October 31, 2010

Well I am super exhausted right now. This change has gone by extra fast it seems, we have been working very hard and these last couple days I have really felt it. All the hill climbing is starting to take a tole on my body. Or I am just really old now! Who knows..but we played soccer and basketball today, it was fun.

We have had one investigator, Nadia, come to church this last month. She is 13 and the daughter of an inactive lady and grandparents, and they have all been coming to church. Nadia has a date for the 21st of Nov to get baptized.

Elder Nielson is doing really well. He lived in MG for lie 3 years then moved down to Rochester for a couple years. Then they moved out to St. George UT because of medical reasons for his dad (who died from something I cant remember what its called when my companion was 8).

So as a mission we are really focusing on working with the members, it is vital to the mission work. Because as missionaries we come and go and then go home, but the members are always there. If the members don't help out in the missionary work in their ward and carry their share of the work, then the ward will never progress. I think that's why Anoka has been dying slowly all these years. Many think that its the responsibility of the missionaries to do the missionary work, but the prophet has said that all stake presidents and bishops are in charge of the mission work. So do all that you can to help out the missionaries there :)

No we haven't been back to the beach and I probably won't ever go again (in the summer we cannot go because lots of other people start going). But it was fun and I am glad that I got the chance.

Every day here is super windy, I love it it keeps the heat away!I was surprised actually about how big Halloween was here in Llo Lleo. Lots of kids dressed up and went asking for treats, more than in Ramsey I think. It's kinda funny to see how much our culture rubs of here. Especially when you run into people that hate the states..ironic.

I did get the box! Thanks you so much mom and dad for doing that be much needed fro these And the carmel corn was amazing! It almost lasted the week....haha, it made me a little trunky though. Oh well :)

SO I hope that you all have a great week, you are always in my prayers. I have had the talk from President Monson in my mind a lot, about gratitude and I just wanted to thank you, mom, dad, and my siblings for being such a great family and for always showing so much love and support, even when you may not have gotten as much showed back as you deserved. But I love and appreciate everyone of you. Thanks.oh, Hey, tell Greg to write me, haven't heard from him in weeks.

Love,Elder DeLong

October 25, 2010

Hey :)Yes, the ocean is definitely very cool, hope that we can go visit it sometime so that you can get to know it too.

It wasn't too dirty, I don't think. I know I should use the sunblock, but I just didn't think that I would get burned so bad. Oh well.

Thats Fun that you got to go out with Peter's mom, I bet you two talked a lot about how we are doing down here. That is pretty crazy that Taleah gets home in December! That will mean that I will have 5 months left, wow, that is pretty crazy huh?

President and sister King's daughter will be ending here mission here in November, and she'll be coming down here for a few weeks, so I am excited to talk to her about MN.

So I just found out that Elder Nielson and his family when they lived in Maple Grove while they were in MN. Pretty cool huh?

Yea, we have to take the bus or collectivos (like a taxi) all the time. We spend a lot of the money in that. But we always try and plan so we stay in one sector the whole day.

Ok well I'm gonna send some pics, I am sending the pics of my broken shoes so that you can send those in to Missionary Mall and get the new pair.

I have some good pics this week, love you all and am praying for you!

Love,Elder DeLong

October 18, 2010

Well we just got back from our zone activity at the beach! First time in my life that I have touched the water of the ocean (I even accidently fell down in it and got all wet). It was a lot of fun, we had a picnic and played some games. I'm a little burnt right now, but it was so worth it.

With the cell phones we have to be smart about them, as dl I am on the phone a lot communicating with the district. The sisters are funny, they talk a lot where as the elders its like 2 minutes and we are done.

We have stake conference the 7th of Nov. where half our zone is singing in the stake choir to help them out. Should be interesting ha.

It was a miracle that they were able to get the miners out so fast every one down here of course was pretty excited about it. I guess it was really big all around the world. Haha, yea..I somehow understand all of that spanish. Its took a long time though, but I love spanish now. The sisters do work really hard, much harder than some elders do, so it's great to have them. Elder Nielson loves to learn spanish, hes got a long way to go but he is progressing really well. He knows all the technical stuff, so thats good.

The teaching is going really well, we have such a big sector. I like it. Always something new to do. We have been able to find a lot of new people which has been good cuz we basically had to start over from scratch. But I know that as long as we are obedient and work hard that the Lord will put the people who are ready in our paths. And no, we haven't heard much about Mormon.org or anything like that. Or new pass along cards. They usually try those things out inthe states to seee if they work and then if it goes well they go world wide with it. Thats cool though that the internet has become such a great tool for sharing the gospel.

Ok, well I'm pretty tired actually, and my mind isn't giving me anymore things to say, so I think I'm going to wrap things up. Thanks for everything, hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder DeLong

October 10, 2010

Hey hey,Yes, it is definitely fun being here on the coast, although these past 3 days have been cloudy and cold. But, I would much rather have that than hot and nasty like in Santiago. The times have changed once again, I believe now you are 3 hours behind where I am. Maybe I'm wrong, hard to believe that its almost time again to call for Christmas! Pretty crazy.

Llo Lleo is about 2 and a half hours from Santiago, we have to take a big bus to get there. Yea, San Antonio is a decent size, especially cuz there are like 3 cities all together (Llo Lleo, Barrancas and San Antonio) It's not a huge port actually, but it is constantly having new ships come and go.

Being a DL is fun. It's really not too much different. I have to make a lot of phone calls to my district, let them know about different things, see how they are doing and if they need anything. I have to teach a class every week when we have our District/zone meeting. And I have to report everyone's numbers for the week. For example, how many new people they found to teach that week, how many lessons they taught with a member present, and other 'Key Indicators' they are called. And yea, thats about it. I am in charge of the 'pouch' mail that we use to get things around in the mission and also help to organize activities and stuff. And one more thing that I have not yet done is do the baptismal interviews for the district. That will be quite the experience. So yea, thats what DL does :)>

Elder Nielson is a greenie still, this is his second change. I'm finishing his training. Elder Jenkins was from UT, remember him? And I have 2 from Idaho, 1 from Bolivia, 1 from Columbia, and 2 from Honduras, and 1 from Las Vegas. Pretty cool huh? Yes, I have 4 tiny little sisters in my district, but they are all really great. They are funny and work hard. Yea, they are all Latino. 2 from Honduras, 1 from Peru and 1 from Argentina.

The tsunami drill was lame, we had to go to the safe zone, stand there for like 15 minutes and then go back down. Thats it, and only about 20 other people in our area did it with us, everyone else didn't pay any attention to it. Oh well. THe air is soooo much fresher here, I love it. The buses are much much older than I am, I'm amazed that they still run actually or that they can make it up the steep hills that we have here. The mission gives us money for it, but sometimes I run out and have to use my own (for food or other things at times) But I think as DL get a bit more money now. That should be nice.

