Honorable Release

Picking Andrea up at the Manchester airport 14 JUN 10

We apologize for the long gap since our last blog post. We had a bit of a surprise.

Andrea is home! Andrea's health was quickly getting worse and it was recognized that she would need to come home to recover. We are so thankful to her fellow missionaries and President & Sister Bassett for their care and support. She has been given an honorable release from her mission and has the option to complete her mission if she wants to, once she has recovered.

Andrea has seen our doctors here. She had lost a lot of ground with her fight with Chronic Lyme Disease. Since being home and getting some rest and a change of medical care, she has shown some improvement but still has a long way to go. We will try to keep everyone updated as this battle continues.

Andrea wants everyone to know she feels good about being home to get well. She is grateful for the time she had to serve as a missionary. She is now serving the Lord in many ways locally.

Thank you for your love and support,
Phil & Dianne (Andrea's parents)

I want to give my whole self to the work

Today we went to the temple. It was so nice to go again. I love the temple and it just kills me to live within walking distance and only be able to go once about every six weeks. But it's better than the poor elders in NH, so I'm grateful for what I do have.

I have been struggling a lot with pain and lack of energy and Hna Scott has actually made me take a lot of naps. I feel like the most ineffective missionary in the world right now. In the celestial room this morning it just all hit me at once. The fact that with this much pain and this little energy I really can't serve the Lord as I want to. I want to give my whole self to the work but feel as though I need to take care of my temple too and so I'm just torn. It brought on the tears in the celestial room and at some point I looked up and made eye-contact with Elder Hendrickson. Several minutes later he came over before leaving and asked me how I was. I have explained a little to the elders about Lyme Disease so he probably had an idea of what type of thing was wrong. I told him a little bit how I was feeling and he showed his sympathy. Even though he didn't really say anything special or profound, I was extraordinarily comforted. That is probably because of how much he reminds me of Daddy. Then Elder Lehman came over (the elders always go around and shake everyone's hands before they leave the celestial room) and shook Hna Scott's hand and then mine as he said "and save the best one for last." That of course made me feel really appreciated too. :/ :) I have good men and women looking out for me here. So don't let this depressing letter worry you too much. I'm okay and will be doing better soon. (I hope!) My health is the one thing I wish I had taken care of the most before my mission. That and PMG [Preach My Gospel] and the scriptures, of course.

The wonderful part is that when we are the most humble and literally giving all that is possible, he blesses us more. We were finally able to set another baptismal date yesterday. Almost all of our appointments fell through last week so we decided to work as hard as we could yesterday to earn some more blessings. Almost every one of our appointments was there and we were able to teach some wonderful lessons.
So it has been a hard and humbling week, but we are starting to see the blessings of our humility, patience, faith and increased obedience.

I feel as though I slept through the past week. It is a blur of pain, exhaustion, and HEAT. So forgive me if this isn't exactly what you wanted to hear about this week.

I love you!
Ella
[Please pray for Andrea's health.]

this gospel is a gospel of joy

We are very excited about the package. It got here exactly a week ago. (Of course!) Hna Scott is very excited about the sponges. ;) We are both super excited about the curtains. Apparently she has been waking up early too. The clocks were both fine and we love them. We don't know how we lived without them! :) And we are very excited for the games and SUPER excited for the 50MM [50 missionary moments DVD Phil made from Andrea's video for Nana & Grampa Frenches anniversary. I will try to get Phil to post it for everyone. It may be too big for all 50 moments.]! We have invited all the missionaries in the zone and Hna Ghan to watch it with us at 1 today. We'll be having chips and dip and twizzlers(eww) and we just can't wait to see how it turned out! :D

I would love to see a picture of the new car and you guys sweating it up in all that heat! :D

I am now taking naps again. I was very lightly rebuked by President for not taking more care. It felt like a huge rebuke because of a guilty conscience and the disappointment of having to take naps again. Hna Scott is another very good mom. :) She is taking very good care of me. I actually had a little bit of a break-down last week and terrified a couple of the elders. I was in a LOT of pain one morning and was also just exhausted so I asked for a blessing. They showed up about 5 minutes later so I was still a mess of tears and curled up in my chair. They gave me a blessing and asked if there was anything else they could do. Then I got a call from Hna Ghan that night asking me how I was doing. I explained what happened and she explained how she found out. She saw Elder Lehman at the VC [Visitors Center at the temple] and he asked her about me and said that he had no idea that I had a disease [Chronic Lyme - see: ilads.org] and was so freaked out that he couldn't stand still or look her in the eyes. And he is one that ALWAYS looks you in the eyes when he talks to you. I felt bad for scaring him and called to apologize. The next day we had weekly planning and he and Elder Scwarze ended up bringing us smoothies. They are great zone leaders. So don't worry, I'm well taken care of. :)

I have been really bad about writing in my journal lately so I can't remember what I wanted to tell you about. I just read the first chapter of Mosiah where it talks about how grateful they are for the brass plates so they can remember things. I have recommitted myself to writing every day. ;)

Oh, so this transfer we have a goal that we are determined to meet. As a mission we are going to get 200 baptisms. We have already had 58 and have another 170something scheduled. Four of those 58 were the Galvez family. They are awesome.

Oh! We got to attend the Gila Valley temple dedication. It was amazing. And a lot of fun. I never realized how silly President Eyring and Monson are! We laughed a lot. And then I got a call from the zone leaders asking me to give a talk in our zone meeting this week on having a positive attitude. So I think I will use them as an example of how this gospel is a gospel of joy, rejoicing, fun, cheer, and just general happiness. It is so true that we get assigned to speak on the things that we need the most work on. ;) But it is also amazing how helpful it is. I never realized how many scriptures there are that command us to be happy or of "good cheer". I am excited to share what I have learned.

Hna Scott and I have a goal to lose 10 pounds each by the end of the transfer. That is June 15. If you would like to join us you are welcome. (And anyone else that wants to join us is also welcome.) We plan on drinking lots of water and being even more active. I hope your scale works better than ours. We are planning on getting a new one somehow. Hopefully digital. The one in the apartment is ancient and unreliable (we like to think that anyway ;) ).

Thank you for everything!
(((((((((((((((((((((LOVE)))))))))))))))))))))))
love Ella

We had another baptism on Thursday!

We had another baptism on Thursday! La familia Galvez. This is the family that came into the church a while ago and wanted to know how to pay tithing. Then we started teaching them and now the whole family, apart from Micky, is baptized. Joaquin (dad), Lety (mom), Michelle (14), and Joaquin (11). Micky is only three so he can't be baptized. He is also the mini-pincer pooch, so I'm pretty sure he doesn't have to be baptized. Which is a good thing because, apparently, he is terrified of water. :D Anyway, this family is amazing! We absolutely love them! Lety is going to teach us how to make tortillas today. I am so excited! I have wanted to learn how to make something that we don't make in NH so I can come home and amaze you all. That, and homemade tortillas are the BEST! They really are my favorite part of every meal. Well, only the flour ones. I really don't like the corn ones.

