September 26th pictures sent

Missionary ipod. :(

Caramels- Yum

 

Everyone was Kung Fu Fighting

September 26- Happy 20th Birthday

Hello Familia,

Well this week has just been a little different. First of all I turned 20 years old! Pretty crazy! Thank you so much for your gifts that you sent me! I love them so much! My mission companion absolutely LOVED his Pez and Donald Duck Pez container. He can literally empty a pack of Pez into Donald in about 5 seconds... He's a pro! Haha. Also thank you so much for my new mini scrips! They are so boss! My Zone Leader saw them the other day and said, "I am totally coveting these things right now!" I love them! 

 

And I think I'm set for candy until Christmas so don't worry about sending me any more. Haha. I don't want to sound ungrateful but there are a few little things that I've realized that I would kind of like... It doesn't need to be right away but whenever you can. I absolutely love the October issue of the Ensign and Liahona and I was wondering if I could possibly get a copy of my own so I can mark it up. My companion and I get a copy but we need to share them and it would be nice to be able to get one for myself. I know... Selfish... Also with my new SWEET scriptures if you know of any SWEET scripture markers I'd love to be in on some! I want them to look just as amazing inside and outside! Plus, Mom could you possibly make an even smaller Patriarchal Blessing copy that would fit in my teeny tiny scriptures? I messured and it would be about (5 1/2"/ 3 1/2") Would that be possible? And finally I'd love to have any printed family pictures that are available. Any from last fall? I'd be happy with anything :) One thing... Sorry... As I was reading about how to care for my SWEET new scriptures it says that there is a warranty on them. In my bigger quad some of the pages are falling out in 3 Nephi and i was wondering if it was covered under the warranty. Could you find out about that? 3 Nephi is kinda important... Don't want to lose it :)

 

Anyways... Time to tell you about what happened on my birthday! So I woke up and we went to go exercise! We went to go lift some weights and I put up 180 big ones on the bench! It started out to be a great day. We came home, opened my gifts and was loving life! My family's the best! We had a full day of lessons planned... but pretty much all of them cancelled except for the couple planning on getting baptized, who are awesome! Before we went to their lesson we visited a family in our ward to wanted to give me a cake so we just had to make time for that... :) It was and Ice Cream Cake... "Mint Chocolate Chip!" (Actually it wasn't but it was still very good!) That was fun! Then we headed over to the couple's home we were teaching.. We planned to have the Sister's come with us to teach them because the Sister's have magical powers with investigators so we thought it wouldn't hurt to bring them along. What I didn't know is that the Sister's, along with the ward mission leader, had planned with the couple we are teaching to surprise me with a little party! They totally got me! It was so much fun. So I got to blow out candles with their son Oscar who is 4. It was awesome! 

 

So as the husband we are teaching, went to go get pizza we were talking with his wife and we found out that they aren't married... That put a damper on things. Why doesn't anyone get married anymore!!! So frustrating! So on Tuesday we get to teach them about the Law of Chastity and hopefully we'll have a wedding pretty soon! So that was a little disappointing to say the least. So we went home pretty sad but optimistic that they're going to get married and felt pretty good about it. Then all of a sudden I got super sick. My stomach was not happy and, lets just say I got cleaned out.... Always something on my birthday right? Ohh well. So Friday night was not fun... And Saturday was rough with a fever of 102.4... But I'm feeling better now! :) So it's been a pretty crazy week...

 

Another investigator Update! So she still hasn't found a new job... We're thinking that she is just kinda expecting for something to happen so we need to explain to her that it requires faith our action for something to happen. We still think it's possible for this Sunday and keep praying that it'll happen! She's incredible though!

 

That's awesome that you were able to see Brother Reese. His son is actually isn't in Miami Beach right now. He's in Miami the city. His companion  was my current companions, last companion.  He has one more transfer than me. It must be really difficult but I'm sure things will start to turn around soon!

 

Well I hope this week has been really good for you all! I'm so excited for this next weekend where we'll be able to hear from the Prophet and His Apostles. I think this is going to be the most powerful General Conference that I've had so far. I teach people everyday why it's important to have a Prophet and my testimony has grown so much about the importance of a Prophet and now we get to hear from a living day Prophet! 

 

I invite you all to pray this week for answers to your prayers and for the ability to recognize them. I promise that there are answers and things for each and every one of you personally. We just need to be humble enough to recongnize them and be receptive to the spirit to change our hearts. I know that this work is the work of the Lord and He's guiding us all! I love you all so very much!

-Elder David B. Fullmer

Pictures sent on September 19, 2011

Have no idea what heis doing, but there is a lot of rain coming down behind him.

