Dear Family & Friends,
Hey! I miss you guys tons! Lets get
right too it! I love the area I have been assigned to. My companion & I have two areas that we are assigned to which is great! It’s up in the mountains. I love it. Its’ a
pretty chill area. Elder H. is my trainer. He’s a stud. He's been a Zone leader,
District leader, and all that good stuff. He is very good! I really like him.
He is training me for 12 weeks. These 12 weeks are his last weeks out in the
mission field. Then he will be done with his mission! He is a real blessing, a
good missionary and works hard. We are helping this area and hope to get things rolling in a positive direction.
So, about the area in which I live, the terrain is very, rocky, very hilly,
walking from house to house is a hike in and of itself. (Good workout to keep
up the shape!!!) The area is very poor, but the people are soooo loving. The
homes are something to see. It has been an eye opening experience to say the
least. The people are so friendly and warm. They are such a nice group of
people. They always offer you food even if they have pretty much have nothing
for themselves. The people are soo happy when we come to the door, they are
always so welcoming. A lot of the people here cannot read, so that sometimes is
a challenge but we help them! The language is coming along. There are some
conversations that I have no idea what is going on HA HA but it’s all good! The older people are harder
to understand then the younger people. I love talking to the kids because
they speak slower and I really can understand what they are saying! The buses!
The buses we go on are nuts! There are tons of people on them, loud blaring music,
and people coming and going selling stuff! It’s great! They drive insane too.
It’s worse then Mexico by far and that is saying something. This past Sunday I
gave a talk in church. It went good! It was on service! I love the topic and
now that I am immersed in service it is so awesome. One interesting thing is
that not all the families we teach are all members. Many in the same family
quite often are not members. So we help them out. The food so far is
amazing! We eat lots of rice, chicken,
and beans. The mango drinks are the best. They are so refreshing. My companion and
I have to cook sometimes. I can hear you now mother, I should have listened to
you this summer when you tried to get me interested in learning a few cooking
tips. I wish I would have watched dad more, it probably would come in handy
right about now. We buy all our food, snacks and stuff at these places called
pulperisas. They are like little stores connected to peoples houses. The way of
life here is just so different. This Saturday we have a baptism! I am really so
excited, my first baptism. I am very blessed to be a part of such a sacred
ordinance the first 2 weeks of my mission. That is pretty cool. I have very
limited time on e-mail each week. I will answer your questions from this weeks
email next week. The first few nights I
was here but not in my area yet, we slept at a place near the Presidents house
in this garage. There were a few of us, thank goodness Elder W. my best
friend was with me. Lets just say we had
a few visitors with us. Yes, not quite like the visitors I would get as a cadet
at the Academy banging on my door at night or at 4:30 AM. These visitors were a
bit more suddle and quiet, yes, huge cockroaches. We even had a lizard with us
too! Ha Ha
I will answer all questions next week from
your email. I love you guys tons. I miss you every day. I pray for you all too! Thanks so much for
everything, you guys all mean so much to me! Every once in a while
give a message to the guy that called you to keep me going. I love you guys tons! The spirit is strong,
prayers do get answered and l am seeing it and feeling it every day as I serve
here. I love you guys tons! I can’t wait to e-mail you next week! Enjoy all the
little things at home because here is wow... can’t even begin to explain. Just
count your blessings EVERY day. Trust me. I love you guys tons! I can’t wait to
hear back from you! Please send lots of dear elders and all! As of now I don’t
need anything! Your love, prayers and letters are all I need right now. I love
you all! I can’t wait to talk next week! I pray so hard for each of you. Love
you tons!
Elder Long
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