Tales from the Far Side (of the state of Morelos in Mexico)

Hey guys,

Took down another week here, and it was easily one of the best weeks I've had in my mission so far. The highlight was having Marlon's Baptism and Confirmation. We did his baptism early Saturday morning, and his confirmation during sacrament meeting on Sunday. It was just an incredible spiritual experience. After Marlon's baptism, he got up to bear his testimony in front of everyone (which must have been pretty scary, being a 15 year old kid who just barely got baptized minutes before) about the church, the Book of Mormon, his baptism, and just a ton of stuff. I couldn't help it, I started crying. It was amazing to see the changes in his life, his desire to improve as a person, and the miracle of baptism and repentance.

I had another really spiritual experience that same Saturday. In the afternoon, there was a baptism of one of the 8 year olds in our ward. His dad asked Elder Avalos and I to be the witnesses for his baptism. Watching his baptism and his confirmation was extremely, extremely spiritual. Being a witness for the baptism was something I had never done before, and it increased my testimony so much. The work that we are doing here is amazing and sacred. People are really changing their lives, and to be a part of that is a huge privilege.

Apart from the baptism, this week was very normal. We are entering the last week of this cycle. On February 28th, we have transfers. Poor Elder Avalos has spent all six months of his mission here in this area. He's gone through four different companions. Our assistants told us that he was for sure going to have transfers, so it looks like I'll be getting a new comp in a week. It's good for Elder Avalos, and should be exciting for me. The trick is just not focusing on that, and just putting my nose down this week and working hard.

Well, that's all for this week. Stuff here is really good. I'm now completely fluent in Spanish. I can talk without a problem, understand without a problem, etc. I'm learning new stuff every day, but with the foundation of Spanish that I have now, I'm learning extremely rapidly. Its really incredible, and to be honest, pretty sweet going up to somebody and just having a complete conversation with them in a totally different language.

I miss you all, and I hope you guys are doing alright. I love receiving your emails. I read each and every one. Thank you all for everything.

Love,

Elder William Jacob Long

PS sorry I dont have a ton of photos, but hey, I had a baptism! Oh, I found this sick fox hat, and it only cost about 100 pesos (five bucks). It just goes to show that mountain biking still has a place in my heart hahaha

Another week down

Hey everyone,

This week went by so quickly. I don't have very much to say, except for our main investigator, Marlon, passed his baptism interview, so we're going forward with his baptism this Saturday. I'm so excited. It's been a long time since my last baptism. So I should send you guys some photos of that next week!

This letter is going to be surprisingly short, because the good news is that I have a ton of photos! after searching for a longggggggggggggggg time, I found my camera charger in the house. So to make up for not having a lot of photos, I went crazy and took a ton. So this week, this letter is going to be mostly centered on that.

All in all, stuff is going really well here. The work is hard, but this baptism is like a cortizone shot to the arm. I'm really psyched.

I'm healthy, I'm happy, stuff is going well with my comp, and that's really all I can ask for. Now, on to the photos.

The first photo is us in the house of a member family. Their daughter is in center. She just left this week for her mission in Argentina, so we went to say goodbye. The two sisters are the companionship that we share a ward with, Hermana Cortes and Hermana Taparosky.

The next several photos are of us standing on a rock. This rock is famous in the area, it has a really great ghost story about a mom whose two children died here. You guys know I'm a sucker for a good, cheesy ghost story. The mission is all work, but there's always time for a little fun hahaha.

The photo of the four elders eating tacos was Elder Avalos and me with my district leader Elder Davis, and his companion Elder Lund. We went to eat tacos after a day of comp exchanges. 

The photo of the people dancing is pretty self-explanatory; Mexico has a ton of native cultural dances that are really cool. I didn't get the opportunity to watch for long, I had to work. But, I snapped a photo in passing. 

I love you guys so much. I miss you all a ton.

Love,

Elder Long

Another week down in Brisas

Hey everyone,

Man this cycle has been flying by fast. I wish i had more things to write about, but to be honest, it was a very quiet week. Very very quiet.

The low point was that we dropped three of our prime candidates to baptize. They were progressing super fast, but the father of this family contracted colon cancer. Which is super rough. But yeah he cant assist (attend) church or anything. We have special permission from our mission president to baptize this family, but they don't want to. They want to wait. So that's super rough, but it's okay. We have another investigator who is progressing really well, and we have his baptism planned for next week, so expect some photos of us in white hahaha.

Well I don't want to bore you with all my investigators. The highlight from this week was that i had the chance to do divisions with my district leader again, and then I got to do divisions with my zone leaders too. I have the blessing of having some really great, humble leaders here, and it's really awesome working with them. I always learn a ton.

We share a ward with a companionship of sisters, and they had a baptism this week. They asked me to give a talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ during it. Well, we show up to the baptism, and then a few minutes later the mission president and his wife show up with the assistants as well. So I gave my talk to a congregation that included all my bosses pretty much. It was a little tense but it went well.

Well that was my week to be honest. Really normal, nothing crazy to report. But I'm working hard, and I'm pretty much fluent now in Spanish. I'm losing my Texan accent, and I now sound super typical Mexican (sorry Sofia- I tried). Mexican Spanish is really interesting. It's very sing-songy and there's tons of slang. It's hard to describe, but yeah haha.

The good news from this week is I have a photo! It's  with Elder Avalos in our sketchy apartment haha. But we have a sick map of the area which I love, and it's pretty cozy. I'll try to take a bunch of photos with Elder Avalos's camera.

Oh yeah, I have to give a training tomorrow during our zone conference. Stressed out about that but it's all good.

I love you guys, and miss you all. I always keep you in my prayers.

Love,

Elder William Jacob Long