Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Weekly Update- Leaving Belle Glade

Dear Family,

Well, my life in this area has been relatively short... Don't worry, I didn't get shot, but I am getting transferred... It'll be hard to leave this area since it has been very unique, unlike ALL of my other areas, but I'm excited to see what's to come! This next area will most likely be my last area. I have a feeling I will go with a companion for a transfer and then train a new missionary for my last two. Who knows though... Haha. Gotta love transfer predictions. It the most excitement that we get! Haha.

President Anderson sent some news to us. It says in his weekly email,
"We just got word last week that the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission is the highest baptizing Mission in the United States and Canada. This hasn’t happened out of the Utah Missions in a long time I am told. What an honor to know that you missionaries are working so hard and reaping such great miracles in finding the elect of God. I wasn’t going to announce this because we shouldn’t compare with others, but General Authorities are telling other leaders and I rather you hear it from me. Remember God’s hand is in this work and he has poured out his Spirit to make us instruments in His hands. You are amazing missionaries and I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of your Mission."
 How cool is that? We're beating Salt Lake!! haha. It's not a competition but it's pretty cool news! This mission has increased dramatically in such a short time. All of the General Authorities are saying how well we're doing and are very impressed with our level of obedience. There is now way that we could do this without being obedient. I love this mission!

Well this week has actually been really good! I've been feeling great, health wise (by the way, I forgot to mention about the byopsis from my scopes... They didn't say what's been causing the ulcer but they think it's stress... I get to take my medications for about 5 more weeks and hopefully it'll get cleared up. They want to see my in 7 weeks from now but depending on where I go I might not come back :) haha. So that's a little update ).

We had stake conference up in Stuart this past Sunday which was really cool! There were over1,000 people at the conference! This stake is HUGE!!! It was really cool to see so many people. One of the talks that was given was given by this man from Mexico. He said that while he grew up in Mexico he never cut the grass because they really didn't have lawns there and if you did cut it, it was all by hand. He then described his first lawn mowing experience when he was about 45 years old. He was so excited!! He wasn't going in any pattern or anything, he had to fill up the tank about three times, and it took him about three hours to do it but when he was finished he was so proud of the work that he did! Every day when they would go outside he's say to his wife and kids, "Wow! Look at that grass! Isn't it beautiful?" He did that for the first few days and then it rained... then the grass grew and guess what? He wasn't as excited to mow it the next week. He realized why people pay so much for their lawn to be mowed. He then compared it to the Church. Our callings can be like mowing the lawn. At first we are really excited and pround of what we are doing, but as the weeks go on we put less and less excitement and meaning into it every time. We need to treat each week as our first and put everything into it. I really liked it! I've definitely had some weeks where my excitement hasn't been as high as others, but now that I'm in the final stretch, practice time is over and it's time to perform! I'm excited for these next three transfers to work harder than I've ever worked before!

After Stake Conference, since we had already driven 1 1/2 hours to get up to Stuart, we decided to go on an exchange with the ZL's (Aka Elder *****.) It was his last Sunday in the mission so I was with him and my current companion was with his companion. It was such a great time! Just like the old days in Miami! I learned something very important from this exchange though, he has not slowed down one bit. He treated his last week as if it was any other week in his mission. I've seen many missionaries "die" on their last transfer and slow down, but like President Uchtdorf said in his talk concerning regret and resolutions,
"Sometimes in life we become so focused on the finish line that we fail to find joy in the journey. I don’t go cycling with my wife because I’m excited about finishing. I go because the experience of being with her is sweet and enjoyable. Doesn’t it seem foolish to spoil sweet and joyful experiences because we are constantly anticipating the moment when they will end? Do we listen to beautiful music waiting for the final note to fade before we allow ourselves to truly enjoy it? No. We listen and connect to the variations of melody, rhythm, and harmony throughout the composition. Do we say our prayers with only the “amen” or the end in mind? Of course not. We pray to be close to our Heavenly Father, to receive His Spirit and feel His love. We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. “This is the day which the Lord hath made … ,” the Psalmist wrote. 'Rejoice and be glad in it."
My goal is to not slow down, but rather to speed up! I'm excited to show the Lord the things that I have learned and to make the last few months the best ones yet! I love my mission and I'm so proud of what has happened so far, but I'm not content. I know I can give even more!

Not to start thinking about going home but as I was reading the options of going home I was realizing that there probably wouldn't be a better time for it than if you came to pick me up. I think it would be really cool for Sam to be able to see a mission before he goes. (Especially the best mission in the World!) It would be fun it think! It would also be cool to come home and have the whole missionary airport experience but I think I'd want you to come and pick me up. I'm not really picky though :) Whatever you feel would be best.

Anyways, that's about everything that i've got. The internet at the chapel wasn't working this morning, and surprisingly I couldn't fix it ;) JK I'm not that much of a computer whiz! So we ran to the library and I needed to get a library card, even though i'll be leaving tomorrow! haha. Ohh Well! Well, I love you all so much and I thank you for your many prayers in my behalf. I need them and I thank you for them. I know that the Lord loves us and is increasing his work here! Have a wonderful week!
-Elder David B. Fullmer

P.S. You should all create Mormon.org profiles! It's an amazing website that's perfect for missionary work! You can also check mine profile ;)

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