What a week!

Dear Family,

      Well to be perfectly honest this week has been one of ups and downs for me!  I have had lots of both to be honest there has not been much time in the middle!

 

       I guess that I will start with my first District Meeting in Redding.  My District Leader up here is named Elder Jackson.  He is very very short, I love him a lot, and he takes his responsibility very seriously, tell you the truth, I have never had so much homework to do before our meeting tomorrow morning. So last Tuesday our district meeting was the most enjoyable that I have been too.  We started off with all bearing our testimonies of the Book of Mormon, and it was a very spiritual meeting.

 

  During the bulk of the week, Elder Brown and I had it a little rough!  I was doing things that bothered him, and he got a little chippy with me.  It was a good thing, because we talked about it, and learned from the experience.  I need to stop being a bossy know it all!

 

  We had a lesson with our awesome investigators the Gardener's on Wednesday, they are super great, but they said they were coming to church yesterday and they were a no show, well it was snowing so I will cut them a break this week.  They are pretty close already.  Both have family members in the church so they just need a little bit of a push! 

 

      Well I am skipping now until Saturday, well Friday night.  We drove down to Redding on Friday evening, and spent the night in Shasta Lake.  The Elder's stayed up, and kept me up until Midnight, and I was pretty upset since I had to drive to Gridley on Saturday, oh well I as supposed to forgive so I will.  So Saturday morning we got up at 4:30, for those of you who are not good at math that is 4.5 hours of sleep, and we drove to the Gridley Stake Center!  This was way worth it though.  We had a full mission Conference!  

 

     Every Elder, all 200+ missionaries were there at the same time!  I got to see Elders Thompson, Sommer, McAllister and  Call!  All the Buds!  And we met for a reason too, Elder D Todd Christopherson was there, President Donald L. Halstrom from the Presidency of the Seventy, Bishop McMullin from the Presiding Bishopbric, Elder Waddell from the Seventy, and Elder Trythall our area Seventy were all in attendance! 

 

     The meeting started with every Missionary shaking all of their hands!  it took like 30 minutes.  It was followed by them each in turn speaking to us.  Before Elder Christopherson spoke he invited President and Sister Pendleton to stand up and bear their Testimonies!  Their final testimony as my mission President and wife!  Oh how they love us!  With all of their hearts, I teared up just listening to them!  They love each other and they love the Lord with all that they are!  We then had the privilege of listening to an Apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ speak to us!  He is a powerful man!  If I had any doubt that the Quorum of the Twelve, and the First Presidency were called of God, it was swallowed up by this experience! His word caused my Heart to Burn!  The Sprirt was so strong in that room!  For most of his talk to us he did a question and answer segment and that was incredible!  He know the scriptures so well!  Oh it was one of the coolest expiriences of my Mission! 

 

     We then turned around and had a 160 mile drive back to banishment in Mount Shasta!  Sunday was rough we attended church, and dinner and spent the rest of the day at home... Elder Brown is still feeling pretty lousy!  

 

     So all day I read from the book of Mormon, and I read they entire book of Mosiah!  It was a cool expirience for me!  Right now I am marking all of the Deity, so when it refers to God or Christ in blue, and the Words of Christ and the Father in Yellow so it is really cool to see!  And it ends with right now talking to you guys it was a good week, a few rough spots but my Testimonty and Faith have grown this week! 

     You wanted to hear a little more about the Gardnener's have two kids, they are in their late 20's early 30's.  Kiya is 3 , and Roman is like 8 months old.  Sister Gardener's mom was Baptized when Sister Gardner was in her teens, and rebellious.  so then she did not want anything to do with it.  Brother Gardener's Dad joined like 5 years ago, and his Dad baptized Bro G's two young step brothers.  They are great. 

 

     Our next Mission President will be President...I can see his picture but what is his name...Weston.  He is younger than You two! haha  He is bringing 3 or 4 young kids out with him! Well, I am sad to see the Pendleton's go, I have grown to love them so much, but it will be cool to meet the Weston's.  President Pendleton says that it is not in the man!  So it will be cool to see Pres. Weston work!

 

     Man it has really made my day to hear from  you guys, I do feel disconnected from the zone but it is a good place to be at especially for the summer.  I am so grateful to be a missionary I love having the opportunity to bear my testimony everyday, I love that I just get to devote my time to learning the gospel, It is so great to serve English speaking in California! 

 

I love your guy's guts! Thanks for all you do! Please send more letters!

