Success!!

Hola!

Wow, this week has been awesome!! Well, first of all, we had two baptisms this week!!! It was really cool to be there. They were both yesterday night. One was a man named Rueban, and he was homeless and the most humble man I've ever met. He is as Elder Holland described in his General Conference talk a couple weeks ago, "Poor in heart and poor in spirit". But he will be a great member of the church, and I can feel his faith. The other person was a lady named Nafis, and she is an awesome example of faith because she was living with her Boyfriend, Imner, who is kind of a punk, and when she heard about the Law of Chastity, she told him, "Marry me or get out". hahahaha it was great! So, he moved out, and she got baptized! Their baptismal service last night was a great reminder of why i'm hear, BUT the ultimate goal is the temple, so we'll keep working on that.
   

 Another crazy thing happened yesterday! We were sitting in Ward Council and one of the speakers turned out to be sick............. SO, Bishop Hennings, (Who is the coolest guy ever, he is just basically a surfing hippy), looks at me and asks me to speak in sacrament meeting.... in 5 minutes.. in Spanish. I accepted and remembered all the times when people told me that this would happen to me on my mission. BUT, I just thought, "Well, sometimes you just gotta go for it". So that's what I did, and I hope gave an awesome talk. I just read Alma 22:16-18, and talked about faith and acting on faith, acting with diligence, and acting as the Savior would. People kept telling me that my accent is perfect and that I don't sound like a greenie at all! But I think that is from talking in a Spanish accent with Joe all the time haha.

I'm so happy to be serving the Lord. It is not easy. At all. It takes 100% effort, every waking moment. And motivation often doesn't last... but neither do showers, that's why we recommend it daily. Just remembering that this is my life now, this is where the Lord wants me, needs me, and called me, helps me to keep motivated. I've been thinking a lot about what makes a missionary successful. And I've decided that you need to:
1. Understand who called you.
2. Know why you're here.
3. Understand Urgency
4. Be teachable
5. Love the people.
6. Don't be stoppable.

7. Go to work.
8. Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice.

These are things I have to work on everyday. But I see these qualities in my Companions. And they are helping me become so much better then I ever thought I could be.
   Well, that is my letter this week. I love you all, and I hope everyone is healthy, safe, and happy.

Con muchisimo amor,

Elder Dallin Fuell

A place called Top of the World

California is beautiful

Just down from our Church

"Dont just watch the game"

I'll get to why that is the title of my letter in a little bit. But first of all: HELLO!! I made it to California safely and I love it here. It really is paradise on earth. I have two companions and they are the zone leaders. Their names are Elder Lefevre, from North Ogden Utah and he has been out for 14 months and his Spanish is excellent, and Elder Corcus, and he is from Bolivia, He was called English speaking but I guess that the Lord needs him Spanish right now to help me out, and He has been out for almost a year. We live in San Clemente, which rules because its sooo beautiful, but my Area is in San Juan Capistrano in a little group of Spanish speaking apartement complexes called "La Zanja" which translates to "The trench". The people there are very poor and they are not in good circumstances, but everyone there is aware of who the missionaries are and we just kind of go around teaching people and doing service and what not. I love it. My Spanish is terrible. I cant understand a thing that anybody is saying. But I've been reading in Spanish and praying in Spanish and that is helping a lot. My companions are good teachers and I really like them. They always tell me that they love my energy haha. Our church building is ON THE BEACH. haha not really, but you can see it from there. Its awesome. Im in a Spanish ward, which is good, and I love my zone. Okay, The reason for the title for this email is because It has been going through my mind every day since I showed up here. Dad always used to tell me this when I was playing basketball and I would get distracted and stop playing. In missionary work, You can soooo easily get distracted and stop trying. I have already seen and met several missionaries who have just been "watching". So now, that advice that Dad used to give me, applies to more then just basketball. I don't want to be a missionary who slows down, gets distracted, or stops. People keep telling me that my energy will run out and Im just this pumped because Im a greeny. But I know that's not going to be the case because my Dad taught me to not just watch the game, but be a player. And not just any player, but a game changer. I love missionary work because missionary work is love in action. I love and miss all of you! I hope you are doing well and you are in my prayers every day. My address that you can send mail and packages to is " 23 Lake Rd, Irvine California." Its pretty simple! I love you all! Con muchisimo amor, Elder Dallin L. Fuell

I'm Here!!!

