Dear Fullmer Family,
How is everything going? It sounds like you had a very exciting week with many things going on. Thanks for taking your time to write me though. It's always nice to hear from you! This week was such a great week. Yesterday we had a mission conference where the special guest was Elder M. Russell Ballard. It was such an amazing conference. He was accompanied by Elder Gay of the Seventy and it was a very powerful meeting.
Elder Gay was scheduled to speak first and then introduce Elder Ballard. However Elder Ballard beat him to the stand. He said, "What's nice about being a General Authority is that you have general authority. If President Monson was here however I don't know if I'd be doing this..." He went on to praise Elder Gay for all that he's done for the church. By the way, Elder Gay is an Area Seventy over this area. The two of them were on a short tour. In 2 days they visited 3 missions, and a military base. Elder Gay said that Elder Ballard wore him out. Elder Ballard had to be back in SLC yesterday but he insisted that he came to our mission to speak to us. So after Elder Ballard introduced Elder Gay, Elder Gay spoke about how we can improve our success. The first thing he told us we needed to do was to increase our faith. He said that if we increase our faith by doing the things that we need to do with a willing heart we will have more success.
The second thing he told us to do is to contact more people on the street every day. Therefore we will increase the number of our investigators. Then it was Elder Ballard's turn to speak. He spoke to us and instructed us how to become "Master Teachers." Most of what he talked about was what we need to do for ourselves to know the doctrine personally. He said, "We need to become Master Teachers so that we can teach any lesson at any time, to any person, anywhere”. He also talked about how important our calling is as missionaries. He included himself in that sentence. He said that he and all of us are doing the same work, the Lord's work. He said, "We are on the errand of the Lord." I'm not able to write all that happened or all that I felt but it truly was an amazing experience.
It also turns out that I didn't do the musical number for mission conference. They chose someone else but that is completely fine with me. The song that they performed was absolutely beautiful! I did get to be involved in the conference though... They asked me to lead the music! It was fun! As all of the missionaries were sitting reverently waiting, Sister Anderson got up and asked me if I would come up and lead the music. I did of course. As we were waiting for the special guest to come in, at that time we didn't know who it was, they asked if we could sing some hymns. It was such a nice way to start the Conference. Sister Anderson asked if I would choose some hymns to bring the spirit. It was wonderful! Yesterday will definitely be a day I'll remember for a long time. Also at the conference I got to see Elder Reese who is doing really well. He's still a little frustrated with the language but I'm sure he's doing really well. It was fun to see him and also my former companion along with the other Elders from Miami Beach Zone. Very fun!
Thanks so much for letting me know what's been going on at home. Sam's getting all ready for school to start! Exciting!!! I can't believe that Slagle's not going to teach Mads! I'm sure everything will go well though... It just won't be the same. Also that's exciting about having new neighbors and the opportunity to share the gospel more! That's also cool to hear about how you talked to a woman from Cuba. We pray every day that it will open up to missionary work. Slowly it's moving along.
How was the wedding for Robert? That's exciting to hear about.
Mom you said something about it being Hurricane Week on the Weather Channel and I just have to say that we've been getting a lot of rain lately. I call it the 2 o clock storm because it rains pretty much every day at 2:00. This last week we were visiting someone and teaching them outside because there wasn't a man in the home and as we were teaching we turned around and saw a HUGE storm coming in fast... We knew right then we were going to get drenched! We did! I have never gotten rained on so hard before. I thought my backpack was waterproof but apparently it's not all the way... My scriptures got pretty wet unfortunately. However I think I saved them for the most part. They won't be the same but it'll be a good story to remember.
You asked about our investigators. This past week we found 4 new investigators who have some pretty good potential. We weren't able to visit with A & A though because when we stopped by on Sunday, A (male investigator) wasn't home. A (the female investigator) felt bad that we couldn't come in but we have another lesson scheduled for Sunday. All of our other investigators aren't really interested at all so it's a little frustrating. Sometimes agency gets a little frustrating! Ha ha. But it helps me remember how sad it makes my Heavenly Father when He knows I need to do something but I don't. So I've been learning a lot this week.
Thanks for telling me about your reading in Ether Dad about the Brother of Jared. It's amazing how we learn new things every time we read the Book of Mormon. Yesterday in the Conference, Elder Ballard was talking about how we learn new things and he said, "Sometimes I read something and say, 'How long has that been there?'" So even Apostles learn new things when they read the Book of Mormon. Good luck next week in your talk. I'm sure you're going to do an amazing job!
I just want to say that I know that our Heavenly Father loves us. I know that He loves me personally. One way that I know He loves me is because I have my family. You're such a blessing to me every day. I know that He watches over us and protects us. Another way I know He loves me is by entrusting me with His Holy Priesthood.
Last Sunday I was able to give a blessing to a member of the Branch Presidency who has been suffering from some health problems. The spirit that I felt was so special. I really felt that I was an instrument in the Hands of the Lord. It's so special to have His Authority. We need to pray for opportunities to use this Priesthood daily because the purpose of having it is to help others. That's one thing that I've really learned throughout my mission. I love you all so very much! Keep praying! :)
-Elder David B. Fullmer
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