Elder Long in New York: Happy Birthday Elder Long! (Letter from March 26th)

Whaddup?!

Mom, I really hope you get better :( It makes me so upset to hear that you are in pain. I can't even help you out with things like groceries and other heavy lifting. I love you mom. I hope that these last injections help. You don't deserve to be in pain >:(

Well, I got some awesome party stuff from my sister and also some snacks! Then I got a package from Caitlin that had some snacks and a Deadmau5 beanie! It's super cool! Then I got this weird package from "the Longs?" I'm not sure what it was but it was tons of delicious ingredients that made my day. I think it was suppose to be a burrito. Haha, naw. Seriously, words can NOT express of how awesome that gift was, Mom. Wow! It was soo good! And Cloward liked it too! It reminded me of home. It was so nice :) Who went with you to order the burrito? Or who helped you? It HAD to have been Jeremy, John or James. They are the only ones who knows exactly what we get. Thank you again. That was like, the most creative gift ever! It was still cold when I opened it too! Oh and a little heads up. USPS is horrible about packages. Every package I got from them has been damaged. Brianna's has a hole in it, Caitlin's was completely opened, and with yours, a couple of the items in the box were damaged. The Ziplock tubs were cracked and the lids broke :/ But we still use them in the apartment. But yeah. USPS is horrible. They're careless. Elder Alivio gave me an awesome New York hat, haha. It's sweet. The sisters also got me a cake. So needless to say, I had a pretty great birthday! Oh, and I got a bunch of Cards and Emails! So thank you to all who gave me those!

I got permission to use Facebook! So now I will be an online proselyter! It's pretty cool. President Morgan talked to is yesterday about how important Facebook really is to missionary work. We are suppose to make posts almost every day and they're called "inspired posts". Basically what that means, is we pray about what we should post about and then receive inspiration from The Lord about what to post. We have been told by the leaders of the church that Facebook was "made" for missionary work. It wasn't really, but it's an amazing tool for missionary work. So I encourage you all to use your Facebook for missionary work more! Post more about your testimony and share more about the gospel. Sooo many people see what you post. You will never know who's heart you will touch when you make an inspired post. It's remarkable.

We have NOT played that game with Ryan yet. We play basketball with the elders quorum every Wednesday night. There are a bunch of non members who play and we invited Ryan to come to those. He and a friend came last week. It got really competitive. I was getting so heated haha. I love it when my adrenaline just pumps when I play sports. Like, my head starts throbbing and my eyes start throbbing, haha. It's weird but awesome. We are actually going up to Kingston today to play sports with our zone.

We recently just got the LDS Tool app and I can see the records from our stake back home! It's so cool. Our family is the only family with pictures up haha. And it still says that I'm aSunday school worker. I feel like I should get more credit than that! I'm a missionary! I teach more than just Sunday school! Haha.

Hey mom, if it really isint TOO much to ask or send, would it be okay for you to send me my black Oregon hoodie? I only have formal coats and stuff. I just don't want you to pay tons of money to ship a huge package cause I already asked you to send my suit and stuff. Idk, I just want tons of stuff. I really wished I took more. What they asked me to bring is completely different than it really is. Like, we can wear khakis. So now I want khakis cause all I have are grey and black. Idk, I really hope I'm not sounding needy lol. I just want a hoodie cause when we work out in the mornings it's cold and when we have p days, it's usually cold. How is the iPod thing coming? Thank you so much for doing that. I think I'm a little confused on what you were telling me. So am I getting Dads black iPod that was in his truck and you are giving him my old iPod touch or what? I'm totally okay with anything, I'm just confused. But again, thank you! You're such a boss, mom!

It's okay that you don't "have much to tell me this week" cause I feel the same haha. We have been teaching the same people. Which I will be able to introduce you too shortly with Facebook. Oh, and if you have questions about Facebook just let me know. We have weekly Facebook events and yes, you...my mom...are able to join the events. Just keep it gospel related. Don't be like: "Hi son! How are you?" Haha. I'll be inviting you to the events every so often. But yeah, I can introduce you to Jeanne, the lady who made me ziti and Mountain Dew. She LOVES talking to missionaries moms haha. She will give you the scoop on me for sure. I hope I'm behaving...lol.

I love you!! I hope all is well back in A town. I sure am grateful to have come from there. I love where I grew up! I am also grateful for all my friends that I made there. It TRUELY is my home. I love it.

Have a great week! Love you all. Especially you mom and dad!

Love, Elder Branndin Brian Long