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

Trusting in the Lord

Hola!!

    I'm happy to be writing you this week!! This week has been pretty interesting, and has probably been one of the hardest/testimony building weeks of my mission. But I'll talk about that in a second. Transfers were on Tuesday!! I got put with Elder Tellez, and He is from Costa Rica. He is almost 21 and has been out on his mission for about 15 months. Our area covers the whole ward which means Dana Point, San Juan, and San Clemente. We focus on less actives, but we do almost all of our Pros time in San Clemente, and We'll be taking over San Clemente in about 6 or 12 weeks. We live in Laguna Nigel, and it's super nice there. I'm really happy with this transfer, and I think we'll have a lot of success. 

   Okay, so this week on Wednesday, I got the news that one of our Investigators in San Juan, Marisela, died in a fire. Her 3 year-old Son was playing with a lighter and something caught on fire, and The little boy and Marisela died. When I first heard the news, it was like I just got hit in the head with a brick. I had just seen her a couple days before. We were headed to the Temple when I heard the news, and I said a little prayer in my heart for her family and for me to try and understand why this happened, and why it happened right now. We had the opportunity to go to the temple with about 16 of our recent converts and go help with baptisms. While we were there, I had an overwhelming feeling that Marisela would accept the gospel on the other side of the Veil and that Heavenly Father was aware of Her family and their situation. It was almost like I heard a little voice say to me what ehe Savior said to Peter when he started to doubt when he was walking on water, "Oh thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Learning to trust in the Lord and have faith in Him comes when we fully understand that He loves us and He wants us to be happy. I don't know why Marisela and Her Son died in that fire, but I do know that Heavenly Father is taking care of them, I know that Jesus Christs Atonement can heal the sorrow that her family is feeling and that I've felt. I know that perfect love casteth out all fear. My testimony of these things have assured me that when tragedy strikes, seemingly out of nowhere, Trust in The Lord, and Faith on his name can pull us out of our own sorrow, and help us to see and recognize the hope in God's light.
    I'm so happy to be apart of this Church and this work. I love the Lord, and I hope you all have a great week this week! Love you!

Con muchisimo amor,

Elder Fuell

Transfer and Baptisms!!

Hola Familia!!

   Sorry I didn't write home yesterday, it was Martin Luther King day and all the libraries were closed haha. But I'm happy to be writing you today! I got some news! I'm being transferred today! hahah I don't know where I'm going yet but I will today at about 4 o'clock. My guess is that I'm headed down to open up a new Spanish Area in San Clemente with a Costa Rican Elder named Elder Tellez. He has been out for about 15 months. It's pretty easy to guess where you're going in the Spanish zone because we only have about 16 missionaries, so depending on who got a call that they're being transferred, you can make a pretty educated guess!
    This week was great!! We had 3 baptisms!! Jorge Hernandez, the investigator for 24 years, and Kevin and Jaime Ramirez. They are Brothers and we have been working with them for a couple months now. They are the same kids that we met by Elder Corcus doing pull ups on the monkey bars! hahah The Lord gives us certain talents and he wants us to use them. They have been such a Miracle in my life so far. I'm so happy that I've been blessed with their friendship.
   Man, This week was BUSY. We were getting people ready to be baptized, I've been packing to get transferred. All sorts of things. But it's been great. I would have never thought that I would enjoy working so hard. I'm so happy that the Lord has been able to trust my companions and I with all the success he has given us. When we fully devote ourselves to the Lord's will, we find that he blesses us more. It's that simple. I love the example of King Lamoni's Father in the Book of Mormon. He says that he will "give up all his sins to know thee". That is some of the greatest commitment someone can have. Giving up those things that keep us from the great joy of the gospel is something that everyone has to do sometime. I know that Jesus Christ loves us, and that we wants to bless us. I love being able to tell people that.
  Well, I hope everyone has a great week!! Love you all!

Con muchisimo amor,

Elder Dallin Fuell

Giving up something good for something better!!

