Dear Mom and Dad,
Here´s a summary of my birthday:
I woke up and opened my package from you-- It was fantastic! I love the sweater and I´ve been basking in grape-nuts heaven all week and munching on the clif bars and sipping the hotchocolate-- yum! Then Hna. Centurión and I made my birthday cake to bring to district meeting: chocolate cake with peaches and dulce de leche in the middle, covered with chocolate whipped cream On top I wrote in Nesquick: 4 EVER, which is one of the mission themes this transfer-- achieve 200 baptisms in the mission for the fourth transfer in a row. When we put the candles in later, I used 22, but put them in the shape of 200. So, 200 4 EVER for the mission and happy 22 years old for me! In district meeting Elder Garcia started introducing his lesson, but turned it into a surprise introduction of my birthday! Everyone sang to me and all the missionaries in my district gave me an alfajor-- that´s a lot of alfajores. After the lesson, the other district in our zone (who meets in the other side of the stake center and is normally forbidden by new mission rules to associate with us) came over to sing to me again and watch me blow out the candles. Then we shared the cake. We finished it off in a flash, and my zone leaders licked the pan clean-- elders. :)
I had a great day and felt super confident, especially when contacting people in the street. I had a grin wider than the Mississippi and was asking questions like crazy. We visited Celeste and Elvira, who had bought chocolate cookies especially for my birthday, taught a great lesson to one of Celeste´s friends, and taught Evelyn and her mom.
At the end of the day we passed by the house of the Herrera family because Hna. Herrera had offered to give us dinner in tupperwares to take back to the pench. When we got there and Hna. Herrera opened the door, her two little kids, Micaela and Sebastián were waiting for me with a big birthday cake and birthday cards they made themselves. I was so touched. They sang to me and lit a candle on the cake for me to blow out and ordered me to make wishes. Best birthday ever!
I finished off my birthday eating Hna. Herrera´s mashed potatoes and milanesa in the pench and planning the next day like usual. I opened the letters you and Grandma sent me when I realized they were birthday cards. I loved the baby pictures of me on the cards. Genius!
Well, here is what happened this week/what´s going on with the investigators:
* Lucila and Enzo are proving very difficult to get a hold off and missed the last two Sundays of church, so they won´t be getting baptized this transfer. I´m not giving up on them though. I´m just going to be patient and give them the time they need. A 6 week transfer, after all, is a completely artificial constraint that often (unfortunately) has little to do with the rate of progress of a person towards accepting the gospel through baptism.
* We´ve been struggling with low lesson numbers all transfer and I´m not sure what to do about it. Low lesson numbers=fewer new investigators=lack of investigators progressing= fewer baptisms, so it´s a big deal. So far though I´ve avoided serious frustration or discouragement about it. I´m going to pray for help and keep working on it until it gets better.
* One of our investigators was praying to know if the church is true and unfortuitously opened her Bible exactly in Galations chapter 1--"why have you forgotten so quickly the gospel that was preached to you and accepted others who came preaching strange gospels?" or something like that. As a firm believer in revelation by letting your Bible fall open (works great if you´re looking for a spiritual pick me up, but isn´t a very responsible way of trying to verify eternal truths) she took that as an answer that she should stick with her current church. Depressing. But, we have an appointment with her tomorrow in which I will try to explain that the apostle Paul preached that sermon BEFORE the Great Apostasy.
* This week we met the mission standard of 140 contacts per week! We contacted 144 people! I´m very proud of us.
* EVELYN GOT BAPTIZED! The baptism of Evelyn was fantastic! Both sides of her family are inactive, but her uncle Marcos reactivated himself to be able to baptize her, and her aunt Iara has come to church two Sundays in a row! For her baptism, a bunch of her family from both sides came to sacrament meeting and attended the baptism! The stake president came and expressed his love to both sides of her family and told them how glad he was to see them. The ward welcomed them warmly, and now some of Evelyn´s family are thinking of coming to church more often, especially her mom! Evelyn is such a sweet, powerful example to her whole family and I know her baptism is going to work a miracle for them.
