Ensign State Of Mind

Manhattan STLs! Sister Rios, Sister Jensen, Sister Haws Aloha family a me friends!  "The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives"   -Russell M. Nelson  Shoutout to Sister Sena for the ice cream :) More and more throughout my mission, I am learning that the joy that I feel is not from what is going around me but what I am focused on at the moment. As humans, we are constantly wandering and wondering which takes us away from the here and now. I've noticed that we always see the grass greener on the other side. We often are guilty of saying things such as "once I do this....then this will happen" or "I can't wait until this...". There is a fine line that we must live by as people and if played wrong, we could take away from our capabilities, capacities, and potential. If we allow ourselves to be pulled away to daydreaming in the future, we are missing out on SO

Aloha family a me friends, "Though sinless, He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness" ( The Living Christ ). Though sinless, He voluntarily chose to be the Savior of the world to redeem us from our fallen state. Though sinless, He offers us unconditional grace and mercy.  We are imperfect human beings. The reality of missionary work is really that we are flawed, inadequate 19-25 year olds trying to do the work of salvation. Alone, we truly are underqualified to bring souls unto repentance. But with the Savior, He makes up the difference.  Time and time again it has been testified to me of my imperfectness as a missionary and human. Last week was full of imperfect flaws in our days: running late to appointments, didnt do sufficient daily contact and had a little scare with a few people, decided to give some people "space" and they got upset that we didnt contact them, didnt give people "space" and they got upset we kept contacting them,

Exchanges with the Westchester STLs! Drop off at their train station! Aloha ko'u ohana a me hoaaloha! Sister Reed and I are saved as "The Sisters from the Normans" on the phone of someone that we teach and I literally just die of laughter every time that I see it. Ahaha. Sometimes I wish my eyes were a camera and I could replay and send and share everything I have seen and witnessed this past week and throughout the course of my mission. Because of the experiences I have had and continue to have, I know without a doubt that my Savior lives, loves, and this is His work. I feel like I just typed out something but nonetheless, exciting things and miracles happen on the daily so there never really is a slow week or day out on the mission field :). Last night in a lesson, this lady who has been worked with for awhile went off about how we just come over and focus a lot on Joseph Smith and it made me wonder why do we really focus on our leaders. But it comes bac

Last Zone Conference!  Aloha family a me friends! *We had Mission Leadership Council and Zone Conference on Monday and Tuesday so today is my P-Day* "Ellis, you turkey". A common phrase in the Ellis household. Not 100% sure why but it is and felt like putting that as my subject line. No one has used that phrase here but the second part of what goes around in my home is "Ellis you turkey take a lap". This time, in this context and time it is, "Ellis, you turkey, dig deep".   Sister Reed and I "Dig deep". This phrase came to my remembrance this past week. In high school at the end of a strenuous workout in track where I felt like I was literally going to pass out any minute and my legs felt like jello, I would sense from my coach when he said "alrighty. you you you and you. 100 second finish". 100 second finish was basically that. We would line up and we would go as hard as we could on the track for 100 seconds an