January 10, 2011

This week was a little tough.  I was sick the whole week til Friday with a really bad cold.  And having to go to Santiago Thursday to renew my visa made things worse, but with the power of the priesthood and some strong cold medicine I was able to pull through.  We were able to go out and work friday and Satruday. 

Care package from home:

Yes, I enjoyed the candy very much.  Especially the Peanut Butter M&ms.  Those are my new faves, they are sooo good. 
 It has been great having Elder Maldonado here, he is a great friend and missionary.  I wish he lived in the states so I could see him, but at least we have planned to play x-box online together haha.  He is pretty wealthy and one of the few  that have an x-box down here. 

 It is great to be united with all these young boys, most of us are hardly capable of tieing our shoes but we are all determined to do the Lords work and help bring people to Christ.  And thats what is most important.  As I said in my letter to dad, I am very thankful that I was able to have this opportunity to leave on the mission.  I was too excited at the start, looked at it more as something that I had to complete, but now I understand the importance of this work.  And I enjoy doing it.  Sure its tough, but its worth it.  And I know I haven't seen the most baptisms, but I know I've worked my hardest, and I'd do it again if I needed to.  And through everything I've gained a firm testimony of the gospel, which will help me raise my family and teach it to them.  Just like you guys did with us :)  So it has been a great experience. 

Also as I told dad I am pretty nervous about having to go back to school.  Especially about the finances and picking classes and a major.  I just pray the Lord will help me.

 I'd like a list of the classes if thats possible because I dont even remember what options there are.  I know a few that I don't want to take.

 My back still tends to act up, I don't know what to do. I just gotta make it a little longer. One of the first things I want to do is get a professinal massage when I get home. That will be awesome. Yea, the weather here is perfect. I love the coast for that reason( i don't love the fleas though! ugh they are terrible) Today we played basketball and soccer it was a lot of fun and great to be able to exercise (I had gotten a little pudgy since I was in bed all week).

But thanks for everything, let me know about the classes and stuff. And keep your eyes out for a job for the summer. I hope you all have a great week! :)


Love,
Elder DeLong

January 3, 2011

On December 26th we were able to talk to Jeff in Chile via skype & our web cams. We were also able to conference in Greg, Laura and Logan in Utah, so we had our whole family together to talk to Jeff. What a great gift to us!

Elderes y Hermanas, Aquí está las fotos de la navidad. Que desfruten.

Hey Mom!
Haha, yes, this year I will be coming home from the mission. :) I was very very happy to have had the opportunity to talk with all of you last Sunday over Skype! That was the best Christmas present. You all look really great! And to be able to see Logan live was a lot of fun. I've been reflecting a bit, where would we all be without the gospel? I'm not sure, but I know we wouldn't be as happy, that is for sure. It's always fun to see the fam, that's one thing about latino culture that I like. They are more united, its just a warmer culture. We tend to have a pretty cold culture up there in the states.

I have a really great district, they are awesome. I have made some great friends here on the mission.


We had another big surprise this week, one of my elders, Elder Fuhriman, had special changes and got sent to the city. I love him a lot and was sad to see him go, but to my surprise one of my old friends came out here, Elder Maldonado. I lived with him in my last sector. So now he is in my district. So that will be a lot of fun.
Speaking of friends that I have made, my best friend from here on the mission is named Elder Speakman, and we want to room together at BYU when we get back.

The youth program is getting better because we now
A. Have a Bishop and
B. Have really awesome YM and YW presidents (they are a young matrimony) So hopefully things will get better for the youth.

That ginormous sandwich was really good but it had some bad after effects haha. Its called a churrasco, pretty tasty.



OK, well not much else to say right now. Just that I know this is the true church of Christ and that we really are blessed to have such a great family and the gospel. And I know we can be an eternal family as long as we keep striving here on the earth to choose the right and hold to rod (BOM) which will keep us on that strait and narrow path :) I love you all and am always praying for your safety and success. Remember: To be Mormon is to be happy :)

Love,
Elder DeLong

December 27, 2010

 

Here are just a few pics :)

December 20, 2010

Hey!Well, first of all I have some pretty stellar news...ready? They gave us permision to use Skype when we call! How sweet is that? I just got done creating an account. SO look for me and add me as a contact, then send me what your names are before the 25th so I can look for you guys too. But I am way excited to do it! It will be fun, hopefully it all works out.

