Boxing Day

Christmas just happened!!  I got to Skype home which was awesome!  The Cox family invited us to come over Christmas day to eat dinner and Skype my first evening in Apple Valley.  They were awesome to let me do that.  It was weird to call home, it didn't feel like I was gone at all when they answered it just felt like we were facetiming and nothing was out of usual.  It was a good time and we had chill vibes.  It was weird to see so many people all there at my house.  It was funny to see my brother pretend to steal all my stuff cause I know he ain't gon touch none of it.

An interesting lesson I had with Elder Reilly while on exchanges happened this last Wednesday. It was with one of our investigators named Mama Nita. We read from Alma 37 and had a very spiritual time. She confided in us her fears, she has open heart surgery coming up in January and asked us to pray for her. We invited her to church and that going to it will bring her peace. She ended up not coming but we will not give up our efforts!!

While we were out knocking doors one day.  We ran into this guy as he was downing a bottle of bourbon.  We got into a conversation with him and he told us he was a milk truck driver and his work gave him eggnog to get rid of.  He offered it to us so that we could use it and give to our church.  We gladly took it but the second we got home we were both checking the ingredients looking for the alcohol.  All of it was non-alcoholic and we both just celebrated in our hearts for the free eggnog

Tender Mercies of the Lord come when we do what he wants us to do.  Missionary work during the Christmas season is quite the experience.  I've seen so many miracles the past month here.  I bear testimony of the realness of the work.  It is incredible the way it has changed me so far.

Elder Ellsworth

Psalms 23 4-6

December 18

Elder Ellsworth continues to be a man of few words. We did get a wonderful letter in the mail this week.

“The work goes well here. We don’t have many planned lessons and we do quite a bit of tracting. We have a few investigators but mostly just one. I had an experience yesterday while  on some exchanges with other Elders. While bearing testimony of the Book of Mormon, I thought of her needing a marking in Moroni 10:3-5. I had bought these colored pencils previously and asked her to mark those verses. She told me afterwards how meaningful that was and thanked me. It was a very spiritual lesson I taught with Elder Perrine. I feel the Spirit strong here in the high desert. I still strive for the spirit in my lessons and my studies.”

From the Weekly Email:

Just a heads up, it will be short.

This week Elder Dietrich and I spent a lot of time contacting and tracting.  We were able to fulfill the Mission wide goal of 10 contacts a day for the whole week.  In Wrightwood I had never been able to do it because of the lack of people but here in Apple Valley everyone is home and are plenty nice to us.  Every now and again there are unpleasant folk but that's okay.  Here I have grown so much.  The Shack is quite the humbling experience.  And I get plenty of teaching experience while I'm at it.  

The Ranchos ward has been very warm to me my entire stay while I have been here.  I seek to serve them as I teach others.  Being a missionary is awesome!!  It's boring sometimes.  It's long sometimes.  But it's always worth it.  You just have to get past the bad times to see the Good.

Elder Ellsworth

Calif is on fire!

First an apology.  Last week was Elder Dietrich's ( my comp ) Birthday and we went out to treat ourselves and went to Ninja Sushi.  Just a note, I have never had sushi before and haven't had much fish in my life so my stomach is weak against.  I felt terrible afterwards and was kinda out of it.  When I was emailing last week I honestly just sat there and stared at the screen for like 20 minutes straight and did nothing.  I feel better now.

This last week we had an awesome exchanges with Elder McChesney.  An awesome day that started with the Ward Christmas party.  Later we went out talking to people that we are teaching, one of which is Mama Nita.  My black mama who we taught a lesson to and as we read Alma 36 we felt the spirit strongly.  We explained what the meanings of what we read were and had an awesome time.  

This Christmas season as a missionary is a great time to be a missionary.  I invite y'all to check out the Light the World initiative that the Church does.

Elder Ellsworth

From a separate email:

"Rest assured about the fires down here, the high desert doesn't burn, just the mountains for the most part. , so don't worry about me :).  It's crazy, so far I think the peak was 6 different major fires, Cali is on fire!

