Baptisms

Hey everybody,

Well this week my letter is going to be really short because I'm going to send some photos. Among the biggest Christmas gifts I could've asked for this Xmas season have happened. On the 24th we baptized Mitzi, and on the 25th, we baptized Guadalupe. They were incredible spiritual experiences that I am so blessed to be a part of.

Among the sadder parts of this week has been missing everybody. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and I love spending it with family. I miss you guys so much. I love visiting my relatives, spending time with my friends, and spending time with Sofia and her family and her relatives. I love the travel, spending time outdoors, snowboarding, playing hockey, and everything. But I know that there is no place I'd rather be. I am so incredibly happy, and seeing the fruits of my work like this is incredibly invigorating.

Among the other highlights from this week are I got to do divisions with my zone leader and good friend Elder Lynch. Hes really incredible, and a huge blessing to our zone. I learned so much from him. I also got to do divisions with one of my best friends in the mission, Elder Cantero. I was in the CCM with him, though he was in a different district in the CCM. He was in my travel group, and I have spent a lot of time with him. I love him a ton.

The other huge highlight from this week was on Tuesday the mission held a Christmas lunch for all the missionaries. this was awesome, because I got to spend time with my district, my zone, but most importantly, I got to spend a ton of time with Elder Child and Elder Chischillie, my companions from the CCM. 

Aside from Elder Ramirez, they are easily my two best friends in the mission. My zone acted out a play that we made, and we got to watch plays from other zones. We also did a gift exchange. It was really fun. What a great Christmas gift.

Well that's all for now. I love you all and I pray for you all, all the time.

Love,

Elder William Jacob Long

Another Week In the Books

Hey everybody,

I don't have much time to write today because our district meeting got moved forward an hour. which means I practically have no time.

I love you all and I miss you all like crazy. Stuff is going really well here in the field. The baptism for Mitzi got moved back a week, but the baptism for Lupe is going to happen this Friday! I'm extremely excited. My first convert in the mission. It's especially special for me, because Elder Ramirez and I were the missionaries who contacted her, worked with her, and everything. It's a massive blessing.

The language is coming along extremely well. I sound super gringo but I can pretty much effectively communicate with everyone, and its crazy. Talking in Spanish, entirely in Spanish, is crazy and weird and amazing and super cool. It's an amazing blessing, and I'm working hard every day to improve it.

I don't have any photos unfortunately, but that's alright because after this week I should have a ton.

The other news is that we have to work on Sunday. We can't visit with members and eat dinner with them or anything. But that's alright, because I love the work, and I am so excited to be here on my mission.

That's all for this week unfortunately. Next week I should have way more time to write a ton.

Love,

Elder William Jacob Long

Another Week Bites the Dust

Hey everybody,

Well I'm another week down with my mission, and it really feels like its flying by crazy fast. Life here is pretty good. I don't have much to report from this week, i guess the excitement is that we have set the dates for our first two baptisms in this area. We will be baptizing an investigator called Lupe Gonzales on 23 of December, and another investigator on 22 of December. Huge early Christmas gifts. We have both their interviews for this Saturday, and Elder Ramirez and i couldn't be happier.

I wish I had more to report from this week, but other than a service project we did on Saturday, not much happened. lots of walking, studying, and teaching.

On Saturday we had a service project for all the elders in my zone. We dug out and removed a massive tree trunk from a school. It was probably five feet in diameter. Massive. I got a ton of blisters on my hand from it, but it was a great activity. I always feel the Spirit when I give service, and I really love my zone.

I don't have much else to say I guess because I'm going to try to resend the photos from last week.

I love you guys so much, and I miss you all like crazy. I pray for you all so often. My Spanish really is coming along, and every day I draw closer and closer to God.

With lots of love,

Elder William Jacob Long

PS The photos are described in the last letter I sent, so If you're curious as to who is who, feel free to take a peek. I would write it all out but I don't have much time.

