i feel like i'm flying

December 29, 1013

what can i say that can possible beat last week? it's kind of hard... seeing everyone was so great. i couldn't really imagine how great it was going to feel... and then... we went back to work. i think it was inspiring. i felt so much love and energy... i just wanted to go baptize everyone! still working on that one... will let you know how it goes. so far... there's still about 99% of thailand that doesn't know about jesus christ... i've got my work cut out for me. (but it's pretty awesome that it isn't really my work. and i've got about 200 other people here that are doing the same exact thing)

we were supposed to have a baptism yesterday... didn't quite work out. not because of worthiness or lack of a testimony. but... he doesn't have a visa. or the correct kind of visa. at this point. so... no baptism. kinda a bummer. but he should get it in february! (right when i leave..........)

it was an interesting week this week. we did a lot of contacting. some days... were more effective than others. one day we got six numbers. the next day... zero. it just reconfirms to me the idea that this isn't up to me. 

i felt pretty cruddy on saturday. in fact... i must have looked even worse than i felt, because i had everyone telling me to go home. ouch. i went to bed at 7:00. there once was a time that i thought that 10:30 was early... nothing is the same when you are a missionary. but it was the best night's sleep i've ever had. we woke up the next morning. still needed a new investigator to get balanced key indicators for the week. we were almost late to church (in which we were speaking - again!). i just didn't feel stressed. weird. maybe i was too sick to feel stress. got up. gave my talk. sounded super stuffy. finished. only had one investigator. still not stressed. turns out... a member brought her friend to church today. i don't know how heavenly father does it. but i am firmly convinced that we do all we can... and he knows our goals. we set them, and if we are obedient - he helps us to reach them. i'm even more convinced that he doesn't let US do the finding. he wants us to know that they are HIS miracles. not mine. 

i'm grateful. 

sorry this is so short. i feel like this week flew by... and i don't know where most of it went. 

i have quotes like: "we're going to sing I love to see the temple in a whisper-monster-voice" and the question asked by a 3 year old during a special musical number "dad, why are we not singing?"

i also know that i have added primary pianist to my qualifications in any future ward. good thing the children don't really listen. i could (and did) stop playing... and i don't think they even noticed. 

we talk a lot about our "vision" here in the mission. we want a temple here in thailand. we want it SO BAD!!!! but this last week, i know that i am gaining a stronger vision of who i am and the person that i want to be. and i am so glad that heavenly father helps us to gain that vision. he helps us to see who we are, who we can become, and that he helps us to get there. i know that sometimes it seems a lot more like him dragging a stubborn child... but i am so grateful for his patience and loving-kindness and long-suffering for stubborn children like me. (i recently fell in love with those words in the scriptures)

i also fell in love with john 5.

well. that's all i got for this week! 

i love you all!

:)

love love love

sister ellis

 

her bike was getting fixed... and we had work to do!

 

new proselyting method? just kidding...

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS! From Sister Ellis & the Ellis Family

December 25, 2013 - CHRISMAS!

 

skyping with the family on Christmas!

 

Thailand and gingerbread houses...

Christmas package from home! It arrived just in time

I wrote you a poem... a Christmas poem!

my letter for this week

merry christmas from thailand

December 15, 2013

weelllllllllll! another week has come and gone. where? i do not know. it went with sounds of christmas, bangkok traffic, switch offs, mobs.... and the like.

a few funny things from this week:

1. "i wish i knew the scriptures as well as i knew harry potter" -elder crump

2. "today- you are one day closer to the end (of whatever!)... how did you use the day?"