But no big news about changes, the both of us are staying here still. I was a little surprised actually, this is the first time that I've been with a companion for three changes, but I'm happy with it. We work well together, so it will be good. This Thursday we have a Christmas party as a mission, that will be a lot of fun.

So yea, I have the skype account created and everything and me and my comp tried to together. The camera on my computer wasn't working and we weren't sure about the sound, but hopefully we can figure everything out. But about the day and the time we'll be calling, I'm not sure. This place will not be opened, I just asked the guy. So we might have to call Sunday, the 26th. Or the 24th. I'm not sure. I'll have to call mom on her cell I'm sure.

Well I really don't have much more to say, I hope we can get everything figured out here about the Skype and stuff. We have never used it and I don't know, hopefully it isn't complicated. We are messing around with it right now and it's working so...fingures crossed! But if it gets complicated I'll just call on the phone. But in the interest of time I'm just sending this one email, and not one to mom. I'll be talking to you all soon. I want to call the 25th, but I'm not sure if any place will be open. I'll call mom I think and let her know. But hope you all have a great week and Christmas!

Love you,

Elder DeLong

December 13, 2010

Hey, Well it sounds like you had a pretty interesting week, with the snow and all. This week went well for me, we are still working to help our investigator drop smoking. What helped you do it mom? I will probably have to give you a quick call to let you know when I will be calling. Which day would you all prefer, the 24th or the 25th? Let me know next week. And be sure to send me pics of the snow and the family! How did the Jeep do in the snow? Just so you all know the weather here is perfect, clear blue/sunny skies :) haha.

Yes, I had to eat a little bit of fish. I think it was just like a tuna type of thing, i'm not sure. But I still don't like it. As I write this there is a terrible smell of fish in the air, its disgusting

Gina wasn't able to go to church yesterday, she fell in her bathroom and was in a lot of pain so that was a bummer.

Changes are getting close again, the 21st. It should be interesting to see who goes, honestly I think it could be either one of us. But we'll see. These last two months have been going by so fast! Its weird.

I actually saw the Christmas devotional yesterday, thats when they broadcasted it here. It was a good message. The Jehovas Witnesses don't celebrate Christmas, which i think is interesting. I don't agree with it, but I can see why they don't, because the world today is so focused on the gifts and new things and not on the Savior :/ I think thats something that we can always improve in.

I like this message that our President sent us: Omni 1: 26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

¿Estamos ofreciendo nuestras almas enteras como ofrenda a Jesucristo? ¿Completamente? ¿Dejando nada atras?

Are we offering our entire souls as an offer to Jesus Christ? Completely? Leaving nothing behind? Maybe we can do a little more!

Quizas podamos hacer un poco más!

I liked his message, and it not only applies to the mission work, because we are servants of Christ for our whole lives. Remember, there is always more we can give Him.

I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week!I'll go ahead and buy a different mp3 then, hopefully I can find a decent one.Well, I gotta go and write my letter to the ward, gosh what am I going to say?

Love,

Elder DeLong

ey!Well

December 6, 2010

Wow,I think this is the first week that dads letter was longer than yours. How was your week mom? My week was good, nothing too exciting happened. We are looking for new people to teach, this last week we were finally able to find some, so that was really good. We did our fast and then on Sunday we have fish...yuck! But things are going good here, we had an investigator go to church, Gina, for the first time. She is a great person, I really hope she gets baptized.

I am really excited to talk to you all this Christmas, not gonna lie. I'm gonna have to figure out what day and time and let you know this next week probably.

We are hoping to have 2 baptisms the 18th, a couple that has been married for 50 years! They are great, like children. But they love going to church. The only challenge is that he smokes, and has been smoking his whole life. But he is already down to smoking only 1 a day, and this week he needs to be completely clean.