Changes

Hello Everybody,

Well, the theme for this week has been changes. This is the last week in the cycle, we have transfers tomorrow, so the big theme in the mission has been changes. My District Leader is finishing his mission, my friend Elder Castillo is going to an area 2 hours away, my Zone Leader Elder Matos is headed to a new area as well, my Assistant to the President, Elder Martinez, is headed home too. The good new is that Elder Ramirez and I are staying here, in our area, but the excitement is that he is going to be the new District Leader. So that's exciting!

It has also been a time of reflection for me. The irony in a mission is that the only thing that stays the same is that everything is always changing. Its crazy that I'm a cycle done in my mission already. Its crazy that Ive already had just about three months. I know for a lot of you, its been going very slowly, but for me it has been flying.

My Spanish is a lot better. I can now go an entire day speaking in Spanish, I can practically express all my thoughts in Spanish, and I can decently understand people. Slang is still difficult for me, and understanding small children as well, but in general, its greatly improved.

This week has been really fun. This Thursday we had a huge service project in a town called Ozumba to kick of the #LighttheWorld 25 days event for the church, and after the service project, the church held a massive free Christmas concert. That was really cool as well. We spent the entire day giving out free food, running photo booths, giving out copies of the Book of Mormon, and of course, contacting. It was really nice to have a break in the schedule though, and all my zone was there as well, so it was nice spending time with my friends, working in a new area, and all.

I don't have a spiritual thought for this email (too many to pick from), but I do have a funny story. Yesterday, Elder Ramirez and I were at a family's house for lunch, and we were talking while we were eating. We were all in our church clothes. I was wearing a tie that had been given to me by my good friend from the CCM, Elder Wegner. I got asked about it, and I told the story about how he gave it to me. One of the Brothers there said that his "son" on his mission gave him his tie. Well, this brother had his real son (who is only like 4 or 5 years old) at the lunch as well, and his son didn't understand that his dad was talking about the Elder who he trained on his mission. Well, long story short, his real son just starts crying his eyes out. It was hilarious. I haven't laughed that hard in a while. This poor kid thought his dad had another son. Well, the Brother had to spend the next thirty minutes trying to calm down his son, and explain it to him. It was hilarious.

Well that's all for now. I do have some photos though!

This is me with my friends in my zone (from left to right) Elder Castillo, Elder Ramirez (my comp), Elder Mendez (he was Santa for the event), Hermano Andreas, and Elder May (my District Leader).

Here's elder Ramirez and I at one of the photo booths.

And here is me with Elder Mendez.

Well, That's all for now. I love you guys so much. I miss you all.

Love,

Elder William Jacob Long

Thursday Night Lights'

Dear everyone,

Well, the truth is that this week was much better than last week. Some of the highlights include an increase in contacting and acceptances, more lessons, and some new investigators. But the biggest highlight of all was definitely Thanksgiving.

Our assistants to the president are both from the U.S., so on Wednesday, they asked President Zapata for special permission to play football on Thanksgiving! A classic thanksgiving morning turkeybowl at the stake center!

It was extremely fun. Almost all the Elders came, and we played football for four hours straight. All the gringos (and a decent amount of the latinos) split up into four teams, and we held a tournament! And my team won! Probably the best part, though, was getting to spend time with all my friends. I got to play on the same team as my two companions from the CCM, Elder Child and Elder Chischillie. It was so nice catching up with them, and it was so refreshing to have a break from routine to go play some turkeybowl.

After the tournament was over, Elder Ramirez and I went to go get breakfast with our good friends Elder May and Elder Castillo. Elder May is our district leader, and probably Elder Ramirez's best friend in the mission. It was bittersweet though, because this is Elder May's last transfer; He goes home in two weeks. But it was still really nice.

Now onto a funny story.