A very short weekly email!

Hey y'all

This week we had an awesome experience in following the spirit.  There was a evening that we had with a returning less active.  She confessed her sorrows with her family and her marriage.  We felt lost on what to say to her.  After a short silence we felt prompted to simply give her the Proclamation to the World: The Family.  She was excited to read it when we explained what it was about.  We left her a copy and left and have yet to follow up.  I will report on that next week.  

Sorry for the short email,  didn't have a lot of time 

Elder Ellsworth

In a recent pen and paper letter Elder Ellsworth made the comment:

"Being a missionary is easy, being a good missionary is hard! I'm striving for the latter with all my heart and soul and will be a great missionary."

Apple Valley - week 2

The week was awesome here in Apple Valley!!  We got so much work done here and I got to meet so many different people so far.  They all seem so inviting and I got to make friends here already!  Last week I moved in and barely was settled before I leave everyday.  We have so many investigators and a ton of others who all want our time and attention.  It is amazing as a missionary to have so many things to do that we have our heads spinning.

Getting here to the Shack was very humbling, it is known as the "worst apt. in the mission" but putting up Christmas decor made it so much homelier.  It feels like my own even though I know I'll leave it someday.  In my new area I have a number of investigators here.  Nicole is our most prominent one, she was described by her own husband, who is a member, as "the driest Mormon he has ever met".  She has a long running experience with the LDS and even married an RM and is just now moving towards baptism.  There was a date set for Dec. 2 but that has been pushed back to possible the 2nd Saturday of January.  I met her once and she is a super nice lady.  Another investigator is Mama Nita, and she insists on that we call her mama.  She loves the Book of Mormon but isn't really keen on coming to church.  

We also have a large list of Potential Investigators that is in constant flux.  We are constantly going through the list, this past week one that we crossed of was a guy named Rich.  He bible bashed us for an hour hardly letting us speak and we kinda just sat there as listed all these "sources" (mostly "documentaries" and anti-mormon material) and each point he made we tore down with a short sentence.  At the end we invited him to research himself other than the opinions of internet people, by just reading the actual Book of Mormon.  A short testimony later we left and scratched him off pretty easily.  

Missionary work here is very different from Wrightwood.  I'll always miss the people and the place but I'm excited to have a change of pace.  Everything is going great and pray for me as I continue.

Elder Ellsworth

Apple Valley

Transfers were today and I met my next companion, Elder Dietrich.  He is from Bountiful, UT and an awesome dude.  This is his 3rd transfer and younger than me.  It's funny with missionary culture.  Your trainer is your Dad, and your first non-trainer comp is your Mom.  So Elder Dietrich and I are each others mothers.  How that works I don't know but it does :P  My new missionary apt. is very small and is known for being the worst apt. in the entire mission, it's name is "The Shack" and we have a garage attached that is bigger than our whole apartment.  I don't have much time so I will just share a small missionary story.  We got to take Brianna to the temple for the first time which was dope!  Bishop Jorgenson did the baptizing while Pooley and I witnessed and also did the confirming.  The temple we went to is the Redlands temple which is a mini-temple.  We had to make an appointment for baptisms.  We had an awesome time there and got taken out to an Indian restaurant afterwards and I tried Goat for the first time.  The Leblancs are the ones who took us and paid for us.  With the Leblancs I have tried a number of interesting foods for the first time including: Snails, Lamb, Duck, Shrimp, and Goat.  It was a cuisine tour.  

Elder Ellsworth

Mom's note: Funny thing is that Elder Ellsworth never mentions where he is being transferred to. Luke had asked him in an email for his new address, so that is how we know where he is heading.

Visiting with the Bradys!

This weekend we had the pleasure of visiting with Brother Brady and his daughter. They are members living in Wrightwood where Elder Ellsworth has been serving for almost 5 months. It was so wonderful to visit with them and hear about their experiences with our son! Elder Ellsworth is doing great. The challenges of serving in a small town have been great, but they have helped him grow as a missionary. We are sure grateful to the Bradys and other members like them who take care of the missionaries!