June 25, 2014 - Week 2 in the Bronx!

What's up!

Another great week in the Bronx! 

Elder Rydalch and I are going to Manhattan today. His cousin is in town and wants to take him to lunch. So we are going to go to some museums and hangout until we meet up with him. I'm pretty excited. 

Elder Rydalch and I are looking forward to the new month. We are going to take advantage of walking everywhere so we can both lose weight. Starting at the beginning of the month, we are going to help each other eat healthy. We are going to make a run to costco and buy chicken, fruits, vegetables etc. I'm actually pretty excited. My main goal is to be able to fit my two suits that I out grew, haha. They are such nice suits but I can barely fit into em. Thanks a lot, Poughkeepsie meals. Lol. Our Investigator, Devon, is really progressing. We have taught him almost all of the lessons now, and every time we teach him, he literally shouts for joy and dances around. He is such an amazing guy. I feel as if we are just reminding him of these things. It's as if he remembers learning about in in the pre earth life. He showed us a Christian song that was praising god and he expressed his love for it. After he showed us his song, we introduced him to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He was overcome with joy. He kept clicking different videos and listening to them, haha. He is soo ready for baptism, he just needs to make it to church. It's just so amazing to see someone so humble and so ready to learn more about our savior Jesus Christ. 

We did an APF as a zone this last week. APF stands for, Area Proselyting Focus. So each week, 1 companionship will come up with an idea of finding new people to teach. And in the Bronx, it's super effective. There is so much foot traffic. So, a Spanish sisters companionship came up with an idea to teach English classes at the church for those who want to learn English, which is a huge chunk of the Bronx. This activity really helped you define your racism, lol. The flyers are in Spanish, so the whole time you're trying to figure out if they look like they speak Spanish or not. I was always afraid of going up to a person and asking if they or someone they know would like to learn English and have them say: "Dude...I'm from Kentucky. I know English." Haha. So, as I was passing these flyers out and poorly speaking Spanish, I came across this kid, who spoke English, and I gave him the flyer and explained what the purpose of the flyer was. He kindly accepted it and walked away. As he walked away, I looked at his hat. It was a hat of a music artist I really liked at home named A$AP Rocky. So I ran over to him and complimented his hat and told him that I'm also a fan. We ended up talking for several minutes and I made sure that I told him why I'm out here and what I'm doing. I asked him if he was religious and he answered yes but he is a little unsure of his beliefs (Perfect answer for a missionary). So I asked him if he would like to learn more and he happily said yes. I gave him mine and elder Rydalch's pass along card, which has a printed label of our names for Facebook and our number. He happily said he would add me on Facebook. I found so much joy from that contact. It was simple, and successful. All from a mutual music artist. I love it! 

There is this guy that sells peanuts on the street. We call him Greg the Peanut guy. He gave us some peanuts last night and I made homemade peanut butter. It was awesome. I took of the shells and everything. Then I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with it. One of the elders I live with, who is from Sugar City Idaho, loves to cook, so he is going to make me bread and Jam and then that way it will be 100% homemade! Mission life is superb. I love it! 

So next week is the Yankees game!! I'm really excited. I just want to let you all know that if I don't email till later in the day, that's why. I'm so grateful for president Morgan and for the opportunity he gives us to go to a Yankees game. How cool is that!? Beast is what it is. Que Brutal (Spanish for "That's Beast"). 

I love each and every one of you. I'm am so blessed to have you in my life. 

Love, Elder Branndin Brian Long

My crazy long hair and my new haircut. I love

having short buzzed hair, especially with this humidity. Woo!

June 17 - The Bronx!

Que lo Que?! 

Haha, I've been told that means "What is What" like a form of what's up in Spanish. 

My feet hurt!!! We walk everywhere! But, the city is fantastic! I'm not sure how to describe it, really. You know how when you go to Utah and you see someone of a different race than Caucasian and you kinda have to do a double take? Well, it's a lot like that here, just opposite. When I see a fellow Caucasian, I have to do a double take. Like, "Whoa...how did you end up here?!" Haha. The Bronx is a huge melting pot of people. Mostly Dominicans and Albanians. I have never wanted to speak Spanish more than now. If only! I hear more Spanish everyday that nice hear English. Crazy, huh? The signs on the street are in Spanish. And the tv channels are always in Spanish. I feel like I'm in a different country. 