Have I ever told you that I have used sign-language several times? There are a couple ASL elders and so every time we find a deaf person, we send their info over to them. And I have gotten to sign in Spanish once. That was interesting. :)

I did get to play the EFY medley yesterday [on the piano] for President Bassett's last fireside. It was awesome. I prayed the whole time and I don't think I made one mistake. I was so proud.

Today is my year-left mark! I plan on reading the entire Book of Mormon in Spanish before I get home and I am starting today. I have even made a paper chain like Hna Ghan's in the 50 moments video. :)

I never thought I would have so much fun on bikes. And in skirts no less! :D Of course, they don't know what a hill is out here. It is either flat flat flat, or huge rocky mountains. So maybe the bikes wouldn't be as fun for you. But you should try them. I'm still hoping that at least half of the 15 pounds I have gained is muscle from riding the bikes. I'm not sure though. ;/

Thank you for your love and support. I really need it.
LOVE YOU!!!!!
TE AMO!!!!!

Hermana Ghan got transfered

Hna Ghan is going to be playing the piano in RS in her new branch. :D She plunks with her right hand. We both laughed at that. And our RS is soooo grateful that I didn't get transferred. They really appreciate a decent piano player. I'm thinking of asking if I can start a little "piano for the RS sister" class. They need to have someone that can play at least a little bit for when I eventually leave. And some of the sisters have pianos or keyboards in their home, so they could easily practice. We'll see.

Hna Ghan is with a VC [Visitor's Center] sister right now, the VC sister is doing her "full-field" stint, so they have the same schedule. The VC sisters work in the VC for only a couple hours each day, then they go to their own areas and work just like we do. However, they also get at least one transfer where they go "full-field" That is when we are able to work with them. For at least one transfer, they don't work in the VC at all. So there are actually quite a few Spanish-sister-areas. Some of them are not worked in as much as the others because the sisters have to work in the VC for a couple hours each day.
So, did I confuse you? :)

We are planning on finally having a RELAXING p-day. Hna Ghan can't sit still, or in the same house for more than and hour, and that is stretching it, so we NEVER had a truly relaxing p-day. I'm very excited. We are going to lock ourselves in, turn up the Christmas tunes, and right letters all day. We may even get in a nap!

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((LOVE TO ALL)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Ella

I'll talk to you soon!

It was quite the week. Transfers, appointments, shopping lists, Mother's Day [coming], etc..

Today is transfers. Hna Ghan is leaving us! We will be having fun, but it is going to be a challenge. Her foot is doing much better. She is in a walking boot and has some awesome bruises. We've been taking pictures so you'll see it eventually. Oh, btw, it is "just" a really bad sprain. I almost decked the doctor when he checked it because he hurt her. :D

We made an amazing discovery today. It is called Superstition Ranch Market. Basically it is a huge Beans and Greens, but AZ style. That means that we got not just strawberries, blackberries and bananas, but mangoes, kiwis, asparagus, plums, etc.. And the other difference is that it is super cheap. I got 3 1lb packages of gorgeous strawberries for $1! We will definitely have to go there when you come back here with me.

We [had] two baptisms this Saturday, but they weren't crazy [like last week], just very exciting. Our neighbor got baptized. Miguel is awesome. (It's the name. He is the third Miguel that I have seen baptized.) He is Mexican and married into a huge white Mormon family. He and his wife, Andrea, :) have about four beautiful little children and we are so excited for him. We were able to go even though it was in English. I think this may be the most exciting baptism yet.

I love to study the scriptures every day. Whenever we miss some study time, I feel like I missed getting out of bed or something.

Can you believe that I have been on my mission for more than six months?!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(((((((((((((((((((((EVERYONE)))))))))))))))))))))))
I'll talk to you soon! [We really will TALK. Andrea will call home on Mother's Day! Yippee!]
LOVE
Ella

we "know in whom we have trusted"

Lots to tell you!
Let's see, the quick ones are:

Exchanges - They were really fun. Hna Ghan went back to her old area and Hna Scott and I were joined by Hna Ladd. She is great fun. We rode bikes almost all day and learned a lot of good Spanish.

NcH [FHE - Family Home Evening] - Is a lot of fun. I don't honestly remember what I wanted to tell you about that.

4 cenas [dinner appointments] - We had 4 cenas in just two days,... again. They were all really good too.

I am cruising along on my Personal Progress. I have done about 4 experiences already.

We had some super hot tamales the other day. They made Hna Scott sick so we had to leave her at a member's home while we went to our appointments for the night.

Dad should be very proud of me. I polished my shoes for the first time this week. They are soo pretty and shiny! :D

Our RS made Amish friendship bread this past week. It was quite hilarious because it was exactly like our RS activities at home, just in Spanish.

Hnos Camargo are hilarious!!! We had dinner at their house on Sunday and they just remind me of how we love and treat missionaries. I felt like I was at home with you. Hno Camargo reminds me of Dad. He is awesome. :D

We woke up at 6 [today] to go play basketball at Pioneer Park. Well, Hna Ghan played and Hna Scott and I just hung out and woke up the rest of the way. Hna Ghan screamed at about 7 and we looked over and saw her on the ground at the basketball court. Apparently she and Elder Derochie collided and his foot kicked her leg. And it HURT a lot. It swelled to twice its size, more or less, very quickly. So we went to Urgent Care and now she has a cast. They are pretty sure it is "just" a really bad sprain, but we are going to need to go to a foot specialist later in the week. Elder Derochie feels sooooooooooo bad! I feel worse for him than her because his guilt is going to take longer to heal than her pain. He doesn't have a fast-acting painkiller for the guilt. But she will be fine. We are joking about it already. :D

Saturday morning was CRAZY! At 10 o'clock we invited one of our families with a baptismal date to come to see a baptism that we forgot about. They could come so we ran out the door to meet them. Then we had an appointment at 11 so we skipped off to that. Just as we got there we got a call from Elders Lehman and Schwarze begging me to come play piano for a baptism that they didn't realize they were in charge of. So we said "just a second" to Beatrice, and ran back to the stake center. They dropped me off (luckily there were Sisters there) and went back to our appointment. After the baptism everyone was leaving, so I hurried and grabbed Hna Camargo to be my companion for a few minutes until mine got back. Okay, so the lesson went amazingly well. This woman, Beatrice, had wanted to meet with us for a while, apparently. Friday we were walking down the street and a woman called out to us and said that her friend, who was one the phone, wanted us to stop by. This was Beatrice. A true miracle. And she already believes that it is all true. We LOVE miracles!

