10/30/17

We killed a goat!  I’m doing well--still a bit disturbed by killing a goat.  I just have to thank you for birthing me in the city :) so thank you :)  We were having a zone party, so we got a live goat to eat.  It tasted really good but I haven’t seen anything killed, ever!  It was kind of sad.  It was screaming and whatnot but you know it tasted good. So that was today and now for this week.

So, we left our bikes at a member’s place on Wednesday so we could take a tro to the BUSH.  We got there and came back but we had mid-week.  So then we didn’t pick them up.  They were locked and I just wanted to go home and so we did.  Then we get a call at 10 in the evening and we have to go and walk to pick up our bikes because the member thought people were going to steal them and then he was mad and that wasn’t fun but we went back to him and he laughed it off so it was all okay in the end! 

We went to clean and as I was getting out of the taxi the phone fell out of my pocket and so now it’s lost :( but all is still well! 

On Sunday President Simpson came to my branch and he taught us some really cool things and answered questions in the investigators class.   So, it was cool.  During that class we read about Christ’s life! When we got to the part where he looks down on the cross and says "father forgive them for they know not what they do" (probably should get the exact quote but short on time)  It just hit me that we are literally the reason he was put on the cross! So, thank goodness, he said forgive them! and we also know we need to repent to gain that forgiveness--- but yea that’s my thought :)) love you all and I got to go :)

-Elder Ellsworth

10/23/17

I had a great week. It rained so hard like 4 days this week. Luckily, we were still able to teach. It actually rained at least once a day the past few weeks. I love the rain. It’s just funny that people basically act like it’s a natural disaster in terms of teaching.

 There is one investigator who is HILARIOUS! We can barely teach because she laughs so much at what I do. Like yesterday I was hiccuping (mom, I see why you don’t like them) but she was getting so mad because every two seconds she would hear it. Then I held my breath but I couldn’t even hold it because she was making fun of me! We taught her twice this week but she didn’t come to church! Stubborn girl! She’s funny and will come this week. Her name is Dorah like Dora the Explorer.

I bought a sweet tie. 

 Ghana is sweet the people are sweet and prepared and I am having a ton of fun and my companion is doing amazing! He keeps me going out and having fun :) I didn’t take many pictures :)

Love you all

 -Elder Ellsworth

10/16/17

Well something that I forgot about the last couple weeks was my story about going to pick up my companion from the mission home. So, it started out that me and another Elder in my apartment are training. (His name is Elder Thomas.)

So, we set out on our journey to Accra to spend the night so we can wake up early on Tuesday and be at the Mission Home early. So, we travel and travel and travel and then boom we are in New Town just like that! (New Town is where we needed to go) and Elder Thomas says he knows where to go so I trust him because, you know me, I’m a trusting guy. So, we enter into another tro tro going into new town and we go and we go and we go and we pass a church building. I say “that’s cool”, and then we keep going for a little while. Finally, we reach a big building and he leads me to a staircase and we walk up to the third story. We knock on the door and a lady answers and we were just like--oh no! either we have the wrong place or these Elders haven’t read their white handbooks in a while. It turns out the missionaries moved about 6 months ago! So, being missionaries, we talked to the lady and her name is Alice and we didn’t have any restoration pamphlets on us so we gave her a whole Book of Mormon and took down her number to give to the missionaries there to hopefully go and teach her. It was pretty funny.

 So, that was our adventure this week.

 Not too much happened. We worked and by the end of the week we didn’t reach our goals but we will continue to work this week and improve ourselves daily :)

 -Elder Ellsworth

Our apartment Flooded

10/9/17

If you knew who you were in the pre-mortal life the hairs on the back of your neck would stand up

~~GENERAL CONFERENCE

ONE YEAR DOWN!!

Traditional burning of a white shirt for his 1 year anniversary in the field.

If you knew who you were in the premortal life the hairs on the back of your neck would stand up :)) 

~~GENERAL CONFERENCE

This week was pretty much the same as last week and I have no time again….

Last week after picking up my son (my trainee) we couldn’t get a taxi and so the office worker, Mathew, had to drive us to circle (big market to get a tro tro).  We get to circle get all our bags out of the car and my son is now walking with his bags and its raining and some super crazy dude comes over and tries taking his bag from him to try and get some money from us for carrying his bag.  We were like no! So my son is wrestling with this dude for like 30 seconds and I’m like “Oh no!  He’s going to want to get back in the car and say take me home!”  But we get the bag away and walked to our tro tro very calmly after that experience.  The tro then took 5 hours (not really--only 3) but my point is--it was about 10:15 by the time we got in the apartment AND get this!  NO LIGHTS!  Power off! (power outage). What a warm welcome for my son.  But he was fine with it because he’s a baller.  So, the next 3 nights, again, lights off, lights off, lights off.  So for my sons first 3 nights in the field it was lights off! Such a baller.