We should be able to put the frissbee to good use. Yes, once December starts we can't go to the beach anymore, thats summer for everyone and people starting going to the beach. SO far the people from the ward that I've met have been really great. This ward is a lttle bigger which is nice. Our ward mision leader is really cool too. Unfortuneately the elder who was here before me left the sector in kinda tough shape (no investigators) so we've basically have had to start from scratch, but it's been good. And it's more rewarding too.

I love and am praying for you!

Love,

Elder DeLong

October 4, 2010

Hey :)
So, I went to the coast!! Haha, looks like those feelings I had were right. My sector is called Llo Lleo, its a town next to San Antonio. We can't see the ocean from our apartment, but from all of the sector we have a great view. It is way cool. I'm a district leader now and also finishing the training of Elder Nielson from St George UT but he grew up a bit in MN :) He is really nice and very happy. I guess he had a tough train with his trainer, so President sent me over to help him out. We will have a good change here.
I have 10 missionaries in my district, 4 sisters and 6 elders. It's pretty big. It will be a good experience for me. But I am definitely excited for this opportunity. Something kind of interesting is that the 5th of October we will be having a tsunami drill here. So everyone will have to run up to the hills to the higher ground. I think we'll have to participate as well. Should be interesting though. My sector is big! (compared to my last one) In the middle of Llo Lleo is sisters and we are on the outside. Our sector is a big U, so we have to take a lot of buses to get around. Yes I do know who elder Grow's new companion is, his name is elder Granda. He is latino, so that will be a good experience for him to improve his spanish. It was sad to say goodbye, but I was happy to leave that apartment, not only did it smell because of the humidity but not I don't have to worry about getting robbed! Thats a relief.

Steven did like the temple a lot, we as missionaries can't do the baptisms but I did conformations which was fun for me :) Steven cried when I left..It was sad. But he is so great, he'll be a great missonary.

I just remembered something. After we were watching Gen Conf one elder in my district, elder Hollister, said, 'they have been talking about obeying the prophet a lot, the prophet is going to tell us something big' That didn't happen, but almost EVERYone talked about obeying the prophet and agency, so be sure to give heed to the counsels.

Okay well I think that is it for now.

Oh and mom, one more request if it is possible could you send one of those aerobie ring frisbees? The one that you sent me, well after the accident with the spine I lost it. I don't know where it went. But now that I'm here on the coast and we have a beach..well I gotta take advantage of it. But they don't sell frisbees here. But it you can't dont worry about it. But if you can send it fast cuz we only have till the middle of Nov to go to the beach, because after that all the other people start going, ha.

Okay well hope that you all have a great week! You're all always in my prayer :)

Love,

Elder Jeff DeLong

September 27, 2010

Hey!

So I do officially have changes. I have mixed feelings, ha. On the one side I am really happy to be going to a different area, see new places, meet new people. But on the other side I am sad that I'll be leaving the people here. This has become my home here in Chile, but I enjoyed my time here and I learned a lot. I wonder where I'll go...I see tomorrow! I hope that Elder Grow gets a good next companion. Thats another sad part, is our apartment is awesome. The four of us there have a great time together, I'll miss all of them. But change is good too. The arm is doing really well, I'm hoping it leaves a sweet scar to always remember when I rammed my arm into a palm tree in Chile, haha.

Sounds like Julie received a nice funeral. Thats cool that Marie and Steve sang. She was a great woman here on the earth and will be in the spirit world too. She'll be greatly missed. Glad you are getting the chances to satisfy your grandma needs every now and then ;) That'd be fun for you to watch him while they go to Europe. I'm jealous! But after being away from home so long I don't want to travel for a while, ha. I should get back June 7th

I was supposed to sing for the branch conference but it didn't get communicated well so I didn't end up doing it, oh well. The Packs are really nice (and yes have a nice southern accent) but they also have that genuine southern love too. They'll help the branch a lot.

The family are still prgressing great, they will be baptized within the next few weeks. I won't be able to see it, but thats ok. The important part is that they are making that step :)

This is a cool experience I had Friday:

This week we had a great activity for the ward conference where we gave everyone pieces of candy and they could eat as many as they wanted (there were only 100 pieces in total). Then we told everyone that they had to pay for the candy we never said it was free, but they had to pay in push-ups. Of course most of the people ate more candy then they could do pushups, so I paid the price of the candies for everyone (100 pushups). At first everyone was laughing and joking, but by the end as I was sweating and couldn't go on everyone was serious, a few even tried to help or offered to do their own. But they couldn't help me. Then we brought out brownies and asked if anyone wanted some, only the youth ate. But I had to do 15 more. Then we related it to Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that He did for us. He paid for all of our sins, and He did it all alone. And sometimes we go back and sin even when we know it causes Him pain. It was a very strong and emotional experience for me because I was able to understand just a tiny fraction of how the Savior felt. It strengthened my testimony of the Atonement a lot.Well, I love you all and am praying for you :) I hope that you have a great week! Say hi to everyone for me :)

Love,

ELder DeLong

September 21, 2010

Hey!

How is everything going?

I'm really sorry to hear about Julie :( I hope the family is doing ok, but the most comforting part is that we know she is in a much better place resting from everything (Alma 40:12). My arm is doing fine, the stitches came out good and now it is all scabbed up and healing. THere doesn't seem to be any infection which was the biggest worry obviously. And no, I haven't had any arm pain for years. Now I am getting back pain though, it kinda stinks. I might go into the doctor one of these days to see what he says.

It was really great to be able to baptize Steven, first person in my life. This THursday we are going to the temple with him to do baptisms for the dead with the youth of the ward (we get to go because he is our convert :) So we are excited about that :) And Saturday we put a baptismal date with the new family (there are 3 of them) for the 10th of October, also very exciting. Changes are this Tuesday, and I'm pretty sure that I'll be leaving, so I probably won't be here for their baptisms, but thats ok. I'll be just as happy :)

It was kind of ironic because we had 9 investigators at church last week, and 0 this week. It was 0 because the 18th (Saturday) was Chile's independence day. So everyone went out of town, there were only 37 people at church. Friday we had a ward activity which was a lot of fun, we got to see a lot of the traditional Chilean dances. I put on the outfit, I'll send pics.

This week is our ward conference, there are different activities planned for every day. We have a new missionary matrimony, the Packs' from Mississippi, here in the mission now and they are assigned to be in our branch. They are really nice, it's fun having them. They are going to be helping the branch, teaching music and some other stuff. Thsi coming Sunday the sister already asked me to sing a song for sacrament mtg...haha.

Ok, well I think thats everything for now. Hope that you all have a great week, you're always in my prayers.

Les quiero mucho!

