Wk 20 DTF May 8

Dear Mom,
Hey so mothers day is next week! I'm really excited for video chatting, We have a baptism next week so we will not be over to the couples until 4 pm here, i'm not sure what time that is for y'all but anytime after 4 i should be available! let me know what ben and rach want to do! love you so much! (I will be able to Reply to your emails tomorrow) Also you look lovely in the photo of you with the flowers thanks you

Dear Dad,

I saw the picture of you with the fence and it looks awesome!

Man your new bishop sounds awesome. He hit the nail on the head with that one for sure. This mission stuff is no joke. But its all good! I know i have y'alls prayers lifting me up so it all works.

Love you guys so much! (google translate has got to chill,  i don't now half of those words haha.) I certenly know paramende though, thats all the kids say when they see a white guy "MZUNGU! paramende! paramende!" and then i say Cina paramende pole sana! sasa nina jua unakwana paramende! (I don't have candy i am very sorry! now i know that you have candy!)  then i hold my hand out asking them for candy and they dont know what to do hehe.

But i dont have to much time today sadly. Today we went and helped a sevemala (carpenter) member make some wood carvings for his business. also the rains have come and i haven't seen the sun in two weeks, it makes drying my clothes hard haha but its all good. Love you so much! I cant wait to see y'all next week!

Love- Elder Fuller

And the rains came!  These are amazing and I wonder if they were helping him carve them or learning to carve one for themselves to take home. When Daniel was in Tonga with Hefy, last summer, he gave all of his clothing and everything he brought with him away.  I sense he will do that again and bring home cherished relics in his suitcase instead. NOTE: The fine print says I wish he had brought the longer basketball shorts...to the knee millenials...to the knee!! (snowing down south)

 

Our neighbors installed an 8ft fence and we installed a 6ft. The taper is behind the tree but I think it looks pretty good since we didn't have a choice, ha.

Russ made it into my blog.  Lucky fellow!

From Elder Tucker's Blog:

Well I am not sure why Elder Fuller and I have started doing what is said on the subject line, but we have been doing it all week. So I had to put it as the subject, I just had to. Things in Mombasa are really really wet! Thanks for the prayers. We have been exploring the area 1 because there are literally lakes sprouting up everywhere! and 2 because the jungle is really pretty in the rain so we try to stay in the more forested areas. For some stories this week was pretty good.  One day we went to work in a Shamba and it was on the riverside at the edge of the Jungle and the sky was all rainy, it looked exactly out of a scene from the tarzan movie it was beautiful! Sadly I didn't have my camera that day.  Then we got to work in a Kamba and make word carvings.  I will share some pictures to show you my work. Big highlights of our week.

1: Im already wet screw it!

So on our paths that we walk we are now having to like dodge and work our way around these little ponds around here.  A lot of them are next to an area called Haller park which is just a jungle where all these cool animals live. In the morning I left my jacket back at the flat cause the rain looked like it was going to go away soon. ( More proof god has a sense of humor) anyways so the WHOLE day it is pouring.  Whilst walking by one of these puddles I see it would be pretty hard to get across but it is a perfect set up to try to wall run, my thoughts on this matter were " if zuko can do it than so can i!" So i give my bag to my companion, get a running start, and I'm going pretty fast... slip in some mud, and end up in the worst swan dive of my life into straight mud and water. Elder Fuller died laughing and so did I cause at that point, that's about all you can do.

2: "Elder, look at what you have been reduced too."- Elder Fuller

Alright so for some background, sometimes the water at our house is kinda like YEET and just doesn't work.  This was one of those times. As well the water from the filter is super salty so we have to buy our own drinking water, which was empty at this point.  So all of our three cups were dirty, and I was really thirsty, but couldn't wash one.  We had a little bit of drinking water left over from me making soya the night before, so I decided to put all the ice I had made into this little frying pan, and drank out of that, and it worked really well, Elder fuller was not impressed. I didn't help that I also was walking around the house hunting flies with my shoe, but hey we have a good time here in Kenya.

Anyways I am doing awesome, still having a whole lot of fun.  I will share some pictures with you guys.

