Ok! This week has flown by sooo quickly. It is crazy because the days go by slowly but the weeks fly by quickly, it is the weirdest thing ever. I have been meeting and talking to more missionaries that are going to other language speaking missions, some of the spanish elders are pretty fun and the tagolog are crazy. I have found though, that of all the people I meet the nicest missionaries I have met are the missionaries from Korea that are here learning English (for you dad). They really are, and we had a Korean elder sing a solo for a devotional and he was absolutely amazing! Anyway, this week I have been focusing on studying the language a lot more and trying to get about 50 new words a day down. It has been a struggle this week with my companion...I won't go into too much detail but it hasn't been too fun in that area. I had a nice interview with one of the branch presidency and he and I talked about it and he agreed with me on the issues, so that helped a lot. But don't worry, I don't let silly things like that get me down. The best is to just keep pushing forward. We taught another lesson for our TA on saturday and we contacted in chinese again, we all sat in a room with a ton of people to resemble the noise on a bus. It was tough and they gave my companion and I, 3 investigators. Now teaching a lesson to 3 investigators and making it personal for all 3 and not excluding any of them is very hard. But we did it. The spirit was so strong. It amazes me how much the spirit can do, even when we are just practicing. I have been focusing a lot this week on certain principles. One of them being the atonement. It has hit me really hard this week how much Jesus Christ loves us that he would die for us, i still can't even imagine how much pain he had to bear...no my own sins he would have had to suffer, let alone every single person who has ever lived. I also came across in the book of mormon where the prophets prophecy of america and the forefathers and the constitution. It is amazing! 1 Nephi 13. Those men who started this country were truly led by god. I have so much to say but only 3 minutes left of my half hour. I love you all and all the support you continually give me!
I love you all!!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
May 10, 2010
Ok, well i have a few minutes left so i am going to go as fast as I can. This week has been a tough one but I have definitely learned a lot. I hit a barrier with the language and it was really frustrating but I think i have gotten passed the part now so I will just continue until the next barrier....haha its just how learning a new laguage works i guess. This week we had a devotional and I sat down with my district we were all just talking and then the announcer said "Elders and Sisters, we would like to stand when the speaker comes in because it is one of the twelve apostles!" So of course we were freaking out trying to guess who it was. It was Jeffrey R. Holland!!!! He gave one of the most powerful talks I have ever heard or had the experience to witness live. He is truly a messenger of god. There is no doubt in my mind. He talked a lot about obedience and working hard and not slacking off....which a lot of missionaries around here seem to have a problem with. I have been studying my scriptures a lot lately and it amazes me how much I can get out of reading the Book of Mormon no matter how many times i go over the same thing, new ideas will always come up! We had another TA this week where we contacted in Zhongwen (chinese) and it was awesome! I love speaking the language even though I'm not that great, I just go for it. My companion however kind of struggles so the contacting kind of falls on me, but o well, I LOVE CHINESE! The actual teaching the lesson was an amazing experience, the spirit was so strong. I have been struggling with being able to teach the lessons because I just think way too much and jumble up my thoughts, but during this TA i decided that I would just put all faith and trust in the spirit of the lord, and i was so amazed at what happened i was crying. I went in there and just tried to wipe my mind clean so that i wasnt thinking of any of the lesson and just forcing myself to rely on the spirit....that can get a bit scary. But I can tell you, i started saying things that i didnt even know and points I hadnt planned or really thought about. It was a huge testimony builder to me that the Lord lives. He loves us, and he will help us, we just have to stop worrying about ourselves and focus on what is important. I know that when we pray and ask god for answers with real intent and a sincere heart that we will know it is true. I know that with all my heart.
I love you all and thank you for everything, until next week
Zaijian!!
Elder Joshua Trent Ellis
I love you all and thank you for everything, until next week
Zaijian!!
