Pictures!

(Aldste Cummings)

Alma 29:6

(Aldste Cummings)

Hey all,

This week has been so great. I've been working just as hard as last week--if not harder--but it's beginning to feel normal and fun. There's a saying around here that the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. Boy is that true.

 I'm getting so much out of this experience and it's only been two weeks. I can't imagine how much I will have grown by the end of these two years.

I'm learning so much. If I'm not in class or if I'm not working out, then I'm studying. I've been reading the Book of Mormon pretty intensely every day and I always get something new out of it. It's incredible and I love it so much.

All the time and energy that I would have spent reading a math textbook or doing math problems or something at home, I've redirected to studying Swedish. I spend hours reading grammar books or memorizing vocabulary. Ask me about the 4 different conjugation classes of Swedish verbs (5 if you split up the second class into two subclasses and 6 if you move irregular verbs out of the 4th class and into their own class), the 5 noun declension class, subject inversion with a preceding dependent clause, how the supine differs from the part participle and why, archaic plural conjugations of verbs, you name it. I've even begun to memorize the spelling, definitions, and conjugation patterns of the verbs in my "201 Swedish Verbs" book (I've got the first 160 memorized, I'll probably have the rest of them down by the end of the week).

I was reflecting on all that and was feeling awfully proud of myself when I did my scripture study one night and read the verse in the subject bar (it's from the Book of Mormon so those of you who aren't Mormon can find it by just typing "Alma 29" into google and clicking on the first hit from lds.org). The context is that the prophet Alma is expressing his desire to preach the gospel with the power of an angel (see verse 1) but chastises himself and comes to the conclusion in verse 6 that God has asked him to serve in his current capacity with his mortal abilities and that he should desire no more than to fulfill that calling.

That really hit me. I have been called as a missionary to serve the Lord and to preach His gospel. My goal is not to become fluent in Swedish. I did not come out here on a mission so I could come back speaking Swedish. I have been called to bring others unto Christ and as I try to fulfill that purpose, the language and other abilities will come. I am an official representative of Jesus Christ, I goal must be to become as He is and invite others to do so as well.

Love,

Äldste Cummings

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

Matthew 16:25

(Aldste Cummings)

Hello all,

This week has been so crazy. I have been working nonstop from 6:30am to 10:30pm every day. I'm constantly studying or working and just doing something productive until I go to bed, it's pretty exhausting.

So before I got here, I thought that I would have separate classes for learning Swedish and learning how to be a missionary. WRONG. I had a rude awakening when I discovered that I have one class for multiple hours a day in which I learn how to be a missionary IN SWEDISH. I The teacher, Syster Adamsson, has only spoken Swedish since the minute we've gotten here. I haven't heard her say more than 6 words consecutively in English. I honestly think I know more Swedish now than I did French after my first year of taking it in school. My brain has never felt more stretched. The life here is just so demanding.

My companion, Äldste Bird, is great. He's a certified crossfit coach so we've been going to the gym and working out pretty consistently which is something I need to be doing more of so it’s really helpful. He's so funny and we've just clicked so well.

So much has been has been going on. It's so hard to try to say everything. But the funny experience of the week was that in one of the lessons that we taught, my companion accidentally invited the lady we were teaching to "follow the example of Jesus Christ and get high" in Swedish, of course. As it turns out, the word for "to be baptized" is"döpas" (pronounced duh-pas) which is not to be confused with "dopas" (pronounced doh-pas) which means "to get high." Luckily the lady laughed it off and she understood what he was trying to say.

On a more serious note, the Spirit is so strong here. I have never been around so many people who are so ready and willing to drop everything and help you. Every second, I'm surrounded by 3,000 young men and women who are continuously trying to be more like Jesus Christ. Personally, just thinking about the daunting task ahead of me humbles me so much. As a representative of Jesus Christ, I am a very poor substitute for Him. I have never been more aware of my own faults and shortcomings. That sounds very depressing, but it's really not. I promise. In fact, it's very comforting. The knowledge that I need help is a comforting reminder from the Lord that I will receive it. I end every day praying to the Lord, asking him to bless me with that I may be more like His Son and every day I feel that I get a little closer. I'm still miles away, but a little closer makes a huge difference.

I find comfort in the scripture that I referenced in the subject bar (that's probably going to be a thing, by the way. I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to read it). I have given up everything to come out here and serve Him. I have put school on hold, I can't do anything that I used to do, I can only communicated with the outside world once a week, not to mention waking up at 6:30 every day. For two whole years. I have given up everything for these next two years.

Well, God, I have lost my life; show me the way.

With love,

Äldste Cummings

English Mistakes with the Patriarch & Book of Mormon Miracles

(Sister Ellsworth)

Well... This week was an adventure!!

