Week 12 BJF Jan 30 2017 Offenbach

 

 We thank you for your friendship and love.  Keep it coming and please send Benjamin a note to show him your support.

I know he would be happy to hear from you!

Week 11 BJF Jan 23 2017 Offenbach

Where is this guy?

And why isn't he writing?

He was so good at it with pictures and everything.

 

We know he's not in the Grand Canyon...

Week 6 DTF Jan 30 2017 Mombasa

Hey!

First off i gotta let you guys know how blessed you are to have washing machines! hand washing all your clothes is a workout, and in this heat? forget it man I'll swim in crocodile waters to clean my clothes instead. haha.
but life here is still great. hard, but great. a couple things happened this week.
but first i wanna tell you about baboons! i haven't seen any yet because they aren't in Mombasa but one of the elders from Elderette was telling me about these guys, man they are not to be trifled with. they are just mean. one of the elders saw one grab a baby goat and take it to the top of a tree and throw it off to kill it, just for fun! another elder was on safari and was throwing peanuts out of the window and one of them jumped in the window bashed the elders face into the other window and took his peanuts and just jumped out and ate them on top of the car, he said he was bleeding pretty bad. i think they're on my list of fears now, along with turkeys and chopping onions.

but anyway! here in Mombasa there are a ton of farm animals running around freely pretty much everywhere, so we were street boarding on the corner of this dirt path all the kids take home from school and this random obese mbuzy (goat) comes sprinting out of the bush next to us and just stops SUPER SUDDENLY in front of our table that we had set up with pamphlets on it. so he looks at me, then he looks at my companion, there is no one around so we are just like "oh that's a fat goat" then he looks me dead in the face and takes a massive dump right in front of our stand, i was so mad! but before i could express my displeasure with the beast and give it a swift kick, a pack of wild dogs came flying out of the same bush he came out of just seconds before! the goat looks back at me, lets out a loud goat screech, and runs faster then i have ever seen an animal move!
 ( especially for how fat this guy was)

anyway! i love and miss all you guys! you're all fantastic, peace be with you!




-------- Original message --------
From: Daniel Thomas Fuller <daniel.fuller@myldsmail.net>
Date: 1/30/17 8:31 AM (GMT-06:00)
To: Rusty Fuller <rustleford@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: HEY!!! YOU THERE!!

hey so about that 7500 ksh, i just wanted to have money ready in case of emergency or just cool stuff i need to buy, atm charges here are crazy high so its better to pull out alot at one time! so im keeping it safe at the flat! dont worry. the only cool thing Ive bought is some leather sandals! and dont worry im keeping my matako safe, nobody is gonna trick this mzungu! but anyway. HI! i hope you and mom are doing well i didn't know if mom received my email or not but i sent her one. im doing pretty fine. just thought i would tell you some stories and send some pictures. (also if you want to see all my pictures you can just go to my google drive im putting them all there.) two stories today! 

so its bad for people not to mess with the lords anointed, as it turns out its the same for animals too.

so we were street boarding on the corner of this four way dirt path all the kids take home from school and this random obese mbuzy (goat) comes sprinting out of the bush next to us and just stops SUPER SUDDENLY in front of our table that we had set up with pamphlets on it. so he looks at me, then he looks at my companion. then he looks me dead in the face and takes a massive dump right in front of our stand, it made me so mad! but before i could show my displeasure with the beast a pack of wild dogs came flying out of the same bush he came out of just seconds before! the goat looks back at me, lets out a loud goat screech and books its out of there! i had no idea a goat that fat could run that fast. the dogs literally scared the crap out of him tho. it was probably the most ridiculous thing that happened this week.

ok so we are mainly teaching less actives and recent converts but there is this one investigator that we are teaching whose story so far seems almost as miraculous as something out of the bible. he was lame, his legs were messed up and he couldn't walk anywhere, he couldn't walk for so long that his legs have deteriorated over time, as a result he couldn't work so he was really poor, but since he started meeting with the missionaries, (like two weeks before i showed up in this area) he found he can walk again, i witnessed this guy stand and walk freely! its incredible! he is a powerful man, and his faith is immense! but that's the only miracle i have seen so far.

here are some photos.

This looks like a footpath but unlike any hiking I have ever done.  The flora and fauna are completely different.

Barbed wire although I am sure Visitors are Welcome

Week 5 DTF Jan 23 2017 Mombasa

If you love Monday, you are a missionary mom!!

Daniel's first week in Mombasa.  Can you say culture shock?!  What an adventure.  I am hoping he doesn't get sick of it too soon.  Then I got a letter that satisfies every hope, wish, prayer and need for my boy.  From him to say, "Hey Mom, I'm okay!"

