A Problem Cyst and New Families to Teach

Hey Mom!

Well, Elder Corn and I had a very good week and have found so many new families to teach! First, we met an inactive family who hasn't come to church in a very long time. We tried getting to the root of why they decided to not come to church and of course it's because of a social reason, not doctrinal. He still believes the church is true, knows Joseph Smith is a prophet, he even asked for a blessing which I gave him. But someone insulted him at church so he and his family decided to stop coming. It's sad when people let trivial reasons stand in between them and the Gospel. They like having us over and we had dinner with them on Friday. So we will keep coming by to visit them and leave them with scriptures to read out of the Book of Mormon. Hopefully we will be able to help them remember how important church attendance is and reactivate them.

We found another really cool family while we were tracting the other day. We knocked on this one door and the son answered and we asked him if his family would be interested in a blessing on their home. So he asked his mom and they accepted. As we were asking the mom what she would like us to pray for, the 17 year old son was being super legit, turning off the TV's without us asking and trying to get his brother to come and join us. For those of you who don't know, these are very uncommon actions for a 17 year old boy who was busy playing video games not 10 minutes prior. The family is very religious and after we prayed and blessed the home the mom talked to us about how important the family is and how it's starting to dwindle in importance especially in places like California and we are just sitting there nodding all along the way! The best part is when the son brought up his dad, who doesn't live with them, and mentioned how he might need a blessing too. We offered to go see him if they told us where he lives and he started getting ready to take us there! Definitely not normal for a teenage boy. "Hmm, I wonder if my dad needs to pray with theses two random guys we let in our house, I should probably drive them there!" He was so cool! His mom stopped him since they were just getting ready to go to a football game. The family is super stellar and said we could come back and see them, which in Ellis translation means they are totally getting baptized! We also found a really great part member family we are going to reactivate. We went to visit a person that we found on the ward list and ended up meeting her little sister who is probably around 13 and not a member. She said how much her mom loves the Mormons, so that makes us wonder why she stopped coming to church since she's already a member... But the girls seemed really interested in the church, so we gave her a restoration pamphlet and she looked excited to read it. I asked her if she likes to read and she said she loves reading.... "Well in that case we got something else for ya! It's called the Book of Mormon, have at it!" Of course we explained what it is a little more than that, but that was the gist of it. Her eyes got a little big but she said she would read it! So we found even more people to teach! We also left a blessing with a homeless man, and he wants us to come visit him at the shelter he's staying at. Our area is really starting to blow up!

We had zone conference this week and President and Sister Alba and the AP's shared some of their wisdom with us. One of the things President talked about is how important it is to have a testimony of the Savior and It made me think of the man we met the day before who claims to be Jewish, Muslim and Christian. He doesn't believe in one set path back to God. He also doesn't believe that Jesus is the Christ, and doesn't believe he is the Only Begotten. In fact, he actually said it is sinful to refer to him as that. He believes that he was just a prophet, like Moses or Abraham. So he wanted to pray with us, but didn't want us to close in the name of Jesus Christ, so of course we just ended up not praying. Even though he liked a lot of what we said, like about the Word of Wisdom, without a faith in Jesus Christ he will never have a mighty change in heart like Alma the older did. When the Savior calls him, he will not recognize the voice (Alma 5:38). My favorite part of zone conference was President Alba showed us a screening version of Meet the Mormons and I thought it was fantastic! I can't imagine why people would be critical of the movie. I thought it did a very good job of setting aside common misconceptions about the church and helping people to see that we are normal people too.