The mission pays for a monthly unlimited metro card. That way, we can ride to bus and train when we go to far locations. We take the bus to the church,which is located off of Olmstead ave and. So other than that, we walk. Like I said, my feet are pretty achy, haha. Mainly just the other day. We walked a lot. We also get recognized a ton! I haven't gone a day yet, where someone has talked to us on the bus or on the street, wanting to learn more. It's really different for me. President Morgan said: "Missionaries in a car are invisible!" It's true. Whenever we were in our car, we wouldn't be recognized as missionaries. But here, they can see us all the time. It's just really cool. Some missionaries in south Manhattan got on the from cover of the NYC news paper. And because of it, we got recognized from it. "I saw you guys in the paper today. Yeah, you guys are real cool. You guys are dedicated!" 

I've also realized that the Bronx is super stinky. It just smells everywhere. There is also tons and tons of garbage everywhere. We play this game called "Bronx Ball" where you have to kick a piece of trash through your companions legs. If you score you get a point. It's pretty entertaining when we are walking everywhere. Elder Rydalch is my companion. He is from Oakley Utah. Man I love the guy. Almost every interest we have, we share together. Sports, music, movies. It's fun. He's also the first companion (out of three) that has been bigger than me.  He is about 6'4" 250. I'm used to that from my buddy ol pal John Vaughan :) I'm also living with Elder Sevy who is from Sugar City Idaho and he is training Elder Richan from Arizona. We all get along pretty great. 

We have a new investigator. His name is Devon Coke. He is fresh outta Jamaica. I know. Why have I been teaching so many Jamaicans?! Lol. But he is so cool! He got his masters in education and leadership. He's really smart and really humble. We invited him to be baptized of July 5th, but he didn't come to church the next day, so that tanked. As an investigator, you need to come to church three times before baptism and the date we set for him was exactly three weeks from then. So since he didn't come, we had to move it back. He is definitely progressing though. 

One of the cool things from the Bronx is getting that occasional car that has huge subs and they are just bumpin super loud. It's so awesome. It reminds me of how my car used to be. It's also really fun to hear the World Cup fans go crazy. There is a house right across the street from the church who is always watching it and partying. Day in and day out. It gets pretty crazy at times. 

I love you guys! It's been another great week. I'm so grateful for your support and constant love. I hope you guys have a great week and enjoy the nice weather coming. It's getting sooo hot here. The humidity doesn't help either. Especially being in a white shirt and tie all day, haha. 

Love ya!! 

Love, Elder Branndin Brian Long

The first three are from the balcony at our investigators apartment - The Bronx "As the crow flies"

Then the next two are from the Pelham Parkway train station.

Drum Roll.....Transfer! - June 11, 2014

Hey all!! I'm in the Bronx! Im in the Olmstead Zone. Which is east
Bronx aka, the ghetto, haha. My area is called Morris park. It's east
of the Bronx zoo. I'm really excited to start a new chapter in my
mission. It's actually nice to be outta Poughkeepsie. I love it there
and I love the people, but it was getting to be extremely repetitious,
haha. My companion is Elder Lucas Rydalch. He is awesome. We already
get along and he is pretty laid back...like me :) he is from around
park city Utah, but not park city, lol. So, we should be getting some
great work done. So, even though I'm in the Bronx, my new apartment is
nicer than the one I had in Poughkeepsie! Crazy huh?! It's pretty
sweet.

This really feels like home, guys. Aurora isin't THiS crowded, or
diverse, but it's so awesome. The smells, the feel, the look, the
sound. It's all wonderful. I was definitely sent to this mission for a
reason.

Elder Berube and I set a record for lessons taught in our area last
week. We taught seven. We planned for eight, but one canceled. The
last record was six, so we beat it by one. It was such a great day!! I
loved it!

