Thanksgiving and Waterboarding

Only in California......and in Colorado

On our way to the departure devotional

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving this week! I'm not really sure what my plans are for it. I think the Glens might be feeding us, but other than that, I don't think we have anything special planned.

This was a really rough week for us. I feel like we didn't accomplish much, although, I was able to give quite a few blessings this week. I am so grateful for the Priesthood authority that has been restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith. It's an amazing gift we have been given to bless the lives of those around us.

Our last District meeting of the transfer was Tuesday and, I must say, it got a little out of hand. We asked two departing missionaries in our district, Elder Hansen and Elder Walpole, to teach. I should've known better than to have two dying missionaries teach in their last district meeting because one just awkwardly talked about contacting people and it was evident he didn't prepare at all, and the other just had a bunch of activities for us to do with no real spiritual application at the end. Then Elder Dean took a long time in his part, leaving me with only two minutes for the lesson I prepared with a commitment at the end. This failed attempt at a district meeting gave me another example of what to aim for and what to avoid when I prepare a lesson in Elder's quorum in the future.

After district meeting, Elder Dean and I went on exchanges with Benicia. I was with Elder Walpole in my area - it was his very last exchange on his mission. The two of us did some finding in search of potential investigators in my area book. We primarily worked in parts of my area that I am still not familiar with. There is still a lot of my area that I haven't worked much in yet, like a place called the Crest. Apparently it's the most ghetto and dangerous area in aIl of Vallejo, so I for sure need to explore that place a little before I leave; don't worry, I'll be careful! I would definitely have to say that out of all my areas, Vallejo is the most fun place to talk to people.

Before we started the exchange, Elder Rasmussen and Elder Dean tried to convince me to allow the exchange to be extended several hours so Elder Dean could accompany Elder Rasmussen to Sacramento for a doctor's appointment because Elder Walpole didn't want to go. What the heck? Absolutely not! There's no point whatsoever for my companion to leave the mission boundaries! After badgering me a little while, they gave up and we exchanged back as scheduled. Now it's a difficult thing to stand firm and it's much easier to drift along with the current, but Heavenly Father needs us to build our firm foundation upon Christ and be not moved. That's something I have learned on my mission, whether it's gently correcting people or just saying no to what is wrong, sometimes you have to stand strong for what you know is right. I hope I'm not making this sound really cheesy, but it's a lesson I've learned out here. I know in the past I would've just told them to go for it to avoid standing out and being the bad guy, but if we can't stand our ground to every gentle breeze that wants to move us, then how will be able to stand against the adversary when he "shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you..."? (Helaman 5:12)

Friday we had a lot of service that consumed all of our time for weekly planning. First, the entire zone went down to Benicia to help the Sister missionaries move out of their apartment and into a new one. While we were loading their stuff into a moving truck, all the missionaries going home this week drove to Fairfield to have departing interviews with President Wright. My departing interview will happen closer to the time I actually go home.

The Zone Leaders told us that night they received an email from the AP's pertaining to how transfers are to be done from now on. I believe the change is occurring to align or mission with how other missions operate, but we will no longer be told where we are going or who our companion is when we receive transfers information on the last Saturday of the transfer. All we are told is if we are leaving or not. The transfer devotional in Santa Rosa the following Tuesday will be the new day this information is revealed to us. So needless to say, the missionaries are not happy about this change because that means we have to wonder where we are going and who we are with for another three days; which doesn't sound too bad, but when the next six weeks depends on this info, one tends to get rather anxious.

We did our weekly planning on Saturday because of the tons of service we did the day before. While we were finishing our planning, we received transfer information from the ZL's which informed us that Elder Dean is getting transferred. That totally caught us off guard. We both thought he was going to stay a total of six months here and we would get a third companion since I am leaving in the middle of next transfer. So now I will be leading out this area and trying to show my next companion(s) around as best I can in three weeks.

Elder Dean used Sunday as an opportunity to say goodbye to members, which comprised most of our day. But something really strange happened that I've only heard of in the past. While we were at the Beard's house saying goodbye, Brother Beard asked Elder Dean to give him a quick haircut and I took a trip to the imagination station and played action figures with their two boys. Elder Dean got a call from the APs saying he doesn't need to pack up all his stuff because he is getting transferred to some other area in Vallejo. We were completely stunned. In-Zone transfers never happen; I've only heard of occurring maybe twice before. And this will be the third time Elder Dean will serve in Vallejo. His first area was Vallejo 2nd ward for 4 1/2 months, then he spent 4 1/2 in Vallejo 1st ward, and now he will finish his remaining three months here. We are still not sure which area he is going to serve in. It'll either be Benicia or 2nd ward. We are leaning toward Benicia since he hasn't served there before, but who knows at this point? The unexpected had already happened repeatedly this transfer so we have given up trying to make predictions. I am glad that Elder Dean is still going to be in the zone. Regardless of our disagreements at times, we are good friends and he is a good missionary. Last night he mentioned he wants to do better than he has lately, so I was really happy to hear that.

I received a Facebook message from my friend, Von, in Lakeport and she told me that Elder Christensen may have to go home soon to get his tonsils removed. I asked her to tell me more of his situation but she hasn't answered back yet. So all I know is my beloved greenie may or may not be home or going home soon. Well, my trainer went home and came back, I went home and came back, and now Elder Christensen may go home and hopefully will come back; I guess it's hereditary.

Well this was the final stretch for many of the missionaries in the Vallejo zone. We have six missionaries that go home tomorrow; one of which is premature for medical problems. This is definitely the oldest Zone that I've ever served in. Admittedly, I am a little sad that I don't get to return home with the missionaries I began this adventure with and do the the big airport welcoming scene, but I'll get over it. Even though I miss my family and friends, I know the Lord has me out here longer for a reason; whether it's something I need to help teach someone or something that I still need to learn.

Well now I am off to a departing missionary meeting for everyone going home this transfer is going to. I am glad I was still invited to it by President Wright even though I won't be getting on the plane tomorrow. I'll stay the night in Santa Rosa and then bring my new companion(s), whoever he/they may be, down to Vallejo. We will see what happens!

Love you all and Happy Thanksgiving!

Love, Elder Hayden Ellis

A Neighborhood Shooting and a Baptism

Me, Elder Dean and a gigantic teddy bear that hitched a ride with us

Our best Blues Brothers impersonation

A shooting down the street.....just another day in Vallejo.

I love Dutch Bros - they make the BEST hot chocolate!

Me with Elder Hacking and Hermana Figuroa

Adrian's baptism!

I bring you glad tidings straight from the ghetto!