The Vegas. Arrrrrrgh. Refugio Vega was deported about a month ago. He is a recent convert. Diana through this trial and several others (I hope I told you about the miracle with her son Antony being healed) that have happened recently, got to thinking. She finally told us that she would get baptized and that she would tell us the date when Refugio got back. However, he isn't coming back and they are all moving to Mexico ... today. We went over late last night to say goodbye. She said that she will be getting baptized down there and that Refugio will be doing it, but.... We worry and we are going to miss them soooooooo much. They are a beautiful little family and we love them to death. When we got home, Hna Ghan and I cried pretty hard for several minutes. Hna Scott doesn't really know them. It was really hard. But we "know in whom we have trusted" and we know they will be okay.

Jose Morales is my favorite man ever! He is amazing. We talked to him on the street one day and now he has a baptismal date. Our first visit back he told us that he knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true. He is a deep thinker and understands things really well. It has been a long road to get him to agree to be baptized. About two weeks after we met him, he had an accident at work and now has a slipped disc that is pinching the psyatic (spelling doesn't count) nerve. He could barely walk for a long time. Then we offered him a blessing. We explained what it is and about authority and how blessings work according to our faith. He received the blessing. The spirit was very strong and he is now walking much better. In fact he walked to church with us last week. He knows that he needs to be baptized and is getting excited. We are WAY excited!

Otai is an amazing Tongan drink. We were stopped by some Tongan members yesterday and they gave us this amazing drink. If you have this stuff, you should make some right now for N's b-day. FELIZ CUMPLEANOS NANCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you don't have any, go get some and make it. Basically it is half-and-half, a little whipped cream, and as many shredded fruits as you want, all blended together. Ours had shredded honeydew, cantaloupe, apples, pineapple, coconut, and you can do peaches and mangos and whatever else you want. It is sooooooo good!

Lots of fun this week!
I love you all!
Happy Birthday Nancy! LOVE YOU NANCY!!!
And yes I am SUPER excited to talk to you [on Mother's Day], even though we aren't going to have anything to talk about because we have such good communication.
LOVE YOU!!!!!
(((((((((((((((((((((((EVERYONE)))))))))))))))))))))))
Ella

The Phoenix Zoo

I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to the zoo for the first time ever. We had so much fun! I walked around with Hna Scott the whole time. We had a blast! I am borrowing Hna Ghan's SD card at the moment and filled it up about half-way through our trip. :D :P You know me. I hope that you can send my SD cards back soon. I don't mind if there aren't many pictures on them. I am desperate to have my 8GBs back. :)
THANK YOU DADDY!!!

The zoo is amazing! It seemed pretty big to me, but I have nothing to compare it to. :D We saw: elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, lions, tigers, mandrills, jaguars, Galapagos turtles, all kinds of birds including flamingos, komodo dragons, and a bunch of other really cool things. We got to go into the monkey exhibit to see the most adorable little squirrel monkeys. And we saw an orangutan. It was pretty awesome! The Phoenix Zoo, btw.

Hey Mom, I have an idea. All us girls can do it. I got the prompting during General Conference that I need to do Personal Progress again and I'm thinking that maybe we could do it together. I just finished reading the Book of Mormon all the way through. I started about half-way through my first transfer. So I just started it again with a specific marking system. I'm very excited. I am currently working on the third, required faith experience. It is my first one.

We had another fireside on Sunday where I got to see Elder Leonard again. And I sang for almost half the songs instead of playing for more than half of them, this time. There is only one other missionary that plays at the moment, and that comes to the firesides regularly. It was a lot of fun. I asked Elder Schwarze (he is our zone leader and the music coordinator.) if we could sing the EFY Melody. He almost shouted "YES!!!" He might have been a little excited, but I could hardly tell. :D :P I told him that my one condition was that I could play it. He reluctantly agreed. I am one of the few strong singers right now, so he really was reluctant. I told him that the elders could just sing the "as sisters in zion" part. Elder Leonard agreed to it. So I don't know what is holding him back. :) You do remember that that was our district's favorite song in the MTC, right?

((((((((((((((LOVE TO EVERYONE!!!)))))))))))))))))))))
Ella

We had a zone challenge this week.

We had quite the week!

Yesterday I was feeling really sick. I was dizzy, nauseous, achy, and my stomach was getting stabbing pains. Don't worry, I'm completely fine now. Anyway, we had companion study and language study in the bedroom so I could lie down. Then we went out to a couple of appointments that fell through. So we came back home 1/2 hour early and I had a little something to eat, then I went to lie down for a 1/2 hour. I ended up sleeping for 45mins. When I finally got up Hna Ghan told me that Elder Lehman had said that we could stay home until 4 so I could rest and get better. So I went back to sleep and woke up at about 4:45. Hna Scott stayed with me while Hna Ghan had called a member to go with her to our appointment, which also fell through, so she had come back from that. Luckily we didn't have a member dinner set up, so we just stayed home for dinner too. However, I was feeling a little guilty for staying home all day and so I wanted to go out and work after dinner. Hna Ghan was having none of it. So I tried to compromise and said that I would get a blessing and then we could go out and work. She agreed to the blessing and we called the elders. Then she said that we would be staying home anyway so I could rest and get better. I resigned myself to that fate, and am grateful now that I did.

Another story. Funny one this time.
We were leaving an appointment on Friday night and we were all hopping in the car. The car was facing the wrong way to head home, so I tossed my backpack in the backseat and walked around the back of the car intending to back them up. Hna Ghan was on the phone and Hna Scott was driving. Well, they turned on the car and pulled out into the street. The thought went through my head, "She is going to have to turn harder if she is going to make this in one turn." Then she straightened out and drove off down the street! "Oops. They must not realize that I'm not in the car. I guess I'll just walk over to the sidewalk. Good thing there isn't anyone around. I guess I'll pray." It's a good thing I knew that they were just going to turn around and come back the same way. Apparently, Hna Ghan finished the phone call and started going over our numbers. "3 member present, 2 others, 3 contacted. Is that right Hna …?" She turns to look at me, "Umm, where's our companion?!" They kind of freaked out. (Back to me.) "Aha, here they come. I guess I'll walk into the middle of the road so they don't miss me." They screech to a halt in front of me and I look in the passenger window to see the most shocked and horrified expressions on their faces. We laughed the whole way home and halfway through planning while telling our sides of the story. I am still laughing about it! :D

We had a zone challenge this week. There are 9 or 10 companionships in our zone and we decided to talk to 20 people every day and report in our numbers every day. We got the total yesterday. Our zone, 19 to 21 missionaries, in the course of seven days talked to 11,918 people!!! We saw so many miracles! And we really felt the Spirit helping us and placing people in our paths who are ready to hear the gospel. It was amazing!

Love you Dad! I thought of you when two chihuahuas in one day decided that my ankles are offensive and tried to bite them off. :D And I think of Mom whenever Hna Ghan tells me to do something that I know is for my own good, or gives me a hug. And she reminds me of Whitney every time we dissolve into giggles about something or walk down the street arm-in-arm. So most of the time I don't miss you at all. Sorry! :D

LOVE!!!
I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
((((((((((((((EVERYONE)))))))))))))))))
(hugs for everyone!)

this conference was all about missionary work

I LOVE General Conference!!! One thing that I really appreciated that was different was knowing that you were all doing the same thing I was doing at the same time. It brought you all a little closer. Kind of like looking at the moon or something, but better because it was listening to the prophets.