Anyway, sorry it's so short. I'm super excited and I appreciate all of
your support :)

Love, Elder a Branndin Brian Long

My last zone in Poughkeepsie and my whole MTC zone minus the ones who
went to North Carolina!!

 

Transfers!! Guess where??

Hey all! So, it's transfers. Don't have much time to type out a big
letter. I can read all your emails though, so I want to hear guesses
of where I'm being transferred. I'm gonna be mean and let y'all guess
>:D haha! I'm super excited!! I'm leaving "Home"! I'm gonna miss it so
much, but my new area will be super awesome too.

This week was super awesome. Yesterday, Elder Berube and myself set a
record for lessons taught in a day. 7. We taught seven FULL over one
hour lessons! It was really great. We had 8 planned, but one
cancelled. So it could have been better, but it was still beast!

Well I love you all!! Let's hear your guesses!! Lol

June 4, 2014 - Tracting!

What's Good Folks!?

This week has consisted of a whole lot of stuff. It was a fantastic week!

So, last Thursday, we did a zone service project. We helped rip down a
barn. Yep. A Whole Barn. The barn was built in 1871 and the man who
owned it passed away, so a guy he knew wanted to use the wood for a
project he was doing. Man, was it hard work! We were there from 9am to
5pm. It was like a work day! It was also pretty fun too. The owner of
the bar who passed away (his wife is still alive) left a 1965 mustang
in the garage. It's in really good condition, just really dirty. She
hasn't touched it and I don't think she plans on it. She could sell it
for a pretty penny. I'm not a huge mustang fan...in fact I hate them.
But it was cool to see a classic.

Then on Friday, we were privileged to have a mission tour from Elder
Steven E. Snow from the first quorum of the seventy! We had a full day
of council and instruction from him. And he wanted to shake our hand
and personally greet all of us. I also got to have ouch with him.
That's pretty cool to think about. I had lunch with Elder Snow. He and
I sat next to each other at lunch and just talked. He asked if there
were any good places in Colorado to go hiking, lol. Funny question. Of
course!!! I named off my favorite. Maroon Bells in Aspen. So
beautiful! But, I'm grateful that he was able to motivate us. We all
needed it!

So, I have gathered a few stories from a few hostile people, lol. I
feel like I've told a few already, but we had another encounter this
week. (People up here are relentless) So, Elder Berube and myself were
tracting on Monday, and it was a normal tracting day. "I'm catholic,
thanks" or "Nope! Not interested!" *Slam* So, this next house was a
bit of a shock. As we were walking up to the door, they shut the door.
So we get up there and ring the doorbell like 3 times and knock like 3
times. Hello. We just saw you close the door. I know we are Mormons,
but we ain't dun diddly stoopid. Haha. So, a man comes out of the
garage door and asks what we want. We tell him who we are and he says:
"Nope. I'm atheist. Bye!" *Slam* That's somewhat normal, so we just
walk away. As we walk away, we hear him say: "It's all good. I took
care of the problem." That made me laugh pretty hard. We were "Taken
Care Of" like a cockroach infestation...ridiculous! People are so
rude. So we just walk to the next house and as we walk up to the next
house, the lady from the last house runs out yelling at us. Literally
yelling. And she just went on and on of how we are hypocrites. She
pointed to the sky and said: "You think you know him!? You think you
know who he is?! Well you don't! You can't just come on to our
property and disrespect our no trespassing sign. You frightened us! We
were just sitting at home and you frightened us!" As she was
destroying two 20 year old kids from the Rocky Mountains, her daughter
walks out and tries to protect us. Which was nice of her. As we
thanked the daughter, the older lady yells: "Do NOT speak to my
daughter. She is WAY too good for you!" We had no idea what was going
on. We just sat there blankly staring at her. She wouldn't even let us
talk cause if we tried to calm her down, she just got worse. So yeah,
haha. Needless to say. It made my night. The same neighborhood that we
were tracting, we knock on this door and this buff black dude answers.
I'm use to Aurora, so I'm wasn't too intimidated. And asks what we
want. So I take the good ol Book of Mormon approach. As I was trying
to explain what it was, I told him that it's another testament as is
the bible. So I asked if he was religious and he said that he read the
Curran. I was like "Cool! That's definitely something that I would
like to read sometime...What do you believe in?" And he responded: "I
believe in my pistol...and I believe in using it..." I just looked at
him and said: "Nice! Guns are pretty cool" haha. Then he said he want
interested and closed the door. That was a pretty fun experience.

