Six Months!

(Hermana Ellsworth)

6 months down and a year to go! Time flies when you are doing the work of the Lord :) I am just going to give a little shout out to one of the recent converts named Talito :) Talito is such an amazing person. He does not have much in the way of the world but he has everything when it comes to God. I can imagine our Heavenly Father looking down at him and just being so proud of the person that he is. He shared a beautiful miracle that he has seen in his life. He suffers from a  lot of health issues and his body is old but his spirit is strong. Ever Sunday he drives 2 investigators and 2 recent converts to church and wakes up at 6 am to go and gather everyone. He has only been a member himself for 3 months but he does everything in his power to help others on Sunday mornings. During one of our lessons we were talking about tender mercies. He quietly talked about one of the tender mercies that he has seen. Every morning it is really hard for him to get out of bed. Not just because he is tired but because physically it is demanding. He then went on to account the goodness of God on the sabbath mornings. He spoke of the miracle that he receives every Sunday morning when he wakes up. He wakes up with out any pain and without any trouble every Sunday morning. He said that he knows if he keeps sacrificing his time, car, life to helping others to get to church then he will continue to have this tender mercy every morning. He is an amazing example of living the gospel and putting Christ first over our own personal comfort. But the one thing I love about this the most is that Heavenly Father knows that Talito needs this blessing in order to keep doing his work.

Tender Mercies are real I like what Nephi said once "And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies. " There are so many tender mercies out there and sometimes we are just too blind to see them. Keep your eyes open to all of those mercies :) Thank you for reading this weeks email Grandma and Grandpa and my other 3 faithful followers ;) I looooooove you alllll

Talito and Mercedes took us out to eat "Chinese food"

Late night painting

Painting the pass-a-long cards

I LOVE TO SEE THE TEMPLE (painting)

"To love another person is to see the face of God."

(Hermana Ellsworth)

I really love being a missionary because It is a time to reach out to people and talk to people that I would not usually talk to. I have never felt so much concern and love for a random guy selling mangoes on the side of the street named Tortugita (little Turtle). I really do love the people here in Puerto Rico and I am loving their love for rice and beans for every meal.

This week was a week full of little miracles. I have been studying all of the conference talks that President Nelson has ever given and I know that he is a Prophet of God and that he is completing the work that the Lord has called him to do and is working the will of the our Savior for his church.

This week went by really fast and I don't have a lot to write about other than I gave my first sacrament talk in Spanish. a good 15 minutes long and I think people understood me. My companion is still amazing and here are some pictures.

1. Shawn was picked up by the bishop and the bishop had early morning meetings so Shawn had to come to the church at 7 am which was earlier than he usually wakes up.....

2. Charolette The daughter of Jeffery. She is an angel but during the most spiritual times of the lesson is when she decides to start screaming. LOVE HER!

3. For exercise we ended up just laying down in the street to watch a rainbow and the clouds.

I LOVE CORN!!!

(Sister Slade)

Hey everyone!

This week's title is from my dear companion, Sister Brown. Yesterday as we were making lunch I remembered that we had gotten corn on Monday. So I said something along the lines of, "Oh yeah, we have corn." And she throws her arms up and says, "OH MY GOODNESS!!! I LOVE CORN!!!!!" It was really funny because the fact that we had corn made her day and she was a lot more awake the rest of the day.

Anyway, this week was really good. I had to spend a lot of time working on the magazine and it made me feel really bad for Sister Brown. Any time that we could have spent finding or talking to people we had to work on the magazine. Even though we spent a lot of time on computers, I kept praying that we would find people to teach. We ended up finding 3 new people to teach even though we talked to half as many people as we normally do. It was a tender mercy to me. It also was a testimony builder that Heavenly Father really is preparing people to receive the gospel.

