June Ending

Hola!

First off, as far as the rain is concerned, that's a whole summer affair according to Sister Crickmore.  So, I'm about 1/3 of the way through the rainy season.  Still, my umbrella is holding up fine, and everything really does dry out like you said, so I'll be fine.  We do get some pretty good lightning as well, and it makes me miss sitting out watching the thunderstorms in Utah.

Speaking of rain, I'm glad to hear you guys are heading up to Oregon this year.  It's weird, this is the first time I can really remember that I won't be going up there for the reunion.  I would love to go to Mo's, if only to understand what everything on the menu is.  It's amazing how many things there are in the restaurants here that I have never heard of.  It's almost like it's a foreign country or something.

As far as senior couples go, I believe there are two or three sets in the mission, but there are none in this area so I haven't really had the chance to work with any of them.  Still, I'm sure they wish there were more here.  It always seems like they want more senior missionaries.

As far as new things this week, we went to the center of the city to do some things for my green card on Tuesday.  This involved three hours of public transportation to get there.  (We may have gotten lost once or twice.)  It was also my first time experiencing the metro, which is like trax, but more shakey.  Anyways, we eventually reached immegration at 11, when we were told to be there at 9.  When we got there, nobody was there.  We called the secretaries, and where should they be but on the metro.  Long story short, they showed up at about 1 with the rest of the new missionaries.  Needless to say, we were really glad we hadn't gotten there at 9.  Then we started the two hour process of getting everything taken care of.  We finally finished with everything at about 3, and we were able to get something to eat.  That was the nice thing about this trip, they have american restaurants there.  We ate at Panda Express, and it was great.  Then we started on our journey back, which was a bit shorter since we knew where to go, but was still a really long trip.  Needless to say, we may have been a little tired by the time we got back home that day.

That baptism I was talking a couple weeks ago is back on for this Saturday.  She is really excited, and has worked really hard for this.  Everything is set, so barring some unseen disaster, everything should go through.

That's about it for this week.  The work continues, and I'm glad to be a part of it.  It's exciting to hear about Hayden's call.  I'm sure it will be a great mission for him.  Have fun in Oregon, and say hi for me.  I love you.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

P.S.  Yes we use an internet cafe for on P-days.  There are actually a lot of them here.

Summer Solstice

Hola!


The thing about the summer solstice in Mexico is that you don't see the sun enough for it to matter. Seriously, I have never seen this much rain in my life, and we make it up to Oregon most summers. This morning the rain was so hard it flooded the kitchen of the members we live above. However, one of the upsides of every (and I mean every) building being made of concrete is that water is really easy to clean up. So Elder Tadeo and I helped them, and within 20-30 minutes you could hardly tell it had happened. Oddly enough however, this incident reminded me of a scripture, Malachi 3:10. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." This morning, I do believe I saw what it means to have the windows of heaven opened, because the courtyard that flooded has three drains in it to stop this exact situation. There literally was not room enough to receive what was being poured out. If that's what the blessings for paying tithing are like, I definitely want them.


As far as new things go, we had divisions for the first time this week with the zone leaders, Elders Zamora and Dixon. I went to their area with Elder Zamora, and it was an interesting experience. They have both been out 15 months now, so they have figured out a lot of tricks I hope to be able to use here. But it felt a lot like my first day here in Tlahuac. I didn't know the people or the area, and I still don't truely know the language. Oh, and every single person asks you to say the prayer when you are the new person. Still, it was a good experience. I really liked what one man said about why he agreed to listen to the missionaries. It had been raining that day (surprise surprise), so he asked us if we had been out in the rain, to which we replied yes. He then said that that was why he had first chosen to talk with the missionaries, because the pastors of the Catholic and other churches aren't out in the rain trying to help bring others to Christ. This made me feel pretty good about walking out in the rain, or in the sun, or whatever, because it shows that it does make a difference.