Yea, it was fun for Elder Nielson to baptize her, although he almost hit her head on the wall because she is really tall and didn't leave sufficent space. But it all worked out well. No, we never had the turkey dinner...but thats ok, next year ;) The pumpkin pie turned out well (I didn't help him).

Service is good :) I've really come to love serving others here on the mish. Remember that when we are in the service of our fellow beings we are in the service of the Lord (mosiah 4?) But I have really come to like this scripture, D&C 123:17 I think. its a good one.

But I hope that you all have a great week!

I'm always praying for you.

Love,

Elder DeLong

November 29, 2010

Man, I wish that I could have been there for Thanksgiving, I really like that holiday. We still haven't had our dinner here that we are going to have, but I think that Friday we should have it. Elder Nielson made a pumpkin pie here Sunday and it actually turned out really good. So that was fun. But the family of our mission leader is awesome, I love them. It will be tough to have to leave them some day.

The weather here has stayed basically the same, not too hot and not too cold. I love it!

The baptism for Nadia went really well:) We had a god turnout and everything went well, the water was a little cold though. Elder Nielson baptised her, so that was cool for him.

And lots of people came so it was good. The attendance for church just keeps on rising, we had 110 last week. So that has been fun to see.

We went to the beach today as a zone and then had a barbeque afterwards. It was a lot of fun, I got a little burnt. The sun wasn't out at first but then it came out. We played football on the beach in the sand. I liked it.

But this change I have really come to understand the importance of the members in the mission work. With out them it is almost pointless. So I urge each of you to do all that you can to share the gospel with those around you. I thought this was an interesting statistic: The provo mission has the most baptisms. And it's because the members all give references to the missionaries. So keep on looking for those opportunities to share the gospel. I remember when the missionaries would come over and invite us to share the gospel with neighbors and friends, and we are always like 'mmmm, I'll try' but then we forget and don't do anything. So don't forget and you will be a great instrument in the hands of the Lord :)

Well hope you all have a great week and you are always in my prayers. Take care.

Love,Elder DeLong

Oh, and I would recommend getting a Preach My Gospel and reading it. That'd be good. :)

November 22, 2010

There has been a lot of sickness going around here too. I also was a bit sick at the beginning of last week, but I feel good now. Yea, we have3 been seeing a lot of great things by working with the members. The asistance yesterday was 105, pretty cool :) First time that it has been over 100 in a long time. Yea, the Hernandez fam are really cool, I hope we get to keep visiting them. But the country side of Chile is really pretty.

Only one companionship of sisters were taken out. The other one is still here, in the other part of Llo Lleo. We share the building with them. But now I have 6 elders and 2 sisters in my district because the ZL got switched over to the other district. So now we are 8 and 8.

We will have a baptism this Saturday :) Her name is Nadia. She is 13 (but really tall so she looks older) but we reactivated her family and now she is going to get baptized. So we are all excited for that. We have a few other people who are progressing well at the moment, but we are always looking for new people to teach. But I have really grown to love sharing the gospel, I love seeing how the gospel blesses people's lives. Just seeing members who have been strong in the church for years and seeing the happiness that they have, it's great. I'm glad that we have been blessed with the gospel iin our family and I pray that each and every one of us always stays strong and continues to work for the Lord and progress here during our earthly lives.

It will be nice to have those shoes when I get home. I'm pretty sure these will last. My other clothes are hanging in there, should be interesting these next 6 months to see how they do. Aww, I love Thanksgivings. We are actually gong to have a Thanksgiving dinner Sunday with our ward mission leader and his family. They are really cool, definitely one of my favorite families that I have met here in Chile.

But enjoy Thanksgiving, say hi to everyone and remember to read the BOM every day :)

Love you all,con muchisimo amor,

Elder DeLong

November 15, 2010

Hello :)
Thats what I hear every day in the street at least 10 tens, 'Hello!' 'How are you?' Or if they are young people they usually try to swear at us incorrectly, ha. But thats cool that you got snow, I miss the snow. I think the year is boring without the change, it makes life more interesting to have snow.