Elder Jeff DeLong

September12, 2010

Hey!
Yea, sorry about that. Thats too bad that they didn't call you though. Elder Roundy (my friend and the one that drove me to the hospital) he works in the office and had plans to call, but then we got that surprise call from the other elder and had to go to the hospital again so..but oh well. Next Monday I might not be writing you again, we received an email that siad we might have p day on Tuesday so, just so that you are aware. The arm is doing well, it hasn't gotten infected. I went into the doctor Thursday to have it looked at and he said it looked good so, Wednesday I have to return to have the stitches taken out. I'll send you a picture, I don't have one of when the spine was in my arm, but I have one of the stitches with the spine laying on my arm. It's pretty cool, ha. It was my right arm, on the forearm. The other elder they think has an ulcer, but not appendicitis, so that was good. Maybe it wasn't the best way to stay out late, but I enjoyed it. That probably wont happen again on my mission, ha. And yes, there was candy in the piñata. It was fun :)

Steven's baptism went really well, his whole family came to see him get baptized. I got to baptize him which was really cool for me. The first person that I've ever baptized in my life. He'll be a great missionary, Elder Rivas ha.

If Juan and his family get baptzied I probably wouldn't be able to go back for it, depending on what Pres. King decides. With Pres. Jones it was a no, but you never know. We had 9 investigators in church yesterday, way cool. The most I've ever had. A family of four came with us, they will get baptized for sure. They know a lot of the members and really liked church. Awesome.

Today I had to buy a little mp3 player because my cd player decided to stop working. So now I'll have to transfer all the music to the mp3, but it will be nice to not have to use cds all the time but still have all the music. Ok well I gotta go now, thanks for everything that you do. I'm always praying for you all. And the next time you send a box I have a couple requests, one is your carmel corn because it is soooo good and the other is easy cheese. One of my roommate elders from chile wants some and they don't sell it here. :)

Love,Elder Jeff DeLong

September 7, 2010

Hey Mom :)

Well, hopefully you guys weren't too preocupied that I didn't write you yesterday. You should have gotten a phone call from the missionary that works in the office, Elder Barlow (or maybe Elder Roundy). I had to have a little surgery on my arm, ha. We were playing capture the flag as a zone activity and I finally had found the flag of the other team, they had hid it in a palm tree. Well, since I was been pursued by the enemy, I reach in quickly to grab the flag, without the slighest clue that palm trees have spines in them! Well, I got anasty surprise and get a spine lodged in my arm, and 2 1/5 inches long! It was pretty nasty looking. So then they rushed me to the crappy local hospital but they didn't do anything, so then we went to the mission doctor in providencia, Elder Limburg. He was able to take out a little (after injecting like 20 shot to numb it, ha) but he couldn't get it all. Then we went to a nice hospital and they were able to cut me open there and take it out. I kept it to remember :) Then afterwards we went to Subway (I was soooo happy! Theres only a few in Chile) and then we had to go to Presidents house to drop of his car (its a way nice Ford Explorer). And finally we were on our way home (at 9:30) when we got another call that a different elder might have apendisitis, so we had to rush to thier house and bring him all the way back to the very same hospital that we had just left. We were there until like 2:30. I finally got to bed at 3:00 in the morning! It was the latest I'd been out in a year and a half, haha. It was definitely a day on the mission I'll never forget. But anyways, all is well :)

And leaving that topic, Steven is going to get baptized this SUnday! His parents finally are letting him. And Juan and his family still go to church, they don't have a date yet, but I feel they'll get baptized. Maybe not with me, but they will. And things are going really well.

For my B-day last week the 2 other elders that I live with had a sister in their ward make a pinata in the form of a missionary. So that was a nice, fun surprise. And I was able to eat some cake with a few families, so it was good. And Wednesday I got your package :) And a nice card from Jake and Bri.

But I have to go now, got things to do :) And next week I'll for sure have pics to send, of 2 baptisms and the spine in my arm and everything! Yay, haha. But I love you all and am praying for you :) Have a great week!

Love, Elder Jeff DeLong

August 30, 2010

Hi :)

Football last week was a lot of fun, this week we weren't able to get the field so we had to play soccer. It was fun, but we always play that. I think we are just going to go out to eat as a zone, thats about it. And yes, in that pic is my zone. Haha, a couple knew how to play well, but for the most part I smoked them. I do love cake, but cake in the States is definitely wayyyyy better than here. Technically I could go get a hangover too know, ha. How exciting..Being 21 feels...the same! My body still feels young though at least ;)

Dylan's baptism went really well. His whole family went to see it. Unfortuneatley Juan and his family weren't able to it, I was really hoping that they would. But they did come to church again, he just has to pray and he doesn't give it time. Me and Elder Grow and two members from the ward did a special musical number, it went really well. Ha, I hadn't sang in front of people for a while.

I miss your cooking, I know you don't really like it but you sure are really good at it. We made brownies for the baptism and everyone went crazy about them, ha. It was funny.

It is really great teaching the gospel, I just wish people weren't so hard and would open up their hearts more to receive this message that is more important than anything else in their lives...ever!Well, thanks for the happy b-day (haven't gotten the package, but I think Wednsday I'll have it) and hope that you all have a great week!

Love,Elder Jeff DeLong

August 23, 2010

Hola :)

How are things going?? The weeks do fly by..and yes the family did go to church again this Sunday. They now have been asisting a whole month. Things are going well with them, we still haven't been able to put a baptismal date, but I know that they have been enjoying their time in the church. We will be baptizing a kid, Dylan, who is 9 this Saturday. We have been waiting with Dylan to baptize him together with his mom, but she still hasn't been able to get married yet and things are progressing kinda slow. So we are hoping that by baptizing Dylan that will help to motivate her. And we invited Juan and his family to the baptism and they said that they are going to go, so that will be really good :)

Yea, I have made a lot of good friends here, and most of them go to BYU. I miss having Elder Speakman in my district, but maybe this next change I'll be able to be his companion. That'd be sweet.

Saturday we had the opportunity to have a conference, together with the Rancagua mission, and we got to listen to Elder Richard G. Scott! That was really great, just strengthened my testimony that the apostles and prophet really are called of God and have the authority. And guess what he talked about?? Marriage! Ha, it made me a little trunky, not gonna lie. I only 9 months left..wow time passes fast. I'm not really looking forward to dealing with all of the problems of life, school, work, money...and all that. So I'll enjoy my last 9 months here :)

Thats really great that Nick got his mission call! Ha, I knew he'd be going to S.A. I was living with a guy from Uruguay for 5 months (he was annoying) but I know that he'll love his mission. Ha, hes gonna speak spanish with a funny uruguayo accent.

My companion and I also gave talks yesterday. We give one in this branch every 4th Sunday, that was the 5th one that I've given. Ha, they don't even bother me anymore.

We have a program here called Permaneced, where we have a list of all the members in the area. We then go through and go and visit all of the inactives and share a special message with them from the prophet. I don't know if you have the same message in the states, but we have been able to have a lot of success with it so far. We have found a lot of families where not all the members of the family are members of the church. The weather has been pretty decent here lately. Umm, I don't think we are in spring yet, but the weather is at least nice.

Today we played real football in a nice syntetic field. It was great.

To celebrate my b day we'll probably go over to a few members homes and eat some cake or something, thats about it. Next year will be good :) Ok, well love you all and hope that you have a great week!

