My Testimony - Christmas Day 2013

(Aloha Family & Friends, I recorded this from her Skype call home off of my phone & then my iPad, so there is a little pause and delay as I switched between the two devices.  She's doing great and is very happy.  She showed us her "battle scars" her cuts and scrapes on her legs and knees from her biking accidents.  Thankfully, it's all nothing serious and she just laughs it off as she peels the bandages back and we see everything ooze out...gross! If this doesn't work, you'll all have to wait until I can get Hi'ilei to help me!  Love, Anela)

Happy Birthday to Jesus and My Mom

Hi Everyone! :)

I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as mine! I love you all so much and I hope you all have a Happy New Year! This week was another great one!

On Thursday one of our amazing investigators decided she wanted to get baptized on January 4th! We have been inviting her to be baptized for quite some time now and that day we didn't even invite her and she brought it up all her self and said the 4th is what she wanted! Ahhh! :) Tender mercies from the Lord! Other than that, this week has been great. From falling off my bike to teaching Young Women's this week has been hilarious. Can I just say I felt more awkward and embarrassed teaching the Young Women's then when I crashed on my bike and had holes in my tights as I walked into dinner.... yeah. They're a tough crowd. Haha. But really though... nobody wanted to laugh at my jokes...except for Sis. Fraser. My dear companion....always got my back. Haha.

We ate our way through Christmas and I am just really grateful that I'm on bikes because this ward is wonderful and feeds us so much food! This coming week seems like it's going to be a great one! With one of our investigators getting baptized, I am so grateful to be able to serve the Lord at this time! All the tender mercies I've received on a mission thus far have been too numerous to count.

I love you all! I hope you have a great week and Hau'oli Makahiki Hou! :)

Love,

Sis. Ellis-Lui-Kwan

My New District - Hollister, CA

(Aloha Family & Friends, Thank you so much for all the Christmas boxes and goodies.  Sis. Ellis-Lui-Kwan said she is stocked for awhile.  She has been sharing her snacks and treats with her companions and others.  She appreciates all your cards, letters, emails and goodies.  Thank you for remembering her! We appreciate it! We had a great Skype-call home Christmas day. I was able to record her testimony and will post it just as soon as I get some help doing so.  Hope you all had a very merry christmas and will have a very safe and happy new year! Love, Anela)

Mele Kalikimaka!

Hi Everyone.

Really sorry. I don't know how this happened but I've run out of time. I love you all so much! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! I love you! :)

Love,

Sis. Ellis-Lui-Kwan

Holla from Hollister!

Aloha.

So I'm alive. I bought a helmet. Things are great. I'm in a biking area in the Hollister 2nd Ward. My companion is Sis. Fraser from Georgia and also an Elementary Education major! Haha. She is an amazing missionary and she is on fire! She is so great as I'm trying to learn the area!

This week has been great. Hollister is an adorable little town. Quite the change from the Tri-Valley area but I'm loving every minute of it! Apparently everyone here was super stoked when the Walgreens opened. Haha. Adorable! The work is great! I think I've taught more investigators this week in Hollister than my entire mission thus far. Things are really looking up!

Also, this week was the first time I contacted someone in Spanish. Yeah! :) There are a bunch of people who speak Spanish here so I've been learning some things. It's awesome! Who would've thought I'd serve in a YSA ward, a Mandarin branch, and learn how to speak Spanish all in my little Stateside mission.

 

We have two super solid investigators right now. One is this girl who is about 13. She is so sweet and got really excited when she came because she writes down her testimony for all the missionaries that teach her and so she said she'd write her testimony for me! Isn't that so precious!

Our other investigator made us T-Shirts! These people are so amazing! I love it!

 

Well, I hope you all have an amazing week! I love you all a ton!

Love,

Sis. Ellis-Lui-Kwan

 

P.S. I spoke in Sacrament meeting yesterday. I don't know what it is...maybe I'm starting my own tradition but so far every first Sunday I've had in a ward I've had to speak in Sacrament meeting. ( I guess with the exception of the Mandarin Branch... but that would've been a little difficult anyways. Haha)

 

(Address Correction AGAIN!!!  The other ones had misspelled street names and wrong zip codes.  Sorry gang....this should be the final, well until her next transfer. : )

Sister Hunter Ellis-Lui-Kwan

1471 Gabilan Drive, #1

Hollister, CA  95023

Corrected Address!

