Signing Off---Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Waiting for his plane to come in. 

Elder Joe Fuell and another Elder returning from Mexico City

Joe giving his mom the first hug

Joe hugging his Dad

Sibling Attack!!!

Well I'm sure most of you have seen these pictures.  I wanted to conclude Joe's blog with a few words.  The homecoming is a sweet miracle in itself and Joe is starting the transition from missionary to returned missionary.   Our home is bustling with excitement still!!! It's been fabulous.

Over the last two years we have seen Joe's letters posted on this blog, sometimes with pictures and sometimes without.  We have felt his love for the people of Mexico as he served them and taught them about the Restored gospel.  Many have come to the knowledge of his message as he gave of his time, even two years,  and were baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Having served a mission, I was so proud of Joe the day he decided to go on a mission. I was sad the day he left, not because he was serving a mission, but because I would truly miss him.  At that time, I was reminded of the story of Abraham and Issac, when Abraham was asked by the Lord to sacrifice Issac, his son.  It was an offering that the Lord had expected from Abraham (Genesis 22 3-19).  Luckily Abraham didn't have to sacrifice Issac but it was representation of the Father sacrificing his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. 

Brenda and I felt the same as Abraham in some ways (Not the killing part).  Our son, our first born boy, was going away for two years and only be able to email us and call on Mother's day and Christmas. Family vacations were without Joe.  The balance of the home felt a little off.  Family prayers always included, "please keep Joe safe and watch over him and his companion."  Stories of Joe were always recounted with "Do you remember when Joe did....." and current stories were about him teaching the gospel. 

 I look back at those two years with more understanding now then I did then.  I felt the sacrifice was ours, but it wasn't..  It was Joe's sacrifice.  I am even more proud of the way he conducted himself as a missionary and the offering he laid upon the alter.  He gave his whole heart, time, and talents to the people of Mexico.  His offering for the mission is now complete.  He has developed into a great man. 

Of the things that Joe has said on his blog, and even in his last letter, he conveyed his testimony of missionary work and of the Restored Gospel.  After talking with Brenda, we have decided to echo his testimony in that we know that God lives and answers prayers.  We know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is upon the face of the earth.  We know there is a living prophet who guides us and directs us.  We know that we are not perfect and that we learn to be better each day and that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can return to live with Heavenly Father.  We know that the priesthood of God is on the earth and can seal families together for eternity.  We know that Joesph Smith was an instrument to bring forth the gospel in these latter days and that he was a prophet.  We know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  We believe the bible is the word of God.  We love the gospel and like Joe, love to share what we know.  If you really want to know like we know, get a copy of the Book of Mormon, read it and then pray and ask Heavenly Father if the things you read are true.  There is a promise in the book that if you do those things, you will know for yourself.

Thank you all for following Joe and his adventures in Mexico.  Thank you for being our friends and family.  We love you all very much!!!!

Con muchisimo Amor,
Louie and Brenda Fuell

My last great week in Mexico City!!!

Hola,

It has been an amazing week here in Mexico.  It must have been the quickest week of my life.  We had our zone confrence on Wedensday.  President Valadez had Elder Poston, Elder Anderson and I share our testimonies with the two zones.  It was a cool experience.  I have been in the zone Ermita for 6 months now and I have made lots of friends here.

 

We went to the temple on Friday, that was super cool.  The Temple here is very unique and it was just an amazing experience to go and feel the spirit and peace that is always there.

 

We put three baptisimal dates this week.  It was the first lesson for each one of them.  We just came and we said "we are here to baptize you and this is why . . . (restoration of the Gospel) . . . so will you get baptized on this day?" It was pretty cool because they were really cool people that we found.  I will have to stay in contact with Elder Escobedo so I can hear about their baptisms and progression in the church.

 

Congrats Katie with your board exam and Dal qualifying for state, and Dave being a beast at running ha ha.

 

I just want to thank everyone for all the support that I have recieved durring these last two years, especially from my parents and my family.  I also want to thank all the people who followed my blog,  I hope you enjoyed reading my letters and that your testimony has been strengthened, I enjoyed writing them!!  It was always a testimony builder for me to look back at my week and see the hand of the Lord in my work.

I want to thank all the awesome people of Mexico City who ever listened to me and let me into their home. The people here are the best!! I want to bare my testimony to all of you that I know that we have a Heavenly Father who cares for us and helps us in our lives.  I know that Jesus Christ died so we can live and suffered for our consolation.  I know that this, The gospel of Jesus Christ (the things we need to do to return to live with God) has been restored to the earth through a prophet of God.  The Book of Mormon is eveidence of that Restoration.  I know that prayers are heard and answered. I wouldnt say these things unless I knew that they where true.  I love you all.

Con todo el amor de mi corazón,

Elder Joe Fuell

One more week!!!