Have a great week, y'all are awesome

Elder T Tucker, aka the goat whisperer

 

 

 

Wk 25 BJF May 4

I combed the 'net images' for a picture of German waffles.  I want some too.  He was nice enough not to post them eating, I guess.  But I still want to see, don't you?!

German Waffles also known as Belgian, I want...am in dire need.

So today we climbed a mountain up to a castle. I bought a dragon and
earlier in the week we had some crazy times. Too bad I ain't got time
to go into detail because we got waffles.

Liebe -Elder Füller

Here have lots of pictures!

Yee

Oh the stories these train tracks could tell.  I love the moss growing on the post.

This is an amazing picture with its grandeur. Below is an observation deck which is still high above the Rhine's edge.

Benjamin looks so happy to be with these great missionaries.  I know they had a wonderful day!

This may be the castle they were going to see but it looks like it may be on the way.

What a view!

This looks like such an amazing group!  I see his dragon. Small and furry, rather than large and fiery.

Wk 24 BJF Apr 27

Schönen guten Morgen.

This past week has been somewhat ridiculous. From debating with Kenyan
lawyers to throwing bananas at my companion, the time has gone by
fast.

Since my arrival in Bonn I've seen a massive difference in missionary
work. It may be the area or maybe that Elder. W and I work well
together but either way we're being quite blessed. Elder. W seems to
mainly contact guys out of Ghana and Nigeria. We do talk with others
but he will go out of his way and at times chase down a person if he
suspects them to be out of Africa. We also have a couple people lined
up for baptism (first time that's happened for either of us) and
they're both out of Africa. I'm not saying Africans are the only
religious people but my goodness they certainly do love Jesus....and
Fufu.

We also have had some great teaching moments, mainly with Elder. W
leading since he's such a talker haha. We've had a lot more
interaction with the members here and they are so dang helpful, it's
almost like an American ward.

Today we went with the Bonn Sisters and one of their investigators to
a museum in "the Eifel" a lovely place out in the country where
somehow they've moved old German houses from all over the Rheinland to
this one area as sort of a display of the different historical moments
in German-Rheinland history and how people lived in that time.

Elder. W and I got to go through a sort of indoors section with a path
you could walk through certain moments in history beginning with the
early invasion by The French all the way up til post-World war Two. It
was like a small city filled with these odd rubber mannequins all
about dressed in clothes of the time and creepily standing around. We
were the only two people in the building so naturally we had a bit too
much fun.

We also went to Burg Satzvey, a family apparently lives there and they
have crazy shows all the time like jousting, rock concerts, and plays
like 'Robin Hood' which use the entire castle as a stage. Definitely
something I'll check out on a return trip.

This week will be filled with photos and videos to give better
explanation, although I feel like they may raise more questions than
explanations.

Liebe -Elder Füller

P.s. The lovely lady who went with us brought her dog Lotte, we are now friends.

This one warms my heart so much.  Malinkia is black with a bushy tail also.  I know he misses her.

O dear...

A castle with somewhat of a moat.

This would be a stereo typical image I would have a Germany. It captures it perfectly.

The countryside is so lush and beautiful in Spring.

Russia bans Jehovah's Witnesses and labels group as extremists

• Religious organization can no longer operate in country, supreme court rules
• Headquarters and local chapters ordered to close and property will be seized

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Thursday 20 April 2017 13.02 EDTLast modified on Thursday 20 April 2017 14.34 EDT

Russia’s supreme court has banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses from operating in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group.

The court ordered the closure of the group’s Russia headquarters and its 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property.

The Interfax news agency on Thursday quoted justice ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova in court as saying that the Jehovah’s Witnesses “pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security”.

I had sent Elder F this article that Russia is not only banning all religions from proselytizing but now this group in particular is banned completely.  We need to stick up for other religions because if one gets attacked, they all do.  In Russia, it seems it is always different...and just worse.  I always love to hear his opinion since he is exposed directly to it.  Lots in Germany mistake LDS missionaries for Jehovah's Witnesses.