So, I'm not entirely sure why John (Our investigator) postponed. He
won't tell us. But I honestly think that meeting with us was just so
he can say he knows what Mormons believe. I don't think he really
wants to get baptized, but I'm trying to have hope that he does.
Especially since his parents sent us some really anti Mormon
questions. But, we will see. We also got 2 new investigators this
week! Yesterday, we met with a lady named Lorraine. Elder Berube and I
tracted her house and she said we could come back. She told us that
she was interested in family history work which is sooooo cool! Well,
we came back yesterday and she invited us in. We sat down and she
stared at my name badge and mouthed my last name. "L...O...N...G" and
then she belted out: "Long!?!? As in L, O, N, G?! I sat there in
confusion. "Yes. I'm Elder Long" I said. She replied: "My maiden name
is Long!! Wow!" So, we sat there just talking about our genealogy and
where our long name comes from. Her "Long" comes from Ohio and ours
comes from Oregon. But further back we both come from England (I think
ours does) so that was awesome. Then we got to talking about the
church and we asked her to read the Book of Mormon and she said she
would and she also said she would pray about it. I'm so stoked for
Lorraine! She is ridiculously awesome!

Transfers and next Wednesday. An I think I'm leaving. It all makes
sense for me to go. Which is a bummer because so much is happening
right now. We are officially moving a week after transfers to what one
of our senior couples says "The nicest apartment in the entire
mission" so I'm probably gonna miss out on that :( AND we are getting
sisters in our ward! That's 6 missionaries in our ward! Crazy! And
then of course, we have new investigators. So right as things get
super awesome, I think I'm leaving. Oh well I guess, haha. Gotta do
The Lord work somewhere else.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention. We are going to a Yankees game on July
2nd. I'm so stoked!!!! Our entire mission is going. They said last
year it was like a sea of white shirts, haha. So rub that into the
Hicks face! Let them know where I'll be on that day. Haha just
kidding. But I'm really excited. It's going to be really fun. They
play Tampa Bay that day too.

Well, I love y'all! I am so grateful for your support. I have felt it
this past week.

Love Elder a Branndin Brian Long

The Mustang that was sitting in the garage for several years. Pretty

great condition, huh?!

A license plate with my initials!!

Me...

The Hudson in springtime! It was taken from
the bridge going to new Paltz.

Baja Blast discovery! YES!

Barn Rip down

Me holding wood...it sorta looks like a sword

from Halo, lol.

MAy 28, 2014 - It's gettin HOT in here!

What's Poppin?!

Man, yesterday was pretty hot. We got up to 90 degrees! That not
unusual for me, but the humidity was horrible! My skin was just so
sticky! I know it's not the worst humidity. The Carolina's and
Virginia are pretty humid, but jeez. It feels like you didn't even
shower that day, it's pretty gross. I feel bad for my white shirts,
haha. The humidity is pretty thick. I left out an airborne tablet on
accident. Yeah...that didn't turn out well the next day. The humidity
made it foam all over my desk. I took some sweet pictures.

So, there is this specific neighborhood that keeps drawing us back
somehow. It's just one narrow street of apartments. I'm not sure if I
already told you this story, but first, we have a less active who
lives there. So we have been over to that street a few times for her.
Then, we got a referral from a member that took us to that street.
Then, we have received 2 media referrals from that street. That's 4
separate occurrences that we have had to go over there. So I said:
"Elder Berube...we need to tract this entire apartment complex.
Someone is ready to receive the restored gospel!" That was my
impression. So, we decided to tract that street. Within 2 hours, we
got about 3 people who said we can come back a teach them! We only got
like 20 doors tracted...in an apartment complex!  I'm telling
you...This neighborhood is the nectar of our area. All other places or
towns are just really sour towards everything. But this neighborhood
just accepts it as it is. Almost everyone! And if they don't accept
it, they don't quite deny it. It's amazing to see. At least for me.
Elder Berube is almost done with his mission, so he has seen a lot.
But I'm fresh. Everything is exciting to me!