 

Elder Ellsworth

 

Mother's Day Phone Call

Hi everyone, since yesterday was Mother's Day we didn't really get much of a letter today. I guess Elder Ellsworth figured we talked about everything yesterday. I thought I would include a run-down of our phone call and what we learned.

We had a great phone call, we talked to Nick for about 80 minutes! He had an opportunity to talk to each of his siblings individually! It was so wonderful to hear from him. He sounds great!

Nick loves his new area. He says Mount Shasta is absolutely beautiful! The mountain is right near him, lots of trees and lakes too. His areas includes 5 small towns including the towns of Lake Shastina and Weed. All five towns make up the ward in Mt. Shasta.  So you can imagine that the missionaries are doing a lot of driving these days.  In fact his mileage allowance is 1800 miles a month. He is already worried about mileage this month because last week they drove 400 miles.

He is in the Redding District, so whenever they have district meetings (every Tuesday) they have to drive an hour south to Redding. They usually go on Monday and participate in the P.D. activity and then they stay overnight for the meetings.

They had two baptisms this week and they had to leave their mission for the baptisms.  There is no font in Mt. Shasta so they have to go to Yreka, which is part of the Eugene Oregon mission.  Nick is hoping that they get to go to Yreka frequently!

Nick's most exciting news was that his old companion, Elder McAllister, called this past week to tell him that the Griffith family has committed to baptism. They will be baptized on June 4th. He is pretty excited, they worked with the Griffith's quite a bit. The dad is already a member (although inactive before the missionaries found them), the mom and three kids will all be baptized.  Nick and Elder Brown will be allowed to travel to Cottonwood for the baptism. He is really excited about that!

Nick really loves his new companion. Once again however, he got a new companion who is sick.  Poor Elder Brown has been sick for a couple of weeks and Nick ended up getting it as well.  They are both feeling better and are determined to work hard to build up their teaching pool.  I guess the previous missionaries didn't leave them with very many contacts, so they will be working hard to find new investigators.


Well, that is about all the news that I can think of! It was so fun to talk to Nick and we look forward to hearing from him again next week. He sends his love and appreciation for everyone that has written him. He loves you all.

Liz

Mount Shasta!

Well I am sure that you guys have many questions about Mount Shasta, I will do my best to answer them all.  Well Tuesday I drove up to Redding and met Elder Brown, and got my frist glimpse at the truck, which by the way is beautiful! 

 

Anyways we had zone meeting the next day in Redding, so we spent the night at another Elder's apartment.  It was fine, but I was so nervous to get transferred, meeting Elder Brown as usual when meeting someone you could spend the next six months of your life with was awkward.  But we got through it just fine.  

 

My new zone is a whole bunch of Elders that I have never met before, heard of a few of them, but for the most part don't know a soul!  So shortly after zone meeting we were off to Mount Shasta!  Which was hindered by the fact that Elder Brown has a very poor sense of Direction, and I had no idea where we were going.  After asking for directions at a gas station, we headed straight up I-5 into the Mountains.  The drive that we had was about an hour, and it is super beautiful, right by Shasta Lake, over some very cool bridges, and up to the base of the Mountain.  We headed straight to an appointment where we taught one of our 2 Total lessons this week!  

 

 

It has been a little rough up there, since arriving I have discovered a few important things 1. I had better be careful because before Elder Brown the last 4 missionaries who served here were pretty apostate.  2.  Elder Brown is almost as lost as I am in our area.  3.  I don't blame him our area covers 5 little towns, and the areas in between,  including,  Mt Shasta, Lake Shastina, Dunsmuire, Weed, and McCloud.  Elder Brown has only been here for six weeks more than I have so I'll give him a bit of a brake.

 

 

Once again I have had a pretty sick companion for most of the week, so I have been our little apartment for a long time, so I have gotten to know Elder Brown very well.  I know that he has struggled with a couple of previous companions, he was indeed home schooled, he is from Maine,  He is a very nice little guy,  I like him a lot but we are very different, and we are very much away from the rest of the mission.  I am going to need patience and love, but we will get along great.

 

 

Another great story is that I had a very... odd reception to the ward.  In C-wood pretty much all of the young women ignored the missionaries, here not so.  I think all of the young women at some point either stalked me in the halls, talked about us behind our backs, or came up and introduced themself with a very bogus name (ex. Olga).  So it was an interesting reception to say the least.  The Ward building up here is super cool!  When the went to build it they built it to support the snow that Mount Shasta gets.  By Some mistake they designed it for a ton of snow, but the town only gets like 8-10 feet each winter, all at once.  There is still piles of it on the side of the road, and a little bit in the shady areas.  What Else... I drive a lot, and I really love the Truck, it is a 2011 Chevy Colorado, super nice, and has 8k miles on it.  Good DEAL!