* We had 4 investigators in sacrament meeting! Reina and Esmeralda, two of my favorite investigators who sort of stopped progressing this transfer, agreed to let us pick them up for church! We ate breakfast with them in their house (banana bread made by Hna. Centurión of course! but this time we used our new cake pan since our improvised glass plate turned into baking dish shattered the last time we used it when we took it straight from the oven and put it on our cold marble counter) and took a taxi to the church. They even stayed for the baptism! And counting Evelyn and her stepfather (future investigator, woho!), that made 4 investigators in the meeting, my record here in Hurlingham! I was super happy!
* Quote of the week:
* Evelyn as she opened a Book of Mormon that we wrapped to give to her: "Oh, let it be the Book of Mormon, please! . . .YES! I´ve got a Book of Mormon, I´ve got a Book of Mormon! (she sang this part accompanied by a little dance she made up while holding her book). This kid is INCREDIBLE.
Well, that´s all I´ve got time for. I love you! Have an excellent week!
Love,
Ellis
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Flag Day in Argentina, with no Internet Access
Dear Mom and Dad,
Yesterday was Flag Day in Argentina, so all the internet places were
closed. I'm sorry! I was really bummed I didn't have time to tell
you all about my birthday. It was so great! I loved your package and
all the missionaries and members were super nice to me and I had TWO
birthday cakes! And we are having a baptism this weekend, a little
miracle named Evelyn. I'll write more next week. Thank you so much for your
wonderful letters and emails and for making my birthday amazing!
Love,
Ellis
Yesterday was Flag Day in Argentina, so all the internet places were
closed. I'm sorry! I was really bummed I didn't have time to tell
you all about my birthday. It was so great! I loved your package and
all the missionaries and members were super nice to me and I had TWO
birthday cakes! And we are having a baptism this weekend, a little
miracle named Evelyn. I'll write more next week. Thank you so much for your
wonderful letters and emails and for making my birthday amazing!
Love,
Ellis
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Life More Abundantly -- Like a Stack of 100 Banana Pancakes
Dear Mom and Dad,
Since my realization last week, I´ve been having the happiest week of my life. There have been ups and downs still, but the ups are what seem to stick out, and often, despite being aware of my errors and faults, despite missed appointments and people who won´t listen, I feel glowingly, resplendently happy. I´m not sure how long this state of relative euphoria will last. I´m hoping it becomes a lifestyle change, but I realize I´ll probably nose dive several times before I really get the hang of being happy like this most of the time. And, fitting the extremely functional state I´m in, I´m completely (or mostly) content with that.
I loved getting emails from everyone today. I feel loved and happy. And I´m excited for my birthday tomorrow. I had thought briefly, a few weeks ago, when I was in a much more negative state, of not telling anyone it was my birthday and sort of wallowing in self induced suffering and solitude. What a stupid idea. I recovered and have confidently volunteered the information to almost all of my zone and several members. I realized telling them I´m having a birthday isn´t like asking them to do stuff for me, it´s like inviting them to celebrate with me, even if just by being aware and telling me "Happy Birthday!". I´m bringing cake to district meeting tomorrow, and I said yes when a cute little less active abuela invited me over for birthday facturas. And a sister in the ward is making us dinner that we can carry back to the pension at night. She didn´t know it was my birthday, but I told her "Thanks for offering to feed us, because it´s going to be my birthday!" She was extra happy to be able to serve us on my birthday, and I was happier too. So, in the end, expressing one´s own wants and needs is often more unselfish than concealing them. Interesting.
Best quotes of the week:
Me: Will you get baptized on July 2?
Evelin (9 years old): YES! (she threw her arms out wide and threw her head back as she said it, nervous but thrilled) BEST ACCEPTANCE OF A BAPTISMAL DATE I´VE EVER SEEN! I LOVE EVELIN!