Hola,
It has been an amazing week of work here in Mexico!! I have really enjoyed just working as hard as I can.  The week went by so fast and we saw a ton of miracles.  This week was my last complete work week because this next week we have zone conference and the President said we should also go to the temple this Saturday.  We are pretty stoked about that!!!  I was pretty bold this last week, even more than normal.  It was pretty fun just to go all out.....I contacted a guy in the street and I said, hello, we are representatives of Jesus Christ and we are here to baptize you and your family!  He looked really surprised,  ha ha.  He accepted to have an appointment with us and his whole family on Wednesday and he asked us if we really knew how to baptize people.  It was a great opportunity to bare our testimonies of the Restoration.
We also saw lots of miracles with the investigators.  Maricarmen said that she wanted to be baptized too on the 28 of April, which was awesome!  She says that she feels the gospel filling an emptiness in her heart.  She also prayed and asked God if she should be baptized and she feels a burning desire that she should be.  However, it is a bummer though because we cant do it on the 28 because she has to go out of town next week and wouldn't be here for the confirmation and so we decided to push it back two weeks, but I am just happy that she is happy and going to get baptized.
A less active guy, returned missionary, we visited this week had a super change of heart.  After we visited him he said that he couldn't stop thinking about the things that we had said so the next day he called the bishop and said, "Bishop I need to repent of all my sins."   He met with the bishop and then the next day the bishop sent us a message and said, "could you take 20 books of Mormon to the house of Juan?"  We were confused but we did it.  It was crazy to see the change in him when we took the books to him.  He looked happier, he had shaved, and he wanted to give books to all the people in his work. 
Overall it was a great week, I am excited for this next week,  you guys are awesome,  I will see you soon!  Keep it up Fuell Fam.  You are doing awesome!
Con Muchísimo Amor,
Elder Joe Fuell

Planting Seeds!!!

Hola,

It has been a great week here in Mexico.  The heat has really picked up,  I might come home looking like a tomato from being so sun burnt.  I cant send pics still because my batteries just died in my camera, I will buy some more for next week.

 

This week we found some new investigators that were pretty awesome, Maricarmen really is interested in our message.  She was a referral from a member.  We could all really feel the spirit in the lesson.  She has a lot of problems in her family but I know that the gospel will be able to help her with that.

 

We have also been working a ton with the less active members.  Our first week here when we started sacrament meeting we started with 8 people and this last week we started with more than 50!  That was pretty sweet.  We went with a member named Juan who is less active and he knows a lot of doctrine and stuff about the church but he doesn't know anything about the first principles and ordinances of the gospel.  I guess if he did he wouldn`t be less active.  But it just shows how important it is to have that basic foundation in the gospel.

 

We worked our butts off this week because we knew that if we didn't have an investigator in the church this week we probably wouldn't be able to baptize this month.  As it turned out no one came which was kind of a bummer because we had about 9 people who said they where going to come, but didn't.  I was kind of bummed about that, but then I got a letter from Elder Stauffer.  I started thinking about when I was with him we didn't baptize a ton, but now 6 months later all of the people we were teaching have been baptized and so I am going to work hard so when I leave all the investigators that we have right now can be baptized too.

 

Everything else has been great.  I am loving just working, being a missionary.  I am glad to hear that you are all doing well.  I will talk to you all next week.

 

Con Muchìsimo Amor,

Elder Joe Fuell

Conference was Awesome!!!!

Hola,

It has been a great week here in Mexico.  I have especially enjoyed listening to the conference talks.  They were very inspiring.  They really got me pumped up to finish strong.  While listening to the conference talks, I felt specific people that I need to help in these last couple of weeks, so I am going to do all I can to help them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATE!!!! I hope you had a great one, I know you will do awesome on your board exam!  For my birthday my companion and I went to a buffet on Saturday before conference.  It was a breakfast buffet and we ate so much, because it was really good!!! It was American and Mexican breakfast food.

We went on intercambios (exchanges) with the sisters of Del Valle this last week.  It is a really nice area.  With sister missionaries you don't actually split up the companionship.  You just work with them.  It was kind of weird teaching with 4 missionaries, but it was kind of cool too.

We went with the family of Roberto, our investigator that died this last week.  They have become much more receptive since the death of Roberto.  They had a lot of questions for us about the life after this life and what we have to do to be eternal families.  The spirit was super strong, and the wife of Roberto came to general conference.  It was so awesome!! 

This week I really tried to share more experiences that I have had on the mission, my companion too.  When we did this, it really brought the spirit and helped to give the investigators more vision.  We also are working with a couple of part member families who are super cool.  We are finally gaining their trust and so I hope that we will be able to see some more progression now.

That is awesome Dall and Dave about your track meet.  Keep up the good work.  Janaye and Tom too, I am glad to hear you are all doing well.  I love you all

Con Muchísimo amor,

Elder Joe Fuell

P.S.  - Joe forwarded on an itinerary that his mission office had sent him.  He gets home on May 1st.  He said, " I just got this.....It's Crazy!!!!!  I love you guys and I guess I will see you in three weeks!"

