Time with Sister Ellsworth

 

Sister Ellsworth became one of my new best friends. The circumstances of our companionship were unusual enough that we concluded it must have been inspiration. Sister Ellsworth was a Spanish speaking missionary who had been serving in a Spanish area for 5 transfers. She only had 1 transfer left, so no one expected her to move. Six transfers sounds like a long time, but the Spanish areas were few and sisters tended to stay longer than elders anyway. I, on the other hand, had been in Centennial for 4 transfers, and had been training Sis. Romney. No one expected either of us to move, however I was pretty sure I wouldn't get to train Sis. Romney in her second transfer. I just thought they would move me, not her. So in some strange twist of fate, Sis. Ellsworth was put with me- in an English area- for her last transfer and I stayed in Centennial for my 5th transfer there. 

Upon meeting Sis. Ellsworth and I quickly discovered we had a lot in common, including our taste in folk indie Christian music. :D Sis. Ellsworth was soft spoken, but bubbly; we had many fun conversations together. During our time together, Sister Ellsworth and I would be told that our experience as missionaries shone through in our lessons. We taught with unity; a good balance and flow came naturally to us. We savored many opportunities to teach non-members, but one of our favorite lessons of the week was always the Pooles- an older couple in the Centennial ward. Sis. Ellsworth loved their black German Shephard, Luke, almost as much as I did. She added wonderful insights to our gospel conversations as well. Sister Ellsworth always wore her hair in two dutch braids and was known for her woven friendship bracelets and anklets. She taught me how to do them in our time together! It was essentially a five stranded braid. At one point, a young woman in our ward gave us a little book that taught us how to do different bracelet patterns. Sis. Ellsworth did one or two, but I never aspired to it. I stuck to my embroidery projects. We made bracelets for all the elders in our district once. That district was one of the best ones I ever had. They treated me and Sis. Ellsworth like we were normal people, as opposed to being carriers of some kind of plague (something some elders were prone to doing to sisters, though I'm sure their intentions were just to stay focused.) All that being said, the real reason we made bracelets for all of them was because there was just one that Sis. Ellsworth really wanted to give a bracelet to. I can't remember his name now, but he is the 2ed elder to the left of me in the photo above. He where's a gray shirt and stands quite tall behind the elder in the salmon colored shirt. Well he and Sis. Ellsworth had served together before-both were Spanish speaking missionaries. But he, the Elder in salmon, and the short blonde elder in gray in front of both of them were leaving to serve in their original assignments in Latin America. We wanted to be able to give them- but especially Sis. Ellsworth's crush- bracelets (or bookmarks, they could be used as either) that were the CO flag colors to remember our mission by. Anyway in the end, we made bracelets for all of them so it wasn't weird. 

Sis. Ellsworth was very supportive of my various projects and crafts that I did to stay sane in our many zoom meetings. She was one of the people on my mission who showed me what understanding and kindness looked like. Together we prioritized getting outside for a portion each day, especially by street contacting in the park down the street from our apartment. We rocked out to the Oh Hellos and Arcadian Wild songs about the fall, the 2ed coming and what not. And from time to time we would reward ourselves with burgers at Bad Daddy's Burger Bar. Sis. Ellsworth loved their Bison Burger there, so we ended up going often enough that the waiters recognized us. One of the first times we went I had forgotten my wallet. I was so embarrassed. Sis. Ellsworth didn't have enough on her card to cover us both (it was right before we got "paid" so to speak), so I told the waitress what happened. I pulled out my quad and my phone and said, "This is of monetary value (handing her my phone), and this is the most precious thing to my heart (handing her my quad). Keep these; we live five minutes from here and we will be right back with my wallet." She sweetly declined to take my quad, saying that it was no a big deal, and it was clearly too special to me. She took my phone and said she would keep it safe until we got back. But when we had arrived, the table across from us (a group of men in military uniforms) had paid our bill. I don't know why it effected me so much, but it did. It made a difference to know people could be so kind to us, since so many were not. 

One last memory with Sister Ellsworth- during our time in Centennial it was unusually humid, with a lot of rain and thunder storms. We would sit on the back porch of our apartment and do Facebook work with the smell of the rain and the sound of the thunder around us. It was so wonderful. Sometimes we would take a break and just talk. Sis. Ellsworth gave me so many moments of happiness on my mission, and she helped me to feel like I could actually make a difference as a missionary. The one thing I helped her do was understand that she had served a successful mission. She had had companions who did bad things (to say the least) and by doing so put her in extremely difficult situations. Because of that she believed she couldn't say she had served an obedient mission. I taught her that she was not responsible for what her companions did, and that God looketh on the heart. He knew that she was as obedient as she could be in those terrible circumstances, and her desires were in the right place. When Sister Ellsworth went home, that was the first time I experienced trunkiness. I missed her and I really missed my family. I'd seen lots of missionaries go home early- an experience I used to strengthen my resolve to stay. But watching Sis. Ellsworth finish on time and with success in her wake, that was brutal to me. I recovered however and went on to have many wonderful experiences as a missionary.