Week 32 BJF Jun 22

Jun 20 Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Happy Birthday Benjamin!  It's official, you are an adult.

I'm not sure you can find merry-go-rounds anymore. 
They loved em!

Ben used to wonder why people would get him and Dan confused because he is the only one in our family with blue eyes.

Always independent...and kind.

Then BAMM!!!

Germany Frankfurt Mission 2016-2018

I miss all 3 of them but Ben has a calming presence that is hard to be without.

Week 26 DTF Jun 19

Dearest Daniel,

How goes the rainy season? Are you always soaked or just damp?

MAHM!

actually it hasn't rained since i moved to chyulu! Kenya is weird because different seasons happen though different parts of the country. We have a chapel here that looks AMAZING! it is in nthongoni and it looks like a chapel straight out of California or something It looks nothing like the rest of the area. Thank you for all the pictures! i will send some stuff your way here soon. 

Love you guys!

Chyulu Chapel

Week 26 RLF Jun 19

On the train...

Off the train!

Rachel with her new companion Hermana Batten.
This was a surprise picture from a kind member in Spain.

So you know how my brother is in Kenya Africa right now? Yeah I got to experience a little of that. Here in Spain it's humid, it s just nasty and ladies and gents it's only June but that doesn't mean Spain cant hit us hard with a little bit of the devils armpit.

Well there it is!! Why is she smelling it?

 We were walking and my companion who is from North Carolina asks how hot I think it is, trying to be brave, even though I can't breath and I'm starting to lose sight in my left eye I answer cheerfully, oh 85 90 degrees when secretly I'm thinking "IT'S 212 DEGREES MY BLOOD IS BOILING I WAS NOT MEANT TO BE SOUP THIS IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR WHY DID GOD CREATE THE SUN AND WHY ARE WE SO CLOSE TO IT RIGHT NOW!! ARE MY SHOES MELTING INTO THE ROAD?? IS THERE AN OASIS?? I THINK I FAILED LIFE AND I'M IN NOW LITERALLY en  INFIERNO!! " didn't say that,.. Just thinking it.  So we go to a members house because we're starting to lose consciousness and all memory of why we're actually walking around, I'm fairly certain we crossed the same cross walk 6 times.  And we come to find out its 105 degrees.  Which is not too bad, but when it's humid and there's no wind it feels more like 125... So that was fun.  

But now I have an appreciation 90 degree weather... I'm very grateful for it now. 

But currently I am in Terrassa and loving it with my new gorgeous companion Hermana Batten.  We went to tibidabo for preparation day and I'm literally 45 minutes from barcelona

#dreamsdocometrue 

  

In front of the ferris wheel...

On the Ferris wheel!!

Week 31 BJF Jun 15

   

A nice day along the Rhine's edge...

with a beautiful walkway.

So this last week has been eventful in odd ways. We Spent a large amount of it in meeting with the Bonn District, Ward leadership, Stake priesthood, and German government offices. I apologize for those of you who don't know what most of those are. You can totally ask your local missionaries haha. (except about the German offices, they won't know anything about those)

But other than that there wasn't too much exciting.

We did however have an interesting few experiences. The first being that we set a goal the last few weeks to look for more opportunities to serve. This was a personal Goal set up by Elder H. and myself but once me made the goal everyone else suddenly started finding suggestions without us asking. Everything from the spontaneous service of helping an old lady onto a train, to setting up service projects with the Members here. So we didn't do much people finding on the streets mainly because we're doing book-work for now. But so long as everything we do is a step in the right direction I ain't complaining.

Another more crazy story from this week. We got in contact with a crazy former-investigator who lives out in the middle of nowhere. there is a very long story behind it but we spent one evening helping him move some of his belongings out the the church basement and after wards had a little chat. We spoke about a variety of things but the one I feel like sharing is his claim to be Ted Bundy (a Serial Killer) But he says he's a good guy this time around. as to why he thinks this and why it makes him laugh so hard we have no idea. Aside from what he says he seems to be rather sane we had a few good laughs and got the chance to do a little service for him too. He now sends of song lyrics with philosophical quotes. And yes this is the norm for missionaries.

So yeah that's about all I got for you this week.

I challenge you to find someway to serve your brothers and sisters this week. Sometimes the biggest blessing you can have is being a blessing for somebody else. (even if they're crazy)

LIEBE - Elder Fuller

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While in Koln - Cologne, they were able to tour a chocolate museum.