 

 

Mother's Day call will be next Sunday at two or three o clock my time, just to keep you guessing.  Um  I don't know what else to talk about.  I would really love a GPS...  hint...  Still no mail from Blake Kyle or Andrew.  This last week I hit my 5 month mark can you believe it, that is super CRAZY.  Well I love you guys a lot, and look forward to talking to you next week on the phone.  I can't Skype, I think I told you that I could, but President Pendleton changed his mind so oh well. 

 

Love Your Gutz

Elder Ellsworth

Snail Mail Letter

The following letter arrive U.S. post, the library in Mt. Shasta is closed Monday and Tuesday, so we don't expect email until Wednesday!

                                                                                                                                             April 28, 2011

Dear Family,

Well I just wanted to write you and tell you that I am still alive. As you know I am now serving in Mount Shasta, this is the farthest north in the Roseville Mission! I sure serve in a bunch of small towns up here, Weed, Mount Shasta, Lake Shastina, Dunsmuir and McCloud.  This is going to be a crazy area! Plus I am driving. Elder Brown doesn't have a driver's license so I go that job. I am driving a 2011 Chevy Colorado. It is so nice, I love it!It is bigger than I am used to, but I will get used to it!

To get up here you drive an hour north of Redding on I-5.  It leads right through Dunsmir, Mt. Shast and Weed.  I will get used to driving eventually, but for now I always feel lost.  I don't know where anything is.  Shasta lake and Mount Shasta are both beautiful, and I look forward to spending time in this beautiful area.

The church building here was dedicated by Howard. W. Hunter and is built to withstand up to 20 ft of snow!!

The work here is pretty slow, but Elder Brown and I are going to work really hard anyway and find people to teach!  Elder Brown has a cold today so we are trying to get him healthy.

I love all your gutz a bunch!

Love Elder Ellsworth

Mount Shasta!

This week Nick sent a package home through the Christensen's who are members of the Cottonwood Ward.  They were in Provo to attend their daughter's graduation from BYU.  We met up with them on Sunday afternoon and they had great things to say about Nick and his companion Elder McAllister.  They had even gotten permission from President Pendleton to have Nick and his companion stay in their home while they were in Utah, allowing them to avoid commuting between Cottonwood and their apartment in Anderson.  After returning home Monday morning, Brother Christensen called me to let me know that Nick was being transferred to Mount Shasta--Nick didn't know he called.  So this was our email conservation with Nick today:

Dad: Nick, congratulations on your transfer to Mount Shasta.   It looks like it will be a very beautiful area.  I hope the members keep you busy there.  We’re anxious to hear from you today!  Dad

Nick: How did you know about Mount Shasta?

Dad: We have an amazing spy network.  You should remember that from high school.

Nick: Well I am impressed!  Did you talk to President?

Dad: No, Bro. Christensen called me this morning and told me.

It was fun chatting by email for a few minutes this morning.  Here is Nick's letter this week:

Well this is one of the most interesting weeks of my mission thus far!  As you guys know already I am being transferred to the Mount Shasta Ward up in the Redding stake!  This is the farthest north ward in the whole mission and I think that the driving responsibility will be mine, at least that is what Elder McAllister says! 

My new companion is named Elder Brown, and I have heard a lot about him, some good, and one missionary didn't say the best things about him!  He was homeschooled so a little wierd, he also is a very strict Elder, but that is something that I am excited about, I want to go up there and work hard with Elder Brown.  I am excited that it should be nice and cool(er) for the summer.  I keep hearing rumors about the heat here in Cottonwood, so it is probably a good time to take off! 

Well I was super nervous, but now I am just excited, I think that the phone call telling me what was going to happen was worse than the actual news was!  I have enjoyed my time here, and have made some lasting friendships, and really look forward to the day when I will return here.

This week was crazy.  The Christensen's went out of town, and they got permission form President Pendleton for us to house sit for them.  We spent the past four days taking care of their house, and their 5 crazy dogs!  It was really fun to get to spend some time with dogs, it makes me miss our dogs a little bit.  Funny comment, I have met a dog named Olive, and Oliver here in Cottonwood, I did not think there was another dog on the planet named Olive!  The dogs were fun, but the three little dogs were annoying, and sometimes I was tempted to drop kick them!  But I withstood the temptation.