Yea, we had a really great week here in Llo Lleo. The asistance at church continues to rise, we are really making a focused effort on working with/strengthening the members. We are a team in the work with them and if we don't work together we won't have much success, and even if we have a lot of baptisms, they won't remain in the church without member support. So we have been enjoying that.

You, the members of the church, are just important (if not more) than us full time missionaries. Our main function is teaching, you guys are supposed to do the finding ;) keep up that flame to share the gospel and look for any little opportunities you can to help/serve your fellow brothers and sisters here on the earth.

Yesterday for lunch we went after church with a family (Familia Hernandez) to eat with them and know them a little better. They live really far away from Llo Lleo, part of the area here which is still part of our huge sector, called San Juan. So they took us in their car and we went way out in the rural area. It was awesome, I felt like I was back in MN, going up north or something. And then we got to their house and they had a nice chunk of land and a really nice house. It was the most americanized house I've seen here, and it had that nice new house smell. It was fun.

But so we really liked this family, just wish they didn't live so far so we could visit/work with them more. It's funny cuz they really don't live super far, about like St Francis to the chapel, but here it's far cuz everyone always lives really close. They both work with the youth.

Yea, the sisters got taken out and now we have elders. It's called a white wash. But President took them out because it was just a tough sector, nobody helped them or ever opened the doors for the poor sisters.

I miss being with people that know how to sing, haha. It's hard to believe that Christmas is almost here already..in just a month or so I'll only have 5 more left. Never thought time actually flew as fast as everyone said, but they weren't lying.

That talk from President Scott was one of my favorites. That and President Monson's.

I liked this from Richard G Scott from conference:

“Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6). Thus, every time you try your faith—that is, act in worthiness on an impression—you will receive the confirming evidence of the Spirit. As you walk to the boundary of your understanding into the twilight of uncertainty, exercising faith, you will be led to find solutions you would not obtain otherwise. With even your strongest faith, God will not always reward you immediately according to your desires. Rather, God will respond with what in His eternal plan is best for you, when it will yield the greatest advantage. Be thankful that sometimes God lets you struggle for a long time before that answer comes. That causes your faith to increase and you chararcter to grow. God uses your faith to mold your character. Character is the manifestation of what you are becoming.Strong character results from consistent correct choicesThe bedrock of character is integrity.The more your character is fortified, the more enabled you are to exercise the power of faith".

But the coast is awesome!

I would never want to live here permanently, but to be here for a few months is great. I hope I have a bit longer here on my mission, my guess is I have one more sector after this and thats where I'll end. But we'll see what the Lord has planned for me. I hope you have an amazing week!Love you and pray for you.

Elder DeLong

November 7, 2010

This week was really good, we had our stake conference and a bunch of the missionaries from the zone sang in the stake chior (because they didn't have anyone else really). So that was fun, sure wasn't Mens chorus though haha

Yea, I feel good about the work we've been doing here in Llo Lleo, I'm excited to start another change here. I'll still be here with Elder Nielson, we are happy. We work well together.

A few of the other missionaries in the zone will be changing. The sisters that are in a sector called Barrancas will be switched out for Elders. It has just been a really tough sector on them, so I think that will be good. We have some really big hills here.

Yea, Pres King's daughter is in Rochester and should be finishing in a bit and heading down here. Her dad is going to release her, pretty cool huh?

But thats about it for now. Oh, the family of our ward mission leader, Familia Araya, are really cool (although I'm pretty sure he is going to be called to be the bishop here in a couple weeks, I'm sad I don't want to lose him as our mission leader) but they give us lunch every Friday and we talked to them about doing a Thanksgiving lunch with turkey and everything, that should be pretty cool :) OK well, hope that all is well. The work is going well here, we have a lot of people that we've found that we are excited to teach this change. Have and amazing week, and you are always in my prayers.

Love,Elder DeLong-

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