For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things (2 nephi 2 11 https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2.11?lang=eng) We cannot fully understand the sweet until we have tasted the bitter.

This pretty was my week in a nutshell : ) as missionaries you feel like you are on an emotional roller coaster all the time, some days you accomplish great things and the next you have big disappointments, but in the end the ups make up for the downs because they made the highs that much better!!

Tuesday we had quite a scare. We got a call from the President of our branch to tell us the Gloria was in the Hospital. Gloria, is the wife of one of our investigators. She is a member of the church and was just starting to come back! We were shocked to hear that she had tried to commit suicide and was now in induced a coma and they were unsure if she was going to make it. She was supposed to get married the next day and her husband baptized the day after. We couldn’t believe it! We had seen her the day before and she seemed so happy, it turns out she is bi-polar and has been struggling with depression all of her life. Hna Ibarra and her old companion Hna Ireland (who had spent a lot of time with this family) were invited to see Gloria in the Hospital when they woke her up from the coma. That meant I would stay in the office with Hna Irlands companion who was my good friend in the MTC! Though we were all very sad about the situation it was amazing to be able to talk will Hna Mattenson and share my experiences and troubles. We’re always so busy as missionaries, that we don’t always have time to talk and distress, it was such a blessing to have this little rest! Hna Mattenson has been struggling these first 6 weeks so I was so grateful for the opportunity to give her encouragement! 

Then came the next big shock.... I have been transferred!! Usually you stay with your first companion for 12 weeks for training, so me and Hna Ibarra thought that we would be together again during this next transfer (every transfer is 6 weeks long and at the end they move missionaries around the mission (you don’t know until the night before whether or not you are going to move)). I’m am going to Los Andes!!! Wow! It’s in the country! I´m so excited!! I am also going to be in a trio with Hna Ireland and Hna Dods, both are great missionaries and I can’t wait to learn from them! 

I know without a doubt that God watches over us. I know that he knows our pain and our Joy. I know that Christ lives and I know that he loves us more that we can understand. 

I pray that you will be able to feel him in your life and that you will strive to follow him.

Sending my love from Chile,

Hna Madi Fullmer

Happy Mother’s day!!!! I love my mom! And admire all of the women who gave us this life and helped teach us how to live it!! This is an Awesome video about how much mothers really mean : )

http://motherhood.mormon.org/?cid=HPTH050814094

My mother’s day was AMAZING!! For the first time in 3 months I got to talk to my family face to face!! Being in Chile has really taught me how important my family really is! Wow, I am so glad that we, through the restored gospel of Christ, can be with our families forever! That, I think, is my favorite thing I get to tell people! You never need to be separated from your family ever! 

Earlier in this week, we had a meeting with the other missionaries in our area (all elders (men) because the rest of Renca is sketch : ) ) for interviews with the president of our mission.  It was great to have a minute to be with other 19 and 20 year olds, and talk with President and Sister Essig. They are the best! The Elders almost set the church on fire starting the oven, but we were able to eat pizza and a Latino elder´s take on cheese cake : ) I also had the opportunity to talk with Pres. Essig, he reminded me that I am doing better than I think! Sometimes we need to take a step back and just look at our progress! Which, thanks to The Lord, and my companion just keeps growing!

Today we got to go the city to visit museums on our day off! Way fun!!! I love Chile! We got to go to  three, including a museum of modern art (I thought of you Mrs. May : ) ) It was amazing!! Although I couldn’t really understand much because I don´t know tons of Spanish. : ) Speaking of Spanish mine is 100 times better! I love people able to speak to people!!

 I have been so blessed this week! We were blessed to find two women in our area who are so ready to hear the gospel! The best part of my work here is seeing the word of God change people’s lives!! I know that through God we can find more happiness than the world could ever offer us! 

I am so grateful for your support, love and prayers! I am praying for you! Remember you are not alone ever!!! (Is that the right word order in english I cant remember : ) ) 

Love from Chile!

Hna Fullmer

This week has been the craziest but best week! Do I say that every week? It’s because they just keep getting crazier and better!!

My Spanish is improving!! This week as I was leaving from talking with a women and her family, her 10 year old son stopped me and asked are you French?? I laughed and told him no and before I could say more he asked Italian?? I just had to laugh at his expression when I said American : ) I felt like I was walking on clouds the rest of the day! Yes i do have a crazy thick accent buuuuuut it’s not an American one!! One point for Hna Fullmer!

This week we had what we call splits. This is when you change companions for the day so you can learn from someone new! This was way fun last week when I got to travel to the city and just help another Hna and learn from her, but this week Hna Riveara was going to come to my sector and I got to be in charge for the day. I nearly cried when I figured out that was what Hna. Ibarra was trying to tell me. I don’t speak much Spanish and my sense of direction is, well, it’s on about the same level as my Spanish. Such is life: ) we do what we must. The day came and I started off with my new companion! haha every single appointment we had fell through and because I didn’t know the area very well we soon ran out of houses to visit. But that meant we had tons a time to talk to people on the street! This may be the scariest part of the mission but it is also the most helpful with my Spanish! Our last appointment rolled around and we had met up with three members to teach it. We were going to teach Andres, who’s about 27 and lives alone (which means we need at least one other women with us to go into his house (for safety reasons)) anyway I called him as we were outside the apartments and he wasn’t home!!!! So we sent our members home and sat on the curb for a min trying to think what we could do, wheeeeeen he called again saying he was leaving where ever he was to come home. Great, only we couldn’t teach him because we had just sent home the other sister! haha well we ended up having a lesson with a family who lived nearby and visited Anres another day! But throughout the whole crazy long tiring day I was having fun!!! Ya, it surprised me too! But I am learning that this is a message of Joy!! When we live our lives centered on Christ we will feel this Joy no matter what hard things we are called to do! 