     

Well I really do hope that you guys enjoyed that package, honestly I just threw a bunch of stuff that I had into a box, and called it a present!  Ha ha but I hope you loved it!  Things are just starting to pick up again in Cottonwood, so now is a bummer to get transferred, but I will go where the Lord wants.

Love Elder Ellsworth

P.S. I am not going to let what others say start to form my opinion.  I am just excited to go up there--I hear it is very pretty!

In other news, we got a call this week from the Trapper Trails Boy Scout Council that Nick and his friend Matt Scherbel have been selected to be awarded the BSA Honor Medal for a lifesaving water rescue they were involved in on the Green River last summer while working as high adventure rangers at Camp New Fork in Wyoming.  Nick has the further distinction of being awarded the Honor Medal with Crossed Palms.  According to the BSA's website, The Honor Medal with Crossed Palms may be awarded in exceptional cases to a youth member or adult leader who has demonstrated unusual heroism and extraordinary skill or resourcefulness in saving or attempting to save life at extreme risk to self.  This medal has only been awarded 250 times since its inception in 1938.

The medals will be awarded to Nick and Matt at the council's board meeting in Odgen on Friday May 7.  Since Matt is entering the MTC on Wednesday, April 27, neither of the boys will be in attendance.

Well the I have just one week left until transfers, and the internal conflict continues to grow!  I really enjoy the area, my companion, and the district that I am in!  But the Zone Leaders, and the Ward Mission Leader and His wife are driving me Crazy!  Other than that I am loving it.

 

  I am still not feeling 100%  I have had an annoying cough for the past 3 weeks or so, and coughing up some prety yellow colored gunk, and not sleeping well, but in very good spirits! 

 

I am discouraged a little bit with the work I guess you could say.  We have a large teaching pool of about 12 Investigators, but we only were able to meet with 2 of those last week.  So if we were meeting with them all we would be super busy!  So it is good that we have met with a bunch of Non-members, and I think that I a lot of them have high potential, but I we won't go anywhere until we start meeting with them again. 

 

I also have purchased those weights that I told you about, it cost me an arm and a leg, but if I stop gaining weight it will be very worth it.  I got them for my morning workouts for half of an hour.  So I am very excited to start using them tomorrow morning.  

 

So I have a very funny/ random story.  We found out this week, that a family in our ward, the Christensen's are going to Utah, their daughter is graduating from BYU, so at dinner I just busted out and asked them if I could send you guys a package with them, they said as long is it is not to big it would be fine.  Bro. Chirtensen is a Highway Patrol man.  And Sister Christensen is a nurse.  They are super nice, and I will give them you Cell phones, both of them, and you guys can meet them somwhere or something!  I hope it is not too much of a hassle.

 

  What else is new, I feel bad because I hardly wrote you at all last week, but I don't have that much to say this week!  I have been reading the New Testament these past few weeks, and I was reading last week, in the book of Luke, and I did not understand a parable, so I went to Jesus the Christ to try and understand better, to my delight I was able to understand, so this whole week I have been reading the two side by side, and it has been wonderful to gain that new insight into the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ.  

 

Also just last night Elder McAllister and I finished the Book of Mormon, this morning we started again, it is so great to read it with somebody else, we like to bounce ideas of each other, and it strengthens our companionship! 

 

I am so glad to be here!  This is the Bomb!  This work is so worth it whatever the sacrifice.  Our message saves live, it brings joy and lasting happiness, and Eternal Salvation.  If only the world knew!  That is why Missionary work is so important! 

 

Keep reading the D+C every day it truely will bless you guys, I am a little behind you, in section 10 so I will catch up this week!  Love your GUTZ!!! 

 

Pray for me

Elder Ellsworth

 

 

 

Just a short note this week....

Well today is going to pretty short, the library was all full on the computers except one, and so Elder McAllister and I had to share, plus we were running a little behind anyways!  I am really nervous for the transfers coming up!  I know that the Zone Leaders have requested that I get transferred!  I am a little bit torn, because I really love Elder McAllister, and I want to stay with him for his last transfer, but I am looking forward to a change!   So I do want to stay with McAllister, but I wish it could be somewhere other than C-wood.  OH well I guess.  

 

We had a okay week this week, we picked up 3 new Investigators, but we only ended up teaching like 14 lessons, so a little good, and a little bad, It still continues on the cancelled appointment parade, we are about to head up to Lake California to meet with the Griffith's but last week they cancelled so who knows!  

 

Well I had better wrap this one up for today!  I love you guys a bunch, and I got my Debit Card, but I cannot activate it, also I got the 40 dollars thanks a bunch!  Love Your Gutz!

 

Elder Ellsworth