I did see Marisa in the world report! It was so cool. As soon as I saw that they were reporting on the Mormon Battalion site I paid really close attention. She was wearing the same yellow dress that I have a picture of her in. And she was up there for a good amount of time too.

Oooh, I'm excited. I love how it doesn't matter where you are in life, all the talks will apply to you. Like this conference was all about missionary work and how I can be a better missionary. It was so refreshing and I am sooo grateful to have living prophets on the earth today. In fact that is how we invited someone to come. "We know that we have a prophet on the earth today who talks to God and then tells us what God wants us to hear. We have the incredible privilege to listen to this man tomorrow at one o'clock. Will you come with us?" They were ready and waiting with their four beautiful children at 12:45 the next morning. They are amazing. We just started teaching them. They are a member referral. Jesus y Maricela and their four children: Nancy :), Jesus, Jasmin, and Carlos. I love miracles!

We absolutely LOVED the Easter packages! Great story. We got home from a loooong Saturday and as we are walking up to the door our little neighbor comes out with your two packages and a little one from Holly with the COTM (chocolate of the month). We were shocked and they were both jealous. Then we opened them enough to see that they each got something and all is well. :) ;P I was sooooooo excited about the mixing bowl and syrup that the next day we had some of Dad's pancakes for lunch. Soooooooo good! I forgot how good they are. Elders Schwarze and Lehman stopped by and had some too. They couldn't stop complimenting them. It is all your recipe Dad. That and real syrup goes a long way. And I am going to use the capris today while mini-golfing with our elders.
Hna Ghan got an Easter package too a couple days earlier with a bunch of eggs in it. So Sunday morning we had an Easter egg hunt. It was quite entertaining! Especially because Hna Ghan decided to pull out my camera and record a bunch of it. I hope her "artistic style" doesn't give you all motion sickness. :)

Yesterday I had, not one, not two, but three vicious little Chihuahuas try to bite my ankles off! I've decided that I won't get a Chihuahua if I ever get a dog. Maybe a different kind of small dog, but right now it won't be a Chihuahua. :D

Okay, love you!

Training is a blast!

Wow! Can you believe how much piles up in just two weeks?!

Okay, one step at a time.
Training is a blast! We work harder, smarter, and more efficiently. Yes, we are a threesome. Hna Scott is from California, is 23, and comes from money. We are working on helping her to work with these less prosperous circumstances. Once in a while she will make some comment and Hna Ghan and I will just look at each other with a "she has no idea" look. She has never had to clean her plate at the dinner table before. Oh, and she is a germaphobe. She threw out my sponge and wouldn't drink a glass of juice because the glass smelled funny. I must say that because she comes from such a different background that I had trouble loving her those first couple of days, but with a lot of prayer and effort, I love her to death now. Can you believe that she has never eaten anything off the floor?! She doesn't believe in the 5-second rule. :) :P

:) Hna Scott's very first lesson was with a woman that announced that her daughter (16) was pregnant and that they are struggling with knowing what to do. And Hna Scott's Spanish isn't great so it was fun to figure out what she understood after the lesson. :)

The Easter Pageant is INCREDIBLE!!! We have "worked" [ushered] the pageant three times now and will be working it tomorrow and Friday. I'll be wandering around talking to people. Oh, and speaking of wandering around talking to people at the pageant, I "bumped into" Brother and Sister Law and Kirkbnjailh somethin' or other. They served [a mission] with Nana & Grampa Stephenson in Nauvoo, IL and say hi.

Oh! So we went over to Letycia's (who we recently found out has cancer) on Sunday to see if she was going to come to church. We taught her about Sabbath Day observance and then she found out that it was Hna Ghan's birthday. So instead of coming to church she went out and bought us each a pair of very Mexican shoes and then said that she wasn't going to break the Sabbath Day again because she felt terrible about it. So we were comforted and now call the shoes our "apostate shoes". :) :P :D It was quite humorous. Oh, and she bought a gorgeous cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Soooooo good!

We have already had three songs sung and we had a birthday breakfast with our elders at a member's house. It was quite fun. We are also going to go out to do some window shopping with the money we don't have to celebrate. :)

The packages were great! When we opened the scripture cover packages I screeched. :P :D I LOVE THEM!!! They are perfect and just awesome. Yeah, I was pretty excited about them. For the next four days I showed them off to all our friends and investigators. :) Mom, we are waiting anxiously for the mixing bowl. I am craving some of Dad's pancakes, and some real maple syrup. Apparently shorts are allowed. And it's a good thing too, because it is getting hot! Even in the mornings. So if you could send me my black Capri’s and maybe the basketball shorts that would be awesome.

We'll be able to see all of conference. And I'm soooo excited. I love conference. The sessions start at 9 and 1 because we don't do DST.
Okay, I think that is all your questions answered.

I get the feeling that I am not going to recognize the house when I get back! I'm so excited! As long as you don't move like they did in the RM [movie], I'll be fine. :D

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tell Min I got her letter and love her rambling and that I will do my best to reply but I have a large backup of letters to write. LOVE!

one of the busiest p-days yet

Hey!!!
I don't have much time because we are actually at the mission office and will be going to meet our trainees really soon. We are sooooooooooooo excited!!!

Yes, Hna Ghan and I are staying together and training together in our area.
I cannot believe how much trust President Bassett has in us.

I will do my best to write a letter later. But this is going to be one of the busiest p-days yet.
LOVE YOU!!!

A letter received from Andrea’s President

March 19, 2010

Dear Brother and Sister Stephenson,

We wanted you to know that your daughter has been called to be a trainer to one of our new missionaries. The calling of a trainer is the most important leadership position in the mission and one that is extended only to our trusted and effective missionaries. The role of a trainer has more influence on the future success of a missionary than any other single factor, including their experience at the Missionary Training Center. For this reason your daughter has been selected to play a key part in laying a firm foundation for this new missionary.

Sister Stephenson has been called to this position of trust and responsibility because of her outstanding example of faith, diligence, obedience, and her ability to teach the gospel. We are grateful for Sister Stephenson’s service in the Arizona Mesa Mission and we thank you for raising such a fine missionary.

Your encouragement and support is important, and we urge you to continue sending letters that uplift and inspire your missionary in this important work.

Thank you again for sharing your daughter with us.

Faithfully yours,

W. Mark Bassett
Mission President

"Heaven is a continuation of the ideal home."

Funny story. Sunday morning our alarm went off and I dragged myself out of bed to get ready. I prayed and went to use the bathroom. Then I noticed that the clock in the bathroom said 5:40. Yes, my iPod automatically reset to DST. I went back in the bedroom and Hna Ghan holds her clock up for me to see. So I hopped back in bed and reset the iPod. Then it didn't go off like it was supposed to and we accidentally slept in til 7. It was quite hilarious.

