Warming weary feet

Warming wet shoes by the fire

Tanner's last pday letter home!

My dear fambam! My beloved companion keeps reminding me that today is my last P-day....ha. However, I'm pretty sure I'll get to send off a quick message next Monday before leaving.

Oh, by the way, surprise! I have pday today! haha. In my last letter I said I wouldn't, but then President changed his mind so that we could get some last-minute shopping done and cut our hair before our conference on Friday. This is going to be quite the crazy week. We have four baptismal interviews to do on Tuesday in varias nearby towns (best types of problems to solve) and then Friday is our last mission conference. I have just three full days of intense work to make it the best week ever, and then we'll have a baptism Saturday afternoon and I have to start my travels up north immediately afterwards. I'm soooooo excited and grateful that the Lord has blessed us soooo much that I'll be able to end my mission with a baptism!

Alejandra is the girlfriend of an inactive member, Marcos, who strongly opposed his participation in the Church when he was baptized two years ago. However, after his brother was killed, the missionaries gave a blessing of peace to them and their home, and she's done a 180 degree change. The both of them have progressed soooo well because they ALWAYS read the Book of Mormon every day, they always read the pamphlets we leave them, and they have attended church each week. They get married this Wednesday and she'll be baptized for the remission of her sins Saturday so that she'll be worthy to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying of hands on Sunday. What a wonderful opportunity to know about and participate in such sacred ordinances of Christ's plan of our salvation and eternal happiness. Wahooo!!! :D

Speaking of the importance of the Book of Mormon, this week my testimony of it's power was renewed. We entered into the house of a young mother and father (each only 20 yrs old) and their three young children and began discussing about the gospel. As Evangelicals, their entire focus of everything is the Holy Ghost, or Spirit of God. Actually, they told us that earlier that afternoon in their church service, three or four people were ''baptized by the Spirit and spoke in languages.'' They taught us about the Pentecost and the importance of speaking in languages to prove that someone has received the Spirit. We had a rather long and non-progressive discussion as we shared scriptures like Acts 19 to try to help them understand the difference between feeling the Spirit and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and the importance of the ordinance as Christ's chosen Apostles teach it. The young father didn't let us talk much, and it was frustrating. They struggled to understand (and frankly didn't want to), and I didn't know what else to do. While I silently prayed, I felt very strongly to simply explain and testify about the Book of Mormon.

I pulled out a copy, explained the importance of the restored scriptures and their extreme usefulness in knowing the correct way to receive the Holy Ghost as a constant companion, and my companion and I testified. The two young parents were completely silent. Captivated. They asked for copies and began to immediately scan the pages. We left them with an assigned chapter to read and with the invitation to pray to ask Heavenly Father of the book's veracity. 

Wow was the Spirit strong in that house as we testified about the Book of Mormon. There could be no argument that I knew for myself that that book is completely true and divinely inspired and protected. Heavenly Father is so merciful to allow young teenagers and 20-yr-olds preach His gospel for the salvation and happiness of His children. I'm certainly no expert at doctrine nor even in the Spanish language, thus I am so extremely grateful for God's powerful tool to conversion--the Book of Mormon, which can be read, studied, compared to the Bible, and put to the ultimate test of prayer. I know for myself that this restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true. And I know it because I know that the Book of Mormon is true scripture from our loving Heavenly Father whose sole desire is to prepare us to return to live in His presence and become like Him. What a blessing!

Have a wonderful week! I sure love you. See you next week!

Elder Long :)

Missionary moments

Zone meetings and more new missionaries!

An average evening on the streets of Pitrufquen

First ceiling fan Tanner has seen in 2 years- check out how it's fastened to the ceiling!

Letter 6/2/14

Hey fambam! I sure hope you're enjoying the sunny weather because it's been raining ALLLLLLL week here!!! Sometimes it helps us get into more houses because we can try to use a pity factor, but other times they don't want us getting their house wet or muddy...haha.

First off, happy birthday Lacey and Tyler!!! Have a fantastic week you old geezers!!! I sure love you both.

Para que sepais, we don't have Pday next Monday because we're going to have a mission activity on Friday the 13 and that will count as our Pday.

This week our power got cut, so Elder Trudeau and I lived by candle-light for a few days haha. It was pretty fun yet certainly renewed my gratitude for electricity!!!

We're teaching a part-member family that Elder Trudeau found with his companion the day before I arrived. Marcos (member) and Alejandra (girlfriend) have been progressing really well. They have been soooo great about always reading what we assign them. They plan to get married this next week and she'll be baptized on Saturday the 14th, my last weekend in the mission!!!! :D I'm praying soooo hard that all goes well and especially that they can get married ASAP so that there are no problems with her getting baptized. What a joy to get to teach a young family and help them affirm themselves to Christ while they raise their little 2 yr old daughter. 

