Week 40 RLF Sep 25

This week is Rachel's half-way mark on Fri!!



I sent her an 18lb box! It was so huge only due to the fact that it contained her spring clothing and sandals that sat in customs all summer long probably because I added nuts and coconut oil -2 things they cannot get there often.  Now I added a couple more fall dresses and one for her companion plus shoes so it is a hefty load.  She will love it and on each of the flaps, I wrote Bon Jovi's song, of course.

Gel pens for Gen Conference.

It makes it extra special to have Benjamin's half-way mark only a day after hers!  You cannot make this stuff up.  So that makes them coming home in birth order 3 mos apart. However, Ben has mentioned he may extend (which is only a transfer) but he would be coming home in Oct then which will be good not to come home to Texas in the heat.

With his 10lb box being mailed the same day, I am on pins and needles and realize it is really a matter of exercising my faith.  Faith with an extra eye on the package tracker.There is much to be said about being vigilant right?  For a missionary momma it is a fine line between vigilant and neurotic...is that one close to psychotic? Neuroses and psychoses...tomato - tomahto!!

Great news that both their boxes arrived in less than a week.  Thank you DHL!!

Week 40 DTF Sept 24

 

I am always so amazed to learn how a mission is opened in a new area.  This article about Chyulu where Daniel is serving now is just extraordinary!  I happened upon it from another missionary momma and how grateful to be able to read such amazing miracles that took place in opening the Kenya Nairobi mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

See or hear it here @

Pioneering in Chyulu
  


Hello everyone! 

So sorry it's been so long, I will repent and try harder to email every week! 

Much has happened since i last emailed but i will just include some of the fun stuff that happened this past week so i'll try not to write a novel. 

Story Moja,

My companion Elder Shongwe and I have to ride ride to makutano or darajani every week for the meeting of the district which is where all the missionaries get together to plan and help each other out. It is about a 5 mile ride to makutano and about a 10 mile ride to darajani, so we see alot of things along the way. a couple days ago we were riding and past a borehole and a crazed donkey moving faster then the speed of light came out and t-boned my comp harder then a train pummels a big bag of flimsy spoons. after he picked himself back up about 4 ancient looking mamas came from no where just saying "pole sana, pole, pole." (sorry) And a small shepherd boy who couldn't have been older then 5 yelling about how foolish the beast was in swahili "PUNDA MJINGA WEIWEI!!" It was wild. He is totally fine. on a separate occasion i saw a group of baboons gathered around the remains of something they had just killed. Guess it's just a bad part of the bush haha. 

Story mbili,

It was elder cox's birthday last week and we got together to celebrate. And as it is customary here in kenya we were going to wash him. yes washing people on there birthday is weird but it;s just what you do. He is an mzee on mission, of course he knew it was coming so he was on edge. After getting a bite to eat Elder shongwe and i ran back to the flat and filled up buckets and hid ourselves in the crevasses of the compound laying in wait for him. he came in and I drenched him pretty good, then shongwe got him, he started chasing me around but i was much to quick and he was much to slippery for that. he finally stopped just outside the door of the flat and i was inside just dying, then a title wave of water came from above like Niagara falls hits a floppy wet noodle, ...Elder musonda was on the roof... My powerful zoneleader. then out poped elder bandi and waranga with water guns giving me enough time to fill my bucket for one final straiff run, Elder cox was dead on the ground when it was done. haha.

okay enough of the none sense.

We had transfers on Saturday and i got transferred, not far though. i am still in the same district but im now serving in mtito andei with elder bandi. it's nice because i can now buy peanut butter and meat in my area. I will miss mbukoni so much though the people are the best i've ever met. i was sitting in sacrament meeting just looking at all those amazing people i have come to love so much. i got to see brother mutie my recent convert blessing the sacrament for the first time. It was just a great day. but i know we will be killing it in mtito.

 I love/miss all of you guys so much! 