You know all those horror stories about missionaries being fed too much. Well it happened last week. We had 2 HUGE dinners right in a row. We felt so bloated! I must have gained 5 pounds just from that day.

And I have gotten a reputation. I know, that was fast. We have a stake correlation meeting every month and in the beginning we share something that we have learned from our companion and something we have learned about them. Well, last month Hna Ghan shared that I can eat like nobody's business. Then she practically threw down a challenge. "She can out-eat any elder here." So at our meeting this month (we have them at 7 in the morning on Saturdays so the host family feeds us) one of the leaders noticed that I only had one serving and told me that I'm not living up to my reputation. Well, I definitely did NOT get the second serving that I was wanting after that. I really have been trying to cut back because we get fed so much that I am going to blow-up if I am not careful. I am very grateful for bikes. Actually we love the bikes and go out on them every chance we get. We especially love the looks that we get out there on our bikes in our helmets and skirts.

We are sooooooooo excited for the pageant! The stage is all up and I have taken some photos for you. Of the stage, and of the people practicing. It is all very exciting.

Sorry about all the rain. We have been getting lots of rain too, which is also unusual. And because of it we have been colder than usual, but I'm okay with that. I am getting a nice tan. Missionary tan that is. Face, neck, hands, a little on the arms from when I wear short sleeves, and a little on the feet. :)

Okay, quick missionary miracle.
Leticia. She came into the church building during one of our meetings and wanted to know how to pay tithing. So Hna Ghan showed her how and gave her a tithing slip. Then she discovered that Leticia is not a member. She went to the Christmas lights with her family and talked to a missionary there. Actually it was Elder Matsunaga. He talked about tithing and then prayed with her that she would be able to find a job. Two days later she got a job and she wanted to pay tithing to the church that brought about this blessing. Turns out that she lives in our area, so we set up an appointment and went over to teach her. She is what we like to call a "golden investigator". She was asking about the Book of Mormon and where she could get one and how much they would cost. Of course we just gave her one. She and her husband were there. So we gave him one too. Then she told us that she wanted to know how to pray, so we taught her how to do that too. And then she wanted to know if we could go visit her boss because she is having a hard time. So we sent the missionaries over there to. It was an incredible and very spiritual first lesson. Then we wanted to set up a return appointment. She asked us if we could do it later at night so her whole family could be there. Of course we agreed! That would be the best miracle I have seen yet.

We also found another family, Felix and Obdulia, that is so prepared as well. We are so blessed!

Okay, last thought.
In Preach My Gospel, page 85, is a quote that I just love. "Heaven is a continuation of the ideal home." I know what heaven will be like!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
Ella

I told you what a TTI is right?

Today is gorgeous weather by the way. People that have been here for a summer say that it is cold out, but it feels like early spring in NH right now.

And, no, we don't have daylight savings time. So I think you'll be three hours ahead soon.

I've got a new favorite scripture to add to my ever growing list of favorites! James 2:14-18. There are a ton of people that say they have lots of faith. "Tengo fe. Tengo fe." But they don't read their scriptures, pray, or go to church. So I pulled this scripture out and showed it to one of them and he was in church the next day.

Oh, the other thing I wanted to tell you is about our TTI miracle. I told you what a TTI is right? Well, if not, they are Teach Testify Invite contacts. We try to do those three things with every person we meet. Our average TTI count for the last few weeks has been about 80. This past week we decided that we needed some more miracles and investigators so we did as many TTI's as we could. We ended up with 210 TTI's in one week!!! And we saw so many miracles. We got several new investigators and referrals for other missionaries. AMAZING! You can tell the Elders that that is how we do it. All the missionaries in our mission try to get at least 20 TTI's per day. So we all end up getting several referrals a week and we end up teaching lots of lessons. We taught 21 lessons last week. And that was just investigators, not counting recent converts and less-actives.

TE AMO!!!
con amor,
Ella

It's about learning to dance in the rain!

So much news this week!

We had another baptism. Margarita and her son David got baptized on Saturday. However they were late to church on Sunday so they have to wait til next week to be confirmed. The reason they were late is that Margarita got a job which is a huge blessing, but....

This was a week of miracles. TONS of miracles. We saw a little boy that had been sick with who-knows-what receive a blessing and be completely healed. They went to the doctor and he said that the little boy is perfectly healthy. He is now running around causing a ruckus and constantly reminding me of Grant when he was little. Hna Ghan told his mom that: "This miracle means that the priesthood power is real." "si" "That means that God restored his priesthood to the earth." "si" "That means that Joseph Smith was a prophet." "si" "That means that this church is true." "si" "So when are you getting baptized?" "We're talking about it." That is a miracle in itself. Her husband is a member and she is afraid of water so it has been a struggle to get her to even talk about baptism. We are hoping that all this talk, and the fact that three of their sons want to get baptized, will lead to a service sometime soon. Keep your fingers crossed!

I did hear about the earthquake. It is all anyone has been talking about and praying for. I'm glad Will is okay and I'll pray for Abby.

Guess what?
I fell off my bike and have a huge black and blue bruise on my arm. It was quite funny because I was just getting off the bike and setting it down on the ground. I just kind of went with it. And the bruise is from the softest part of the bike: the seat.

Yes! I almost forgot. They are making a new mission called the New Mexico Farmington Mission. We will be reshuffled in July. And our new mission president is going to be Elder Ellesworth of the Seventy. That change will happen about the same time. How it is going to work is that whoever is up in the area of the new mission when the change happens will be in that mission. So the next transfer will determine who gets switched and who stays.

We did a HUGE service project the other day. You could probably look it up in the news from AZ. It was about 1,500 people and was called something like Clean Up Mesa, or something like that. And we got free t-shirts. That would be on Sat the 27th, so you can look it up. I got a bunch of pictures and will probably have to send you the SD card soon so you don't get too antsy.

Buena suerte! I handed my camera over to Elder Hendrickson and he took a bunch of very fun fotos. Oops, that is Spanish. So I will definitely send out the SD card.

We ate dinner with a very cute little lady the other day. Okay, so we have been eating with cute little old ladies all week. We are sisters and they can't have elders because they are all widows. Anyway, I saw a little poem that I really like in one of their houses.

"Life isn't about waiting
for the storms to pass...
It's about learning to
dance in the rain!"

We have two baptisms scheduled for this Saturday and

We had more rain this week. It made me really grateful for a car. (Gee, that was boring. ;) )

The Searles sent me the cutest V-day package. It was filled with goodies. I sent them a thank you note this morning. Oh, and the primary sent me a bunch of notes and pictures. I sent them a TY note too. I'll be hanging their pics on the wall with all my other stuff. I'll have to take a picture of that wall. It is almost covered with stuff now. :)

We have two baptisms scheduled for this Saturday and yesterday I committed four more people to be baptized. So cool. They will be baptized in March. The 27th I believe.
Oh, I bought a crochet hook today so I can make myself a bag out of the million plastic bags that we have in the apt. I need something less bulky than my backpack to carry around on p-day. I don't carry my scriptures on p-day so I don't need the backpack, but still have enough things that I will want a bag of some sort.

