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