Well hello there!

Alright, we're 9 weeks into the MTC. I can't believe how fast time has flown, and I can't believe how much I've grown, intellectually and spiritually.

 

The other day I was sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch, and looking at all the different name tags that people are wearing. It still amazes me how many languages we can preach the gospel in, and I can't help but think of the primary song - "All over the world at the end of day, Heavenly Father's children kneel down and pray, each saying thank you in his own special way..."

It's so wonderful. On the floor of the building our classroom is, we also have the classrooms for Thai, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, and some Spanish. Just being around all of these different people, I can say "hello" and "how are you", and sometimes "thank you" and "I love you" in several languages now. I can bear a brief testimony in Mandarin! Languages are so interesting and awesome.

 

Last Tuesday night we had Elder Alonso of the 70 speak to us at the devotional, it was really awesome! If you remember last general conference, he gave the talk about doing the right thing, at the right time, without delay. It was really cool to hear him speak!

Tonight, the First Presidency is supposed to be here! I'm so excited!!! It's the MTC's 50th anniversary, so the devotional tonight is going to be a big deal. I'm psyched! I'll be sure to let you all know about it next week.

 

At the suggestion of Sis. Taylor (the one sister missionary in our district here), I've started a gratitude journal. I write things in it that I'm thankful for, obviously, but what surprised me is that once I started writing, I couldn't stop! I've filled up several pages of my little notebook already, and I only started writing last night. The Lord is constantly showing His love unto me, and I am so grateful for His tender mercies in my life.

 

Elder Taylor (not related to Sis. Taylor) and I sang in church this last Sunday! We sang a duet of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief", and it went so well. We were well-received, too. I'm grateful for the chances I have to bless the lives of others and to bear my testimony through music.

 

Speaking of music...as I mentioned before, I got added to the MTC accompanist list, so I've been accompanying musical numbers for firesides and meetings left and right. It's a little stressful, but it's alright. I'm glad to have the opportunity to assist others.

 

And speaking of the piano, I'm teaching one of the Thai-speaking Elders, Elder Adams, how to play the piano. It's really interesting having to get into the mindset of a beginner and teaching them the things I've known for over 12 years now. Those basic skills are second nature to me, so it's difficult to teach them sometimes, but we're having a good time.

 

Another one of the Thai-speaking Elders, Elder Federico, has become a good buddy of mine. He showed me a couple days ago a better way to tie my ties - it was crazy trying to learn, since I've gotten in such a habit these last 19 years. It's all good though - my knots look much nicer now. =]

 

We had a funny experience with one of our "investigators" yesterday. His name is Som, and we had planned to teach him about the end of the Plan of Salvation (Spirit World, Resurrection, Judgement, Kingdoms of Glory, etc.) - that all got scrapped though once we got in there. We were asking him about how he likes church, since he's been "going" every week and he's been "reading" the Book of Mormon. He's really progressing in the gospel, and we asked him if he had any questions about church. He asked us something, and I didn't quite understand what he was saying. I asked him to repeat his question for me, and then I tried to answer it according to what I thought he said. To me, it seemed like someone had quoted a scripture that he wasn't familiar with, and he didn't know where it was. I assumed he meant the Doctrine and Covenants, so I explained to him where that book of scripture comes from and how God gives us modern-day revelation. Elder Nicholson was even more off than I was, and so he goes off on a tangent about how the Book of Mormon and the Bible support each other and how they compare and contrast. After about 15 minutes of trying to answer his question (in our given 20-minute time slot), I asked if it all made sense, and if we had answered his question. He said that what we said made sense, but that we hadn't answered his question at all. He repeated his question again, and I finally got it. He wanted to know how everyone knew where all the scriptures were and how they could all turn there so quickly after the speaker or teacher gave the reference. He was concerned that he didn't know where everything was. I laughed a little bit at my own foolishness, and addressed his worries by telling him that he would learn the order of the books in the scriptures in time, and I promised him that he would be blessed if he continued to read each day. Oh, the joy of language barriers! Not so much of a barrier anymore though, I'll tell you that. The Lord has blessed us so much! I wish you could all hear me now. 

 

I had another experience that I wanted to share from this week - lately I've been praying for boldness and the courage to be able to speak up and talk to complete strangers without reservation. I want to be able to teach with power and conviction to people I've never met before, and be able to bear my testimony to strangers with boldness. That's something I've been scared about, so I want to be ready when I get to the field. I've wanted to work on this, but I'm scared to talk to people, even to set goals to bear my testimony in Khmae to other missionaries here.