Comfort through the atonement

Hola,
It has been a great week here in Mexico.  It's a bit hotter, but I still have a cold.  There where a lot of things that happened this week; things that are normal and things that were not, but everything was great and we saw a lot of progress in the area.

This week in Mexico is Semana Santa.  They don't just celebrate Easter but celebrate the whole week.  They usually celebrate by reenacting the crucifixtion by crucifying some guy down in Iztapalapa...  Of if they have money they go on vacation.  So just about all of our investigators that we had progressing went out of town.  So we walked a lot this wee too and we did all that we could to find new investigators.  We found six really good investigators this week and I think they will progress really well.

We found a new investigator named Montse.  Her husband is a member (less active). and he has been a member all his life and really doesn't have much of a testimony but he is willing to listen to us.  Montse is super awesome.  She has already read all the Book of Mormon and believes in the Restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith.  The only thing that is holding her back is her husband but he is really cool and  I think we will be able to help them both.

This week we found an investigator named Roberto.  He was really sick but he looked like he was getting better as we visited him.  He was going to come to Church this week with us but we got a phone call in the morning telling us that he died in his sleep.  That was tough, he was really cool.  His sister is a member and he told her after we left on Friday that he wanted to be baptized.

We went to the viewing Sunday night with the Bishop and the family seems to be doing all right.  I know that he will still be baptized.  His sister is going to take his name to the temple in one year to do the temple work for him.  As for us, we just have to keep moving forward.

I don't think there is any place better to be on Easter than on a mission.  I was just thinking about how two years ago last Easter I gave my farewell talk.  It is crazy about how quick the time goes by.  I am so grateful for our Savior, for his perfect example and his perfect atonement.  It brought a lot of comfort as we testified to the family of Roberto about the resurrection on that special day.  I know that because he lives we can live also.
I love you all, thanks for the letters,  Hope that you have a great week.  Enjoy General Conference...
Con Muchísimo Amor,
Elder Joe Fuell

The work is progressing in the area!!!

Hola,
it has been a great week here in Mexico.  I am really enjoying my new area.  It has been quite the experience.  My companion Elder Escobedo is from Piedras Negras Cuahila, 30minutes away from where my first compnion was.  He has 20 months in the mission so we are both veterans now.  I like how direct he is,.  We have been very clear with all the memebers that we dont want the area to close again.  The members are so stoked to have missionaries in the ward again. This week we recieved 12 referrals, so I hope we can see some progress from that.  The church we go to is the second oldest church in Mexico, so there are a lot of members in the ward who have been members for three or four generations.  The work is progressing really well with the members.
The lord has really been testing me this week, we walked so much the first two days that the cuts on my feet opened up just like when I was in Ixtla.  I am more sunburnt than when I was in Mirasoles.   I have a cold like when I was in Constitution, and we havent had much to eat like when I was in Ixtla, but now it is all at the same time ha ha.  but it is all good!!!  We just got to keep moving forward and I know that we will have success.  We had two investigators at church that just showed up, that was a huge miracle.    We are going to teach them on Thursday.  We have also found a lot of really prepared people just by circumstance and through the members.  There are many part member families in the ward.
We did a three ward training session with the other people who meet in our church.  I had to teach them about how to invite someone to a family home evening.  It went super well.  Elder Poston, my companion in the MTC was there.  We have hardly seen each other the whole mission but now we are in the same church.  He told me that I have changed a ton durring the mission.  I hadnt really relized it but I am much more comfortable getting up and talking in front of people than I was when I gave the district meetings in the MTC.
I got your package yesterday!!!!  Thanks a ton,  I love you all.  Dall and Dave, I am glad to hear that all is going well in track.  Everything is super great here.  I feel like I am going to continue in the pre med course so you can get me all rergestered up for the classes that my adviser says.  Love you all a ton.
Con muchísimo amor,
Elder Joe Fuell                                               

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Last Transfer!!!

Hola,
It has been a great and crazy week here in Mexico.  I have transfers!  I have never predicted my transfers before but this time I did,  I will be opening up the area Nativitas which is one of the richest areas in the mission, but it is really small.  We meet in the church of Emrita which is one of the oldest  LDS churches here in Mexico.  I saw some pictures with George Albert Smith their more than 50 years ago.   This is going to be super crazy.  I will also be helping out the new District Leader, Elder Escobedo.  President says that he has never been a district leader before and he wants me to teach him how to be one of the best.  I am pretty stoked.  Because the area is closed I have had all the keys and stuff, so I am going to move in all my stuff at 1:00 in the afternoon.
I am a little bummed that I wont be here for all the baptisms that we have coming up.  We are going to have 3 this week, but its all good.  It was an amazing experience just to be here and teach them and see them progress to this point.  I am really going to miss Iztacalco (or as I always called it, BautIztacalco, ja ja- Mexican joke).  I have made a lot of friends here and I will miss them. 