Love,Elder Jeff Delong

August 16, 2010

Hola :)
Well, I have yet another change here in Cerrillos. Ha, I thought that I would be leaving actually. But I really hope that this change Elder Grow and I will be able to see some of the fruits of our labors. I have the faith that this family we are teaching will get baptized. They went to church again, 3 weeks in a row. One thing that I am really bummed about is that my best friend here, Elder Speakman, is getting changed. He is really awesome, we are going to live together at BYU. He has 6 months less than I do. But maybe we'll be companions next, that'd be sweet.
We do have some other investigators that are interested and progressing, but not any others that have gone with us to church yet. Besides Steven, he goes every week. But his parents won't let him get baptized yet. And Marisol and her son Dilan go every week, but we are still waiting for her to fix her teeth so that she can get married then baptized. We are going to baptize Dilan the 29th of August. So that will be good :)

Elder Grow is doing well. Spanish is tough for him, but he has gotten a lot better and is able to teach pretty well now. I haven't heard much from Elder Mckay, I know that he was trying to set up his classes for BYU-I but all the ones that he wanted were full.

Gordon B Hinckley talking about his mission to Britain:

The work in the field was not easy. It was difficult and discouraging. But what a wonderful experience it was. In retrospect, I recognize that I was probably a selfish young man when I arrived in Britain. What a blessing it became to set aside my own selfish interests to the greater interests of the work of the Lord. I had the association of tremendous young men and women. They have become treasured friends whom I have known and loved now for more than half a century. How profoundly grateful I am for the experience of that mission. I touched the lives of a few who have, over the years, expressed appreciation. That has been important. But I have never been greatly concerned over the number of baptisms that I had or that other missionaries had. My satisfaction has come from the assurance that I did what the Lord wanted me to do and that I was an instrument in His hands for the accomplishment of His purposes. In the course of that experience, there became riveted into my very being a conviction and knowledge that this is in very deed the true and living work of God, restored through a prophet for the blessing of all who will accept it and live its principles.

Thanks for the quote from Pres. Hinckley :) I know that just because I don't have a lot of baptisms doesn't mean that I haven't accomplished much, i know I'm doing what I was meant to do here. Well, thanks for the email, hope that you have a great week, you're always in my prayers :)I'll try to send a few pics ;)We ate a an American restaurant called Mamut today, I had a New Orleans stake. It was way good!

Chao mi querido familia,

Elder Jeffrey Douglas DeLong

August 9, 2010

So this week was pretty good, that family that went last week came again. That was really great, I think that he felt good there. I know that the kids like it, well at least the little girl. She loves going to church, so that has been a big influence on him.

Thats so weird that Riki and them are all going off to BYU, that means we'll have the same year when I get back, ha. I'm not looking forward to coming back to reality, I don't know what I'm going to do about all those loans I'll have to take out. It sucks..oh well. The Lord will help me as long as I do my best here.





But yea, the one with glasses is elder grow.







I traded a watch for those sunglasses. I like them. I was gonna trade my pair of Puma sunglasses for them, but when I went to look for them I realize that they were stolen as well. But now I have cooler ones, ha.








All latinos are short for the most part. I can be on a subway and see all the way to the first car. Pretty funny. We find out about changes this sunday. SHould be interesting. I have no idea of what will happen. If I do have changes it will be hard to leave, I know the people and missionaries here so well. But who knows what will happen, I think change would be good too.

You'll have to let me know how Anoka does this year in football. Hopefully they'll beat coon rapids at least, haha. Love you all and pray for you always,

Love,Elder Jeff DeLong

August 2, 2010

Hey Mom,:)

This week was really good. We had a new family go to church with us. It was a miracle, this guy is evangelical and pretty stubborn about his ways. But he came with his two kids and I think he liked it. We have another appointment this wednesday.

Today we did play soccer again, in a big full size field. But I wasn't raelly able to play this week. I don't know what I did, but I like pulled my groin. I couldn't run, so I just kinda limped around after the ball. I still managed to score a goal though (it was on a penalty kick). And no, we never play any other sports besides soccer and ping-pong. Ha, but it's all good, I like them both.

Haha, I rememeber those 2 a day practices. (High School football)

Can't say that I envy them, but it was worth it. Wasn't easy though, thats for sure. My back tends to hurt some days, maybe cuz it's cold..but my hands and feet still get cold. It helps when I have 3 pairs of socks on though.

Yup, don't plan on giving up any time soon. I know that as long as I keep doing my best than I will have accomplished here what the Lord needed me to.

Elder Grow is doing well. Spanish is tough for him, I think more so than it was for me. But he improves all the time, so thats good. There is one latino still in the apartment (the annoying one..ha) Ok, well thanks for everything. You are all always in my prayers, hope you have a great week!

Chao,Elder DeLong

July 26, 2010

Hey mom,

Hows it goin? Time sure does fly, it's sad and good. August I guess is supposed to be the coldest month here, but I'm glad to be drawing to an end of cold days here in Chile, this was my last winter here!

I forgot to bring my camera this week, I'll try to remember the next. Sorry bout that.
Elder Grow is doing well, ha I feel bad for the poor guy. I remember how hard it was for me to learn spanish. I think his is even a little worse than when I got here, but he is learning quick though, so thats good.

But things are giong well. Doing the best I can to train my kid in. I'd love to get him a baptism, but thats almost impossible now for this change. It's hard to not have many baptisms as a missionary.
I'm doing good mom, it's been a trail of faith for me in this sector. I've taught some great people and am teaching some great people, but something always happens and they don't get baptized. I'm doing my best to not get discouraged, I know the only solution is to keep working my hardest. The Lord knows what He is doing, even if I don't understand things all the time.

I bet that was a lot of fun for you to have Logan at church, grandmas do like to be with the grandkids ;) I hope I'll have some time to be with grandpa when I get home, thats something that I wish I would have taken advantage of more. I like being with him and hearing stories. Its great.

Well I got to go now, hope that you all have a great week. You're always in my prayers.Love,Elder DeLong

July 19, 2010

Hey!
Well I have some very good news :) I got the box last Wednsday! Yay, I was getting a little worried there. And it still had everything in it so that was really great. Haha, you definitely were very creative about the way you packaged it, cutting the BOM and all. I don't know, you might have to go and confess that to uncle Pete, haha. We all thought it was pretty funny, a good show of motherly love. But thanks so much for the camera, it's great. I'll try to send a few pics here now.

So Joseph W. is taking off soon huh? Lets see, when he gets out of the MTC in November I'll have about 8 months left...crazy! Time goes by fast. As I recall his B-day is in August like mine is. Sounds like MN has been having some crazy weather. In the news you sent in the box I saw that there were 40 tornadoes in one day! Thats wack, hopefully they continue to stay far away from home. Ms. Hayes wrote me back a nice letter, it was fun to hear from her. Well, things are going well here in the sector, we've been able to find a lot of new people to teach. So I hope that they progress!

