Last Christmas in Chalco

Hola,

Another week has come and gone here in Chalco.  The mission Christmas party is tomorrow, so I'll let you know how it goes.  As far as other Christmas activities, we are going to be singing carols as a mission on Wednesday in the center of Chalco, and giving out gift-wrapped Books of Mormon.  It should be pretty fun.  

Other than that, not too much news to report.  We keep working hard, and we've been finding some more new investigators.  One in particular, Wendy, shows some good signs of progressing.  As part of the first lesson we had with her, she said that she and her husband have been looking for a church to join, but they didn't really like the ones they had gone to before.  She even said that her husband had gone to our church once with a friend, and said that he liked it.  She also lives about five houses from a sister who loves participating in missionary work, which is a big plus.  The only problem recently is that everybody is going out of town for Christmas, so these next couple of weeks might be hard as far as finding people goes.  But that's OK, since these are the two weeks in which we don't work as much.

That's about it for news from me here.  I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your break.  I love what you said about Linus.  I had never heard of it before.  I have truely seen exactly what you're talking about.  I'm sorry this is kind of a short one.  But I'll be talking with you soon, so hopefully that makes up for it.  I love you, and I'll talk to you soon.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

Just a couple pictures today of the view from my area.  This is one thing I love about the smaller towns here, they always have great views.

Holidays

Hola,

Well, another week has come and gone.  This week we had the holiest day in Mexico, the birthday of the Mexican mother of Christ.  This year the party was actually pretty calm.  Last year we had to be in our house at 6, this year we went to the super Catholic town in our area at about 7.  There were people partying, but nothing like last year.

As far as news goes, there's not too much to report.  And I don't have too much time, so it's going to be a quick one.  We found a couple new investigators in said Catholic town, Cocotitlan.  One in particular, Arely, is pretty golden.  She accepted the Restoration pretty well, and we'll see what happens with her.  Other than that, we had the dedication of the Tijuana temple this Sunday instead of the normal services.  The cultural ceremony was a bit unorganized, but they seemed to have fun doing it, which is good I guess.  The actual dedication was good.  President Uchtdorf and Elder Oaks came to do it.  All in all it was a good dedication. 

That's about it for news from here.  I hope you have a nice Christmas break.  I still don't know where/when I will be calling on Christmas, but I'll let you know.  

I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

December Already

Hola,

Well, another week has come and gone here in Chalco.  I can't believe we're already a week into December.  I just barely got used to November.  I also can't believe that in a couple of weeks it will be Christmas.  Two weeks from tomorrow we will be having our mission Christmas party.  And since we have a white elephant every year we got the usual shmeel today from the zone leaders about the type of gifts we can bring.  Basically, the majority of the gifts are something funny instead of something useful.  Things like Catholic saints and pineapples.  (The last one is a mission joke.  And I might be guilty of giving a pineapple last year.)  So basically they told us that it has to be something useful that costs at least 100 pesos.  I'm sure there will still be a lot of joke gifts.  I'm considering doing a combination.

Other than that, things are pretty much the same around here.  We had a seventy, Elder Toris, come visit the mission.  He talked about the importance of, and the way to work with members, among other things.  President Crickmore also gave us a surprise announcement.  Starting in January, the boundaries of the mission are going to change.  We will be losing two stakes, Meyehualco and Ixtapaluca.  And we will be receiving three new stakes in the city of Cuautla, in the state of Morelos.  He said that the missionaries will not be changing missions, just the boundaries.  It will be kind of sad to see the two stakes go, since I've served in both of them.  But who knows, maybe they send me out to Cuautla to finish my mission.  Other than that, no big news.  We've had some interesting lessons these last couple of weeks.  We have an investigator named Pilar who is a Jehovah's Witness, who is actually progressing pretty well.  But we've had to study up on the bible in order to be able to teach her.  But we've managed to get her to accept a Book of Mormon, and she came to church yesterday, which is a good sign.  Other than her, we found an interesting Investigator this past week name Itzel.  She doesn't profess any religion in particular, but her beliefs are more buddhist than anything else.  Including the fact that she is the second person in my entire mission I've met who believes in reincarnation.  The first lesson was interesting, but we'll see what she says in the next one.

That's about it for news from here. 