Marriage proposal to me by a drunk (old) man (Fabio) we met in the street:
"Tengo una sorpresa para vos. Me voy a casar en tu iglesia." i.e. "I have a surprise for you. I´m going to get married in your church." Wink. (it didn´t immediately dawn on me he was drunk, because he hit my weak spot by starting the conversation saying "I want to get baptized in your church!") We had already set a return appointment, which we quickly changed to an appointment of no return. No thanks, che.
Me: "Don´t you think coming to church will help you?"
Less active young man: "Let´s talk another day, sister, because right now I´m flying."
Yup. High as a kite. But the sister missionaries will return to reactivate him when the hang over wears off.
Sunday morning was probably one of the happiest moments of my life. Evelin miraculously woke up on time and was ready and waiting in her cute little Sunday outfit at 7:45. She didn´t complain about walking a mile to pick up our other investigators. Lucila and Enzo were ready and waiting too! Norma (other investigator) didn´t show, and Lucila and Enzo´s mom, Monica, had to stay to visit with relatives, but I was just too thrilled to mind too much. We walked together with Evelin, Lucila, Enzo, and Celeste and Elvira (my converts from last transfer) to the bus stop and miraculously arrived at the chapel on time to take the ward sponsored bus to stake conference in Ramos Mejía. I was looking around the bus at all the members and my converts and my investigators and I was just thrilled out of my socks to be with them and going to conference to listen to an apostle. I know all this enthusiastic happiness doesn´t make that much sense, but I´d already been having one of the best, most positive weeks of my life and having three investigators on the bus to conference was like a cascade of real maple syrup running down a stack one hundred banana pancakes high. Evelin, Lucila, and Enzo all have dates to be baptized this transfer. They are fantastic! They will sure keep me busy the next couple weeks though.
One last thing. I´ve been watching how my zone leader, Elder Gutierrez, teaches, and he uses loads of questions. Then our study plan from the first presidency said that I had to teach Hna. Centurion how to ask inspired questions during a lesson. So we did a practice together of teaching just by asking questions. And that same day I started asking loads of questions to the investigators: about their lives, what they thought about God, whatever came to my mind that had to do with what we were trying to teach. And the investigators felt the love and started opening up and letting us see what their needs were. Enzo told us he had always wanted to know what happens after death and where we came from--- questions I had no idea he had, because I, well, hadn´t asked him. So we promised to answer his questions and when we got to the house the next day, he gave the opening prayer without complaining and prayed for help to go to church EVERY WEEK! We taught a super detailed Plan of Salvation lesson that we had planned just for him and his family and he liked it. He and his sister Lucila accepted the same baptismal date and made it to church! I don´t attribute all of that just to asking him questions, but I think it helped. It is my new mission obsession (asking questions.) And I´ve realized asking lots of questions not only helps the investigators feel like we are interested in them, it helps me BE more interested in them. It is fantastic.
Oh, and today Hna. Centurión and I took a day trip to San Justo with Hermanas Azcurra and Reales and went shopping. I bought a pair of boots so I would be prepared for the cold weather. They were super cheap-- about 50 US dollars, and they are very attractive! My opinion of Argentine fashion is improving daily. Then we went out to lunch-- milanesa suprema a la napolitana con fritas (see if Dad can decipher that for you) and fanta orange soda. Best P´day ever!
I love you and the whole family! I´m so happy that you all seem to be doing well and that you are writing to me. Your Hawaii vacation sounded paradisaical. Start saving those pennies so we can go when Ben gets back from the mission. I´m willing to leave behind any future spouse I may have acquired by that time to make the trip cheaper. ;)
Love,
Ellis
Since my realization last week, I´ve been having the happiest week of my life. There have been ups and downs still, but the ups are what seem to stick out, and often, despite being aware of my errors and faults, despite missed appointments and people who won´t listen, I feel glowingly, resplendently happy. I´m not sure how long this state of relative euphoria will last. I´m hoping it becomes a lifestyle change, but I realize I´ll probably nose dive several times before I really get the hang of being happy like this most of the time. And, fitting the extremely functional state I´m in, I´m completely (or mostly) content with that.
