First Letter

Written Dec. 14 and 15, 2011

13 pages long!!

Dear Family,

Comreapsua! Khnom chmua Elder DeLong, hatty khnom pii Mesa, Arizona. Khnom mean bccg b?oon buan neak. (some of the characters he wrote are different than what I could type!)

We learned all of that in the first 20 minutes of being in class at the MTC! Like I said in my email, we’re using Romanized Cambodian still, though I know all the numbers! (He then writes the charachers for the numbers and their names).

The pattern repeats- it’s nice because they just cycle through the first five numbers. Another cool thing is that there’s no conjugation at all!  It’s still a very difficult language, but we’ve learned so much. The script we do know is the word “preah” which I explained in my email, so we’ve been using that. I’ll bear my testimony at the end of my letter. J It’s remarkable how much the Lord is helping us to learn.

My gosh, I have so much to share with you!  I’ll reply to your latest email first though. (Speaking of which, I think that works well for now- you writing me on Dear Elder, that is.  I get a much faster response, since I won’t be able to check my email until next Tuesday!)

Yes, I did get the first card, and it got glitter everywhere, hahaha! Nice to hear you guys are getting rain, it (gently) snowed here today- it was beautiful. Way to go on Math Blasters, Colton and Treyton! And nice job on Inheritance, Colton! I hope you both get to do Pinewood Derby! J That’s crazy that Elder Moffett got transferred already- I’m going to write Elder Maddux soon. Let me know about his new companion.

My companion’s name is Elder Nicholson, and he’s going to the California Sacramento mission, Cambodian speaking. He’s from Waterbury, Connecticut, which is actually in my mission. I’ll talk more about him later.

Our district has 11 people- Elder Nicholson and myself, Elder Kaufman, Elder Fisher, Elder Barney, Elder Garlick, Elder Decker, Elder Blocker, Elder Jongsma, Elder Taylor, and Sister Taylor. (I’ll talk a little bit about Sister Taylor a little later, and no, she’s not related to Elder Taylor). Our DL is Elder Kaufman, and our ZLs are Elder Garlick and Elder Barney- our zone is our whole branch, which is about 5 districts, I believe.  Our district has a great time together as we try to learn the language, and we sit together at lunch and stuff. We’re the only Cambodian-speaking missionaries in the MTC (that’s how districts are set up- by language) and the other 9 are all going to Cambodia.

I haven’t seen any of the people on that list- I’ve seen Pres. McIff, but I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to him yet, and I have no idea when I’ll be able to see him. :/

Let Dad know that yes, I ‘m definitely taking advantage of the gym time. We play volleyball with some of the Mandarin-speaking missionaries, it’s a blast! I definitely underestimated how much physical exercise could help me de-stress, and it’s tons of fun!

I really appreciate you trying to find those things for me! Thank you- ?cckuun! (ah-koon) (again-I am unable to write what he actually wrote for lack of the actual symbols on my keyboard).

Alright, SO… I’ll tell you everything about things here and what’s happened! Going back to last Wednesday (wow, I’ve been here a whole week!), after I finished talking to you (it was very hard to hang up L) we drove down the street to the MTC. I got so excited as we pulled up to the curb- we unloaded my stuff, took a picture or two, and I was off! It was just go go go go go! We went through one of the buildings where I got my nametags, my ID card (used for meals and such), my official “ministerial certificate” card thing, and a few other materials.  We dropped off my stuff in my room, and then I was in class. Yeah, that fast! I hope I get to be a host missionary at some point; these are the guys that pick you up from the curb, help you with your bags, and lead you around until you get your companion.

Anyways, I get into the classroom and I’m one of the first ones there, but the teacher just starts talking to me (and the other missionaries as they arrive) in fluent Khmae. We found out that our teachers won’t be talking in English. At all. We did full immersion right from the start. It was really overwhelming, but it’s definitely helped. We have to figure it out for ourselves, and thus, our understanding is greater and lasts longer. Our teacher (our “look ruu”  “loh-kroo”) helps us though, it’s almost like charades or something. We’re slowly but surely piecing the language together- it’s amazing how much we’ve learned and accomplished in just one week!