3. "do i want it as much as i want to breathe?" (look of the story of socrates drowing the young man)

4. "exception for the desk cap is the turbie towel." - sister tilley

5. Jacob 7:8 - the Lord God poured in his spirit into my soul

6. "it's nice to have little bags when you are packing... you just move little bags. i put little bags inside of other bags..." - sister tilley

7. "your nickname is nongjiap. it means baby chick. but like an emu." - brother john

8. "focus on what you can give. not on what you are giving up."

so. that's my week in quotes. but i think a little explanation might be required on a few of them...

we had district meeting this week. (i LOVE them!) and we were giving a short lesson on the christlike attributes. elder crump (who has read harry potter 17 times) was trying to remember a scripture, said (1). it made me think of mom and dad listening to it every day in the car. we also talked about using our time wisely. (2) when i started to kind of freak out. i mean... i still have over a year left. approximately 14 months. why was a getting stressed about using all of my time wisely? it's a funny thing. it isn't my time. and i don't want to waste a single second of it. come to think of it... i actually exercise every day now. when was the last time i did that??? oh wait. i remember. never. i worked at a bakery. that's right... 

i was just thinking about all of the things in life that i want. all of the goals that i have. and i wondered, after hearing that story (3) if i really want it that badly. it definitely puts things into perspective. 

we have a tradition in our apartment. after buying santa hats for 9 baht at big c (the thai version of walmart)... which actually equates to like... 40 cents? we decided that we would ALWAYS wear them while studying at our desks. suffice it to say... the santa hats have gotten plenty of use in the last 2 weeks. the exception you ask? (4) is when sister tilley wears her turbie towel. fun hats all around!

(5) you know when you just like a scripture like none other? 

we had a switch off this week! it was so fantastic! i spent the day with my mtc companion sister peterson! it was a fun reunion... a little stressful... since i still don't speak thai... and we had to teach 2 lessons and not mess everything up. a little nerve wracking... but we survived! and i found the people's houses!!! thai addresses... are something else. they basically are whatever they feel like. they make roads whatever direction they feel satisfies their whimsy. it's irritating. and yet fun at the same time. but! i conquered! i found the elusive less actives house! (the house, not the LA, was the elusive one... strangely enough). when i got my sister tilley back, she was unpacking. and have i yet explained her love of little bags? she loves them. she adores them. and when she was unpacking... she just kept taking little bags out of her bigger bag... (6)

i got a thai nickname. since thai people have LOOOOONG names... they ALL have a nickname. i am officially thai now. a baby emu. (7) but people tell me jiap is a nickname for cute people... ;)

and my last thought of the day. 

FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN GIVE. NOT ON WHAT YOU ARE GIVING UP. always. 

xoxo

sister ellis

2 nephi 20:15. just a tool in God's hands this week.

December 8, 2013

deep breath. ready?

i feel like every one of these letters is like a marathon. see how much you can possibly type in an hour! ready - go! aj;kslfdjaldisnflisahsldigjsaldkhgblaksdnlvihcaoliendc...

that's basically what my fingers feel like. i don't have time to make any mistakes! i don't want to backspace! gahhhhhhh!

it's ok. just stressing over weird things. 

so this week. was awesome. it seems like they just keep getting that way... (i feel as though i have said this before...) 

so. i don't know what the rest of the world knows about thailand. about the mob. but it's interesting. we saw them at church last sunday... they are just trying to make things inconvienient for us missionaries. we were trying to get people to come to church! and when we would call people, they would tell us, "sister, i CAN'T come... the mob!" and that was pretty much it. i don't even really understand the red shirt/yellow shirt differentiation. they just keep my people from coming to church. and they sent us home early monday night because things were supposed to get interesting. we got a call from a recent convert saying that it was too dangerous to go outside. but we didn't see anything. except for fireworks. that was pretty cool. we live pretty close to a bunch of government buildings. so i don't know why they were going off, but we have a pretty cool front-window view. 

other trials in my life. i gave myself rugburns while doing a plank at 6:30 in the morning. i can't decide if it was because i was too sleepy while working out... or if it was because i was sooooo sweaty. i never used to sweat this much. ever. it makes me feel like i'm working out like a boss. 

which reminds me. we went and had dinner with a family. (just keep in mind whenever i say that... it means a very american meal. with an american family. i am sooooo spoiled.) when we were leaving, the youngest daughter (7 years old) asks us how we ride our bikes in skirts. "is it hard?" our reply "it takes skill" as we were driving away... the 15 year old son says, "boss." oh yes. i impressed a 15 year old. 