Here are some pictures! Computer hit and miss here so I haven’t been able to send any before! The first is of the baptism of Carolina and her son Benjamin! the next is me and my companion Hna Ibarra, and the last is real life in Chile we are having a parade complete with horses and crazy clowns for a catholic holiday about Quasimodo, but no one seems to know why we are celebrating good old Quasi  ; ) enjoy!

As always I would love to hear from you! My address is on my blog (http://reflectionsofachicainchile.weebly.com ) ) and my email address is madison.fullmer@myldsmial.net ! 

And for future reference Chileans have yet to discover the beauty of both chocolate and Peanut butter and Chocolate and coconut, so both reeses and almond joys do not exists in Chile : (

I hope this finds you doing well! 

Love always,

Hna Madi Fullmer

Wow wow wow! What a crazy dazy week!

Number one we had a baptism!! It was very sweet! A mother (Carilina) and her son (Benjamin) were baptized. They are so strong and faithful! And I´m so proud of the choices they are making!

Number two I was JUMPED! Yes, this is real life! We’re on the bus going toward the city, I was just asking about the robbery in Chile. Our area didn´t seem to have any. Hna Ibarra then informed me that we really do have robberies especially in the Elders area (which is pretty sketch). Anyway I was just pondering the gravity of that on the bus when I felt a pressure on my chest as if someone was using me to catch themselves before they fell. I looked over and there was a man with my (fake gold) Young women’s medallion in his hands! He ran with the necklace still around my neck! My name tag went flying and the bus was silent...... ¨que????¨ Did that really just happen?? Yup : ) My first robbery! I think I’m really a Chilean now! After I caught my breath, all I felt was sadness for that man and the choices he had made. I hope he can find his way and find peace. It reminded me that we become what our actions make us. Small or large these things define us! It is how others view us and how we begin to view ourselves! These actions hold weight, they are important, so please please think about what your actions will bring, what your words with do! You can use these things to do great and wonderful things for the Lord If you choose to!

Number three I got to wear JEANS!!!! It was soooo weird! It was so liberating, haha I felt like I could conquer the world! We helped a member paint his bars on the window : ) hahaha oh Chile is just a little Ghetto : ) but i wouldn’t have it any other way! By the way missionaries LOVE to give service especially if it mean they can wear jeans! So the next time they ask you how they can help (which should be every time they talk to you) say yes! They really would love to help! That’s why we’re here!!

Remember you can be a great force for good, you need only choose to do what is good!

Be strong and of a good courage!

Hna Madi Fullmer

Wow! So much has happened in the past two weeks! They have been a time of Firsts for me!
The first time I left the CCM for real. I’m done with my training and I’m out in the real world!! It’s been sad to leave all my friends, but it’s so nice to be working with real people! I ADORE my mission president and his wife, they are the nicest people and are so helpful!
My first Area!!!!! I was assigned to Renca! It’s known for being pretty flighti (gangster) and in my district (the group of missionaries in Renca) me and my companion are the only Hermanas. The rest were sent mostly to the Andes. Don’t be worried though, my sector is one of the nicer areas in my mission! It’s sort of like a middle class suburb of Santiago. The houses (on the inside) look just like one you would find in a middle class house in America but there very very tinny. The people are wonderful and are always kind. I have decided that if you’re going to learn Spanish and know very little, do it in Chile! The people try to understand you and don’t ever cut you off! 
My first Trainer! My trainer’s name is Hna Ibarra! She is from Florida and is has grown up speaking Spanish, so she speaks flawlessly. It’s super nice because she’s Latino, so when people don’t understand me, they feel comfortable looking to her. 
MY first time eating real Chileano food! Wow! Here we eat a big lunch and don’t really eat dinner. But when I say a big lunch, I mean a plate full of rice an inch and a half tall, with sauce and dessert, and more! I thought I was going to explode my first meal here! But the fruit!!!!! It is fantastic! This nice family we taught asked me if I had ever eaten chileano grapes, and I replied no, they gave me a huge bunch of grapes! They were each as big as my eye!!! 
My first chicken experience. So must of my area is normal but there is a street that looks like what you would think a Chileano street would. I LOVE IT!!! We visited a girl there and taught her outside at a table and there were chickens just chillin’!! hahaha I felt so legit! So my companion has this habit of using the bathroom and leaving me with people alone, and when she did at this house and I tried to communicate with this cute girl (she’s about 11) we ended up just laughing because we had no idea what the other was saying : ) it was a little embarrassing but she told me after that the Spanish would come and she would never forget me! Have I said yet, that I love these people?
Last week I got to listen to General Conference, this is a conference where the leaders of our church talk to us and give advice and teach. IT was AMAZING!! I loved every second! And it was all in English!! One of my favorite talks was by Pres. Monson about love! Here’s a clip
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-04-0250-president-thomas-s-monson?lang=eng

I know that God is helping me! I know that he lives and that he cares for me and you and the people of Chile! Each of us is important to him!! 
Love you all! God Bless!
Love,
Hna Fullmer