Also The JWs thing in Russia made me laugh sooo dang hard haha. They
definitely are extremists (not being biased I swear) in Deutschland
they aren't considered a Religion either they're "a business" on paper
haha. (I might have already put that fact in a past email)

I be looking forward to Mother's Day in a couple weeks. Rach suggested
'Hangouts' which is possible since it's connected to our ldsmail
accounts. Just means I'll need to work from a computer since hangouts
isn't a thing on church iPads. Dan will need a computer either way. So
long as we send him instructions ahead of time on how to join the call
he should be fine. We'll need updates on what Rach comes up with.

I only got time to send out this one email so I'll probably send a few
more later in the day.

Love yah momma! Keep up the awesomeness.

Liebe-Elder Füller

Wk 19 DTF May 1

1. Ye elders of Israel, come join now with me

And seek out the righteous, where'er they may be—

In desert, on mountain, on land, or on sea—

And bring them to Zion, the pure and the free.

[Chorus]

O Babylon, O Babylon, we bid thee farewell;

We're going to the mountains of Ephraim to dwell.

2. The harvest is great, and the lab'rers are few;

But if we're united, we all things can do.

We'll gather the wheat from the midst of the tares

And bring them from bondage, from sorrows and snares.

3. We'll go to the poor, like our Captain of old,

And visit the weary, the hungry, and cold;

We'll cheer up their hearts with the news that he bore

And point them to Zion and life evermore.

All of these YM are RMs, currently serving, or about to go except 2.

BANNO IS GOING TO GHANA? that's so cool! do you know when he reports? 

haha "English" speaking he will probably have to learn some sort of language. 

but that is so stinking cool. nah i should be fine there will be more and more of that as we get closer to elections in august but we will be alright. But thank you so much for this it means a lot. I miss y'all a ton and think of you guys every day.  Love you so much Mom you are the best and i cannot wait to see y'all on mothers day. 

Cheers- Elder Fuller

ALSO:

Elder Ts blog brings us another letter with a look into life in Kenya.

Can't go around it, can't go over it, don't want to go through it, welp we're screwed.

So it has been raining a ton which is great. The temperature is fantastic and everything is even more green than I could ever imagine and it is beautiful! However when working in a place with mostly dirt roads we have to walk in a ton of puddles and mud. This is the song I sing when we try to find a different route to get somewhere and just get flooded roads.

Hmm this week has been awesome.  I am now nineteen so that is fun and we made a cake, it was really good.  Weird though to have people sing to you and only say your name; it was uncomfortable./I had to add Jeron's name to feel nice haha. Not a ton of Crazy stories this week but lets see 

what I got, here we GOOOOOOO

1: How much you got? not enough-crap

So here in mombasa as I have said bargaining is everything, so Elder Fuller and I had to go to bamburi one day, we made a couple of unexpected purchases.  So to get home we had a total of Fourty-six BOB.  Which would be enough for a matatu but the matatus that were coming are all full.  So this tuk tuk driver comes and this is what the conversation went like (Translated)

"Tuk Tuk?"-driver

"Maybe"- us

" okay, enter"

"How much?"

"100"

"YOU are KIDDING ME?!?!?!?! We will pay 40 bob"

"That's not enough"

" WAIT!!! If you take us now  we will give you 46 bob!!!"

" 60 bob"" 46 and a firm handshake!"

" No, bye" 

In the end we ended up walking about three miles home but it was fun haha.  Gotta love some interactions with drivers.

2: Spiritual experiences

So this week I got to do some baptismal interviews with people. It is so amazing what the gospel does for people.  I can't give a ton of details.  But in essence I was talking to this guy, who's house is literally four walls, and a shall(bed) on the ground.  Thats it that's all this man has. Two shirts and two pairs of pants. He was explaining to me how lucky he is to have heard this gospel and how much it has helped him and the blessings that come from it.  It really opened my eyes with how the spirit really changes peoples perspectives; and how christ can honestly change not only your life, but who you are and how you think.  IT was an amazing experience and I will never forget the joy in that man's eyes when he figured out that he could be baptized! This really is the lord's work.

Love you guys! Have a great week!

