Another week in Alcorcon...

Dear Family and Friends,

Another week in Alcorcón. I´m still getting to know the area more and more. My companions and I have bonded a lot over this past week and we are really starting to teach with a lot of unity. It has been really amazing working and meeting with a bunch of new investigators. Our investigator, Peter, has a fecha bautismal for this coming Thursday!! and our other investigator, Ronald, who has a fecha bautismal for the 1 of February, came to church for the first time this Sunday. I am so excited for these people that are progressing in this wonderful Gospel. 

 

Un-expected cool experience: The other day when I was making a bunch of calls to future investigators, I accidently dialed one wrong number for one of our contacts. The man told me I had dialed the wrong number but I started talking to him anyways. He said his name was Christian and he was from Menorca (that´s a long ways away from Alcorcón.) I introduced myself and started talking to him about the church. I was able to bear my testimony of the church, God, and my Saviour, Jesus Christ. After we said bye I sent his number to the missionaries in Menorca. This experience was a huge testimony to me that God is in all things and that if I am doing my part He will use me to accomplish His great work. 

 

Funny(ish) story: I am always in charge of calling the elevator and opening the door. There is usually never someone in the elevator when we are using it. The other day as I opened the elevator door, I was so surprised to see someone in the elevator that I jumped back. Then the lady that was in the elevator said, "Que fea, ¿no?" We all couldn´t stop laughing. 

Funny(ish) thing: My companions call me "The African Whisperer" because I´m really good at teaching/talking to them for some reason.

Today I feel prompted to share a bit of what I wrote in a letter to a good friend of mine. These are three simple things that we teach to our investigators every day. They are the three things that everything else rests upon. Three things that increase our faith, strengthen our testimonies, bring us answers to prayers, and grow our relationship with God and Christ.

1. Pray - Of course. Sounds simple. Well it is. And it works. My mom has a board with the quote, "Prayer changes things." Prayer DOES change things, including us. Including our situations. And as members of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, we are blessed with the beautiful knowledge of how to pray. That we pray to God our Heavenly Father, in the Name of Christ, our mediator. That we can pray anytime and anywhere, about anything. Use this wonderful knowledge and gift of prayer and you will see and feel the differance in your life. 

2. Read - (Study) The scriptures. There is a saying that goes, "If you want to talk with God, pray. If you want him to answer, Read." The scriptures are the word of God, I have gotten some of the most powerful answers to my prayers through the scriptures. The more you read the more you will want to keep reading and you won´t be able to stop. If you have doubts or questions pick up the scriptures and start reading. 

3. Attend Church - CHURCH IS SO IMPORTANT. It´s a place where the spirit dwells in abundance. And most importantly, the time and place we dedicate to God to renew our covenants with him and ponder upon our Savior, Jesus Christ. Through repentance and partaking of the sacrament, we are cleansed from all our sin. But not ony this, from all of our sorrows and pains and heartaches as well. If you struggle with making it to church every Sunday, Study the Atonement, Study Repentance, Study the Sacrament. Then Pray. As a missionary and representative of Jesus Christ, I Promise you that if you do these three things (prayer, study, and church attendance) your life will be changed, and you will never forget to pray, you will never be too busy to read, and you will never want to miss going to church again. 

Os Quiero Mucho,

Hermana Ariana Fuller

Ps. Friday is my 6 months!!!

Baptism

Trash Strike

 Baptism

Emergency Transfer

¡HOLA!

EMERGENCY TRANSFER. I´m no longer in Móstoles. I am in an area close by called Alcorcón AND I´m in a trio. I am still with Hermana Shauman (20 from Tenessee. She´s been on the mission for 10 months and her previous area was Las Palmas in the Canary Islands) but now I have a new companion, Hermana VolQuardsen (26 from Texas. She has been on the mission for 13 months and she has been in Alcorcón for 3 transfers already.) So we have one from the north, one from the islands, and we both met up in the middle with one in the center. Hermana Shaumann were in Móstoles for less than 24 for hours and halfway done unpacking when we got the call that we were being moved. It´s been a crazy stream of events but I am excited for this new area and I can´t wait to see how this transfer goes.

Madrid is Completely different from the north. There are a lot more South Americans than Spaniards (but I am determined to start getting some Spaniard investigators). The first time we went contacting we received 5 referances in about only half an hour....I started crying. We would contact for hours at times in Gijón and still not have 5 referances. I have become even more grateful for my time in Gijón. Being in the North really taught me to work hard, and because the work was harder the success was that much more rewarding. 

The one investigator I would like to talk about this week is Peter. Peter is a 45 year old man from Nigeria. He has been taught by Hermana Volquardsen for some time and we met with him last Friday. He made us this delicious Nigerian dish that we had to eat with our hands. (I had no problem with that). After we ate we had a lesson with him and went over the Restauración. He had a date to be baptized the first of february, but after we were done teaching he told us that he wanted to be baptized before that. We are hoping to have a baptism with him this Saturday :)

I believe that is all I have for now. Next week I will send you more :) 

Thank you for all. Keep praying. Keep reading. And Keep pressing forward.

Mucho Amor,

Hermana Ariana Fuller

Emergency Transfer:

Two Hermanas needed to be switched out so they transferred us over here. That´s all. I LOVED all the pictures you sent me. I cannot wait to see the house! It looks so beautiful. That´s awesome that you are going to the temple. I will get to go to the temple once a transfer now because I´m in Madrid. Why did they have to change her name? It´s a beautiful name though. Do they still call her bree? Did you get my new address? Sorry, I don´t have my chord again because it´s in my suitcases somewhere but I´ll try to send pictures next week. I LOVE YOU:)

Two Hermanas needed to be switched out so they transferred us over here. That´s all. I LOVED all the pictures you sent me. I cannot wait to see the house! It looks so beautiful. That´s awesome that you are going to the temple. I will get to go to the temple once a transfer now because I´m in Madrid. Why did they have to change her name? It´s a beautiful name though. Do they still call her bree? Did you get my new address? Sorry, I don´t have my chord again because it´s in my suitcases somewhere but I´ll try to send pictures next week. I LOVE YOU:)

New Year Goals

Querida famila, 

It was so amazing to talk with you over skype! It seriously made the past few days so amazing. I was so blessed to be able to talk with you and share my testimony with you all. Only 6 more months till we can talk again... haha :)

The rest of my week has been great. I finally got my new Scriptures! Mom, Thank you so much. I will talk to Sister Jackson to figure it out but no worries. I love them. Also, Everyone that sent me anything at all MUCHAS GRACIAS. I seriously felt so loved this christmas. 

Welp, the work it still goes. We have had a few very promising first lessons this week with future investigators. And on Saturday all of the 5 lessons that we had planned went through!! Whaoo. That is a big deal. 

The past few weeks I have been thinking about the new year coming up. I am usually not a person to make new years resolutions, but the thought that this whole next year I´m going to be a missionary, really impressed me a lot. As I pondered about this I came up with two new years goals that I have set for myself:

1. Read all of the standard works this coming year. (ALL of them :))

2. Bear my testimony of my Savior, Jesus Christ, everyday. 

Now I will be accountable to all of you so that I make sure I do these goals. I would just like to leave you with my testimony. I know this church is true and that it is led by a living prophet of God. I know that God lives and loves each and every one of us so much. I pray every day to become more like my Savior so that I can truly be a witness and representative of him. Keep praying, reading your scriptures and attending church. And know that I am praying for each one of you everyday. 

Hermana Ariana Fuller