i've decided to read through the gospels before christmas... our district leader challenged us that whenever we want to know what christlike attributes are, to read the gospels. and to just see what christ did. all day. every day. every single minute. it's amazing to me to read through them and to see what made him so different. from everyone. from me. even as a missionary i get distracted and get so unfocused from what is really important. but there are so many times when i realize how much he helps me. how much he is really involved in this work and in my life. he makes us all better. without his example, i can't be better. it's so interesting to watch the changes that people are willing to make for the gospel. i don't know what i've said about our investigator cherisa. she's phillipina, and learned with the missionaries about a year ago. but had left, gotten out of contact, and just... didn't get baptized. she came back a few weeks ago saying that she wanted to get baptized still. well. we can definitely help you with that! :) we've been teaching her. she was perfect. asks great questions. wants to learn. we're teaching her the commandments... and the word of wisdom. "do you know anyone who can't function without their cup of coffee in the morning?" her response, "me." ohhhhh. but she quit! and then she left. to go to malaysia. til january. but we aren't going to lose her! we call her and talk to her and see how everything is going. it's a really interesting aspect to missionary work. the phone. i kind of hate it. but i know that it is a necessary tool. i have had a lot of really great experiences teaching lessons via phone too. (Strangely enough...) 

We invited another one of our investigators to be baptized at the end of this month. He is from Ghana. And another person that is soooo very ready to be baptized! It amazes me. 

We celebrated "wan pa" this week. We went over to the branch president's house and celebrated a thai father's day with members of the branch. i think you don't actually tell them "happy father's day..." it's more like you just say "i love my dad!" and they get the same message. I LOVE MY DAD! mothers day is the same day as the queens. i'll have to find out when that one is...

friday was so good. i don't even know why. we hopped into a taxi... i'm talking to him. and telling him about baptism (most taxis just nod and smile and laugh at my thai.) this guy... was all over it. i'm a bad person. i want to be better. i want to change.... WHAT??? for reals? so. great lesson in the taxi. we have an appointment with him this week. and then we hopped into another taxi. i got shotgun again. thinking... there is NO WAY i can get two numbers today. bam. interested. WHAT? i got done with the day... feeling very blessed. and so excited! it's a fine line. i know that i'm not able to do any of this by myself. but it is so awesome to see 2 months of hard work and stress yield some kind of fruit! i know that heavenly father has prepared people. and a lot of times it is the people that we don't think about. it's the guy standing on the curb smoking a cigarette. it's the woman that is watching you warily with her shopping cart... they're all over the place. we just need to find them. and invite them. 

one last thing. i know you all think i'm a good cook. if you saw our pancakes yesterday... all belief would be utterly shattered. so that's why i'm sending a pic. in my defense... i don't know how to use a hot plate... and the pan they sent with it... got destroyed by the hot plate that it came with! i think something is very wrong with this picture... (and maybe we should get 1- a spatula and 2- non-stick spray). the world was just not working with us yesterday morning... pancake mix in the microwave... is an interesting alternative. 

alright. that's enough embarrassing myself for this week!
i love you all!

best wishes and best luck in YOUR missionary labors!

:)

sister ellis

 

 

3 pictures from the mtc... my favorite thai missionary serving in temple square! go see her if you can!!! :) love love love love love!!!

 

 

2 months. really??

December 1, 2013

another week come and gone. i think most other missionaries would agree with me. pdays keep popping up. it seems like there are a million of them. and yet... sometimes the days seem to take years to go by. it is an interesting phenomenon - time on a mission. i think the lord may warp it a little so that you are able to get more stuff crammed into every single day.

this week. was a lot like the other ones. 

so, i will try to recap the week adequately. monday we went to ayutaya. it was soooo funny. you'd be driving through the city... and then BAM! big, mossy waht. i was kinda expecting... like jungles. or monkeys. nope. just a huge giant ancient building in the middle of a city. kinda weird... but totally awesome. AND we got to ride an elephant. :D :D :D :D :D :D :D my life was complete at that moment. it's funny to see what they do... they have a sign that says (in thai - 10 baht) or something like that. but then in english, it will say 50 baht. so you only know that it's cheaper if you can read and speak thai. but then again... if you are a tall, white, blonde... they don't believe you then either. so they still make you pay 50 baht. hmpf. i tried to tell them i was thai. i guess you can guess how well that one worked out... 