Where they make Lindt

Breathe deeply Elder!

I have never seen a cacao tree.  This is covered in gold!

Too cute to eat...Naaht!

Week 25 DTF Jun 12

Dearest Daniel,

Between answering Dad's questions and mine, we are learning lots about what you are experiencing there. Is it ever cold? Where you need a blanket or jacket? 

One of the mishmommas said your comp is great. It helps to have someone know the area.

I am thinking of you lots.

We miss you and are proud of your accomplishments. 

Here are some quotes I ran across this week.

Keep on keeping on and stay strong!

"It is crucial to remember that we are living and chose to live in a fallen world where, for divine purposes, our pursuit of Godliness will be tested again and again." -Jeffrey R. Holland

Robert D Hales said in his conf talk this year, "Many hear the word disciple and think that it means only 'follower' but genuine discipleship is a state of being. This suggests more than studying and applying a list of individual attributes. Disciples live so that the characteristics of Christ are woven into the fiber of their beings as into a spiritual tapestry."

We love you so much and pray for you every day!!

Love,ma

Hey! yeah sometimes in the mornings it gets a little nippy but i have a shuka that keeps me nice and cozy.

yeah he is a good elder but he is going home this transfer! i am killing him! So i will get a new guy here in a minute and he will have to rely on me for directions. Love you so much! miss y'all a ton! I will try to come up with something to write home about so you guys can have a better idea of what it is like here, i know y'all are in the dark right now haha. 

Love-Elder Fuller

Hey wait!  Is that a whale skeleton?  Holy mother of pearl!

So tell us about it!

You gotta lotta 'splainin to do sir!

Elder Teron Tucker
Monday, June 12, 2017

Pizza, Ice Cream and Lava
This week we had zone conference and so we had Chyulu Elders for a few days which is always super fun! I know you are here for some crazy stories from Kenya so I'll do my best.

Story number one: The floor is lava!

So Elder Fuller and I were reunited for a few days since he was transferred to Chyulu.  While he was here he stayed at his old stomping ground of Bamburi.  One of the nights, we started a pretty legit game of the floor is lava.  I survived and Elder Fuller Survived but our companions didn't end up making it.  Randomly both of us stared at the ground and jumped on the couches and screamed the floor is lava, then proceeded to climb from the bottom floor upstairs to the bathroom in the guest bedroom to activate the "drainage switch" It was very intense and required some very precarious situations over boiling Lava.

Story number two: Pizza, a blessing to the world
So in Kenya pretty much the only place we can get pizza is this place called pizza inn.  However it is super expensive so we have to wait till Tuesday to get it cause they have an awesome deal on Tuesdays.  The other catch is these shops are only in big cities, so Chyulu doesn't get the chance for pizza cause it is straight bush.  Anywho so it worked out that we had zone conference on a Tuesday, so all the Chyulu elders and me and my comp went to get pizza, much happiness was shared, and much pizza was destroyed.  

As for teaching stories we didn't get many appointments this week, because with zone conference we were really only in our area for two days, so we were meeting all people we needed to strengthen and so not many fun stories on that side of things.

Anyways, have a good week, till next time, bike fast take chances, watch out for mangoes, they can be hazardous.

Elder Tucker

*Mom has looked through Elder Tucker's companions older posts but I can't find the story about Mangos in his words. So here is a paraphrase as to why Mangoes are hazardous. Missionaries are told to wash and at times boil the outsides of all fruit. The missionaries noticed that the Mangoes on the tree looked good. They did just what Teron would do and polished the germs off, ate a Mango and were very very sick. Teron's companion taught him about the Mangoes so Teron did not have to have the same experience.

(I think Elder T was referring to this part of Dan's experience earlier in his mission on March 20th.)

looking for elephants. Despite how big they are it can be hard to find them in such vast spaces of land (we only found foot prints and what they had for dinner). Anyway! Out of the blue my stomach started hurting like crazy, It felt like a low-land gorilla through a car battery right at my navel, It got so bad that I had to sit down and pray.  i prayed and asked the lord to relieve the pain. As soon as i finished the prayer, i stood up, walked a couple steps and then threw up all over my new sandals (eww). My stomach stopped hurting but the whole trek home and for the rest of the night i was vomiting like a garden hose on full blast. Elder Estimer started doing the same thing that night, We narrowed it down to the fact that we were the only ones who ate some mangos that morning and we didn't wash them. So people moral of the story is PLEASE wash your mangos!

