Transfers!

Ola!

It's transfer weekend! Basically our whole mission exploded. There was 14 whitewashes, which is where both missionaries are taken out and new ones are put in. Usually there's like 4 or 5 whitewashes in a transfer.... BUT! Sister Williams and I are staying in Barreiro! Woot!! The rest of our zone is completely changed though.

This week the heat got up to 107 ish degrees.... It was definately motivation to tech lessons indoors! haha. Also this week we had a lot of success teaching and one of the days we taught for 7 hours straight. In our english class we taught people how to sing the Once There Was A Snowman song with the little dance and everything. They liked it!

I got to go to my first Portuguese wedding this week! It was a lot of fun! (As much fun as a missionary could have at a wedding lol) Lots of little cakes and pastries! I think the best thing about portugual is all of the little shops with cheap food.

They have McDonalds here! And it;s just as bas as it is in the states XD

This is my "Stop taking pictures and let me eat" face
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Love you all!

Sister Ellsworth

Hottest Week Ever and Tender Mercies

Dear ya'll...

I think my face has melted off this week! It's been well over 100 degrees with high humidity and the Portuguese don't believe in air conditioning or ice. Ice is considered a bit of a luxury here.... Since it's been so busy there hasn't been many people out on the roads and most people are taking last minute vacations before school starts next week but nonetheless, we have had one of the most productive and dedicated weeks since I began my mission.

First off, apparently I'm very allergic to portuguese cats. We were at a member's house and her little annoying cat was chewing on my dress so I tried to secretly push it away in the middle of the lesson and it tried to chew on my hand. I had to take a couple doses of Benedryl that day and my companion had to drag her balloon handed, half-asleep greenie around for the rest of the day. 

Also this week has been a week of finding people who have had missionary lessons but got too busy to talk. We've had a lot of new investigators!

Miracle number 100000 on my mission... last week we had the baptisms of Manuella and Nadia. Well they are like BFF's now! Nadia has had some hard times recently and Manuella has offered to help her out. Total proof that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us.

We had our first divisions this week and I thought Sister Hansen and I were going to be lost in Barreiro for the rest of the mission. Turns out I still don't know much when it comes to my area and Portuguese! I'm so grateful for my companion XD I hugged her when she came back and told her to never leave me ever again XD

I remember one moment this week that was a tender mercy and proof that Heavenly Father has a sense of humor. My companion and I were dying... it was blistering hot, probably 105 or so with NO WIND all day. Portugal is always windy. We were walking through a park and decided to take a five minute water break. We were laying on our backs and I said "Heavenly Father, we're really hot and tired. It would be really nice to have some wind." My companion gave me a funny look and echoed my thoughts when all of a sudden this rush of cool ocean breeze rushes through the park for a solid ten seconds. Sister Williams and I got up and started twirling in the wind, laughing at how much we loved such a silly thing, but at the same time I was like... wow. Some people might look at that as a coincidence but to me it was a tender mercy from our loving Father in Heaven.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to love this crazy place so much and to serve my God. I know he is aware of us and loves us perfectly. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses lives, especially when we are obedient and loving.

Love all of you so much!

The Gospel is our Anchor!! This was taken at an old Convent which is now a little cafe and hotel. 

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Tudo Bem!!

Eu amo voces!

Sister Ellsworth

p.s. i found out redheads CAN tan!!

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DOUBLE BAPTISM!!

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 egangelical 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. 

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

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....

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

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

​Just going for a stroll in Portugal....

​Love yall!

Sister Ellsworth

Week 2 in Barrerio!

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.

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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 aquired 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

First Week in Portugal!

Ola de Portugal!

Wow... it has been one crazy week! I don't even know where to begin. First, on Tuesday we went to the temple for the last time really early in the morning. I met a lady who had a daughter out on a mission and I gave her a good long hug. I also got the opportunity to sit in the temple by myself for twenty minutes which was so perfect. Afterwards we quickly finished packing, cleaned our room, and dashed off to the buses by 830 am. We were loaded onto a bus and dropped off at the airport. I was able to call my family and have Cafe Rio for the last time! Unfortunately our plane was delayed about 10 hours in Salt Lake due to some parts needing replaced. Our group of 10 missionaries met and talked to everyone on our flight! We also met a lot of missionaries coming home, going to MTC's, and headed out to the fields. 

The flight to the Netherlands was great, I tried to sleep for most of it. We landed in the Netherlands in the afternoon and since our first flight was delayed for so long, we had to be re-booked. They split our group up onto two airplanes and I was in the group that would fly from the Netherlands to Porto, and then Porto to Lisbon. We had to run to catch our Porto flight, which was delayed after we got there, and then we had to run to our Lisbon flight, barely making it onto this tiny plane with pretty sketchy looking propellers but tudo bem! I talked to the gentleman next to me a tiny bit in Portuguese but then he told me that he spoke English. I left a Book of Mormon with him!

Once we landed in Lisbon, we were in the airport for an extra few hours trying to find our bags, which had been lost. Only 3 of the 7 of us had one or two bags show up. We met up with the second group and eventually decided to leave without our bags. Our Mission president picked us up and took us to the mission home and fed us lasagna and soup at 2 am. We showered after almost 36 hours of traveling and crashed hardcore. The next morning we met our companions! My new companion is Sister Williams! She speaks English and Portuguese and has been so patient with me and my jetlag and limited language. 

The first week in Portugal was a lot of smiling and nodding but I did get to help teach a young man about the Plan of Salvation and taught a woman about how much Heavenly Father loves her. I am serving in Barreiro, which is right across the river from Lisbon. It's been so fun to get to know people and go to Church! The food is strange, but good. We made mini hotdogs and cinnamon biscuits which would have been cinnamon rolls except neither my companion or I knew how to say yeast in Portuguese.

Also apparently I speak Portuguese with an Australian accent! How neat haha. Also people here have a VERY hard time saying my last name. Like most can't even try! Half the sounds in my name don't exist in Portuguese so what comes out is something along the lines of el-sh-wohtch. Close enough I guess! I'll make a nickname for myself or something.

Loving every day more and more! Tudo Bem! I can't get pictures up right now but hopefully I'll send some later today!

Sister Ellsworth

Last day in the MTC!

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!

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Muito amor,

Sister Ellsworth

PDay 5! Happy Pioneer Weekend!

I honestly can't remember much of what happened this week. It seems like it lasted like 2 days!!

I do have a few stories though... So in Portuguese there are two words I get mixed up all the time. The first is "melhor" and the second is "mulher". This becomes a bit of a problem when teaching a male investigator about becoming better through the Atonement. So melhor means better and mulher means woman. I was trying to ask our investigator if get would like to become better, but instead I switched the words on accident and asked him if he would like to become a woman. 

WHOOPS!! We had a good laugh about it and now it's the joke of the district :) I'll never switch them again!!

Thanks to those who sent me packages and letters! I had my first Dr. Pepper in four weeks and it was probably the best thing ever, second to the dog I saw last week. We also got our travel plans and I got my visa so I'm for sure heading out to Portugal at 9 am on August 2nd! I'm nervous and so excited! We only have one layover in Amsterdam (how cool is that?).

There is a question I have been pondering this week that was asked by a Sister in my district during Sunday School. She asked, "How would your life change if every choice you made was motivated by love?" Would your life change? Would the lives of those around you be better? How could you change your motivations to be stemmed from love?

Sorry for the short email, but hopefully you all know I still love you. Thank you for your thoughts and support.

Tudo Bem!

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Goofy district :)

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​It's been a studious week!

Much love,

Sister Ellsworth

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