Activity and Investigators

Hola,

Another week has come and gone, and the time keeps going faster and faster.  This week was pretty good.  We had an activity on Saturday with the two wards in our chaple.  We were going to have a tour for investigators and less active members, but in the end it changed into a family home evening about the family.  It turned out OK, but it could have been better.  Part of the problem is that the leaders of the wards decided to assign the lesson to two youth, a young man and a young woman.  It wasn't bad, but between the two of them it lasted about five minutes.  It also started about an hour late.  Still, it was fun, and a nice opportunity for the members to get to know the other ward a bit better.  It was also fun to work with the other elders, in particular since they are part of a different zone.  (There are some weird zone divisions here. In Ixtapaluca the missionaries in the same ward are in different zones.)  All in all, it turned out well.

Other than that, this week was pretty good.  We had a lesson with a new investigator, Adriana, that was pretty interesting.  We met with her in the house of a family with a daughter who is preparing for a mission.  It went pretty good, in particular because she had some good questions.  For example, Elder Cory asked her about her belief in God.  When he asked why she believed in God, she gave us her answer, then turned the question on us, asking why we believe in God.  It was a bit of a surprise, since that's the first time that's happened in my mission.  But it was also really good because it gave us the chance to testify about the blessings we have recieved from God.  She also asked us where the devil came from, which is another one we don't get to often.  She seemed pretty interest though, so we'll see how everything turns out.  Other than her, we keep working with Guillermo and Lizbeth.  They are coming along pretty well.  They came to church yesterday, and seemed to enjoy themselves.  The only thing that worries me a bit with them is that Guillermo has told us that he likes to drink.  Still, the Lord can help anyone overcome anything if they have the desire.

Other than that, things are more or less the same right now.  As far as my health goes, everything is good.  I'm trying to take care of myself, and I feel fine.  (Except for a bit of stomach pains yesterday.  It's possible that we decided to eat some habaneros.)  I promise I'll let you know if something big happens, so if I don't tell you anything, it meens that everything is alright.

That's about it for me this week.  It seems that things are pretty good for you guys right now.  

That's about it for me.  I love you, and I'll talk to you later.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

In a shocking turn of events - NO CHANGES!

Hola,

Well, here we are again.  Another six weeks have come and gone, although I still can't really believe it, and the changes have come.  So, I'll just give it to you straight.  We've had a pretty rare occurance.  Elder Cory and I are staying together.  It's weird not having changes, but I'm pretty happy with it.  And in the house only Elder Tlachi has changes.  He's going to Ixtapaluca to train a new missionary.  Elder Cowdin will be recieveing a new Zone Leader, Elder De La Vega.  He was in Independencia with me, and he's a good missionary, so it should be fun.  Other than that, every companionship in our zone had changes, including two companionships of sister missionaries in which both missionaries have changes.  So Elder Cory and I are the enigma this time around.

Other than that, things are pretty normal around here.  We had an investigator come to church on Sunday who's deaf.  Her sister and mother are members, and they translated for her.  We've taught her a couple of times, but it's difficult since neither of us speaks sign language.  Oh, and her husband is christian and has some weird beliefs.  Still, it was good to see her there.  Other than that, things are more or less the same here.  The two wards that meet in our chaple are planning a tour of the chaple this Saturday, so we'll see how that turns out.  If the people come it should be pretty good.  The plan is that the members will be doing most of the teaching, which will be a nice little break.

That's about it for me this week.  Sorry it's a short one today, I just can't think of much to say.  I'll try to write more next week.

It sounds like things are going good for you guys there.  I think you're right.  If Lily's kissing and tail wagging still work, things are pretty good in the world.  I love you, and I'll talk to you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

Saying goodbye to Elder Tlachi with Hermana Tomasa.  The other Elders are Elder Darcy and Elder Faz.  They both go home on Wednesday, so they came to say goodbye to some people in their old areas.  Elder Darcy was here in Buena Vista, and Elder Faz was in Cuahtemoc, the other Ward in our chaple.  And Elder Cowdin and Elder Tlachi are in normal clothes because they were washing their clothes.  Hermana Tomasa lets them use her washing machine.

Speaking of Hermana Tomasa, we helped her make gorditas on Saturday.  She had to make 100 for a party, and we went to help her for our Saturday sevice project.

Splits and Investigators

Hola,

Well, another week has come and gone.  (I feel like I've started pretty much every letter like that.  However, when I try to think of something new, I draw a blank.  If you have any ideas, let me know.)  This week was pretty good, although it feels like it went by very fast.  We're entering into the final week of this cycle, and I honestly have no idea what will happen next.  I'm just going to enjoy this last week here with Elder Cory, and if changes come, I'll see what happens then.