I loved getting emails from everyone today. I feel loved and happy. And I´m excited for my birthday tomorrow. I had thought briefly, a few weeks ago, when I was in a much more negative state, of not telling anyone it was my birthday and sort of wallowing in self induced suffering and solitude. What a stupid idea. I recovered and have confidently volunteered the information to almost all of my zone and several members. I realized telling them I´m having a birthday isn´t like asking them to do stuff for me, it´s like inviting them to celebrate with me, even if just by being aware and telling me "Happy Birthday!". I´m bringing cake to district meeting tomorrow, and I said yes when a cute little less active abuela invited me over for birthday facturas. And a sister in the ward is making us dinner that we can carry back to the pension at night. She didn´t know it was my birthday, but I told her "Thanks for offering to feed us, because it´s going to be my birthday!" She was extra happy to be able to serve us on my birthday, and I was happier too. So, in the end, expressing one´s own wants and needs is often more unselfish than concealing them. Interesting.
Best quotes of the week:
Me: Will you get baptized on July 2?
Evelin (9 years old): YES! (she threw her arms out wide and threw her head back as she said it, nervous but thrilled) BEST ACCEPTANCE OF A BAPTISMAL DATE I´VE EVER SEEN! I LOVE EVELIN!
Marriage proposal to me by a drunk (old) man (Fabio) we met in the street:
"Tengo una sorpresa para vos. Me voy a casar en tu iglesia." i.e. "I have a surprise for you. I´m going to get married in your church." Wink. (it didn´t immediately dawn on me he was drunk, because he hit my weak spot by starting the conversation saying "I want to get baptized in your church!") We had already set a return appointment, which we quickly changed to an appointment of no return. No thanks, che.
Me: "Don´t you think coming to church will help you?"
Less active young man: "Let´s talk another day, sister, because right now I´m flying."
Yup. High as a kite. But the sister missionaries will return to reactivate him when the hang over wears off.
Sunday morning was probably one of the happiest moments of my life. Evelin miraculously woke up on time and was ready and waiting in her cute little Sunday outfit at 7:45. She didn´t complain about walking a mile to pick up our other investigators. Lucila and Enzo were ready and waiting too! Norma (other investigator) didn´t show, and Lucila and Enzo´s mom, Monica, had to stay to visit with relatives, but I was just too thrilled to mind too much. We walked together with Evelin, Lucila, Enzo, and Celeste and Elvira (my converts from last transfer) to the bus stop and miraculously arrived at the chapel on time to take the ward sponsored bus to stake conference in Ramos Mejía. I was looking around the bus at all the members and my converts and my investigators and I was just thrilled out of my socks to be with them and going to conference to listen to an apostle. I know all this enthusiastic happiness doesn´t make that much sense, but I´d already been having one of the best, most positive weeks of my life and having three investigators on the bus to conference was like a cascade of real maple syrup running down a stack one hundred banana pancakes high. Evelin, Lucila, and Enzo all have dates to be baptized this transfer. They are fantastic! They will sure keep me busy the next couple weeks though.
One last thing. I´ve been watching how my zone leader, Elder Gutierrez, teaches, and he uses loads of questions. Then our study plan from the first presidency said that I had to teach Hna. Centurion how to ask inspired questions during a lesson. So we did a practice together of teaching just by asking questions. And that same day I started asking loads of questions to the investigators: about their lives, what they thought about God, whatever came to my mind that had to do with what we were trying to teach. And the investigators felt the love and started opening up and letting us see what their needs were. Enzo told us he had always wanted to know what happens after death and where we came from--- questions I had no idea he had, because I, well, hadn´t asked him. So we promised to answer his questions and when we got to the house the next day, he gave the opening prayer without complaining and prayed for help to go to church EVERY WEEK! We taught a super detailed Plan of Salvation lesson that we had planned just for him and his family and he liked it. He and his sister Lucila accepted the same baptismal date and made it to church! I don´t attribute all of that just to asking him questions, but I think it helped. It is my new mission obsession (asking questions.) And I´ve realized asking lots of questions not only helps the investigators feel like we are interested in them, it helps me BE more interested in them. It is fantastic.
