Week 7

June 14, 2013

Drogi Rodzina (Dear Family),

Koham was! (I love you all)

 

So this past week was pretty historic, as we met for Tuesday devotional for the first time... in the Marriott Center. They had all of us walk over. They opened up a side gate so we walked through a parking lot of the cleaning/work crew right by MTC and then crossed the street, then walked through the BYU parking lot right there and right up to the Marriott Center. I was in choir, which was a huge choir. (thousands, they joked it was the entire MTC, I really wonder if it was). We sang a version of Called to Serve. Mervyn Arnold spoke and gave an amazing talk, I absolutely loved it and so did everyone else. His wife also gave an amazing talk. The Spirit was so strong. This is the Lord's work, and He is speeding up His work and preparing His servants even faster than before.

If you haven't heard yet, there is going to be major leadership training on June 23, at the Marriott Center, on Missionary Work. I am in the choir :) We are sing the same 'Called to Serve' version we sang for this past devotional, and 'Hark all ye Nations', which we'll start learning this week. I think its called "A marvelous work and a wonder"?? you can look it up on LDS.org. Anyone that wants to attend is welcome to, which is pretty cool and they're rebroadcasting it to the entire world... or leaders around the world. I looked it up and it is being translated into Polish :) It makes me happy knowing that the ecclesiastical leaders in Poland will be able to see it, in their own language.  Plus I'm glad I'm going to be here another week or that would be super stressful, because they are changing our entire schedule that Sunday. The entire MTC campus and 'west campus (Raintree and Wyview)' will be at the Marriott center for the broadcast. There are A LOT of us here.  Also..... the First Presidency will be there!

Relief Society is AMAZING! We meet all together.... and you know 19M, where everyone meets for devotionals? Its almost completely full of Sisters! (and that's not counting the 'west campus' sisters, they don't meet with us) Janice Kapp Perry wrote a new version of 'As Sisters in Zion', renamed 'The Sisters of Zion', same tune but different lyrics. We sing that every week.

TRC is intense now..... as we skype the Polish people. Real Polish people...in Poland. Gave me a heart attack this past Monday. Usually TRC is on Thursday for us, but they changed it to Monday mornings. So Sister Ott and I taught a Polish brother, who is a returned missionary. It was great to be able to hear real Polish. I learned how they correct people.... a lot..he got frustrated that I would apologize for messing up after he corrected me, I was very confused. I would also thank him for correcting me, which he didn't like either.... apparently I'm not allowed to have manners.... ;) I think it was just this particular person's personality. My polish is no where near fluency, but it is amazing how well I can speak it. I also can read it and translate it way better than I would expect. Almost as well I can translate French, which mom, you know how great that is ;)..... Gift of tongues is real! and I am truly being blessed right now. I can feel the prayers and the support. The Lord is with me, which I am so grateful for.

 

I love you all so so much! Have a great week!

Siostra Ellis

Week 6

                                        Sisters Ellis & Hatch

                                      Three new sisters as roommates

The language is going well. we leave two weeks from this coming Monday! :o I'm excited :) Also trying to learn as fast as I can and study as hard as I can so I can do my part to be ready to speak the gospel. I know that if I work my very hardest then I don't ever have to worry about being unprepared, despite deficiencies. The Spirit can take over and do the work, for it is the Lord's work I am doing. :)

I love being a missionary and am so grateful.

I hope all is well! I love you all so much! God bless!

-Siostra Ellis

Week 5

May 31, 2013

Dear friends and family,

The MTC is going well! I love it so so much. I learn so much and I have a lot of good fun times :) There is a time for learning and a time to have fun. :)
Gym time is always a blast, especially this last time, as the entire zone played a huge kickball game, it was epic.

The Czech, Slovak, Croatian, and Slovene Elder and Sisters left this past week and the new ones came in. Three Czech sisters joined my companions and I in our room. So now there's six of us in there! Its not originally meant to fit six, only 4, but its not bad at all. (There has been 6 in a room normally for.... a long time, I think since the announcement, we were just blessed to have only 3 in our room. (My companion, Sister Ott; Solo sister, Sister Paxton; and me :))  It doesn't seem crowded and I love all of them being there. I thought'd be something we'd all have to work through, but we all transistioned well and we all fit comfortably and quite happily. (Any friend that's going to MTC, don't worry about being crowded, its not, there's a lot of people here, but they time everything so there's not a lot of people in one place, except for devotionals and for sisters combined Relief Society (which is amazing)).

The language is going along well, The gift of tongues is real!  Fun thing about Polish, becuase it is an inflected language, the word endings change to conotate meaning. There are 7-8  cases (Mianownik, Dopełniacz, Biernik, Miasownik, and others I can't remember off the top of my head). That is how names change with what you are trying to say, like you add -ego to the end of a name to conotate something, or add an -a or something else. So they can say that something is 'by the means of' with one letter. I think the Poles are geniuses, they say so much in so little words, the language is hard, because of the geniusness of it all! They have three different ways to conjugate verbs, and then future and past tense then on top of that they have imperfective and perfective. Perfective does not exsist in present tense though, because that wouldn't make any sense. Imperfective is for something habitual or in the process of. Perfective is something that will be done, or has previously been done, and its finished and done, not reoccuring.

Hope all is going well in all your lives!

Heavenly Father loves all of you so much! Take some time to get to know Him a bit better than you do now.

Siostra Ellis

2 Nephi 9:39 S.M.I.L.E.- Spiritually minded is life eternal :)

                                         Poland District & Entire Zone