I like to tell Elder Ramirez stories from my life and whatnot, and one of my favorite topics to talk about is my crazy football coaches. Well, one time while we were walking, I related to him Coach Johnson's story about the saying you can lead a horse to water but you cant make him drink. Coach Johnson used to say "You know how they say you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink? Well I'll tell you how I'll make him drink; I'll grab that horse by the mane, and submerge him in the water till he nearly drowns, then I'll pull him back out, and you better bet that horse will be ready to do whatever I want at that point". Classic Coach Johnson. Anyways, the next day we had a lesson with a less active member, who has a kid who doesn't like going to church. Long story short, Elder Ramirez told my story about coach Johnson to her, and effectively told her that she needs to make a better effort in teaching her daughter the gospel and taking her to church, even if that involves a little tough parenting. I was dying of laughter. It was so funny.

Well, that's all for this week. Life is going well, and the language is getting better and better. I miss you guys so much. I can't explain it.

With love,

Elder William Jacob Long

Fast Times in Huehuecalco

Hey everybody!

First request of this email, feel free to send me some witty ideas for email subject lines, because I'm starting to run out!

Also, whosoever desires to email me in Spanish, please feel free. I would love that!

Anyways, onto my week!

The truth is that it hasn't been very eventful. The most difficult part of my mission now (besides the language) is getting investigators to attend church on Sunday. The church building here is literally walking distance from all but two of our investigators, and they always commit to attend on Sunday mornings, but when push comes to shove, they don't come. Pretty frustrating for a missionary.

Well, the language is improving. This week has proved to be my most spiritual week in the mission so far, despite the lack of success. As Ive had the Spirit as a constant companion, Ive witnessed my aptitude for Spanish increase. Ive been able to communicate better, and understand people better! But its still difficult, and more humbling than ever.

I have a wealth of spiritual experiences to choose from for this week, and its very difficult, so instead I think I'm going to share a quick scripture, D+C 82:10. It basically says I the Lord am bound when you do what I say; but when you do not what I say, you have no promise. As Ive worked hard to stay obedient and maintain the Spirit, the promised blessings of learning Spanish have really occurred.

Well, that's all for this week. I don't have much more time to write, because I have to hurry over to a district meeting. I love you all so much. I cant begin to describe just how much I miss you all, how often I pray, and how much I care.

With love,

Elder William Jacob Long

The Past Week

Hey everybody!

Sorry, I don't have much time to write today. P-day has been running late, because we had a zone conference go two hours late this morning. Its been crazy.

Anyways, I want to apologize for the lack of photos! I haven't had a chance to take many today, or this past week.

I only have time for a quick spiritual thought, so I want to share one of the many miracles that occurred this week. My companion lost his phone on Saturday evening, and we didn't realize it until we got back to the house that night. Well, we didn't have time to go search for it, so we said a prayer that it would be preserved. earlier that day, we had to stop by a cyber cafe to print of a copy of President Uchtdorf´s talk from this past women's conference. Anyways, we figured it was there, so we went to bed. We had the special stake conference that Sunday, and we had invited one of our investigators to attend it with us. But since it was in an unfamiliar place to her (the stake center), we offered to walk with her. Well we got to her house that morning on the way to the stake center, and nobody was home. We waited a while, but to no avail. We were sad, and we decided to say a prayer. After the prayer, we didn't know what to do. So we decided to stop by the Cyber Cafe on the way to the stake center to look for the phone. Well, the ciber cafe was closed, but as we were passing it, we saw our investigator on the street taking a walk!! We caught up with her, asked if she remembered that we were gonna go to church, and she said yes and accompanied us. I was so happy, because she had a very spiritual experience. What a miracle. Later that day, we returned to the ciber Cafe, and the phone was there, preserved and fine.

I know that the Lord blesses us when we diligently work and follow his commandments.

That's all for me this week. More to come next!

Love,

Elder William Jacob Long

Livin la vida loca

Hey everybody!

So I don't know how to begin. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind.

