JANUARY 18TH, 2014
Our senior missionaries got together on a Saturday morning to help two sisters with yard work. It was a little cool, but warmed up as we worked.
How many men does it take to fix a gate? Apparently, it takes all four - three for observation and instruction, and one to do the manual labor.
Sisters Ellis, Dennis, and Yerkes, cleaning up in their unique yard.
They fixed a yummy lunch for all of us. We women ate in their cute kitchen.
The men chose to eat outside, with the dogs hoping they either spill, or share.
JANUARY 19, 2014
We went to the Mission Home to welcome a new sister who just came from Peru. Sisters Dennis, Cisneros, Martin, and Elder McBride
Elder Wayne and Sister Geri Cottle, Sister Marilyn and Elder Neil Yerkes
Elder Jeff and Barbara McBride, and us, the Ellis's
Sunday, Jan 19, 2014
Our Sundays are pretty busy. On two of them, we have meeting at 8:00 with the Ward Mission Leader, Elders, Sisters, and others and then we go back home until our 1:00 block time. Ward Council is after one of those. Our church house is about 10 minutes away. The other Sundays we have 11:30 meetings, so we stay for church after that. The RS president, the WML, and the Bishop have given us names of people to visit who don't, or can't, come to church. We visited with a lady last week who will be 100 in June. She says her people don't die; they just keep living. Her sister just passed away at 105. We have visited with two others who are losing their sight; they are both legally blind. One of them just lost her husband a few months ago, lost a son when he was about 24, and seven months later, lost a 16-year-old son. He went on a Scout trip to Yellowstone. They went out on canoes that were supposed to be tied together with 50-foot ropes, and all were supposed to have life jackets on. Well, the boats weren't tied together, and some didn't have the jackets on. A storm came up and some of the canoes capsized. Her son and a leader were in a canoe and looked back to see a Scout in the water. They tried to go back, and when the canoe went sideways in the water, it capsized. Two Scouts and two leaders drowned, or froze in the water; her son was one of them. Then, when their daughter was 60, she passed away, so she has one son left. She's an amazing woman, though, and we loved visiting, and getting to know, all of them. Between those assignments and going with the full-time Elders and Sisters in our ward when they need us, our schedule keeps us hopping. We love being missionaries, love it here, love the other senior couples we serve with, LOVE our Mission President Miller and his wife, love our nice, comfortable apartment, and love the Lord. We've had some neat experiences meeting people we feel God has put there for us to talk to, and we keep praying that they'll call the number on the 'pass-out' card, as Ray calls it! The time is going by quickly. We have been here one month, and a week and a half. Elder & Sister Ellis :)
JANUARY 20, 2014
One of the wonderful ladies, Eleanor Wimberly, we've met while doing the visiting we've been asked to do. We were invited to go to the temple with her to be sealed to her husband, who passed away last year. Elder Ellis was able to be proxy for her husband to be sealed to his parents. We felt it a privilege to be invited, and she was so happy. We had a little luncheon afterward at her home. We LOVE her!!, as with all the other incredible people we've met.
This is her beautiful home. The 'grass' is actually artificial turf.
JANUARY 21, 2014
Helping Sisters Cisneros and Martin get loaded to go to El Paso.
Elder Ellis gets a big hug from Elder Magalai.
JANUARY 23RD, 2014
Our days can fill up so easily with either things we have planned, or calls to go with the Elders or Sisters to visit someone. Tuesday, President Miller asked if we would take a Sister to Las Cruces today, so we did. We picked her up and her things, and were on the road at 8:00. We pulled in there at 11:00, ate lunch, and got in the car and drove back, stopping for gas in a small town, and got back to the Mission Office at 4:30. There's not a lot to see in that three-hour drive, although it was nice to see what's beyond Albuquerque. We do hope we stay right where we are for the whole 18-months of our mission. We love it here and love everything we do. Two Elders stopped by tonight about 5:30. I asked if they'd eaten - 'no'. Did they have a dinner appointment? - 'no'. Could I fix them something to eat? - 'you don't need to do that'. Well - I scrambled some eggs with onion, green and red bell pepper, and cheese, and they put them in tortillas - two each, plus one of them ate the rest of the eggs. They had banana bread, milk, and cookies for dessert. It was fun to have them 'stop by', and I'm glad we had something to feed them, and that they liked! They're cute Elders, and good missionaries. Tomorrow, and every Friday morning, we have District meeting from 10:30 to noon, and this Saturday is Stake RS conference, with three different times for workshops, and the classes sound good. One of them is about being a good Gramma, so I'm going to that one for sure! I have the cutest, 70-year-old woman going with me. She and her husband are not active, and I'm so excited to take her with me. She's so full of energy - a little crazy! She said she has ADD or something, but she's a lot of fun to visit with. We've met some wonderful older sisters. They all love to have us come, and it's a very nice part of our calling. We also try to Skype with family when we can. Every Wednesday we go to a care center and help give a Bible story, prayer, and song to one man and about seven women. It's fun. Ray played his guitar while the two of us :) sang the opening and closing songs. I don't think any of them are members, so they don't know any of the hymns. We also sing some Primary songs, which they don't know are what the children in our church learn to sing. The first Thursday of every month we fix lunch for about 40 people for their Zone leader training, and every six weeks, on a Monday, we fix lunch for the new missionaries. Last time there were eight, and next time there are twenty coming. Then, on Tuesday morning, we help with a light breakfast, then go into the chapel for testimonies from the missionaries who are going home, and then they announce transfers. That seems like a very traumatic time for them. Lots of emotions. Remember - we are ALL missionaries, wherever we go. Just read the scriptures and Preach My Gospel, and anything else that helps you learn the Gospel, then pray to find people, and God will do the rest. We've had so many experiences of meeting people who we feel God has put there for us to talk to. They told us in the MTC that it used to be that the missionaries were finding people, but now they are finding us. If you think about all the wonderful things about the Church, and all the blessings now and forever, there is so much good to share with those who don't know anything about what we believe. Elder and Sister Ellis :)
The sign behind this Sister says to beware of rattlesnakes - at a rest stop!
This is Las Cruces, and the apartment building a senior couple lives in who were in the MTC the same time we were.
