Sowing and Reaping

Hello Everyone!

I feel like I don't have anything profound or funny to say this week. The weather here is skipping from cold and thunderstorms in the morning to boiling hot in the afternoon and it played a trick on my body. I had to take a day or so to recover, but now we're back on track.

WE GOT ELDERS! We've been missing elders in our area for six weeks, but we finally got some new ones! Elder W (Texas Ranger) and Elder B (from EL Salvador). We're very content and they are GOOD elders. Which is good. We have lots of young men in the area that need good examples. 

Maybe I'll talk about the power of examples this week. How when you, jokingly, say, "Oh, I need to lose weight!" the seven-year-old girl you're teaching says, "Yeah, me too. I'm fat!"

Or when your one year old baby starts screaming and the father yells back, "DON'T RAISE YOUR VOICE." The mother gently corrects him, "If you yell at her, she's only going to learn to yell more."

Or all the sons and the daughters here who have highly disfunctional families and all they can do with their limited capabilites is to distance themselves, rather than staying under that influence.

I guess in the mission I'm seeing the importance of the seeds that we sow. Especially with our children. I feel very grateful to have been born of goodly parents and from a young age I was not only taught to love reading and vegetables (not because my parents forced me but because, oddly enough, they liked reading and vegetables. Monkey see, monkey do), but also how to be kind, hard-working and to put God first.

So. Be a good example. Because everyone is watching. Especially children. And old people. I have a suspcion that really old people observe just as much as very young children, they are just much less likely to imitate you.

I miss y'all y'all. Thanks for all the emails/letters. Keep helping people that are around you. And send me a funny quote this week!

You the best.

FULLER the Sister

Non c'è provare. Fai. O non fare.

Hi,

Italian for: "Do or do not. There is no try." But in Italian, it rhymes! How great is that?

This week was... good! I finally feel... stable! I think I could describe my mission somewhat in the following words:

First four months: I'M GOING TO TAKE THIS DIFFICULT SITUATION BY THE HORNS AND EAT DIFFICULTIES (and Master Crumble) FOR BREAKFAST!

Next four months: Post partum depression from my first city! New city! New companion! New situations! I'd prefer to not to stay in the second city, but the Lord decides to keep me in the second city until...

Next two months in Bari: I love this place! Feeling good. Learning stuff. The Spirit is keeping me going. Hey, ho, I can learn to like things that were hard. Can I stay now that I'm really enjoying this?

3 months in Ladispoli: JUST KIDDING! Sent to the Rome area and learning some great life lessons. Struggling with frustration and all the negative -ions. Thinking about how much long until I have to go home probably a bit too much.

And NOW (a month or so later): Smooth sailing. Both Sorella V. and I feel pretty healthy -- physically AND emotionally. My ingrown toenail doesn't even really hurt! Look at that! I feel much more... serene, I suppose, about the end coming. I'm not looking forward to it with too much anticipation, but I'm not dreading it. I see it as a natural, normal step. And until then, I feel like I can end my mission at a good pace, instead of exhausted and drained, as I tend to finish most projects I undertake (e.g. every edition of the Political Review).

We get transfers call this weekend. I'd love to stay here, but we'll see what's IN STORE!

Fun story! Last Pday we went to the Vatican museum -- we have a friend who works at the Vatican and offered to help us at least skip out on the lines. Maybe I'm too used to Disneyland, but I'm assuming he would just find us outside of the entrance of the museum and slip us into the FAST PASS lane.

NOT QUITE. Instead, he comes and picks us up at the station in a Vatican Mercedes. He drives us through a "secondary entrance" and gives us a tour of the city. Best part? When the guard stops us, asking if we were the guests Benedict was waiting for. Benedict meaning former Pope Benedict the number-I-can't-remember and guests meaning, is he hosting the Mormon missionaries. We had a good laugh.

I'm out of time! But trials have helped me learn patience and stuff! I'm a big fan of this mission thing. Said Paul:

And he said unto me, My ^agrace is sufficient for thee: for my^bstrength is made perfect in ^cweakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may ^drest upon me.

2 Cor 12:9

Okay, I think I might be behind in my shoutouts, so just to catch up: Chris Lamoreux, Pallets and Brooke! Thanks for your wonderful letters!

love you all,

Sister Fuller

Yip, yip, you! Yip, yip, me! Yip, yip, baby! Yip, yip, family!

Today's letter is dedicated to my FRAM-REE!

Guess what, family? I love you! You're pretty much the greatest. I don't know if I've ever fully expressed it, but that's what THIS LETTER IS FOR!

I wanted to take a minute and list something that I love about each one of you. But, unfortunately, unlike the David Bowie/Queen song, I do not work well under pressure and the clock is ticking. 

Early in my mission, I was talking with a missionary who was about to go home. He asked my companion and I if we had ever really been homesick. We both replied that, sure, we missed our families, but we didn't feel this desperate need to return to them. He told us, "It gets worse the longer you're out."

We'll, he's right. I've realized how good we all are for each other. I've realized how happy you all make me. I've realized that every good thing that has happened to me in my mission, the person it's helped me become, are just things that I want to bring back to my family. YOU GUYS! The most important of people.

Somehow, although my longing of you has increased, I wouldn't call it necessarily being "trunky." I'm just trying to translate my desire to be with you and be the best I can for you, by learning and serving as much as I can here. I look forward to evenings of playing cards and swapping mission/life stories. But guess what? YOU HAVE TO SERVE A MISSION TO HAVE THOSE STORIES! So that's why I'm here. And soon I'll have those stories and experiences under my belt to share with you. And then I'll come home and we'll share them all together.

So save the date! Annie's coming back and we'll be a happy family! Europe may have tied for possession of most Fullers (with Annie, Matt, Chloé and Peter in the OLD WORLD and Mom, Dad, Landon and Terri in the NEW WORLD! <--- please read with Ratcliff's voice from Pochahontas), but the states will soon win the majority.

Until then! Toodeloo!

love

Annie

(note: this is all dedicated to you, but there's no time for a "wide world email." Feel free to post it, Dad, if you want. THE WORLD CAN KNOW MY LOVE FOR MY FAMILY!!!)