We had a kind of sad experience with some members this week. There's an old less active couple that the missionaries have visited for years. This week they told us that the reason they don't come back to church is because no one cares about them. They haven't been to church for a lot of years, and it's because no one from the church, besides the missionaries, have come to visit them in all of those years. It made me think about all the people whether they're a member or not feel unloved or like they don't matter and it made me really sad. Everyone deserves to feel like and know that someone cares for them. If nothing else, they need to know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love them. I read a scripture this week that reminded me of this. 1 Nephi 21:14 "But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me- but he will show that he hath not." The chapter goes on to say that the Savior hasn't and can't forget us because he has "graven us on the palms of his hands." I know that no matter how alone or forgotten you feel, there is someone who cares about you infinitely. You matter. You are loved. That's why I'm on a mission. So that I can share this message of Love with those who need to hear it.

God is good!

Sister Slade

pictures:

1. Random picture of sister brown during comp study. She loves comp study

2. We got ice cream at a gas station because it was a really hot day.

3. Another puzzle that I did.

The weekly struggle - I mean email.

(Sister Slade)

You guys seriously don't know how hard it is to write a weekly email. First you have to think about what happened in the last week. Then you can't remember what happened last week. Then after you do remember what happened last week, you have to decide what you want to share from last week. And then you actually have to write the email all the while trying to make it entertaining for the people you send it to because you know they're just going to look at the pictures anyway. and then you wonder why am I writing the email. This is the weekly struggle.

I seriously don't even know what happened this week. We did a lot of service at thrift stores, food pantry's, and soup kitchens. We talked to a lot of people. District council was on Wednesday. Even the 4th of July was kind of boring. We went to the square to talk to people during the activities and ceremonies they have down there that morning and then we got caught in the rain. Unfortunately we had walked down to the square so we were a little bit stuck. It was a good memory though.

Other than that it was a fairly standard busy missionary week. Sorry I don't have more to give you.

God is Good!

Sister Slade

Pictures:

1. We have some capes and masks at our house so we had to model them

2. We sat in the back of our truck to watch some fireworks on the 4th

3. We got ice cream and I drew a self portrait in it

4. An awesome rainbow we saw

5. Area book had a glitch

Transfers! :)

(Hermana Ellsworth)

First a Congratulations to by dear mother who got married this week :) She is wonderful :) Thank you for being an example in my life.

We also had transfers this week and I will be staying in Toa Baja with Hermana Paredes from Peru :) She has been an amazing companion and we have been through some good ups and downs together and I cannot wait to continue working with her. :)

I wanted to write about President Russell M. Nelson's talk from the 2018 October woman's conference and the role of women in the Gathering of Israel. President Nelson said "My dear sisters, you have special spiritual gifts and propensities. Tonight I urge you, with all the hope of my heart, to pray to understand your spiritual gifts—to cultivate, use, and expand them, even more than you ever have. You will change the world as you do so."

As women we have a responsibility to share the gospel just as much as the men in the church do. We can touch hearts in different ways and we have a power to use this gifts that we have been given to support priesthood leaders and to move the work of the Lord forward.

In 2015 President Russell M. Nelson gave a talk called "A plea to women" he said "Thirty-six years ago, in 1979, President Spencer W. Kimball made a profound prophecy about the impact that covenant-keeping women would have on the future of the Lord’s Church. He prophesied: “Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world … will be drawn to the Church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the women of the Church are seen as distinct and different—in happy ways—from the women of the world.”

My dear sisters, you who are our vital associates during this winding-up scene, the day that President Kimball foresaw is today. You are the women he foresaw! Your virtue, light, love, knowledge, courage, character, faith, and righteous lives will draw good women of the world, along with their families, to the Church in unprecedented numbers!"  

I know that the women of the church have a large responsibility to share the gospel and move the work forward. For the young women in my ward and my young cousins who read my emails, I ask that you prepare to do your part now to serve a mission. To prepare by reading the Book of Mormon and living in accordance to the covenants that you have made at baptism and the ones you will make one day in the House of the Lord. I am so grateful for the covenant living women in my life who have fulfilled prophecy and lived in a way that is not of this world but of the world to come. I am so grateful to be serving a mission and to be using my talents to move the work of the Lord forward. I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ and I am grateful to have had this gospel in my hands my whole life.