In my personal studies on Sunday, I was reading a few talks from this last general conference, and I got to the talk by Elder Holland at the start of priesthood session - "We Are All Enlisted". My goodness, if you haven't heard or read that talk, I would EXHORT you to read it! It's incredible. He calls for more and better missionaries, calling the young men to be worthy and active in the church and to prepare for service, and calling others to preach as well. The main point of his message wasn't what I needed, but there was something he said in there that really, really struck me. He said, "I am looking tonight for missionaries who will...with the Spirit of the Lord and the power of their priesthood, open their mouths and speak miracles." Jumping to the end of his message - "I ask for a stronger and more devoted voice...unbind your tongues and watch your words work wonders."

Wow. Powerful stuff, right? What better pep talk than from Elder Holland! It was a real kick in the rear, and also a motivating message of love and encouragement from the Lord that I needed right at that moment. I realized that I can't afford to keep my mouth shut as a missionary. I have a mission to perform, and I will not let my Father in Heaven down!

 

Thanks to all of you for your continued love and support. =]

 

Sincerely,

Elder DeLong

2/3 of the way through the MTC!

Hello all!

Here I am, at the start of our 8th week here at the MTC! That means I'm 2/3 of the way through our MTC stay...that's crazy! I don't feel ready yet! I have so much more to learn still! All the same, I'm very excited to get to Boston!

The weather here has been awesome in the last week. One day it rained ALL DAY and it's snowed (lightly) about 3 times, I think. It's so beautiful, I love it!

I've been all sorts of sick the last few days. It started out on Wednesday or Thursday of last week - to me it felt like the beginning of strep throat. Then a couple days later a whole mess of mucus decided to join the party - I was (and still am) congested in my head, throat, and chest. Yesterday one of my eyes starting hurting and getting all red. It looked so irritated, and this morning when I woke up I swear it looked like pink eye, and I had all sorts of nasty crusty crap that had actually dried and sealed that one eye shut. It's probably pink eye, and I'm going to go to the health clinic later today to get some antibiotics for it or something. To top it all off, I lost my voice on Saturday for no apparent reason, and I'm still struggling to gain it back. I can talk okay now, but I can't sing at all. =[

The language is coming along really really well. I am a firm believer in the gift of tongues! The Lord has blessed me so much as I learn this language. My vocabulary continues to increase, and my capacity to understand is increasing. The grammar forms are making so much more sense, and things just get better and better. Most of what I can say has to do with teaching the gospel, bearing testimony, asking questions, etc. etc. To answer your question, Mom, yes I can do some conversational things as well. Getting to know someone, setting appointments, that sort of thing. And yes, I can ask to go to the bathroom! That was one of the first things we had to learn, hahaha. I absolutely LOVE this language. Even though it's slow-going, I can read the script, and I'm almost done learning the functions of the language - I still need to learn the rules for the didactic marks and stuff. In the language portions of class, we're mostly learning more grammar stuff and how certain things work. For example, we did passive voice yesterday. Most of this stuff is coming quickly and easily to me, and I am so thankful for the ability to learn that the Lord has blessed me with. He does, however, make sure I stay humble. People in my district have been complimenting me on my language ability and vocabulary retention, and I think I was letting it get to my head a bit. In our last lesson with one of our investigators, the Lord let me fall flat on my face because I wasn't worthy of the gift of tongues anymore. I was pretty confident in myself and my own abilities to speak the language, and I wasn't relying on Him as I should have been. So, I forgot some really easy words, and for the life of me I couldn't formulate a question to ask our investigator. We got through the lesson and it went well overall, but I was embarrassed at my stumblings and awkward pauses. I've said it before and I'll say it again - the thing I've learned most here is humility. We can't do any of this work, much less speaking an entirely new language, without the help of the Lord. I am forever grateful to Him for his help and blessings in my life. =]

I send my love and best wishes to you all! As our district leader here once said - "The gospel is true, the book is blue, and Jesus Christ loves you!" =D

