Letter home July 14, 2013

Hey fambam! Thanks so much for the fun emails! It seems like everyone is having a fantastic summer. That's crazy to hear about the mountains being on fire, sad to hear that the Hortons and Stewarts are leaving, and even crazier to hear that Megan is getting married! Send me her new address so I can send her a letter!

I was so excited to get a few letters from friends this week--until I realized that they were returned from when I sent them. Boo. Ha, so I need the current address of Tynica Kruyer and Katarina and Kristina Bordinhao. Qwenk. Please and thanks!

Oh! And while I'm thinking about it--the new mission address is:

Misión Chile Concepción Sur

Castellon 1063

Casilla 3560

Concepción, Bio Bio

Chile

Gracias! Random fun facts: I've had a huge hankering for pretzels lately, but they don't exist here. Help me out if you can ;) Same with Cheeze-its...

So this week was a rather trying week, despite the fun of completing a full year in the mission. Or maybe because of completing a year. But the good news is that I've crossed the half-way mark. On Sunday I was put into reflecting upon the INCREDIBLE blessing of being raised in a ward that functioned properly. I was always grateful for our great ward Hacienda Heights, but I've grown a much deeper appreciation and gratitude for sharing a ward with such wonderful people. As far as I've ever known, we don't have members that hate each other or Priesthood leaders that argue. What a blessing to have grown up in the world's best ward ;)

I've be pondering a lot about charity, and how EVERYTHING leads back to that pure love of Christ (1 Cor 13:1-13; Moroni 7:45-48). The reason we exist, the reason we have religion, the reason God sacrificed His Only Begotten Son, the reason He allows us to be forgiven through repentance, etc--all of it is because of the love God has for us. It's a level of love that we completely don't comprehend nor immitate. I'm so grateful for the love of my Heavenly Father and Savior that I've felt through my parents and church leaders. What a wonderful opportunity we all have to be able to help others feel God's love for them by reaching out to them through service, invitations to learn about the gospel, or emotional support. All of it leads to God's love/charity. Maybe the Beatles had more wisdom than we thought ;)

Have a wonderful week! Much love!

Elder Long :)