His letter to everyone:

hey!

so after a 10 hour bus ride with my new companion elder soita i finally made it to my first area is called mombasa, its a coastal city and a large city at that!when i first got here i was fairly certain i was the only white guy in a 500 mile radios! there are a couple other muzungu elders here. (muzungu is what they call white people.) everywhere we go we take these mini buses called matatus, they are crammed with about 15-20 people at a time and they always BLAST music. its crazy hot here. i swear im going to melt one of these days. there are a ton of monkeys and house cats running around AND i saw a weird rainbow colored lizard but other then that i haven't seen any crazy animals yet. the members here are phenomenal and i love the work. the MTC felt like an eternity but here the time just flies by! there are a lot of Muslim people here and about every 4 hours there is Muslim prayer music played from all the mosques so you can here it EVERYWHERE! its crazy weird. today for P-day we got to go to the beach and hangout! the water was crazy blue! i was dying of course because i love the ocean and we couldn't swim. swahili is super different but im slowly getting the hang of it. all the kids run up yelling "Muzungu! muzungu! paramende!!" which means "white guy! give us candy!" or they will just stand there and chant "how are you! how are you! how are you!" because that's all the English they know. its too funny! anyways, the gospel is true and i am excited for the weeks to come! love all you guys.

to Dad:

hey i was finally able to get over here and email. the cybercafes are actually really clean and nice! not to shabby if you ask me.

i am getting along well, the language is weird but i am getting it here and there (maybe just say BaBa and you will be fine! haha)

YEAH elder and sister Torrie are so nice! its crazy! they are great people. honestly i don't know what to say, there is so much that has happened and its all ridiculous. there are a ton of monkeys here but other then that i haven't seen many crazy animals. everywhere we go we take these mini buses called "matatus" they are all different and usually have some American celebrity poorly drawn on the sides and they blast super loud music all the time. its super hot here and i feel like i am going to melt all the time! on the good side of things we have one of the nicest flats in the mission! our power only goes out like once a day and we have running water when we can get it going! its awesome! we do everything by hand which is such a cool learning experience. the work is good we mainly work with less actives and new members but that's because my companion has been in this area for over a year so he is trying to maintain what he started! today we went to the beach for P-day (but we couldn't swim...) please share this with mom. i don't have time today to write two separate emails! i love you guys! i will have more to send later! Baba Asante!

to Moi:

so i thought i would be out of time but i have a little bit, i just want to share with you a story i heard while here, elder Holland came to the kenya nairobi mission when he was the GA over Africa, (he was removed from that and reassigned since this happened for another reason which is another awesome story that i can talk about later) during his time here he visited many areas but one of them called chullu he came and visited for a short time. after seeing the things the elders had to do everyday just to live (such as hand washing clothing, cooking over open fires beacuse they had no kitchens, fetching water from the stream for washing drinking and bathing, and many other challenges)  he knelt down on the ground and wept, he cried to God and said "this is a mission for Men!". i am not sure how true this story is but this is now said throughout the mission. i want you to know that i have noticed no discomforts in my living since i have arrived here. ( mainly because i am not in chullu) but as i live off of rice, and wash my clothes in stream water by hand, or wash myself from a bin of water or what ever else may come, i know that i can survive this and thrive in this because of who my parents have made me to be, you raised me to be strong. and though i am a boy now, i will come home a man. and its because of you and dad. I LOVE YOU BOTH! 
BYE!

Elder Fuller in front of the Mombasa chapel

Johannesburg Temple

The Beach

Outside his Window

With the window closed?

Week 4 DTF Jan 19 2017 Nairobi Welcome

Good morning Brother and Sister Fuller,

Elder Fuller has safely arrived in our mission.  We were excited and happy to meet him!
He arrived Tuesday, January 17 in the late afternoon, received training all day Wednesday
and then left for his first area this morning.  I am attaching a letter from President Msane
and a photo of him with President and Sister Msane.  (Actually, I’m sending two photos.)
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me!

Sister Torrie

Secretary, Kenya Nairobi Mission

Opposite African Wildlife Foundation

Ngong Road

P.O. Box 46162-00100

Nairobi, Kenya

Pres. and Sis. Msane

Daniel has arrived! The Mission President has assigned him to the Mombasa District where he will start his first assignment.  This is right on the Indian Ocean and I could not resist posting some tourista type pictures here just to see the lay of the land.  He will be able to write next Monday but we did get some pictures here at the welcome dinner they had for the new elders just arriving from Johannesburg mTc.  He looks tired but still the same ole Dan as you can see from some of the pics.  I am anxious to hear about his adventures and how he got to Mambasa. It is pretty far from Nairobi but we shall see. Kenya is similar in size to TX, so it looks like quite a drive and that will be a story in itself. It's all about being patient and waiting sometimes! I am so thankful to hear such great news today!!  And we got to hear from Rachel too!  