as we were leaving, the heavens decided to open. i've really only had 2 torrential downpours since i've been in this country... and monday was one of them. it was insane. i have never seen anything like it in my whole life! and i was going to film it... but... my camera died. perfect right? next time. because i'm sure it will happen again. 

tuesday we had zone conference and mission tour. elder wilson is the area seventy over southern asia... and it was SO GOOD! i was taking notes all day long. it felt like a trip back to the mtc. i was definitely in heaven. i believe he is from pocatello. he said that he had to stand up and read something from his dad in front of the school board when he was younger... said he remembered grandpa ellis. small, small world.

we had TWO thanksgivings this year. yes, i know. i am spoiled. i'm pretty sure that missionaries outside of bangkok do not get thanksgiving. because it is only the american people that celebrate it... and there aren't a whole lot outside of the city. but we got two. the one was with a less active that (every single time we called him) would tell us about the HUGE turkey that he was going to deep-fry. i'm not going to lie. it was a stinkin good turkey. i thought that he and uncle dave wallis would get along well... it was really nice to eat a thick, hearty american meal. and potatoes! i didn't realize how much i missed them! idaho is a great place to live... i tell you what! 

so this month we had a goal to have one baptism per companionship. and boy were we close! we only had one companionship in our zone that didn't have one... and i'm not sure about the whole mission yet. we had boat and lipi last week, and the rest of them happened on the 30th. talk about cutting it a little close. good thing no one got stabbed! to celebrate, we had tim tam slams! (thank you harmon for introducing me) 

thai father's day is this thursday. (because it is the king's birthday) so HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all you amazing fathers! and especially mine. i love you so much dad! thanks for everything that you do for me... and for sacrificing to help me be out here and serve the lord!!!

you wouldn't think we would have pizza here. but we do. i think pizza once a week is a little excessive... but that's what has happened for the last 3 weeks. and... weirdly enough... they give you ketchup packets with your pizza. i think i'll pass on that one. but the pizza is pretty good. 

oh boy. i don't even know what else to say! i feel like nephi... and all the other prophets that say that they can only say a hundredth part of the things that they experience!

so i have a couple of scriptures for you. :)

always.

psalm 46:5 (for all my ladies out there)

1 timothy 4:12 (whether that means greenie, youngin, or just trying something new)

i love this work. i love thailand. i feel like i make mistakes... all the time. but i take a lot of comfort in knowing that i can't mess up heavenly father's plan that much. it is all going to work out. even if i'm like the little kid in the kitchen that makes messes as much as they help... i think he would want me there helping more than doing anything else. i know that he needs me here. i know that heavenly father needs us all exactly where we are. he plans things so perfectly! i am always amazed at the people we will meet, the things that people say, how prepared they are to receive the gospel... it shows me how well the lord can do his own work. i just feel blessed to be a part of this. 

i hope you all have the best week ever! (and that they keep getting better and better and better!) 

What a week...

November 24, 2013

what. a. week.
so. i'm going to work backwards. otherwise my brain might explode.
yesterday. (was a sunday here)
we had two of our investigators confirmed at church! (the same one who got stabbed the day before his last baptismal date...) they are so stinking cute. last night we had a fireside... which was so amazing. i had to sing a solo. less than amazing. but the pianist made up for it all... so i think that all
those people will still come back to church.

