Some Exciting Things in our Family!!😏
SO MANY BEAUTIFUL GIFTS
This gift is from Esther
She is SO very thoughtful and gave this dress to Hna Ellis!
A gift she will always cherish and that will remind her of Esther 💗
Spoiler alert!
There is a short and fun video at the end of this post!
And some great news about our family!! 😁
💗💗💢💥 Independence Day in the DR 💥💢💗💗
A wonderful show right behind our apartment building!
The gift of Independence
The DR was ruled under Spain and gained freedom from them, and then under Haitian rule 1822 to 1844. And then again under Spain and became free from Spain in 1865.
Freedom! A wonderful gift!!
Flags all along the road. Beautiful!
For Independence Day we were all given
a wonderful traditional dominican breakfast
A gift from the Facilities Managemnt to everyone in the Institute building. Thank You!!
We share the Institute building with the Mission Home (upstairs), FamilySearch, And The Facilities Management (all upstairs).
The Institute uses all of the main level.
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We went to the temple in Santo Domingo
Samuel and Perla are amazing people. Great times!!
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Visiting La Union Ward and YSA's
Elder Ellis spoke in Ward Conference
The Cienfuegos Ward and YSA's
We saw Kennedy
and Mayoris - since returning from her mission
She will be coming to Utah this December to attend school!!
Yay! What a gift that will be to have her continue in our lives!
💗 We love her! 💗
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Here's what's happening in the Cocina Class
Making sugar cookies and frosting them
One of the YSA's FAVORITE foods Breakfast Burritos
They wanted to know how to make these before we go home!!
AND
Fruit Pizza
Another new favorite
Our Emotional Resiliency -Tuesday Class
They've never had lentils before so we made some for our class. They are all nonmembers. This is a special, beautiful class.
These are many of the regulars who come to the Institute who are not members of the Church. We love them!!
We love that they come visit us every day.
That is a gift!
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Out to dinner with President & Hna Brueck (Mission Leaders)
Hna Brueck's birthday was the next day and
our anniversary was two days later
Time is so precious and in demand.
We felt it a gift and always enjoy this time with them
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Esther made dinner for us in her new apartment
It was so yummy!! A gift of service and talent she shared with us!
Arroz y Havichuelas con Pollo
(Rice and Beans with chicken)
She used amazing spices YUM!!
Aguacate y Platanos Maduros con Chinola
(Avacado and plantanos with Passionfruit drink)
Ester is full of kindess and love. She is a gift to everyone around her.
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The Familia Diaz
Celebrating Katherine's brithday at our apartment
Katherine, Presidente - Felix, & Her Mother, Lucinda
A sweet Anniversary gift from the familia Diaz
This is our sign to everyone
The gift of L💗VE
Natalia, Said & Alegna
Their beautiful family.💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙
Our Family Circle Is Growing Even BIGGER!!
Two babies 💙💜 are coming!
This is an amazing gift! The best ever!!
Maegan, Keaton & Moses are having a baby!!
Baby boy Merrell is coming in August
AND
(You already know)
Beth, Dev & boys are having a baby girl in late June/early July
YAY US!!
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For our Anniversary
We took a trip to the beach
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37 years of being a family
The water was so blue and beautiful.
This was a much needed rest!
It was a wonderful gift!!
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Nicole is our sweet friend we havn't seen for such a long time!
She came to visit us! Yay!
💗💗💢💥 We've seen some fun things 💥💢💗💗
Fun to see them harvesting the palms- Hopefully he's paid well
Garbage is a problem in the DR
...this guy and others didn't get the memo.
The sign says NO Basura aqui (NO Garbage here)
...this guy and others didn't get the memo.
The garbage removal system has become A LOT better than it used to be when both Elder Ellis' served in the DR.
So that is progress which is a gift to the country.
You see this EVERYWHERE
You'd think these people are waiting for a parade or something,
but this is what everyone does, especially on the weekend, they sit in front of their homes or work, and talk w/one another. It's beautiful!
The DR may have their problems, but connection is not one of them.
Speaking of connection...😂
We went into the store and when we came back out we saw this...
Impressively close to our car
😅😀
We see these carts pulled by a motorcycle everywhere!
They really are a gift to the people to assist in their work.
This is the third or forth time we have seen this...
really so impressive.
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Our Mission Pets
These are our little pets in our apartment! Aren't they cute?!
Little Lizzy and Little Scaley
These are our little pets in our apartment! Aren't they cute?!
Little Lizzy is actually an actor...who plays dead on demand. If he's scared or hungry, he plays dead. He's quite convincing!
They are a gift to us because they gladly participate in the food chain
which our apartment supplies for them. It's a win! win!
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Gifts come wrapped up in many sizes and packaging. Some gifts are big and some are small. It is our blessing to seek all of the gifts in our lives. Sometimes they are so freely offered that we can sometimes take them for granted. We talk about this a lot.
It has become our goal to have the eyes to see and not take these gifts for granted, and to always be grateful. We feel so blessed to receive and enjoy so many gifts from so many people in our lives.
The greatest gifts, are the ones we use every day. Especially the gift of the Atonement and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It is hard to imagine life without their daily power in our lives.
You are a gift!! Thank you for coming and checking in on us. We are doing well and miss you all very much! We give our love to you.
As always,
Elder & Hna Ellis
Gpa & Gma
Dad & Mom
Brother & Sister
Aunt & Uncle
💗 Your friends 💗
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Wow! So many gifts the Lord is blessing you with! Thank you for sharing! What wonderful friends you are making there in the Dominican Republic! And we are so excited for you to have two grandchildren on the way! 💕😊💕
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