Hi everyone! So it was an awfully exciting week; not just for us but for everyone in Vallejo. There has been a ton of crime happening as of late. There was a shooting (which I'll address a little more in the next paragraph), some guy threw a brick into a Walgreens window, a crazy man was roaming around the streets one at night with a machete, and a bunch of other things. We have been hearing sirens regularly so I've gotten fairly use to them now. Well, other than the police having a terrible and busy week, mine, on the other hand, was pretty good! I ate some nasty Filipino food, gave my departing testimony, and had a baptism! Woooooh!

I had such an awesome day on Tuesday. Elder Dean and I went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders; I went with Elder Despain in my area and he always brings a smile to face. I've known Elder Despain since my second transfer in Fairfield, so about a year and a half, and this is the third place we have been around one another. If I were to describe Elder Despain in a few words I would have to point out how happy, humble, and loving he is all the time. He is someone that I definitely need to stick around in my life after my mission. Our exchange started on an unsettling note, because as soon as Elder Despain and I left our apartment, we came across a potential murder scene. Literally half a block away from our apartment an intersection was closed off because someone was, I assume, shot and possibly killed. When we drove by it we couldn't see much, except the yellow crime scene tape and the little yellow, numbered cone-things were on the ground to mark evidence, and there were crime scene investigators taking pictures of the scene like in all the criminal justice dramas on TV. And also, I'm pretty sure I saw a chalk body-shaped outline on the ground but that's not confirmed. Later in the week someone put a bunch of candles at the corner where it happened and a sign requesting prayers, so I'm not sure if the guy is okay or not but the whole event paints a accurate picture showing what my area is like. So needless to say, we had an interesting start to our day. Gotta love Vallejo!

Well after Elder Despain and I discovered our lives are threatened at any given moment, we went off to work! First, we had a lesson with one of our moderately crazy members. We read the Book of Mormom with him in Alma 17 about how Ammon becomes a servant of King Lamoni and begins to work for him. Even though the member we were with is a little out there, he brought up a point that I never gave much attention to before. He noted when Ammon was brought before King Lamoni, he found favor with the Lamanite King, insomuch that Ammon was given the hefty offer to marry one of his daughters and, I'm sure, live a life of luxury in the kingdom. When he mentioned that it made me start thinking about how that was a proposition that was pretty hard to say no to; but that's exactly what Ammon did. Not only did Ammon decline the offer but he proposed a counteroffer of: "Nay, but I will be thy servant." He went from the extreme of living the rest of his life in comfort and contentment to the polar opposite of living—potentially the rest of his life, because he had no idea how long he would be doing this when he initially offered his services—in labor and servitude. Ammon was even offered later on by King Lamoni's father half of all the Lamanite kingdom and he still refused. Now why would anyone turn down these enormous offers? I know why Ammom did: he understood the principle of denying himself his earthly kingdom in order to build up his kingdom in heaven. Ammon would rather have lived a life of hard work and toil than to sit around on a throne all day and forfeit the spiritual blessings that come from laboring in the service of the Lord. Mathew 7:21 says: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." I know by only the grace of God we will be redeemed from our sins; but not while we are still in our sins (Helaman 5:10. I also know that this isn't an easy church to be a member of, but the road the Savior walked was never easy for Him, so why should those desiring to follow Him expect a smooth ride? Although there's much expected of us, and we may not get to kick back and stand idle while the Lord's work continues, the promise is clear for those who forget themselves, thrust their sickle in with all their might and endure to the end: "...thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." (2 Nephi 31:20).

After that lesson, Elder Despain and I went to American Canyon, the northern part of my area, to look for some potential investigators missionaries have visited in the past. There weren't many people who answered their doors so we ended up leaving a bunch of blank Mormon.org cards with a brief message and our phone number on it; so hopefully people give us a call back and let us know if they are interested or not so we don't have to keep knocking on their doors. From what I've seen, people don't generally give us a call when we leave our card, but that's just one of the reasons member referrals are way more effective than our own finding efforts.

We had two dinners on Tuesday - one was at the Lewis' house where they fed us Filipino food which included, upon my own request, a balute egg. If you don't know what balute is, I exhort you to research it so you have a full understanding of what I ingested this day. To give you a rough understanding of what I ate, balute is a hard boiled baby duck embryo. Imagine a cute, little duck egg well on its way to hatching into an adorable baby duckling. And now imagine someone tragically taking that duck egg away from its mother, in the middle of its developmental process, and then dropping it into a pot of boiling water for 20 minutes and eating it. Each egg is a surprise because you don't know how far the duck is in its development. Some eggs are far into their development and you can actually get a whole baby duck, with feathers, eyes and a beak. Mine was still pretty new and I couldn't recognize the duck yet, but there were feathers and cute little baby duck bones. It tasted like concentrated chicken and eggs mixed with disgusting flavor. So, in honor of my father, who also ate this delicacy when he was in the Philippines, I ate balute. If you are looking for a tasty snack, I don't recommend it, but it is quite an experience.

The other dinner we had was with Patricia and we continued teaching Adrian the rest of the commandments, like the law of chastity (which I taught - it is always a joy to explain that to children), the Word of Wisdom, and tithing. He's a sharp kid so he picked up on them pretty quick. 

On Wednesday we had another exchange with the Vallejo 2nd elders - my good friend Elder Hansen and his greenie Elder Seastrand. I was with Elder Hansen in his area and we had a good time reminiscing about our missions and how long it's been since we were in the MTC together. We also talked about how much we've changed since we first came on our missions. We taught a women a doorstep lesson and afterward thought of how much better we are at talking to and teaching people; we have both come a long way since we first embarked on this adventure. A mission provides an opportunity and experience that you literally cannot get anywhere else. I will be forever thankful for my desire and chance to serve and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Thursday was my very last Zone Conference ever. It was a really spiritual experience for me. It made me think of how far I have come, but also how much progress I still need to make. Even though I am not going home at the end of this transfer, I was asked to give my departing testimony which, when I was a new missionary, I thought would never come. I recorded the audio so I won't take any time writing what I bore testimony of.

On Friday we did our weekly planning at the Benicia meeting house because we had to drop our car off at a member's house down there so he could fix our car. A couple of weeks ago someone keyed some gang sign in our car door so he buffed that out for us. And then that night the Zone Leaders asked Adrian the baptismal interview questions and he passed them no problem. Obviously at his age he doesn't have a problem with the typical things that prevent someone from being baptized on time, like being on parole or probation.