HELLOOO!!

   It's so good to be writing you all! Congrats Joe and Natalie! I looked through some pictures that Dad sent me and everything looked like it went great! And I hoped you liked my present. :) hahah. I'm glad to hear that everyone is happy and well. I was sitting in a zone training meeting at about 10 O'clock our time and I couldn't help but stare at the clock and think about all my family and how special of a day it was for my Brother and NEW sister. It was really cool, and kind of weird. But I felt comforted knowing that I am where the Lord wants and needs me to be. Which is always a good feeling to have!

   This week has been incredible. But it started out kind of bumpy. Vicente had a baptismal date set for Yesterday, 11th, and we went to go see how he was doing and we went to his house and his sister informed us that he went to Tijuana for two weeks. So that stunk. But Yesterday morning, we received a text that an Investigator, Jorge Hernandez, that has been investigating the Church for 24 years decided to be baptized next Sunday. It was a miracle. We have taught him so many times, and we have up to 12 pages in our area book dedicated to Jorge. When we received the text about his decision, we were driving in the car, and we all started to cry because we know that the Lord recognized our efforts. We were amazed.

    In response to that miracle. I started to ask myself, What is the cost of these blessings and miracles? And I found the answer in a Hymn. "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven". When we give up something GOOD for something BETTER, the Lord blesses us. It's not easy, in fact, I'd have to say that it is one of the hardest principles I've learned, but it's true. When we understand this principle, we start to look for opportunities to sacrifice. We leave our comfort zone, and we put ourselves in a spot where The Lord can do wonders with us. I challenge all of you reading this to choose something in your life to sacrifice, and start sacrificing. I can promise you that you will receive and recognize more miracles and blessing in your life. I'm so happy to know The Savior the way I do. I love having time in the mornings to study His gospel and build and strengthen my relationship with Him.

Con Amor,

Elder Dallin Fuell

"Alguien Ya Pago"

Hola Familia!!

I'm so happy to be writing you! It's super cool that everyone is getting together this week for Joe's and Natalie's wedding! I'm super excited to see some pictures and to hear about all the stuff that's happening, and all I can say is Welcome to the Family Natalie!! Haha Get excited.
   This week has been really good, and really hard. It's been hard because everyone was gone or drunk so we didn't have a lot of people to teach or to talk to, but its good because we did all we could and talked to everyone that we came in contact with.. Which is always the goal! Vicente is making some progress and he has a baptismal date for this Sunday, but since he doesn't have a cell phone, its hard to find him sometimes. So we haven't seen him in a couple of days. Kevin and Jaime just got back from a two week vacation in Riverside with their Aunt, so they I think we're going to set another baptismal date for later this month for them. So many things keep coming up preventing people to get baptized. It's irritating to say the least.

    This week, I've been trying to focus on the Christ-like attribute of Hope. I think it's something we to often look over, but it is definitely something that we can use, and should use, to become more like our Savior. I've spent some time reading President Packer's talk about "The reason for our hope". It's awesome. My favorite thought that President Packer shares is that whenever we feel like we were wronged, or something happened to us that we wish other people could feel, we need to remember that "Someone already has" or in Spanish, "Alguien ya Pago", Which directly translates to "Someone has paid". I love that. We need to remember that Jesus Christ knows EXACTLY what you feel and the way you feel it. And that is the reason for our hope. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is so infinite and eternal that we cannot even begin to understand what Christ felt, but we can know with a surety, that He understands what we have felt, and will feel. We have a Savior that loves us and has made it possible for us to overcome sin and death and become like him. He is the reason for our hope. I have a solid testimony of these things. And I hope that we can all begin to have a little more hope in our words, actions, and thoughts.

Con Muchisimo amor,

Elder Dallin Fuell

P.s. Congratulations Joe and Natalie! Wooohooo.

Snow in California!

After a long day, we work on our skills

Breathing fire!!