I think we'll start with good news first! We had lunch with the Stake Patriarch during this week which was probably the funniest thing of my whole life. He was making fun of my Portuguese because I said one word funny. So I started speaking English to him and his family. He responded asking why in English we write the words differently that we speak them and proceeded to talk in English like you would read it..... if that made any sense.... So he wanted to say "I like myself and my family." But in Portuguese the "i" makes an "ee" noise so what he actually said was  "I lick myself and my family!" My companion and I died laughing! I couldn’t stop even to explain to them what he said.

Then during the week we got asked to clean the mold off the walls in a house. My companion was trying to clean it off the ceiling with a mop and a rag but it wasn't coming off. She asked for help and I walked over there and put a little umph and it came right off. She looked at me and said "What did you eat for breakfast...?"

Then we found out that this house that we clean was infested with lice.

And guess who got lice.

We did.

So we treated it and cleaning everything in the house. All of our stuff is in plastic bags. HOW FUN!!!

I also started physical therapy this week for my foot... It's going good.

There was a wedding this week as well! The groom asked us missionaries to sing Come thou fount at his wedding... Why? I don't know but we did it anyway! It turned out pretty well. We sang with the Elders. The bishop's 7 year old daughter fell in love with one of the elders. It was hilarious. She came up to him afterward and said "What's your name?" He responded "Elder Carreira." Then she gave him these saucy eyes and a dazzling smile and said "I like your name." The elder looked and my companion and I in panic and we were rolling on the floor laughing. She then started telling everyone at the wedding that she was going to marry the elder.

I got to seee MANUELA!! My first convert! She visited me this week and we had lunch, IT WAS SO AWESOME!

​We also had an AWESOME Book of Mormon activity this week! We went down to the train station with 7 copies of the Book of Mormon marked and ready to give away. We and some members waited for the trains to come and we started contacting everyone!! We found 5 people in one hour that asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon and for us to explain it to them. It was AWESOME!!!!

​Let's just take a moment to appreciate this Portuguese house. There's a Lion stature, snails, and a Maria Fatima. Basically.... Portugal lol.

This week has been great.

Thanks for your support!

Love you,

Sister Ellsworth

We saved someone and we are hearing voices

(Sister Ellsworth)

This week was good.... I feel like I say that a lot. I bet ya´ll think a mission is a party all the time. And I´ll let you in on a secret... If you choose to dance when there's no music then it´s always a party! I think The beginning of the week was one of those dancing with no music days. Sister Selman and I talked to everyone, smiled, laughed, and came out on top. One thing I really love about serving with companions who have been on the mission for a while is that they understand that the success of a mission is inviting everyone. That is what you can control and if you do it then you have success! But it's also really awesome to see someone accept your invitation as well!

On Monday we got invited to family home evening with a little widow who was one of the first members in Lisbon. We ended up staying and helping her do random things and watching Christ videos and listening to her talk. She told us about her life and the difference that the Church made.

On Tuesday we went to Catia's house. She and her family are the coolest recent converts ever. We had thirty minutes before our visit with her so we decided to play contact-every-single-person (one of my favorite games....) and we got rejected for 29 minutes! But both of us felt like there was one person close to Catia's house that we needed to talk to. Desperately I ran to talk to this young woman that was walking in front of Catia's door and said "Hi! We're the missionaries! Can we talk to you about the Book of Mormon?!" The girl looked at the card I gave her and accepted. WHOOO!!! Reminded me of one of those 4th floor last door experiences.

On Wednesday we had to go to Lisbon for interviews with President. Of course the Elders in the office didn't tell us until the night before..... (patience)..... In the interview President asked how we were working with the moon boot. I told him we were working our butts off again. I showed him that the tread on the bottom of the boot was wearing off and the padding was wearing out. He looked at me and didn't saw anything for a minute... Then he said "We're going to have to get you a lead boot." I laughed and told him that my foot is almost at 100%!

That same day on the way home at the train station I saw this drunk man walking along the platform. It was like 12 am and the poor guy was too drunk to put one foot in front of the other. I kept my eye on him because he was walking really close to the train platform. Then... In slow motion I saw him put one foot in the air over the edge of the train platform and fell down on the tracks. I jumped up and sprinted over to him.  I hollered at him to get over here and give me his hand, because I knew that the train was going to come soon and drunk people can be difficult sometimes. He sat up and looked at us all dazed and Sister Selman and I each grabbed an arm and hauled him up. #morningexcersies. He was okay, we gave him a couple of band aids to help with the cuts. I did my neuro check on him and he got up and stumbled outside. Never saw him again....

