Dear Family,
This has been quite an interesting week to say the least :) There have been many things going on, some good, some not so fun. Haha. First off, we got the transfer information yesterday letting us know that my companion will be getting transferred and I will be staying. They didn't say I was training. It will be interesting to see who my new companion will be. I'm heading into my last four transfers... Time is literally flying by. Well this past week went pretty slowly just because we weren't able to work very much with all of the doctors appointments and such. However I've been learning a lot and it's helping me grow.
So let's talk about what happened last week! So Monday night around 5:00 i got to start drinking, "The Juice of DEATH!!!" It was not fun at all! I was very cleaning out. I'll just say this, it does it's job and magnifies it's calling. The night before was definitely worse than the actual colonoscopy. I was supposed to drink 8 oz every 15 minutes. I set an alarm to go off to let me know when I had to consume more of this horrid drank and every time I had to drink it I thought of Harry Potter 6 when Dumbledore needs to drink that stuff and tells Harry to force him to drink it. I told my companion to force me to drink it. Haha. The other Elders in the house had a blast last Monday watching me run to the bathroom every 7 minutes or so... Other than that though everything else went pretty smoothly. At the doctor’s appointment everyone was so surprised that I was having a colonoscopy. I was the youngest one that they've done one to in a long while. Haha. However everything looks normal in my colon. They took some biopsy's to check for allergies but I still haven't heard back from the doctor on them. I was planning on having a CT scan on Wednesday but the CT scan place called and told me I needed to reschedule (the morning of the procedure after I had started to drink ANOTHER Jugo de Muerte) but it should happen this up coming week. The mission doctor has been talking with me and before they do more tests on me he wants me to live on a high fiber diet with a medication. So far it hasn't really been helping but we'll see this week.
This past week I was able to have a wonderful interview with President Anderson. He asked about the medical problems and said to just do the best that I can. He talked about Paul in the scriptures how he asked multiple times for his "thorn" to be taken from him but time after time the Lord rejected his request. We all have thorns in our lives that are there for a reason. Sometimes they're taken from us immediately and sometimes they're never taken from us. There is a quote that I really like and has brought great understanding to me this past week by Elder Bednar that says,
"In many of the uncertainties and challenges we encounter in our lives, God requires us to do our best, to act and not be acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:26), and to trust in Him. We may not see angels, hear heavenly voices, or receive overwhelming spiritual impressions. We frequently may press forward hoping and praying—but without absolute assurance—that we are acting in accordance with God’s will. But as we honor our covenants and keep the commandments, as we strive ever more consistently to do good and to become better, we can walk with the confidence that God will guide our steps."I love this quote because sometimes we may not receive overwhelming impressions or answers from doctors but we still have 2 choices, to act or to be acted upon. It's real easy to be acted upon and make excuses but when we decide to act, we receive understanding and the Spirit helps us know what to do.
This past week has been full of those kinds of moments. Someday I didn't have any energy at all, like the day of the procedure, however the Zone Leaders asked me to do a training to give to the zone that morning. ( This was the morning after the juice of death). As you can imagine, I wasn't feeling that great but I did what they asked me to do. I ended up giving one of the best trainings that I've ever given. It lasted about 25 minutes and the words, energy and Spirit just came to me. It was an amazing experience for me to fulfill the scripture in D&C 100: 5-8 that says,
"Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say. But a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall declare whatsoever thing ye declare in my name, in solemnity of heart, in the spirit of meekness, in all things. And I give unto you this promise, that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say."
This really is a perfect example of what happened. I don't know how it happened but it did! It was a strong testimony builder for me of what can happen when we trust in the Lord. So far nothing new has been happening except for what's happening inside me. President Anderson shared with me an experience of when he was on his mission he was in the hospital for eight days but he said, "I wouldn't wish what happened to me upon my worst enemy but I wouldn't change it for the world because of the things that I learned during those trials." At times it's really frustrating when difficult things happen to us that we can't understand, but as we trust in the Lord, "we can walk with the confidence that God will guide our steps."
It's been a very difficult week but one where I have learned and experienced the enabling power of the Atonement in my life. I'm so grateful for all of the blessings that the Lord has blessed me with. We were so blessed to have the people who were baptized get confirmed this past Sunday as well! We saw them yesterday and they've changed a lot. The Spirit is definitely helping them out. Thank you for all of your many prayers and love and I really appreciate it! I love you all so very much!
-Elder David B. Fullmer
Pictures on the shore of Lake Okeechobee
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