Gosh, can't think of much else to say, my head feels like it's going to explode. I've got a bit of a cold here so I haven't been feeling too hot lately. But I'll get over it soon.
Love you all and am praying for you. Keep being obedient and go to the temple!
Love,Elder Jeff DeLong

July 12, 2010

Hello :)

Well I have some exciting news :) I'm training! Yea, I received the call from Pres King a couple hours after emailing you last week. Wednsday I went to the temple with two other elders that are also training and then we waited outside for our new companions to arrive. I'm a dad! Haha. My companions name is Elder Grow, from Bonnersville Idaho. Way in the north part of Idaho. He's a really great kid, always happy and excited to work and be here in Chile. Ha, his spanish has a long ways to go. I remember when it was like that...it was hard, ha. But he's learning and getting better already. I hope I can teach him all that he needs to know.
So this will be a good change. It's a lot more responsibility to be training, I have to do everything haha. Especially these first few weeks. But it's been a good experience. Steven, the 17 year old, is still progressing really well. I just hope that his mom will let him get baptized.

On a not so good note, I have not received the box yet. My buddy in the office said that you guys should track it. He said it probably got stolen, but I sure hope not.

I actually really like camping now. I'd like to go when I get home, we'll see what happens.

Wow, I can't believe I've been out here for so long and that it's the middle of July already. Time flies. See if you can track that box, and pray a lot that I'll get it with the camera still. I don't have much more to say either, I'm tired ha. Thanks for everything. Oh, I decided that for future boxes you should just send lots of candy and stuff. Like bags of gummies, peach rings. Yea now, that short of stuff. And fun stuff american stuff that I can give to people. Like a flag or something. Ok, love you all and am praying for you. Have a great week, the gospel is true! ;)Love,Elder DeLong

July 4, 2010

Happy fourth of July to you too!
Ha, naturally we didn't do anything to celebrate, but at least a few people mentioned something about it to me. I sang the national anthem to myself a few times. So that was fun

I haven't gotten the box yet, but I'm pretty sure that this wednesday I'll get it. I'll talk to my buddy thats in the office and ask him if it's here yet.

As for changes...I will be staying here, but my companion is leaving. I thought for sure that I'd be going, but it seems like the Lord likes to throw curve balls at us all the time to keep us on our game, haha. I was kinda hoping that I'd be leaving just because this sector, being so tiny, is kinda hard to be in for so long. Especially for 6 months..or more. But the Lord wants me here for a reason, so I'm going to give it the best that I have. All the other guys in the district think that I'm going to train this next change, which is a good possibility because there are so many greenies coming in. They also think that I'll be district leader too because my companion was DL and left. But we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Yea, it was hard to see President Jones go, he is such a great guy. We had a last conference with all the mission two weeks ago. It was cool, thats were I saw Elder Kennison. I told him to send the pics to you guys because I still don't have a camera, glad to see that he did.
I've met Pres King and his wife and 12 year old daughter all ready. Last Thursday we had a little mini conference with them. He has a daughter, Cassie, who is serving in the MN mission right now. She is in Rochester. She goes home in Nov then will be coming here. So if you ever run into her bby chance be sure to say hi from everyone in Chile. She played on he BYU b-ball team. Pretty cool.

And yes, my testimony has sure grown in this last year. I wasn't thrilled at first to go on the mission, I knew it was right and that I needed to do it, but it's not the easiest thing to do. But I am very grateful that I went and for the time I have here to serve the Lord. If we aren't trying to do the will of the Lord in life then what are we doing? Just wasting the time that He's given us here on the earth. And just coming in contact with so many people of other religions and getting to know what they profess as doctrine has strengthened my testimony. I have no doubt that this is the only true church of Christ on the earth, and the only way to know that is to read the Book of Mormon and pray. We have a kid, Steven, whose 17 and will get baptized (I hope) soon. He's awesome, future missionary!! Woo. Ok hope that you all have a great week! Thanks for everything, love you all.
Elder Jeff DeLong

June 28, 2010

Hey Mom
Things are going well this week. We are teaching a 17 year old, Steven, and he went to church with us yesterday and this morning he played soccer with us and the branch. He has a baptismal date for the 11th of July so hope that all works out. He'd be a good missionary :) We have to other dates with a woman and her 15 year old kid, but we just found them recently so we'll see how they progress.

The States lost in the playoffs to Ghana. Ha, I thought we would win, but it's all good. As I type this Chile is losing 3-0 to Brasil. Haha, stinks for them. Football was a lot of fun I don't regret it. It's true that in the states, most of the people probably don't even know that the world cup is happening right now, or that the states were in it. Oh well. I like running during sports. Today I played soccer from 9-11 and from 12-2:30. A lot of soccer! I'm tired, ha

I think that I will have changes. It will be nice, I'm ready for a change. Hope the box gets here this week! Thanks for everything, you're all always in my prayers!
Love,Elder DeLong

June 21, 2010

Hey!
Things are going well :) The whole country is crazy here for the World Cup. Chile played Switzerland today and won, 1-0. So they are going nuts. Not gonna lie, I'm a little tired of hearing about how awesome the Chilean soccer team is, haha. But the states are doing well. They tied their two games and are in good position to move on to the next round. The World Cup fevor has struck me too, lol. I hope the states win! That'd be so cool.

This week was a good week of teaching. We were able to help a couple families get back on track and start progressing again. The BOM is such a stumbling block for some people, some persist that it's not true and haven't even read it! Seriously..don't know how that works, haha. And another block is praying! You wouldn't believe how hard it is for a person to pray sincerely to God and ask Him if this message it true. I think their afraid of the answer they might get and don't want to change. But things are going well. I don't think we'll have baptisms again this change..a big bummer. The mission is not at all how I thought it would be, baptisms all the time. But the only thing I can do is just keep working my best. I know the Lord has people prepared, just gotta find em.


This last Saturday we were walking and were at a corner when we heard this loud CRASH! At first I thought a car had struck another car,but when I looked over I saw that it was a woman that the car had hit. It wasn't good :( I saw her fly up in the air and land, one of her boots even came off. Tons of people ran over. She was lying face down, and still breathing. I bent down to look at her face, and she didn't look too good :/ I thought a lot about how quick our lives can end. I hope shes ok, she looked to have about my age. But having the gospel in our lives makes everything so much easier. Brings so much more light to our lives

Well thats about it for now. Hope that all is well, thanks for the box, definitely looking forward to that!You are all always in my prayers.
Love,Elder DeLong

June 14, 2010

Hey mom and family :)
Things are going good this week, it's a little chilly.

Have you done anything to prevent any more break-ins to your apartment?

We changed the apartment around so now there is a lot more space. Pretty cool. Our zone all pitched in a little bit of money to buy my companion a camera because his family doesn't have enough money to buy him another one. So that was cool too. For the camera, please send it here as fast as you can because I'll probably have changes here in the beginning of July and I'd like to copy all the peoples pics here so I can at least have those.