Sorry I was unable to call you all.  I was very, very rushed for time and barely made my plane before they shut the gate. Customs were moving very slow and there were a lot of people coming here from Mexico. I'm so happy to be back in the states. I love it here already. Everyone keeps telling me that I'm so lucky I got called Spanish speaking here, so that's just getting me more excited. Here is a picture of my mission Pres, his wife, and I. I feel like my Spanish is ready to improve. Today has been sooo long, but I cant wait to get started. I'm so thankful for our Savior, And for my testimony. I love you all, and I miss you! I don't

know when my P-day is yet, but you'll get an email me from then.

Have a good rest of your week!

Con muchisimo amor,

Elder Dallin Fuell

Last day in Mexico City

Hola Madre!!

Since I leave tomorrow at 2 in the morning ( my flight doesnt leave until 5, but they want us there 3 hours early), They are having me email right now!!  Im happy to be leaving, But I really love my distrcit and my Teacher Hermano Monroy, He reminds me of Von. He is so cool. Anyways, I love you and Ill talk to you more tomorrow. I might be able to email you when I get there, but I don't know. Tell everyone I love them!

P.s. We placed that Book of Mormon to my Physical Therapist, Samantha. She was very happy, and our testimonies are written in it with a way to contact the missionaries. FIRST BOOK OF MORMON: PLACED!

Con Amor,

Elder Dallin Fuell

Another Great Week in Mexico! (That's for you Joe!)

Hola!!

Just like every week, I am so excited to be writing home! Its a refreshing feeling. This is my last P day in the CCM. I´m going to miss the people here very much, especially all the guys in my district. We have all grown so close together and they have been, at times, where i´ve  been able to go for blessings, (for my ankle mostly), and where I've been able to go for a good laugh, or if I have ever had a question about Spanish or anything like that. I really do love them.

Im glad to hear everyone is doing well! Mom keeps me very updated, and I am so thankful for that. This week has been pretty hard because I have been very sick all week. I had a high fever last Tuesday night and the doctor here, Elder Gill, who i am already pretty good friends with because of my ankle, ordered me to bed rest and gave me a bunch of medicine. It was pretty bad for the first few days but it got better and better, slowly but surely, and now I'm fine! My ankle is doing MUCH MUCH better. They are having me do physical therapy at the hospital so I don't have any more problems with it during my mission. And that brings me to my next story!

My physical therapists name is Samantha. She is always super nice to me and My companion. Now, the hospital is outside of the wall of the CCM, so we take it as an opportunity to share the gospel in the little Spanish we know. Well, while they were shocking my ankle with electricity, I got the impression to ask Samantha if she believed in God, and she told me no. SO, we asked her if we could teach her about what we knew about God during my sessions, and she said yes, she would like to know what we believed. So, we starting teaching her, SOLO EN ESPAÑOL. And by the end of the message of the restoration, she told us that she felt something in her heart and that she would like us to bring her a book of Mormon in our next visit!! Which is on Thursday, so we bought a Spanish Book of Mormon for her and we are writing our testimonies in it. And I am so excited to teach her some more on Thursday!

Also! Elder Niel Anderson came to the MTC, I got to shake his hand, which was cool, and his devotional was on getting a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and why it is important to have that while your are on your mission. It was really good and It pumped me up.

  I'mhappy Lindsey is home safe!! That's great! I know that she served with everything she had, and she has always been a good example to me and her siblings.

My flight leaves out of the Mexico to Dallas at 5:05 in the morning, which means ill be leaving the CCM at about 2 in the mañana. No sleep again. :´( But that's okay. I should be arriving in California at about Noon. I'm so excited to be get back into the United States!

Yo sé que el Libro de Mormon es las palabra de dios. Sé que Jesucristo es nuestro redentor, y que Él es muy amaroso. Sé que Jose Smith fue un profeta en los ultimos dias. La Iglesia de Jesucristo es en la tierra otra vez hoy. Yo estoy muy feliz estar un misionero para nuestro Salvador. Yo amo mi familia muy mucho. Yo amo el Evangelio muy mucho. Yo estoy listo ir a California. En el Nombre de Jesucristo, amen.

I love you all!

Elder Dallin Fuell

A wise Man once told me, ¨The only time Success comes before Work, is in the dictionary¨. -Von Porter

 A wise Man once told me, ¨The only time Success comes before Work, is in the dictionary¨. -Von Porter

HOLA MI FAMILIA!