It is a missionary tradition to burn a tie (corbata) on your 6 month mark.

This lovely tie was from the D.I. in Salt Lake  

End result of the tie burning. He said it didn't burn very well, but being Eagle Scouts, they got that baby to burn.  

Sisters and Elders with ????

Mariachi Band that showed up at a sister in their ward's birthday party.

Sister Missionaries with a Hermana in the ward or branch.

20th birthday week- September 19, 2011

Buenos Dias Familia!

I can't believe that I'm going to be turning 20 years old on Friday! It's pretty crazy! It's not a really big deal it's just surprizing me how fast this year is going. I can't believe that September is almost over. Pretty soon it'll be Christmas!

I've got a funny story about birthdays. So a couple weeks ago we were visiting this invetigator. Her daughter asked me when my birthday is and so I asked who in their family has the next birthday. The mom said that her son does does and it's on the 4th of September. I looked at my companion... looked at my watch... and said, "umm... Today is the 4th... :)" She was so embarrased! It was funny. Luckily they don't really do much for birthdays so the son was really fine with it. He turned 6 years old! Luckily however my family remembered about my birthday! Thank you very much! It'll be a very different birthday than I've had before but I'm sure it'll be a great day like everyday on the mission!

Well anyways, enough about my birthday... This week has been awesome! I think I told you all about a couple we are teaching last week about how he wants to quit drinking. So last Tuesday we decided to teach him about the word of wisdom. He loved it! I've never seen anyone love the word of wisdom so much! It turns out that every Friday when he gets his pay check he goes and buy beer and relaxes and drinks. He realizes that it's a problem and wants to stop. So he asked if we could change our lesson from Thursday to Friday so he can feel the Spirit and won't be as tempted as easily. Of course we said we would and had a lesson at the chapel. In this lesson we taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End.) When we got to Baptism we invited them to be baptized on October 9th. We had invited them to be baptized before and they said they wouldn't commit to a date yet... However we knew that they were ready to accept a date. They did accept it and are so excited to be getting baptized! They both came to church yesterday and they were telling just about everyone that they're going to be getting baptized! It's a wonderful feeling to help people but really it's wonderful to see the desire people have when they know that what we are saying is true! I can't wait for their baptism!

Another investigator Update! So we've been talking to her a lot about when to get baptized and we extended another date for her for the 2nd of October (in between sessions of General Conference.) She accepted! We asked if there was any new news about a job and she said that she's going to find out today if she got a new job! I really hope she does! She's so excited to get baptized. I've grown so close to her family and I see how much the Lord loves her. She needs the blessings of being baptized and she is just so close! She's been working with the missionaries for close to 10 months now. It's time!

We had a lesson with her with the sister missionaries, (who are awesome), where we were planning to teach her about the Sacrament and why it's important to come to church after we are baptized. So we went with the Sisters and knocked on the door... no one was there. We called. No one answered. As we were thinking about what to do a van drove up with her inside and one of her friends who is going to be moving into her trailer with Carina. They needed help bringing her friends stuff inside and we were right there to help. This friend has been going through a lot as well and has recently been divorced. As we were helping her move in she was crying and we asked her if we could share something with her. We went along with the lesson that we had planned and really tried to apply it to her. The Spirit was so powerful in that lesson and I had the impression to ask her to be baptized. I did and she accepted! It's amazing how the Lord places those people who are prepared in our path.

Sorry... I actually don't have my address with me right now... It's fine if I don't get my card by my birthday. Really all mail is supposed to be sent to the Mission office. I don't mind if it's a couple days late. It'll just be an extended birthday! :) Also sorry to hear about BYU... That sounds pretty painful. It's alright though... I'll probably end up being a Ute after my mission anyway. I never thought I'd say that but I've still got some time to think about it.

Mom! I'm so glad that you got my birthday card that I sent you! I'm glad you liked it! I hope you had a wonderful birthday! I love you very much. You're the best mom anyone could ask for! I love you!

Well I think that's all I have to say from this end. I know that the Lord loves us very much and that He truly is preparing those to receive the Gospel. We don't know who is ready but the only way to find out is by inviting! Good work Mom with talking to that woman at work about the church! It's the small things that bring to pass miracles. I know that this is His work and His glory. I've really been able to feel Him guide me to those I'm supposed to talk to. Pray for opportunities to help others. If you are sincere, the Lord with guide you and use you as a tool in His hands. Nothing feels better than when you are helping others while being guided by the Lord and being an answer to someone's prayer. I love you all so much! You're the best family ever! Please keep me in your prayers :)

Con Amor,

-Elder David B. Fullmer

September 12, 2011 Letter

Hola! Como estan?