Emails are great but I know he would be very pleased if you would send him a handwritten letter. When the elders get to the mission home, rarely, but when they do, they always love to have some mail waiting for them.  Daniel really appreciates your letters and they actually do arrive all the way south of the equator!  (Address above - send as written)

Heads above the rest, he will always stand out and not just for his height.  They say the missionaries really stand out here.  Hopefully they are outstanding as well.  Outstanding in the field is even better, I'm so punny.

Right on the coast.

Look how close it is to the equator!!

It is going to drive Daniel nuts not being able to get in that water or ride that camel!

Apparently they have very big elephants in this region.

I wanna ride a camel by the seashore in Africa!

Tired but happy!  With a fresh new pillow no less.

This elder is just in from Mombasa.  They said his hair is bleached even blonder because of the hot sun.

Bigger group.

Crazy group!!

Gentle giants in the wild, not the zoo.

Week 4 RLF Jan 19 2017 MTC

SPAIN!!! thank goodness for pdays!

I am so grateful to be where I am but it´s incredible not to have to worry about speaking spanish or  come up with a lesson.

So I´m gonna tell you a little about how my week goes.

Monday is the beginning of the week, so we get Desayuno for about 30 minutos despúes nosotros tienemus planificación diaria y personal readong of El Libro de Mormon.

okay thats enough spanish. 

then we get to teach our first investigator of the day in spanish...thats pretty intense, it´s coming along but man I feel like a little kid saying this like

the savior die for you sins, and when read books we learn stuffs

ya know?  ESta bien, perro es verdad!  AYE no español!  see I´m using it agains my will now.

after that we get to go through grammar, i love spanish but man they have some crazy rules, and then every rule has an exception! (oh wow, whos whining now some people have to deal with english, which i have decided is by far the most intense language, there are no patterns in english, at least in Russian and Japensese once you learn the characters you´re pretty much good with the grammar) 

then we get to prepare and asignment (sorry if I cannot spell at all, for some reason when you start to learn a new language your old one goes away)

then we get to teach another investigator and then COMIDA!! :D  then we read more of the book of mormon and prepare another asignación   (stop! no more spanish, impossible!) 

then we get to play FOOTBALL! seriously my favorite part of the day.

unfortunately my poor compañera messed up her ankle, luckily for her her compañera is a massage therapist and knows how to use kinesio tape, so she´s nice and bandaged up and on her way to recovery so we can go play foot ball more.

then we get to eat dinner and then we have companion study and language study (an hour of free study time where we get to work on what we need) 

then we get to go to bed!!

so thats my day usually

HOWEVER!!

this week, things have CHANGED! dun dun...dun..

ha not really

My comp and I have been called as sister training leaders (basically lady zone leaders)  so we´re meant to be the example (pretty sure they just called us so we wouldn´t be the center of the shinanigans)  our CCM president is incredible though, he trusts us, which makes me feel really good.  so that happened, and then our incredible russian sisters and our amazing portuguese district left, as their three weeks were over.  We sang God be with you ´til we meet again on the temple steps, and it was one of the hardest parts of my mission.  They will forever have a piece of my heart and I plan on learning Russian and Portuguese so I can speak to them!! (wait till you learn spanish sister fuller, don´t jump the gun! crazy person!!)

So we miss them, but fortunately we had 2 new russian sisters and a russian elder, 3 italian brothers and then 6 new spanish speaking sisters plust 5 new spanish speaking elders!! it´s amazing!! we actually get to practice our spanish and then they tell us when we sound like 3 year olds. 

HA side story, so our mission president hates the word guys, frick, and freak so the english speaking districts all have tally marks on the board of how many times we´ve said it throughout the week and then at the end who ever has the most has to do a bunch of pushups or buy the district candy.  it´s pretty great. My companion says it the most,  but she´s getting better HA!!

Today we get to go SHOPPING!! which is seriously, so exciting...(why?  i have no idea but it is)  we´re going to the mall and it´s pretty insane how excited we all are.

just the little things get us totally just bounce off the wall crazy happy here are a few

1. ice cream on fridays and sundays

2. wearing JEANS for service projects!

3. the temple with a sunset back drop ( gorgeous)

4.  playing language games on our tablets (YES they gave them back! president is so not happy about it

5.  doing our hair without having to use heat( ladies and gentlman it can be done and we are all so stinking cute)

I love these people here, it´s like i´ve known them my whole life....I know I´m where I´m supposed to be, no doubt in my mind

it´s amazing here, although none of our teachers speak much english we still get to communicate with them and laugh so much I think I´ll have a 6 pack by the time i get out of the CCM. 

I can´t tell you how grateful I am to be here, but also how much I know the Atonement is real, I know the savior feels every hard time I go through and ever pain I deal with.  I wouldn´t be able to do this if I didn´t know he was right there watching over me,  helping me along every step. 

