March Madness Week 33

Hey guys,

Sorry about yesterday. We had a pretty crazy day! Our mission President approved us to go down to Manhattan to watch some March Madness games in Madison Square Garden. It was a lot of fun! There were about 40 missionaries who went and the tickets were only $30 so it was pretty cheap. Somehow Madison Square Garden was a lot smaller than I always imagined it to be. In fact I think Energy Solutions Arena is bigger. It was still neat to see such a historic place.

So I am sure you are wondering how things are going with the changes. So my new companion Elder Kohli is from Ogden. He is pretty cool and we get along great! The new apartment is pretty good. It has had Sisters living there for a while now so the entire place is covered with hair. Even though it is fairly clean and the furniture is still pretty new it is still an apartment in the Bronx though so it can't be too nice. It is kind of lonely living by ourselves though. It is easier to by food as a bigger group and it allows you to change conversations up a little. We find that we just run out of things to talk about sometimes. Things have been kind of slow recently because we have been trying to get the area split up and a bunch of other things have been going on. Then again I think just about anything would feel slow right now after having had six baptisms in our district in the past three weeks. That is two baptisms per companionship! The Lord's work is really hastening! We got the 41 new missionaries in this past week. Turns out 2 more went to Alta I didn't really know either of them that well. The one played soccer I think his name is Stephen McCullem but I am not positive. So all together that makes 6 of us from Alta. They are expecting about 38 missionaries in this next cycle coming up. It is crazy how much this mission is growing. There is rumor going around too that it might split soon and become 2 missions. So with Elder Holzer and my area they split it about as evenly as they could. I have East of Grand Concourse to Boston Rd and South of 181st street to the bottom of the Bronx. Elder Holzer has the piece to the west of Grand Concourse.

So Elder Kohli and I got to give baptismal dates this past week to an awesome family! I might have mentioned them before the Mom's name is Elizabeth then there is an 11 year old daughter named Kayla, and a 9 year old boy Henry, and an 8 year old boy Michael. They are scheduled to be baptized on the 13th of April. Unfortunately we still haven't been able to meet with the Father. We think he might be avoiding us.... shocker, right!? haha We are teaching some other really great people right now as well.

So I guess that even though I am on the other side of the country I am still in sync with you mom because I have been fighting a sinus infection right now as well. I'm trying to get in contact with our Mission doctor to get some antibiotics as well. Its weird though because normally I only get 2 a year one in the spring the other in the fall. This is my third one in the 7 months I have been out and I still have a spring and a fall ahead of me this year. I keep taking the mucinex and claritin as well as the nose spray so I have no clue why I keep getting them.

Congrats on the 6:30 mile Mikey that is awesome! Keep working hard and you will easily improve! That is awesome that Spencer will still be coaching and able to help out another year and to get paid to is even better! haha I did get the package. So when you send things they go to the mission office. Then the mission office gives it to the zone leaders whenever they can then the zone leaders give it out to each person individually whenever they can. I got the package before I even moved though. Thanks for all that was in it and thanks to everyone for the Birthday wishes!! It sounds like Spencer had quite the Sunday with all of those mission farewells. Is Spencer getting pretty excited that his papers are almost in? I did hear that Emilee Dickerson is engaged! That is pretty crazy! I kind of figured it would happen while Eric and I were on our missions but it is still weird that it is already happening. I am still waiting for my invitation from her though haha.

I hope you guys have a great week! Love ya'll and keep smiling!

Elder Fuller

Shoeless Joe Ryan Week 32

Hey guys,

So to start off with we had transfers this week. Elder Holzer and my area got split in half and we each took a half. So that means we both got a new companion. My new companion is Elder Kohli. I told you before that we were living just a few blocks away from Yankee Stadium well I had to move to a different apartment because ours wasn't big enough. So we took over a Sister's apartment up by the church. So I am pretty far from where I was before. I was not very happy to have to pack up my stuff again though.

So we will see how long these dress shoes last. You could start looking to find some Adidas Supernova size 9.5 running shoes though. If you look you should be able to find some older models for fairly cheap.

That is great that Spencer got clearance from the doctor. I can't wait for him to be able to get his papers in! That will be so cool! I love hearing that all of you are doing great as well.

I am doing fine here and have to go now I will try and be a little better about writing as well... haha

Love ya,

Elder Fuller

Subway Madness Week 31

Hey Guys!

