Ensign State Of Mind

Aloha Family a me Friends, I have no idear where the time has even gone.  (Fun fact: People in Bermuda often add a "r" sound at the end of words. Kind of hard to explain if you aint over her ;) Anyways! This week we had zone conference and by zone conference I mean me and Sister Howells and the two Elders gathering at the senior couple's home and watching Zone Conference via videocalling into Queens, New York. We met Elder and Sister Haynie of the Seventy over videocall lol. It was like watching General Conference except they could see us and we could hear about half of what was going on. Nonetheless, the spirit is the teacher and speaks a universal language to our hearts whether or not wifi is strong. Sister Teuscher, along with the Spirit, shared a story that her father had told her from his mission; it was about his travels on the island of Tonga to neighboring island and getting stuck in a storm and having to get into a smaller boat. I'll s...

Sister Howells and I on my first day here :) Aloha Family a me Friends! Bermuda is the most interesting place I have ever been in my life.  Oh. Sorry I didn't say "Good Afternoon!". If I were talking to a Bermudian right now, I would be called rude. It's no longer the "hello/hey whats up" to the people we pass on the street in Harlem. Everyone here says "good morning/good afternoon/good evening" and if you don't it is looked down upon. Everyone here is VERY proper. But they do have their own slang...its like pidgin but not. I'm still trying to pick up on it haha The island is tiny and is about 2 miles at its widest part and 23 miles long. There is a population of about 60,000 people. There are 175 churches on the island and the main religion is Seventh Day Adventist.  Me and my 20 lb bag of rice hahaha my comp got a kick out of it I can honestly say that I feel as though I changed missions haha went from driving on...

Aloha family a me friends, Met a guy on the subway who told us "there is no way there are mormon missionaries in New York City, this is THE most wordly place" and I looked  at him and was like "well, hi my name is Sister Ellis and I'm a missionary in NYC, nice to meet you". Haha. In a place that is so engulfed in the world, I can say I have had some of the most spiritual experiences of my life. In a place that you can come and meet people from hundreds of countries, I am leaving the country.  *wait. what*. Yes. I did just say that I am leaving the country. No, not figureatively. And no this is not a Halloween trick. I'm being dead serious. I'll be island hopping from Manhattan down to  BERMUDA  (part of the UK) tomorrow morning and will stay there for the next 6 months and needless to say...I. Am. Stoked. :-) Never thought I would be getting on a plane again for another nine months. Never thought I would be leaving the country when...

Little picture after we decorated Lenox Ave Aloha Family a me Friends,  Am I actually trying to reference that Judy Moody movie? Yes. Do I actually know who Dan Jones actually is? No. But did I actually go on a subway and be one of those people who talk super loud for everyone? Yes.  Last week the finding specialist in our mission came out with this initiative to "#DanJonesNYC" and hop on a train or a soapbox in a crowded area and share a brief message. The goal was not to find people through this and be crazy but simply to spread the good news and build up our confidence!  Skirts courtesy of the Harlem African market ;) We were a hoot at church for sure So me, being my "why not" self did it the next day. Haha I was all pumped until the moment before we stepped on the cart and I was like hold up wait what. And when I shouted "Hello hello my name is Sister Ellis" and like all 40 people on the cart looked up I was like well I just go...

My wonderful Jamaican grandma that only comes to fast and testimony meetings to sing her testimony to everyone haha love her  Aloha Family and Friends! Last week, all of the YSA Missionaries had a meeting with the NY NY YSA Stake Presidency and boy did they light the fire under our butts and even burn part of our eyebrows off. Haha. Nonetheless they're some great New Yorkers and made me love the city, the people, and my calling even more.  They told us to "live with a sense of urgency", to "not just be the cute kids with the name tags" and thus to not Trio pics and new hair cuts  "just be there, be bold". Pretty much matches up with the aggressive, fast-paced attitudes of many people here.  About a month ago, a nice lady on the bus gave me an invitation to her church and on it it said: "If Jesus were a New Yorker". Didn't put much thought into it, until now actually haha. And with that thought, the advice g...

Aloha Family a me Friends :) A bible is only a book unless we make it holy. A temple is only a white building unless we make it His holy home. A Sunday is only a day unless we make it His holy day. A home is only a house unless we  "transform [it into] a [holy] sanctuary of faith"  (Russell M. Nelson, General Conference October 2018).  When we choose to take seriously the covenants that we made at baptism, we choose to have His spirit to be with us always; we thus are able to rise up to a newer, holier way of living. We become true disciples of Christ and like Elder Jeffery R. Holland said to just  "jump in and swim"  instead of becoming imobilized with what technique we are going to do. Just simply go and do. Go and serve. Go and do what our innate spirits long to do, which is to help our fellow beings. On Thursday, Sister Lowe and I jumped in and helped the Elders assist an elderly couple move from the Bronx to Harlem. The couple was surprised...

Aloha Family a me Friends,  As the chill Jamaican said on the subway on late afternoon in NYC, beating his drum and singing Bob Marley songs and adding in his own lyrics: "It's a blessing to be tired. That means you are working. Not everyone gets to be tired everyday". Amen, my brother, amen.  Being tired is good. Being beat to the core is good. Being a busy bee is wonderful. And to think I opened up my mission call just about a year ago is even more wonderful.  We had Zone Conference all the way in Queens this past Thursday and it pretty much lasted the whole day but all was well and all was swell! President Teuscher presented his vision for the NYC Mission and that is to have EVERY missionary have a baptism EVERY month. Pretty lofty goal right? Even he admitted to himself that we probably thought he was crazy. But I truly know that he has been called of God to hasten the work here in NYC. The same impression I continued to get throughout the conference ...