We had another fireside on Sunday and I was able to see Elder Leonard again! He is awesome and I just love him to peices. You know that his trainer got transferred, right? And that now he (his trainer, Elder Schwarze) is my zone leader. Anyway, I was even going to be able to sit with E Leonard, but I ended up sitting on the stand and playing the piano for almost every song. That's a lot because we always do at least half a dozen special musical numbers. I am very grateful for my talent on the piano (most of the time;) ). And we were able, finally, to get a picture of us and our trainers. I am so excited that I get to see him so often. We also saw Hna Voigt at the fireside. That was nice too.

We had some things to give to Hna Voigt that she had left down here. So we made up a bag of that stuff and brought it into the church. However, Hna Ghan through her stuff in there. So, they almost left with our car keys, but we caught them before that. And we got all the way home before we realized that Hna Ghan's planner was also in the bag. Now you have to understand that our whole lives are in our planners. A missionary without his planner cannot function. We keep addresses, phone numbers, and appointments and shopping lists, etc. in there. So, needless to say, Hna Ghan freaked out. Her life was on its way to Payson! And Hna Voigt didn't answer her phone.

And I have one minute left so I will finish the story in my written letter. I hope the suspense doesn't kill you. :)
LOVE LOVE LOVE
Ella

[Here is the rest of the story from a letter written the same day; 23 FEB 10...
So I hope the suspense didn’t kill you. :) I don’t really remember exactly where I was in the story because it was hours ago, so I hope that you get the whole thing. I think I was about…

We figured out that Hna Ghan’s planner had ended up in Payson with Hna Voigt. Well Han Voigt called at about 6:40 the next morning after having received our message. And Han Ghan proceeded to get all of the info, that she had and I didn’t. We then walked out of the house for our morning exercise. Hna Gahn was still on the phone and walked out first. In the panic attack the night before, we had forgotten to lock the door. Hna Gahn discovered this on her way out first and I followed. As soon as the door latched I knew something was wrong. Yes, we locked ourselves out. Luckily we had the phone so we were able to call someone for help. However, the man with the keys lives 45 minutes away. And it started raining. So we sat in our car, which we had also forgotten to lock, luckily. We have learned our lesson and are much more careful. :) We also gave a spare key to the Zone Leaders who live about a four minute stroll away. They live across from the Visitor’s Center.]

It will be my first session in Spanish.

I have so much to tell you! We'll see if I get through it all.

First, we went to the temple this morning. We went to the seven am session. That is crazy early, even for a missionary. :) Anyway, one of the workers was Sis Rasmusen. I don't know if she recognized me and I didn't get to say hi, but I recognized her. It helped that she had a name tag on. ;)

And speaking of the temple. Luis Lugo, the friend that I told you about before, is going to get his endowment on March 6th. We are soooooooooo excited! We are most likely going to be able to go. It will be my first session in Spanish. Very excited!

Okay. :)
One morning we were studying in our apartment and these two little ladies knocked on our door. Now we know what it feels like to be tracted into. It is really awkward. :D I think it is probably more awkward when you are a missionary and realize that this is what you do to people all day. We told them that we were missionaries too and from what church. The conversation ended soon after that.

So Elder Schwarze and Elder Ipsen are our zone leaders. That means that they can deliver our supplies. So they came by one morning (it may have been they same morning that we got tracted into) with a bag of stuff and a box. Hna Ghan took the bag and I reached for the box. We were standing in the doorway and Elder Schwarze started to hand me the box. Well, he lifted it as though it was nothing so I didn't realize that it was full of Book of Mormon’s and weighed about half as much as I do. So I began to fall into him as he let it go. Luckily he is a gentleman and caught the box instead of letting me fall on my face. :) Elder Ipsen said something like "Did you just---" "I know, I know." It was quite funny.

I'm excited for Whitney's birthday. I really hope she likes the gift I got for her. I know she will, but there is always that little doubt. :) Make sure that you give her a hug every other minute that day from me. I have been missing her a lot more lately. :/ :) You should make sure that she goes to Olive Garden and gets some fried lasagna if it is still there. Tell her to think of me when she has it.

Let's see.
TAG--- We have a game that we play. You may have heard of it. It is called TAG. What you do is whenever you see the bikes or the car of another set of missionaries; you slap a sticky-note on it that says "TAG, you're it" or something to that point. We have a blast with that. It puts a bit more fun into the day.

[Andrea ran out of time and said she will write the rest in a letter. We will post photos as soon as that package arrives.]
LOVE YOU!!!
AMOR!!!!
Ella

So, this week is transfers,

Estoy aqui! Aloha!!!

So, this week is transfers, and... Nope! :D :P We are staying the same. :D Just thought I'd get you excited to hear about it. :D

I am going to be sending very precious cargo your way. It is Min's b-day present. If she can't stand the suspense she can open it early, but it is supposed to be her b-day present.

Yeah everything is going well. Yesterday was the slowest day yet. Every single one of our appointments fell-through, but we still had fun. It ended well, and that is what counts, right? :)

Oh, I fell off the bed the other day. :D It was transfer night and we got our call, finally, from Elder Benson. When we heard that Elder Schwarze was coming to be our zone leader Hna Ghan started screaming and jumping around. She has worked with him before and just loves him. He is also the Elder that was training Elder Leonard (the South African that you talked to on the phone). Well, I started laughing hysterically and forgot that with the new set-up in our room, that the wall is not right behind my bed. So, I leaned back laughing, and ended up with my feet in the air and my head half-way down the wall. Of course that just made us laugh harder! It was a great night! :D

Oh, I have another funny story. Sunday morning we had our correlation meeting with the other four elders in our district and the ward mission leader. Well, it was Fast Sunday so they were all fasting. I had eaten just enough to keep the medication down, but my stomach apparently didn't appreciate that. Well, we were talking and talking, and then during a pause in the conversation, my stomach decided to join in. It went on for about a minute! We all died laughing. Elder Matsunaga said that it sounded like a spaceship readying for take off. "Beam me up Scotty. blublbiumbilummbn...." We DIED laughing. It was sooo funny! :D

Thank you for your never ending support. I am so grateful for a family that is sooo supportive and loving. I have seen how much other missionaries struggle with not having as great of a support system, and it makes me so much more grateful for you. It is so true however, "a missionary is someone who leaves their family for a short time, so that other families can be together forever." AMOR!!!

I love you all so much! And don't worry, I'll be answering more questions in the written letters. Oh, I got Min's package. I wear the bracelet every day and the necklace almost every day. AMOR!!!