I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

Dia de Accion de Gracias

Hola,

I have now reached the height of the Chalco experience.  I am currently in the Chalco ward, in the Chalco stake, in Chalco, in the Chalco Mission.  My new companion is named Elder Sanchez.  He's from Coahuila, a state in the north of Mexico.  We get along pretty well so far.  He happens to be going home the same day as I do, which is cool.  The new area is good, though it's a bit small.  It's close to everything though, which is a plus.  We have a small section of Chalco called La Conchita, and a town just outside of Chalco called Cocotitlan.  We both got here on Tuesday, so we've been getting to know the area more than anything this week.  It's kind of strange being in this area, since it's where the stake center is.  And we often have meetings in the stake center as a mission, so we pass through this area very often.  So it's an interesting experience working in this area.

As far as news this week, not too much to report.  We had an interesting lesson with an investigator on Friday.  She's an ex Jehovah's Witness, and still holds on to a lot of their teachings.  When we got there she said she didn't want to know anything about the Book of Mormon.  So we taught her about the Book of Mormon.  XD  It actually went pretty well.  We explained, using the bible, the importance of the Book of Mormon, and in the end she accepted a copy to read.  The next big obstacle is the hardest one: Jehovah is Jesus Christ.  We'll see how everything goes with that.  Other than that, not too much to report.

I'm glad you guys had a good Thanksgiving, or día de acción de gracias in Spanish.  (I don't really like that name.  It's a real mouthfull.  I just thought you might want to know, so there it is.)  We had a normal day on Thursday.  I'm looking forward to a real Thanksgiving dinner next year.  I'm glad your problems with the student teacher are over.  I hope everything goes OK for you these last few weeks.  Just remember that Christmas break is right around the corner.

I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

Changes - 11th area!

Hola,

Well, as you said, change is in the air.  And as you said, we have had changes.  Elder Jones is going to Canada, and I'm going to a different area in Chalco.  (I just love packing soooo much.)  As of yet, I don't know where I'll be going, but I promise that it won't be Africa.  Maybe Japan though.  You never know.  If you're keeping track, you'll know that this will be my eleventh area, which is a lot.  Like always, I know that the Lord has his reasons for everything, so I know there are people I need to meet and experiences I need to have in my new area.

Other than that, things are more or less the same here.  We had a good last week of the cycle, in particular because we helped organize an activity on Saturday.  We did a version of the Iron Rod activity, which basically involves putting up a rope and making the people follow it blindfolded.  It turned out well, and we had a good turn out.  We also got some good participation from the leadership of the ward, which can sometimes be hard to do.  Other than that, nothing new really happened.

That's about it for me this week.  I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

No Snow in November

Hola,

Well, another week has come and gone here in Mexico.  I still can't believe it's November because it's been hot the entire month.  We've been floating around the 80s, and the sun has been strong.  It's not bad, but it's weird, since I'm used to seeing snow in November.  It's even worse for Elder Jones, since he's from Canada, where they're used to seeing snow in October.  It's going to be weird for him in a week when he's on his way home.

Other than the heat, this has been an interesting week.  I got a bit sick Monday Night, so we lost Tuesday while I was recovering.  (I'm better now, so don't worry.)  Other than that, things are more or less the same on the investigator front.  Which means we don't have much.  I guess our area has had some pretty serious problems with disobedient Elders (And disobedient bishops.  This ward has had a rough time.), that have made it difficult on our end.  It kind of goes to show you the long term effects our decisions can have.  Sometimes we don't even realize everything that our actions can cause.  And I'm sure we won't be the last Elders to have to deal with these outcomes.  It is a bit frustrating having to deal with the consequences of somebody else's actions, but I guess we're helping repair the damage made.  But I feel like it's going to be a long process.  So, I'm just trying to do all I can to help anybody who will accept my help, and I'll let the Lord take care of the rest.

Other than the lack of work, we had a good week.  We had Stake Conference this weekend, which was OK.  I didn't really like that in the Saturday Night session all of the people giving talks started asking questions to the congregation.  I feel like that's OK in some circumstances, but not in a Stake Conference.  But it was good.  President Crickmore came on Sunday, and compared eating tacos to sharing the gospel in his talk, which I feel got through to the members a bit.  Today we had a exercise day for the mission, which was fun.  We got German jerseys, which came out pretty good.  We didn't win, but we didn't lose as bad as my zone did the last time we had one of these.  Not too many injuries this time either, which is pretty good.  One zone learned the Haka to perform it at the beginning (Which isn't as impressive when you don't have a single polinesian.), and then we beat them at soccer and volleyball.  So, it was a good day all in all.

That's about it for news from here.  And I did in fact know it was veteran's day on Wednesday, because they also celebrate it in Canada.  But they call it rememberance day or something like that.  And apparently everybody where's a poppy, and if you don't you're a terrible person.  Basically, I've learned a lot about Canadian culture this cycle.  (Apparently their version of 911 is like 20 numbers long.  They litterally have a song that they learn to remember it all.)