Other than that, things have continued on about the same. I feel a little better with the language everyday, but I still often find myself completely lost when someone is talking to me. Still, I know I just need to be patient and I'll get the hang of it. As far as the baptism goes, she missed sacrament meeting the last couple of weeks, which means we will have to reschedule it. Still, I have faith that it will still happen, just not quite as soon as we had hoped.

I'm glad to hear things are going good at home. I miss spending time with you, but two years really isn't that long of a time. I love you.

Elder Samuel Long.


P.S. I got bit by a lizard today. Figured you would want to hear that.

A Lizard Story - 

First off, lizards are everywhere here in Mexico. They are more common than birds. So, during the flood that I talked about this morning, one took refuge inside the house of the members. Elder Tadeo picked it up, and held it out to me. I reached my hand out and the thing clamped on to my finger. It didn't have any teeth, so it didn't really hurt, but it refused to let go. Finally I let it hang just by it's mouth, and it let go to try to run for it. That's about it.

Flora, fauna, stars, cartel, and investigators

Buenas Tardes,

Believe it or not, the cartel is not a big problem here.  Too many people for that kind of thing.  So you can tell Lori to cross that off the list of things she is worrying about for me.  There are plenty of drugs though.  I have never smelled this much marijuana in my life.

As for the flora and fauna, it's a bit limited, especially fauna wise, because of the sheer number of people.  We just have birds mostly.  Oh, and dogs, if they count.  There are dogs everywhere here.  I'm pretty sure most of them don't have a home.  They just wander the streets, cleaning up the garbage.  Other than that, there really isn't any animal life here.  As far as plants go, it's really weird, because you can see a giant palm tree growing right next to a cactus, and they will both be flourishing.  Now, I don't know as much as dad does about plants, but I'm pretty sure those two grow in different climates.  And as far as the climate goes, right now at least it is very humid, and very rainy.  And when it is not rainy, it is very humid, and pretty hot.  The flowers sure are beautiful though.

I've been wanting to get a look at the stars for the entire time I've been here, but it has been too overcast until this week.  I did finally get a look at them, and it was kind of a weird experience.  First off, there is even worse light pollution than here than back home, so I couldn't see a ton of stars, but as far as the ones I could see go, it was a different experience.  Half of the constellations I recognized, and the other half I had never seen before.  I knew it would be kind of like that, but it didn't stop it from feeling weird.  Also, I wish I could get a good picture from the roof at night.  Almost as far as you can see in any direction are lights.  I have never seen anything like it before.  If I do get a good picture, I will send it.

As far as the people we are teaching, it's kind of a mixed bunch.  We have one with a baptismal date set for next week, and a couple with dates in July.  Then we have some that have been meeting with the missionaries for a long time, and still aren't progressing very much.  Still, there is always hope.  One of our investigators, a man named Ismael, has been meeting with the missionaries for three years.  He would never accept a Book of Mormon until the first time I met with him, when he outright asked for one.  And he has actually been reading it.  So far he hasn't progressed much more beyond that, but who knows, maybe in three more years he'll go to church, and in three more he'll get baptized.  The Lord has his time, and I hope I'll be able to remember that when things get hard.

That's about it for this week.  I'm glad to hear you guys are doing well.  Oh, and how is the new church building treating you?  You have moved there, right?  Keep me updated on what's happening.  I love you all so much, and am so glad to have your support.

Elder Samuel Long.

P.S.  I finished Jesus the Christ this week.  All 736 pages of it.  Still, it took me two months.  I'm getting slow.  Seriously, if you haven't read it, you need too.

Walmart Trip and Birds

¡Hola!

I did get your letter last week, but we had limited time to write because of district conference, so I was not able to respond to it.  I'll try to be better at responding to everyone, but know that if I don't get to you, it's not because I don't love you.

Pesos are pretty simple to figure out, because the exchange rate is just about 10 to one for dollars.  It still feels kind of weird spending 50 pesos on something, and I have to remind myself that it's only about 5 bucks.  It's really weird seeing the prices in the stores as well.  They use the dollar symbol for pesos as well, so you will see something priced for several hundred pesos that normally would only be like 30 dollars.  That will take some getting used to, but as far as the value of the money, I've got a decent hold over it.  