Till next time

mzee takataka

Dearest Daniel,

You have support from every direction.  I think you know this.  I believe that's why you're so strong!  But I am sure you may be feeling what Benjamin has and perhaps Rachel.  Being in one area for a little while now and experiencing rejection.  But somehow, I know you will pull through.  I love this picture because so many more are supporting you than those shown here.  You are special, you are important and for some of us..you are everything!!

I love you so much, ma

Wk 19 RLF May 1

We know what the merry, merry month of May means:

I am so excited and we are going to try to skype with all 5 of us!  Think of it...3 different continents and 3 different time zones.  I love technology!

Dear madre, 

 It's true he has the best nurse around! He just worries me a bit.  I love you guys a lot and so I want you to take care of yourselves so we can do stuff for a long long time!  My kids have to meet y'all alright?  So be careful ya know?  

Yes, that was a hard week, I was very frustrated, slightly sick and about to start my period.  As was Hermana Richey.  But you know what I realized?  I was definitely not helping anything.  My attitude was horrible and my willingness to learn and listen was basically non existent.   I prayed and asked the Lord to teach me why it was so hard for me to just be humble and be a good companion.  And he definitely  answered my prayers.   

I always knew I didn't particularly like my personality when it came to certain things but I never realized the kind of effect it had on other People.   At the moment I'm still learning and doing my best to understand what it is exactly that is irritating or what needs to change, so I can't quite put it into words.  But literally my companion is perfect for me, she tells me when I'm being a BRAT,  or when I do something that shouldn't have been done, she's not perfect by any means but she's exactly what the Lord knew I needed.  And I can only pray that I can be that for her.

 I'm sorry my last letter was negative, I didn't at the time feel like it was too bad.  But looking back from your perspective it must have been a drastic change. From my rainbows and sunshine letters.  Don't get my wrong there was still a lot that was hard in the first transfer.  I just didn't focus on it, I didn't have a bad attitude.  But this past transfer I had a piss poor one and I'm so grateful for Hermana Richey putting up with it. 

We were not the best at communicating but it's definitely getting better. I have more respect for her and I'm trusting her much more than I very ever let myself trust anyone other than you or dad or the boys.  And she's not letting me down.  As I show my support for her she is bolder.  She had the opportunity to give her first talk in sacrament and it was incredible!  Completely Fuerte, and I, sure some of the members did not like it, but I guarantee you its exactly what this Rama needed.  She barely remembers any of it, but I know it was of the spirit.  

And as far as the Rama, just like any place there really imperfect people who need to have more faith in the Lord, but let me tell you about the incredible members here.

There is this huge family the dad is the branch president and the mom S is an angel.  They have two daughters on missions right now and 4 who live at home.  P and L are basically the sisters I've always wanted.  They're incredible and strong and amazing examples here in the Rama.   They are the only family I have ever met that actually does family prayer and Scripture study every single morning.  And  you can tell the difference.  Their oldest daughter H Comes home from her mission in Madrid in 2 days so we got to help them paint their house. They're basically my goals for my future family.  

Then we have the C family.  The mom M and their incredible daughter P they have been members for 7 or 8 years and they have the strongest testimonies I have ever heard.  P helps us with our lessons and she hangs out with us cause she's our age and she's amazing, I literally love her so much.  

Then the C family.  They live in a Pueblo called figueres and they're amazing!  They always make us food and drive us places, they're the ones who took so us to that Pueblo by the ocean.  We're not allowed to be near the beach but they didn't know that so we were just careful to always void it but the ocean here is literally so gorgeous!  I want you all to come back with me summer of 2019!!! Vamos!!!!! 

There are so many people here who are so amazing!  

But it's true it's hard.  When you testify with all your heart and they reject it, it's hard.

When all you want is for them to go to the temple as a family, it's really hard.

When you see this incredible potential in someone's and they refuse to rise to it, it is fetching difficult.  But the savior saw the potential for all of us and suffered for our sins anyway. He taught and pleaded and taught with power, just to be rejected and killed by the people he fought and pleaded for.  But he did it all anyway.  He didn't have to die, he didn't have to do any of it, but because we needed to have the freedom to choose, he gave up his life. 

I'm learning to have that perspective with the people here.  They don't read their scriptures?  Love them anyway

They don't come to church?  Heart attack their door.  