Elder Joshua Trent Ellis
Monday, May 10, 2010
May 10, 2010
OK, so this week has been super awesome!! I am loving it here! It is really quite an experience to be surrounded by about 2,000 + missionaries that are serving the lord. First off, my roommate Ben Farley from college is here, he was supposed to go to the MTC in Brazil but they were having problems with the visa so they sent them here instead, it's been great to talk with him! The trumpet player from BYU-Idaho i told you about is here as well, he and i run into each other almost everyday! Also....do you guys remember the other missionary the day i flew out at the airport? He is in my district, speaking mandarin ha ha pretty cool. One other thing. Sterling woodruff is here, i thought he was older than me but i see him a lot.
For the real letter...This week has truly been amazing. I feel like i have learned more Chinese in two weeks here, then i ever did in 2 years of Spanish in high school. But i know that is because the lord is here helping me. I was pretty overwhelmed the first week but it is all settling in and I found the best way to get through it all is just to do the work. Stop worrying about how or if I can, just believe I can and do it! I found an awesome scripture this week that helped me start working harder, its D&C 67:10, in essence it says that those called to do the lords work have the "privilege" to serve the lord. It changed my outlook on the work and I realize that it truly is a privilege to be doing this and it makes me sad how many missionaries here take that so lightly. But anyway, we have been practicing lesson one this week from Preach My Gospel, it has been great and my companion and I got to teach it many many times ha ha. My companion is from Texas and he knows his bible extremely well, so when we get to talking about the apostasy it is very hard to stop him...but other than that the lessons go well. My teachers are very spiritual and just fantastic teachers! Although my favorite teacher just got married so she won't be back for a few weeks but the subs have been just as good. Our branch president went to Taiwan on his mission and he knows a lot and is a very nice man. The older elders in my zone are all very cool guys and I get along with them well. I even sometimes surprise them with Chinese :). At the temple today we ran into a man who went to the Anaheim mission. He old us all about it and it sounds crazy :). I love it! But he said there was never a mandarin part, so that means my companion and I could be the very first mandarin to Anaheim :) :). Anyway, I need to wrap this up, but I want you to know I love you all and I am so excited to be out here! I know serving the lord is the greatest thing I could be Doing! Until next time, ZaiJian!!
We had our first TA (Teaching Assessment) this week where they have volunteers play the roles of investigators and we had to contact them in Chinese and find out as much about them as we could, and then we go and teach a lesson to them for about 45-50 minutes. I LOVE contacting and just SPEAKING in Chinese!!!!!! It is so awesome! I have been picking it up quite quickly but that is all because of the lord and the Holy Ghost helping me out.
Thank you dad for the postcard!! That room must have been pretty darn sweet!! And I loved the scriptures you sent, they helped a lot and I just love that story in general.The MTC food is....bad. I have never had food this gaseous in my entire life. O and a few things. Could you please send me a Mandarin Chinese for Dummies if there is one. And I also need a pocket sized dictionary, The Berlitz English to mandarin pocket dictionary is the best, The ISBN for it is 978-981-246-941-0. I would appreciate that very very very much :).
Yes I miss the dog but he will be just fine without me....as long as you guys fill his water dish every once in a while ;).
Mommy, I love you and i sent you a card in the mail, it should come sometime soon :).
Hailee, please get better. I hope you start getting better soon and i want you to know that I love you and I will pray for you! And thank you for your Dear Elder letter, it made me smile :).