The ward will increase if everyone in it does their part. Thats the only way. The missionaries can knock doors all day but probably none of those people would get baptized. Member references are the best way.
As I read about the boy with cancer I was thinking that you should share the gospel with his family. Ask the missionaries for a Plan of Salvation pamphlet to share with them, it'd be really good mom.
Ha you saw Joseph Woodward shopping. When does he leave? His eyes will definitely be opened a lot. Mine have been and continue to be. Mom, you have no idea how good we have it in the states.
Some investigators are progressing well, others have fallen. It's tough to see them decide to not accept the gospel. I wish everyone would, but they have their agency, it's part of the plan. One day they'll understand.

His sister & I did our annual strawberry picking:

Aww I love when you pick the strawberries! It's the best.

Thanks for the quote. That seems to be my case ha. I find lots of good people but they all keep choosing to not obey the commandments and remain in their wicked ways..it's hard. But I hope and pray that later in life missionaries will find them again and then they'll be ready. Thanks for all the support and love.

"To missionaries: Go forward. Do you work. It's so very, very important. You have on your narrow shoulders the responsibility of teaching the gospel to a world that doesn't want it. At least they think they dont' want it because they haven't tasted of it. And for many, many of those people you are the only source of knowledge they will ever have of this Church. It is so very important, therefore, that you make a good appearance. Someday someone might well say, 'Well, yes, I met two of your missionaries years ago and I've been thinking about it every since then. Come in and tell me what you have to offer.' Go forward with faith and without fear."

Ok, well love you all and thanks for getting the camera :) Send it fast, it you can.
Love you and am praying for you.
Love,Elder DeLong

June 7, 2010

Yes, I made it to one year :) Woo, everything is done hill from this point on. Kind of crazy how fast the time goes.. It feels good to have a year, strange that it went by so fast. But it was a good year, I liked it :) I am considered now one of the older guys on the mission ha, so thats nice I guess.

The missionary work keeps going. It's discouraging at times because all of our investigators seem to keep dying(not literally), But the only thing we can do is keep on working and looking for the people who are ready. The mission is a lot harder than I ever expected.. We do have some good families that are making great progress though, one family went to church yesterday which was a miracle.

The other people that were going to get baptized have died (not literally) Juan and Luis don't want us to come by any more and won't tell us why, and Maria is never home, or at least that is what somebody says but we know shes there. So.. thats a little discouraging, but on the plus side we are teaching like three families who are progressing really well. So hope that works out :)
I really want to talk with Grandpa when I get home and ask him about all his stories, something I never really did when I had so many chances. I love listening to the stories he has.
There is no rebuilding where I am, that's all in the south.

Love you all, you're always in my prayers.
Love,
Elder Jeffrey DeLong

May 31, 2010

We are going to enjoy one of the last pictures Jeff sent, we won't get any new ones for a while:


Hello Mom and family,


Well I guess I'll start off with the bad news first. I won't be able to send you pictures anymore because we got robbed this last Friday :( They entered the house at about 7:30 at night when we were out teaching and took all the electronic things. 5 younger guys entered and took 3 cameras (mine included) my shaver that dad gave me, my hair cutting kit, my cd player and another elders mp4, nice speaker system and also his shaver. I lost all of my mission photos along withanother elder who has even more time than I. So the only ones that I have are the ones I sent you and the ones that my companions have taken.


We got robbed by 5 thugs. This happens all the time. My sector is up on a big hill, and it's a lot poorer and more ghetto than down below where we live. And young thugs looking for stuff to sell for drugs always come down and rob the richer people. And our apartment complex has these crappy sliding glass doors that you can open pretty easily from the outside, and only like two security guards. He saw them robbing too but did nothing. The police came that night when we called them, but all they did was take a list of all the stuff that got stolen and said if they find anything they'll call us. The laws in Chile are really really bad.


Obviously I have to get a new camera, but they are super expensive here, at least double. But if you guys bought one and then sent it to me there is the risk that it would get stolen in the mail, you would have to hide it really well, ya know? I'm thinking that will probably be the best route. Let me know what you think. As for the shaver I've bought a replaceable one. It irritates my skin, but guess I'll just have to get used to it.

So..on the brighter side of things the teaching is going really well in the sector. We have some really great families that we are teaching, the only challenge is to get them to church. Our best investigator right now is called Javier. We are about 95% sure he is gay. But he has a sincere desire to change and wants to become closer to God. We always bring a woman with us to teach just cuz we feel better. But if he keeps progressing like he is and gets baptized I'm guessing he'd have to have a special interview with President. So we'll see what happens. He has a baptism date for the 4th of July. So hopefully all goes well!

Love you all and are always in my prayers :)
Chao,
Elder DeLong

May 26, 2010

My week was good :)

Unfortunately I only have sad news about all the baptisms. They won't be happening for a little bit now. Juan has something that he doesn't want to change and Maria we haven't been able to have much contact with. But I will be staying here for another change with Elder Fuentes so at least we have a chance to help them enter those waters.

I'm happy about staying, I wasn't ready to leave yet. I have high hopes for this change. Elder Mckay went home today, I went to the office to see him off. He's so great, I love that guy. I'll miss him a lot.

Again, great to hear about Mark. Tell him that I say hi and tell him to go on a mission now :)

Sorry to hear that it's so hot. It's finally getting cold here, yay! Hows my beloved Jeep doing?

Do they have quotas to meet for teaching during a week?

We don't have like any set numbers that we have to do each week. But we always set goals for different things, like new people to teach, lessons taught with a memeber present and so on...So we always try to meet those goals and improve. Fun stuff :)
Ok well you are all always in my prayers. Keep strong, be happy and always remember to do LOMA Leer las escrituras(read the scriptures) Orar (pray) Meditar(meditate) and Asistir a la capilla (go to church) Do those fours things and you'll always be active and happy.

Love you all!

Love,
Elder DeLong

May 17, 2010

Hey mom :)
Well, we had the two baptismal interviews planned for Juan and Luis yesterday after church so they could get baptized the following week. But then we found out that they had drinken tea that morning...doh!! So now they have to wait a couple more weeks :( SO we won't be having any baptisms this change, and if I have changes I won't see them get baptized. I hope that I stay, we'll see what the Lord has planned for me.

News about others called to a Chilean mission:

What?? Mark Kocina is getting baptized?? Is he kinda short with red hair? Wow..never would've have thought he would except the gospel, but thats the cool part about it. One never knows :) Thats really cool.
And Joseph is going to concepcion??? Whoa, thats so weird and cool. We can speak Chileno to each other haha. He might be doing a lot of service work to start off, that will be cool. The south is really great though (so everyone says). They feed you a LOT (he'll get fat, ha). It'll be good for him. Thats cool. Thats pretty crazy about Joseph and Paul, that they are both going to Chile. That will be three from the stake here.

My father(of the mission) Elder Mckay goes home on Monday. Sad..I'll miss him. But it will be good for him to go home.

The new mission pres comes in July I think and I'm sure he'l meet with us. And no dad, I won't be able to go down to concepcion to see joseph, as cool as that would be.