Saturday was the big day of Adrian's baptism! There is always such a strong spirit at a baptism. At first while we were setting up and getting ready, I caught myself being in a bad mood for some reason and I had to remind myself to cheer up. It's not everyday one gets to be part of another's coming unto Christ, which definitely calls for nothing but positive feelings. Elder Dean baptized Adrian and after they came back from the changing room, I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. I saved the talk so I will send it home as well. After the baptism, Patricia called us and told me on the phone that Adrian had something that he wanted to tell us. When she put him on the phone he said that the dark feeling he had before was gone, as if it was lifted off of him. He expressed how he didn't want to lose this good feeling he now has. It's such a testimony to me that the Spirit of the Lord can manifest itself so strongly even to a ten year old kid whose attention span could hardly focus on anything other than diving into the baptismal font. The Spirit speaks all languages and to all age groups. We are so blessed to live in a dispensation that not only has the fullness of the gospel but also such an outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord. This truly is a great time to be alive!

We had an awesome day on Sunday! I was honored and privileged to be able to be the mouth piece in the confirmation of Adrian. It was a really a powerful and special moment for me. The really cool part was there was a non-member family there that was a result of stellar member missionary work, and they loved everything about church. The ward did a good job of fellowshipping them and the spirit was strong. They both graciously accepted copies of the Book of Mormon to study and plan to attend our church services again. The member who brought them suggested for their family to talk to the missionaries if they ever have questions about the Book of Mormon or about the church in general and they responded that they wanted to do some personal study first, but that they were definitely going to see more of us. So we may be teaching a family very shortly! I'll keep you all posted!

So, Uncle Nate, do you happen to remember a Sister Miller in Vallejo 2nd Ward? Also, is there anyone that you do remember here? I had dinner with Sister Miller on exchanges and I showed her a picture of you that mom sent me and she said that you don't look unfamiliar. So, as vague of an answer that may be, it's still something. Also, Mom, could you tell Sister Garrard and the other sisters I said thank you for the card and photo of Christ? I greatly appreciate it!

Well, that's about it for this week. I cannot fathom the fact that if it weren't for my medical leave of absence last year, then I would be returning home next week. It's absolutely insane. I can't believe how quickly it all goes by. But since I'll be out here a little bit longer, there are still a few weekly letters for you all to look forward to! I love my mission and I love my Savior; I just pray I can return home the man He wanted me to become from my service.

Love, Elder Hayden Ellis

A Dead Opossum and Spiritual Rants

Hi everyone!

So I had a pretty good week. I have a couple of spiritual rants lined up for you all, so get ready! 

Mom, regarding the etiquette class you're teaching to the youth this week, people definitely notice when missionaries show etiquette and manners. I've encountered a few occasions when people were unwilling to talk to me because they thought my companion and I were Jehovah's Witnesses (nothing against JW's), but upon discovering that we were polite and courteous Mormon boys, they really opened up to us and their attitudes changed. People recognize that Mormons are generally kind and well-mannered, and that's one of the things people often tell me they like most about the church. We are always being watched, so we need to make sure that we are always living our religion and acting as Christ would.

Elder Dean and I had a pretty good day on Tuesday. We taught district meeting; I taught about 'How to begin Teaching' and Elder Dean discussed the Christlike attributes of Hope and Faith. I think we did a pretty good job. I am definitely getting a lot better at preparing and delivering talks and lessons. So spiritual baby steps are being made! After District meeting we got a call from one of our members, Brother Castillo, to help him move some furniture from his mom's work to her house so we invited Vallejo 2nd ward missionaries to come along and help him with that. Brother Castillo took us out to get Phö for lunch, which is essentially Vietnamese Top Ramen. I love Phö so much. I can wait to come back and tour with my family and make them try it because it's so freaking good. They might not like the cow uterus in it (although Gianni might think it's tasty), which adds texture more than anything else, but there are plenty of dishes that don't have that, so no worries. We taught Patricia and Adrian about the first four commandments normally taught after the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which are: obedience, pray often, study the scriptures, keep the sabbath day holy. There are only a few more lessons that he needs to be taught before he is ready to meet his baptismal date next week.

I feel like I have really been getting to know Elder Dean lately. I know my last few emails about him have been a touch on the critical side, but he really is a good guy even though he may have a sarcastic and hard outer shell. He's been telling me lately a bit of his concerns in life, and how he doesn't think he really measures up. He has some struggles with chronic depression and a terrible self image, so I am able to relate to his situation on that level. I know this is one reason that the Lord placed him and I together. The several years that I dwelt with depression and self-loathing were definitely unpleasant, but because of that time of trial I can sympathize with those dealing with the very same problem that I encountered.

Elder Dean and I went on exchanges with the Benicia elders this week. Elder Dean paired up with Elder Walpole in our area and I was with Elder Rasmussen in Benicia. Elder Rasmussen started his mission in San Rafael at the same time of my second transfer in Novato, so I have known him his whole mission. He puts up this sarcastic and cynical persona so people who don't know him might think he's standoffish and cold, but really once you get to know him he's a really good guy. He's actually changed and opened up a lot since last year when he first arrived in the mission.

My day with Elder Rasmussen was kind of hard to describe in only a few words. We exchanged words with a couple of individuals who were unwilling to learn, but just wanted to bash with us. Actually, I think those few words summarized our day pretty well! We met with one women named Nancy that the Benicia elders visit weekly. Nancy is an older women who doesn't have any intention of joining the church, but wants the missionaries to stop by for company and to teach her about the Book of Mormon, not to know if it's true, simply for the purpose of "intellectual curiosity". So, that right there brings up the question of why the missionaries even stop by her house anymore. When we sat down with her, she went into how she has all these problems with the church, like: tithing, Joseph Smith, women's position in the church, and many other little concerns. I tried my best to resolve Nancy's concerns but she is one of those people who don't really care what you say in response to their bashing because she already has decided that no matter what you say she's right and you're wrong. It's immensely difficult to hold a conversation with people like this. She wasn't at all hostile in her opinion, but she was incredibly stubborn and closed off to other suggestions or ideas. The best you can do at this point is bear testimony, be polite and courteous, and walk away; which is inevitably what we did. Elder Rasmussen still intends to keep visiting her, but from what I saw, it won't do any good at this point; some people need additional time for the Lord to work with them before they are ready to listen to the Spirit. That was just one of the lessons we had that day that were like that.

The other lesson we had that day was with an inactive member named Michael. Now Michael is an incredibly complicated man which, unlike the day as a whole, I cannot describe in just a few words. His family is active but apparently he got so overwhelmed with anti-Mormon material and petty concerns that he was just buried in it and now has zero interest in the church or religion as a whole. He is perfectly content worshipping a God that he is semi-sure is real in a way he finds suitable. He is a really great guy and, oddly enough, loves the missionaries. In fact, he is the unofficial Benicia dinner calendar coordinator, and signs up every Saturday to feed the Benicia Elders and has told them to inform him about any day they don't have dinner so he can feed them. He is a super great guy; this is why I was surprised when his son and wife left for scouts and he proceeded to share every anti-Mormon concern in the book. I seriously can't remember a time on my mission when my faith was attacked so viciously. Although he assured me that he wasn't trying to change my beliefs, every time I tried to bear a simple testimony, he would counter what I said with more pointless bashing. He brought up concerns of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, tithing, the temple being exclusive to non members, polygamy, how he thinks people are unable to change, the repentance process, how he sees the leaders of the Church as corrupted, and so much more. He talked about concerns that I hadn't heard before, and he did so in a rather offensive and hostile fashion; heck, he even threatened my life at one point during the discussion, and he said stuff that I wouldn't even say to my worst enemy. All I could do was bear testimony in what I know to be true: about Joseph Smith being a prophet, the Book of Mormon being an inspired book, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and so on. But at this point in his life, his heart is too bitter toward the church and life in general for my testimony to reach him right now. I pray that it will plant a seed that can one day grow into spiritual understanding.

