Elder Alivio Week 50

Hey ya'll,

Well that is exciting that you will be done with working the 10 hour shifts. I'm sure Dad has been really stressed lately. Usually things get really bad for him. That is fun that the boys get to go to flaming gorge. I have only been there once I think and I don't really remember it. Are all of the young men going there? What kinds of activities are they doing? Crawford always has to have a new weapon to play with when he goes to camp!! hahaha I hope they have fun! Do you know if Joey is going? I have been kind of worried about him now that he is out of school and doesn't really have some of the greatest friends around. That is cool that the boys got to go see that soccer game. Have they been able to use their passes all that much? What things have they gone to do? I am jealous that they got to see grown ups 2! haha but then I remember that I can see it when I get home in one more year (can you believe it has gone by that fast) and that I am living in New York and get to see all of the cool things here so I can rub some things in there face as well! :P haha Did they like grown ups 2? How do the ads look for that movie RIPD: Rest in Peace Department look? I see the posters everywhere for it but it just looks kind of dorky.

So Elder Alivio is AWESOME!! haha We have been having so much fun this week. It is cool because the pressures of training a new missionary aren't really there. Normally the trainer is stressed about making sure the new missionary is doing everything right, making sure they teach most of the lesson, and making sure they pass as much of their knowledge to the new missionary as they can. I realized I can't worry about any of that because he probably won't understand a lot of it anyways. This is his first time being out of the Phillipines, so not only do I get to teach him how to be a missionary I get to help him learn English as well as ebonics, how to use money both cash/coins and debit cards, how to strategically avoid all the garbage and doggie doo everywhere, how to jay walk, how to ignore the crazy people, and how to enjoy being around such different people. Had he not got to spend 6 weeks in Utah he would think that all Americans are extremely lazy and disgusting thankfully he understands that it is just a condition of living here. haha He tells me all the time how none of the stuff people do here would be acceptable in the Phillipines. For being almost as tall as me and weighing only 135 lbs. he sure can eat a lot. haha He is used to eating 4 meals a day at home all of them consisting of a big bowl of rice. So needless to say he loves that we have a rice cooker and can buy 20 lbs of rice for $10.

Elder Alivio is a convert of only 4 years. He is 22 now so he joined when he was 18. He was walking along the beach one day right before a big tropical storm hit and he saw two white guys in shirts and ties walking past. I guess it is very customary for Phillipino's to treat white people almost as royalty. He said it is very easy to teach people there. He told them there was a big storm coming really soon and upon finding out where they lived told them they wouldn't have time to get back to their house. So he invited them to his house without his parents permission. The missionaries ended up spending two days with them and taught them a ton about the church. Elder Alivio was the first in his family to be baptized and his parents shortly followed him about a month later, his only other sibling his older sister is still not a member yet because her husband won't really let her join. So it is pretty rare for Phillipino's to serve there missions in other countries. I guess it is pretty hard for others to get in there so usually they just keep missionaries there so the 10 Phillipino members in our ward here were nicely surprised to meet him.

Thank you so much for the package. It was great to get some of that stuff. We haven't caught any mice recently thankfully so now I don't really know what to do with the poison. haha Thank you for putting some money on my account as well. I really appreciate it. I told Staci that it is always comforting knowing that I have it there in case of emergencies. Especially where I am still waiting to get all of my money back that was stolen.

Here is a little story of a cool experience I had this week. So on Saturday all I could think about was a member from the Poughkeepsie ward. I was really good friends with her and her youngest daughter. I couldn't stop thinking about her and finally I determined that I needed to call her and just see how she was doing. Well we ended up getting home late and I wasn't able to call her so I just kind of pushed the thought aside. Sunday I wake up and the same thing. I can't stop thinking about her feel that I really need to call her. So we go home right after church and I give her a call. Turns out she had been having a really rough few weeks. Her oldest daughter, who I only met like twice, is my age and was going to school in Philly and about a week and a half ago got assaulted by some like 40 year old guy. So her daughter is now going through a lot of depression and things because she wasn't exactly doing what she should be with her life. She moved back in with her mom and is trying to get her life back in order now. Then on Thursday the mom's best friend went missing. Even though he lived in New Jersey she was trying to do as much as she could to help find him. They eventually found his body Friday morning and determined that he had committed suicide. The mom had just got this friend to start taking lessons with the missionaries and was looking forward to attending his baptism. I am so thankful for the companionship of the Holy Ghost and the comforting power of the Atonement. She said that she had been praying for someone to talk to about all of the problems she was going through. It was such an incredible experience and I am so grateful that I was blessed with the opportunity to help her out. She was also telling me about how the missionaries up there now never talk to her at all and even though she is at church almost every week asked her if she was new to the ward. The church is true!!

Love you all,

Elder Fuller