Hey, how are the twins doing? And you need to watch the world cup dad, it will be good. The states have a good team and they play england for the first game. It'll be like the revolutionary war all over again ha.

Ok well I think thats everything for now, thanks for all the prayers and support.
Love,
Elder Jeff DeLong

May 10. 2010

Happy Mothers day again, I hope that you had a great day and were able to enjoy time talking to all the kids :) It was fun. I have been able to make some really great friends here, all of which I hope I'll have the chance to hang out with when I get home. Elder Mckay, Elder Marquez and Elder Callis and Elder Jenkins are the best four that I've made so far. They are all really great.

I try to be as obedient as I can. I've found that even the little things really do make a difference. I'm glad that you like the pics, I'll try to send them more regularly.

Thanks for your prayers for Juan, Luis and Maria. I really hope and pray that everything will work out. Sorry to hear that the ward continues to shrink. Do you still have missionaries in the ward, or have then been pulled out? You need to make a plan as a ward for the mission work and work together with the missionaries, thats the only way the the ward will grow.

I love you all and thanks for all the love and support, we have an amazing family!

Love,

Elder DeLong

May 3, 2010

Glad to hear that you are enjoying the weather way up there in MN, ha. Today is a pretty nice day. Man, I miss football. That'd be fun to play for BYU...I'm content with flag football though, ha. My body is really sore right now actually, I feel like I just got done with football practice. We played soccer in a fullsize field for 2 hours. One zone versus another, mine got smoked. Oh well.. it was fun to run around for a bit. Oh well, I'm really tired now though and sun burnt.


For the Mother's Day call:

Haha,Mom you are funny :) I'm excited to call too. I hope that I can call Greg and Erica too, so maybe can you tell them that Erica should go over to Greg's or something? That'd be nice to talk to them too. Yes I have pics, I'll try to send a few. I am really excited to see some people getting baptized! It won't be happening this next week because it is our stake conference, but it's planned for the week after. We should have three at once, pretty cool. Umm, no there aren't really bugs in the air or anything, so thats nice. They like to go inside the houses though, thats annoying.


Thats really great that Marie will be taking out her endownments. It is such a great experience. I wish I could be there to go through with Marie, it would be really cool. It will be a great experience for her. Like I told dad, we just had 3 people from the branch go through the temple, they all we amazed. It is such a blessing to have temples here on the earth. You did get sent 4 pretty cool kids, you two must've been doing something right ;)


We will be losing some of the assigned families from our little branch, so that will be hard. Hopefully we can make the adjustment well.

I think that is about everything for now, I'll try to send some pics here for you. Thanks for everything, you are all always in my prayers :) Not that you are all able to go to the temple you should go regularly (that goes for EVERYone)

Chao!Love,

Elder DeLong

April 27, 2010

Things are going well here in Las Lomas. As of now we have 3 people who are actually progressing to their baptism. We will have one, maybe 2 people baptized on the 8th (the same day that Marie is taking out her endownments!) So thats cool :) I'm super excited to see people get baptized, it's been a while. It's hard going for a long time without baptisms, so this will be very nice. Yea, all the people are people that I found with Elder Jenkins. It was hard to see him go, but I have contact with him which is nice. He is doing well, adjusting to the new life, haha.



The temple was really nice. We went as three zones together. It's way different in spanish (not really everything is the same of course), but at least this time around I was able to understand all most all of it.



Whoa, the time sure does fly, huh? I'll be finishing a year at the end of May (very beginning of June), who would've thought? Ha.



Yes the box got here, and all intact too! It was sweet, I've already eaten everything (I saved the eggs for last): I forgot how much I love those mint things. The cds are nice, listening to the same music over and over gets a little old, ha.

Elder Fuentes and I get along well, he is pretty funny. I'm living with 3 latinos now, a little hard sometimes (especially because they are pretty messy and don't like to clean) so I do most of it. But oh well, at least I'll be a pro when I get home, right?
Life is good here, I've been adjusting to my new companion. That can be really hard sometimes, but things have been going really well for Elder Fuentes and I. I do miss Elder Jenkins though...he is a very good buddy of mine now. I'll see him when I get home for sure. There are lots of Elders who have become great friends of mine here that I want to hang out with when I get home. Elder Mckay (my mission father) goes home at the end of this change. I will miss him a lot.


Umm, what else is new. Not much, things are cooling off here, it's great. But thank you so much for all the love and support. I pray for you all always and hope that you are all well and happy :) Keep up the faith, go to church ;) It's important. And fulfill your callings and assignments as best you can! Give the Lord all you can, and He'll take care of you :) Chao,Love,
Elder Jeffrey DeLong

April 19, 2010

So, who is the new companion?

Things are going well down here in South America. My new companion is Elder Fuentes from Honduras. He is a good guy, we'll have a good change together.
We have 5 people with baptismal dates right now, I hope that everthing works out with them. I miss Elder Jenkins a lot actually, he was a great friend. My language did suffer haha. But it's getting better again.

This email is going to be a little short this week, I have a lot to write. I'm super happy and excited that you are at Gregs and able to be with them and see Logan. I'm jealous, ha. I'm sure he is a great kid. Also glad to hear that things are going well with Erica, I bet she is glad to be able to see you and dad. Haha, you would work on their yard, I think you are adicted to yard work mom. Enjoy the break while you have it, don't worry too much about having nothing to do and being lazy, you'll have enough to do when you get home. You definitley deserve the break!

Umm what else is happening here..as a mission we are going to the temple this week. SO Thursday I will be going to the Santiago temple for the second time. It's so hard in spanish, ha. Maybe this time I'll understad a little better.

Oh! Thanks so much for the box! I totally even forgot that I like those mint things, mm and mini eggs. You know me too well mom. Thank you Marie for the CDs too, they are great :)Ok, so I might be sending a box home with this big rain maker thing that a guygave me here. It's to long to put in my suitcase and I dont want to just leave it behind because it's really cool, so I'll see what I can do. The gospel is true family, never forget that :) It's really great to be able to share it with others, even though sometimes it's tough. Take care thanks for everything, you are always in my prayers.
Love,
Elder DeLong

April 12, 2010

Well, Elder Jenkins is preparing to go home as we speak. We have already parted ways and I am with 2 replacement companions for today, and then tomorrow I'll get my new companion. It stinks to see Elder Jenkins go, he was a great friend and companion. We had a great change, worked hard. And now I think we will begin seeing the fruits of those labors (baptisms :) )

I hope so.

Ya know, things don't always go as planned in life (well, the majority of times actually) but we can't let that get us down and get desanimated. If we do we sink into a hole and it's hard to get back out, and that is what Satan wants. We just have to put our trust in the Lord and keep on going with a smile on your face. As long as we are being obedient to the Lord's commandments and striving to do His will, then we will have success in our lifes. Thats why the states is the most successful country in the world, it was built on traditions of faith; in believing in God and trying to do what He wants. We need to always build our foundation on the Lord and things will work out right. They may not be how we wanted them, but it will be what is best for us, because the Lord loves us and will always lead us for the best path as long as we seek His guidance.

