August 6, 2014

Hey!

We met with Devon this week! It was awesome! He is still going through
a rough time in his life right now, but he is still willing to follow
Jesus Christ. We had a really good meeting with him on Monday. The
senior couple missionaries hosts FHE every Monday in their home. That
way we can take less actives and investigators to a place where they
can be fellowshipped  and loved. We took Devon to that on Monday. He
has been before, but he has a great time every time. He even offers to
give the opening prayer every time. He fits so well in this church, he
just needs to get dunked! Haha. We also met with brother Ambroselli.
He is doing just as well as ever. Such an awesome guy. If he wasn't
less active, he could run the ward here in the Bronx. He showed us his
house yesterday and he has so many tomato plants and just a huge
garden. He also has a collection of wind chimes, so he has like 50 of
those. His house is not what you would expect in the Bronx. It's like
he went to the country and "Copied" his land and "pasted" it into the
city. Way cool!

I'm not sure if I have mentioned this is my past emails, but we are
helping the sisters teach this woman. The only reason my companion and
I have to be here is because it's in a really bad part of the Bronx
and the sisters can't be there alone. Her name is Jessica and she is a
referral from her boyfriend who lives in Minnesota. He helps teach
with us via skype. When we are done, she will be flying out there so
he can baptize her and then she will come back and be a member of our
ward. Her boyfriend has been teaching her for the past 3 years about
the gospel. She already knows they doctoring that we teach her. She's
just completely ready for baptism, but she needs to take the
missionary discussions as a requirement for baptism. It's been really
fun!

So, my companion and I have had the wonderful opportunity to use Skype
and a proselyting tool. Each week, we help teach Jeremy Hand back in
Aurora! It has been one our favorite lessons weekly. The spirit is
ever so present in those lessons. The missionaries in their ward  are
also there to help him. It's so cool to be able to feel the spirit so
strong through internet access. We probably won't be teaching him for
the next three weeks because he is in California for Army training. So
we will pick it back up when he gets back.

I've been able to experience the awesomeness in Facebook proselyting!
I've been trying to teach some of my friends in high school. So far,
its been going well. It's just hard to come across in a professional
way instead of "Hey dude! You remember I'm Mormon right? Well, wanna
be baptized?!" Haha. So I'm trying to let them know what I'm doing in
New York and help them in the best ways I can. It's pretty tough, but
it's also really effective if done properly.

We are going to the Zoo today (hopefully). It might rain when we go,
which would stink, but I'm really excited. I've heard it's huge and
really cool. It's also free on Wednesdays. Which reminds me. I finally
found out why our pday is on Wednesdays. Any park or museum in the
state of New York is free on Wednesdays. So they made our pday on that
day so we can do fun stuff for free. Pretty cool, huh?! I thought so.
Anyway, I'm really excited to go to the zoo. I haven't been to a real
zoo since I was in elementary school. Well, unless you count an Oregon
Ducks game. That's a zoo! Haha.

Well, one of the things Elder Rydalch and I are trying to do is to
become exactly obedient. Man it's hard, but we have been able to see
the differences in doing so. It's really easy to forget why we are out
here and who we are representing. So that's our goal. We are trying to
work hard and do our best!

I love you guys! Have a wonderful week!!

Love, Elder Branndin Brian Long

July 30, 2014 Letter

What it is?!

Sorry about my "slang." The Bronx is getting to my head, haha. We actually met a guy on the bus who said: "Where dat is?!" He asked us for a bible, and we actually ended up having one on us which was weird because we don't normally carry around bibles. Copies of the Book of Mormon, yes, but bibles, not very often. So we gave him a bible and started talking to him. He said: "Yeea man. A brothas always gotta read the word of god!" We casually brought up the Book of Mormon being the word of God and he was so happy to hear that there was more, it was so cool. He told us to tell him what to read and he would read it. We told him about our church, and he asked: "Oh! Where dat is?!" It was so hard not to laugh! That Bronx vocabulary is the funniest to experience first hand. Oh, and something pretty cool that I saw the other day. I saw a guy on the bus who was wearing a Colorado Rockies hat. Needless to say, I was impressed. I seriously thought that only people in Colorado were fans of the Rockies. As if not a single person outside Colorado knew who they were. It's true. If you think about it, you never really hear about them on ESPN or any sports radio. They are just...there. 

This last week, us missionaries got a new "watch" system on our iPads. Basically what this new system has, is the missionary department AND the mission president can remotely control our iPads if necessary. If we were to download an unapproved app (missionaries have done that before) the iPad would automatically detect that there was an unapproved app installed and it immediately sends a notification to the missionary department in SLC and to the mission president. If that doesn't make you want to be more obedient, then I'm not sure what will! It's awesome, but a little odd at the same time. I feel like my freedom is being stripped from me, but at the same time, what am I doing on my iPad that I wouldn't want my mission president to see? So, it helps us to stay focused. It reminds us that we are here to do the lords work, not mess around on our iPads. That's something I really need to learn. It's so tempting to just whip it out and start doodling during down time. 

We currently do not have any progressing investigators. Devon has temporarily dropped us at the moment. He has run into some problems in his life, and we are still trying to encourage him to pray to his Heavenly Father. It's really sad to see that most of the people here in the Bronx have such miserable lives and the real sad part is seeing that they enjoy living their miserable life. They aren't willing to change their ways are accept Jesus Christ as their savior. I understand that they have their agency, it's just a little frustrating when we get someone SO CLOSE to baptism and a huge change of life, and then have them just do a complete 180 degrees and turn the other way. It just makes you wanna tie them up and literally drag them to church. Ah! Anyway, just keep Devon in your prayers. The dude is really having a tough time in his life. 

Elder Rydalch and I are still doing great. It's so fun being with him. I better enjoy having an awesome companion. I'm not always gonna have a companion that I like or get along with. 

I love you! You are such a big help in keeping my head on straight. I am so thankful for your support and encouragement as I embark on this mission. It's tough, and it won't get much easier, but I know that I can make it through with the support that I am receiving. 

Love, Elder Branndin Brian Long