We went with Julio in the morning and he started crying which made me cry, but it will be cool because I will still get to see him and all my other converts at stake conference and general conference.

One of the things I was most grateful for in Iztacalco was the opportunity to work with Elder Carver.  He was one of my most difficult companions but he has changed so much,  and so have I.  We used to argue over stupid stuff almost everyday and we had a really hard time working together, but this last week was great and we worked together really well.  I think I have learned more about how to work with others with him than any other companion.  I really think that we learn more when life is more difficult.  I will miss him and the area but I am looking forward to lighting up Natavitas.  I love you all so much, thanks for your letter and I will write you all next week.
Con Amor,
Elder Joe Fuell

I got my flight plans. I didn't read them but I sent them to you

Hola,
It has been an another amazing week here in Mexico!!  Sounds like it has been pretty good for you too.  March is the best month in Mexico, the weather is perfect and all the trees have a bunch of blossoms, it looks cool.  That is pretty cool that you got a new truck, I am pretty stoked to see that. 

I got my flight plans.  I didn't read them yet but I sent them to you.  Happy Birthday Dave!!  You are getting so old, I hope you got my letter!   We have had a lot of success working with the ward these last couple of weeks, and we have seen a change in a lot of the members.  Sister Rivera, who owns the apartment where we live, and is the Relief Society President, would never ever ever give us referrals.   We would ask her and then she would say, "I don't think that is my job.  She would then say, "you can find the people and then we will befriend them at church."  But we had a ward activity the other day where we taught how to invite friends to a family home evening.  She, sister Rivera, decided to do it and because of that now we are teaching another family of 8 and they came to church this week.  It strengthened the testimony of sister Rivera so much.  She brought dinner to our house the other night and she just started crying about how good she feels that this family is now listening to the missionaries.  She feels that they will probably get baptized here soon.  We feel the same way.  The family they gave us is super awesome, we sang a hymn with them (something we don't usually do because we are not the best singers) but the spirit came really strong, and they all recognized it.  They even told us when we left, "there is something different about you guys, we just feel this peace in our home that we haven't felt before."

Sunday morning the bishop asked me if I could give a talk and I prepared something quickly.  It went well but as I got up to talk I realized that a bunch of investigators had come in, a ton!!!!  Probably more than I have ever had at church.  The thought was to make sure we were able to talk to all of them before they left and see if there were any questions we could answer.   Originally Elder Carver and I had planned that he would go talk to one family and I would go talk to the other and our ward mission leader would take the others to class but there came like three more families!!  So we were thinking what can we do?  And so at the end of the closing prayer  I bolted for one door and Elder Carver bolted for the other to see if we could get their information to visit them again and see if there were any questions they had.  All the investigators and less actives that we brought to church made up about half of the congregation.

Everything else is great.  We are working hard and we have the baptism of Julie and Alejandro coming up here soon.  I am super stoked.  I love you all a ton.

Con Muchísimo Amor,

Elder Joe Fuell

By small and simple things, great things can come to pass!!

It has been an another amazing week here in Mexico!!  At the start of the week it was super hot and we got really burnt and so everyone started calling us camarones (shrimp), but then it got super cold and it is still pretty cold so I guess now we are frozen shrimp ha ha. 

The big and exciting news is that Jessica got baptized, I have been working with her for more than three months and she was so happy.  We decided that Elder Carver should baptize her.  It was his first baptism, and it was an amazing experience.

Elders Carver and Fuell at the baptism of Jessica

We went with her and her husband as they got married in the state of Mexico.  We went there because we have a friend there who doesn't charge that much for the ceremony.  Elder Carver was really scared to go there because I told him a lot of  wild stories.  It was pretty funny.  We passed by Ixtla, I could see it from the train so that was pretty cool.

We had a couple of meetings where we trained the members to be member missionaries.  We were with the whole stake and we also went to the wards of Del Valle and Narvarte, both of which are in my district.  President Valadez was going to come and  give the first training rotation but he had to go to a meeting with the area 70 and so Elder Carver and I were assigned to give the first training rotation.  It would have been fine, but they told us during the opening hymn and we weren't prepared.  My companion was flipping out, but I just said a prayer really quick and advised him to do the same and we went and did it.  It turned out super well and it was super fun.  Its always crazy to see the things you can do with the wards help.

This week we where walking to our house at night on a busy road and someone calls out to us "FWELL . . . FULL . . . . FOOOL . . ."  I didn't hear it but my companion did and he said, "hey, I think that guy knows you"  I looked back and it was Raul.  I don't know if you all remember Raul, but he was the first person I put a baptismal date with in Quetzal (my first area) and the first person that I brought to church.  Then he moved and we weren't able to find him after that.  Turns out that he now lives here in Iztacalco!  He is married now and he wants us to come teach him and his wife!  It was a super crazy experience but super cool.  Still haven't taught him yet, but we have an appointment tomorrow and we are excited for that.