The hard work and contacting has finally payed off! We now have some investigators, and we've set some baptismal dates! The only problem is that the dates are in the next transfer. But it's been a good turn around from last week. When we first arrived at our house, Elder Ramirez and I checked the area book. Investigators, Progressing investigators, and Investigators with baptismal dates were completely blank. I guess it shows huge trust by my President in my trainer, to give him an area that has not been successful in a while, and give him a training assignment at the same time. Elder Ramirez is the man. Well, we finally have investigators, and we work hard to teach them everyday. It's been an adventure. One day is super good. I understand what people are saying, my Spanish is good, etc. Then the next day, I can't understand a thing, I can't speak, etc. Learning this language has been the most humbling experience of my life. But everyday is better, and I'm getting very fluent. I study the language every day, and I speak Spanish as much as possible.

The highlight of my week (aside from the lessons of course) was probably last p-day. I made a meal plan, went to the store, and bought lots of groceries. i work hard to eat healthy every day, and it pays of.

A spiritual experience I had this past week was we were contacting, at about 7 at night or so, and we were able to teach a lesson with a guy named Juan. during the lesson, it started pouring rain. Afterward, we ran back to the house to change into rain gear. While we were there, it was already late at night, and it was raining, so it was very tempting to stay indoors and just call it a day. But we know that we have to follow the rules to exact obedience, even if it's pouring rain and we're tired. So we changed, went out, and started contacting in the pouring rain. God really does bless us, especially when we are following the rules exactly. Within fifteen minutes of contacting, someone agreed to let us teach them. In the span of two hours, we were able to find two new investigators, and teach them both the first lesson. What a blessing.

Now, onto the good part; Photos!

This is our street in Amecameca! The town is very tranquil and calm. The people are extremely friendly, and contacting here really isn't that bad.

This is one of the large volcanoes in the area. I can't remember its name unfortunately. I am also sorry I don't have a good photo of Popocatepetl, it's very difficult to get a photo of it without clouds covering it. It's crazy to comprehend that this volcano is over 17,000 feet tall.

This is our chapel. It's very strange. The actual chapel is on the second floor, and the classrooms and font are on the bottom floor. There is a separate building to the left for the offices of the bishops.

This is the main street in town. it is named Miguel Hidalgo. It seems like everything here is named Miguel Hidalgo. That's probably how Mexicans feel when they go to Austin or Houston.

Elder Ramirez and Me doing some hardcore laundry. We have to hang out all of our clothes to dry on top of a roof of a member's house. It's loco.

This is their house (the picture didn't come through). They are honestly the nicest family. They live in the next town over, Huehuecalco, so every Monday, Elder Ramirez and I load up on a bus and drive out to their house. They let us use their washing machine, and we often have lunches here. It is like a home away from home, and I am so grateful for their kindness.

Well that's all for this week. I love you guys, and I miss you all so much. I pray for you all all the time.

Love,

Elder William Jacob Long

First Week!

Hey everybody!

First, I want to apologize for my poor grammar and spelling. The more I learn Spanish, the more my English degrades. It's a vicious cycle. I'm in that awkward stage were I really don't speak Spanish fluently, but now my English is really suffering.

There's only two words to describe the field. Cra-zy. It is an overwhelming experience.

So I'll divide this letter into a few catagories: Mission life, the language, the culture, and the area.

Mission life.

I love it. Relative to my life before the mission, I've become a much more organized person. I study extremely hard every day, I walk a TON everyday, and I do everything in my power to obey the rules and work hard. It's really nice having so much time to study the gospel. I was given a great talk called the 4th missionary. I'm sure some of you guys have heard it, probably read it, etc. It's basically the cheat sheet on having a successful mission. Well, I've already read it twice (which is saying somthing, because it is 24 pages long), and heavily annotated it. Now I'm reading it in Spanish. In conclusion, I love the work so much.

The Language

This is one of the truly challenging parts of the mission. the language is extremely difficult for me. Apparently, I have extremely good Spanish for a first week, but it is still difficult to understand people, the grammar is challenging, and I'm limited by my small vocabulary. But every day is better and better, and pretty soon I will be able to understand and speak proficiently. I just need to stay exactly obedient, practice as much as possible, and take advantage of the hour of language study I'm granted each day.