Cheers - Elder Fuller

For candy and death threats,

Kenya Nairobi Mission
P.O. Box 46162-00100
Nairobi
00100
Kenya

 

 

Week 45 BJF Sep 21

Schönen guten Abend,

A week from now will mark 1 year since I left Texas.
A year mark is a strange time in the life of a missionary. It really
gets you thinking.
You start realising how far you've come and how far you have to go,
your shoes are no longer waterproof, an American burger sounds all the
more appealing, you're beginning to be one of those old missionaries
you looked up to 6-7 months ago, emails are less frequent, you start
to be a fan of sauerkraut, you realise you can speak another language
(kinda) and that itself is freaky, the list goes on.

After being here in Germany I've learned a lot. I've seen cultures and
heard languages I didn't even know existed.
I've been involved in more religious discussions than I can count and
have learned so much about the religious beliefs of the world. And
every moment I do it testifies to me of the truthfulness of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. There are many religions that are very convincing and
bring many people to their doors but the lack faith and simply don't
believe what they don't like. Others are based entirely on blind faith
and can turn to fanaticism, others are a nice balance but I still feel
like there is something lacking.

I'm not saying this faith I've spent a year preaching is perfect. But
I know for myself that it is build on 100% truth and I can answer
almost all the questions many other great religious scholars can't. I
know for myself that what I've doing is the work of God. Even if I'm
no good at it haha. And I'm grateful for the opportunity.

Anywho, moving on from the preachy part of the email.
This last week was filled with ups and downs. We had the chance to go
on a split with the Duisburg Elders and I was able to spend the day
with a 3 week old missionary. He's just as confused as I was when I
first got here. Course he'll stop being confused someday and to be
honest I'm still confused haha.

Unfortunately after our split we got home and realised my bike had
been stolen. Which is odd as there was a nicer bike next to it without
a lock. I guess thieves aren't that smart. We'll be able to replace it
soon but for now we're back to riding buses. Which normally isn't so
bad however for some reason the bus drivers in Wesel like to drive
past us without picking us up. Honestly why wouldn't you pick up two
smiling guys in ties? We're not that sketchy (although we have been
mistaken for drug dealers for some reason)

We continue to teach our Spaniard friend and he continues to progress.
He told us the story of how he met his wife which was probably one of
the cutest stories I've heard. (I'm getting sappy in my old age).

Lots of other odds and ends but not really worth mentioning.

Today one of the Krefeld Elders had a dream to go see a certain castle
in Bonn. Since I know the area and miss the place I thought it be a
great opportunity to go back. You don't know how much you love an area
til you leave. Unfortunately my beloved Bonn district didn't join us
but we were able to have a party trotzdem. And finally go inside the
actual Drachenburg castle which was gorgeous as all heck.

Here have some pictures

Mit große Liebe -Elder Füller

Week 39 RLF Sep 18

Both of our cute Hermanas were sick this week, boo...:(

I continue to be amazed at how old everything is.  Here again, I would love to be witness of what the setting may have looked like while this bridge was being built.

Week 39 DTF Sep 18

Fortunately they aren't the good $100+ Eccos we bought him.  He was wise to get a cheap pair there.

Hey, the one of the left is still good!!

For safekeeping? To ward off shoplifters?

These roads are well traveled with an incredible view.

Week 44 BJF Sep 14

2 Elders on a mission...

Glad they knew each other in the MTC.

Interviews with the Mission President!  Looks like fun :)

I told my kids about the Houston flood and this is his response.  I too, salute you, Texas!!

Week 38 DTF Sep 11

Daniel loves his companion - Elder Shongwe.

Doxy is the pill they take daily for the prevention of Malaria.  They also sleep under mosquito netting.

 

 

 

You can see Daniel's hands and camera in the middle of the picture.  This shows how tight it is riding in a Matatu.  Although these two are making good use of the time not having to walk.

Week 38 RLF Sep 11

Well hi! Hace mucho tiempo! 