If we let him in, if we ask for his help,  he will be there for us, no matter what, all we have to do is ask!

my new favorite thing this week is praying in the morning and telling him every detail of my day and then at night thanking him for every person by name and each event and each thing I learned that day. it strengthens my relationship with him and I feel closer the more I tell him and the more I trust him

Trust in the Savior, he loves you and he understands!   Be obedient because you love im not because you have to

obedience brings blessings, perfect obedience brings miracles

follow every commandment,  be the best you can be! 

I love you all, and I know he does too.

talk to you next week!

Hermana Fuller

 mTc group minus Rach who must be taking the picture

View outside Rachel's window

Week 10 BJF Jan 16 2017

No letter from Ben today!  He was at a zone conference and probably didn't have time with the travel and everything.  Another missionary momma posted a picture and unfortunately we only get to see his tongue!!

Only 20 more Fast Sundays until we see our boy again!!

Week 4 DTF Jan 17 2017 The In-Between

We have been reassured we will get a photo soon. Daniel said he would be able to write next week. ...It's only a week...ya, right.

So here is a very nice letter we got from the Johannesburg Mission Pres and his wife:

Brother and Sister Fuller,

Just a quick note to let you know how grateful we have been for your son these past weeks at the MTC.   He has been a great Zone Leader for us.  He is an exemplary young man.  He is obedient, strong and yet humble. We love his happy nature.  It was fun to watch him throw a couple of standing back somersaults during sports time.  He is very well prepared and has a very strong Spirit about him and the Lord loves him and so do weJ.   He has told us that his brother is in Germany and his sister is in Spain now, too.  Are you happy empty nesters?

A fine young man like your son doesn’t happen by accident.  It is obvious that you are a wonderful parents and you have sent out “one of the very best.”  President Ashton (past mission president) and I have said many times, that he would have been a great leader in our previous mission.  We anticipate that he will be a great leader in the Kenya Nairobi mission as well.  We miss him already.

Warmly,

Sister and President Ashton  SAMTC

And Russ' response:

Thanks so much for your kind words, it's nice to hear how Daniel's doing from someone else's perspective.  Backflips - yep, that's Daniel.  

The empty nest thing is still sinking in, although our dogs immediately noticed the absence.  They're dealing with it now, and Lisa and I are feeling it more now that all the bustle of getting the three of them to their respective MTC's is past.  Rachel and Daniel both left on the same day within just a few hours of each other, so we had a long day at the airport!

We're grateful for you and your service to help our missionaries prepare for their time in the field and wish you all the best.

Sincerely,

Rusty Fuller

Uploaded on Apr 25, 2011

This is a project that Rachel and her dad came up with for the YouTube/DiscoverHyundai musical shorts contest.

Daniel is playing DaVinci and his wife is Rachel who is pretty aggressive in her objection to his crazy idea about a car, an automobile, a traveling machine.  Well the evolution of cars flashes by the screen quickly but if you look closely, DaVinci is riding every one. Tho probably a few generations later for the flying car.

We cut it a bit too close and while it was completed and in the process of uploading, we didn't get it completely uploaded before the deadline, so we don't think it made the contest.

Ah well, such is life. We thought it was fun anyway, and we learned a lot, so enjoy!

Here is a video you can enjoy this week since Daniel will be flying to Kenya.  He said he wouldn't be able to write this week.  Oh me oh my

Week 3 DTF Jan 10 2017 Johannesburg MTC

SO we got to actually go out on thursday and go to the jo-berg Temple! it was like nothing i have ever seen before! it was like a perfectly maintained jungle of gorgeousness! it was such a cool experience. the spirit is so consistent as i am a missionary and i am learning a TON!

 the city of jo-berg is super shady and sketchy tho, and everyone is kinda racist... but OH WELL! the work goes onward!

all the african elders are awesome tho! they all speak crazy languages like Zulu, shawna, and xhosa (yes that is one of the clicking languages so dont ask) but none of them speak Swahili which is the one i need to learn!! but i will get plenty of that when i get out into the field next Tuesday! KENYA HERE I COME! i am so excited to get out and start serving. i wont be able to email next week because i will be on a flight to kenya! but the week after i will be able to write waaaay more and send pictures too. I love all of you!

I really hope Daniel got a pic of him in front of this temple.  He will not return here.  He has a camera so hopefully he took some while in Johannesburg.  When we hear from again, he will be in Kenya.  Of all 3, he is the one I am most concerned about because I have not actually seen his image, not hide nor hair at all since the airport on Dec 27!!

She didn't need to stand in a long line since a very nice security guard directed us to another security check and she went right in.  We wish we had more time for pictures.  Daniel definitely did since they had time to play Uno.

They were so jazzed up!!

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