Bye Gressell :(

What a crazy week!


Sister Gressell is officially home in Idaho! That was weird to send a companion off in the middle of a transfer. Our apartment feels so empty without her.


Wednesday we had zone meeting. Our zone is so big... we have 14 companionships! Then we also had the Senior Sisters join us. It was a big meeting! We were able to do training's on planning, working with members, and simplified teaching. It turned out to be a really great meeting. Afterwards we went to a chicken joint called "Raising Canes". They have the best chicken!


We were able to have dinner with Myles and his parents on Wednesday night! That was so fun, they have a beautiful home. They asked a lot of questions about missionary work and what we do. His mom made really good soup :) I don't think they are really interested, but they are very kind and enjoy our company. It will be good to at least have a good relationship with them!


With the holiday season it has been really difficult to get in with people to teach them. We did manage to see a few less actives this week, and we got 3 referrals for some people that I am really excited to meet and teach! One of them was from the sisters in the Colorado mission, and the other 2 was for some family members of a less active. Working through referrals is one of my favorite ways to find new people to teach!


On Saturday night we had the change to Christmas concert for our stake at a Methodist church in my old area! It was in Indian Hill which is in the Cincinnati ward. It was the best to see some of my old friends in past wards, and to hear such amazing music about Christ. The music was so incredibly beautiful!!!


CHRISTMAS IS THIS WEEK!! I am so excited to be able to talk to my family. On Christmas we are asked to not do much missionary work, which is really depressing. We are only allowed to go places where we have been invited, and we can't stay for long. We will spend a lot of time that day watching training videos. Woohoo! Merry Christmas everyone.


Love you all!


Sister Fultz

Myles was baptized!

What an amazing week!! Myles was baptized and confirmed this weekend. When he came out of the water he couldn't stopped smiling. He bore his testimony of how grateful he was that he found the gospel and the happiness that he has felt in it. His mother, father, grandfather and grandmother all came. His mom was very touched and shed a few tears during the service. You could tell though that his grandma and grandpa did not approve--they are devout Catholic. Afterwards his family took us out to eat! We were able to laugh with them and get to know them better while in the process answering a few doctrinal questions. They are truly such amazing people with great faith. His mom is hilarious! She acts so young and "hip" and she just loved us. We gave them our number and they invited us to come over this Wednesday! They expressed their gratitude to us for helping Myles to find happiness and believe in God again. Despite the difference in religion, we were all able to rejoice with Myles in his life changing experience. Sadly his family didn't come see him confirmed as they "had to go to their own church" as Myles said. When he was confirmed was a touching moment. The blessing involved basic principles of the gospel and gentle reminders to do the little things. He has amazing fellowship in the ward and a lot of support. Everyone comes up and talks to him every Sunday and really gets to know him. The man that Myles asked to confirm him was someone he had only met once, and yet he left an impression on him to the point he wanted him to be a part of an amazing experience.

To go along with the experience of Myles being confirmed, during one of the talks a member tapped us on the shoulder telling us some of our friends were out in the foyer. We had invited one of our friends, Jeishere, to come to church. We had no way to contact her that morning as her phone was off. We figured she wasn't coming when the meeting started. When we went out into the foyer it was her and her friend Desseray! They were able to listen to the last bit of the talk and went to gospel principles. It was interesting to talk to about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in Gospel Principles. We are seeing them on Tuesday! :)

Our Sunday ended up having no work involved. Elder Verdoni, one of the assistants, asked us to go to a multi faith fireside to sing in the missionary choir. We got to drive all the way to Northern Kentucky to the Buttermilk Pike Building. I used to go to that building all time when I was in Cincinnati, it brought back old memories! We sang a few Christmas songs and This is the Christ. It was a fun night with uplifting messages and music and I am so glad that we were invited to go. It was great for Sister Gessell to be able to say goodbye to a few missionaries before she goes home this week. It was raining on our way home, and it was so beautiful to go through the city and see the lights with all the rain. I love Cincinnati so much!!

I love you all!

Sister Fultz

 Myles getting baptized!

Rainy Cincinnati <3

The Grove of Cherries

What an amazing week! I love Cherry Grove. My companions are both amazing :) Sister Lamb and Sister Gessell. Sister Lamb came out with me and we were in the same district in the MTC, she if from California. Sister Gessell actually goes home next week and she is from Idaho. I am so sad that she is leaving! She has been staying strong though with the work and it's awesome to see her work hard until the end!

Our zone is super huge and we are having a get together today. It's going to be pretty crazy and fun! The Cherry Grove ward got 2 new Elders and one of them is fresh from the MTC. It's funny to be around a new missionary and remember what it was like to be new. The newbie is Elder Carter and his trainer is Elder Swainston. I guess Elder Swainston and I have common relatives! I came out with him too and he has been in Muncie, Indiana our whole mission until now! He is very new to Ohio and soi we had to show him all the good places like UDF and Graters :)

There are so many people in Cherry Grove that are ready to hear the Gospel! We talked to a lot of cool people this week. I am so excited to teach all of them! One of them is Courtney and her son Braxton. Braxton is only 8 and has so many questions about God. He had pretty deep questions too and I was impressed. We showed Courtney around the church so she can feel more comfortable when she comes to church. She asked a few of the classic Mormon questions and she was so accepting. She is very open and willing to learn, and I love it!