So this week has been incredible!!! Things are going so well!! So on Saturday we had another baptism. Elder Holzer and I baptized a 10 year old girl named Rachelle. She had been coming to church for almost a year with her friend and the missionaries had never done anything to help her. She is so sweet and she knew pretty much everything before we even taught her. So Elder Holzer is the District Leader here and each of the three companionships had a baptism. It was a first in the ward, they had never had 3 investigators baptized on the same day which is pretty cool! So I had to buy a new pair of shoes this morning because it was raining and my other pair had a big hole in the bottom. I found a decent pair at payless that should work for quite a while.

On Sunday we had quite a few investigators show up to sacrament meeting. I think I told you a while ago about the lady we found her name is Elizabeth and she has three kids old enough to be baptized. She and the oldest daughter Kayla (11) came to church. We were so excited to see them!! We had lost contact with them for almost two weeks and we just couldn't seem to meet up with them. We then met up with them Saturday before the baptism and they agreed to come to church. We have so many investigators right now it is impossible to meet all of them each week. It is hard not being able to see all of them all the time and we just seem to keep finding people to teach even when we aren't necessarily looking for them. We will be walking as fast as possible down the street to make it to an appointment and all of a sudden somebody will stop us and ask us about the church or tell us they used to have missionaries over all the time and they want to have us over again. It is amazing all of the blessings the we are receiving right now! I LOVE IT!!!

So on Saturday after the baptism Elder Holzer and I were riding the subway back home. We were going home super late it was nearly 9:45 when we got on the train. We were coming back with an investigator and her daughter who lives in Elder Hajje and Elder Lartey's area (they are our zone leaders and in our district), the investigator and her daughter are getting baptized this Saturday. So we get to our stop and the train stops super fast and we just start hearing the people on the platform screaming. Apparently a young guy tried committing suicide by jumping in front of the train. We had to sit on the train for about 15 minutes and then they let us off and police ushered us up the stairs as quickly as possible. It was definitely not a good experience.

On a happier note we have another baptism scheduled for the 16th of March. It is the grandson of Elva who got baptized 2 weekends ago. It is pretty much the same situation as with Rachelle. He has been coming to church forever, he knows pretty much everything already, and he is only 10 as well.

Thanks for the package! I am excited to get it! Hey I know they are starting to get some stuff out for Easter so if you see some of the large bags of Robins Eggs would you get me one? I would love that!

Thank you guys for all that you do! I am so glad to hear that things are going so well for all of you! Mikey I want to hear how you are doing as the track season gets closer. I mean there is no way you could ever beat me cuz I'm your older brother but you could sure try!!! :P haha Have a great week guys!

Love,
Elder Fuller

Yankee Stadium Week 30

Hey Everyone!

Well I am glad that Staci and Rob got everything moved in. That will be really fun for them! Was there anything prompting them to move from the apartment or did they just want to be in their own place? I know Mom reminded me in her email but I really did remember all of your birthdays before. I looked at my calendar and saw that it was already the 20th and I was like oh shoot! So happy birthday Mikey, Dad, and Rob! I hope you all have an excellent birthday.

That is cool that you will be running track Mikey, if you couldn't tell I have really wanted you to run. I think it is just secretly to get my running addiction in some way because I can't really run right now. I did find a track about 5 minutes away from our apartment. Guess what else is 5 minutes away?! Yep the track is right across the street from Yankee Stadium. So when you run down the home stretch you are just staring at the GIANT Yankee Stadium.

That is awesome that Jonny got his call! Isn't Whitney Tripp going to Louisville as well? You will have to remind me when the guys like Cam and Jonny leave, I want to try and write them a letter either email or by snail mail when they are in the MTC.

My shoes are pretty much worn out. I am trying to find a new pair here in the Bronx. I keep finding some pretty cheap pairs but the soles are all like the same as the ones I have now. I really need a pair with a real thick sole. My other clothes are doing great though. I could probably just use some food though. Maybe some more animal crackers :) haha. Oh, we really need some dish towels you could send just like one or two. Oh and new razor blades for my razor Gillete Mach 3. Other than that I don't really need anything. Unless you wanted to send me a new St. Patricks day shirt.

Take care all, hope you have a great week! I know I have promised you pictures two weeks in a row now but I still haven't taken any except for just a couple of the baptism we had on Saturday. I will send some next week after our baptism this Saturday as well. I will try and take some cool ones of the city as well.

Love

Elder Fuller