John (Our Investigator) is extremely busy. He is really big into
politics and will be running for Fishkill secretary something or
another. And so with finals in school and politics in the way, he
postponed his baptism til November 26th. So, he didn't get baptized
this week, but baptism is still something that he desires...which is
great! We will still teach him weekly and hopefully the spirit will
guide him to a sooner or a better date for him.

Okay guys. This is Elder Longs request from ANYONE reading this. The
east coast has not yet received Mountain Dew Baja Blast! I have been
to like 5 stores and they don't even have it labeled on the shelf!
Send elder long some Baja blast!!! Haha. I just see countless people
on Facebook with packs and packs of Baja blast and I'm just sitting
here...with regular. Lol. I'm going bananas!! I'm not sure how hard it
would be to send that. Probably pretty difficult :(

Thank you all for your help and support! I love you and hope you guys
have a fantastic week!!

Love, Elder Branndin Brian Long...Send Baja Blast!!!!

"An airborne tablet I left on my desk!"

"A random sign from the town I live in"

"This is the local library. My 'dad' said that it's the oldest

library in the state is in Wappingers Falls...so I'm assuming it's

this one. (I have a library card for it!)"

May 21, 2014 - The Fab 4!

Hey all!

So, this week has been pretty great! All four of us in the apartment
get along really well! It's pretty crazy sometimes.

So, Elder Berube (My companion) is a big "Tracter". So we have tracted
a bit this last week. People in New York are so flippin rude! I've
tracted with the missionaries in Colorado and now I've tracted in New
York. There is a big difference. The most common response we get is
"I'm catholic, thanks". But we have gotten a few really rude people.
The first one we came across, this lady answered the door, and before
we could speak, she yells: "I'm not feeling well. My husband is in the
ICU. And I'm trying to sleep!" *Slams Door* I wish there was a video
to show you our faces. It was just like...oh...Kay? Haha. Then, after
a few hours of being shocked at how rude people are, I said: "Im gonna
be bold next time". So we came up to is door that has a "Welcome"
sign. The man answered the door, looked at our tags, and said: "Nope,
I'm not interested". So I replied with: "But sir, you have a welcome
sign..." He started looking around. "Where?!" He said. "Right on your
lawn!" I replied. He got pretty disgruntled and slammed the door. It
might have been a little rude, but sometimes we got to be honest,
haha. I guess we always need to be honest, but you get the point.

The other day, we decided to do some less active look ups. Brother
Smith has created this list of every less active in the ward in our
area of the ward. So, we have this binder that has every village with
the less actives in it. So, we decided to do look ups in Hopewell
Junction. Just east of where we live in Wappingers Falls. Well, the
last one we came upon, ye weren't home. So we left a card with a
greeting, our name and our number. No longer than 10 minutes, we
receive this call from an enraged woman. She started yelling at us
saying: "Yeah, um hello?! Yeah, this is ****** and I just received a
knock on my door from you guys. I don't know how many times I have
told the church to take me off the contact list. Trust me Elder. I
know what you guys are all about. I was in leadership in the church
for several years". And, she just repeated herself a few times. Long
story short. She got offended from the church a few years back, and it
really taught me something. Nothing that I didn't already know, but
that just goes to show that ANYONE can fall into the hands of Satan.
We need to be always boosting our testimony. We can NOT be lazy about
it you guys. We just don't have that option. We need to be constantly
doing the thing that The Lord commands. Are you reading your
scriptures? Be honest! I know that I was never the greatest at doing
so, but I regret it. Don't regret it!!

I love you all and I appreciate the love you all send me.

Keep the light of Christ shining bright in your life. It will ALWAYS
overcome darkness.

Love, Elder Branndin Brian Long

Elder Long's district in front of the temple. (SUCH a good picture Elder Long! I want more like this!!!)

 Another One

"Rockin out to Lindsey....uh, Mo Tab!"

"A lot of cool power lines..."