Happy days!

Hey everybody!

Glad to hear Matt, Nat, and kids had such a fun time in São Paulo! The kids didn´t like fresh squeezed OJ?? Oh well, I didn´t either as a kid, but I grew up, at least a little bit. And congradz to Clay and Kim! I didn´t see all the pics but it looks like everything went great!

Speaking of great -- great news! Rafael is going to be baptized this Saturday! Thank you all for the prayers that were offered. The work is moving forward! I´ll give more details next week when it´s all a done deal. But the Lord has been blessing us as we apply ourselves to working hard, focusing on the right things that matter, and seeking His will. Thanks again for your support, love, news, and prayers. Tchau!
--Elder Ellis V

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Hello!

Hello Happy Family!

I was very tempted in that last email to say that I my legs had been mauled off by a pack of Açorian pirate dogs that had made it to the mainland on a crazy rampage, or something silly, but I resisted temptation, boring old me. Thanks again for the emails! I´m glad Mom, Dad, and Em in São Paulo will have a fun time with Matt, Natalie & kids. And I´m also happy Kev´s ankle surgery went well. (How are the rest of ya´ll?)

Just to give ya´ll a heads up, there´s some thing going on with the myldsmail accounts being renewed, so if there are any mess ups it´ll probably be because of that. In the meantime, keep sending your awesome emails to this email and everything should work out fine.

So this week went well. I already told ya´ll about the zone activity the zone leaders planned, which was cool. Multiple uses of the word there - it was fun, and ridiculously cold with the wind and rain. But all is well! Elder McFarren and I are doing what we can, and we are being blessed with the progress of Rafael. He´s the boyfriend of a less-active girl and he´s coming along great. Yesterday he was actually the driving force to get him, his girlfriend and her older sister and younger brother to church, and we invited him to pray about being baptized on the 27th of this month, and he said he would. I love the gospel!

So everything is going well. I´m looking forward to that Valentine´s package from Mom (and any others that might be sent as well). Thanks for your prayers and support! (Specifically, if you could pray for Rafael´s continued progress and that Elder McFarren and I can find the ready elect, I thank you very much!) Well, I love all of you! Have a great week! Tchau!

--Elder Ellis

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No need to fear...

...Elder Ellis V is still here! Well it seemed only Mom and Dad seemed to miss me, but don´t worry, I´ll still send this to all ya´ll. But seriously, I apologize for slacking on the past two Mondays. If I was irresponsible, I´d blame the zone leaders, but since I´m not, I won´t.

Since I missed not one but two email sessions I asked President Torgan to let me let ya´ll know that I´m ok. Monday February first the zone leaders (Elder Perkes from my MTC group and Elder Nixon whose family lived in São Paulo also) came to LAV to play Settlers (Elder Nixon´s got it in Portuguese). Due to complications which I will skip over, only the zone leaders were able to do their internet and Elder McFarren and did not have time to so do. And this past Monday, February 8, the zone leaders had planned this ´surprise´ zone P Day activity to go to the dedicatory site in Sintra, but things didn´t work out so well, and with cold wind and rain coming down on us along with public transportation and other fiascinhos, we didn´t make it back to our area till after 7, again leaving no time for internet. So don´t worry lovely family! All is well with your favorite Elder Ellis in Portugal!

So life is great and the work is moving on! We got a list of part member families from the bishopric last night and we´re excited to try working with them, as well as passing by the other less actives the bishopric has given us. Other than that, we´re trying to find and focus on the elect. Cadu needs help finding his answer and own desire to be baptized, and Rafael (boyfriend of a less active who´s coming back) is nice and interested and coming along. Thank you for your past and continuing prayers! And thanks also for the pictures and updates. Sorry about Kev´s ankle. Happy Birthdays to Christa and Ethan! Dad and Em - I got the letters ya´ll wrote around the 18/21 of January - thanks! I love all ya´ll and hope you have a great rest of the week! Love,

--Elder Ellis V

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LAV Round 3!!!

Hello beloved family! Don´t worry, you may all continue to send your mailing items to the Algés address, because Elder McFarren and I are staying here for at least another 6 weeks! Unless of course you´d rather mail stuff to the mission office, which works out fine anyway. So! Thanks everyone for the emails - the blog update thing was a terrific idea. (Thank you Aup, since I think it was your idea!) Happy belated birthdays to Mic, Natalie and Tearisa! I hope you all (plus Dad) had great birthdays!