The Elders from Quetzal called me the other day to inform me that some people I found almost two years ago, Jose Carlos and Adriana now will be getting baptized in two weeks,  I thought that was amazing too.  I might not have been the ones to baptize them but I helped plant a seed.  It is amazing how by small and simple things great things can come to pass.  It has been a great week.  I am glad to hear that you have all had a great week too.  Love you all a ton.

Jessica's family with Elder Carver (L) and Elder Fuell

Con Muchísimo Amor,
Elder Joe Fuell

Crazy week!!

Hola,

Joe Bowling with his District

It has been a joke between me and Elder Carver, every time something crazy happens, we say that is just another thing we have to write home about.  And this week there is a ton of stuff so I hope I have time to write everything because it was a very eventful week.  First off they made the announcement that our mission is going to be divided into three missions in July.  It wont effect me but it is just crazy to see the work moving forward.  In July they will be creating 8 new missions here in Mexico City.  When President Valadez was a missionary here 30 years ago there where only 8 missions in all of Mexico!  It is just crazy!!!  They needed to do it for all the new missionaries that are coming.  In fact, this next change we will be receiving 30 new missionaries!  The Lord is really accelerating his work.

 

We were walking in the street the other day and we heard a voice behind us that said "Y'all talk English".  It was Julie our new investigator from Maryland.  She has been living down here for 4 years since her husband got deported (she didn't even know he was illegal) and almost doesn't speak any Spanish. She said that she wanted to get closer to God but didn't know how.  She is Baptist, or at least that is what her mom told her.  I didn't think it would be so hard to teach in English but it has been quite a challenge. She has two kids, Joseph (4 years) and Kaylan (2 years) and they are very rambunctious!  They speak a little bit of English and a little bit of Spanish but really not that much of either.

 

We invited her to come to church and she came.  She was scared to comes because she thought she was going to burst into flames when she walked into the church but she came anyway.  My companion and I were really glad they came.  I was worried that the kids wouldn't like to sit very long, cause when we have went to teach her they kept running out in front of cars or falling down 3 flights of stairs, but it was amazing how they just sat there reverently through the whole sacrament.

 

While we were all sitting there in the sacrament meeting Julie just started bawling.  We didn't really understand why because she didn't even really understand anything anyone was saying but she said that she had a feeling really good in her whole body and just started to cry and didn't even know why.  Her kids went to primary and she loved that.  She said she will definitely be coming back next week.  She also wants to be baptized, and we will be having the baptism the last week of March.

 

We also had an amazing experience with a family we found.  The dad is Pedro and the Mom is Raquel.  They where a referral from another Investigator that we had.  They are just great people.  They work super hard, but they re-arranged their whole schedule just so they could have time to listen to us.  They said that they have never accepted someone in their home to talk about God before.  They usually just turn them all away and say "we are catholic" even though they never go to church.

 

We felt the spirit strongly as we entered their humble home and we felt their sincere desire to follow Christ.  They have had a lot of problems in their life, especially Pedro with Alcoholism, but he has had 2 months without drinking right now.  Which is quite the accomplishment.  We were kind of hesitant to put a baptismal date with them for one reason or another but we did and they accepted.  They couldn't come to church this week but really want to come and will be coming the next week!  The coolest part of the whole lesson was the closing prayer.  We taught them how to pray and we invited Pedro to say the prayer with us all kneeling.  It was amazing!!!!  His prayer was simple and sincere like a child and we were all just crying.  It was just amazing.  I am super grateful the Lord allowed us to go there and teach them this message.

 

We also had a crazy incident with my companion Saturday night.  We were teaching one of our investigators, Jesus, in the street because he is this old guy who sits outside his home and sells candies.  But while we were teaching Elder Carver got all dizzy and fell to the ground.  While he was on the ground  his face was super pail and he said that his arms were  falling asleep like when you sleep on your arm,  I made him put his feet up so the blood would run to his head and Jesus gave him some gum, but that was about the only thing he did to help because he was just panicking.  I called Hermana Valadez because she was a nurse and she said take him to the nearest pharmacy.  So I picked him up and took him there.  Thankfully it was just around the corner, and there was a doctor there who attended us.  He had a stomach infection and very low blood pressure.  So I bought some medications and took him to the house.  She said that we didn't need to take him to the hospital and that he would be fine with the medication.  We walked home but I had to keep him from falling the whole time.