Well, I have some rather disturbing news... I finally went to the doctor to get my cyst checked out, and he came to the same conclusion as I, that it is indeed a cyst. And with this particular cyst it will never go away without surgery. Not only is it bad enough that I have to get butt surgery, but I might not be able to get the surgery on my mission, so I might have to come home for it. Let me describe how much going home for this surgery would bother me the best way I can. Elder Makoni, a missionary I served with in Cordelia 2nd Ward, was hit by a drunk driver a couple days ago. He was flown to Santa Rosa and has a few skull fractures. Pretty severe right? Well apparently not, because he's going to stay in the field and get back to work in a couple of days! Are you kidding me?! He fractured his skull and is staying, but I might have to go home for a bump on my booty!? I'm going to be so bummed if I'm temporarily medically discharged for this... If I'm going to go home early for something, I want it to be for something cool like a gunshot wound, not for this... Well, we will see what happens.

Well I'll depart by leaving you with this scripture! 3 Nephi 5:13: "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."

Love, Elder Hayden Ellis

Sixteen Stones and a Bee Sting

 

 

  

 

Hey Mom! Well this week was incredibly tiring for the most part. Lots of stuff happened, like how Elder Corn and I had to go to Urgent Care earlier in the week. When we went to the beach last Monday, he was stung by a bee in the hand and it swelled to the size of a catcher's mitt. We then made the mistake of informing our Mission Nurse who told us to go to Urgent Care in San Rafael as soon as we could. So after sitting an hour and a half in the waiting room, and an additional hour in the doctor's office waiting for him to come see us, he asks a few questions, looked at Elder Corn's hand and told us to wait a week for the swelling to go down because it's just a normal bee sting. All this for the low, low price of $130 dollars! It was mildly frustrating since both of us knew the entire appointment that we were wasting time, but we still managed to have fun while we were there so it wasn't all bad. After that we walked around San Rafael looking for a place to eat, since at the time our car was still being repaired and we had to miss dinner to be at the doctors, so we settled down in a cozy little Panda Express while we waited for the other Elders to pick us up! We had a fun time overall because we made it fun, but from that experience I'm losing my faith in hospitals, so hopefully my doctor's appointment in Santa Rosa will go better than this one did. Also, to add to the craziness level, we accidentally flooded our kitchen during comp study! Elder Corn filled the sink up to defrost some chicken and then joined me to finish companion study.... But he forgot to turn the sink off.. So 30 minutes later I go to the kitchen for one reason or another and the floor is soaked and the sink is overflowing! Never a dull moment. So we had some good success this week! We had some really good contacts, one of which offered to feed us dinner later in the month,and that never happens so we were pretty excited about that! We also went and contacted a media referral we received and she was super cool. Her name is a Shantara and seemed really interested and wanted us to come back and teach her. We're going to attempt to stop by and teach her this week. She was even talking about wanting to come to church, which is normally one of the hardest commitments to have an investigator do, so hopefully she will be able to make it Something really funny happened at dinner a couple of nights ago. We were eating with a family, the Cooks, a couple of nights ago and they have a little boy who is quite energetic. Well he happened to be a Thomas the Tank Engine fan, and has tracks and trains for days! So,being the nostalgic mess I am, I started playing with him. I started quizzing him on all the Train's names, I was Henry only because he didn't have Percy, and helping him to make cool train tracks. Let me just say that I completely schooled him in track laying, he hadn't realized he was dealing with a Thomas the Tank Engine champ! Although Sister Cook told me how expensive the tracks and trains are, so now I feel bad for being such an expensive child! We had the San Rafael Stake meet-and-greet last night like we do every transfer. The members of the stake presidency alternate each transfer-in meeting with all the missionaries in the San Rafael north and south zones. Each one of them likes to do it in different ways, like the Stake President, President Gibson, likes to play a big game of Jenga with us all, and have each one of us introduce ourselves with certain questions. His Counselor, President Dennis, likes to have a big testimony meeting and get to know missionaries by them sharing their testimonies. And his other Counselor, President Kurtz, likes to talk about his own mission and drop some wisdom on us. He said something that really stood out to me. He shared his favorite story in the Book of Mormon about Mohonri Moriancumr, or the brother of Jared, and how he was consulting with the Lord on how the Jaredites will reach the promised land. The Lord gives him precise and detailed instructions on how to build barges that will carry them there. After the barges were complete and ready for travel it occurred to the brother of Jared that they didn't have any source of light! So he inquired of the Lord what to do, and I really loved the answer that was given. This is how it happened in my head, which I shall translate in modern vernacular:"What do you want me to do about it? I just told you step-by-step how to build a prehistoric submarine and you want me to be its electrician too? I want to see you come up with some ideas." Of course the Lord put it much more eloquently than that in the scriptures, but that's just the Elder Ellis Translation. The Brother of Jared was told to come up with an idea, then bring it to the Lord for approval, which shows how much trust He had in him. This can be applied to our own lives. The Lord wants us to consult Him and Heavenly Father in all things, though He also wants us to be proactive and make our own decisions as well. We can bring our ideas and plans before Him, tell Him this is what we're going to do, ask for his approval and assistance with it. The Brother of Jared had the idea to make 16 stones to light the boat, but it wouldn't have worked without the Lord touching them. We can also come up with solutions to our own problems, but ask of the Lord to make it possible. I know this is true, and how he wants us to solve our own problems, but he will pick up the slack we can't carry. Love, Elder Hayden Ellis