It's all about loving them the way the Savior would.  That is why it's hard, be cause we're giving them everything we have, but they still have their agency.  

But the Savior gets it.  And he went through something a million times worse, so I am honored to be here as his representative and I welcome the hard things.  

That's seriously so amazing that you're getting involved with that.  

I love the video!  How did you find out about it??  I feel like we will need to go visit some of those women you're helping.   What an incredible way to help :)  

Wow, seriously the Lord is in everything I knew he would find a way to get us all through it.  I will never be able to thank you for supporting all of us in this.   It's the purpose of life. Sharing the gospel.   It's the reason we're here.  

I love you mommy!  And really the adventure is just starting,  this is the start and it's only gonna get more interesting from here!  

We're on a straight and narrow path.  

I'll talk to you cada a cada in 2 weeks!!!!!!!!! 

Wk 18 DTF Apr 24

Dan takes a minute and drops a line.  In this case, his Dad has been sick so he said, "I hope you feel better soon".  Always sending us his love.  But that's it for this week.  We figure he is holding the computer for his companion to type on it...Wrong!

Soo, right now he has a companion that is pretty amazing at sharing stories about the goings on in the mish.  I will post his letter here and got his mom's permission.

Elder Tucker also has a twin currently serving in South Africa - Capetown

Enjoy!

Apr 24

So this week was absolutely fantastic.  We didn't get much time to do missionary work because we had zone conference and interviews and the Kyulu elders came It was super fun. Also I got to see Elder Le Chem. again!! 

(There you go buddy.)  A couple of the elders had only been in Kyulu which is like the bushiest bush of all the bushes.  So when they arrived here they were like oh my gosh! People, cars, this is amazing! There is a white guy! Who isn't a missionary! It was quite funny for me, who has yet to serve in the bush. 

Anyways  here are some fun stories for you.... enjoy!

Story mosi: "Oh frick this mzungu can speak"

This was said by a matatu driver who tried to charge us more money than the locals.  So unlike Eldoret in Mombasa the Matatu price is not fixed, and it takes a lot to get a good price if you are two white guys.  You should never pay over seventy but they sometimes charge us like 150.  That's ksh by the way not dollars.  So we tell this condu we are going to Mtwapa, and he is like 150 so we are like " psh nope we will pay fifty! He get's mad, we say sixty he's chill."  We get to city mall which still about thirty bob from our destination, and this dude stops the matatu and is telling us to get out unless we pay fifty more.  What he didn't know I understood what he was saying to the driver so I was prepared.  I guess it was kinda funny to see a white guy totally ranting at this man in kiswahili and we ended up still having to pay ten more, but it was fun.  He was very angry he couldn't scam us.

Story mpili: Pizza!

So pizza here is crazy expensive; you can only get it in the big cities like Nairobi,Eldoret and Mombasa.  So the Kyulu elders don't spend any money on transport and other city stuff so they brought some cash to spend whilst in the city.  Elder Car.'s only request is that we buy pizza and go see the beach. We went to the beach to watch the sunrise one morning and it was beautiful!  I will share some pictures with y'all.  Alafu tuliende ku pata pizza and it was super funny because he had no clue which one he wanted so he is like " I don't care if it has cheese it's fine just make it huge!" It was a great night.

Zone conference was cool learned some stuff. Got told to do better on things, you know the usual.

Anyways have an amazing week! love you all! don't forget that when life gives you rotten mangos try to throw them at monkeys across the street.

Tutoanana badhai

Elder Tucker


Apr 17

Few subjects phrased as movie quotes" I'm not dead yet". Junior Companion to District Leader!" "I 'm melting, meltiiinnggg!"

Sorry for no letter last week, let me give you sum of last p day-(Monday)and tuesday.  Leave the flat at eight, arrive at bus station at nine, ride a bus to Nairobi for eight hours, get in a car for another hour to get to the Assistants flat. Stay there for a while, it is about seven pm stayed there til there till ten ish. Went to the mission home and stayed up all night talking to Elders C. B. and Elder T. cause we all had long bus rides Tuesday and wanted to sleep on the bus. Left mission home at seven, sat on a bus for twelve hours and made it to MOMBASA!!!  Then we were going back and forth between Bamburi area and Changamwe because, one of the Cahngamwe elders had yet to arrive and so we had double duty for a bit but now we are good.