Now the reason I am bringing this lengthy experience of mine to light is not to condemn Michael (believe it or not,  I like Michael a lot) or people with concerns or questions about the church. Asking questions is a good thing; it's asking a question that led Joseph Smith to pray and ultimately restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth. The point I am trying to make is that it is such a shame to allow these concerns to fester and lead to bitterness, indifference or even a self-inflicted apostasy. It doesn't make any sense why someone would let the opinion of man, whether it be through anti-Mormon literature or someone asking a question they don't know the answer to, sneak into their hearts and dismiss a testimony that they were given by the Holy Ghost, who is the very third member of the Godhead. You simply cannot let a temporal opinion or concern dictate your spiritual understanding of the heavenly. Just as you wouldn't go to a chemistry teacher to help you get an A in art class, you can't go to a man to gain a testimony of God. Now that's not to say we can't teach each other about the scriptures or about God. That's what missionaries, attending church and inspired leaders are for - to help people grow in understanding about our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. But one must take this knowledge they have received to God in prayer and ask for a confirmation of truth through the Holy Ghost. Likewise, we as missionaries are called to assist people to come closer to God by helping them to find out for themselves through prayer and study (Moroni 10:3-5); not by just taking our word for it! I exhort everyone to "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith", and to not let your own lack of understanding overshadow a time when you felt the spirit testify the truthfulness of the gospel to you.

Sorry for the super long, seemingly never ending, point I was trying to make. I try to keep my crazy missionary rants to a minimum but sometimes they have to be made known.

Nothing really significant happened on Thursday. The most notable thing that happened was we had service with most of the zone for Vallejo 2nd ward's investigators helping them clean their yard that became a dumping ground for homeless people. Other than that, we continued clearing uninterested names out of our area book. On Friday we taught a young man in our ward named Mario. He has been out of town since I have been in Vallejo and he just recently got home so this was the first I was able to meet with him. We are going to start meeting with him a couple of times a week now. We also were able to teach Brother Wells who is a less active member in our ward. His family is trying to get more active in the church and his young daughter, who just turned 8, wants to be baptized so this will be a good incentive for them to start coming to church more.

Elder Dean and I had a pretty decent day on Saturday. We helped one of our members clean up their parent's house and yard a little. We had most of the zone there so the work went by quickly. After we finished helping our member, their neighbor came outside and asked if we could help her with a dead opossum that got caught in her backyard fence two weeks ago. When we went over to her house we discovered the opossum must've gotten it's head caught in between the fence posts and hung itself. So we had to lift it off the fence and bag it for animal control to come and pick it up. I just wanted to share with you another interesting service opportunity I was able to participate in.

We met with Patricia and Adrian and scheduled Adrian's baptism for Saturday at 2 pm. Elder Dean is going to baptize him and I will be giving a talk on the Holy Ghost during the baptismal service. There are a couple of points we still need to teach Adrian before then, but I am glad we finally scheduled it. So be expecting baptismal pictures next week!

I want to address something that had received a lot of attention this last week. The church recently announced a clarification in policy about same-sex marriage and how this situation is to be handled in the church. I know this announcement has sparked ill feelings among some members of the church. When our faith is tested like this we simply need to decide whether we sustain our prophet and apostles and if we believe they receive inspiration from the Lord. If we do then we can trust the decisions they make are out of love for us and love for Jesus Christ. I sustain Thomas S. Monson as the Lord's anointed prophet to lead and direct us along the straight and narrow path; which is where we will walk if we heed his teachings. I know that the leaders of this church aim for nothing less than to maintain the Lord's law in a world of ever-lowering morals.

Love, Elder Hayden Ellis

Bullying is No Bueno and a Chainsaw

Hey friends and family!

Well since it's only been half a week since I last emailed, not as much happened that I can report on, but hopefully I am still able to keep you all interested!

On Thursday Elder Dean and I went on exchanges with Vallejo 2nd ward missionaries, Elder Hansen and Elder Seastrand. I was with Elder Seastrand in my area. Elder Seastrand is a brand new missionary from Mesa, Arizona, who loves to dance. He's a really good kid and I like him a lot. I give some major props to him because he has a lot of health problems but he didn't let that be an excuse of why he could not serve a mission and came out here anyways. That's pretty admirable, in my opinion. When I asked Elder Seastrand at the beginning of the exchange what he wanted to work on improving the most, he told me that he wants to get better at opening his mouth, because he gets really nervous and quiet in lessons or when talking to people on the street. Well I can oblige him there since a majority of the work in our area is finding new people to teach and cleaning out our area book. We went and visited a lot of potentials on our list of people to see. We had some success in our finding and was able to give out two Book of Mormons. The first was to a man named Robert who said we could come back the next day, and actually followed us out to our car and asked us for a book, so that was pretty cool. The other Book of Mormon we gave out was to a women named Nina that we contacted outside a house of a potential we were trying to see. We went up and talked to her and she told us she was baptized in the church but now studied with the Jehovah Witnesses. After chatting about what we do as missionaries, I brought up the Book of Mormon and offered her a copy. At first she was hesitant and brought up some common concerns about how we view Joseph Smith and whether the BoM takes the place of the bible, but after we resolved those inquiries she accepted a copy. Sometimes people aren't interested just because they don't understand it.

Elder Seastrand and I had two lessons that day, one was with someone named John, who is kinda crazy. While I was teaching gospel principles last week about how families can be together for eternity, he brought up his desire to have a wife and a concubine and tried to justify why it should be okay. So that was interesting, but the lesson with him went alright. The other lesson that we were able to teach that night was with Patricia and Adrian. We discussed the gospel of Jesus Christ with Adrian and he understood it all pretty well. We are going to push back Adrian's baptismal date by a week since there were some appointments with him that were missed, so to make things less stressful for us and them we changed his baptism to the 14th, but it's till going to happen. While we were there Patricia told us she has been in a lot of pain lately due to her health problems. I suggested to her that we give her a blessing at the end of the lesson and she accepted. After a little bit of encouragement and persistent nudging,  I convinced Elder Seastrand to seal the anointing and give the blessing. Even though he was reluctant and nervous to do it, he did a pretty good job. I remember my first couple of blessings I gave. They didn't go to well. I remember my first ever blessing was in Crescent City to a man named Paul Cappell. I asked to do the anointing because it's easier, but I realized soon after I anointed him that I didn't know how to transition the blessing to the second person who seals the anointing and panicked and ended up just giving him the whole blessing by myself while saying none of the words that are necessary. They gave me an "A" for trying, but it didn't go well at all. I am pleased to say I've come a long way since then.