This week:

On Tuesday we had 6 new investigators, all in one day!  What a day! On Wednesday we tried to find a new investigator in the BUSH! Remember, no addresses or street (dirt road) names.  I got good pictures of my comp but it took us 3 hours to find her!  We passed by her turn, which you can’t see and we didn’t know because we had no guide.  We were with the branch mission leader, who is hilarious!  (His conversion story is even funnier but that will be another time.)  We finally find her house after we walked a mile past it.  Someone was like, “Oh I know her, she’s just here--and we walk for a MILE again.  (Ghana people :)) We find her we have a sweet lesson and then we walk back to the main road.  We get there and I’m trying to put a marker up for the next time we come and the branch mission leader grabs a plastic bag and sticks his whole arm inside a bush and leaves it there.  I ask him “What are you doing?” He walks away and says "Don’t worry I have a sense of humor”  ??

The Mission is sweet the Book of Mormon is true--read it!!!!

10/2/17

We just got pictures this week.  No time for a weekly letter.  He is training a Missionary right out of the MTC.  Elder Alston from Springfield, Oregon.

 Elders Alston and Ellsworth

 Arriving "home".

General Conference egg...not as good at General Conference Cheesecake or Cinnamon Rolls

 Some kind of moth??  That's his shoe, for size.

 This is the chapel.  It’s not dedicated yet so I think it’s okay to take a picture of it. 

I WISH I could tell about my week.  About and the temple and picking up my companion and the power outages for three nights straight but I have no time.  Other Elders need to get us the computer.  I’m sorry !!!

9/25/17

 This was a good week. We were able to have a baptism for Paul. He was a former investigator who came back to town last week. Hopefully he will be able to come to the temple with the branch this coming Saturday. We have to make sure we prepare him for that as well :)

But overall, the week was pretty good. It just went by fast.

This was Elder Skog's last week in the field so it went by like a blur. It’s all well. I will miss Elder Skog. He was a good friend and I definitely learned a lot from his actions.

So, the transfer news: Duh duh duhhhhh. I will be going on transfer to an area called Asamanketwa. (aus (like the British version of saying butt a bad way) -ah-maughn-kit-t-wa.--It will be so fun to see how you say things when I get back :)) It’s just the neighboring area that the sisters used to be over. I’m white-washing it and on top of that I’m training! woo who! Super ton of work to do now! Yay! If you can’t tell from my cyber tone, I’m really scared and anxious but I know for sure President Simpson has received revelation and I’m happy for the opportunity that will send me to my knees a ton :) I’m so excited to work, you don’t even know!
All is well :)

But as for this week the only interesting thing that happened was I saw a dead dog right before I came in to email, so that was cool. It will probably be gone when I go back out--somebody will have a good dinner tonight #Ghana. :)

I’m alive and well and happy to start working hard.

The little girl in the picture is my best friend ever

Also, I look like a young Snape.

9/18/17

This week was good.  We were able to have a sweet Sacrament meeting. 

But on Saturday we were invited over to the senior couple’s house for dinner and right before we ate, the Mission President and his wife show up!  So, we’re all like shoot, this is going to be fun…and it was! 

The best part of that night was when the senior couple looked at my companion and I and said “Elders my friend here is coming over tomorrow at 3 for a lesson, will you be able to make it?” I think the best way to describe our reaction is my referencing The Best Two Years movie, where they open up their planner and it’s completely empty and they say "Yeah, it looks like we can squeeze you in!”  That is literally what it felt like!  We had no one planned for Sunday, but you can’t say that when the Mission President is right there.  We had a good laugh about that after.

Now, that lesson was pretty sweet.  It took about 2 hours, but we gave him all he needed to know if the Church is true.

That was really how our week went it was fun and I’m glad we were able to teach and testify of this restored gospel.

Well I don’t have my card reader so I can’t send pictures.  I really don’t have any anyway but I don’t have it because we climbed a mountain today and I didn’t think that would be too useful on a mountain :) 

I love you all and I know this church is true!

Elder Skogs goes home next week.  My new (greenie) companion (I will be training) and I will be white-washing a new area right next to my old area.  It will be hard because there were no Missionaries there before us to show us around.  Also remember, there are no addresses so we won’t know the where the chapel is, or where the Branch President lives and there are no investigators, that we will know of… We won’t even know the boundaries of the area so it should be a fun experience.