Oh, and today Hna. Centurión and I took a day trip to San Justo with Hermanas Azcurra and Reales and went shopping. I bought a pair of boots so I would be prepared for the cold weather. They were super cheap-- about 50 US dollars, and they are very attractive! My opinion of Argentine fashion is improving daily. Then we went out to lunch-- milanesa suprema a la napolitana con fritas (see if Dad can decipher that for you) and fanta orange soda. Best P´day ever!
I love you and the whole family! I´m so happy that you all seem to be doing well and that you are writing to me. Your Hawaii vacation sounded paradisaical. Start saving those pennies so we can go when Ben gets back from the mission. I´m willing to leave behind any future spouse I may have acquired by that time to make the trip cheaper. ;)
Love,
Ellis
Ellis Has An Epiphany About Joy
Dear Mom and Dad,
This week:
* We spent a lot of time walking between appointments and very little time teaching. More than half of our lessons were taught on doorsteps or standing at the gate-- people didn´t have time to let us in or weren´t interested enough or were scared of us or something. AAAARGH!
* We managed the usual two investigators in sacrament meeting. As sometimes happens, one of them was a visitor from a different area-- not actually one of our investigators. Sigh.
* On the bright side: Hna. Centurión and I are still laughing and enjoying each other. She is a really great companion. Celeste and Elvira told me my Spanish sounds better now-- my companion´s castellano must be rubbing off on me. She is teaching me lots of new words and I take advantage by asking her lots of questions.
* I worked up my courage and told the bishop during ward council meeting that I wanted to help the ward members participate more in missionary work, including fellowshipping inactive members and that I was prepared to teach a ward activity with my companion. He decided to let us teach a combined Relief Society/Elders Quorum class in three weeks. I´m nervous, but excited. I think it will really help the ward if ALL the members are participating more.
* I was rereading an article in the Liahona this week and had an important realization. I read "True joy comes from obeying and believing in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father." I realized that if I remember how fantastic a gift the Atonement is and do my best to keep the commandments, I can be happy no matter what happens. I don´t have to depend outside indicators of success or approval for my happiness-- I can be happy right now. And it´s been working. I still have lots of moments of being frustrated, but I´m learning to be happy despite the struggles. And I know if I keep being positive and trying to improve, we will be able to teach more lessons and bring more people to church.
Love, Ellis
This week:
* We spent a lot of time walking between appointments and very little time teaching. More than half of our lessons were taught on doorsteps or standing at the gate-- people didn´t have time to let us in or weren´t interested enough or were scared of us or something. AAAARGH!
* We managed the usual two investigators in sacrament meeting. As sometimes happens, one of them was a visitor from a different area-- not actually one of our investigators. Sigh.
* On the bright side: Hna. Centurión and I are still laughing and enjoying each other. She is a really great companion. Celeste and Elvira told me my Spanish sounds better now-- my companion´s castellano must be rubbing off on me. She is teaching me lots of new words and I take advantage by asking her lots of questions.
* I worked up my courage and told the bishop during ward council meeting that I wanted to help the ward members participate more in missionary work, including fellowshipping inactive members and that I was prepared to teach a ward activity with my companion. He decided to let us teach a combined Relief Society/Elders Quorum class in three weeks. I´m nervous, but excited. I think it will really help the ward if ALL the members are participating more.
* I was rereading an article in the Liahona this week and had an important realization. I read "True joy comes from obeying and believing in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father." I realized that if I remember how fantastic a gift the Atonement is and do my best to keep the commandments, I can be happy no matter what happens. I don´t have to depend outside indicators of success or approval for my happiness-- I can be happy right now. And it´s been working. I still have lots of moments of being frustrated, but I´m learning to be happy despite the struggles. And I know if I keep being positive and trying to improve, we will be able to teach more lessons and bring more people to church.
Love, Ellis
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