That's it for me this week. I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

Zone Conference

Hola,

This is probably going to be a quick one, since I don't have too much time to write.  Today we've been running around from one end of the mission to the other.  It was a good day though.  We had zone conference today in the morning, which was good for a zone conference.  Then we went clear to the end of the mission to a little town called Juchitepec so that Elder Jones could say goodbye to some people.  The town is out by Amecameca so it's pretty beautiful.  They also gave us a ton to eat, so that's good.  Then we came back to our area, where we are throwing a thank you party for our ward mission leader.

This week was good.  We found another investigator to teach, but she left today to visit her daughter for two weeks.  But she's pretty interested, so we'll see what happens when she comes back.  Other than that, things are more or less the same here.

I'm glad to hear that things are going good for you.   As far as the living arrangements go, it's a pretty nice apartment.  And it has hot running water, which is a plus here.  (One of the other companionships in my district just received water after a week without any.)

Sorry this is a short one.  I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love

Elder Samuel Long

Dia de Los Muertos

Hola,

First off, I'm glad to hear Sarah and Lori are OK.  I do pray for you, but I'll be putting some more emphasis on it from now on.  Dia de los muertos is pretty good.  We acctually have a town in our mission that's pretty famous for dia de los muertos, called Mixquic.  And we got permission to go, so I'm writing you from there.  It's pretty interesting.  One of the central atractions is the church cemetary, that's full of flowers that people have put there.  There's also a ton of people selling different things, most of which have something to do with a skeleton.  It's all very cool in a kind of creepy way.  I've got lots of pictures to send you this week.  I guess it will only keep getting busier today, but we won't be able to see the really big stuff, since it starts pretty late.  Still, I'm glad I got to see it before I go, since it's a very Mexican holiday.

Other than that, this was a good week.  We found a new family to teach, and they seem pretty interested.  In particular the son is very interested.  At the end of the first lesson, he asked what he would need to do to be a missionary.  We'll see what happens with them, but they seem pretty interested so far.  It's the family Sanchez Piña if you want to pray for them.  Other than them we keep looking, but I know that there are more people waiting for us, so we'll just have to keep working to find them.  Other than that, not too much to report.  Elder Jones and I get along very well, and it helps when we go through some dry spells here.  The house we live in is one of the better ones I've had in the mission, so that's nice.  So far nothing too crazy with animals, other than a dog that tried to bite me the other day.  Nothing happened though, so don't worry about it.

It sounds like you guys had a nice trip down south.  I saw some of the pictures from Sarah and Dad.  It sure is pretty there.  It's pretty here as well, but it's a very different pretty.  Still, I'm sure I'll miss it when I go back home.

That's about it for me.  I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

Hurricane Patricia

Hola,

First things first, the hurricane.  We didn't really get anything from the hurricane, just some wind and a light sprinkling.  From what I've heard, we're pretty safe from hurricanes here, since we're at about 7,000 feet elevation.  If I were in a coastal state there would be a bit more to worry about, but even then, hurricanes give a lot of warning.  So don't worry too much about me here.

Other than that, things are pretty normal around here.  We had interviews with President Crickmore on Saturday, which are good because Sister Crickmore always makes brownies.  Other than that, there's not too much to report.  It's been kind of hard to find investigators here in this area, so we're working on that now.  We've found a couple of people, but so far not too many people that are going to progress.  The members do want to work with us, the biggest problem is the lack of people to teach.  We did see a dog fall off a roof this week, and that's news I guess.  (A lot of people have their dogs on their roof since they don't have a yard to put them in.  (The dog survived, and got up and walked and everything.))

That's about it for news from me this week.  I'm sorry it's kind of short this week.  I'm glad you had fun in the fall party.  And give Sydney my congratulations.  

I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

Back to Chalco

If you haven't read my other letter, this one won't make that much sense.

Hola,

Don't freak out!  I'm not in Africa.  (You might have even been able to figure that out by youself.  I realized that I sent the other email at about midnight in Africa.)  The ostrich lives in front of the house of the zone leaders in my last area.  I've been sent back to Chalco, in a ward called Xico.  (The x sounds like h in that name.)  My new companion is Elder Jones.  He's from Alberta Canada.  This is his last cycle/transfer in the mission.  I got thinking about it recently, and he's my twelth companion I've had.  But I've yet to have two companions from the same place.  Nor have I had a companion from Utah.  (And that's considering the fact that I've had five American companions.)  So far he and I get along pretty well.  My new area is good.  We've got some work to do here, but I know that the Lord is preparing the way for us here.

