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