As far as this week goes, everything was pretty good.  We found a new couple that are pretty interested.  They came to church yesterday, and they seemed to enjoy it.  The husband in particular seemed to fit in perfectly.  Getting the investigators to come to church is one of the hardest hurdles to pass, so it's a really good sign that they came, and by themselves to top it off.  We'll see what happens with them, but for right now things seem pretty good.  (Their names are Guillermo and Lizbeth in case you were interested.)  Other than that, things are more or less the same.  We had divisions with the zone leaders on Friday, and I went with Elder Cowdin in their area.  He still doesn't know his area very well, so we got a little bit lost a couple of times.  It was still fun though.  The last lesson was pretty interesting.  We went to vist a family they are teaching with the Elders Quorum president.  When we got there, only the wife was in home, so we changed our plan of what we were going to teach.  We started to ask how her prayers were going, in particular if she was asking if the church is true.  She told us that she wasn't, and that she didn't feel like it was necessary.  So we explained the importance, and, after some time, she started to understand.  So we figured we would end with the testimony of Brother Emilio, the president.  He's only been a member about two years, so we figured everything would be great.  Then he started his testimony saying this:  I didn't have to ask God to know that the church was true.  Elder Cowdin said it was like we had spent about a half an hour building a castle, and when we asked the brother to put the finishing touch on it, he proceded to tear the whole thing down.  So we had to spend another 15-20 minutes fixing the situation.  Everything turned out OK, but it could have been better.

That's about it for news from here.  It sounds like everything is going pretty good in home.  I did hear about the supreme court decision.  Although I can't say that I support it, it doesn't surprise me that it happened.  The world is changing fast, and I can't help but feel that the second coming is drawing close.  I suppose that we just need to stay strong through the days that come and know that God is in control.

I love you, and I'll talk to you later.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

Not too many new pictures this week.  Just our personal versión (Mexican Word put the accent mark, and I don’t want to change it.) of William Tell.  Don’t worry, Elder Tlachi is fine.

Meeting w/ the President, Colds and Pictures

Hola,

Well, another week has come and gone.  This week was pretty good, but very busy.  On Tuesday we had interviews with President Crickmore, which always take a ton of time.  (He always puts a time limit, this time it was 10 minutes.  Sister Crickmore sets a timer and knocks when the timer rings.  Then about 10 minutes later the interview ends.)  So, that took up a good part of the day.  And due to a posessed ATM which ate the mission card of Elder Cory, we then had to go to walmart to take out the rent from his new card, which he got in the interview.  And that took up the rest of the day.  The worst part of it was that, even though they said it was, his card wasn't activated.  So we had to go to the offices Thursday in the morning to activate his card, so that we could take out the rent for June.  (Yay. :/)  So that took up a couple more hours.  Then Elder Cory got sick and was in bed all day Saturday.  (We've all gotten a pretty nasty cold now, but it hit him and Elder Tlachi hardest.)  So, we didn't have too much time to work this week.

Still, when we could work, it was a pretty productive week.  We found a couple new investigators that seem pretty interested in the gosple.  We also have a couple that are progressing pretty well.  One in particular is pretty much golden.  Her name is Erika, she's 17 years old, and shes the wife of a less active member.  She understands the lessons very well, she's come to church two times now, and she reads and understands the Book of Mormon.  (She told us that she prays for help understanding, then reads the chapter as many times as she needs to to understand it.  And she's done this since the beginning.  Nobody does that.)  Everything is perfect with her... except that she's moving to the other area in the ward.  (Or to a different ward.  We're still not completely sure.)  So, she'll probably get baptized, but not with us.

That's about it for news from me this week.  It sounds like you had a pretty fun trip to Oregon.  I hope you ate some Mo's for me.  I would love to see a picture of the chart dad made if there is one.  If not, don't worry.  And I'm glad you got a break from cooking for reunions.

That's about it for me.  I got some new shoes today, so that's out of the way for a while.  I love you, and I'll write you next week.

Love,

Elder Samuel Long

P.S. I'm pretty sure you know, but since nobody mentioned it in their letter, President Packer died a couple days ago.  I was pretty surprised when I saw the news today.  It's going to be weird seeing a couple new faces in that group, but that's how it goes.

This is Hermana Tomasa.  She doesn’t like to smile in pictures, because she’s missing a tooth, and because Mexicans don’t smile in pictures.  To her side there’s Elder Cowdin, Elder Cory, and Elder Tlachi.  Needless to say, she takes pretty good care of us.

Yeah, this is why I needed new shoes.

Tacos de saudero, the perfect birthday cake

I mean, look at the joy on Elder Cowdins face.

  

This is how the water comes out in the baptismal font here.  Not the prettiest ever, but it serves it’s purpose.

I’ve decided to go instagram on you, and start sending pictures of food every week.  This week I’ve decided to send you one that you might find a bit weird, patitas de pollo, or chicken feet.  This isn’t the first time I’ve eaten them, but it’s the first time I’ve taken a picture.

Decided to include an after picture this time to prove that I do eat what I’m served.  The thing with chicken feet is that they’re pretty much pure cartalage and gelitine.  Needless to say, it’s a bit weird the first time you eat them.  But they’re not bad once you get used to them.

The cold got the better of Elder Tlachi and Elder Cory.

And here we have an interesting phenomenon of missionary work: sleep praying.