Weekly Update... 1 year mark (February 27th, 2012)

 Dear Fullmer Family,

This week has brought many new changes and wonderful experiences. To
start off I will tell you where I am. Surprisingly I did not go north
but actually south! I'm in Key West! Just kidding... Ha ha. No I have
been transferred to the area of Killian East which is in Kendall
Florida. My new companion is from Salt Lake City, UT. He went to Skyline 

High School and lives about 5 minutes from our house :) He has been out 

about 1 1/2 years and was actually my Zone Leader 2 transfers ago. 

We are both serving as Zone Leaders of the Miami Zone. There are so 

many things that I'm learning but so far. I love being a Zone Leader! 

I get to help all of the wonderful missionaries in the zone work more 

effectively and it's great to be apart of that. My apartment is really nice! 

I, again, have my own bathroom, and we have a car! I couldn't be happier!

Well this week has been so wonderful! Before I left my last area. The mom 

and daughter we were teaching were both baptized! It was such a wonderful 

way to leave the area and a great feeling to see them be baptized! I heard that
they got confirmed yesterday and were just super happy! Nothing better
than that! My former companion  is now with another Latin companion in 

NMB and I hope they're doing well.

While I've been in Killian, so much has been going on. We had a
baptism yesterday morning for _____________. She is 87 years old
and was so happy. Her daughter who lives in Utah came down for a
business trip with her husband and was surprised to hear that her mom
would be getting baptized this weekend. The daughter was baptized 26
years ago and has been praying for that long that her mom would get
baptized. It was a very spiritual experience. The other daughter and
her family who are not members... YET... came to the baptism and
definitely felt the Spirit strongly. I have a feeling it won't be long
until they get baptized.

I just have to say that I absolutely LOVE this ward that I'm serving
in. It's an interesting ward because it is bi lingual so it's pretty
much Spanglish ward. There are translators so if you don't know both
English and Spanish you put on the headset and get the translation
when you don't understand. It's very different but it's nice because
we can teach whomever we meet! 

Yesterday a family of 5 came into church and the moment they walked 

into the chapel there were like 5 different families just waiting to fellowship them. 

They sat by a family and so many people came up and welcomed them! This 

ward is like a well oiled machine! That was one of the biggest problems in my 

last areas but this ward has it down to a science! I love it! The Bishop
came with us to a lesson the other day and he is such a powerful
leader. If you can't tell already I'm happy where I am!

The other day we were teaching a person named *****, who is mostly
blind and autistic, on the campus of the local collage here. Miami
Dade Collage. As we were teaching him about the word of wisdom a girl
came up to me wanting to know if I could tell her about the church. So
while my companion was teaching the person in English I was teaching this
girl from Cuba in Spanish about the Restoration. She is very
interested. However being on a collage campus there were so many
people waiting to go into a class listening to us. One girl
inparticular was standing in a corner and as I glanced over to her
after I was teaching about the first vision I saw her crying. We're
not really sure why she was crying, if it was because of the message
or something else, but we know that other people learned more about
what we believe. It was a great experience!

Another cool thing that I love being a ZL is that we get to do more
baptismal interviews. This is one of my favorite parts! I love it
because you get the special opportunity to see these investigators
differently than anyone else can. You can feel their desires and their
testimonies of the Gospel. This past week I was able to give 2 of them
and both were such great experiences for me!

Sorry one more thing about why I love this area... People don't slam
doors in faces! Everyone, for the most part, is so nice! They don't
all let you in their house but they will talk to us and politely say
no. It's so much better than my last areas. Now I don't mind knocking
doors. I love this area! I think that's like my 5th time saying that
but it's true.

Again I have the opportunity to split this ward with Sister
Missionaries. They are awesome and have such strong testimonies! They
bring a special spirit to the ward. I was able to share my testimony
in the ward yesterday and then after me the new sister,
went up and just had so much energy! I had energy but just quite not
as much. After her a sister got up to give a talk and said, "I want to
apologize that I will never be able to have that much energy."
Everyone started to laugh.