I´m so happy to be writing you!! First of all, the reason for the title of this email is because all we do is work here. This week has been bitter work. We have been in the classroom studying Spanish almost every minute of every day. I can teach the lessons all pretty well in Spanish, but I need to widen my vocabulary. Other than that, I'm doing great with my Spanish. I love my Teacher Hermano Monroy. He is the coolest guy ever, and he is so nice and helps us out all the time. Hes just cool. The guys in my district and I are all getting really close. They are awesome. Super funny at times, and they also really invite the spirit in to our discussions and stuff like that. They are always awesome examples to me.

I am so excited to get to my mission. Don´t get me wrong, I like it here in the CCM, BUT everything is just kind of repetitive. And I don't love the classroom setting. Its hard for me to pay attention.

My foot is getting much better!!! And I have an awesome story to tell you guys!! So, I had a check up with my doctor, Doctor Miguel, and He was checking out my foot and told me that I'm going to have to do Physical Therapy because i've lost a lot of movement in my ankle from the injury. And so he started asking how much longer we were here in Mexico, and we told him 2 weeks and He was so surprised that we were trying to learn Spanish and that we had only been learning in it for 4 weeks because we spoke very well. And we started talking to him about missions and what not, and then I made eye contact with my companion, Elder Gunther, and so I asked him, IN SPANISH, if he would like to hear our message about Jesus Christ. And he went on to tell us that he was Catholic and we explained to him that we didn't want to step on his feet but our message was about happiness and Eternal Life. We then went on to tell him that we could send missionaries over to his house to teach him and his family, and he was very interested in that, so we got his address and gave it to the Latino that drove us and he is making sure that the missionaries get sent over. IT WAS AWESOME. It was my first contact, and Im starting to believe that hurting my ankle was not just a lesson for me, but also so that I could have that experience, and hopefully bring at least one soul unto Christ.

Other then that, not much is new. Elder Niel Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve is coming on Saturday to give us a devotional. I'm excited about that. Anyways, I love all of you, and hope you're doing well. You´re always in my prayers.

Con Amor,

Elder Dallin Fuell

I Loved General Conference!!

I loved Conference in the CCM!! It was awesome! We got to watch it in English, so that was nice! And for the first time in my life, I took notes. Hahah It was hard at first, but I kept my attention, and made me love it more. I ended up with 15 pages of notes! But there is a certain way I like to take them, Let me explain:

1. You write down the DOCTRINE that the Apostle was talking about, and all the main points of doctrine. Sometimes there's a lot, but you just write down as much as you can while they are talking.

2. All of the talks have an invitation of some sort. The gospel is about changing, so of course they are going to invite you to change or be better, So you write that down.

3. Last of all, you write down the promised blessing. This is my favorite part, because when things are promised by an Apostle of the Lord. It will happen.

We were taught this way of note taking by David A. Bednar at a devotional. It worked wonders. I could listen to every speaker, the whole time without falling asleep or being bored or anything. I also realized that whenever you teach someone about the gospel, its good to follow this pattern. So my Companion and I are trying to apply it when we teach our progressive Investigators here, and its been working pretty well.

Other than conference this week, It went by pretty fast. My foot is getting better slowly, I got off my crutches last week on Wednesday, but my foot started to get worse, so the doctor got mad at me for trying to get better to fast, and put me in a wheel chair so I wouldn't walk on it. I hated being in the wheelchair. But I eventually learned how to pop wheelies in it, So after that I didn't mind. But I got out of that two days ago. And they have me back on crutches. Hopefully they will let me walk by the end of this week. This injury has been specifically hard for me because I like running around and playing sports with all my friends here. But now I can´t. BUT, If worse comes to worse, I have a career in wheelchair basketball. Enough said.

The daily grind here is hard. We work long 16 hour days and its mostly in a classroom. Which is not my favorite environment. But I´ve gotten super close to a couple of guys in my district, Elder Monsen from Draper, Utah, and Elder Aidoo from Modesto, California. Super cool guys. My Spanish is slowly, slowly, improving. I can teach in Spanish alright, but my favorite thing to do is to just have conversations in Spanish with workers here or anyone. I feel like I learn the most that way.

Well, that's all for this week. I hope everyone is having an awesome time back at home, I miss you guys, and I love you lots!

Much Love,

Elder Dallin Fuell.