How is everyone doing? It was so great to hear from everyone! It sounds like everyone had a pretty good week this past week, except for football in Utah, but that's not really important. This week has been a great one for me and my companion. It's been exciting but at the same time pretty normal, nothing really out of the ordinary. However there were quite a few changes made in the Ft Lauderdale Zone last Wednesday with transfers. Well in our District the English Elders got put into another District and more Sisters came in. So right now it's my companion and myself with 4 sisters! I have renamed our district "RSD" or the "Relief Society District!" It's different but the Sisters really do work so hard. They have a special spirit about them. They can do so much more than the Elders can... well I think so at least. I've got a lot to learn from them! Other than that there hasn't been much out of the ordinary.

My companion and I have been waking up earlier every morning to we can work out longer. One of our investigators, (who's 9), his brother has a bench press in their garage where we go lift every morning. It's pretty ghetto but it's better than nothing. Sam, My arms are getting huge! Hahaha. 

Unfortunately another investigator was not baptized yesterday... We met with her pretty much everyday this past week and we just feel like she needs a little bit more time. Plus she still has to work on Sundays. So technically she can get baptized because she has been to church more than two times but we want to make sure that once she is baptized she can come to church to learn and to be strengthened. We have faith that she will find a way to be able to get baptized.

You also asked about a couple we are teaching... We gave a blessing on their home when we taught them for the first time... Unfortunately again they haven't called us back. Maybe we'll give them a call and see if they'd be willing for us to come over and teach them some more. We've been making really good progress with another couple we are teaching.  We've been teaching them a lot about the Plan of Salvation and they are loving it. They are really reading and having cool spiritual experiences. It's really neat hearing how they are recognizing when they feel the Spirit and when they don't feel it. The man has come to the knowledge that he doesn't feel the spirit when he drinks beer so he wants to quit. We haven't even mentioned the Word of Wisdom... I can't remember if I already told you about that... Anyways they're doing really well. It's always a joy to teach them. I always get so excited when I'm teaching them!

Dad, you talked about how President Foster spoke about Christ taking away our infirmities. I love those scriptures and I know that it's true. I have an experience that happened this past week that goes along with that. Before I came into this area, this sister in the branch got baptized. Now we go over about once a week and teach her and answer her questions. Before she got baptized she had a lot of health problems with her stomach and with her arteries... I don't even know everything. However she received a blessing before she was baptized and as of a few weeks ago all of her health problems are pretty much gone. She went back to the doctor and he said he doesn't know what happened but there's nothing wrong with her. It was amazing. However the past several weeks have been really hard for her. Her daughter (who's in her 20's or so) has suffered from bulimia for a long time. It's gotten to the point where her body just rejects food. She's been in and out of the hospital and now it's to the point where there's not much more doctors can do for her... The sister in the branch has had to take care of her four grand kids. However lately she has had pain again in her stomach and has been not feeling well at all. We visited her last Thursday where she seemed like she was doing fairly well. 

Normally we wouldn't go back for about another week but as we were planning Friday night I had a distinct impression that we needed to visit her on Saturday. I made some rolo cookies so we could just stop by and say we wanted to bring some cookies. (sounds like something I'd do right?) So anyways... when we showed up to her house on Saturday night she was a mess... The kids were absolutely nuts and she was in a lot of pain, both physically and emotionally. We helped her get the kids to bed and then we had some time to talk. I didn't know what we were going to say to her but I just did what I knew best... I pulled out my hymn book... (Sounds like me again right?) I turned to "Abide with Me." You all know how much I love this song and as I sang this I started to cry (that's not the first time I've cried during that song.) Anyways, the spirit filled the room. After that she was telling us about everything that was going on in her life, which is so much! I knew that we needed to give her a blessing. I asked her if we could and she said she would love it. I offered her a blessing and i just felt guided of what I needed to say. Afterwards she said, "Guys... The pain is gone. All of the pain is gone." We talked about how Jesus Christ took away her pain and her infirmities. It's so incredible being able to be prompted by the spirit and to be led to those who we are able to help. (Sorry this story was so long but i just kept going...)

Anyways... You asked if there was much talk about 9/11? There really hasn't been much talk about it. I can't believe that it's been 10 years! Crazy... You also asked about how my raincoat and umbrella work. I'm sure they work great! I just don't really use them. If it's raining, you're gunna get soaked! Haha.