For the real letter...This week has truly been amazing. I feel like i have learned more Chinese in two weeks here, then i ever did in 2 years of Spanish in high school. But i know that is because the lord is here helping me. I was pretty overwhelmed the first week but it is all settling in and I found the best way to get through it all is just to do the work. Stop worrying about how or if I can, just believe I can and do it! I found an awesome scripture this week that helped me start working harder, its D&C 67:10, in essence it says that those called to do the lords work have the "privilege" to serve the lord. It changed my outlook on the work and I realize that it truly is a privilege to be doing this and it makes me sad how many missionaries here take that so lightly. But anyway, we have been practicing lesson one this week from Preach My Gospel, it has been great and my companion and I got to teach it many many times ha ha. My companion is from Texas and he knows his bible extremely well, so when we get to talking about the apostasy it is very hard to stop him...but other than that the lessons go well. My teachers are very spiritual and just fantastic teachers! Although my favorite teacher just got married so she won't be back for a few weeks but the subs have been just as good. Our branch president went to Taiwan on his mission and he knows a lot and is a very nice man. The older elders in my zone are all very cool guys and I get along with them well. I even sometimes surprise them with Chinese :). At the temple today we ran into a man who went to the Anaheim mission. He old us all about it and it sounds crazy :). I love it! But he said there was never a mandarin part, so that means my companion and I could be the very first mandarin to Anaheim :) :). Anyway, I need to wrap this up, but I want you to know I love you all and I am so excited to be out here! I know serving the lord is the greatest thing I could be Doing! Until next time, ZaiJian!!
We had our first TA (Teaching Assessment) this week where they have volunteers play the roles of investigators and we had to contact them in Chinese and find out as much about them as we could, and then we go and teach a lesson to them for about 45-50 minutes. I LOVE contacting and just SPEAKING in Chinese!!!!!! It is so awesome! I have been picking it up quite quickly but that is all because of the lord and the Holy Ghost helping me out.
Thank you dad for the postcard!! That room must have been pretty darn sweet!! And I loved the scriptures you sent, they helped a lot and I just love that story in general.The MTC food is....bad. I have never had food this gaseous in my entire life. O and a few things. Could you please send me a Mandarin Chinese for Dummies if there is one. And I also need a pocket sized dictionary, The Berlitz English to mandarin pocket dictionary is the best, The ISBN for it is 978-981-246-941-0. I would appreciate that very very very much :).
Yes I miss the dog but he will be just fine without me....as long as you guys fill his water dish every once in a while ;).
Mommy, I love you and i sent you a card in the mail, it should come sometime soon :).
Hailee, please get better. I hope you start getting better soon and i want you to know that I love you and I will pray for you! And thank you for your Dear Elder letter, it made me smile :).
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
May 3, 2010
This whole experience so far has been a good but nonetheless hard one. This language is kicking my tush. But i am learning a lot. My companions name is elder Mensink, he is originally from holland but moved here to Texas. He is a very good companion. I have awesome chinese teachers (han laoshi) they are both very spiritual and help a lot. I am writing this while i do my laundry and it is crazy crowded in here and i had to scramble to get a computer. I also wanted to tell you guys that sadly I will not be allowed to call home on mother’s day. I notice a difference in the types of missionaries people are going to be. You have the ones that are trying really hard and are respectful and then you have the ones who goof off and still act like 4th graders, but o well. Yesterday we got to go to the temple and walk around and take pictures! It was great. OOO and btw my name tag does have Chinese characters on it! Well I have two other elders in my room besides my companion their names are elder Wilson, from Wyoming, and elder Balkman, from Seattle. Elder Balkman has a prosthetic leg and is one of those people that just inspires you like crazy. He works so hard and never complains and it makes me think how dumb I must sound if I complain about something. Anyway I have been having a great experience and it feels like these past few days have been weeks. I don't think i have ever studied this much and this hard for a very very very long time. The days seem like there aren't enough hours in a day to do everything. My district is a brand new district and they are using us as the testers of a new language program they made for mandarin speakers. The program is designed to make our comprehension of what the people say go through the roof. I do notice i can understand things easier....but speaking it is a whole different story. Dad i completely understand what you meant about how the people that have been here for a few weeks act like they own the place hah, but it is good because the zone leaders for my district are amazing elders. Elder Gedes, from Washington, and elder Tito, from Australia (and Polynesian and awesome). We as a district have worked on quiet dignity in everything we do and you can totally tell a mandarin elder vs. any other language elder ;) because of respect and maturity ;). I am going to be sending a letter in the mail, but it won’t be as long as this. Dad, if you have any advice or scriptures to help with feeling the spirit more or help with overwhelmedness, please send :). I love you all. Mom i love you. Hailee, I love you.
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