Yes, the weeks just zip on by, especially now that I almost have a year. Everyone says that time goes by even faster the second year, so we'll see I guess right?

One definitely needs self-discipline as a missionary. I thought it'd be more stricter, or that I'd be under a tighter watch as a missionary. But thats not the case, theres all sorts of opportunities to be disobedient if I want, but that's where the self discipline comes into play, and training yourself to not want to be disobedient but to always do whats right.

You should go out and visit the inactive memebers. Many times that is the reason they don't go is because they feel nobody cares about them. Just a thought (not really its a commitment, haha. Do it!!) Well thanks for everything, I'm looking forward to the box! Talking to you will be sweet :)
Have a great week!!

Love,Elder DeLong

April 5, 2010

Jeff is now an uncle! His brother Greg & wife Laura officially made Jeff an uncle for the first time. Greg sent him some just-born pictures of Logan DeLong via email.Jeff's take on who the baby looks like at this point:

Hey!Wow, that's so cool that there is a new edition to the DeLong family! You are a grandma now :) He is a cute kid, I think he looks a lot like the both of them. I guess that's how it should work right? Haha

Yes, Greg and Laura will be great parents, no doubt about that. I can't wait to get to meet Logan.

I enjoyed conference a lot! I used to think that time went on forever during conference, but it goes by super fast now. I think it's cuz I take notes.enjoyed conference a lot! It sure did talk a lot about families and the different roles and responsibilities that everyone has. Kinda fun for Greg and Laura now that they are new parents.

I told him about the beautiful weather we have had the past few days, typical spring weather only earlier this year.

The weather here is still ridiculously hot! It should be cooling down by now, but I think that the terremoto (earthquake) messed everything up.

Elder Jenkins is just about ready to leave, ha, he'll be leaving next Monday. Wow, that is so weird. Today we will be going around and visiting all of his converts and other friends that he has made these two years. We do have some people (María and her daughter Caroline and this lady named Valeria) who are progressing really well :) I think that they will both get baptized. And Marisol will get baptized in June, hopefully I still be here.

Ok, well hope that you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder DeLong

March 29, 2010

I asked Jeff if he had a good week.

Yes, this week was good even though it was a little tough. Every day all our appointments seemed to fall through, but that just happens some times.

I told him I liked the pictures he sent, especially the one of him on the slide:

Haha, you like the one on the slide? That's in the courtyard of our apartments. There's a little pool and playground.

His current companion, Elder Jenkins, is a zone leader and just about to go home.

Yea, it's fun that he's a zone leader. I've learned a lot about how things work as a zone leader, and he is just really fun to be with. Too bad that I'll only have one change with him :/ I'll be on my 6th companion after Elder Jenkins.

He recently had a zone conference, and thought that Richard G Scott would be in Chile at the same time & maybe speak at their conference:

The zone conference went well. We always learn a lot and leave pumped to teach the gospel. Elder Scott was not there, so maybe he didn't come to Chile? I don't know. It is conference time already, hard to believe huh? I'm excited to hear what the prophets have to say.

Update on their investigators at this time-

Marisol is good, she is still really excited for her baptism. But she has to wait until June 11th to get married, I guess there are a lot of people at this time that also want to get married. Which is good, here in Chile there aren't many married couples. It's using the biggest stepping block for people to get baptized here. We have other investigators that are progressing well too. Getting them to church has been the biggest problem for most of them, so we are hoping to get a few to go to conference.

He hasn't said much about the earthquake in Chile, it doesn't seem like his area has been
affected much at this time.

There are still quakes pretty often. There was one last night that I woke up for. But it's not scary when you're on the ground, only when your 16 levels up, ha.
Yes, the weeks just zip on by, especially now that I almost have a year. Everyone says that time goes by even faster the second year, so we'll see I guess right?

Some thoughts on self-discipline:

One definitely needs self-discipline as a missionary. I thought it'd be more strict, or that I'd be under a tighter watch as a missionary. But that's not the case, there's all sorts of opportunities to be disobedient if I want, but that's where the self discipline comes into play, and training yourself to not want to be disobedient but to always do whats right.

Well thanks for everything and for the box that will be coming :) I am always praying for you, have a great week!
Love,
Elder DeLong

March 21, 2010

All of Jeff's letters are great, but this was especially nice because he sent pictures-finally!

Six of them at once. Most of his letter is answering my questions to him, about his companion, apartment, investigators, aftershocks. So here are some of his replies:

Hey!
Yes, things are going well here in Los Cerrillos :) We are a branch, but we are in a stake. Kinda weird. But we actually have pretty good attendance, and it's been going up these last couple weeks. And yes, Elder Jenkins does go home in like 20 days, but don't worry I'm not really affected by that. I like to tease him a lot about it. I know I still have a looong time to go, haha. He is great, definitely my favorite companion since Elder Mckay. I like living with 4, it's more entertaining, but it's only nice because we have 2 bathrooms and so many rooms. Otherwise it'd be kinda annoying. But it's fun.

Every woman can envision cleaning where 4 men have lived!

There are still quakes that happen, sometimes pretty big ones like a couple weeks ago. 6.7 and 6.8, those did some damage down south again. Usually the quakes happen in the night though and I don't even feel them. They say they will keep happening for quite a while, and may even be some bigger ones, we'll see. I really don't feel bad though now that I'm not on the 16th floor! I do feel bad for my previous companion though..poor guy.

All of our baptisms kinda fell through..people can't get baptized if they don't go to church, lol. But this morning we went into Maipu with one of our investigators to set up her marriage so she can get baptized, but she can't get married until June. So that baptism won't be happening for a while, but it's good that shes finally doing what she needs to to get baptized. Her name is Marisol.

He mentioned the two children from his previous area, Bladimir & Evaline. He worked with them preparing for baptism, so how great to see that they did get baptized.

I wondered if he found out why the lights went out in a large part of Chile, and where they can go on p-days.

Never did find out why all the lights went out, I think it was because they were expecting a pretty bad quake, but it never happened. Maipu is really big, but we only go there on p-Days. As long as it is in our zone we can go on p-days, or if we have permision from the zone leaders(my companion). Sometimes we can do special activities with permision from the President.

We have zone conference this week, Elder Scott is coming to Chile I think this week, so he might have a special mtg with our mission or something. I don't know, thats what he did when he came a year and a half ago, so we'll see.

I think thats about it though for now. Things are going well. I had Burger King again today, it was really good. Walking up all those hills in my sector is fun, good leg workout ha.

Some things are totally universal, and thank goodness don't seem to change much.

The work continues to go well though, I hope that we will have a baptism before Elder Jenkins leaves. Now that Marisol can't until june, it will take a miracle. But the Lord is a Lord of miracles and I know that they still exist in the world today :) Keep up the faith, study and pray every day it's the only way that we can progress spiritually.

Love you all and are always in my prayers.

Elder DeLong