Pictures and a note from Sarah

Hi Family and Friends,

Sam is officially in the field serving the Lord.  He made it safely to Mexico with a very large group of new Sisters and Elders joining the Mexico City, Chalco mission (picture below of all the new missionaries).  We are so grateful to the many people who continue to support Sam, and our entire family, we truly feel your love, prayers and blessings from our Father in Heaven.  May the Lord bless and keep all of you and your loved ones.

Love,
Sarah Beth Long

LESS THAN A WEEK!!

¡Hola!

It's about time they put Brother Wells in as bishop.  Heaven knows he was executive secretary for long enough.  I know he is going to be great at it, and I wish him the best of luck.  What he said reminded me of President Uchtdorf's talk on Easter.  Several times he said, "You are a disciple of Christ.  You fear no man."  I've been trying to keep that attitude as I count down the last week I'm here in the MTC.  I know the Lord takes care of his missionaries, so I'm trying to stay focused on Him and letting the rest be taken care of by Him.

Speaking of less than a week... LESS THAN A WEEK!!!  We got our travel plans on Friday, and those of us going to Mexico City get to leave the MTC at the lovely hour of 2:30 in the morning to catch a 6:00 flight.  We have a layover of a couple hours in Houston, then we are off to Ciudad de Mexico. It's starting to get very real.  I've gotten a calling card and will try to call you from the Houston airport.  It would be somewhere between 11 or 12, if that's OK.

This last Tuesday we had another apostle, on L Tom Perry.  I hope that man lives to be 120, which he very easily could with how he acts.  He talked about how to successfully teach, and it was pretty good.  Than this last Sunday, our Branch President, President Collett, was released.  Because of this, President Nally, the MTC President, was at our sacrament meeting.  While there he said something about the devotional that night being very special.  We get there, and there is no speaker on the stand.  President Nally gets up to start it, and says we will be watching Character of Christ, the talk Elder Bednar gave two years ago at Christmas.  Don't get me wrong, it is really good, and I had planned on seeing it again before I left, but it was a bit of a let down after his build up.  Then, when the video ended, who should walk in but Elder Bednar.  I have never seen a group of people stand up that fast!  He held a question and answer session with us, and it was an incredible experience.  (That makes six by the way, if you were keeping track.)   There must be something big on the horizon, because this kind of thing has NEVER happened before.  I don't know what it is, but it is coming up fast. 

So that's about it for me, things keep progressing, and I'm looking forward to getting out of here.  Six weeks has been bad enough, I can't imagine nine.  Stay strong and know I love you.  Remember, you too are a disciple of Christ.  You fear no man.  The next time I write you, I will be in Mexico.  I'm sure I'll be missing the MTC by that point.  

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

May 13, 2014

Hola!

It was great talking to you all on Sunday.  You all sound like you are doing pretty well.  As far as I know I'm allowed to call while I'm in the airport, so I will probably be calling you then.  Like you said, it really made a difference hearing your voices.  I am having a hard time thinking of what to say though, because not too much has happened in that day and a half.

Everything has continued like normal.  We had one of the District Presidents, President Seamons, in our branch on Sunday.  He had some really great insights, and I really enjoyed having that extra guidance there to help me.  One thing that he said that has really stuck in my mind is that, when you start feeling discouraged and tempted by Satan, just remember where he lives and tell him to go home. :)

I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but last week we watched Testaments.  I remembered vaguely what it was about, but I don't think I quite got it as a child.  Let me just tell you, it was a very different experience now.  It is a very inspiring story, and if you get the chance I would give it another watch.  It was very worth the time.

Other than that things are about the same here.  The food still isn't as good as dad's, and it has started to repeat.  We also had chicken cordon bleu on Sunday, but it wasn't nearly as good as what you were having.  We have all gotten to that point where the days really seem to drag on, and we all just want to bid this place a fond adieu.  Excuse me, adios.  (Got to get use to this whole Spanish thing.)

So far in the choir we have sang Be Still My Soul, Lead Kindly Light, More Holiness Give Me, and tonight we are singing Nearer My God To Thee.  It's great to be able to sing again, and very good music at that.  I also got to sing in a quartet in our sacrament meeting on Sunday.  We sang Come Thou Fount, and it went pretty well.

That's all I've got this week, sorry it's so short.  Keep me in the loop.  I love you.

Love,

Elder Long

Almost 3 Weeks

Buenos Días!

This week has been very interesting.  It has contained the best and the worst things from the MTC so far.  I figure it´s better to get the bad news out of the way, so here it goes.  We had to move out of the apartment we were living in to the one directly above it, because they have some senior missionaries moving in and they don´t want them to have to climb a lot of stairs, which I totally agree with.  Last night we had to pack up everything and move it though, which took up the entirety of our personal time.  The shower in the new room is better though, so that´s a plus at least.  The other negative is that Elder Grant has had a resurgence of his ADD symptoms, so we have been having to take some class time to go talk to doctors and councilors.  They've been working through it though, and they think he will be able to get a handle on it again, but it has been difficult for him, and me, this last week or so.

Now that we´ve gotten that out of the way, the good news, which far out-weighs the bad.  The first, and best, news is that the people at the MTC have had a change of heart.  We will be calling home on Mother's Day.  I will be calling at 2:30 in the afternoon next Sunday, so make sure you guys are there for me to talk to.  :D  

Earlier this week, Elder Grant and I were studying outside when a man, Gabriel, como el angel, sitting near us started talking to us in Spanish.  We started replying and went over to talk with him.  When he asked how long we had been here and we said two weeks, he was astonished.  He told us it had taken him 22 years to learn English as well as we knew Spanish.  He gave me some advice, which I am going to try to use in the field.  He said that when he was learning English, he would always worry that he was saying things wrong.  He said he had this worry for years, but finally figured out that people knew what he was saying, even if he didn't use the right form of a word.  He told us, "Speak, and the people will understand what you are saying."  My goal is to do as he said, and not worry about whether or no I'm using the proper form, and just speak what I know.  He also told us he was not a member of the church, but it's hard to tell in this place who is not a member and who is "not a member".  Anyways, we were told we would be teaching a new "investigator" starting yesterday, and who should our investigator be but Gabriel.  The lesson went really well, and it was a great experience.

The lessons with Mario and Angela are still going well.  It's amazing that even though they are both members, I can feel the spirit when we teach them.  I hope I will continue to improve and become the most effective teacher I can.

It sounds like things are still good at home.  I hope you know I pray for you all every day.  It may not always feel like it, but the Lord blesses the families of missionaries.  Stay strong and know that he will bless you greatly.  I love you all.  Keep me updated on how things are at home.  I will talk to you Sunday at 2:30.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long