Week 25 RLF Jun 12

Well dear friends and family, here we are, 3 days from my 5 month mark. It is going by too fast!!! Time needs to slow down.  

I never want to not be a missionary.

 Its literally the best to be able to talk about Christ to whom ever I want.  I can literally go up to a random person, tell them Im  not from Spain and ask them if I can get to know them better, and they're alllike, HECK YEAH!! So then we talk a minute until they ask why I'm in Spain nd this is where it gets fun, I say I'm a missionary for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, Boom and then testify about  how families can be together forever BOOM Bang and suddenly I have their name number and address and a time to meet with them next week.  

Or sometimes it's even easier.  Sometimes we're walking through a town of Gypsies and they ask us if we're the Mormons and we say Heck yes!  And they tell us we're beautiful and we say thanks and invite them to come to family home evening with us and all 9 of them say sure, no problem! So we will see what happens Tuesday when we meet with these amazing Gypsies.  

Then sometimes, we have a family of inactive members who introduce us to their non member cousin, and he gets baptized by the inactive dad.  And they all come to church and are incredible.  SOMETIMES THAT HAPPENS 

And then sometimes nothing happens, literally everyone cancels their appointment, they basically all stop talking to us, and we have no investigators to meet with.  

Or sometimes you get into a Sita where some people want to Bible bash, and your companion literally owns them but they still refuse to accept that we know what we're talking about.  

Sometimes it's all miracles and you and your companion are owning the streets, and sometimes, it's emotionally so trying you can barely roll out of bed without wanting to cry.  

But you wake up on time anyway

You say your prayers anyway. 

You study everyday anyway. 

You contact the mean looking Spanish lady, or the creepy drunk man anyway. 

Because this is the lords time, not yours.  

Because this is the lords work and you're going to do it his way, and you're going to be perfectly obedient, because that's how you get miracles and we ended all the help we can get.  

Hug a missionary, feed a missionary, help the missionaries we can't do it without the members.  

I know this church is true, and I love being a missionary.  It's been almost 5 months and I can't imagine doing anything else.  

The work will roll forth no matter what, the Lord is building his kingdom and we get to be apart of it!!! 

 Best thing ever.  

I love you all!! Talk to you next week

 

 

Week 30 BJF Jun 8

So this last week has been a tad ridiculous, we've traveled lots
without any special success.

We had a few late nights the first being when the Euskirchen Elders
got locked out of there apartment so we had a sleepover, however they
took the last train of the evening to get to us so we didn't sleep til
midnight or so. The next day we had zone conference and interviews
with our mission President. Through a series of circumstances we took
the Bonn Sisters home on our tickets but with the late interviews we
didn't get home til about 1 am which is really late for a missionary.

Elder Holyoak and I also visited a few villages in the outer parts of
our area so we got to see a lot of country side. Lots of hills, cows,
and trees. We also found another JWs building in the middle of nowhere
so naturally we had to take an ugly selfie.

Otherwise not much to say. So I'll attach lots of photos for your
entertainment haha
Bis nächste Woche -Elder Fuller

Here enjoy some photos of monkeys and birds.

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Week 24 RLF Jun 5

So this week we taught a man who believes he's a prophet.  We met him at his house and he had people calling him to pray with them.  But he noticed something different about us, and he recognized that we had more "power" than him, so we prayed with all his people and he realized he needs the priesthood and the Holy Spirit so he came to church.

So wish us luck!!!  

This week has been a little different and we have transfers next week so we will see what happens:)  

I've been reading Alma this week and Shiblon is one of my favorite people in that time, he's basically average and he does everything he can to be a good man, his dad gives him comfort in chapter 38 and tells him to continue but to be careful in his journey.  I feel like this is something we can all apply because sometimes were doing our best and we don't have the desire to change or go down a wrong path but sometimes that path comes up so fast and we don't even raise we're on it.  

Take the advice in Alma 38 and do what you can to stay on the right path. 

This church is true, Christ is leading it through a living prophet. 

I wouldn't be here in Spain making holes in my shoes if I didn't know it with all of my heart 

Love, 

 Hermana Fuller 

May 30 Happy Birthday Daniel!!

Hop on Pop!!! Dan was always the happiest baby.

 

Bamm!!

Kenya Nairobi Mission 2016-2018

Where have the years gone? He grew up so fast. I sure do miss this boy! He will return a man.   Dan is all heart and he has never met a stranger.