Don't be offended!!! Its a choice.

Hola!

   Happy P-Day! And more importantly, Happy Birthday,(Yesterday), Mom!!! I hope it was a good day! I'm sure that you had a good time! My letter for you should be arriving shortly, I just have to go buy some more stamps today! :)
   This week has been really good! I'm back with Elder Tellez and we've been working hard! On Friday, we were invited to go to a Funeral with one of the members in our ward. He wanted us to share a message and help him prepare something to say because almost everyone that was going to be there were not very religious.  But the Funeral was up in L.A., so we had to get permission from our  mission president, but he told us that this was a great opportunity and to represent the church well. So, we went up to L.A. for this Funeral and we, (mostly Elder Tellez because my Spanish is still terrible), got up and answered tons of questions at this funeral. We ended up teaching a couple lessons and making some new friends. The member that we went with really appreciated us being there and we were able to help out a lot with the funeral.
   Also! Vicente from my old area, and his two brothers, Genaro and Alex, should be getting baptized really soon. Genaro and Alex were supposed to get baptized yesterday but they ended up going up to visit their Uncle in Riverside. SO, their date is being pushed back, and Vicente might be a little longer then that, but they are the best. I love those guys and they've became some of my closest friends. In our area, we are teaching a family of 15 brothers. Five of them are really interested and most of them just got here from Mexico. We are really excited about them because they are sincerely interested in what we have to say, which doesn't happen that much haha. So, I'll keep you updated on that!
   This week, we had a Multi-zone conference and President Orgill gave a training on not being offended and he gave us a talk by Elder Bednar about it, and I love it. He explains it so plainly, and lovingly. Being offended is a choice, and as Saints, we should never, ever choose to be offended. I love that because I know a lot of people out here that have been offended by the church and have stopped attending their meetings and enjoying the blessings from being an active member in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In Elder Bednar's talk he says, "Dear Friend, We are here today to counsel you that the time to stop being offended is now. Not only do we need you, but you need the blessings of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please come back, Now." I love that. You can feel the love and concern in his voice. I encourage all of us to remember that we are Children of our Heavenly Father endowed with agency, and being offended is a choice. It is not a condition afflicted on us.
   Thank you all so much! I hope you have a good week! Love you!

Surprise!

Hola!!

  This week has been very interesting, and probably one of the fastest, funnest, best weeks of my mission. But it all happened in kind of an interesting way.
  After I had exchanges with the District Leader Elder Weiler, he had an impression that Elder Budd and I needed to be companions to better learn the language and, well, to kind of have responsibility and stuff like that. So, he informed me about it on Wednesday and it was effective immediately. President Orgill said he liked the idea, so on Thursday, I was transferred to Dana Point with Elder Budd. I was super excited, but I also knew that we wouldn't be able to do it without having the spirit with us all the time. So, our next morning was full of praying for help with the language, and pleading with Heavenly Father to help us be the best missionaries we could be. That day was the best day of my mission!!  We taught in Spanish, talked to each other in Spanish, contacted in Spanish, Everything in Spanish. I don't even think that I am that comfortable speaking in English. I mean, It literally was amazing!!. I was saying words that I had never even studied before, but they were so clear in my head. We were complemented several times by people we met on how well we spoke Spanish. It built my testimony that when we do what we can, the Lord will help us out the rest of the way. He loves us, and because he loves us, he hears and answers prayers.
 

This morning, I received the news that I will be going back with Elder Tellez tomorrow (which is awesome too), and that this experiment has kind of come to an end because transfers are coming up, and President Orgill needs everybody back in the normal spots. But I know that The Lord inspired Elder Weiler to do this "experiment" transfer. If anything, it gave me confidence. I know that with The Lord's help, ANYTHING, literally anything is possible. especially when it is according to His will and pleasure. So, Tomorrow I return to San Clemente and with my Normal companion, but I will never forget this last week. So many miracles, so many answered prayers. I love being here. This is the Lord's Work, He directs it and Guides his servants.

  I hope everyone had a good week at home, and I pray that everyone is safe and healthy! Love you all!

Con muchisimo amor,

Elder Dallin Fuell

Charity!

Hola Familia!!!