As far as this week goes, it's been good, but full of changes.  I got a "nice" welcoming present on Tuesday.  We came to our area in combi from the mission offices, and while we were on the way, we came to a group of cops.  They stopped the combi, opened the door and said, "All of the men out of the combi."  So we got out, and one of the cops, a woman to make it even better, told my companion and I to stand with our faces to the combi, then proceeded to check for weapons.  (Or "groped us" to use Elder Jones' words.)  Then they let us get back on and continue on our way.  It was just an interesting experience that I kind of hope to not have again.  Other than that, I've just been getting to know the people here.  The ward mission leader is pretty good here, which always helps a lot.  As of yet I don't know too many people, but I'll let you know as things go on.

That's about it for news for me this week.  It sound's like you had a good week there.  I'm glad you had a good stake conference.  You'll have to let me know if there was space for everybody, and if not what those who didn't have a spot did.

That's it for me this week.  I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

P.S.  You'll have to let me know if my little joke got you for a second.

Changes ;)

Hello,

I sent my letter from last week.  I hope it get's through this time.  If it did, then you'll know that I got changes this week.  I just didn't realize how drastic they were going to be.  I'll give you a hint about my new area:

This is the view from my new house.  I've been sent to the Kenya Nairobi mission.  I don't know exactly why, but there was a pretty serious situation with one of the elders from my new mission, so he and I changed places.

I don't have too much time to write, since the internet conection isn't very good here.  I'm going to send you this so you know that I'm OK, and I'll try to get another letter through if I can.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

BAPTISM!

Hola,

Well, if you've been keeping track, you'll realize that six weeks have come and gone.  And that can mean one thing:  changes.  And this time I'm the one who has changes.  Like always, they don't tell us where we are going, so I'll let you know next week where they've sent me.  I'm glad that I got to stay for a few months here, and I'm sad to have to say goodbye.  But I know that God has people prepared for me in my new area.

As far as this week goes, it was pretty good.  The big news is that Nazario did get baptized.  I'm glad I was able to be a part of his conversion, and I know the Lord has big plans for him.  I also know that he's in good hands here.  It was a good baptism, and it started on time.  (Almost.  A couple minutes late, but that's nothing for baptisms here.  I saw one that started an hour and a half late.  In comparison, this one started early.)  Other than that, we've been working with a couple other families.  One less active family in particular has started to change recently.  Their daughter is going to get baptized this next Saturday, and they are making plans to enter in the temple.  So, I won't be here, but if you want to you could pray for them.  The family is the Vega Flores family, and the daughter's name is Anel.  They're good people, and they've started back on the right path, so they could use some support.

That's about it for news this week.  I never know what to write when the changes come, since next week I'll be talking about completely different people.  Hopefully next week I'll have more to tell you about.

As far as ponderizing goes, this last week my scripture was Words of Mormon 1:7.  (Yep, Words of Mormon.  When I told the other elders about it, Elder Robinson said, "I didn't know there were good scriptures in Words of Mormon.)  I focused on the last part: And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.  I really like this scripture, in particular since I'm going to a new area tomorrow.  Whatever is going to happen, I know that it will the will of the Lord.

That's about it for me this week.  I'm glad you had a good trip with dad.  Hopefully you can do something fun for UEA.

I love you and I'll write you next week, from who knows where.

Love,
Elder Samuel Long

Here’s a picture from Nazario’s baptism.  Mexicans still don’t know how to smile in pictures.

Pineapple icecream, served in a hollowed out pineapple.  Genious!  And tasty.

General Conference

Hola,

Well, another week has come and gone.  This week was pretty good, especially because it was conference.  I really did enjoy the conference, but it was weird without the presence of Elder Perry, Scott, and President Packer.  I hope we've seen all the changes we're going to see for the next couple of years.  Still, I know God has his purposes for everything he does.  And I can see that the new apostles have been prepared for their callings.  In particular Elder Rasband.  As I was looking at the list wondering who would be called, he was one of the ones that really stuck out to me.  I know that God has great things in store for them, and I just pray that he supports them in what has to be the hardest calling in the church.

As far as news, Nazario, the golden investigator, is going to get baptized this Saturday.  I'd like to ask you to include him in your prayers so that he can resist temptation until then.  He's had problems with alcohol in the past, and I know that Satan will be doing all he can to make him fall in this week.  That's the big news for this week.