After our planning meeting on Friday, we went to pick up dinner from a member who signed up to feed us that day. Her neighbor used to meet with missionaries and is in our Area book, but we didn't know that when we were walking up to the house. He was outside and when he saw us coming he got mad and yelled at us to go away because we knew he is not a believer in Christ, but believes in Satan. So that was uncomfortable for everyone, especially for him when he realized we weren't there to see him.

And then later that night when we got home, we discovered that we got pranked by the Spanish Elders, Elder Perez and Scow. They broke into our apartment and took a bunch of our stuff and did other stupid things like put peanut butter and petroleum jelly on the door knobs. Elder Dean didn't handle it well and flipped out because he thought they stole his boots, and being from a ranch in Alaska, he really cares about his boots. So he started interrogating all the missionaries he thought committed the crime. It got so bad that he made us drive over to the apartment of the actual culprits behind the prank and demand our stuff back and, when they refused to return our possessions, seized and kidnapped their own possessions. Things have been getting way out of hand in this zone and I don't know how to get it under control!

Saturday was a surreal day for me because I realized that exactly a year ago from this day I was home in Tooele already released from being a missionary. It definitely does not at all feel like it's been a year since I had to pack my bags and get on a plane for Utah, nor does it feel like a year has passed since I was last with my family. It goes to show how little time we have to serve the Lord full time and just how quickly it all goes by.

Our whole zone had service in Benicia helping a member cut down trees and clear a ton of ivy in their backyard. A tree that the members were cutting down almost fell on top of their house and more importantly on us. Elder Dean took a video of the event so all can witness how we almost died.

Halloween was a really hard day to be an effective missionaries. It's not like we can go tracting or finding that day because people are expecting Trick-or-Treaters. Not to mention, our mission President wanted us all in our apartments by 7 pm so we didn't have much time during the evening to get any work done. It's not like we could've done much since no one wants to talk to missionaries on a holiday, especially when they are expecting cute little kids dressed up as Frozen and Star Wars characters.

I really try not to make every email home about me complaining or about what's wrong with my companion, but I feel like a lot of our days consist of me trying to get Elder Dean working. He sleeps so much it's ridiculous. Not only did he go to sleep early on Saturday since we got home at 7 pm, but we also got an extra hour of sleep from daylight savings and still the first thing he did upon getting home after church was get undressed and fall asleep. I normally fall asleep too after fast and testimony Sunday, but that's because we are instructed to pray for an hour on these days and I generally can't make it through the whole hour without dozing off. I am sorry for all the negative emails everyone. I do love Elder Dean and he can be a really good missionary when he tries to be, but I am just struggling with him right now. The time in my mission where I need a strong and hard working companion the most, I feel like I am dragging both of us along.

The Castillo family had us over for dinner on Sunday night. They are primarily a Filipino family, excluding the mom who is white, and have four young, super cute kids. The oldest child, who incidentally is a boy named Hayden, upon discovering that my name also hails from the Hayden lineage, invoked the law of those with identical names, thus making us best friends. So the entire dinner consisted of pleas for my attention. "Hayden, look at this!" or "Watch me jump on the trampoline, Hayden!" His three younger sisters also adopted the habit, so I was being frequently summoned simultaneously by four children, all beckoning to me by a name I almost forgot I originally was known by before Elder. It took me a few times before I realized that by 'Hayden' they meant me. I love kids so it was a fun dinner.

That night we had our Sunday night Leadership meeting. We were told by the zone leaders something that I found rather disturbing: someone in the zone feels like they are being bullied. NEVER should a missionary feel like he or she is being bullied or excluded by his peers. We are servants of the Lord and are far above that kind of behavior, or at least we should be. I really hope that nothing I have done or said has contributed to him feeling that way. I know what it's like to feel excluded by your social circle; those were some rough years for me growing up. I never want to make someone feel the same way I felt for so long.

Most of the zone went bowling for P-Day today and I got a not-so impressive score of 85, so that really cemented in my brain that I suck at bowling. There was a power outage while we were bowling, so that was interesting; totally ruined our already rather pathetic game. It's been raining pretty hard today and the other missionaries told us they heard lightening on their way to the bowling alley, so I'm quite pleased with that. California has been in dire need of rain throughout my entire mission. Also of note today, one of the missionaries in this zone, Elder Perez, is getting emergency transferred to Eureka zone. The Assistants to the President didn't tell us anything else concerning the move, like who is coming or what area he is going to be in, so other than the fact that he is leaving, we know nothing.

Sorry if my letter is boring. I am trying to highlight some of the more notable events but most of the work here consists of me trying to get work done while Elder Dean drags his feet, so keep me in your prayers, please.

Love, Elder Hayden Ellis

A Mexican Luau and an Expired Recommend

This is the photo that will accompany Elder Ellis' blog post this week. As a pig lover,
I just couldn't post any of the pictures that Elder Ellis emailed home this week. 

Hi Everyone!

Sorry this email is late. We had a temple trip on Monday and so we only had a partial p-day and I had to send my email in the middle of the week. I have had quite an active and interesting life since last you all heard from me. I won't keep you all waiting with a boring introduction; on to why you're all here!

I went on exchanges with the Benicia Elders on Wednesday; I was with Elder Walpole in Benicia and Elder Dean was with Elder Rasmussen in my area. Elder Walpole and I both were in the MTC together and got to the mission at the same time, so this is his last transfer. He is one of the most humble missionaries that I know. He was raised on a dairy farm in Colorado and he is almost childlike in his innocence and humility. He is also the oldest missionary in our mission being 28 as of Tuesday. In my opinion, it's quite peculiar for me, a 20-year-old kid, to give life counsel to a 28-year-old man which is what happened throughout the entire exchange. He asked me questions like: "How do you keep yourself motivated out here? How do you handle a trunky companion? What if my wife doesn't like the way I look in the Celestial kingdom? How should I talk to the Sister missionaries here? What are you looking for in a girl? If I don't get a college education then will I be behind everyone else progression-wise after this life?" I answered these questions to the best of my ability. You'd think having more life experience than I, he would have more of the answers to these questions than I would. I think he must've been pretty sheltered on that farm because Elder Walpole is seriously like the most humble, sweetest, big kid I've ever met. I love this man so much it's stupid. I looked through their area book to see how their area is doing and it isn't too impressive so we tried to do a lot of finding and door knocking in their former investigator list. We were able to meet some really cool people and get a couple of return appointments for Elder Walpole and Elder Rasmussen.