Well that's about all that's been going on with me this past week...
It's been a lot but it's been really great! I have seen myself growing
so much already this past week and I'm very excited for this next
transfer. Ohh yeah, one more thing. As zone leaders we came up with a
challenge that we are giving to our zone this next transfer called,
"Wilt thou accept my very best effort?" As part of this challenge we
tell the Lord every morning that we will do our very best that day.
During Companionship Study we will tell our companion how we will do
our very best, for example, "today I will focus on talking to everyone
I pass on the street." Or "When I bear my testimony I will give
everything I have." Something like that. And then as we end the day at
night we ask the Lord, "Wilt thou accept my very best effort" and then
wait for His reply. As we have been doing that we have been seeing so
many wonderful miracles and we've all been growing and strengthening
each other. I love it! I invite all of you to try and include this in
your days and give it your very best! I love you all so much and I
know that the Lord is guiding us and is helping us in every step that
we take! Please keep me in your prayers!
With Love,
-Elder David B. Fullmer

Transfer Week - February 21, 2012

Dear Fullmer Family,

How is everything going? Well, yesterday we got the transfer info yesterday and it turns out that I'm going to be leaving and my companion is going to be staying. It's a little sad but i feel like it's my time to leave. I love North Miami Beach but i feel like there are other places that I need to be and other people to meet. Every companionship in our zone is being affected by transfers. It's going to be crazy.

 

So on Sunday we got the good news that the baptismal records for the husband and father of our investigators came in so we can baptize them. So we went over to tell them the good news yesterday., the mother asked the golden question, "So when can i get baptized?" We told her asap! So they were thinking about it and the dad said, "How about the next Sunday?" I had a very strong feeling that I was going to be transferred on Wednesday, so I was praying that I would be able to be at the baptism. All of a sudden the 8-year-old daughter jumped in and asked, "Why not tomorrow?!" They all thought... Why not tomorrow? The mother asked, "can we do that?" We said of course! So I called up the bishop and the ZL's for an interview and everything is going to work out! I can't wait! 

 

This past week we got a new bike for my companion.. Finally! It's nice to be back on bike believe it or not! The charge yesterday was because I needed new brake pads and new pedals. The bike shops love us missionaries!

 

This past week we were able to be part of a zone conference where Elder Gavarrett of the First Quorum of the Seventy came and had a mission tour. He's an incredible person! It was really hard for him to give the conference in English. He's only been learning English for about a year, however,  when you really focused on what he was trying to say the Spirit helped us understand! It was a really good experience.

 

I don't think i need a shirt to burn (for the one year mark) mom, I'm good. One of my pens broke so I've got a shirt to burn! I really don't think i need anything! The other investigators in our area are doing really well and I'm really excited for my companion to be able to teach them and take over the area.

 

Well, sorry that this letter is a little short this week. I've got a bunch of stuff to do... pack up all of my stuff and then have a baptism tonight at 7:30! BUSY BUSY! But i have to say it's the best way to leave an area with a baptism! Please pray so that everything will work out today. I love you all and I know that this church is true! This next transfer will be really good, i have a good feeling about it! I love you!

 

-Elder David B. Fullmer

Weekly Update (Valentines Day)

How are you all doing? Happy Valentine's Day! This holiday doesn't really make any difference in the work... Haha. Well this week has been a pretty good one. Sorry if my letter doesn't make much sense this week. I've got a lot of things on my mind and it's kind of hard to focus on what to write... However here we go!

This week we've seen some great things happen. My mission companion and I have been working hard trying to find new people to teach. One day we were knocking doors but couldn't find many people who spoke Spanish, which was hard because I was the only one speaking because Elder ***** doesn't speak much English. However we said a prayer to find someone that needed us and the next door we found a couple from Cuba. They were on their way out the door and I had a strong feeling to talk to them, so we did. They gave the excuse that they were leaving and asked if we could come back another day. We asked if we could just leave a blessing in their home and they accepted. We left the blessing and they loved it. We asked if we could come back and share a message with them and they said, "Could you come back tomorrow? No wait, we can't tomorrow, how about the next day?" They definitely felt the Spirit and wanted us to come back as soon as possible.

We came back and taught them about the Atonement. As we were teaching he brought up his concern about how he doesn't like the cross, he believes that there are a lot of things missing from the Bible, and feels like Christ needs to tell us which path to take because there are so many different religions teaching different things... He told us all of these things after the closing prayer... I wish we would have taught the Restoration lesson first. However, we will be returning soon to solve all of his questions! They're really nice people. It was funny, when we started the lesson we started to get to know each other. Like always, they ask why I'm American and know Spanish. The man lived in Peru for a while and had stuff in his home from Peru so my companion and theywere talking about all of the stuff they had from Peru. Then I pointed to couch and asked, is this from America? They all started to laugh. It was a good ice breaker.