This morning in my personal study I came across a verse in Alma 38:5 that I really liked. It reads:

''And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.''

It made me think about how God doesn't take away our problems or give us a worry-free life; rather, He strengthens us through confidence, trust, and hope that will carry us through life's trials and difficulties. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father loves me, and it helps me trust that all will be well as long as I am obedient to Him. I love the Lord and I love serving Him. Have a wonderful week!

Elder Long :)

Living the missionary life!

Elder Trudeau and Elder Tanner Long posing for the GQ magazine of LDS Living!

Hna Voyles from the Boices LV ward is now serving with Tanner!

Another favorite Chilean family. Javiera successfully completed chemotherapy

Last transfer! May 27, 2014

Hey fambam!

Sorry I'm a day late again; we had consejo yesterday and didn't get home  until about 10pm. But it was a great consejo as always. Weird fact: it was the last consejo I and President Martinez will ever have in this mission... :/

I always try to make our lessons and contacts entertaining to keep people's attention, which means I often revert to jokes. What cracks me up the most is that people so rarely understand my jokes haha. For example, this week we met a woman named Mercedes, and as I shook her hand I told her, ''What a pleasure! We just finished talking with your neighbor Cadillac a few minutes ago!'' I mean I know it's lame pun humor, but she gave me a pretty weird look and I knew she had no idea what I was talking about haha. Oh well.

Well so I mentioned in my last letter that Sister Voyles is in my zone. Turns out we're actually serving in the same little branch too! I thought we had never met before, but she tells me that she practically grew up with Corey Tyndall and that we went to the mormon prom in the same group together..hahaha. I didn't know anyone in the group except Cameron and Corey, so I hold myself blameless... Anywho, it gave us a good laugh. I'll send the pics. 

We're teaching a young couple to reactivate Marcos and baptize his girlfriend Alejandra. They have a cute little 2 yr old daughter, and our hopes are to help them get married. They weren't very interested in anything a few weeks ago until Marcos' brother was killed. The missionaries left a blessing of peace for them in their home, and they told us they've felt waaayyyy better. We taught them about the Holy Ghost and how they can have that feeling of peace all the time, and Alejandra accepted a baptismal date for June 21. I'm pretty bummed I won't be here for it, but I'm excited for them. 

As we traveled to Los Angeles Sunday afternoon to be ready for the consejo Monday morning, we arrived about an hour earlier than expected. Luckily, we were to stay the night in my beloved old sector Villa Obispo!!! So we head out to work to take advantage of the hour we had, and we visited some old investigators to see if they were progressing. A while back I mentioned Javiera, a young 15 yr old diagnosed with Leukemia that we began to teach right before I was transfered out of that sector. I felt like Elder Trudeau and I should visit her, and it was certainly inspired. I LOVED getting to see her and her family again; she has such a special spirit. Some great news is that her cancer treatment is going better, and she only has to travel to Concepción once a month instead of everyday now. She was reading in the Book of Mormon and still wants to keep learning more. We had a great lesson about prayer and I immediately told the missionaries to start visiting her again. They had stopped passing by because she was never home (due to her treatment in a different city). But now she'll be home and they'll be able to keep teaching her! Ah, Heavenly Father is so wonderful in His wisdom and how He so mercifully guides us to see miracles.

Speaking of God's manner, yesterday I read in Alma 41:11 in the Book of Mormon. It reads:

And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.

It describes that those that sin without repenting are living contrary to the nature of God or contrary to the nature of happiness. That in itself is a large discussion we could have, but I want to point out that, according to this verse, the nature of God is happiness. Simple. For my dear family who should have listened to Brad Wilcox's talk ''God's grace is sufficient,'' you will remember when he said that ''we are learning heaven.'' If we really believe and hope to become like God someday, it starts now. His nature is happiness. We don't endure to the end and then suddenly become happy once we get to live with him again; rather, we are meant to learn to be happy now. ''Men are that they might have joy'' (2 Nephi 2:27). In short, if someone isn't happy, they're doing it wrong. I know God will help us be happy--obedience to His commandments is what will bring us true and lasting happiness. I know it to be true because I've experienced the difference in my life. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. They live and love us. Let us do their will and always be obedient. Therein lays the joy and happiness that I desire. 

Much love,

Elder Long :)

Working in Chile

Hna Orellana & Ramirez- both finished their missions this week. 

When it rains in chile, it rivers...