The time is passing me by, so I'm afraid this is going to have to be a short one.  I also loved Elder Holland's talk, and Elder Bednar's.  I'm glad to hear everything has worked out well with the car situation.  I hope everything keeps working out OK for you.

I love you, and I promise I'll write a better letter next week.  We kept busy today, so I didn't have as much time as I would like.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

Zone Conference

Hola,

Well, here we are again.  I guess the news about the blood moon didn't get to us here, since this is the first I've heard about it.  But this week has been between rainy and overcast all the time, so we wouldn't have been able to see it anyways.  Still, it sounds like it was fun, and I'm glad you had desert to go with it.  I do miss pie.  I haven't eaten it for a long time.

As far as my week goes, it was kind of busy.  They told us last Sunday that our zone was going to have a musical number in the multi-zone conference on Wednesday (multi-zone being the entire mission this time around).  So Sunday night we had to go to the farthest chaple possible in the zone to choose a song and practice.  (We went there because that's the chaple of the zone leaders.)  That took up pretty much all of the time on Sunday.  Then on Monday we stayed after the district meeting to practice.  Then Tuesday came.  Since the conference took place in Amecameca, about as far as possible from where I'm currently serving, we went to stay the night in the mission house, although it's usually known as the casa naranja, or orange house.  (Guess what color it is.)  But they decided to change the time that we were going to meet up to an hour earlier to practice some more.  Then we spent all day in Amecameca Wednesday for the conference.  On the way back one of the other elders assured me that he knew a better way to get home.  He didn't.  After getting a bit lost by the airport (A bit being figurative.  We didn't end up in a different state at the very least.) we finally made it back to our area at about 7:00, having eaten nothing but a muffin, a granola bar, an apple and a juice box (Yay for elementary school snacks!).  So, by the time Thursday came around, we were all a bit fried.  Needless to say, I'm a bit happy to have had a break today.  Not that this week was bad, just hectic.  I enjoyed the mult-zone conference.  They talked about a talk given by Elder Bednar called Becoming a Preach My Gospel missionary.  Basically he gives five points of how to do this, which are: Understanding and knowing who we serve, being worthy, treasuring the words of eternal life, recognizing that the Spirit is the true teacher, and teaching by observing, listening, discerning, and finally speaking.  It's worth the time to read the talk, since it can apply to all of us as members.  Anyways, basically they talked about these parts and about how we can apply them to our situations.  Oh, and as far as our musical number, we decided to sing a version of Be Still My Soul.  In English.  XD  (More than anything, we sang it in English because it doesn't exist in Spanish.)  It came out pretty good.  There were three musical numbers, and the other two were versions of different hyms sung to the tune of Come thou fount, so I'm glad we did something different.

That's about it for news this week.  I'm glad to hear everything turned out OK for Suzette.  It goes to show the power of prayer.  I hope everthing turns out OK with your conferences.  If the parents say you're too easy of a teacher, tell them that you can assign 10 pages of homework every night if they'd prefer.  (That's why I would not be a good teacher.)  I hope everything turns out OK with the car situation as well.  At the very least you don't have five people that need to go to different places.  Four is still kind of hard though.

That's it for me.  I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

 

Random hills, that looked cool in Mexico City.

Happy Mexican Independence Day!

Hola,

This was a pretty good week.  We survived the 15th, which is good news I guess.  I guess the famous battle of the 15th started at 11:00 pm, so that's when everyone starts lighting off their fireworks.  It's a pretty good representation of a war, because there are explosions on all sides.  Since it's kind of hard to sleep with that kind of noise, we decided to go up to the roof to see the view, which was pretty impressive.  We could see the big show they had in the city center, in a part called Zocalo.  Other than that we stayed in the house talking.  Pretty boring for the biggest party of the year.  Other than that, it was a pretty normal week.  We keep working with Nasario, and he's progressing very well.  Other than him, we've started to work with one of the neices of the Relief Society president, Anel.  She's basically an active member except that she's not been baptized.  I honestly didn't know until recently that she wasn't a member.  Her parents are inactive, and neither shows signs of returning to the church any time soon.  So she prepares herself and goes to church by herself.  She's even gone the extra step of waking up her cousins, who live in front of her, so that they get ready as well.  If all goes according to plan, she should be able to get baptized the week after General Conference.  And hopefully she'll be a positive influence for her family to return to the church.

Other than that, things are about the same here.  It sounds like you had a pretty hectic week again.  Hopefully things calm down soon.  But I'm pretty sure the church is still true, so I'm with you there.

I think that's about it for me this week.  I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

I've been a slacker for pictures, but here's a random selfie we took while eating on Tuesday.