Back to our first da- we had class for a while and then went to a “welcome” meeting with all the new missionaries and the MTC presidency (and their wives- this was the one time I saw Pres. And Sis. McIff). It was weird having everyone call me “Elder,” but I’ve sort of gotten used to it.  It also helps to remind me of my calling, and that I’m really a missionary now! After that meeting, we went to dinner- the meals here are great! It’s all you can eat, and there’s usually 3 choices of main dishes you can choose from, with tons of desserts and sides and drinks to grab as well. Don’t worry, I eat salad and/or vegetables with each meal ;)

I realized I didn’t give you the name of our teacher- Brother Hawkins. The first couple of days it was Brother Godfrey, and Brother Stevens has come in a couple of times, but Brother Hawkins has been doing most of the teaching. They’re all young returned missionaries that are fluent in Cambodian. Like I said, they don’t speak English to us, and if they do, it’s one or two words to help us understand something in Khmae.  However, there have been 2 lessons (about 30 min. each) where we’ve talked about teaching and fundamentals of the gospel, and for those Brother Hawkins speaks English.

Random fact- about 400 new missionaries report to the MTC every Wednesday, and at any given moment there’s about 2200 missionaries here! :0

On the evening of our second day, we got to meet our branch presidency and their wives, which was nice.  Pres. Seamons (the president) is great, I can tell he’s going to be a wonderful leader for us! At that meeting, DLs were assigned (there were 2 new districts: ours, and one with elders who are speaking Hmong or Vietnamese), and senior/junior companions were assigned as well. It doesn’t mean much in the MTC, but I was asked to be the senior companion. We switch halfway through, according to Pres. Seamons. He said we’ll probably get a new DL at that time, too.

On the third day, we learned a bunch of new vocabulary, including how to pray.  We also got thrown right in with an “investigator” – it was intense. Even though we all know that he’s probably a member, and that he’s going to be teaching us as well pretty soon, it’s still scary.  It’s good practice, but it was hard, too.  Can you believe it? On our third day, they had us teaching someone in Khmae!  We had to just jump right in. Elder Nicholson and I had a really hard time, and I was so embarrassed.  I got upset and discouraged about it. I prayed about it while I was waiting for Elder Nicholson to come out of the bathroom- I asked Heavenly Father for help, and for the courage and diligence to press on.  Not two minutes after I prayed, a man happened to be walking down the hall of the building we were in. I must have looked as upset as I felt, because he sat down next to me and asked how things were going. He introduced himself as Brother Hunt, one of the teachers there, and started talking to me about my language. He said that the Lord helps His missionaries to learn their new language, and He told this story about an investigator he had: She only knew that Moses had parted the Red Sea, but that was enough for her to believe because it was a miracle, and that was her testimony.  He said that the Lord will send us a miracle too- to learn Cambodian. As he spoke, I realized that he was the answer to my prayer. The Lord knows me and loves me, and wants me to succeed.  He cares enough to send help to downtrodden and discouraged Elder DeLong at the MTC.  It was a special spiritual experience, and I had a witness that God truly  does help His missionaries. Now that I’m one of them, I am entitled to that divine aid.

We have this program on the computer called TALL (Technology Assisted Language Learning), and that helps us learn more vocabulary and phrases.  Time for that is allotted in our schedules- and yes, everything is mapped out and planned here, from gym time to meals to personal study. We even do some service every week, which so far has just been custodial work in the residence halls here.

On Saturday in class we learned more vocab and how to make appointments. We also had another lesson with our investigator, which went better than the previous on, but still had a couple of rough spots.

I discovered that in the main building, there are rooms used for meetings that have pianos in them that aren’t used during the day. We’re allowed to use them to play or practice or whatever!  That’s been good. I’m actually going to audition that arrangement of “I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go” piano solo by Amy B Hansen tomorrow morning!  Every Thursday, they hold auditions for special musical numbers for the weekly firesides/devotionals and other meetings, so hopefully I’ll get to perform!

Sunday was interesting because the “normal church meetings” (the “block”) was spread out- our branch had priesthood/Relief Society at 10 AM and sacrament meeting at 4 PM. It’s okay though, because we were doing personal study and had other meetings in between and throughout the day. It was a nice Sunday, though!

I went to the MTC choir rehearsal this week- it wasn’t what I hoped for. It wasn’t that great, and we had to go over really easy things several times. It was okay though, maybe we sounded better than I thought. We rehearsed a couple times and performed at the devotional last night. I don’t know if I’ll keep going, but maybe I will, since I love to sing! It’s a huge choir, at least a couple hundred people, if not more.

We had a fireside Sunday night- the BYU Men’s Choir came and performed, it was awesome!!! They were fantastic. It was great to be able to indulge my inner choral nerd as they performed all of their songs for us.

Alright, it’s getting really late. Elder Nicholson and I are both writing letters, but it’s past time for us to be in bed. I’ll finish writing tomorrow!

(I’m so sorry for my poor handwriting and my scribbles over my mistakes. I hope you can read all of this.)

Khnom srclan mdaay! (I love you, Mom!)