We got a media referral named Jeisherie. Jeisherie was a referral for a Bible, and the referral said that she was homosexual but has stopped practicing. We went and saw her and she is so prepared! She prayed to know if she needed to stop acting on her feelings. It's amazing to see that she was already willing to act on the promptings of the Spirit. Cassie was her friend who was there as well, she was asking a lot of questions and was excited to learn. We are going to go see the both of them tonight and talk more about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon.

We did service at a farm this week. We go and walk horses for a non member, and I got dragged around by a horse named Blue. She must have known that I was new and decided to break me in! The non member family that we do that for came to the ward Christmas party that we had that night. It was so fun to see the ward fellowship them immediately! The Christmas party was fun too. It had a lot of decorations...haha. We helped with the potato bar and I burned my hands a few times.

Myles, and investigator the Sisters found last transfer, is getting baptized this Saturday! He is such an amazing person. He smoked for 4 years, and he prayed for help to quit! He was able to quit cold turkey and he hasn't smoked for 4 weeks! Yesterday at church he went up and bore his testimony about how much happier he is now that he knows God. Even though i just met him I already love him! We had dinner with him last night at our Bishops house. Myles is the kind of guy that always has a joke for every situation. I am always laughing with him.

We have been showing people the #LIGHTTHEWORLD video! I cry every single time I watch it! It has such an amazing spirit and it is a great reminder of what we can do. We really can do what Christ would do and it doesn't need to be big or complicated. Go out and do it!

I love you all!

Sister Fultz

Adios Little Miami!

I am leaving Little Miami, and I am staying in the Stake and going to Cherry Grove. I am going to be in a trio with Sister Gessell and Sister Lamb. They both have been companions with Sister Baker, so we will talk about her a lot ;) Sister Gessell is going home in two weeks and then it will be Sister Lamb  and I.

I loved being in Little Miami with Sister Baker. I am going to miss the people so much, members and investigators. Sister Baker taught me so much and helped me overcome a lot of trials. This transfer has been unlike any transfer and I have experienced some crazy things!

This week I went on my last exchange with Sister Coleman in Little Miami. She is headed off to Indiana! My baby is leaving her native Ohio. On exchanges Samantha Keldsen came out teaching with us! I just love her. She was with us for about 4 hours, haha :) it was such a fun night! I am going to miss her a lot.

I have been a STL the past two transfers, and now Little Miami is no longer an STL area. What they are doing now is that there is one set of STL's and ZL's per stake rather than two. Cherry Grove is now the only STL area for the stake, and so I will still be able to be an STL! I am excited to be able to go on exchanges with all the sisters. It will be crazy to do it with all the sisters in the stake, which is about 6 sets. Pray for me! Haha.

I love you all!

Sister Fultz

Amazing week!

The highlight of this week was that MARK KING GOT BAPTIZED. I taught him in Cincinnati with Sister Coleman. She and I were able to go and see him be baptized. It was so amazing! I loved being able to see people from the Cincy ward, and of course seeing Mark. There were 2 baptisms that day! A woman named Cheryl, who the elders taught, was baptized. Guess who baptized her?! STEF ROBERTS. I was so excited. When he saw me he hugged me while saying "I don't care!". He really doesn't. He's hugged me 2 times now. Oh well.

We had Zone Conference this week! Elder Hawkins (Assistant) called us the night before and asked us to do a training on asking for referrals. Eek! Speaking in front of a lot of people is not my forte, but I managed. It was fun to role play asking for referrals with Sister Baker and then watch everyone else do it. I learned a lot of different ways to ask!

The fireside we had yesterday was awesome! :) we had a less active come and she loved it! She got to talk to President Welch after. She told him how much she loves us, haha. Maybe he won't transfer us next week since she loves us so much ;) At the fireside we sang "Because I Have Been Given Much", "For the Beauty of the Earth" and "This is the Christ". Some other missionaries did other musical numbers that were really amazing.

We are teaching a lot of cool people! Nothing terribly exciting happened with anyone this week... but I am excited to continue teaching a lot of these people. Mahala is especially cool. She has such an honest desire to know the truth. We really can't push her though, and she appreciates that we are taking it slow. We gave her a Book of Mormon this week and she is excited to read it! Also Jess is doing better. Most times we have seen her, she has been intoxicated, but she is working to come off the alcohol. She continues to say crazy things when we are there, and we continue to love her. That is still all we can do for her right now. We met her boyfriend John, and he is really helping her which we are grateful for!

Exchanges with Wilmington this week! I went to Wilmington with Sister Call. I don't know her very well so it was fun to spend time with her. We went to a members house who literally lives in a barn. She fed us dinner and we got to brush her horses, and play with cats, and dogs, and chickens. It was very therapeutic and relaxing to be honest. I really loved it. Maybe I could live on a farm. But probably not.

Love you all!