Last Saturday as we were riding home along the river and my mission companions bike broke. His gear like bent and doesn't work. So these past couple days have been a little frustrating because we can't work like we're used to. Hopefully it'll all work out soon! So you were saying how many people were asking about how I was doing and you said, "The Shirley's (they were visiting)" They moved?!? Since when?! I can't believe that the Olympics were 10 years ago... Super crazy! Time flies... Well that's all I’ve got to say this week. Sorry again for the randomness of this letter. It's not a very good one. Hopefully next Sunday we'll be having a baptism for the mom and son we are teaching! Please pray for them! Well I love you all very much! Have a great week!
-Elder David B. Fullmer

Weekly update- February 6th- (11th month mark)

Dear Fullmer Family,

How are you all doing? Happy Valentine's Day! This holiday doesn't

really make any difference in the work... Haha. Well this week has

been a pretty good one. Sorry if my letter doesn't make much sense

this week. I've got a lot of things on my mind and it's kind of hard

to focus on what to write... However here we go!

This week we've seen some great things happen. My companion and I have

been working hard trying to find new people to teach. One day we were

knocking doors but couldn't find many people who spoke Spanish, which

was hard because I was the only one speaking because my companion
doesn't speak much English. However we said a prayer to find someone

that needed us and the next door we found a couple from Cuba.

They were on their way out the door and I had a strong feeling to talk

to them, so we did. They gave the excuse that they were leaving and

asked if we could come back another day. We asked if we could just

leave a blessing in their home and they accepted. We left the blessing

and they loved it. We asked if we could come back and share a message

with them and they said, "Could you come back tomorrow? No wait, we

can't tomorrow, how about the next day?" They definitely felt the
Spirit and wanted us to come back as soon as possible. We came back
and taught them about the Atonement. As we were teaching he brought up
his concern about how he doesn't like the cross, he believes that
there are a lot of things missing from the Bible, and feels like
Christ needs to tell us which path to take because there are so many

different religions teaching different things... He told us all of

these things after the closing prayer... I wish we would have taught

the Restoration lesson first. However we will be returning soon to

solve all of his questions! They're really nice people. It was funny, when 

we started the lesson we started to get to know each other. Like

always, they ask why I'm American and know Spanish. The husband lived in

Peru for a while and had stuff in his home from Peru so my companion

and they were talking about all of the stuff they had from Peru. Then

I pointed to couch and asked, is this from America? They all started

to laugh. It was a good ice breaker.

Last Saturday as we were riding home along the river and my companion's

bike broke. His gear like bent and doesn't work. So these past couple

days have been a little frustrating because we can't work like we're

used to. Hopefully it'll all work out soon!

So you were saying how many people were asking about how I was doing

and you said, "The Shirley's (they were visiting)" They moved?!? Since

when?! I can't believe that the Olympics were 10 years ago... Super

crazy! Time flyes...

Well that's all I've got to say this week. Sorry again for the

randomness of this letter. It's not a very good one. Hopefully next

Sunday we'll be having a baptism for the mom and daughter we are teaching!

Please pray for them! Well I love you all very much! Have a great week!

-Elder David B. Fullmer

January 30, 2012 letter

Dear Fullmer Family,

What a great week this has been. My companion and I have seen so many wonderful miracles as we have been working so hard to help others be able to come unto Christ and receive the peaceful blessings of His loving Atonement that He gave us. This past week I did my best to try and teach the other Elders in my district about the training that we had last week about how baptism is necessary to access the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was a challenge to teach it because there was so much stuff to get across to them but with the help from the Spirit I was able to do it! I learned so many more things as I taught it and internalized my purpose even more.

My companion and I left that meeting ready to teach our investigators the necessity of baptism, not to be a member of the church but to really be able to receive the forgiveness of their sins. We said that we would invite everyone that we teach to be baptized. That day we came home with eight people who accepted to be baptized on a specific date.

The miracles were incredible and it was one of the best days that I have had on my mission. It was solely because I knew what my purpose was. The missionary purpose is to "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Endure to the End." Before I thought I knew what my purpose was but as I've been studying more I've realized no one can fully understand completely what the missionary purpose is. The reason why is because of one word... Atonement. There always is more to learn and apply to become a more effective missionary and to come closer to Christ. This week I invite all of you to study what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. I promise that you will learn a lot!

