THIRTEEN

Bonjour tout le monde!

In 1 one week there are 7 days; in 7 days there are 168 hours; and in those 168 hours there are 10080 minutes; which breaks down to 604800 seconds. The point is that I've loved and cherished each and every one of those seconds this week! I've grown so much and learned a thing or two as well!

I don't have much time today to write a decent email detailing the past week but I'll give it my best shot! First things first, The Westovers! This past week was Thanksgiving, and seeing as Thanksgiving for the Ellis family is synonymous with Thanksgiving for the Westover family, I obviously thought about them quite a bit! I got a nice letter from Hailey a week ago (Hailey, I'm going to try to write you back today!) Then just a few days ago I got my copy of the November Ensign and the first thing I see is my sister-in-law (ha! I had to!) Brooklynn staring back up at me! That was just about as cool as me sharing the front page with President Monson! (Ellis-2 Westover-1! Now's your time to shine, Brian, do something nuts and get in the news! I'm still waiting to hear the results of the golf trip in Houston! Kidding, love you guys!)

Monday ended unexpectedly! After I finished my last email, Elder Baker and I went and played basketball and volleyball with the rest of our zone. We were supposed to have a lesson with Caitlin before FHE started but she didn't show up and we were a little worried because we couldn't get ahold of her. We didn't stay for FHE because we didn't have any investigators there so we decided to go the hospital to see Steve again—great news! He was discharged and sent home! The power of Priesthood blessings is real. Just as we were taking the elevator up to our apartment we got a call and heard that Caitlin had been assaulted in the metro while defending someone with a disability! I was so worried. The Branch President was at the hospital with her and she told us what had happened. I am so humbled to be in the position to "teach" someone who so clearly understands what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Caitlin is the real teacher it seems like. She has so much faith and her heart is right. I can't wait until the day she gets baptized—I pray each night that her parents will come to an understanding with her. 

Tuesday was great! (I can only give one point from each day, I'm really stretching out my time.) I had Thanksgiving dinner with some of the YSA at Caitlin's house. She was feeling a lot better and made one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I've ever had!

Wednesday we were really busy with appointments. We had district study and talked about service. We had an investigator come to sports night and he seems really interested! The Concordia Elders took us home that night and we got all the way back home just to find out that I had left my bag at the church! They took us back to the church and told us we'd have to ride the metros back home. I got my bag and we got into the metros just in time to see one of the YSA. She told us that she had prayed we would run into her because she is working on her mission papers and there have been some hang ups with the medical side of the things and she wanted a blessing. We were able to give her a blessing in the laundry room of our building with the Chinese elders. I am glad that I forgot my bag that night. The Lord works in mysterious ways to answer the prayers of others. A lot of people get hung up on learning to distinguish the voice of the Spirit in their lives. I've learned to not worry about that so much—as long as we are striving to serve and we are worthy, He will use us. Just act on the promptings you receive when you receive them.

Thursday we met with a less active member and she referred us to her brother. (Times up!)

Friday we met with another less active and taught about scripture study.

Saturday was great! 

Sunday was Sunday—the best day of the week!

I am so sorry about this super lame email. You can just trust me that it was an awesome week!

Elder Ellis