceases to amaze me that the Atonement is so simple and yet infinite at the same time. We teach that the Atonement is an opportunity to become better. Through my studies I've also learned that the Atonement is a unification with the will of our Heavenly Father, an at-one-ment with the Gospel of Christ. The hardest way to change is in big steps, but small corrections is so much easier. And the opportunity to change in small ways is covered in the Atonement!

I love my mission already and I love all of you as well. I know my Savior lives and I know that Heavenly Father is aware of us individually. He loves you!

Thank you for your support and love. It makes the days brighter and helps me remember why I'm crazy enough to be here and love it so much!

Love you,

Sister Ellsworth

The Gospel Blesses Families

(Elder Cummings)

The gospel blesses families!  It absolutely does!  This week we have been visiting families and helping them come closer to Christ.

Pete and his wife are saving their marriage!  We have been visiting them for just under two weeks and WOW his life has made a 180 turn.  He has sacrificed almost everything in his world outside of his family to come back to church and to bring them with him.  A sweet spirit has begun to rest in their home.  Pete has been the one of the greatest examples of forgiving and of sincere repentance I have ever met.  His oldest and his wife are progressing towards baptism, and soon will join him as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

Vicky asked us to start teaching her daughter as well.  Her name is Janessa, and she accepted a date for baptism by our second visit with her.

Follow the guidance of the Spirit, we knocked on the door of a former, Loynelle.  Missionaries had suddenly lost contact with him about a month ago.  He was home this time!  He had been out of town for emergency medical procedures and finally had returned home.  The last lesson the missionaries taught him was the word of wisdom, and after a month of no missionary contact one of the first things he brought up with us was that he had been cutting back on his tea intake.  What more he still wants to be baptized!  He wants to bring his sons into the church with him!  Blessings are everywhere!

Foua is studying the Book of Mormon and all of her children have been looking forward to church week by week.  They love the Spirit they feel there!

Tawn is Ching's last son not baptized.  This week we taught him about the law of tithing and keeping the Sabbath day holy.  On both instances he cut in about halfway through the visit and started testifying of the blessings he has seen come from his mother's commitment to living those commandments.  He is excited for his upcoming baptism!

The Merced Zone as a whole is doing amazingly!  God is hastening His work!

-Elder Cummings

Week 2 in Barreiro

(Sister Ellsworth)

Dear family and friends,

I love Portugal. The people, the language, the weather, and the food are better than I ever expected. It's hard, but I expected that. First off, Barreiro is across the way from Lisbon. The weather has been Sunny and in the 90s since I got here, but there is always a breeze so it is lovely. This week has been a week of trying new Portuguese foods! One of my favorites bacalhou, which is this very salty fish that they put in lots of foods. Yummy! Also they have Pastel de Nata, which are eggy-pie things. Also very good. As far as food goes here, we often just get fruit and bread from the fruitarias that are on every corner. Food here is very cheap. Usually Sister Williams and I can buy a whole meal for less than 2 Euros, which is like 3ish dollars.

We have three investigators right now, Paulo, Cristiani, and Manuella. They are all marked for baptism right now and I absolutely love teaching them. Teaching is the one situation in which I am able to understand the Portuguese and reply with an understandable Portuguese! Woot! I am already beginning to catch more and more Portuguese every day, mainly because we have the same conversations with people on the streets.

Members here LOVE to feed the missionaries lunch! Culturally, lunch is the biggest meal of the day and is often a 3 course meal. Earlier this week we had two lunch appointments and I thought I was gonna die and the sisters would have to roll my bloated body out the door.

 Our area

 Our fancy food we made. Salad is made with a bit of vinegar and salt. It is an acquired taste... haha!

We walk past this area every day and get a whiff of maple syrup. it's super weird... turns out this plant smells like maple syrup!

Something I have learned this week is about patience. Patience with yourself, patience with others, and patience with Heavenly Father. I was reading in D and C 6, which is now one of my favorite chapters. My favorite two verses are verse 34 and verse 36 when is says "Fear not, little flock.... Doubt not, fear not." We have no need to fear or doubt, because when you're following the rules and doing what you're supposed to, your circumstances will work out according to the Heavenly Father's plan. You always have your agency to choose to be happy!

Love Yall!

Sister Ellsworth