Conference and a Future Roadtrip

Sarah and Lauren Graham came to Utah for Conference and spent an afternoon with us.
Our dog, Joe, who is a little challenged when it comes to people skills,
allowed Lauren to get close enough to pet him - which is a really big deal.

Sarah and Lauren Graham came to visit from Fairfield, California. They are one
of Elder Ellis's favorite families!

Hey Mom!

Wow, so where to begin... Well it's a brand new transfer and I have a new companion, Elder Corn. Like I said last week, I already know Elder Corn because he was my District Leader in Crescent City, and since the six of us were so isolated up there, we spent a lot of time with each other. So it's strange being his companion now, but we get alongreally well. He has changed a lot since we were in Crescent City. He is a lot more optimistic and cheerful than when I knew him before so it's much easier to be around him now. Not to mention I'm always having a good time with my roommates. I love my apartment, we are always laughing so hard. Elder Milne, Elder Huff, Elder Corn and I are all super compatible and often speculate what a long road trip with the four of us would be like, and we came to the conclusion that it would be ridiculously entertaining.

So something really cool happened at transfer devotional. I love that meeting solely because I'm able to see all the missionaries I've served around so far and catch up with them. Something really cool that happened there was I ran into Elder Wilson from my ward in South Jordan, Utah! Turns out that after he left on his mission to somewhere in South America (I can't remember where) he got sick and had to go home. After putting his papers in again he got called to my mission! So I was able to see him at Transfers. It was super cool seeing him again, given I only knew him for a couple of weeks before he left on his mission. I was also able to see some of my favorite missionaries: Elder Christiansen, Elder Haynie, Hermana LemMon, Elder Gasu, just to name a few. I love Missionary reunions, it's always so much fun to catch up with an old companion and share stories and reminisce!

Mom, that is so cool that you were able to meet, even a part of, one of the coolest families in Cordelia 2nd. I mean there are so many cool families in that ward, but I think I really connected with the Graham's and it's definitely on my priority list to keep in contact with them. And I can't BELIEVE that Joe let Lauren get near him! I can't even get that close to that little weirdo! That is just too funny.

So unfortunately Elder Corn and I have been having some car troubles as of late and our Corolla is incapacitated. First we needed to get one of our tires changed, so we take it to an auto shop in San Rafael and long story short, we wait there for 3 hours and leave with all the same tires that we went in with... So because of miscommunication we wasted a lot of time. That was a bit of a bummer. And then the next day the check engine light came on again after we had fixed it the first time, and we took it to the Toyota dealership to get it fixed, and we still are without car. But it's okay, because no matter how many car problems we have, the church is still true.