Sister Fultz

Here are a few pictures from this week :)

Shalom!

Hi everyone! Hope you are all doing well this week :)

We found 2 new investigators this week named Mahala and Brian. We met Mahala last transfer but never really taught her. I was on exchanges with Sister Peterson and I just felt like we needed to work in Morrow. It was around 10:30 when we were there and no one was home/awake/wanted to talk to us, but we kept going. We knocked on a few doors and when it was close to noon we started  walking back to our car. As we were walking we walked passed Mahalas home and she was outside  with her boyfriend Brian. We went up and talked to them and they invited us in! We were able to teach them the Restoration and commit them to church. They loved it and were excited for church and to learn more. This whole story is really cool because when we had walked her house earlier, I didn't see a car outside and decided not to knock  thinking they weren't home. God knew they were and so he made it so they would be outside when we went by! God's hand it truly is in every phase of this work. Sadly they weren't able to come to church do to a health emergency in the family, but we aren't discouraged. We know they are prepared and we are so excited to be able to teach them more!

We had a zone meeting this week. We did training's on how to rely more on God. We also did a fun little activity with a green lighter saying to keep the "greenie fire". It was pretty creative ;) I have really loved the emphasis in our mission to be more in Preach My Gospel. As I have applied that I have learned so much more about how to be effective. I've found that I am more happy and fulfilled in my work. It's like President Welch is inspired by God or something.... ;)  These passed few weeks I have just been able to feel so much love for my mission and my area specifically. I hope to stay in Little Miami a wee bit longer, like the rest of my mission ;)

It was a pretty slow week, so that's all folks!

Love,
Sister Fultz

We played in some leaves this week, and we played around with the settings on my camera :)

Hey everyone!

I taught a lot of people this week under the influence of alcohol... it was really sad. Not only is the smell horrible, but just the way that it makes people act! It's heartbreaking. We are really working to help one of our investigators break her addiction. I know that the Savior can help us through anything! Sometimes it's hard to remember that when it's such a physical  and painful addiction.

We had leadership council this week in Western Hills. Usually we carpool with the Cherry Grove sisters, and we have to leave pretty early in the morning. The CG sisters decided to ask President Welch if we could just sleepover at their apartment Thursday night. President Porter never allowed that for anything, so we thought President Welch would be the same. We didn't get our hopes up. We got a call from the sisters at around 8pm Thursday night and they told us that President had said yes! What in the world. So we got to go pack our stuff and drive to their aparjmtnet and sleepover! We didn't go to bed until about midnight, then we laid in bed talking for another hour or so. The next moring we all got ready and headed to Western Hills. It was an awesome leadership council. The Welch's have a grand baby that was born last transfer that they haven't met yet. Their son surprised them at leadership by bringing the baby! The baby's name is Timothy Benjamin Welch. Sister Welch started crying of course. They knew their son was coming and their oldest grandson, but they didn't know the little baby was coming. It was exciting :) We also ate cake and sang happy birthday to Sister Welch. Afterwards we stopped in downtown Cincinnati and got sushi for dinner with the Cherry Grove sisters and the YSA  sisters. Such a fun night! The sushi was super good too. It was funny to be "in the world" so much. People were yelling and drinking all around us as we prayed to bless our food. Such missionaries  and it's awesome!

Also at leadership I found out that Mark, from when I was in Cincinnati, is getting baptized next Saturday! He is living the word of wisdom!!!! Yay!!! So exciting.

Saturday was a day for miracles. We got out after lunch and we were heading to Morrow. We turned around the corner and there was a woman walking on the side of the road. I felt like we needed to stop the car and talk to her, but I didn't say anything. Next thing I know... Sister Baker is pulling over and saying that we needed to go talk to her! The spirit is so real. We went and talked to her. Turns out that she is going through a divorce right now and felt so alone. We were able to testify of the Savior's love, and we told her that we felt like we needed to talk to her. Now we are going to start teaching her! Grace. Miracles happen when you follow promptings. When one companion doesn't listen, He sends it to the other companion :)

We stopped  by to see an investigator, Jo, the other evening. It was pretty late and we didn't know who to see. It had been a pretty sad day and we were down in the dumps. Turns out Jo was too! So we went out to have a fire in her fire pit. It was exactly what we all needed. We read the Book of Mormon by the firelight :) A good way to end a sadish day.

So on Sunday I got sick. I threw up at 3 in the morning. It was weird because I only threw up once. I slept in in the morning (upon approval of course), and then we went to church. I didn't feel great, but I wasn't throwing up so I worked the whole day! Sunday night we had a choir rehearsal for a fireside that our mission is doing in a few weeks. It's a choir with missionaires and youth. I really don't lke singing... but I did it anyway. It was fun to see other missionaires. I found out from the Cincinnati sisters that a member from the Cincinnati ward passed away:( He was diagnosed with lung cancer when I was there. So Sad!

This transfer is going by so fast! We are already into week 4. After this transfer I will only have about 3 transfers left. WHAT. Where did the time go???? I'm not trunky I promise. :D but really though I love being here and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Love you all!

Sister Fultz