 

When we got home he still had a bunch of pain in his stomach and he said he felt like he needed to throw up.  I told him to just throw up then, but he didn't want too and fought it for about half an hour until it just came up.  He made it half way to the bathroom before it projected from his mouth.  He put his hand over his mouth to stop it, but it came out with such force that it just sprayed everything, the ceiling and the floor and everything in between.  It was the worse day to throw up to because at every lesson we had been too, they gave us food to eat, so it was a ton.  And it was disgusting!!!! So we cleaned it all up. Now he is a lot better, taking his medications.  So it was quite the week!!  We also gave a blessing almost every day. I am so grateful that I have the priesthood to bless the live of others and the spirit that can help us know what to do when situations get crazy.  I am glad to hear that you are all doing well  and I love you all a ton.

 

Con Muchísimo Amor,

Elder Joe Fuell

I am officially an American-Mexican immigrant!

Hola, 

It has been a great week here in Mexico, My fingers are a little cold and so I hope it wont take me too long to type this letter, my hands are moving really slow. Ja Ja (Ha ha in spanish)

First off . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!  That is so cool that you were born just a few years ago on this coming Friday,  I hope you have a great Birthday, I sent you a card I hope you receive it soon.

A lot happened this week,  number one, I am no longer an illegal immigrant to Mexico,  I don't think you guys knew, but there where a lot of problems with the visas of the people who came down to Mexico with me.  We really had to keep it on the down low so that we wouldn't get deported ja ja.  But now I am officially an American-Mexican immigrant!  We had to go downtown almost all day signing papers.  It was pretty boring but really cool, because all of my buddies from the MTC were there and we got to talk about all our experiences.  It was pretty cool.

I also got super sick this week, I don't think I have ever been so sick in my life,  I couldn't even stand up, and every time I did I was running to the bathroom to throw up,  I have never been sick in Mexico.  We don't really know what it was because my companion and I ate all the same things,  but I think it were some hot dogs that a sister in the ward gave us. . .  that was kind of bummy.  But the members of the ward really took care of me, they brought me chicken noodle soup, and that was good.   And then some other Elders heard I was sick, so they brought me a pizza, and it was good too but really didn't help out to much ja ja.  I even tried working hard that day, because we had a lot of appointments, but I threw up 4 times in my personal study and so we called the President and he said it was better to stay home.  I am feeling a lot better now and working super hard.

The Pope´s resignation has really affected the work.  A lot of people were disillusioned by that and are listing to us.  Sergio who was a catholic missionary was really affected by that and since then he has been reading the Book of Mormon every day.  We will have to see where that takes him.  He's a great guy no matter what he decides.

We had camibios (companion changes) but me and Elder Carver didn't change.  This  next cambio is only going to be for 4 weeks.

That's cool that you are painting the house.  That is always fun.  I have done that a ton here.  We are going to do it in two weeks in our new apartment which is right above our old apartment. and the other Elderes are going to live in our old apartment so that should be fun.

That would be awesome if the Jeppsons were at the airport too.  You know they're family to me.  Glad to hear that you are all doing well and having an awesome time.  Love you all a ton.

Con Muchísimo Amor,

Elder Joe Fuell

We were in the right place at the right time!!

Hola,

It has been a great week here and there has been a lot of work.  A LOT!!  So much that every night I have to stay up until 11:30 just doing all of our paper work in the area book.  But there are worse things ja ja! Better a lot of work than nothing. I am taking advantage of my preparation day to catch up on sleep, because I don't function very well on little sleep.

 

This week we were in the right place at the right time.  It seemed like every appointment we went to the investigator had just been confronted by family for listening to us or had a fight with their spouse or things like that.  One family of menos activos(less actives) just had their roof fall in on them.  They had already moved everything out but, they still needed the emotional support.  That picture is of Elder Carver and I in their house where the ceiling fell through.

 

Huge miracle!! We found a way for Jessica and her husband to get married so we will probably be taking them to get married this week, so that is going to be super awesome.  I am excited for that.

 

We found a lot of new investigators this week, one is Alfonso. He paints motor cycles and he is super good at it.  He paints them and then sends them all over the world to China and Daytona and all of that.  We had a great  lesson with him in which the spirit was really strong, we challenged him to pray and ask if the Church was true.  His wife has been a member for 18 years. and he has listened to lots of missionaries, but never prayed to know if what we are teaching is the truth.  Sunday his wife came up to us and told us that he prayed right after we left and had a very strong impression that the church is true and that he should be baptized.  That is pretty cool.  I am so glad that God answers prayers.

 

We are also teaching some Messianic Jews right now.  It is kind of interesting because they are Jews who believe that Jesus was the Christ, but they are really interested in the book of Mormon,  That is cool too.

 

Not much more going on here, other than work, work work.  Lots of work to do and not a lot of time to get it done.  But we will do our best and the Lord will help us. Glad to hear that you are all doing well.  Dad stop playing ball with dumb people who come under you.  You are all in my prayers.