Saturday was crazy as well. we went to go meet the parents of one of our investigators that is 15. so she needs her parents permission to get baptized. apparently they are fairly buddist. and as of yesterday she can get baptized... when she's 18. which is better than last time apparently. (the answer then was never...) we had boat and lipi's baptism. it was so great. lipi got up to bear his testimony and i couldn't understand a single thing he said except for "tin ten" which means "excited". (i can't ever understand him for some reason...) but his smile and the spirit that i felt made up for the lack of understanding. they know it's true. they've changed a lot for the gospel. i came into their story at the very end... after they had stopped smoking, drinking, drinking coffee and tea, started living the law of chastity... and taken out all of his 5 earrings. they changed everything for the gospel. and i am so grateful that i got a chance to be even a little bit involved in their story! they are so great.

so. we have officially been "those sisters" this week. my companion, sister tilley, got sick on Saturday night. she woke up up Monday with a fever. so the official mandate from the powers that be was "let her sleep". i got in trouble for letter her sleep too late... i knew my real orders though. ;)
we got back home on Tuesday night... calling the elders to bring her some gatorade. since there was no way we were going anywhere. they show up at 10:00. yup. someone's going to be late home... they gave her a blessing... and although she didn't get up and start running around... i know it helped. her dad came on tuesday. he was here for business, and normally... family just doesn't show up in thailand. so we got to eat dinner with him. they basically adopted me as family for the night. it was a good homey feeling.

tuesday we went crazy. it was one of those days when all of our plans fell through. we literally had nothing that we could do other than contacting. so we did. and it turned out great! we ended up seeing three of our less actives and having another 7 lessons. don't even know where they came from... but it was a great day. 

 

Thursday we got to meet with our good friend puja. have i told you about her yet? she is from nepal, teaching english to business students at one of the colleges. she came to english to see how we taught english to thai people. and of course... we did what we do best and invited her to come unto christ. and because she's international... we get to teach her! she's awesome. and so spiritual. she just seems to soak in the things that we teach her. it's so great. we had an amazing lesson with her, and felt the spirit so strongly... then we went and got lunch with her afterwards. she's one of those people that i want to be friends with forever. whether or not she wants to get baptized or not. but i want her to soooooooooo bad!!!

 

we had dinner with the nelson's on Thursday night. i'm really soaking the international stuff up... because i'm probably going to go to the boonies later... where they speak NO english at all. so i'm going to live up eating the american food and speaking english...as much as i possibly can.  our investigator called us up at 7 (our appointment was for 7:30) saying that he was already at the church. the problem with bikes and thailand... is that you don't get anywhere fast. it took us another 15 minutes to get to the church. sometimes planning is a blessing... and sometimes planning... is just hopeful thinking. 

 

on the way home from our lesson... i'm cruising along  on my bike and... it feels weird. i look down... and my front tire. is flat. like absolutely no air. at all. dead. (or sia cheewid as you say in thai) so we walked about 2 miles home. good thing that it was on one of the busiest streets ever. and good thing i look like a thug. no one would even try to beat me up. 

 

that's one of the funniest things here. people don't have a problem telling you you're fat. or that that you have man-hands. (that happened AGAIN!) the first thing most people ask is "are you an atlethe?" yes... i am an "ATH-lete." they can't say it right. they do give it a good try though. 

other things i've learned:

i need to work on staying WITH the peloton... i'm not trying to be in a break away... (i get so focused on beating the wind... i forget to stay close to my companion some times...)

making chocolate chip cookies is difficult when you do not have measuring cups. 

you can finish the book of mormon really fast when you read it for an hour every day. you also tend to find it like reading a best-seller. what's going to happen in the next chapter??? is this the one when shiz's head gets chopped off? my favorite! 

9/5(c) + 32 = fahrenheit

it still feels like i'm breathing water. 

God prepares people to receive his gospel. every single day. in thailand even. even when they are sitting in their shop where they sell coconuts and you drive by and decide to stop and talk to him. he looks at you like you are nuts. you ask him to be baptized. and he says yes. (stunned look at companion - this actually happens???) alright then. 

 

it's a great work. 

i am so lucky to be here and to be able to serve.

keep up all the good work wherever you are called!!!

love you all!

sister (jess) ellis

Tomorrow is one month. In thailand.