Elder DeLong

I'm halfway done! . . . with the MTC

Oh my goodness. Seriously? That went by SO fast...it also feels like I've been here for an eternity already though. I'm so excited to get to Boston!!! This is the start of my 7th week at the MTC, and I can't believe how much I've learned. I don't know when it happened or how it happened, but I have developed an absolute LOVE for this language. It's crazy and insanely difficult at times, but I love it. We're all mastering it, line upon line and precept upon precept. A few days ago I got compliments from two missionaries in our district on how well I'm doing with the language. Sis. Taylor told me during one of our language study times that she was super impressed and that I was doing a great job and Elder Decker talked to me later that night in our residence hall about how well I'm doing and how proud he is with how hard I'm working. That was super nice to hear - I know the Lord is blessing me SO MUCH for serving Him, especially to be able to learn Khmae. I've grown so much already, and it's only the beginning!

 

Elder Russell M. Nelson came to our devotional last week, so that was pretty cool! He gave this great talk about the scattering and gathering of Israel and the Abrahamic Covenant, which is something I didn't fully understand until now. He taught from the scriptures the whole time, it was pretty awesome!

 

We've started teaching each other in our district. By that, I mean that each of us has had to come up with a role to be an investigator, and we act as that person and another companionship teaches us as if we were real investigators. It's been fun to do some acting and getting into character, and it's also been really insightful as well. Up until this point we've been teaching our teachers as they pretend to be investigators, but now we get to be the ones being taught in addition to that. It's been interesting!

 

Speaking of investigators, one of the "investigators" Elder Nicholson and I have been teaching has been doing really well, keeping all his commitments, reading the chapters we assign him in the Book of Mormon, "coming to church", all that jazz. He's born brief testimonies and says he has a "good feeling" when he reads the Book of Mormon and comes to church, so Elder Nicholson and I felt it was time to take it a step further - last night we taught about the importance of baptism and what it means to be baptized. We asked if he would be baptized, and he said yes! It was such a cool experience because I was SO happy, and he's not even a real investigator. It's been awesome to feel the Lord teaching us how to help others come unto Him. I know that even though these aren't real investigators, we as a companionship can receive revelation for them to know what they need, because this is how the Lord trains His missionaries. That was something I struggled with at the beginning, but I definitely have a testimony of that and of the MTC! I love being here.

 

I had 4 auditions last week for musical numbers for firesides - I sang one myself (they said yes!) and I accompanied 3 others. When I first auditioned with a piano solo, Sis. Nally (the music coordinator and wife of Pres. Nally, 1st counselor in the MTC presidency) put me on the accompanist list, which is a huge honor because apparently she's extremely picky about who goes on that list. Anyway, I've had 2 Elders and 1 Sister contact me about playing for them, and they all ended up auditioning on the same day! That was crazy - but they all got accepted too, so that was awesome. One of the two Elders performed  for the Senior Missionary orientation meeting yesterday, since he's leaving next week. So yeah, you'll be happy to know that I'm keeping up with my music while on my mission!

 

I'm still having some difficulties with Elder Nicholson as my companion, but things are definitely better than they used to be. I'm still working on tolerating all the little annoying things people do (including my companion). It's a work in progress, but I know that it's for my good. The Lord is teaching me patience and how to love ALL of God's children, and I can feel myself growing. Hopefully I can continue to progress and become more like Christ.

 

If you get a chance, check out the new Mormon Messages video - "New Year's: Look Not Behind Thee". It's a pretty good one! I liked it a lot.

 

In my personal studies yesterday, I came across a scripture in the Book of Mormon. I really like it, and it's become one of my many "missionary scriptures". I'm not sure why it struck me so strongly, but I figured I'd share it with you!

 

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare His word among His people, that they might have everlasting life."

- 3 Nephi 5:13

 

Much love to you all. I'm so thrilled and humbled to be out here serving the Lord! =D

 

Elder DeLong

Suasdei!!!

Hello, everyone!

 

It's so hard to believe that I've been here for about 5 weeks, almost 6! That means I'm almost halfway through my MTC stay! On the one hand, it feels like I've been here for FOREVER, but on the other hand, it feels like I just got here! Colton's right - "two years is not that long". I mean, it is, but it's going to FLY by.