On Thursday we invited all of our recent converts to the church (we have 11 and it's been really hard to teach all of them and have time to find new investigators) and 6 of them showed up. We taught all of them the Plan of Salvation and had an awesome discussion and fellowshipping at the same time! One of our recent converts told us that he had been taking pamphlets with him to work to study. When I asked him which one he took today, he pulled out a chastity pamphlet! I almost died laughing XD Who do you know studies about chastity on their lunch break? LOL!! Also we were teaching about the Celestial kingdom and I asked the same recent convert (a recent convert of about 3 months) a question. I said "Do we have to sit and home and eat potato chips all day to get into the celestial kingdom?" He replied no. I asked "Do we have to shower every day to enter the Celestial Kingdom?" And he replied "Well.. I think so... because no dirty thing can be with God so we have to  be squeaky clean and shower every day."  I was like... Lol okay you've got a point!

The absolutely weirdest thing that happened this week was that we were knocking doors inside this 9 story apartment building and in the stairwell we heard someone whistling "Now let us Rejoice". I looked at Sister Selman and she wasn't whistling. I wasn't whistling. And that song is a song that our members know! But there wasn't any member that lived in that road.... So we ran up and down the stairs looking for someone that was whistling. We found no one. Then we knocked every single door in that building and not one member.

Conclusion? Angels are messing with the missionaries again! Haha it was so weird!!!

The Church is still true!

Love you guys!!

Sister Ellsworth

4th of July, New Companion and I CAN WALK!

(Sister Ellsworth)

Okay... I formally apologize for not writing long emails. After hearing a few complaints I decided to write about every possible little thing that happened this week. Prepare yourself for an email of rambling.

First off, we starting this last week with a transfer! Surprise surprise Sister Baker left  for Setubal after just 2 weeks in Póvoa..  I miss her but she's doing an awesome job there! Now I have my fantastic new companion Sister Selman! This week has been a blast! We nerd out about the same things and she is a fantastic missionary. The Elder's area closed so instead of 4 missionaries in Póvoa, now it's just us! It has been CRAZY! We have 11 recent converts plus our investigators and the investigators of the Elders. AND our bishop told ALL of the members to invite the missionaries over in the next two weeks. It's like there's been an awakening in the members and I think its gonna be good!

We found this girl named Helena this week. She's our age and she's pretty religious. We found her down by the train station when we were on a division with some members and Carla, who is awesome as well, stopped her in the road and asked her if she knew any Mormons. Helena replied and said that she had talked to the Sisters in the past but they got transferred and she never heard from them again. Carla grabbed my arm and was like "HERE ARE THE NEW SISTERS!!" So we taught the first lesson to her and answered her questions about prophets and such.

We also found this super cool family! Ricardo and Jací let us in their humble house and we taught them sitting on their son's bed because they didn't have chairs to sit on. We taught them about God and how believing in God and going to church can help their family be more unified in hard times. One of their daughters said her first prayer. I absolutely LOVE first prayers! It's the best thing in the whole wide world.

We also took over teaching Joel, the friend of the Elder's recent convert. He was confirmed on Sunday. Their family has been passing through some hard times as well but while we were there teaching about how God fulfills his promises to bless his obedient children, Joel got a phone call offering him work. Everyone was nearly in tears and Joel got his answer that God is aware of him and that God approves of his decision to follow the example of Christ.

We also started teaching this guy named Pedro (this week we found a lot of new investigators). Pedro is a guy who believes in God but doesn't believe that God is good. Pedro had an accident a few years ago and now he's in a wheelchair. Despite his wife being a doctor, he chooses to live in a trailer home because he doesn't think he deserves anything better. We taught him that God does in fact love Pedro very much and that's why he was here on the earth. Pedro thought a lot about what we said and gruffy said: "Okay... you guys can come back next week..." We laughed and promised him that it would be worth his while.

In a lesson with one of our investigators named Bruno, he also said his first prayer. When we found him he didn't know who God or Jesus were. We taught him that he can come to know who God is through prayer and he asked if he could try to pray. We were like.... YES!!!! We gave him a Book of Mormon. Unfortunately later that day his mom called and said that we couldn't teach her son more.... But hopefully Bruno will remember us and accept the missionaries in the future.

4th of July. We did nothing. Sorry America... I'm Portuguese now :D

On Friday we can an AWESOME missionary activity! We hauled all of the youth down to the train station, set up a stand about family history work, and set those kids to work. They stopped everyone and we got lots of contacts!! We found that it was mostly Jovens who stopped to listen to us with curiosity about who they were, why they were here, and where they came from.

We also taught a very successful English class! Normally we had 1 or 2 people show up but this week we had a whole lot more! We played games in English and taught people the difference between "tree" and "three".

The other day I was reading my journal about everything that has happened since I came on my mission. I feel like time has flown by so fast! My trainer went home this week.... She sent me an email about taking her nametag off and I realized that the last year has not lasted long enough. I think I'll stay here forever. Sorry family and friends... I'm staying here FOREVER!!! Muhaha!  Just send me money and peanut butter please.

I hope this was long enough for those who were not satisfied in the past.... I can't think of anything else XD Being a missionary is awesome! I would highly recommend it ^_^

Love you!

Sister Ellsworth