Okay so little about my new area.  I am in Bamburi which is essentially the Beverly Hills of Kenya.  It is absolutely beautiful here. It's only 2 feet from the sun, I swear it is VERY HOT.  Our house (that is right we have a whole house for one companionship, is nicknamed "The Palace" however still no oven or washing machine, we do have a staircase though which is cool) is about a ten minute walk from the beach which would be super sick if we could swim, but hey still cool. If you walk the other way you end up in the jungle which is full of monkeys. ( even more proof I am the real tarzan)  The branch is super cool. I felt really uncomfortable though cause we had like fourteen white people.  I haven't seen that many white people in four months so it was hard to speak english and be normal so instead I bore my testimony in Swahili and all the africans were like "What the frick this white guy speaks swahili?!?!?" It was great. I was made district leader which was cool.  I got the subject quote from Elder C. ( it is in the "Best two years" and promised him I would put it in my email, but honestly it doesn't mean a whole lot. The only difference between a DL and a normal missionary is people report their Key indicators to me, vs me reporting to them. My comp's name is Elder F. he is from Texas, and he is super dope.  He has been here for three months so I mostly follow him around and talk to people. I am super excited to be here and work in Mombasa.

Couples stories from this week:

Number One 

Elder Tucker, do you like hills? This was a quote from an Elder in Changamwe, another area in Mombasa.  We were working over there for the day, and my response was.  Been a while since I have seen one but yeah man I like them.  Wrong answer.  The whole day Elder F and I are chasing this other elder while he walks with what he calls "gears" which essentially is walking like road runner.  He is hauling butt up and down and all around these hills in Changamwe, Elder F and I are lost, and sweating,and freaking out like there is no tomorrow cause if we can't see this guy, we don't get home tonight, cause Mombasa doesn't have roads.  We went up and down like five valleys and such all day, then tried to teach lessons in the middle of panting trying to catch our breath.  It was fun.  Sometimes missionary work is hard, sometimes scary, sometimes fun, and sometimes it is just plain HOT!

Number two

This morning I convinced Elder F. to go running with me * insert maniacal laugh* ( I will convert him to the ways of an endurance athlete) anyways, so I was like "hey man where should we run?" and he said "lets go to the beach!" So we ran to the beach then we ran like intervals from one side of the beach to another. When leaving I talked to a man who wanted me to buy a ebony key chain from him, at first he tried to screw me over but he quickly found out I was not a tourist and knew swahili, so he lowered his price quickly.  I will probably go back and get one some other day cause they were actually super sick. Morning run on the beach; Bucket list Check!

Anyways hope y'all have had a good couple weeks, shoot me an email if you want sometime, have fun! I will try to get a picture of some of the monkeys, but they are frickin fast.

Wk 18 RLF Apr 24

Okay it is happening guys!  Honeymoon phase is over and now reality sets in.  Please pray for Rachel.  She is realizing just how tough it is out there.  Think about it, setting goals high and continually having them dashed to bits will eventually wear on anyone.  Benjamin went through this around this same time.  I hope she keeps writing me. Also it is good Mother's Day is coming soon!  Her birthday is on Mother's Day this year so it will be extra meaningful for us talking worlds away.

Rachel is a super strong, positive person.  However, I know she may need your help and prayers now.

She would love to hear from you.

We're doing our best here. But I'm learning how to be a leader by example, and it's tough!

Lots of times I need to overcome my natural man moments.  We have transfers next week and I really don't know of I'm staying in Girona or going somewhere else. 

We could literally be a stake with how many people that have been baptized into this branch. But few are active.   And we keep losing our investigators because they don't see what's so incredible about this church, it's just like every other church here in Girona.   

We have a plan and we're trying to figure it all out, but 45 years of slow growth is a lot for 2 missionaries to handle.  

We are definitely getting a new elder in may so we will see we what happens.

And we are literally out of money, we have been living on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Learning to BUDGET is CRAZY.