My companion Hermana Paredes is a wonderful example to me of a woman of faith, knowledge, and a covenant living woman. She does not use "buts" or tries to find a right way to do the wrong thing. She is a strong woman and will always be an example to me.

SHAWN WAS BAPTIZED!

(Hermana Ellsworth)

Hello friends, family, the young, and the old (looking at you Grandpa Bert 😉) I hope that all is well in your lives. This week was once again full of miracles. The largest one was that Shawn was baptized! He is 20 years old and has been doing so much to change his life. He faced a lot of opposition the week before his baptism and at one point we were going to postpone the baptism for another week. BUT SHAWN HAS MADE IT TO THE WATERS OF BAPTISM! This is something with eternal benefits and I could not be happier for him. He really pushed through some of the hard times and held true to the things that he did know. He knows the Book of Mormon is true and that this was a promise that he knew was needed and that he wanted. This is Shawn after his interview. It isnt the best picture but I like how happy he looks in it.

This is Shawn at his baptism he was baptized by Cesar who has been an amazing member to help Shawn get to where he is now. Being a missionary has helped me to realize the importance of members in the missionary work. There is so much that we need to do as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I encourage each of you  to fast for your own personal missionary opportunity and then to ACT on that opportunity. Ask yourself what you can do to move the work of the Lord Forward. (and how you can use the Book of Mormon to help you ((Thats why we have it)) )

A little more about Miguel and how he is doing. He received the Gift of the Holy Ghost this last Sunday and the blessing after was so pure and beautiful. The spirit was so strong and he sat in the chair and cried for a little bit afterwards. He is the most pure and humble man. MEEK he is a meek person. When we told him he couldn't drink coffee he said, "Is that a commandment?" we said "yes" and he said "Tambien I'll do it!" he has always been ready to keep the commandments but just wasn't sure what all of them were. He was really one of the people who were kept from the truth because they knew not where to find it. It is an honor to teach him and to see him grow as a child of God and to have his own spiritual moments.

MIYITO!!!!!!!!!!!! Miyito is doing as well as always he has been loving reading/watching the videos of the children’s Book of Mormon on the app and has been a wonderful member missionary. He comes and walks with us still and has introduced us to probably 20 of his cousins that live near him and is helping one of his cousins come to church next Sunday. The Gospel and Jesus Christ has really changed him and he is one of the happiest people I know now. It is again an honor to have him in this area. He is a really good missionary and calls us sometimes to remind us that we have appointments with some of his cousins for later that day.

Thank you for all your love and support and I hope that your lives are well. Keep on serving the Lord in your area of the world. Have a wonderful week and GO FIGHT WIN! The Church is still true, everywhere you go. I hope that you are able to find a way to share the gospel with your family and friends. GO TO THE TEMPLE! I really miss the temple and I am so excited that we will have one in Puerto Rico soon.

Reading Material for this week. Go read Recognizing the Spirit in Preach my Gospel. Article Link

Flippin', Arkansas!

(Sister Slade)

This week we went out to the far reaches of our area to have dinner with some members in our ward. They are both bus drivers for the Flippin Arkansas schools. They were telling us about the Flippin sheriff's office and the Flippin gas stations, and the Flippin church of God. It was really funny (and kind of unfortunate)!

I met my new companion this week. Her name is Sister Brown. She is from West Jordan Utah and is super sweet. Like I said last week, she is brand new and straight off the plane! It's kind of intimidating knowing that I need to teach her everything... like how to talk to people. It reminds me a lot of when I was training and then I feel bad for my trainer. Sorry Sister Mueller! I must have been horrible to train.

Gene came to church again! We didn't think he would come back because some family told him they didn't like that he was meeting with us. But when we saw him on Saturday, he told us that he would see us at church. Then when he was leaving on Sunday, he said he would be back next week. It was really cool to see how just the spirit of the Sacrament meeting can turn someone's heart.

I love being a missionary!

God is Good!

Sister Slade

P.S. Happy 4th of July!!!

pictures:

1. A goat in the middle of the road

2. Last picture with sister Elkins

3. A pretty creek

4. First picture with sister Brown