I wasn't able to see "Dare to Serve" between Conference sessions on Sunday. I know Elder Mallory was in it. Elder Mallory was serving in Fairfield at the same time I was, although he was in a different ward. We lived in the same apartment complex so I got to see him quite a bit. He's only a transfer ahead of me so we'll be heading to BYU-Idaho at the same time. I love that guy, we hit it off so quickly.

That is so cool that Ellen Frederickson was called to serve in Louisiana! I didn't even know she was considering a mission! When does she leave? Have fun with the gators and the mosquitos!

I loved General Conference and took so many notes on it! I got a blister from holding the pen for so long! We watched the second session at the Stricklings, though the rest of it was at the stake center. I noticed that they talked a lot about helping the poor and the needy in this Conference. I loved Elder Holland's talk on it, and how he pointed out how much the Savior loved the disadvantaged and the needy. He himself, the creator of the universe, was homeless. That was pretty powerful for me. They also gave a fair amount of attention to fortifying our testimonies to be prepared for whatever may try to shake them. This is true now more than ever. In this day and age, there seems to be so many things that may instill doubt and uncertainty about things we hold sacred. So many things try to grab our attention and sway our opinions to their favor. Media, advertisements, and people alike all may have intentions to plant a seed of disbelief and pull us away from the truth. We need to be ready to combat these inevitable situations by building up our testimonies now. I know that we can build a spiritual barricade to ward off the things that try to tear our testimonies down, just by doing simple things like praying, scripture study, and attending church. Then we can put on the whole armor of God and be given the protection he intended us to have.

Well, sorry this is so late! I had a really busy day. We had a zone barbecue on Rodeo beach and it took a lot of preparation and we had to speed though the day to get there early enough to start cooking but we had sooo much fun! You know it was a good day when you have a huge headache by dinner. Pictures to come! Love you all!

Love, Elder Hayden Ellis

Skyping a Baptism and Upcoming Transfers

Transfer Doctrine has come and gone! And the big news is that I am staying and Elder Meiners is leaving to go to my old stomping ground in Fairfield! He wasn't quite fortunate enough to be able to go to Cordelia 2nd Ward, but he is going to the Hmong branch. Going to the Hmong branch is a dream come true for him since he went hard at studying Hmong when we were in Crescent City together, so he'll do well there. My new companion is going to be Elder Corn, who I think will be coming here from Winters. I already know Elder Corn - he was my second district leader after Elder Call in Crescent City. I've noticed I've gotten to a point in my mission when I already know most people that transfer into the zone before they get here. I've been around long enough to meet a lot of people and make a lot of good friends, as opposed to 8 or 9 months ago when I didn't know ANYBODY except for the five Elders I was around in Crescent City. Elder Randall is also leaving and is heading to Napa and Elder Huff is coming in his stead. I'm going to miss Elder Randall - he's been a good friend to me since I've been in Novato. He goes home in December so it's probably going to be the last time I see him in the mission unless he comes back to take my companion and me out to lunch like he said he would! Elder Corn and I will be an interesting companionship. I'm not sure how it's going to go but I'm going to be optimistic about it.

So I had a fantastic day on Saturday! My investigator in Fairfield, Elise, was baptized! I'm so psyched for her! I was pretty bummed out that I had to leave the area before she was baptized, because she was ready while I was there but there was a good reason why she wanted to wait so I had to accept the fact I wasn't going to be able to be at her baptism... or so I thought! Earlier in the week Elder Kimball, who was my companion for a majority of the time I was teaching her, told me that her baptism was on Saturday and asked me if I wanted to Skype into the baptism with him, and of course I said heck yeah! So we were able to "be there" for the baptism, and it truly was a special experience for me. Not only did I get to see familiar faces that I really miss, but I remember Elise when we first started teaching her and seeing her now and how far she's come is amazing to be a part of. She had so many good questions and thoughts, and she definitely worked Elder Kimball and me hard and made us do a lot of thinking, but she finally came to the conclusion that baptism is important and something she wanted in her life. I'm so happy for her and grateful that Heavenly Father allowed me to be a part of her life. By the way, Mom, during the baptism I was told by an anonymous source that Sister Graham is coming to visit you, which is so cool! So you dropping this little "secret" to me is not new information. I have my sources too. :)

Like I promised last week, I was able to help set up for a baptism yesterday for the Stickles family. It was for their daughter who just turned 8. So I was able to attend four baptisms in the last two weeks, which is definitely a record for me!