Temple Dedication

Hola,

 

Another week has passed me by it seems.  This week was pretty good, although things are starting to get that kind of crazy look to them that can only mean one thing: a party.  I don't know if you remember from last year, but September 15th, and not May 5th, is the big patriotic holiday here in Mexico.  (Seriously, nothing happened May 5th.  It was actually a very calm day.)  For the last couple of weeks everyone has been getting ready.  Here that means putting up a flag and lighting off fireworks.  They love their fireworks here.  They're always looking for a reason to use them, and if they don't find one they use them anyways.  The big day is tomorrow, so we have to be inside at 6.  If it's anything like last year, it will be hard to sleep.  They used so many fireworks last year that it sounded like a warzone.  And now I'm in the capital of Mexico.  I imagine it's a bit crazier here.  I guess we'll see tomorrow.

 

Other than that, things are more or less the same here.  The obvious news is the temple rededication.  As always, it was beautiful.  On Saturday they had the cultural activity, which was a play about the church in Mexico.  It was nice, but a lot smaller than some that they have done for other temples.  In part it's because it's only been about 7 years since the last rededication of the temple, and the last time they did a huge production.  Still, it was a nice production.  It was narrated from the view point of a man who learned about the church in 1974.  He and his wife had a son who died when he was 9 years old.  In the end the only reminder that they had of him was a small gold coin that he always carried around with him.  Short time after this, his wife met the missionaries, and in the end they were baptized and sealed in the Mesa Arizona temple, which was the closest temple at the time.  While this is happening, he shares the story of the church in Mexico, starting with the occurances of the Book of Mormon, then moving on to the events of this dispensation.  He talked about all of the things that lead up to the translation of the Book of Mormon to Spanish, and the growth of the church here, all of which lead up to the construction of the temple in Mexico City.  In the end, the couple decides to donate the gold coin to the funds to construct the temple, because they've developed the faith necessary to make that sacrifice.  As far as the rededication goes, it was also beautiful.  We could only go to one of the three sessions, but the one that we could go to was good.  President Eyring and Elder Holland came, as well as the area presidency.  I particularly enjoyed the talk by Elder Holland.  He surprised me by starting and ending his talk in Spanish.  He spoke about the importance of the importance of the coming of Elijah as predicted in Malachi.  In particular he talked about the version given by Moroni when he appeared to Joseph Smith.  He talked about the fact that Elijah came meant that all priesthood ordinances, not just sealings, can take place.  Basically, without that athority, none of them would be relevant in heaven.  He said that that makes it one of the most important days in all of human history, not just in our dispensation.  This is the time when God is completeing all his promises.  Without the authority restored by Elijah, almost all of the people born in the earth would have absolutely no chance at salvation.  He also talked about another difference in the version of Moroni, where he says the promise of the children unto the fathers will be planted in their hearts.  He said that this refers to the premortal life, in which we promised our ancestors that we would do all in our power to give them their chance at salvation.  Part of the reason we build temples is to complete with this very promise.  When he said that, it really struck me.  It made me think a lot about the reason we put so much emphasis in family history work, in missionary work, and in temple work.  All of it has at its roots this promise that we made to those we loved in a time long past.  It made me want to do all I can to move these works along, to be a better missionary.  I feel that there are people that I promised to find, waiting for me here, and I want to help them.

 

Other than that, things are about the same.  We haven't found too many new investigators, but we're working hard.  We did find a new couple, but I don't think too much will come from them right now.  When we knocked, they let us in, but while we talked with the husband, the wife layed in her bed watching a very old movie telling the story of Juan Diego and the Virgen of Guadalupe.  It was kind of akward, but in the end they said we could come back if we wanted too, but they didn't want to make an appointment.  We'll probably go back one more time just to see what happens.  But that's about it for new here.

 

It sounds like things are pretty hectic for you guys.  (Did you see what I did there?)  I hope things calm down soon.  Congratulate Matt for me.

 

That's about it for me.  I love you, and I'll write you next week.

