on another note, just to remind you of what i have to deal with on a daily basis... we have 6 elders in our district. they amuse themselves at dinner by slurping jello. like whole. as in like jello in a cup that is probably 16 ounces or so, full of jello. which they flip over on to their plate and then *wwfooop!* jello gone. the less successful times include a lot of gagging a choking. but a few of our elders have gotten pretty good at making the jello simply disappear. elder sugihara managed to eat 7 jellos.
yeah.
a couple of thoughts from this last week. there is so much to tell!
we've been singing like crazy this last week prepping for the general RS broadcast... there have been some really good times. and some less than ideal moments. like the time they told us that we all needed to wear jewel-toned collared shirts. as in the exact type of shirt i did NOT bring to go on a mission to bangkok, thailand. that was a little stressful. so the $20 charge on my card... that was the beautiful shirt i will be wearing for that. but all is well!
in choir we've been talking a lot about the songs we're singing. i'm not going to spoil them for you... because they are going to be SAWEEEEEEET! but i did come away from practice this morning with one very definite thought.
"be who and what you committed to be."
that includes going on missions, going to school, getting a job, and basically this whole entire life. we came here because we were committed to seeing it through. it's our job in life to be the people that we told god we would be. and become what we came here to become. he's gonna help us the whole time.
i've been cruising through the book of mormon - it's my goal to finish the whole thing before i leave in *gasp* 2.something weeks! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
i made it through alma in 4 days. i think that's definitely a record for me. but it definitely has made me more aware of the story of the book of mormon. it's pretty fantastic. and i NEVER realized how completely ALL ABOUT missionary work it is! i mean... you turn around and mormon goes off telling another story about another amazing missionary! i know that i have been lapping it up. i mean, there is no better way to prepare for a mission than reading about great missionaries! i think my favorite was getting to helaman and reading about nephi and lehi. i think i just used to skip over those guys. a lot. i mean - they pretty much converted ALL of the lamanites. in the course of just a few years. and it all started with just one missionary companionship. holy cow. not that i plan on converting a whole country or anything... but it just shows you what the power of the lord can do. it also shows the importance of conversion. we keep going back to this same elder bednar talk about the "character of christ" - but he talks about conversion. he talks about the people of ammon, and how they had a knowledge of the truth (aka testimony) but it was those who had a knowledge and were converted to the gospel that never fell away. so it takes both of them.
"there's no such thing as an unmoved mover"
our devotional last night was from don r clark (born in rexyburg idaho!)
it was fantastic.
he started off with a quote.
"first you run with your heart, then you run with your mind, THEN you run with your feet."
this missionary thing is a thing of heart.
i'm not going to get it all right the first time. i gotta leave my brain out of it and truly learn to rely on my heavenly father through all of this.
but he gave some promises. and i think that this applies to all missionaries. with a name badge and without.
D&C 84:88 he will be with us. always.
D&C 31:2-3, 100:1-2 our families will be blessed for our service.
D&C 18:15-16 real JOY. "this work only works when it is based on LOVE"
D&C 31:5, 62:3 forgiveness comes through serving God
D&C 24:12 "talk to as many people as you can each day!" - he will make us strong when we choose to open our mouths. he will put the words that we need there.
Matt 4:19 to be a great fisherman:
D&C 31:5, 62:3 forgiveness comes through serving God
D&C 24:12 "talk to as many people as you can each day!" - he will make us strong when we choose to open our mouths. he will put the words that we need there.
Matt 4:19 to be a great fisherman:
we must know where the fish ARE, know what they NEED, know what they LIKE to eat, and know what they WANT.
"fisherman who catch fish are the ones with their lines in at the right depth: 80% of the fish are in 10% of the water." we have to know where they are.
Heavenly Father knows where the fish are. (John 21:6)
he said something else. our nets don't have to be empty. if we ask our Heavenly Father, he will help us fill our nets.
"We need you to be what is needed"
funny story. so there are some sisters here from thailand that are going to serve in temple square. they are here learning english. she was wearing a scarf yesterday. so we asked her if it was hot in thailand. her laugh sounded especially ominous. (as ominous as a cute asian high pitched laugh can sound) she went on to tell us how it is pretty good from september to january... but then told us that it is so hot from april to august. ugh. sister peterson said "i'm gonna dieeee!" then this cute little sister (who is probably 5' nothin) says "not die..... but almost!"
how reassuring.
we haven't heard anything about our visas yet... they usually don't have problems with the thai visas. we've been hearing a lot about reassignments from brazil, argentina and even some in denmark. but we don't even get out flight plans til two weeks before we leave. (Ahgsdfaafsdhshlals that's this week! maybe.) if not, we'll probably find out as it gets closer to leaving.
alright. i think that is all for now.
i love you tons and tons and tons!
fight that good fight! finish strong!
loves!
sista ellis
too much rock for one hand
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