Well, General Conference is coming up! I am so excited! I cannot believe it's already that time of year again. I feel like it wasn't that long ago that I was watching it with the Grahams at their house. Elder Jeffery R. Holland promised that, "if we teach by the spirit and you listen by the spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you." I promise that if you take a question to General Conference and diligently seek for an answer during it, by the spirit and through the words of our prophet and General Authorities, you will receive an answer. I'm so grateful for modern day Prophets and Apostles, and for the guidance and counsel they convey to us. It truly is a blessing from our Heavenly Father.

Love, Elder Hayden Ellis

The Oakland Temple and a Cyst

Hi Mom!

So transfers are coming up! Can't believe how quickly this one went by! We find out what's happening on Friday. Our prediction is that Elder Milne and I stay in Novato and that Elder Randall and Elder Meiners leave. Although we could be wrong and I could leave and Elder Meiners stays for 6 months. But the only way that could happen is if he trained a new missionary, which could happen since we have 27 new missionaries coming to our mission next transfer! That's a lot of greenies, so we need a lot of trainers! That might happen, but more likely than not, I'll stay here another transfer. But one thing we are sure of is that either Elder Meiners or I will leave, because it wouldn't make sense for both of us to stay together for three transfers. So by Tuesday next weekI will have a new companion!

So I've been having some medical problems. I've developed a cyst on my tailbone which has virtually made sitting normally and sleeping on my back impossible. I've had it for a couple of months, but it hasn't gotten really bad till this week. I noticed it when I got to Novato and it was slightly painful and wasn't that big but after a while it got even smaller, so, taking after my father, I ignored the medical problem and figured it was fine. But this week it came back with a vengeance and was the size of quarter and immensely painful! I called the mission nurse who told me to set up an appointment with a doctor in Santa Rosa and gave me his information for me to give him a call. Well, it turns out that I'm awful at setting up doctors appointments. I called the number and starting talking to the secretary who answered the phone and quickly it dawned on me that I forgot the doctors name. So when she asked me who I was trying to set up an appointment with and listed three different names, I had no idea what to say! I figured I had nothing to lose at that point so I asked her, "I can't remember what the doctor's name is, but which one of them specializes in cyst removal?" And she promptly told me none of them do, so I apologized for my blunder and might have mentioned, "well... this is awkward.." at some point. Then we both came to the mutual agreement to hang up the phone. So I'm going to have to try again later. Although the cyst has once again assumed its small and less painful state, I'm trying to fight the Ellis in me that wants to forget about it and assume it's fine. I'll have to break character and make that appointment.

Well this week we were able to go to two baptisms, one on Friday and the other one on Sunday. The first one was a member's daughter in our ward who just turned 8. We were invited to attend to assist with the preparation, like filling the baptismal font and setting up the chairs. Then, Elder Meiners and I were asked to be witnesses for the baptism to make sure it was done correctly. The girl, who had formerly procrastinated her baptism due to being nervous and unsure about it, left the baptismal fount and when asked how she felt, told her mom she felt happy. It's amazing to see the change that comes over people when they take small steps along the Iron Rod. Even at such a young age, she decided that baptism was a commitment she wanted to make and she already feels the blessings and joy come from her decision. The other baptism was for one of the Spanish Sister's investigator, and we went because we invited one of our investigators to attend and she showed up! So even though it was a Spanish baptism, and there was quite a few things lost in translation, she still enjoyed it and felt the spirit. So we need to go see her and teach her again while she still remembers the feeling! And we have another baptism that we need to help out with coming up this week! Love it!