 

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

9/7/2015

Hola,

Well, here we are again.  The time keeps flying by, and I feel that every Monday is a bit closer to the last.  This week was a bit strange for the changes.  My new companion is Elder Santos, from Veracruz.  He has about 4 1/2 months in the mission, so he's still got that new missionary smell.  He's 22 years old, and has been a member for about 2 1/2 years, so he still kind of has that recent convert smell as well.  He's a good guy and a good missionary, so this should be a fun cycle.  We also got two new additions to the house and the ward, Elder Robinson, from Washington, and Elder Gomez, also from Veracruz.  It's been pretty fun so far with the four of us together, but very different from the last cycle.  I think I mentioned in my last letter that they joined the two zones in the stake I'm in, and so they took the Zone leaders out of our ward and put two normal missionaries in their place.  If not, I did now.  So, it's different more than anything because they aren't zone leaders.  Don't get me wrong, there were some good things about living with the zone leaders (Imagine insider stock trading, but with changes in the mission in the place of changes in businesses.), but it does put a bit more pressure on a missionary living with all of his leaders.  It could be worse though.  There was a time when the Chalco ward had six missionaries:  the assitants, the zone leaders, the district leader, and his companion.  There's some pressure for you.  Now the zone leaders are in a different ward, so it's a bit lighter.

As far as news goes for this week, it's pretty light.  Nasario, the golden investigator, is still going strong.  He's changed a ton since the first time I met him.  When he came to live with his brother, he was unhealthy spiritually and fisically.  The first time I talked to him I could hardly understand a word he said, and he could barely walk.  Now he seems a lot more confident.  He speaks strongly, walks with purpose, if not very fast.  Basically he's changed incredibly.  Other than that, things are about the same as far as investigators go.  The only other bit of news is that President Crickmore came to our ward on Sunday to speak with the members.  He was a bit direct about their purpose in missionary work.  (Just an FYI, among the missionaries here, it's common to use planchar to refer to being direct, usually without compassion.  Planchar litterally means to iron, I guess because that's how it makes you feel afterwards, like you've been ironed.  Even speaking in English they use it frecuently, usually changing it to planch.  So, if I use that at some point in the future, you know what I mean.  More than anything I put this because I almost used it at this point.)  It was a pretty good lesson, and took the place of Sunday school and priesthood/relief society, and it's nice to have a change of pace every once in a while.

That's about it for news from me.  I feel this is kind of a short one.  I'll try to write more later.  I did get the package.  I needed some new socks pretty bad, so I was happy to see it.  Oh, and Elder Santos likes the mint patties.  I've never seen them here, so they were a good choice.  Oh, and yay for Labor Day.  I honestly had no idea that it was Labor Day.  Still, I'm glad you get a little break.  Hope you enjoy it.

That's it for me this week.  I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Long

8/31/2015

Hola,

Well, if you've been keeping count, you've probably realized that six weeks have come and gone, and that can only mean one thing, changes.  Things have been changing pretty drastically here the last couple of months.  At the start of this year we had over 180 missionaries.  If I'm not mistaken this cycle we'll have about 150.  Needless to say, they've been closing a lot of areas.  In fact, it seems that they are going to be combining our zone with another.  So they're taking out both of the zone leaders from our ward and they are going to be putting in two normal missionaries.  Elder Cory also has changes, and is going to Chalco.  And that leaves me.  Yep, as weird as it seems, I'm staying for another cycle here in Buena Vista, making it my area where I've lasted the longest.  And I have to guide everybody a bit, since I'm the only one with time here in the ward.  As of yet, I don't know who I'm going to be with, but I'll let you know what happens.  I must admit, I am happy that I get to stay a bit longer here.  And I'm glad that I don't have to pack my suitcases.

Other than that, everything is pretty much the same here.  We went to the temple again on Wednesday, and it's still beautiful.  This time the tour seemed about half as long as the first time.  The guide hardly talked this time through.  Still, it was a good trip.  We also found a couple more investigators this week.  The Lord, it seems, is sending a bunch of non-member family members to live with members of the ward.  One couple came this week from Guerrero, a state to the south of where we are.  They decided to change due to some cartel problems, and needed to choose between two relatives, the brother or the sister of the wife.  They ended up coming to live with her brother, who happens to be the only member in his family.  They seem pretty interested, and came to church this week, so we'll see what happens with them.  Another man came to live with his brother and sister in law last week.  He is one of those golden investigators dipped in platinum and topped off with some diamonds.  He has come two weeks in a row to church, and says that he enjoys it a lot.  We had a church tour (I think that's what they call it in English.  It's visita guiada in Spanish.) with him this week, and he asked us if we have hot water for the baptismal font.  Jokingly we said that we don't, that we baptize in ice water.  He said that he was OK with that, so it seems he wants to get baptized.  I'll keep you updated on what happens with them.

That's about it for news from me this week.  I hope things calm down for you soon in school.  And if you have to do jury duty, remember that he's guilty of something, so you can just vote guilty.  (That's actually a terrible idea.  That's why they've never put me on jury duty.  And the fact that I'm currently in Mexico.)  Follow the facts and the spirit I guess.