Well this week has been a great testimony builder for me. We haven't had huge success in finding super prepared people but we have seen the Lord's hand guiding us to the places we need to be. I have so many things that I need to work on but I'm glad that the Lord recognizes that I want to help other people. I've been praying a lot for opportunities to help other people and I know that the Lord has guided me to those who need help. I know that this work is the work of the Lord. I know that I am a representative of Him and there is no better calling than that. I love this work and love being able to be here doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I love you so very much! You are what keeps me going! Have a great week!

-Elder David B. Fullmer

P.S. Sorry if this letter sounds weird... I've been sick lately and it's been hard for me to concentrate on things so sorry if it doesn't make sense... I love you

Sunrise pictures David sent on September 6, 2011

Before the sunrise near Ft. Lauderdale

Still in Riverside Park, Sept 6, 2011

Hello Family!

Well we received the transfer information last night and we found out that my companion and me will be staying together in Riverside Park. I was really glad to hear this because we are a really good team and we've been working really hard. We haven't had any baptisms yet but some are just around the corner. Thank you so much for the 6 month package that you sent me! It was great! I love those soda things. Awesome! Also those Hi Chew things are possibly my favorite... Yum! By the way i found out that my companion's favorite candy is Pez so if you want to send a little extra of those the next package he'd love you forever! 

 

Also about the Subway card. We were so happy to go to Subway the other day but when we got to the register the man said... "You only have 39 cents on this card." and then he threw it away... I said, "There should be $25 on it." He gave it back to me so I just used my debit card. I went home, called the number on the back to check the balance and it says that there are 25 US dollars. Maybe we'll try a different Subway next time and I'll ask him to check it before we order our sandwiches. Thank you though for the love in the letters as well. I haven't burned my tie yet... haven't had time... but it will be incinerated momentarily! 

 

It sounds like it's been a great week for college football and for Highland football. I love football season! That's so cool to hear about Washington S... I'm not even going to try and spell his name... Baptisms are such a spiritual experience. The Sisters in our ward had a baptism on Sunday where a man got baptized. A few weeks ago he was smoking 40 cigarettes a day and now he had completely quit. It was amazing to see the baptism take place. 

 

We have a date set for next Sunday for an investigator of ours. She's been taught for about 9 months and couldn't get baptized for so long because she had been living with someone who she wasn't married to. A few weeks ago he was deported... unfortunately... but now she can get baptized! She's been going through so many hard things because now she has to support 4 kids on her own. We talked to her a few days ago about getting baptized and she said that as soon as she can get baptized the better... So we set her for this Sunday! The only problem is that she works on Sundays. She's been looking to find a new job and we said that the Lord will provide a way. We've been praying so hard for her to be able to find a new job so she can get baptized on Sunday. 

 

Also this past Sunday some investigators who we've been teaching for the past couple weeks, made it to church and really loved it. At church I felt the prompting to bear my testimony. I was thinking about what I would say and a scripture in Alma 7 popped into my mind. (Alma 7:11-13). I bore my testimony about how important the role of Jesus Christ is for everyone and especially how important he has been in my life. As I was speaking and reading the scripture my Spanish was pretty much perfect... As I was speaking I was amazed at how fluently I was speaking. I realized it was because I wasn't focused on how I would say what I wanted to say but rather I was focused on bearing my testimony. Afterwards My companion said, "Your Spanish was perfect!" I know that the Gift of Tongues is real. When we are focused on others and not on our selves the Spirit is able to help us.

 

This week has also been very successful in the Harvest. Since the last letter we had about 65 blessings to go before reaching our goal of 300 blessings for the month of August. The final day, August 31st, we needed to get a total of 29 blessings to hit our mark. It was more than we had ever gotten before. The zone leaders told us to give it all we had in the Harvest. They also said to send a text message about every blessing that we gave to the zone. Our phone was buzzing like crazy! At the end of the day we blessed a total of 47 homes as a zone! IT WAS SO AWESOME! As a companionship we blessed 6 homes, one of which was a Jewish home who loved the blessing. We'll be going back to teach them about Jesus Christ. This week has been so amazing!

Thank you Dad for your scripture that you sent to me in Moroni 8. That as well is one of my favorite scriptures!

 

I love you all so much and I just want to say that I know that this work is the work of the Lord and I am so privileged to help others come unto Christ every day! How great is my calling! He loves us so much and wants to bless us! Have a great week!

-Elder David B. Fullmer

 

P.S. We went sun-rising this morning so I'm going to try and send some pictures.

 

P.P.S. I was also thinking about what I wanted for my birthday and I thought of something. Sometimes my English scriptures are a little too big and I think it would be nice to have a smaller copy especially for my personal study... I don't know why but I like small scriptures. I like the compact triple and bible (the ones that are separate (in black)) It's just a thought... I'll keep thinking though. I've got a couple more weeks.

I love you!