One of our investigators, and her daughter are going strong to be baptized this next Sunday. Her testimony is so strong. She shared with us this past week when she came into the states, about two months ago, she is the one who brought her husband, who's been a member for about ten years, back to church. She made him (who again is a member and she isn't yet) that he would do everything he could so that he doesn't work on Sundays. She is so strong and cannot wait for their baptism on Sunday! They’re starting to plan their temple sealing already and I hope it'll be in March of next year so I can come :)

Yesterday at church as we were getting everything ready for the broadcast of regional stake conference, a member came up to us with his non member brother who wants to learn more about families and our church. We taught him a short lesson and found out he has a wife and two kids who we will be teaching this next week. The Lord is blessing us in so many ways! It might not be when we are knocking doors but as we are exactly obedient to every rule and guideline, the Lord has promised to bless us immediately! (See Mosiah 2: 22-24)

That is so great to hear about Doug Carrell being in the Bishopric (Obispado en Espanol :) He will do such a great job. It's too bad to hear that the Peterson's will be moving... Do you know why they’re

moving? That's also really cool to hear about Peter Cooke running for Governor. He'd do a great job!

I just have to say I'm sick of politics! I can't wait until this election is over! Haha. The two things that friends aren't supposed to talk about are Religion and Politics. Our job is to talk about religion so to add politics in there just doesn't mix well :) But it's always nice to help someone understand that Mitt Romney isn't our Prophet and help them understand what we believe in. It was funny... The other day someone came up to us and said, "I'm going to be voting for your leader. He's a great guy!" We responded and said, "umm... he's just another member. He's not our leader." He said back to us, "How can you talk about your leader like that. Show respect for your Prophet!!" Crazy people in Miami.... I could write a book solely on the  crazy people that I've met on the streets here.

Recently I've been feeling a lot better. My stomach has felt a lot better... Minus the Ceviche that I had this past week which was a little strong on my stomach. Look up what Ceviche is... Also look up Mondongo Soup. Latin’s are crazy, but I love them!

I do have a question for you though... Lately I have been getting a lot of acne and I've been trying a lot of different creams and washes but nothing has been working well. I think it's because of all the

sweating that I do along with wearing a helmet (don't worry, I'll still wear it.) but I was wondering if you could ask a dermatologist or someone that would know, what I should use or if you could send me some stuff because it's bugging me...

Well I love you all so much! I love being a missionary and seeing they joy in other people's eyes when they know that it's true. There is no better feeling then knowing you are helping someone be able to access the Atonement and come closer to Christ! I love this work and I love being a missionary. My family is the best support that I could ask for. As we have been teaching more families lately I have realized how much our family has been blessed and how grateful I am for what I have been given. As I remember this it helps me want to help more and more families realize the blessings that the Lord has for them. I love you all and hope you all have a great week! Hasta pronto! :) Les Amo!

Con Mucho Amor,

-Elder David B. Fullmer

January 23rd letter

Dear Fullmer Family,
This week has been an absolutely wonderful week! I love the area that I'm in and the ward that I'm serving in! They are so wonderful to the missionaries and love the Gospel. I'm also so great to be able to
serve with my companion. Sometimes it's hard not being able to talk to him in English but it's really helping me with my Spanish. The other day I was thinking in Spanish. His English is getting a lot better as well.

Last Friday I got the privelige to go to a Leadership training, now that I'm DL... But the training was incredible. Anyways, as I went to the training my companion got paired up with one of the English Elders for the day. The night before he was freaking out saying, "I don't know how I'm going to be able to talk!!!! AHHH!!!" His English is actually really good but he has a hard time speaking it. He understands pretty much everything but can't speak it. However he had the help of the Lord that day and got through it. When I got
back from the training he came up to me and gave me a hug and said, "I'm so happy to be able to speak Spanish!!!" Haha. It was pretty funny. Mom, you asked if he went to the MTC in Peru but nope
he didn't! He went to Provo to learn English. Even though his call is for Spanish since he is serving in the states he got to learn English.

But everything is going really well in North Miami Beach. The family we are teaching, the one where the wife is not a member, came again to church yesterday and absolutely loved it! We went over to their house last
night and had a lesson with them. It turns out that she had the missionaries teach her when she was in Colombia but didn't want to get baptized if her husband wasn't there. He was here for the past 8 years
or so and she and the kids came 2 months ago. We invited her to be baptized on February 5th and she accepted! So to answer your question about what  I'll be doing during the super bowl, hopefully I'll be
having a baptism!