Life is great! We´re working with these two young men, Paulo (20) and Cadu (17) and they are coming along. Paulo got a ride from the bishop and came in his own suit - quite a snazzy one too! - and was very well greeted by the members. He´s very accepting and loves meeting everybody and learning about the restored gospel! We plan to mark him this week for baptism and are praying for God´s continual help and guidance!

Thanks again for all the news, pictures, and prayers. I´m happy Mom made it home safely! Thanks for the Liahona article about Paulo walking 25 miles to church. Hopefully that story can inspire some of the people here. Love you all and I hope you have a great week! Tchau!
--Elder Ellis V

ps - my prayers will be with Zach, I hope everything works out with that growth thing. Godspeed!

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Hello from LAV!

Hello beloved family! It´s been great to see the pictures and read the news from the blogs - fabulous! I´ll be happy to see the nieces I have yet to meet, when the time comes. (And man oh man is time flying by!!) Thanks Mom and Dad for the letters (notes on the visit from Pres. Eyring & Company and the quote from Pres. Uchtdorf) I just got them today! And Happy Birthday (early wishes) to Dad, the great Papa Stan! Happy belateds to Sam and Caity, and if anyone could say Happy Birthday to Sterling Mann, I´d appreciate it.

Well life is great. Elder McFarren and I had a boost this past week and have gotten on the ball with teaching lessons, working with investigators, and finding new ready people! And there´s this kid named Cadu -- Em, someone you should write, hint hint -- who turns 17 (the same day as Dad!) who is really coming along great. He´s a great kid with a desire to learn and do! Yay! And it´s always fun to find new people - talking to people on the street, or them talking to us, less active members´ friends - always a treat!

Well transfers are this week, and so far we´ve heard nothing and I think we´re both staying, but that´ll be confirmed in next week´s email. I hope everyone has a great week! Thanks again everyone for the news and well wishes! I love all of you and wish you the best - especially Dad on his special day! Have a great one! Much love,
--Elder Ellis

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Hello!

Hey there family!

Sorry Mark and Aup. But God´s in control, and all things will give us experience and be for our good! I love you! And thanks for the present! Rob and Christa delivered it safe. The shirt cracked me up, and the sweets were great! Mentioning Rob and Christa (the Great Dalmuti and Dalmuta), we had a fun time going to Sintra, seeing some of the sights there, and the Bishop and his wife treated us to dinner and a family night Monday evening. Thanks for the great visit Rob and Christa!

This week has gone well and flown by! Ricardo Vinhais has shown interest and we´ve started to teach him, and last night Bruno finally participated in the lesson again, so we´re grateful that they are listening! And passing by other people, working with members, and finding new ones are all making life enjoyable! Wednesday we had interviews and I´m grateful to have President Torgan as a great mission leader. And I just need to keep up with all the many blessings I´m receiving!

Since Rachel requested, I´m throwing in my mailing address --
Avenida Bombeiros Voluntários de Algés
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Algés 1495
PORTUGAL OR you can send to the mission office --

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1500 Lisboa
PORTUGAL

Thanks again for the news and everything! My prayers are with you all! Much love,
--Elder Ellis V

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Happy New Year!

Hello everyone!! Happy New Year! What´s this I read about Mark and Aup expecting baby #2?? CONGRADZ!! Looked like ya´ll had a very fun Christmas!

Well the Lord is blessing this part of His vinyard. Saturday Mário Jorge da Cruz Vinhais (he goes by Jorge) was baptized! He had finally given up smoking a few weeks ago, and has joined his wife and daughter as members of the Church. Now I pray that his two sons, Bruno and Ricardo, can be further prepared by the Lord and have their hearts softened to accept and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Well, hard to beat that news, but another great treat was to have Rob and Christa pull a surprise visit at Church! Just by looking everyone seemed to already tell that we were brothers, like I´ve never heard that before! :D But it was a pleasant surprise, and a great blessing to have Rob´s help in teaching Sunday evening. Thank you Rob and Christa! (Although it´s not over yet, because we´ll probably go to Sintra for most of Preparation Day.)

Well I hope everyone is doing great. I´m very happy for Joy&Darrell and Mark&Aup, way to go bringin in the kiddies! I hope Grandma Turtle can get better in every way, and way to go Mom for being the angel! My prayers are with all of you, and I hope you had a great New Year´s celebration! Mine was a firework show of z´s. Well, have a great week everybody! Love,

--Elder Ellis V

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.