 

Con Muchísimo Amor,

Elder Joe Fuell

 



Eating breakfast with Elder Carver




Zone Meeting



 

 

 

These last 3 months are going to be the best months of my mission

Hola,

It has been a great week here in Mexico and a lot of awesome cool stuff happened this week.  First Elder Nelson from the Quorum of the Twelve came to talk with us.  He was here to talk to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) here in Mexico and 50 missionaries from our mission where invited.  It was so cool to hear an apostle of the Lord and the spirit was really strong.  The church is making a new MTC out of an old church high school here in Mexico!!!  Elder Nelson said all of the missionaries who go to Mexico or Latin America or Canada will go to this MTC and it is going to be really big. One of the biggest, if not the biggest in the world.  Six of the twelve apostles were here for that announcement.

 

I had a great week with my companion! We worked super hard and we had a lot of fun.  We are really learning to work together which has been way awesome.  I am glad to hear that you are all doing well it sounds like you are all having a super fun time.

 

Julio has been doing great!  He has been a faithful member of the church since his baptism,  I am a little worried about his other foot because it is infected and If it doesn't get any better he might lose it so please keep him in your prayers. But whatever happens it will be for the best, I know it and he knows it and we are not losing faith or hope.

 

One of our investigators Jessica wants to get baptized so bad but doesn't have the money to get married. However, I woke up this morning with a feeling like she is going to get baptized this week. I am not exactly how, but I feel like it will happen.  So I will keep you posted on that.

 

I cant believe that there are no longer Twinkies in the United States.  I was pretty upset when I heard that . . . 

A new shirt would be great for my birthday and a new journal too.  I think I might run out of paper in the next couple of weeks due to the fact I have been writing more in my journal.

 

We had a conference of the leaders of the mission this last week, and an Elder said to me, "your time, (my hey day) in the mission is over".  I thought about that a lot and it bothered me a ton and I couldn't really sleep because I was thinking about it so much.  But I think it is not going to be like that.  These last 3 months are going to be the best months of my mission in every aspect, not for him or anyone else but for the Lord and myself.  So these last couple months are going to be a blast.

 

I love you all thanks for the letter,  I hope you all have a great week.

 

Love Elder Joe Fuell

Another Great week in Mexico



Joe and King Tut





It has been a great week here in Mexico and we saw a lot of miracles.  It has been pretty fun and I am learning a lot.  Especially with my companion. We still don't have a lot of new investigators and we have been trying to do a lot of things to find them but I guess that we will just continue doing all that we can and keep praying every time we get a chance.
We were working really hard with a family this week, the familia Cedillo.  They are a young couple with one kid and they are super cool.  They always read and they have been progressing really well, but they haven't come to church.  We did everything we could to help them so they would be able to come to church and they didn't make it.  It was a bummer, but when we got to the church, one of our old investigators who hadn't been coming showed up.  He had found out that one of the guys in his class is Mormon, so they started talking and his friend invited him to church and went and picked him up.  It was pretty cool.  I hope we will be able to work with him now.  I know that if we work really hard, and have good attitudes, it could really be a good week. ha ha.
We have 4 missionaries in our ward and the other 2 are going to move in with us in two weeks.  The member's house,who owns the place we live is adding on to our apartment, so it will be super cool to live with them. I am looking forward to it.
I went on intercambios (exchanges) this week in the delegation Benito Juarez.  It is one of the richest parts of the city, so working there was really cool, and very different than other times.   I am loving being a missionary and really looking forward to this week.  I am sorry to hear about aunt Danette, that is sad. 

Send my love to the family.
Con Muchísimo Amor,
Elder Joe Fuell

No Water! So Gross!!! (Titled by Katie Fuell)

Hola,
I was thinking about the week and wondering what I was going to write you guys and then I looked back in my journal and saw a ton of stuff that happened this week.  It was a really good week.  We are struggling to find investigators right now, as is the whole district, but the ones we have found have been awesome.  We have made some pretty awesome plans to find new people this week so I will have to tell you how it goes. 

We are teaching the daughters of a recent convert, Maritza and Karen.  They are very cool and always read what we leave for them but they are super shy.  I don't think there are two girls in the whole world who are more shy than they are.  The really cool thing about them is that they received their answers from God.  There testimony is simple but powerful so I know the that they really have received a testimony from the Holy Ghost.

We also had the opportunity to give a lot of blessings this week.  That was also really neat.  One of our investigators, Hermano Othamendi, who we gave a blessing, has been in critical condition.  I don't know how much longer he will make it, but it was amazing just to see the change of a character after the blessing.  It was nothing short of miraculous.

Another investigator that we found this week is Alicia.  She is in a family where 5 are members and 10 are not so we are trying to help all of them.  Alicia, who is the head of the family is also very religeous.  We had an awesome lesson with her in which she felt the spirit very strongly.   She prayed for the first time where she prayed to our Father in Heaven.  It brought so much peace to her that she said she is going to continue praying like that.  She says that her prayers have always been recited prayers and says that praying for specific things  and thanking Heavely Father for the things in her life is the way she wants to pray for the rest of her life.  I know once we can help her it will be easier to help the rest of the family.