I may have mentioned this in the past, but I'll say it again: interesting things always happen on exchanges. Five minutes into our drive, their Chevy Cruise overheated and we had to pull over to the side of the road. The car had run out of coolant and we had to call our companions to come pick us up and take us to a gas station to buy some more and refill it before the car's engine exploded. Poor Elder Walpole got a solid rebuking from the vehicle coordinators when he called the mission office for letting the coolant get so low.  Later that night we had a lesson with two young member girls, Tia and Mia, and read with them in the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 3 and explained it as we read. I've gotten pretty good at teaching children about the gospel, so that's definitely a positive takeaway from my mission.

Elder Walpole and I exchanged back with Elders Rasmussen and Dean on Thursday afternoon. After that, Elder Dean and I had to run some errands to fix our car. We are having trouble with the front passenger door locking and unlocking electronically using the car keys. Having car doors that refuse to lock can be a major problem, especially here in Vallejo. That's actually the reason Elder Dean doesn't have an iPad now. The missionary before me, Elder Hardy, forgot to lock his door manually when they ran into a store for five minutes and someone stole Elder Dean's iPad that he left in the car. Elder Dean served here nearly two years ago when he first arrived in the mission and he says it used to be a lot worse than it is now, but we still see copious ambulances and police rushing around daily. We just have to be very careful about leaving attractive looking objects lying around because people are not afraid to break a window to swipe our stuff. I mean heck, someone keyed our car the other day so people certainly don't care about other people's possessions here in Vallejo. Later on Thursday we taught Adrian, the young kid who has a baptismal date, the entire Plan of Salvation. I am pretty impressed with his questions he asks; he pays attention in the lessons and always has a new question on his mind. His date is coming up pretty soon so hopefully we can bust out all the lessons before November 7th.

We had a rather atypical weekly planning meeting this week! Everything was pretty normal up until dinner time. We ate dinner at the Kaiser hospital here in Vallejo with the Falcones. They decided to feed us at the hospital on the off-chance someone might come up to us during dinner and ask us about the church or requested a blessing, which isn't a bad idea since that happens every now and then. Sister Falcone asked us many questions throughout dinner, but one of the bigger concerns she had I was able to answer while giving my dinner message. She experienced some difficult trials while she was hospitalized a few months back, and she wanted to know why trials and afflictions happen; after all, if God truly loved us then why would He allow such terrible things to happen in our lives. I didn't know this was a concern of hers when I shared the scripture Alma 7:11, which is one of my favorite scriptures about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and explains how not only did the Savior experience every possible feeling or trial we can face in this life, but because He did He knows exactly how to succor us in our trials. I explained to her that God loves us enough to allow us to be hurt. One can't learn to ride a bike without falling off it every now and then. It's through trials and falling down that we are able to learn and grow, whether from our own mistakes or the curveballs life throws at us. Like I said in a previous email home, I don't like correcting people. But it is so important that we aren't afraid to speak up if it's to help someone to improve and come closer to the Savior. President Alba said if we don't correct others then we are selfish because we care more about what they think about us than their spiritual progression and I believe it's the same with God. If He who created us never placed obstacles in our lives because He didn't want any of us to get mad at Him, then He would be selfish, and more concerned with Himself. But our Heavenly Father isn't selfish, but puts us at the top of His priorities. When we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place we must remember that trials are from God to help us grow, and, if we allow Him to, He will show us how to overcomes the burdens placed on us, that we may be stronger.

For all my faithful blog followers: I wish to draw your minds back to the email I sent home a few months back pertaining to the slaughter of turkeys. I have accepted a new challenge of combating a vicious and ferocious swine. The Spanish south Elders asked us to come along and help a nonmember/part member family slaughter a pig for a Halloween party they were having the next night. What happened first was I was challenged to tackle and wrestle the pig, so I obliged. There is video evidence of this event so I won't go into too much detail, but needless to say, all spectators were impressed. After I single handedly caught the pig,  Elder Scow and I lifted it up on the porch and I held it down with Elder Dean as another man slaughtered it. I am scheduled to return to the same house and help kill a lamb - I don't think killing so many animals is normal for a missionary but at least I am getting some life experience from it! We have a weekly community service opportunity on Saturdays with a group called the "Vallejo's People Garden". The missionaries, along with other volunteers, help weed, spread mulch, plant seeds or whatever else they want us to do for this organization that grows produce for the Vallejo community. I do not know the finer details of the charity or who they distribute to, but I know there is a great need it in the community. There are SO MANY homeless people here; probably even more than Napa or Fairfield, which I was surprised to discover how many were in those areas. While I am here I am keeping an eye out for more community service possibilities that the missionaries in this zone can help with in the future.

After we were finished at VPG, we headed back to the home that was hosting the Halloween party to help them prepare and cook the pig. It was pretty cool and now I know how to cook a whole pig. We shaved it, seasoned it, stuffed it, sewed it back up and stuck it in a fire pit in the ground and buried it! Unfortunately, when we got back that night to partake of the savory meats of our slaughter, we were informed that despite our efforts, the pig didn't cook all the way through. Evidently Polynesians have a secret method to their underground pig cooking that is unbeknownst to the local Hispanic populace here. So after all the pig wrasslin' and culinary expertise I demonstrated for this process, I didn't get to indulge upon any succulent pig meat. Later I was informed that when they tried an alternate means of cooking the pig, they ended up burning it and it didn't taste very good, so the whole experience didn't end too well. Worst Mexican luau ever.

My ward had its Primary program on Sunday, and gosh dang it, those kids were adorable. I always love listening to the primary-age children bear their testimonies. 3 Nephi 26:16 "Behold, it came to pass on the morrow that the multitude gathered themselves together, and they both saw and heard these children; yea, even babes did open their mouths and utter marvelous things..." I love how simple the gospel is that even a young child can understand it. There's nothing complicated about God loves us all, families can be eternal, Jesus is our Savior and example and keep the commandments of God. It's applying these things to yourself that can be pretty difficult some times.

I taught in district meeting on Tuesday of last week about extending bold commitments and teaching the simple doctrine of Jesus Christ. Our job as missionaries isn't to get baptisms, but to teach the gospel in a way that people can understand. If we explain a gospel topic to someone and they don't understand it by the time we're walking away, that's when we need to improve our teaching ability. But we can explain the restoration perfectly, promise blessings of the gospel to them and do everything we can to make sure the spirit is in the lesson and they still reject the invitation of baptism. Everyone has their agency to accept or reject the message, but as long as we help them understand it, then as far as I am concerned we did our job.