November 17, 2013

 

so for the weekly review! 

there is a sign on the door of the internet ron (ron = store) - you basically say food-store (restaurant), internet-store... i like the simplicity of the words most of the time. 

the sign: it says... something in thai. i don't understand. but then it says 10 hours for 80 baht. that's like a little over $2. it made me think about josh and brian with $2 and unlimited internet time....

our mission has an facebook page! i know they post a lot about the new missionaries, but if anyone is interested in what's going on... you can check it out!
www.facebook.com/thailandbangkokmission

so our mission president wants us to finish the book of mormon by christmas. i'm definitely on my way to getting it done! i am in 3 nephi... which is such a great place to be. my favorite scripture the other day was 3 nephi 12:13. and thinking like a missionary.... we stand out. i used to wonder why heavenly father would send a tall blonde amazon to a land of... not-so-tall, not-so-blondes. there are always people that see us... "oh yeah! i see the two "poo-ying" (women) riding their bikes down tiwanon all the time!" yup. that's us! you teach about jesus christ? yes. ohhhhh. sometimes that's as far as it goes. other times, creepy taxi drivers ask me for my phone number. good thing i have people in the car that know more thai then i do. so they give them the number for the elders. gotta love trainers...

but we are different. we are sent somewhere to stand out. something that i've learned over this last week is that missionary work is not for a bunch of clones. it isn't because he wants us to be a specific missionary and teach a specific way. i need to come up with my own words and my own way of teaching. which, i have learned... often requires a few bumbles and "pood-pits" (things said wrong) i'm pretty sure how much everyone knows how i hate making mistakes. and how i avoid looking stupid at all costs. it isn't a commodity i get to have here. i talk to people. and i sound like a baby. a very cute baby apparently. my favorite thing was that i thought that i would get away from all of the "sweety" and "honey" type terms of endearment.... i think the fact i can't talk and just sit there  and smile makes people say it more. "na-rak" means cute/loveable... i get called it a lot. 

it's great being a missionary. it's cool when people look at you and know that you are different. that you live differently than they do. and when they WANT that too. 

 

so. being a missionary is all about the service. even when you walk into the church and get asked to do a special musical number for a wedding/funeral. you still do it. i just pray that my sub-par piano skills (of which i regret every single moment i ever wasted sitting at the piano... which is a LOT) still manage to invite the spirit. the bride was crying... so i either did a good job or i ruined her wedding. i like to think it was the first one...

we have some pretty awesome investigators. boat and lipi were supposed to get baptized... yesterday. we ended up moving it again because he had to get his cast off of his hand. (did i mention that he was shanked the first time they were going to get baptized? i don't remember.) he just got the cast off saturday. they'll be getting baptized this saturday. we told him no soccer until AFTER this baptism. just to cover our bases... then we have another investigator named cherisa. she is amazing. we gave her a date last sunday... and she is so excited to get baptized! i just can't believe that people fall into your lap like this! she's getting baptized in december. 

we had another interesting visit. with a man that wasn't so interested in the gospel.... but he sure does love uncle sam. he says that he will always put americans first. since uncle sam was so good to him. he was a hoot. and told us to call him uncle vis. alright. this really is too much. i was thinking about all of our investigators... donut. cake. boat. may. see. soup. these names here are ridiculous. but i love them so much! (the people...)

 

last night was loy krathong. it is a festival... and i don't really know much else about it. but we went and put little bread boats into the water... and sent some prayers/wishes out with them. only to watch them get devoured by gigantic catfish. there is a reason people don't swim in this water... you can't see anything... and you would most likely get eaten. but it was great. we went and sang hymns for a while and then invited people to be baptized. the whole time they had floating lanterns rising up into the air... so the sky was full of them! we sang a little "at last i see the light..." and then went back home to do some numbers. 

i can't think of a whole lot else to say... it is being a missionary! the hardest, and yet most rewarding thing i have ever done in my whole life! and i can say that with complete confidence! the only thing that i think is easier... is that i actually get 8 hours of sleep every night. with makes the rest of the stuff much more manageable! i can definitely see WHY bedtime is so important. there are nights when i know that i want to go to bed before 10:30. what is happening to me??? ;)

i love you all. thank you for your love and support! in everything! 

i'm sending prayers your way! 

sister ellis