 

I have so much more to learn, but I've learned SO MUCH since being here. It really surprises me - I know that it's truly a miracle! This language is difficult, but the Lord helps me learn every step of the way. I'm glad you liked the video I sent of me speaking Khmae, and then singing "I am a Child of God" in Khmae - if you can believe it, I've gotten better and faster since even then. In those videos I'm speaking kind of slowly, but now, with the things I really know, I can rattle them off pretty fast! Also, I've memorized ALL of the characters!!! I know the entire Cambodian alphabet - it's the largest alphabet in the world. 33 consonants, 32 subconsonants, 26 vowels (that each have two sounds, depending on which consonant or subconsonant is before it), and 14 independent vowels that all do their own thing. It's insane. I can READ now, though! Very very slowly, but at least I can do it! I may not understand a lot of it, but still. I'm reading the Book of Mormon in Khmae, and I only get through a verse or two every day, but hey, practice makes perfect! I'm SO excited. This language is so cool. It's difficult, but I love it!

 

I love being able to go to the temple every week on P-day. It's so great to be able to worship in the House of the Lord with the elders and sisters I'm serving with.

 

A district of 5 elders and 4 sisters arrived this last week - they're all going to Boston!!! The elders live on our floor, and the sisters have gym time with us. I was so excited to meet all of them. Granted, I won't get to the mission until a month after they do, but still! 

 

You know how you always hear of those silly language mistakes missionaries make? We've already had one in our district, and it's pretty good! Elder Fisher and Elder Kaufman were teaching one of their investigators about the Restoration, and Elder Fisher was trying to say "In 1820, Joseph Smith..." etc etc. The word for "thousand" in Khmae is "poan", and the word for chicken is "moan". Written out, the number 1820 would read "muaypoan prambeiruoy mphei" in romanized - Elder Fisher said "muaymoan prambeiruoy mphei". So in the context, he said, "In the year one chicken eight hundred and twenty..." They came back from their lesson laughing so hard, and he told us all. It was so great!

 

One of our teachers, Bro. Grodfey, had his last day with us on Saturday. I know I speak for everyone in our district when I say that we miss him so much already! We love all of our teachers, but there was something really special about Bro. Godfrey. He truly radiated the love of the Savior, and you could feel the love that both Bro. Godfrey and Jesus Christ have for us as he taught and encouraged us.

 

Sis. Burton and Sis. Resendes left this morning for Taiwan - they're the two Mandarin-speaking sisters that I've gotten to be good friends with. I'm so sad to see them leave, but I know they'll do well, and I plan to write them. Speaking of Mandarin...yes, I've been picking up words here and there, but I can now say the entire phrase for "I am a child of God" - literally translated as "I am God's child". I'll have to record it for you or something!

 

I had a sort of realization yesterday - we were learning about how investigators can receive revelation through church attendance in class last night, and it really hit me that I've been taking church for granted my whole life. It was sort of just something I did on Sundays, and then whatever. I mean I always wanted to go, and the sacrament was important to me, but I never fully realized how important going to church actually is. I'll never make that mistake again!

 

This week, all the new mission presidents and international MTC presidents arrived - I hear that typically an apostle comes to speak at their devotional, which is going to be tonight for all of us! I'm excited to see who's coming! Also, this is the MTC's 50th anniversary, so they're having a celebration thing for it! Nobody knows who's coming yet, but a member of the First Presidency is supposed to be coming. That's later this month. I'm so excited that I get to be here for that!

 

Ok, I'm WAAAAYYY over my allotted email time, I need to go. Much love to you all! sok sabbay!!!

 

Elder DeLong

Happy New Year!!! =D

Treyton:

I'm so excited for you that you get to do the Pinewood Derby next month! That should we way fun. Is your lip okay? How much skin fell off?!

You wanted to know what I'm learning, so I'll tell you - I'm learning a lot about how to teach people better, and how to have the Spirit with me when I teach. I'm also learning a LOT of Cambodian! Mom will show you the video of me speaking when the memory card arrives in the mail, okay?

I was so happy to learn about your baptism! Congratulations! I can't wait. I'm sorry I can't be there, but I love you and support you all the way!

 

Colton:

That's cool that you got Harry Potter legos! Which sets did you get? Have you built them yet? I bet you have!

I'm glad Mom is reading the Eragon books, and I'm REALLY glad you like the Hunger Games books! They're pretty sweet, huh? =]

 

I miss both of you boys, and I really miss Keira too. Send her my love, okay?