Thank you for helping me

[A letter from Andrea dated 2 FEB 10]

To My Dear Ward Family,
Hi Everyone! I would just like to thank each and every one of you for your love and support. I can feel your prayers supporting me every day, Thank you for helping me to learn the gospel and to gain a testimony. I know this church is true, God is real and He loves us more than we can even imagine. I KNOW that. I see miracles everyday that proves it. There is no way that anything I could say could have changed a shy and reserved man, into a man who is so cheerful and happy that he dances down the halls at church. To have such a change come over someone in just four weeks is incredible. Now that same man begs us to allow him to accompany us to teaching appointments. If there is anything that I would ask of you it would be to help the missionaries. Go out to teach with the Elders. The testimony of a member can be the turning point in saving a soul. When an investigator has a friend to sit with at church, they are more likely to come. I know how blessed I am to come from such a missionary-minded ward. Keep up the good work, but keep stretching. If there is one thing I have learned so far, it is that there is always more we can do. It is the little things that count. Invite someone to come to Family Home Evening. The worst they could do is say no. :)

Anyway, thank you for everything!
!La quiero mi familia!
-Hermana Andrea Stephenson

My favorite meal?... hmmm...

[Part of a hand written letter to Whitney dated 25 JAN 10]
My favorite meal?... hmmm... Well Hna Voigt makes a really good flan, and french toast with soy milk is still really good. We get lasagna, chicken and all that good stuff when we go to English homes for dinner. Actually we get tamales often from the Hispanics. I have had some good ones and some spicy ones, but they all have a strange texture that is hard to swallow. They aren’t bad overall. My favorite Hispanic food yet was a Mexican hotdog. They put chili, onions, fresh salsa and cheese on them. They are really good. I’ll have to send you the recipe for Hna Voigt’s flan. Maybe I’ll send it with the SD card. As in, I’ll take a picture of it. :)

The most interesting/disgusting dish I have eaten was a soup with cow intestines. Gross, gross, gross! Oh, and we went over to a house for dinner with a young couple. He had served his mission in the Philippines and made us some traditional food. The main dish was really good and then he brought out hard boiled duck eggs. However, these were no ordinary eggs. They had been fertilized and incubated for 19 days. There were little ducklings in them! That was the point. He just popped it in his mouth like it was nothing! I took pictures. Well, they took pictures while Hna Voigt ate one and while I dissected it. I just couldn’t bring myself to eat it! That was definitely the most interesting meal I have ever attended. Since I didn’t actually eat it. ;)

We have seen so many miracles.

Well, the biggest thing that happened this week is that Hna Voigt was transferred to Payson. So we have been readjusting to being just two of us. We are more effective but it has been a little rough. We got blessings after stake conference on Sunday. So we are doing much better. She didn't get to say goodbye to almost anyone. So we have had to say her goodbyes for her. There have been a couple rough ones, but overall, we are doing better. We rearranged the apartment the night she left. We had to do something and that seemed like a good idea. We made everything two's instead of threes and that makes it easier to deal with. We aren't reminded of her every time we walk into the house. We even took apart the third bed. But we are really doing much better. You can tell how much it bothered us by how many times I have said that. :) But it's true, now.

One thing that has been funny is that we are not allowed to enter houses anymore without a female present. It has been driving us crazy because we aren't used to it. I don't know how many times I have been on the threshold of a house, about to step through the door and Hna Ghan says "Hermana!" and I say "oh, yeah." Way too much fun! I'll have to stop that. :) This rule is because we are just two sisters now. That is a world-wide missionary rule. Just like the elders aren't allowed into a house with just a woman there. Same thing, just opposite. :)

Oh, yeah. Luis is doing well.

No we haven't had any strange weather. It has been gorgeous actually. We go out on our bikes as much as we can. We absolutely LOVE being on bikes! Weird, since we are in skirts, but true. We talk to more people when we are on bikes.

We have seen so many miracles. One woman called out to us on the street. "Are you the missionaries?" Yeah, I know! She just got out of rehab and is all about God right now. But she speaks English so we have sent the elders over. But we have seen her a couple times on the street. Lisa. She is awesome.

Also, we were walking the street on our way to contact someone, so it wasn't really a set appointment. And we stopped a woman to TTI her. However, she is already a member. But she is really having a hard time. Her husband is in a nursing home or some thing. She apparently asked for the sister missionaries to come over, but, again, she speaks English. I don't think she would have been comfortable with Elders, but the English Elders rode by on their bikes right then, so we stopped them and had her meet them. She accepted our invitation to meet with them and I know she wouldn't have let them in if we hadn't introduced them to her and showed her how nice they are. So cool. Yes, we only teach in Spanish. It is tons of fun. The English Elders overlap about three Spanish areas.

So there is a tradition with the sister missionaries. At our nine-month mark [half of an 18 month mission], we take a "pregnant" picture. Hna Ghan's is really good. What is funny is that her nine-month mark fell on the day that I was born in the mission. December 29th. So she had a daughter on her nine-month mark.

We had a funny dinner the other night. We went over to their house and they sat us down and started serving us. Then they left us alone in the dining room to eat by ourselves. They were very serviceable, but it felt like a restaurant. :) And they were talking to some salesman that was taking down their bank information, and there were a bunch of kids there begging us for cookies. We walked out at the end and just burst out laughing. Way funny!

-Ella

And speaking of funny animal stories....

So we hiked up Camelback Mountain this morning. I can't wait for you to see the pictures. It is so different than the mountains in NH. No trees. Tons of cacti. And all rocks. And you can see a 360 view of the entire valley from the top. You should look at it in Google or something. Gorgeous! I took a ton of photos on our hike today. And a bunch of stereo ones. I hope they work. And I did remember to bring my camera to the bautismo that we had on Sat. So I do have pictures of that.

I got Mom's 2 letters. That sounds hilarious! You have to fill me in on the rest of the story about the rooster. And I love the way you wrote. It reminds me of me and makes me feel like I'm there. Probably because it is a play-by-play letter. So fun.
I also got Min's [Whitney's] card.

[Here is a shortened version of the rooster story from Mom's letter...
An unknown rooster showed up in front of our house one day and wouldn't leave. The family had a very late night celebrating Grant's birthday and that rooster was still there the next morning, doing what roosters do... crowing. Argh! Thankfully we had a rooster loving friend who came the second evening and simply picked him up and took him away. Peace. And quiet.]

And speaking of funny animal stories.... So we were standing outside talking to a man and his little white Scottie-dog was running around. He was checking us out (the dog, don't worry Mom :) ). I think he decided that he really liked me because he came up behind me and lifted his leg! Luckily I was prompted to look down just at that moment and was able to jump away with a screech. Sooooooo funny!!!! We laughed so hard. The man might have been embarrassed, but we thought it was just hilarious.

So I have another story. First of all, we had rain for about three days straight. Everything was flooded. One of the days we were out all night and towards the end of the night we gave in to the temptation to jump in the puddles/lakes. :) My shoes are still drying out. :} And since it has been raining, it has been cold. I have actually been using the electric blanket. It is lovely!

