Two weeks to go

Hello everyone!

So the big news from this week is that Nallely got baptized!!!! It was so sweet. She didn't pass her interview until the evening of Friday night, so we had to arrange everything in a few short hours and baptize her the next day. It was so sweet. The ward all came together, and they helped us produce a sweet musical number of Peace in Christ, from mutual. It was so cool. My comp baptized her.

Then that Sunday, the sisters from the other ward had a baptism, and my comp did the baptism. It's cool to be able to take part in so many. We are having tons of success here in the zone, and in our area, and we're working really hard, and we're really happy.

Right now I'm writing from Cuautla, here visiting my old converts from Cocoyoc, Brisas, and Zapata, and it's just great. I love everyone so much. I'm gonna send a bunch of photos.

We're playing basketball every morning, and I'm getting a lot better. We're gonna have our mission-wide sports tournament next Monday, so we're stoked practicing in the mornings during our exercise time.

Aside from that I'm just preparing the last couple of things, trying to work hard in my last two weeks to do all I can and finish strong. It's incredible.

Other cool note is that Elder Bednar is going to visit our mission on the 25th, and then we have a special stake conference with him on the 26th, so I'm gonna receive tons of cool revelations from his talk literally like three days before I go home. It's going to be awesome.

I love you guys a ton. I hope y'all have a great week.

Elder William Jacob Long

Super good week!

Hey everybody!!!!

So this week we had the baptism of Elizabeth and Jesus, and it went super well!!!! I'm really excited. We have been working with them for several weeks, since I was with Elder Peralta. Their baptismal service was really spiritual. I baptized Elizabeth, and their close family friend, Brother Geronimo baptized Jesus. It was really cool. I played a special musical number of "Nearer My God to Thee" which was cool as well. They got confirmed on Sunday, and everything went perfectly. They have huge testimonies, and it's just awesome. They want to get sealed in the temple in a year!

Aside from that, we have a great investigator named Nayeli who should be getting baptized this week, and another investigator named Bryan who should get baptized next week. So please keep them in your prayers.

Today, with some other elders from the zone, we watched the movie "Ephraim's Rescue." It's a really good movie about the handcart companies, and I really liked it. It was really nice just relaxing and chilling with friends.

We worked really hard this last week, and we found several families that look really good. I love this work with all my heart. I love seeing people live the gospel. I'm going to miss it a lot.

Other highlight from this week is that I have some new dress shoes to wear to my final interview, and on the plane ride home. Same with a new belt. They look sweet!

Anyways, the photos I've included should be from the baptism. I love you all a ton.

Elder William Jacob Long

These past two weeks

Hey Everybody,

First off I'm sorry for not writing last week. I got permission to go down to one of my favorite and special areas, Tetela, to say goodbye to my converts there. I had special permission because my old comp and super close friend Elder Avalos finished his mission today, so we went up there together with Elder Chischillie. It was really cool. But the problem is that there was no public transport. The combis went on strike that day due to problems with the organized crime there, and we finished up super late. Everything went out of control. But things turned out okay, nothing happened, we just got back late. But I should have lots of great photos.

My new comp is named Elder Skinner. He's a great dude, from Morgan, Utah. He's funny, loves sports, and he's a super hard worker, which is awesome. I'll try to send y'all a photo with him.

This past week was solid. We are preparing two people to get baptized this weekend. Their names are Jesus and Elizabeth, so please keep them in your prayers. They are a young couple, and they are so good. Teaching them is a blast. Hopefully they get baptized soon.

Aside from them, we have some other really solid investigadors that are coming along, so I hope to send home photos of us in white. I'm trying to hang on, to do everything right, and just master the little details in my last couple of weeks here, and it's really gratifying. I feel like I'm progressing a ton, and that makes me happy.

My birthday was really chill. I guess im 21 now. It feels weird. We went out and worked like any other typical day, and then at night, my comp invited me out for a hamburger. It was really nice.

I also got my haircut today. I hadn't cut it in 8 weeks, and it was crazy long. But now it's short, and everything is all good.

So that's the big news as of right now, hope to send some cooler pics next time.

I love you guys a lot.

Elder William Jacob Long

helloooooooooooooooooooo

Hey everybody,

So I'm gonna keep this letter a little short.

Today's been a wild day because my comp is going home tomorrow, so we spent time today doing a going away party, and then visiting converts and we're finally just getting a chance to write.

It's been really trying recently. Really really trying. I think we've gone through the hardest transfer cycle ever. But having an incredible comp has made all of the difference, and I'm going to miss him a ton.

I don't know my new comp too well, but he's going to be my last. His name is Elder Skinner, and he's from a town named Morgan, Utah. From what I've heard, he's a really good guy, hard worker, and that will be really fun, because I like working with people who like to work. So I'm excited for that.

One of the funny moments from this week is that my comp's aunt came up from Argentina to pick him up. So they are gonna head out on Wednesday morning. But she came out to surprise him at our church services yesterday. He was really happy, and they took several photos.