  It's nice to be writing you! This week has been really great and it feels like it flew by. My time in the mission field is flying by and it's beginning to worry me because I still have so much to do! I feel like I just barely got here and I'm hitting 6 months next month! It's crazy. But I'm so happy I am here.
   This week was cool because Jorge, Kevin, Jaime, and Marco got the priesthood!! It has been so cool to witness their progression, and they are some of the most faithful people I know. Marco is really cool. He is in my new area, and he just got baptized about a month ago. He is 19, and the coolest kid ever. We play basketball together all the time, and his cousin Juan, who just returned from his mission in the New York, New York South Spanish speaking mission, is super cool too. They have become some of my best friends here. They are super funny and they love taking the missionaries out for tacos! hahah It's great. I had the opportunity to give the  Aaronic Priesthood to Marco and it reminded me of when I gave Little Woody the Aaronic Priesthood a couple of years ago. It was such a cool experience, and it helped prepare me for my mission. I can see now, that the Lord gave me these opportunities to serve, and use my priesthood, for things that he has prepared for me here. I love this Gospel.

    This week, My focus has been Charity. Trying to have the Pure Love of Chirst, and to see people as we He sees them. I had a really cool talk with my District Leader Elder Weiler on Friday. And we got on the topic of having Charity, and he told me that when we have charity, we begin to see everyone as our Brothers and Sisters, and we love them, and we promised them that we would help them, and that we would bring the Gospel to them. I love that. That has been my motivation, and I found a really cool scripture in D&C 67:10, that I loved. It says" And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am." As we "strip ourselves" of jealousy and fear, and humble ourselves, the veil is lifted. Charity becomes obtainable through being sufficiently humbled. I love that, and I love this doctrine. I hope we can all have a little more charity, and be able to see people as our Brothers and Sisters. I hope everyone has a great week! Love you!

Con muchisimo amor,

Elder Dallin Fuell

Bad times have a scientific value

February 2, 2015

Hola Familia!!!

   I'm happy to be writing you. This week has been good and the work is progressing. We finally were able to confirm one of our recent baptisms, Marco, and I was able to participate in that and it was a very cool experience. Due to our change in areas that is taking place, and now that Elder Tellez and I are going to be taking over San Clemente, we don't have to many investigators. We just have to go find a new pool.  But they're here somewhere! Haha and we'll find them, I have no doubt. It just takes talking to everyone, which is easier when you're a missionary. 

   On Tuesday, I went on intercambios with Elder Budd. He is from Colorado, and he has only been out 1 transfer (6 weeks) longer than me. I was very excited to go with Elder Budd because he has became one of my better friends out here, and Him and I get along really well.. The only problem was our Spanish. I don't think I've ever prayed more fervently for the Gift of Tongues then I did on Tuesday with Elder Budd. And our prayers didn't stop there, I think we mentioned it in every prayer we said from the beginning of the exchange, to the end. We set out into a little Mexican neighborhood ready to put our faith to the test. At first, I was a little nervous to talk, but I remembered our Companionship study in the morning and we talked about how our Goal was to bear strong testimony to every person we talked with. We decided that if we really do have the same conviction as Abinidi, then these people's salvation was really on our backs, and we weren't going to let any slip through our fingers. Looking back, I can see that we set ourselves up for a miracle, but then, I felt like I was going to throw up. BUT, when I opened my mouth, instead of vomit, I was spewing Spanish everywhere! Haha it was amazing. Elder Budd and I were speaking Spanish to everyone, and bearing testimony to everyone. We ended up teaching 5 lessons that day, with many more contacts. The Lord sustains his missionaries and he strengthens their weaknesses. It was one of the best days of my mission.
   My week has overall felt kind of slow and trying. Although I've been able to keep my motivation, I began to ponder more on times that... well, they just stink. And while I was thinking about this, a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson popped into my head, I'm 100% sure that it was the Holy Ghost teaching me by making this quote resurface. The quote goes like this, "Bad times have a scientific value, these are occasions that a good learner would not miss" . Now, I would not consider myself a good learner. At all. Actually, I would strongly consider myself as a teacher's worst nightmare. Hahaha. But this quote helped me to see, and think, with an Eternal Perspective. Some of the trials that I feel that I've been facing are nothing more then opportunities. It immediately pulled me out of any self pity that I may have been wallowing in, kicked me in the pants, and told me to get back to work. I am so thankful for a Heavenly Father that loves us. We may not understand all the mysteries of God, but we can understand that He loves us. And when we understand that, blocks begin to fall into place. Love is the reason for everything, even for trials. I hope everyone has a great week!!

Con Muchisimo Amor,

Elder Dallin Fuell