We went to the Oakland temple which is always a great experience. The temple is the absolute best places to have questions answered! I know the temple is the House of the Lord, and because of it we can be sealed to our families for all time and eternity. I have such a testimony of the temple and know of the importance of doing work for our ancestors there.

Love, Elder Hayden Ellis

Bunkers and Redefining Tracting

Touristy picture at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Myself, Elder Minkler, and Hermana Wickline posing dramatically for the camera.

Pitch-black selfie with Hermana Billat.

On top of a World War II bunker.

At the bottom of an old World War II  bunker.

We went exploring in a hidden bunker where a lot of people go to graffiti the walls, so it was like walking through a ghetto art gallery!

Jailbreak!!!

The jellyfish that we found washed up on shore that I took a bite of.
Saltiest thing EVER. Not a overly pleasant experience but I've never
been a picky eater in the past.

Elder Randall buried his legs in the sand up to his knees so Elder Merrell and I took
the opportunity to take some hilarious pictures with him.

Somehow Elder Milne broke my chair, so this is my study station now! 

Hey Mom!

It's the start of week five! Hard to imagine that we get transfer information in a week. It will be interesting to see who my next companion will be. I feel like Elder Meiners and I just became companions but it's been 3 months already! On top of it all, I've been in Novato for a while now and will soon be in a new area again. It's not easy to wrap my mind around it all.

This last week was a little slow, and we weren't able to see many of our investigators. Everyone here is busy all the time and it's really difficult to catch people when they are available! But we were able to visit some less active members that we haven't been able to see since I've been here, so that was progress. Also something exciting that happened was the Elders Quorum and the missionaries helped move in a family (I'm pretty sure we help people move at least once a week - we already have another one planned for this next week, so by now I've gotten pretty good at it) who are not members of the church, which is uncommon here. Apparently a friend of the family is a member of the church and he called ahead and asked us to assist. Normally people are so unwilling or untrusting to accept help from others, especially for something like moving, so I was really glad we could help out!

I went on exchanges with a missionary in my district, Elder Chan, and he is easily the most effective missionary in my mission. He is from Hong Kong so already people want to talk to him, but he's just so bold and real with people that he can talk to and teach anyone. We went tracting for a while and he can get into anyone's house. Sometimes he will just walk right in and start talking to them about what they are watching on TV or just about whatever and they will just let it happen. Then he will teach them a lesson! If I tried randomly walking into someone's house they would call the police on me. I think he can get away with it because he's Chinese and because he doesn't give them an opportunity to call him on it - he'll just walk in and talk to them like he belongs there. He redefines what tracting is. I definitely learned a lot from him!

Well it was another pretty slow week. Like I mentioned earlier, we didn't really get to see our investigators this week, but on the bright side I learned how to play my first song on the piano! "Mad World" by Gary Jules, I'm pretty sure that his name at least. I'll send a video home of me playing it sometime in the future!

Now, for your viewing pleasure, I present to you a man fleeing from a bear. Enjoy.

ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ       ε=ε=ε=ε=ε=ε=┌(;￣◇￣)┘


Love, Elder Hayden Ellis

Elder Ellis' Roadtrip to Phoenix

My dad and I drove down to Phoenix for the weekend to attend my nephew's baptism. Of course we took Elder Ellis along for the ride.......

Hayden loves road trips

Hayden loves putting on lipstick

Hayden loves the Big Baby (Rylen)

Hayden loves sleep overs

Hayden loves Hello Kitty

Hayden loves baptisms with his Uncle Nate and cousin Ashton

Hayden loves hanging out with the Phoenix elders

Hayden loves going for a walk with cousin Addison

Hayden loves playing SWAT with cousin Ashton

Hayden loves watching football with Uncle Nate and cousin Carter

Hayden loves going to a tea party with cousin Kennedy

Hayden loves pretend tea and oranges