Ok, that's about it for me.  I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

8/24/2015

Hola,

Surprise!  It looks like the powers that be (AKA the area presidency) have spoken, and for the time being at least we can no longer receive permission to leave the mission.  So, we didn't get to leave today.  But we did find a faster route to get to walmart, so that's a good thing I guess.  I'm just glad I got the chance to leave a couple of times before this happened at least.

Other than that, this week was pretty good.  Except that Elder Cory got sick for a couple of days and we couldn't leave the house.  We did get to go to the temple on Wednesday though, so that's good.  It's pretty beautiful inside.  But now that I've been inside, it was a bit weird to go through in normal clothing.  It was also weird since our guides were a sister missionary and her mom.  I don't know how that turned out, but it would be weird for me to work with dad as a missionary.  Still, it was a nice experience, and as always I could feel the spirit strongly there.  it was such a good experience in fact, that we will be going again this Wednesday.  Hopefully this time without sickness.

Other than that, this was a pretty normal week.  We had a pretty interesting lesson yesterday with some new investigators.  The sister has family members who are members, including her mom and a sister who just recieved her mission call to Yucatan.  She enjoys the church, and would probably be a member if not for one thing:  she's deaf.  The christian church where her and her husband attend has a translater and many deaf members.  Her family and one sister can translate, but she would still be the only deaf member in the ward.  Still, she is willing to keep learning if her husband is.  Her husband is also interested, and they came to church yesterday.  We had spoken with him once before, and he has some different beliefs.  Still, yesterday he seemed much more open to listen.  We taught part of the restoration, and when we started to talk about prophets, he asked us how he could recognize a true prophet.  Questions like that make me happy.  We explained the scripture in Mathew 7 that says that we will know them for their fruits.  We then explained that we will recognize the fruits as we try them and ask for the guidance of God.  He has listened to the missonaries before, so he has a Book of Mormon and has heard of Joseph Smith before, so we invited him to read and pray.  He said that he will do it, and he seemed pretty interested.  So, we'll see what comes.

That's about it for news from me this week.  Mexico beat you, school didn't start until today here.  There were certainly a lot more people in the street than there normally are.  School being in is both good and bad for us.  Good because a lot more people are here, but bad because often the people are a bit busier.  That's OK though, we still keep busy.  It also sounds like you had a pretty fun party for dad, and I hope you have a fun one for Sarah today.  I also hope you have a good school year.  I also hope Lori survives Calculus 2.  She'll do fine I'm sure.

That's it for me this week.  I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

8/17/2015

Hola,

Well, another week has come and gone.  This week was pretty good.  Everyone is pretty excited since the temple open house started on Friday.  The stake where I'm serving will be going four times in total, two times this Wednesday, the 19th, and two times the next Wednesday, the 26th.  We've already signed up to go both days with investigators.  Like I said, we're all pretty excited for that.  The dedication isn't until the 13th of September, so there's about a month of open house.  They've also announced that they are going to have a special tour next Sunday for women and their daughters ages 12 and up where they are going to take them through the bride's room.  (I have NO idea what that room is called in English.  It's called salon de novias in Spanish.)  So, I'll have nothing to do with that.  Just thought I would let you know.

Other than that, things are more or less the same here.  I think I mentioned our investigator Martin last week.  If not, we have an investigator named Martin.  Anyways he is coming allong pretty well.  He came to church for the first time yesterday, and signed up to go to the temple on the 26th with us.  He also reads the Book of Mormon a lot.  The last time we talked with him he had read up to 1 Nephi 8.  It was a bit funny when he was talking about what he had read.  When he talked about Lehi's vision, he called him 'aquel cuate', which would be 'that one dude' roughly translated.  Did I mention he's a 60 year old man? 

Other than that, things are more or less the same here.  It's looking like the rest of this month will be pretty busy for us here.  As far as Nick goes, the best way to get the package to me would probably be to get it to the offices of the mission.  I'm pretty sure you guys have that adress since you've sent me letters and packages there.

Well, that's about it for me this week.  I'm pretty jealous of your trip to Bear Lake.  I hope you enjoyed a raspberry shake for me.  I'm also jealous of the stars.  It's funny, but a giant city like this tends to have too much light polution, and normal polution, to be able to see all but the brightest stars.  I had not heard that they're going to remodel the Jordan River temple.  It seems like they're remodeling temples more and more frequently recently.  I'm also glad that they're treating you nice this time around in your district meeting.

OK, that's it for me this week.  I love you, and I'll talk to you later.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long