We went to Walmart today, which was very similar to going to Walmart in Utah, except that everyone was Mexican, instead of almost everyone being Mexican.  Oh, and the display of whole frozen fish on ice in the middle of the isle, that was new.  We went with a couple of the elders in our district, Elder Thomson and Elder Diaz, and since Elder Thomson and Elder Tadeo both love to skateboard, we somehow ended up by the skateboards, which they started riding down the aisles, until someone told them to stop, which they did.  Then he threatened to call the cops on them.  To this, Elder Thomson replied that he had twenty pesos in his pocket, so he could go ahead and call them.  It's a very different world down here.

We actually have a bird nest built right into the side of the building, right next to the door to our apartment.  I've tried to get some pictures for you, but I'm not quite the photographer you are.  Still, I'll send you what I've got, and try to get some better shots.  And as far as the parrot or monkey goes, if I have eaten any they haven't told me what it was.  In fact, I've only seen parrots once, and they were in cages at the home of one of our investigators.  If she ever feeds us, and one of them is gone, then I'll know.  Keep going strong and know that I love you.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

June Already

¡Hola!

The picture was actually all of the new missionaries that came in on Monday, so the one in blue was not my companion, but he is in my zone.  His name is Elder Diaz, he's from The Dominican Republic, and actually speaks English pretty well.  My companion is named Elder Tadeo.  He is from San Diego, but his parents are from Mexico so he speaks English and Spanish fluently.  He is the district leader here, and when we went to a meeting with the zone leaders, they said that it probably means I will be some kind of leader in my mission, because both of their trainers had been district leaders as well.

Mexico is different from anything I've ever experienced.  The scariest thing is the roads.  I've only feared for my life when I was in some kind of vehicle on the roads.  Everyone drives when they want, as fast as they want, and sometimes even in the other lanes of traffic.  Yet surprisingly I haven't seen a single accident here.  Oh, and because the sidewalks are usually covered in piles of dirt, we usually walk in the streets where ever we are going.  And to cross the street you say a prayer and choose to go in front of a car you believe will slow down.

My area is called Tlahuac, it's about a half hour outside of Mexico City.  The people here are nice, but at times I have a Best Two Years moment: that's not the language they taught me in the MTC.  These usually happen the second someone asks me a question.  I can be following a conversation okay up to that point, but the second I need to answer a question Spanish becomes a foreign language again.  Still, I've only been here a week, so I'm not extremely concerned yet.  And it is nice having a companion that can translate for me.  We live above a family of members, and the mother, Margarita, has made it her mission in life to make sure we never go hungry.  And so far the food here hasn't bothered my stomach as much as the food in the MTC.  I'm sure that will change, but until then it's a nice change of pace.  And the food is different then what I was expecting.  I'll put it this way, we've had potatoes more than rice and beans.  There are tortillas every meal, but it's like putting bread on the table, they are just there if you want them.  The thing we have had the most is soup, and Elder Tadeo said that's normal here.  But the food has had a good deal of variety, so I think I'll be okay.

The people here are very receptive to the gospel, and it's nice to pretty much always have appointments to teach.  It's incredible seeing people come to an understanding of gospel truths, and I love being a part of that, even if it's not a big part right now.  I hope that feeling will continue to drive me to do all that I can.

I glad I've got so much support from all of you.  They say that whenever you nametag is sitting crooked it means someone is missing you, and Elder Tadeo has to fix mine a few times a day, so I guess I've got a lot of people thinking about me, and praying for me.  I want you to know I appreciate every one of you, and I feel the support I am receiving.  Keep it up and I'm sure these two years will fly by faster than I can believe.  I can't believe I've been here a week, so I'm sure two years will sneak up on me.  I love you all and appreciate all the help you give me.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long