Ellie grew up in a large Catholic family in Wisconsin. “I was number six out of seven siblings,” she says, “and life was difficult. All of us were made to attend Mass every week, and we sang in the choir, served food at weddings, and went to Catechism classes on Saturday. I loved God, and I loved singing the songs,” she continues. “It made me feel warm and fuzzy to be in church. But that’s about all I got out of it. I didn’t understand the communion thing. I just didn’t know what it meant, because I wasn’t taught well. There was never meaning in it for me, just symbolism.
“The first year I was out on my own, there was a Catholic church between my apartment and the school I was going to, so I thought, I’ll go to church. But it didn’t turn out how I expected. Instead of feeling warm and fuzzy, I realized I was in a church I didn’t know in downtown Madison—and I was almost alone in there. Then, after mass, everyone stepped out of their pew and walked home—and that made it easy not to go back.”
After many years of not going to church, a friend invited her to a Pentecostal service, and soon Ellie joined enthusiastically. “I was in 100 percent, and I went to church three times a week. But despite being happy and excited, my Pentecostal friends kept asking me if I had the Holy Ghost yet. I begged for the Holy Spirit to show Himself to me in the evidence of tongues, and I did it so often that it became old, tiresome, and even embarrassing. Why won’t the Holy Spirit come to me? I wondered. I must not be good enough, but why can’t I have the gift of tongues?”
Watch Out for Television!
Ellie says she remembers the pastor preaching once about how we should be careful about TV evangelists, and what they had to say. “He also preached that it wasn’t good to watch TV all the time, and I was becoming convicted. On the occasions where I turned it on, I knew I shouldn’t be watching it,” Ellie confesses, “but one night I flipped through the channels, and at that very second, I heard a preacher on this channel called 3ABN, so I stopped to listen. Let me see if they’re lying, I thought. But soon I realized that he agreed with everything I knew to be true.
“The next night I watched House Calls, and they were constantly referring to the Scriptures. They don’t say one word without backing it up with the Bible, I thought, so this is safe! I didn’t know if the other Pentecostals would approve, but I knew in my heart that God approved, so I didn’t tell them about it.
The more she listened, the more Ellie came to believe that she was hearing the truth. “Then one day, the Holy Spirit came to me in sudden inspiration, and told me, You Should find these people. It never occurred to me that there were Seventh-day Adventists in my city. I called around, found a church and was so excited about it. Then I realized that I had driven past it many times, and thought, Those are probably really nice people. They must be like the Amish.”
While Ellie visited the Seventh-day Adventist church, she continued attending her Pentecostal church, as well. “When I started going I had no intention of having to choose between them,” she says. “I knew I’d be an Adventist.”
Ellie was baptized as a Seventh-day Adventist, and although she was committed to her new faith, she longed for more church fellowship. “Then a friend in Watertown invited me to her church, and when I visited, I found that it was adorable, so now I come here every week, although it’s a 45 minute drive.”
Ellie loves to tell anyone who will listen about the station that introduced her to the truths of the Bible! “I’m grateful for 3ABN, but I’m also grateful for the Holy Spirit urging me to find the Seventh-day Adventist people,” she says. “If it wasn’t for Him, I would still just be watching TV.”
Watertown Seventh-day Adventist Church
We praise God for how He has brought more Bible truth into Ellie’s life, and for all she does for those around her. If you’re in the area, why not visit with her church family at the Watertown Seventh-day Adventist Church in Wisconsin, located at 500 South 5th Street. They would love to meet you!