Yesterday we had a fun activity. We did a district meeting bonfire, and we roasted hotdogs. It was really cool. I'm happy because lots of my friends from this zone are staying, so seeing them this last transfer will be really good.

So that is my big news from this week. Next week I'll send photos of my new comp.

Love,

Elder William Jacob Long

Killing It in Ameca

Hello everybody,

This week was filled with tons of great misadventures and lots of good hard work, and was really refreshing.

I think the highlight was Friday. On Friday morning we got to go to our mission home, because our mission president invited us over for hamburgers because we passed our zone goal. It was fun because we got to relax, play some pingpong, and just hang out with our mission president and his wife, who are just absolutely amazing people. We took advantage of the time together as a zone to sit down, have a good heart to heart talk with everyone about last month, and to set our new goals for this month- really good moment. I'm really happy, because we have some great elders and sisters here, that are working super hard.

Aside from that, on Sunday we did divisions to go to all three wards in our area, so I got to sit through two complete church services, which was like a super spiritual overload filled with revelations, meeting new people, taking the sacrament, and just experiencing the beauty of Sunday worship. Big highlight for me as well.

Aside from that, the mission office purchased my return plane tickets, so that's interesting. I guess that means I'm really old now. But they're waiting for the church travel department to send them, so I haven't received it yet. But I will be flying out on August 29th, so save the date.

Today we woke up early to head down to Chalco and turn in all of the baptism documents, the baptism overalls, and lots of other stuff that we've used in the past week. Then we booked it back up here to Ameca to play soccer with the zone for like four hours hahahaha we played for so long. Then we ate some good burgers.

All in all, I would say it's been a really good week. This next week is my companion's last week before he goes home. So he's excited, and working harder than ever. hes such an inspiration for me.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy the photos, they're from the activity we did in our president's house.

Love,

Elder William Jacob Long

This week

Hey Everybody,

Once again, thanks for taking the time to read this letter.

This letter comes from a really distinct place; I'm writing from downtown Cuautla, from one of my favorite old cyber cafes from one of my favorite areas, Zapata. Mt comp is headed home in two weeks, so we got permission to take this p-day to head down to Cuautla and visit some of his old converts, and it's just been the most fun day ever. 

Aside from that, we had a crazy good week this week. We baptized two wonderful people, and we smashed our zone goal for baptisms this month, and frankly, we destroyed the record that has stood for like six years in this zone. So sweet.

We have an awesome zone. Even though we're not the best missionaries, we set prayerful goals as a zone, and worked hard, and we baptized 28 people this month (the record was 23 people in a six week span, and we beat it in four), and were absolutely stoked. 

We baptized two awesome people, Dalia Mendoza, and her nephew Miguel. Their baptism was really fun because we did it together with the sister missionaries who are in the other ward in our building, and they also baptized two people, so it was a big service and just really spiritual. I played the hymn "¿Donde hallo el solaz?" (Where Can I Turn for Peace?) on the uke in a special musical number, which was also really fun.

Dalia and Miguel are the first members in their family. We contacted them in their store about two months ago, and they have progressed incredibly. Now we're going to try to baptize the other family members. Their confirmation was really special as well, and I feel so humbled to be a part of it.

I have attached photos from the last couple of leadership meetings, the last two baptismal services that my comp and I have had, and photos of our shenanigans on divisions and just having lots of fun.

Anyways, those are all of the highlights from this week, I love you guys a lot, and y'all have a great week.

Elder William Jacob Long

My week

Hey everybody,

Things have been going really well here.

I'll give some details from my week, because it was a huge roller coaster. I think it was probably one of the most stressful weeks of my mission easily.

Starting on Tuesday, we did some divisions with some elders from our zone. I was working with a brand new district leader, a really great guy named Elder Gonzalez. We had some great lessons and worked really hard, and we had a really productive moment with some good investigators that need to get married. We're arranging everything so that they can get married and baptized this week.

On Thursday we did divisions with the district leader here in Ameca so he could do two baptism interviews for two of our investigators, a young guy named Josue, and a single mother named Sonia. They both passed their interviews and we were super pumped.

On Saturday, we had everything prepared to do an awesome baptismal service for them, but Josue didn't show up. We went to his house and searched for him and he didn't show up. It was such a disappointment. But Sonia did show up, and she got baptized, and confirmed on Sunday which was so sweet.

On Sunday we did divisions. We have two other wards in our area, so my comp went with the ward mission leader from there to see their services and the investigators, and I stayed here in Ameca to work with our WML and our investigators. I gave a twenty minute talk as well on the Holy Ghost. And we had Sonia's confirmation. Everything was so sick, until I was giving my talk, when some guy showed up looking for Sonia, and pulled her out of the services. She said it was a work problem, but I'm almost absolutely sure it was her abusive ex-boyfriend.

It's hard. It's an uphill battle in every moment. But the joy that we feel, and the spirit that we enjoy, and the help we give to others, just makes it all so worth it. I love my mission, and I love you guys a lot. I hope you have a great week.

Elder William Jacob Long