Other than reading the Book of Mormon with a less active member who just went on and on about how Republicans are bad because they want the country to carry fully automatic M16's (yeah, I don't know what he's talking about either), we spent the rest of our day going through our area book and trying to find referrals in American Canyon and downtown Vallejo. In my experience I've found that media referrals from the Salt Lake are the least reliable referrals in the history of the church. I can not think of a time where I tried to contact a referral sent to us by church headquarters where the person didn't deny requesting us to come by their house. They had to have gone online or called a number and requested missionaries or some piece of literature. But even though we have their name, phone number, address and sometimes even their email, they always claim that they never ordered us and "somehow" we have them mistaken with someone else who has their exact likeness in ever possible way. So right now I am just looking for that referral that is actually expecting us.

We had zone meeting yesterday, which I was especially excited for because it meant I didn't have to prepare to teach district meeting! I like a break every now and then. The big news here is the Zone Leaders announced a rule change that they received at Mission Leaders Correlation. At the end of the meeting they told us, with the help of some videos made by Sister Wright and the tech Elders, that the rule of Mormon Tabernacle Choir being the only kind of music we can listen to was abolished. Now we go by the missionary White Handbook pertaining to rules about music. We can listen to any kind of music as long as it is uplifting, helps us focus on the Savior and our purpose, and doesn't merely entertain or disrupt the spirit by its tempo, beat, loudness, lyrics or intensity. President Alba was an above and beyond, high expectations type of Mission President, while President Wright is a by the book kind of guy, so it's interesting to have served under them both and compare different leadership styles. I am very excited about the new rule change. I have listened to so much Motab on my mission that my mind is numb to it. So even though I have very little time left, I am immensely excited to embrace the Piano Guys and BYU Vocal Point (by the way, have I ever mentioned that my second EFY councilor, Trevor, is in Vocal Point? I thought that was pretty darn cool when I found out!)

Well something rather unfortunate happened today. The whole reason I am emailing you today instead of Monday is because today was our temple trip — my last temple trip on my mission. We asked Brother Aguilar, a Filipino man that loves missionaries and takes us out to eat quite frequently, to drive us to the Oakland temple. Well to our great sorrow and much lamentation, when we arrived at the temple, both Elder Dean and myself were informed that our temple recommends were expired. The emotional trauma I felt knew no bounds. We asked the temple workers if they could contact President Wright and talk to him about arranging some way for us to attend the temple; like us having an interview with him on the phone and him giving them the okay, but to no avail. I forget that when I was a youth going on a temple trip and I would forget my recommend, there was always a member of the bishopric there to give me a quick interview and smooth it over, but that certainly is not the case here. So they told us that we couldn't attend the temple until we had a written recommend. Unfortunately, my very last opportunity to attend the temple on my mission was rejected because I didn't keep an eye on my recommend's expiration date. I'm pretty bummed about this. We sadly returned to the car and told Brother Aguilar that we were going to head home he decided to take the scenic route through San Francisco, making us stop to get out for pictures all along the way. I told him we were suppose to head straight home but he didn't care. So if anything good came from the experience it's that I have some cool pictures of San Francisco; although I would have rather gone in the temple one last time before my mission ends.

Well, that's how my extra long week went. I cannot believe that it was a year ago that I left Novato and went home for surgery. It's absolutely insane for me to think about how time is flying by. I can hardly wrap my head around the idea of my mission coming to an end. Right now I am in the "enduring to the end" stage. I don't have a lot of time left as a full time missionary so I need to make the most of my remaining time here in California. I love you all! Remember the church was true yesterday, today, and forever onward. We have the wonderful gift of the restored gospel so, like my remaining missionary service, it shouldn't be wasted.

Love, Elder Hayden Ellis

Spinning Signs and Losing Self Respect

Last companionship photo in our apartment

Bags packed and ready to leave Lakeport

Saying goodbye to Lakeport

Alex Beare and Joey Sainsbury

Me and Bishop Tipton

Braylin!

The Liningers

Sis Larsen

Dave and Natalie

I'm going to miss my Kelseyville brothers - Elders Cote, Wilkes, Christensen, Blaylock and Frodsham

Posterity picture - me with my son, Elder Christensen (the missionary I trained)
and my father, Elder Whittingslow (the missionary who trained me).

Last photo with Elder Christensen

Me and Elder Achal

Me and Elder Raban

Elders Moua and Coursey

Me and Elder Moua

Vallejo....here I come!!!

Greetings from Vallejo!

Hey everyone! So first of all, might I say that Vallejo is pretty dang cool. It feels a lot like and reminds me of Fairfield. The people are quite alike and contacting pretty much goes the same way as it did in Fairfield. The change in scenery is exactly what I needed to maintain my focus out here. I can honestly say I don't feel like I am going home in two months; so that's a positive.

Monday was primarily spent saying a lot of goodbyes to people in Lakeport. One cool thing was that we attended the setting apart for a young man named Bailey who took off on Tuesday to go on his mission. It was an uplifting experience to be a part of such a life changing experience for someone else, and to watch him be given the same mantle I bear. His setting apart was much different than mine, I guess primarily because he had a huge turn out there. My setting apart (both times) was really small and his was like a party. But regardless of how different they are, the spirit was the same. As soon as President Engstrom referred to Bailey as Elder Elkington for the first time, the spirit just rushed into the room like you wouldn't believe. I'm grateful I was able to be there for such a important and powerful moment in Elder Elkington's life.

Tuesday was the big day we drove down with the Lake County zone leaders, Elders Frodsham and Blaylock, to Santa Rosa for transfers. It's always so much fun to see missionaries I've served with in the past. At transfers I always feel like I am Alma being reunited with the sons of Mosiah "...therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God." At the end of the Transfer Devotional I had a sorrowful goodbye with Elder Christensen and met up with my new companion, Elder Dean. Elder Dean is from Alaska and, like I said last week, is the Elder who replaced me in Novato when I went home. He is an interesting guy. He makes a lot of crazy inappropriate jokes and doesn't have the best work ethic, but he's a good guy and we get along really well. My goal is for us to keep each other working since we are both pretty close to going home. After we got to our area we had a lesson with a recent convert and her nonmember grandson, named Adrian, and we taught him the first half of the restoration (very simply because he's a young kid) and set a baptismal date with him for November 7th. He accepted and is excited for the date so it looks like right off to bat I will have a baptism coming up in a few weeks.

I haven't been here in Vallejo for very long, but I already love it here. It's so delightfully ghetto. People are way fun to contact and talk to here and there is always something interesting happening. Most people might feel out of place or uncomfortable here but these are my people and I am at ease here.