Sorry there was a typo in the Street address.  This should be the correct address:

1471 GABILAN DRIVE, #1
HOLLISTER, CA 95032

Thanks!

New Address for Sister Ellis!!

Sister Ellis has been transferred to Hollister, CA. 

Here's her new address:
1471 Gablian Drive, #1
Hollister, CA 95032

Love,
Anela

Leaving Dublin...Doughnuts..and Chinese People

Hi everyone! :)

This week was awesome! We taught a few really great lessons, we sang an a fireside for the outgoing missionaries, and I got a transfer call! Ah! This tuesday I'm getting transferred and I'm not sure where yet but I know I'm leaving the Tri Valley Ward and the ever adorable Mandarin Branch. I'm pretty bummed because I feel like all of those huge, amazing changes are right around the corner but it's okay. 

It's been great! I really love the ward and I'm so sad to leave them all! They are such a solid group of YSAs and I love it! I hope that I get to work with them all again at some point! One of the YSAs told me something yesterday at church that I thought was really profound. She said, "Never let Satan make you feel like you didn't have an influence." Isn't that so awesome? Not just for me as a missionary but for everyone. 

I think we all have those days when we're just ready to give up, when we feel like we're just frustrated and we get really down on ourselves and ask why we even try. But in those moments, Satan can take advantage of us. He knows that we're feeling defeated and so he tries to make us feel like all of the good we try to do, all of the hard work we put in doesn't matter. But, it does. It matters to all of those you've helped. It matters to all of those you've influenced and it matters to our Heavenly Father.

I love you all so much! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sis. Ellis-Lui-Kwan

The mattress was for this Chinese sister from Temple square that stayed at our house one night. I forgot to take a picture with the sister...so here's me posing with the mattress the elders dropped off. Haha. We thought they were going to drop off an air mattress and then dropped off this thing. Hah.

Feliz Navidad from the Tri Valley Charity Ball

And then Me and Sis. Johnson. She came back for a baptism and bought us toilet paper :) Haha gotta love her.

These pictures were sent to me (Anela) on Thanksgiving Day by families that fed the missionaries.

(Another picture recently sent to me (Anela) by someone who spotted the missionaries shopping in Target)

Aloha All, This week makes six months out in the mission field. Amazing.  I can't believe how quickly time has passed. We truly appreciate all of your love and support!  Every letter, card, and email is like Christmas everyday for Sister Ellis-Lui-Kwan! May we all find simple joys in the Christmas season and remember to be grateful for all that we have been blessed with.  Thank you again for helping me to raise such a wonderful daughter. Love, Anela

Merry December! : )

Aloha everyone! 

I can't believe that it's already December...especially because everywhere I look makes me feel like I'm stuck in an eternal September. It's the weirdest thing. Haha. 

This week has flown by! We've been meeting with our new investigator form Georgia this week! He is doing great! It's so awesome how solid he is. He read the Book of Mormon and loved every minute of it. I am so excited to see all of the blessings that await him. His willingness and desire to have an open heart and mind about all that we have been teaching him is so refreshing and brings the Spirit into all of our lessons. I can't wait to meet with him again!

This past Sunday was great! Our other investigator came to church again this Sunday! She is so sweet. She is really starting to open up to us and isn't so shy. We go to the family ward with her while her mother goes to the Mandarin branch that meets at the same time. I think she likes going to the English speaking sacrament meeting better...which is fine with me seeing as I don't speak Chinese. Haha! Then in our own ward, one of our recent converts gave the opening prayer in Sacrament meeting. It was so tender. Every time he prays it strengthens my testimony of prayer even more. He really talks to Heavenly Father and has a conversation with Him. It's so awesome. You can just sense the overwhelming amount of gratitude, love, concern, and reverence that He has for Heavenly Father. It has really made me think about the way I pray and now I am trying to make every prayer a lot more meaningful! I am so grateful for all of the wonderful examples that I have in my life that get to bring me closer to my Savior. How wonderful!

I hope everyone had a great week! I love you all so much! 

Love,

Sis. Ellis-Lui-Kwan

pc Sis. Stevenson

pc Sis. Stevenson

pc Sis. Stevenson