I know I know, I'm just not good at group emails I'm sorry.  

Well I am now in a place called Vic, it's actually very close to my first area in the mission Girona, it's the same zone and everything, which is a little weird.  Usually missionaries dont go back to the same zone, but supongo que I had to learn something or find someone so here I get another go. 

 I miss Terrassa more than life.  I can't even describe to you how much that place feels like home, the people there, the city just everything.  I know the Lord has a plan though and I have enough love to give to other areas, you just miss stuff sometimes ya know? 

For example, Dr pepper.  I still miss Dr pepper.  And free refills, we in America take those for granted.  Also! Free water at restaurants apparently that's not a thing! 


So my new companion is Hermana Baker, she is from California and has about 14 weeks in the mission field.  But her Spanish is incredible and her teaching skills are off the Charts! We joke she's all that and a bag of chips but really she is.  

Unfortunately, however for the first two weeks of the transfer we were trading off being sick and then recovering from that. I did however receive a promise in a blessing  that I would not get sick again on my mission should I remain faithful and obedient so I'm gonna hold to that.  

 My companion on the other hand got this weird infection on her leg and apparently it spread quite dramatically.  Never did have to go to the doctor but we really didn't get the chance to do too much although we did see many miracles be that as it may. 
We had one man that Hermana Baker contacted in her first week on the mission and we finally got a hold of him and he is still interested in meeting us, and all along this little adventure we met a whole bunch of random wonderfuls that are potentially interested in learning more about the gospel. 

Then today we went to Barcelona for preparation day where we went to the best ice cream in the world and subway and then I got to see my favorite Hermana Stahl and we chatted and went on a search for freaky (the word used to describe people that like anime and video games) things before she goes home in October.  

Also, here in vic there is a tradition that those who come here eventually train new missionaries, so right now our district leader Elder Warr is training a new Elder, and let me just say they are HILARIOUS! WE literally die laughing and I'm  were all best friends.  But the pattern in vic goes like this new elder, new Hermana, new elder, new Hermana, well we just got a new elder, so the pattern seems to continue and everyone says I will be having a new baby missionary just after I hit my 9 month mark.... how appropriate.....🤤
Pray for me 

So the life of a missionary continues! We have very little going on here in vic but that's about to change.  It's a tiny branch that's only been opened for 5 years and just so happens to be a branch off the branch in Girona where I served my first 18 weeks.  Here however, there are a LOT more Africans.  Which is so much fun because theyre so open and love to speak about God, but getting them to baptism is much more difficult because they don't commit to things or take things seriously, more difficult yes, impossible? No! 

We have faith and we know that the Lord has a plan, here's a little poem I don't know if I already shared but it really helps me see the eternal perspective 

 “Father, where shall I work today?” And my love flowed warm and free. 
Then He pointed me out a tiny spot and said, “Tend that for me.” 
I answered quickly, “Oh no, not that! Why, no one would ever see, 
No matter how well my work was done: Not that little place for me.” 
And the words He spoke, they were not stern, he answered me tenderly, 
“Ah, little one, search that heart of thine: art thou working for them or me? 
Nazareth was a little place, and so was Galilee.”

I know we can remember this when we look at our lives and don't see the meaning or the purpose for the things that are happening we can remember that the will of the Lord and his vision is far grander than we can imagine.   He has an amazing plan for our life, all we have to do is accept his will and push forward with faith, at times we don't see the bigger picture, but that's why we have a savior and a father in heaven who can see it all. 

I know so far in my mission I've seen when I've depended completely on the Lord and when I haven't and I can tell you the sacrifices and the work he asks for is always in preparation for something he wants to give us.  He is our father and he wants to give it all to us. 

I know it's true, we have a living prophet who speaks with our savior Jesus Christ. This is his church and we each have a purpose in our lives.  

I love you all and I'm grateful for all the support you've given me and my family.  We are here and we are doing the Lord's work ⚡

Love Hermana Fuller