On Wednesday we had service at some place called Mare Island. I'm not at all sure where that is since I don't know anything about Vallejo yet. The whole zone was there, which is the most missionaries I've been around in a long time. We were helping a man move a ton of his junk out of a warehouse for a good 3-4 hours. Apparently the two things we do a lot of here is service and finding new investigators; we don't teach as much, so I guess I'll have some more interesting tracting stories by the time I am done here. We had dinner that evening with a recent convert couple, the Falcones. Before I left Lakeport, Elder Wilkes gave me a list of people to see while here since he served here over a year ago and the Falcone's are on that list. I'm not really sure how to describe them other than they are incredibly energetic and love sharing the gospel. They still have that recent convert fire burning to talk to people about the church, so that's a plus. But also they don't know much about the church, which leads them to giving their sick cat a priesthood blessing.... with consecrated oil and everything... so that's not good. I spent the rest of the night searching for referrals and getting to know Elder Dean more. He's unlike anyone I've been companions with so far. You'll hear more about him as the weeks go by, I don't want to overload you all with Elder Dean stories.

After being in Lake County for 1/4 of my mission, I'm not used to being in an area like Vallejo or being around so many other missionaries. There are 14 missionaries in this zone opposed to the eight in Lake County. That may not seem like a lot, but from our standpoint it's a sizable difference. I lived really close to four other elders while in Lakeport and we had to drive 15 minutes to Kelseyville to visit other missionaries, so I am still getting use to that too. Today we had our weekly planning meeting and Elder Dean is easily distracted and it's hard to keep him focused. Also, he sleeps a lot. If I don't wake him up in the morning I'm sure he would sleep in till noon. It's not easy waking him up either. I found that beating him repeatedly with various articles of clothing is the only effective way to wake the sleeping beast. Like I said, he's certainly much different than any companion I've had before.....or maybe I'm just different than I was before.

Elder Dean and I taught a district meeting together about patience and testifying frequently. We both came up with an acronym to be themes for our district this transfer. His was COCO PUFF which stands for: Change Ourselves, Change Others, Purify Urself For Fortification. This transfer he is going to focus on how we can improve ourselves and develop more Christlike attributes. Mine is GHETTO which means: Glorify Heaven Every Time Testifying/Teaching/Talking (to) Others. I'll teach in district meetings throughout this transfer about how we can help others in their spiritual progression.

We have an ENORMOUS potential investigator list in our area book; probably around 300 names of people that we need to try making contact with so we will be at that for a while. We did some finding that night and got some return appointments out of it. We also cleared some names off the list of people uninterested in us coming back, so progress is being made. As we were on our way to find another referral, this guy called us with a restricted number, and gave us a fake address of where he lived and pretended to be interested in learning about the church all so he could bash with us. It's ridiculous how people will go so far out of their way to try to tear down other people's faith. Elder Dean answered the phone and the man was spitting nothing but anti-Mormon venom at Elder Dean. When Elder Dean attempted to answer a question and bear his testimony, the man would proceed to cut him off and tell him that's not what he believes as a Mormon, or that's not the Jesus we believe in, etc. Thanks for telling us what we believe in, bro. We appreciate that. He didn't want to hear what we had to say - he just wanted to put us down. Elder Dean just told him in the end that his heart wasn't open and he wasn't doing what Christ would want him to do and then hung up. It's sad to see the lengths people will go to oppose the church.

The zone had a finding activity at the church on Saturday. We were doing free car detailing (which means we were cleaning the interior of their car; vacuuming, the dashboard, the windows, etc) and giving church tours while the person waited. We all were assigned different jobs by the Zone Leaders; some did the actual car detailing, some gave church tours for those who were interested in taking them, and some advertised our event by standing by the street and waving a sign around. Of course my job somehow fell amongst those of the sign-spinners, which was by far the least desirable job out of the three. I felt like I was working my old job at Mama Leones where I had to spin a sign to attract customers and I promised myself I would never do again. That clearly didn't pan out the way I hoped. Even though standing on a street corner with a sign and dancing around to get people's attention is humiliating and the last thing I want to do with my life, I thought to myself: "Pre-mission Elder Ellis would much rather accept the sweet embrace of death than to publicly humiliate himself but I'm not the same person I was when I first embarked on my mission." So I figured if I'm going to be given a job, I'm going to do it, and I'm going to do it the best I can. I went to an incredibly busy street corner by myself (don't worry, other missionaries were in sight further down the road) and I white-boy danced my heart out. I jumped around and waved that sign around as if my self-respect depended on it; which was left on that street corner that day. I can promise you that I looked absolutely ridiculous. I'm sure it was funny for people to see me dancing to no music since I didn't have headphones in, but I tried to substitute music with my own amateur beatboxing so I had a beat to dance to. The whole scene must've been difficult for people to spectate and what makes it even worse was I did that for about an hour and a half. My arms and shoulders were dying by the end of the ordeal. Despite how uncomfortable the experience was, I managed to have fun with it and it was cool to see a small way I've changed from my mission, because there is no way I would've done something like that in the past. Unfortunately, only about five or six people accepted our services and even fewer than that took the church tour but one of the Spanish companionships have a return appointment with a guy who stopped by to get his car cleaned. Also, contact information was exchanged between the missionaries and the three people who took the tour, so that's better than nothing.

We had dinner with the Atwaters Saturday night. Much to my dismay, they have an eating competition amongst the missionaries that come over for dinner to see who can eat the most pieces of French toast - and these were the abnormally large Texas toast pieces. I regrettably downed 13, which made me feel like death was an attractive pursuit in life at that point, and I placed myself in the higher ring of winners in the competition, so I'm quite pleased with that. Elder Dean, on the other hand, somehow managed to consume 19 pieces of French toast. He, therefore, not only broke the standing record of 18, but also greatly reevaluated his life and how it took a turn for the worse right then. His stomach was destroyed after that. We both learned that night of the lasting negative side affects of devouring a whole loaf of fried bread.

I was able to meet my new ward, Vallejo 1st, yesterday for the first time. I've definitely felt more welcome in some wards than I have in others, and this one I didn't feel like people tried that hard to welcome me. Now that personally doesn't bother me that much, but I thought about if I was a less active member or an investigator - how would their weak fellowshipping make me feel? It's so important that members are vigilant when there is a new face in church because that fellowship is crucial in helping them feel acceptance and love at church. God often manifests His love and direction for His children through others and we need to be someone He can count on to reach out to His children.

Well that's my report for this week. To top it off, we went to a member's house today to grab our laundry and while we were leaving we saw a bunch of cops outside a house while a squad car came screeching onto the street. While this was happening, we heard a man getting tazed because he flipped out due to his lack of medication. Welcome to Vallejo!

Love, Elder Hayden Ellis