Please send my love to Keira as well. J

12/15/11

OK, I ‘m not sure what I was thinking here, but yes I do know elder Cameron Blocker! (Jan Bueler’s friend). He’s in our district! I’m not sure why it took me this long to put 2 and 2 together. Sorry! So yes, I do know him!  I explained that our class of 11 people who are learning Cambodian is also our district, right? Yeah, he’s in our district.

Sister Taylor is the only Sister in our district. She’s a solo missionary, meaning that she doesn’t have a companion. She just has to remain with our district during the day and for everything else she goes with the Thai-speaking sisters. Anyway, she’s fun to have around, I’ve enjoyed having her in our district. She’s kind and funny, and she has a really nice singing voice. She’s not “trained”, per se, but it’s still very nice!

Elder Nicholson is a constantly happy, joking, positive kind of guy, which is good for me when I get discouraged.  At the same time though, he does a lot of things that get on my nerves. For example, he’s very social, and so he’s constantly talking to everyone, especially those who aren’t in our district.  He’ll just wander off sometimes without telling me and I’ll finally find him talking to random people way off down the hall or something – the worst is when he does this when we’re supposed to be somewhere or when we’re supposed to be doing something. It’s just not good. He also talks about girls a lot. It’s really annoying. “Oh, who do you have waiting for you? Are you writing to anyone? Let me tell you all about my girlfriend! How many girls have you kissed?” etc., etc. He’s not the only one that does it, a lot of elders talk about it, and it’s so obnoxious. I’m so sick of hearing about who Elder So-and-so is writing or who Elder Such-and-such is dating. I just want to gather them all together, tell them to forget about it, and get to work.

Anyway, Elder Nicholson gets on my nerves sometimes, but we get along otherwise, I guess. I’m working on being more patient and tolerant, and I’m praying for charity. I’m still getting used to having someone around me 24/7, and no time to myself. Maybe that’s the point, though- now that  I’m a missionary, my time is the Lord’s time.

We had our third lesson with Mon on Monday, and it went really well! I had him read a scripture out of the Bible (in Khmae), and it really brought the Spirit. I received a powerful witness that the gospel is true in every language, and that God wants all of His children to return to Him. He loves all of them, and I’m going to my mission and speaking this language for a reason.  My call is from God, and I know I’m in the right place at the right time.

From then on, the Spirit was with as we taught, and the words were so much easier to say.  We did very well that lesson, and I know the Lord was helping us, especially with the language. It was an awesome experience!

Tuesday was P-day! We got to go to the temple in the morning- the Provo temple is so beautiful, as all temples are!  The celestial room though was incredible; it’s definitely one of my favorites! It was nice to relax a bit, do laundry, and get things done that day.

That night, we had our weekly devotional (the one where a general authority comes)- this week Sister Elaine S. Dalton came with her husband. She gave an incredible talk about gifts: unexpected gifts, gifts of the Spirit, and gifts that we as missionaries give to the world. She also touched on the gifts of the Holy Ghost and the endowment, and trusting in the Lord. It was a wonderful meeting! I wish I had the text of the talk to send to you.

Today I had to go see the MTC Clinical Services, since I indicated on my medical papers that I turned in with my mission papers that I had an “emotional or medical difficulty”- my Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I guess that they just wanted an update on how I’m doing, checking in on me, you know. I assured them that since I started medication I’ve been fine, and that things are going well for the most part. The visit didn’t benefit me too much, but I  appreciated the sentiment.

Every Thursday morning they hold auditions for special musical numbers firesides and meetings and stuff- today I auditioned with that arrangement of “I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go” by Amy B. Hansen- they really liked it, but it was too long, apparently. It has to be under 4 minutes, for whatever reason, so she asked me to cut out a little bit (which I did) and that they’d love to have me perform. She also added me to the accompanist list because she loved me playing that much! It was cool. I’m glad that I’ve been able to utilize my talents here. J

I’ve made friends with a couple of the Mandarin-speaking sisters, especially Sister Resendes. She’s really nice and fun to have around- she loves singing and musical theatre, so we clicked right away! She taught me a couple things in Mandarin, and apparently I picked it up really well, really fast! She was impressed that I got the tones right on the first couple of tries. My guess is that it’s because I have a good ear for music and pitch. But yeah, be sure to let Dad know that I seem to have a knack for Mandarin. J

I think that’s about everything! Do you guys have any specific questions or anything you want to know about?m

You’ll notice that I included a memory card! It’s nowhere near full, but I figured you might want to see some of my pictures! Could you offload the pictures and send the card back to me please? This way you’ll have some pictures to post on the blog! JI’ll include another paper with the descriptions for all the pictures!

He then bears his testimony in Khmae. He says “I hope this helps to show you just how much I’m learning. :0 I just wish that you could hear me say this.