Tengo un chiste para ustedes! Pero es en Ingles, entonces....
Hna Ghan told us this one.
There was a man and a woman who were very much in love. Her name was Lorane. One day he met another woman and fell head over heels for her. He knew that he would have to break up with Lorane. So they were walking in a park. It started raining. They were by a river and the bank was slippery. All of a sudden Lorane fell in and died! And the man started singing, "I can see Clara now Lorane is gone..."
:DI hope you get it. The people here love this joke because someone dies. They only get it if they speak/understand a little English. We are always singing "I can see clearly now". We have lots of laughs. :D

[Did you walk to the temple to get the grapefruit and then walked back to the apartment for breakfast?]
We walk/run to the temple almost every day. We run around the front lawn of the VC [visitors center] casi todos los dias. Yeah, and too bad I can't eat citrus [on this diet]! :P And did I not explain about the white trees? They paint the trunks white to prevent the sun from burning them up and killing them. Tons of the trees are painted.

Oh, and I already have permission to drive so mis Hnas make me drive every few days. You can brag about that to the elders. :P :D
love you, all of you!
talk to you next week!
Ella:)

Maybe that name sounds familiar to some of you.

HOLA!!!

This week has been amazing!

I met the coolest person. Betty Coleman. Maybe that name sounds familiar to some of you. It should because she is one of the first members to have been baptized in New Hampshire. She currently lives about 75 feet from my apartment. Maybe 100 feet. She told me that she remembers the Campbells, Gunns, Guilds, Nana and Grandpa Stephenson and some others. She told me all about her story and that of her daughter Ethel. Ethel and her husband live with her, or her with them, however you like it. She told me all about how she was a member of the big white congregational church in Plymouth and how she was baptized in the font at the Joseph Smith Memorial in the middle of a blizzard. It was just amazing to meet her. It was on a day that I really needed a little connection with home, and we ate dinner at their house. Thank goodness for God's tender mercies.

Yes, I'm still doing awesome. I had a rough day last week, but I talked with my companions and it got much better and brought us closer together. I wrote about it in my journal, so you'll get to read it as soon as I am done.

We are allowed to go to the temple for one session once a transfer and we did that last week.

I would love it if you could send me the vitamin D if it isn't too much of a hassle.

The diet has been interesting. [doctor prescribed] I am eating a lot of rice and beans, eggs, and sausage. I am quickly learning to like rice. Of course, brown rice!!! :D I have rice milk with my corn squares cereal, rice with my baked beans and sausage, and fried rice, sometimes in a tortilla as a breakfast burrito type thingy. I don't bother to tell our dinners [dinner appointments] about it, because I figure that one meal a day with a couple things on that list won't kill me. But I do feel a bit better on this diet. Still adjusting though, so we'll see. :)

Our schedule is usually:
6 30 wake up and exercise (usually running, stretching, or biking)
7-8 showers and breakfast
8-9 personal study
9-10 companion study (that can get pretty fun :) )
10-11 language study
11-12 lunch
and then from 12 to 4 we go around teaching, talking to everyone, and trying to contact referrals. I haven't done any "tracting" yet. :)
4-5 is dinner
and 5-9 is more of the same stuff like 12-4
9 -9 30ish is planning
9 30-10 30 is personal time. you know, journal and stuff

that is what it is supposed to be anyway. our schedule is "adjusted" more often than you would guess.

Thank you Mom and Dad. Your support means the world to me. And I can't believe how fast the time is going either. I have been on my mission for three months! Ahhh!!! Too fast. It needs to slow down, but I know it is only going to get faster.

AMOR, AMOR, AMOR
Ella [Spanish for “she”, sounds like "Aya" which is Andrea’s nickname in the family]

I ate temple grapefruit!

FELIZ CUMPLEANOS MI HERMANO!!! Te amo. I love you little brother! I hope you have tons of fun on Friday. And remember me when you give Mom a birthday hug. love love love love love!!!!

So, I just can't wait for you to know this, even though I will write about it in my SD card letter. I ate temple grapefruit! Yeah, I know! They have grapefruit, lemon, orange, and all sorts of other fruit trees growing everywhere. They are almost as common as the palm trees! And they have a bunch on the temple grounds, so we picked one just so I could say that I literally consumed the fruits of the temple! :) There are some pictures coming with that. Also, we got to go through the temple today. It is beautiful! It is one of the really old temples so it has a lot of the intricate details like the Salt Lake temple. Not nearly as much as SL, but beautiful, and much lighter than SL. There are some beautiful murals as well.

Here is an interesting tidbit. We were biking by a park the other day and I became very confused because there was a ton of large puddles in it. I was like "did it rain and I missed it?" Actually to water their lawns, they flood them. Almost all the lawns with grass are lower than street level, little depressions in the ground. And their stepping stones are raised up so they can get to their front doors without soaking their feet. Weird, huh?

Also, our chapel is pink inside. Just a light shade in the front of the chapel and a darker one inside the trim. Where ours is black inside, theirs is a deep fuschia. It made me laugh.

Oh! And yes we had a baptismal service on Saturday. We had five of our investigators get baptized. Four are a family. So, exciting. And we have a friend who is a less-active and has a drinking problem that we are helping with the addiction recovery program. He is doing to well. We just love him to death.

Ella

Arizona is Amazing!

AZ is amazing. I didn't think it would be so beautiful. Their roads are incredibly wide. And they have all sorts of artwork on their highways. There are palm trees everywhere. The weather right now is about like late summer/early fall in NH. Gorgeous. We are actually wearing sweaters most days. And it does get cold at night, but Hna Ghan is letting me use one of her blankets, so I'm fine.

I LOVE my companions. They are so happy and cheerful. We have tons of fun and laughs. They also make me stretch. They make me go talk to people. And I am slowly learning to be more comfortable with that. I understand way more Spanish than I thought I would. I can actually communicate decently well.

I used my Aveeno sunscreen yesterday. We were outside a lot yesterday. We did 23 TTI's, or street contacts. TTI stands for Teach, Testify, and Invite.
We try to do that with everyone that we talk to. Actually, Hna Voigt did a TTI at the doctor's office. She gave away a Book of Mormon too. I'm not dried out too bad. I drink a lot of liquids. Oh, something else Dr. Fry gave me is a new diet. I am going to try to follow it as closely as I can. It is no: "nightshades" (eggplant, potatoes :(, okra, peppers, or tomatoes), Magnesium (supplements, watermelon, blueberries, Epsom salts, Dead Sea salts, mineral waters), sugar, abundant starches, Argentine (chocolate, nuts, wheat, oats, dairy, cucumbers, citrus, melons). So, we had to change our shopping list. I have rice milk to try, tuna, frozen fruit for smoothies, eggs, sausage, and some juices that are not citrusy.

We will be in a threesome at least until next transfer. About 5 weeks away.
Then, we might be getting another sister.

Mucho amor,
Ella

The Mission President and his family

This a picture that Andrea sent us which was taken on the 29th of Dec., of Andrea with President and Sister Bassett and their family. Pres Bassett is the current president of the Mesa Arizona mission.