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