The Culture

I feel like I have been trained and prepared for this every day of my life. I'm eating the same food, speaking (well, mostly listening to) the same Spanish I've been around, and enjoying a culture that I am already so familiar with. I absolutely love the people here. They are so nice, so friendly, and so proud of their culture. It's amazing.

The Area

This is probably my favorite thing to report on. The area here is so beautiful. We are in a little town in the country named Amecameca. Its so beautiful. We are directly underneath Popocateptl (I probably misspelled that), and It is truly stunning. It is, without a doubt, the tallest mountain I have ever set eyes on. It is so massive, and so incomprehensibly tall, that it appears to stretch the sky into distortion. It is gorgeous, and I love serving in an area that is mountainous. The area itself is a little challenging. It's extremely difficult to locate the houses of people we contact, and we walk a ton. But that being said, I'm very happy. The church members in our ward are just the best people ever. They are so kind and loving. Although it's tough, I love the area, and the people.

Now, a little bit on my trainer.

His name is Elder Ramirez, and he is from Guatemala. I was very excited about him for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted a native speaking trainer. I felt like it would help my Spanish, and it really has. He helps me immensely. Second, he's from Guatemala, which is so cool!!!!! He´s 100% Chapin, and I have an absolute blast talking to him about Guatemala. I get along with him very well, and I am very grateful for him.

I apologize for not having more photos, we´ve been working like crazy every day. I haven't had the opportunity to take that many. Next week, I'll send lots of photos!!!!

This is a photo of my bed and things (my bed is actually made, and my stuff is actually organized).

This is our study area. We actually have a decently sized house. Thats my comp, Elder Ramirez.

This is our kitchen. 

This is the outside of the house. I really enjoy living here.

Well that's all I have time for now. I wish I had more time. I love you guys, and I miss you all.

Love,

Elder William Jacob Long

More photos!

Hey everybody,

So today my email will be brief.

First of all, I'm sorry for emailing on Wednesday, but my p-day got changed because this is my last week in the CCM. I leave next Monday. I definitely don't feel ready, but at the same time, I know that it would take two years here in the CCM for me to finally be ready. I'm very excited. I got called to be the travel leader for all the missionaries going to Chalco, so that's very stressful. Besides my comps and I, everyone else going is a native speaker, so its pretty humbling trying to speak to them in Spanish to sort out logistics. But all things considered, I'm pretty honored, and logistically, I have a pretty easy travel schedule. In effect, the mission president will come here to pick us up, so I dont have to deal with flying or anything.

My spiritual highlight of this week was probably our devotional yesterday evening. The Young Women's general president, Sister Oscarson, came and spoke with us. She gave a fantastic talk about the trials and blessings that will come from missionary work. It was moving and very spiritual.

I don't have much else for this week, but I did take lots of photos! I believe I have more than last week, so hopefully you guys enjoy them.

This is my district in our classroom. We spend roughly 10 hours a day in here studying and learning Spanish. The blue bag on the floor is mine! I bought it for very cheap from the store at the temple, because my messenger bag wasn’t big enough to carry all my text books around in.

This is our building. Our classroom is first in on the right. We share this building with our close friends (district 14 B).

The CCM here is really beautiful. its about twice the size as the Provo MTC, with roughly half the students (which is a blessing during gym time, way less injuries than Provo). All the roads are lined with beautiful oak trees like so.

Squad pic of my district (idk where the other two hermanas in our district are...)

These are the buses we take when we go into town or go to the temple.

Here’s a solid mirror selfie of Elder Child, Elder Wegner, and I.

Some photos of Elder Chischillie and I walking.

Another gatorball squad pic.

Elder Child, Elder Weech, Elder Whitby, and I working out.

This is a typical meal for me, but normally with more fruit.

I love the work, and I am so happy here. Im very eager to serve in the field.

With love and prayers,

Elder Wiliiam Jacob Long