Being a District Leader is, so far, really good! I haven't had  a baptismal interview yet but I'll probably be having my first one soon! It's hard to do it because I don't have a car and it's quite the bike ride to the other areas. It'll work out though. My favorite part about being district leader so far is the training that we went to this past week! The head of the missionary department came and gave a training about the missionary purpose. This guy helped write Preach My Gospel! His knowledge of the scriptures and the gospel is so great! It helped me realize that I have a lot to learn. He gave a training about repentance and taught that "No one has access to the Atonement without being baptized." No person can be forgiven of any sin without being baptized in the church. He also said, "You are the only people in the world that can help people repent of their many sins." He helped me realize the power of my calling and the importance of the work. It was
a training that I really needed and I can't wait to teach it to my district this next week.

I'm doing really well and I'm so happy to be on my mission right now! There are so many miracles in my mission that I've been a part of that help me keep going to want to make a difference in the lives of
others. I love my calling! Even though it's the most stressful thing I've done in my life, it's the most rewarding by far! Thank you for your love and support. I love you!
 -Elder David B. Fullmer

New Transfer 1-16-2012 and pictures he sent

Dear Fullmer Family,

 

It's the first week of the new transfers and there are many new changes! First of all my new companion is named Elder *****. He is from Cuzco Peru and has been out for about 8 months. He's so awesome! He doesn't speak English, well a very little bit, so I've been able to study my Spanish a lot! Haha. He was companions with another on of my companions before as well and he's just so funny! It's a big change having a Latin companion, ya know just with their customs and little differences but we're getting along really well! He's 25 years old but he really doesn't look like it. I'll try and get a picture to you soon. My last companion was sent up to South Bay, Stuart Fl. It's close to Orlando... Really far north!

 

Also I have been called to serve as the District Leader in this District. I'm super excited but at the same time I'm humbled. There are a lot of things that I need to learn and improve on but I'm excited to be able to grow so much this next transfer. My Spanish will improve and hopefully my leadership abilities. We have such a young companionship. Me and an elder in my district, were companions in the MTC and are the oldest in the District. It's weird being on the older end of the stick... But we've got a lot of energy to do the work and I'm so excited to see what happens this next transfer!

 

Lately I've been feeling a lot better. There are times when I just have problems with my stomach... It seems like my stomach isn't really digesting the food very well and then it takes a lot of energy to digest it. Therefore it seems like I'm really tired all the time. It also just hurts to sit down occasionally but it seems to be doing better. I'll be going to the doctor's soon I think. We'll see. but President and Sister Anderson know about what's going on. I haven't heard much about Elder ***** we came home. She said hopefully he'll be back this next transfer! I sure hope so! I'll send him a letter today.

 

We had a cool experience at church yesterday! A family walked in and is super excited to be there. The father is a member of a few years ago but was inactive for a while and the mother is not a member. They loved church so much. Apparently they were talking to a member about how they want to go to the temple! GOLDEN! She wants to get baptized and we will be meeting with them this week! Can't wait for them! Another investigator isn't really showing much interest. He is working a TON so he doesn't really have time for us. It's so hard to meet with people now a days because no one has any fixed job so when they find any work they go to it and work their butts off... It's hard especially in the Spanish area but we will still try and work with him.

 

The person that we blessed last week is still in the hospital and from what I've heard is doing alright. We need to go back and visit with her. I think we're going to see her tonight. She is a member of many years and her whole family are members. She loves the missionaries so much and it's always a joy to see her.

 

Thank you for sending me those awesome quotes mom! This past week I've been studying in Alma 43 when Captain Moroni, who's a beast, is leading the Nephites. What stuck out to me this time that i read it is how they came prepared into battle but the Lamanites were not prepared with armor. As they started to fight the Lamanites started getting whopped! However as time went on the Lamanites started to get mad and, as the scriptures say, "Fought like Dragons." The Nephites were getting owned now... But as Captain Moroni started to remind them about why they were fighting and what their main purpose was, which was their freedom, their families and their church. The Nephites started to have the Help of the Lord and were fighting for a better purpose. As I apply that in my life to remember what got me on the plane. What pushed me to get here and remember that, it will help me push through the hard times and soar. 

 

I love how many things we learn from the scriptures. They really are the words of God and every word can help us in our everyday lives. As we study, ponder and pray about the things we read, the Lord will open our eyes to the things that will help us in our lives. I encourage you to read the talk "We are doing a great work and cannot come down" by Captain Uchtdorf! :) It's so amazing!

 

Well thank you all for your love and support. I know that this is the work of  the Lord and I am so privileged to be a part of it! The Lord loves us all so very much. I want you to know that you are the reason why I'm here! My family is what pushes me everyday to go one more step. I know that the Lord is blessing you and is watching out for you. You are always in my prayers and I love each and every one of you!

 

-Elder David B. Fullmer