I finished the Book of Mormon this week.  It is amazing.  I wish people would just read it because it is so good.  I have read it several times now and I can honestly say that I never get bored of it.
We did not have any water until Wednesday so that kind of stunk . . . literally!!! We could not bath or wash our clothes, but now we have water.  I hope it stays that way.  We also had a zone conference it was pretty cool.  I love it when we have meetings with the President.  He always just inspires me to do the best and gives me ideas on what I can do to always help others.

Today we went to a pretty cool museum with a bunch of things from King Tuts Tomb.  It was especially cool because the exhibition talked about a lot of the similarities between ancient Egyptians and  and ancient native Americans.  Most of the similarities where with religion more than anything else . . . it was super interesting!

I don't have a way of talking with the Ayala's right now. Dad could probably do it through facebook or something.  I have their phone number but I cant call them right now.  If you can contact one of the sons online it would probably be the easiest way.

That's about everything.  Love you guys lots and hope you have a great week.

Con Muchísimo Amor,
Elder Joe Fuell

Sacrament meeting was full

Hola,

It has been a great week here in Mexico, and the weather is still nice.  It has been pretty fun with my new companion Elder Carver, he is from Plain City Utah.  He has 6 months in the mission and I have been helping him a lot with his Spanish and things are going great and I am sure that we will have a very successful month.  

 

Not a lot happened this week because I was in meetings all week, a little boring, but really inspiring.  We did find a new investigator this week, her name is Alicia Balderas.  She is very cool and has accepted everything really well.  She has a lot of problems with her family so she is looking for relief in Christ, and until now all the lessons that we have had have been pretty great.

 

We had a ton of less-active people that came to church yesterday, which was awesome because we have been visiting a lot with them so it was great to see them all there at the church.  The sacrament meeting hasn't been this full for a long time.

 

This week during our meeting with our ward mission leader he told us that he was going to be released.  He has been the best ward mission leader that I have had during my whole mission and when he said that I almost cried.  He is going to be first councilor in the the Elders Quorum presidency.  So that is still good, he will be still be able to go with us to appointments and work with us on the retention side of the missionary work.

 

This week has really tested me in many levels and I am grateful for the opportunity to have trials and problems that come up in my life because they teach me to rely on the Lord more.  Its during times like those when one feels closer to the Lord.  Thanks for everything glad to hear that you are all doing well.

 

Con Muchísimo Amor,

Elder Joe Fuell

Amazing discusson this week

Joe with Elder Rios and a family who was baptized

Hola,

It has been another great week in Mexico.  It is cold here where we are writing and my fingers cant move very fast but I will do my best. ha ha.  Big news: we have cambios (companion changes).  I am kind of bummed because I really have enjoyed working with Elder Chronister.  We  have had a lot of success together and a lot of fun.  We both thought that we would have one more cambio and were a little bit shocked at the changes.  I will be staying here in Iztacalco.  I have been reassigned to be the new district leader here.  It will be a lot different from last time I was a district leader (a lot bigger district in an upper class area) but I am really excited to give it my all.  My new companion is going to be Elder Carver.  He has 6 months in the mission and has trouble with his Spanish.  So we will be working on that a bit.  He is from Ogden or somewhere close to that.  I have been on intercambios (exchanges) with him one time and we did great together so I bet this will be an awesome cambio.

We eat Rosca every 6 of January to celebrate Christmas still.  Rosca is like a cake that they put little plastic baby Jesus´s in.  If you find one in your cake you have to bring Tamales on the 2 of February.  I got three in my Rosco this year.  It was kind of ridiculous ha ha but it was fun.

My companion had  surgery on his toe this week because of an ingrown toenail so we had to take it easy.  He was super scared.  When the doctor pulled out the shot he turned pale and started sweating a ton.  But it is healing well.  Its always fun to talk with Doctor Ruiz. We always swap stories from the OR ha ha.

We are teaching an older couple,  the family Othamendi.  They are awesome!! We had an amazing lesson with them this week on the Restoration and about Joseph Smith,  They have been taught by the missionaries for a while but really never understood what the missionaries where teaching.  We had an awesome lesson and the spirit was super strong.  While I testified of the first vision, I felt the spirit so strongly.  I did not see what Joseph Smith saw, but I felt what he felt.  They are now reading the Book of Mormon everyday since that visit and they came to church.  It makes sense to them about Christ visiting the Americas and talking to prophets here.

I am glad to hear that you are all doing well.  I am glad to hear that you all had a great New Years and a great time up in Logan.  You are all the best.  Have a great week.

Con Muchísimo amor,

Elder Joe Fuell