Hey my loving friends and family! I
hope that you guys are doing great this past week. I miss you guys. This week I
had changes so I am in a new area! I had a good time in Sabana Grande, full of
ups and downs, but we left the area a lot better than we found it and that is
always my goal. This change will be hard for me. It is one of the difficult
aspects of being a missionary. You truly learn to love the people and they
become your family away from family. I am now in an area that is called
Talanga! It’s like a city/pueblo feel. So you have the mix of both. It’s not the prettiest area that you can find
here but that’s okay. We are going to do a lot of work here. So lets get down to
the Talanga report shall we!
Well, I had changes on Wednesday and
when I arrived I immediately saw and felt why I am here. I know my Heavenly
Father needs me here and that I know for sure. I am in an area that needs some
help in many different ways. There is SO much more that we can do to help as
missionaries. I am really excited for the challenge. We need to get things
straightened out baby! So I am in charge of three different companionships here
and that’s where the work will begin. The first day I brought the
companionships together and laid out a plan and once again we needed to put on
the big boy pants and have a talk. Hermana W. is also here with me and she came
from Sabana Grande also which it will be so nice to have her here in my area to
help out. She is a stud of a missionary and I learn many good things from her.
She will definetly help out here in Talanga. My meeting with all the
missionaries went well, and I addressed issues that are going on, how we can
reunite and come together as missionaries and servants of the Lord in carrying
out the work. It all starts with us missionaries and how we want to be, how we
want to be perceived in the village with members and non members. There are
some great challenges but I truly believe we can make great strides with some
plans and goals. I spoke a lot about obedience and the importance of it in all
that we do. It starts with us and then we can teach others about it. I know
that I am needed here to make some changes and make them quick. I am glad
grateful that I have this opportunity to help my fellow missionaries out, and
also the people of Talanga.
My companion is from Los Angeles, California,
and he is Tongan. I haven’t had anyone from the states since my original
companion whom was my trainer. I am anxious to share my strengths with him and
I know he will teach me a lot too. He is sports minded and so we have that in
common. So we will have a good time together, we are going to work hard that I
do know.
This area will be a great challenge for
me in many ways, but I am excited to change some things around and see the
outcome. We had about 75 in church this week, the church building is very big,
usually they have about 100 in church but Honduras was playing Sunday in the
mundial so everyone was watching that. Right now everyone is watching the
Mundial. It’s pretty crazy to say the least, imagine super bowl parties and
everything all day every day... that’s what it is like. So we are working
around that and all. Doing what we can.
Lets talk about our house, HAHA! It’s…
I don’t even know how to describe it. Tons of mosquitos... and in the roof
there are like raccoons, so at night we can barely sleep HAHA…there is so much
noise from them. But I am going to get used to it. Everything that we need is
close to the house. We don’t walk like we did in Sabana Grande. My companion told
me we walk far... he has no idea what a lot of walking is. So that’s nice and
I’m giving my shoes a break!
There is a super nice gym close to our
house so my companion and I go every morning to get a good pump in. HAHA! So that’s
fun and convenient. It close to the house so we get up at 5:30 to go there. I
am teaching discipline to my companion.... that attribute helps a lot in life.
We are teaching a guy right now that is
from the special forces here... we were exchanging stories about boot camp and
all... he was loving it. He is a stud! He will be getting baptized soon. There
are many people here that are ready but when missionaries don’t do their
part... its a problem. So we will see how things move a long here. Excited to
see it! Its been a few packed days to say the least... and many days ahead that
are going to be jammed packed.... lovin it though! Working a lot and giving it
my all.
Info for you mom that I know you will
wanna know!
- no running water, so no hot water
hahah good joke in house
- we don’t walk as much as before in
S.G.
- its a barrio , its not a rama, a lot
bigger 80-100 each week in church
- area can be MUCH better
- we have to buy out a lot because
members don’t feed us much
- clothes and shoes are holding up :)
I think that’s about all that I have
for you guys. I love you guys and miss you all.
I will attach some pictures of an
activity that we had at the temple this week for our investigators. Thanks for
everything mom and dad and Gi, you guys are great! Make it a great week! Gi,
work hard this summer and I promise that it will pay off. When others are
playing and you are working you will see the benefits, I promise you that. Use
your time wisely and it will pay off down the road. Work hard now, and play
harder later. Get after it, love ya stud. Thanks for your hard work dad! Love
ya!
Con Mucho Amor!
Elder Long
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