 

 

Elder McHardy:

I busted out laughing at that story you sent about the greenie and the prank you played on him with that member. So funny! If I had been the greenie, I probably would've FLIPPED out, but still, that's pretty dang hilarious!!!!! xD

 

Dad:

Thank you so much for the get well package. I felt better before it got here, but I very much so appreciate it. Thank you also for those 9 points of advice - I liked those a lot. I tacked that letter to my bulletin board, actually! So thank you.

 

 

Mom (and everyone else):

Comreapsua!!! Happy New Year's!!! Let me address a whole bunch of things in response to your letter(s) and what's been happening here.

 

I am SO sorry, but I was not able to get a picture with Elder Vogan. x[

Before last week, I would see him every couple of days, but immediately after I got your first request for a picture with him, I haven't seen him at all. I'm really really sorry, I tried. =/

I got the picture of the "Elder DeLong cookie" - I loved it! It's hanging up on my bulletin board here. I'd love to see those Christmas pictures you mentioned, and Dad's awesome picture of the temple! I found out that you CAN send me pictures through this email, I just can't send any to you.

I'm very sad to hear about Sis. Miller, I hope that she at least can spend the last few days of her life in peace with her family, and that she won't have much pain. Tyler is in my prayers as well, I hope that he can return to the MTC and still serve his mission.

I saw Miss Larsen/Sis. Larsen!!! She was supposed to go to the Brazil MTC, but her visa didn't come in time, so she's here! Her classroom is on the floor above my classroom, so I see her occasionally, which is really cool!

Ok, I got the Christmas package on the 27th, but no, I didn't see Tyson. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE!!!! =D

I'm currently wearing the tie you got for me. =]

But yeah, I got called up to Pres. McIff's office and I was SUPER nervous, but when I got there he was all smiles and was happy to see me. He said that he understood that our family knows his daughter and her family, and he asked me about my mission and such. He then said that he pulled some strings and was able to get my package into the MTC without having to use the postal service. It was a couple days late, but that's alright. =]

I also got a package from Jan Bueler, which was super nice. I was so surprised! It had all sorts of goodies inside - I sent her a thank-you letter. That was so kind and generous of her!

No, there are no other Cambodian districts here, it's just us! The district who was here before us finished a couple weeks before we started, and no other districts have come, and I'm not sure there will be any. There's only one Cambodian classroom, from what I can tell. But yes, that means I'm the ONLY missionary in the MTC that's going to the Massachusetts Boston mission speaking Cambodian. No pressure.

I'm sending you a small package today with a couple letters and memory card! There's also a letter for Elder Maddux in there, I'd really appreciate it if you could give that to him when you see him next. Thank you! Enjoy the pictures and videos! =D

I got a haircut this last Saturday! It feels so great to have short hair again! Not that my hair was long, but it was getting long for missionary standards.

We're speaking more and more Khmae, it's so awesome! We're trying to speak it as much as we can - our teacher challenged us to speak it 100% of the time, and if we don't know how to say something, we have to ask for permission to speak in English first. A lot of the time we talk in English, but we say as much of it as possible in Khmae. Like "Spanglish", but "Khmae-nglish"...? Haha.

Every now and then elders here will trade ties, and this last week I participated! I got a couple really cool ones! It's really fun, and ties are much harder to part with than you'd think they'd be, but it's ok. It's all part of the MTC experience.

I've come to realize that so many people are raised differently - I just want to thank you, Mom, for raising me with manners and common courtesy. One of my roommates passed gas the other day rather loudly and didn't say anything. After a few seconds I said "excuse you..." and he was like "what?" and my companion was like "yeah, what?" I was like "uhm...you passed gas. When you pass gas or burp, you say 'excuse me'". (I didn't say it in a condescending sort of way.) And my companion said "no...if someone farts and doesn't look up or acknowledge it, it doesn't matter. You just don't say anything, nobody cares." And the one who passed gas agreed. I was confused and a little disgusted, but whatever. That's just one example, but anyways, thank you for raising me with manners.

The Church released a new For the Strength of Youth pamphlet a week or two ago! Have you heard anything about it? If you get a chance to get your hands on one, would you send it to me? I'd love to have one!

One of my teachers, Bro. Godfrey, has a CTR ring in Khmae, with the characters on it. It's really cool! I asked him where he got it, and he said it was a special order from Deseret Book. Mom, if you're trying to come up with ideas for a birthday present for me...that would be really awesome. Just saying. =]

Anything else I should mention? OH WAIT. I performed on Sunday night as the special musical number for the MTC fireside. No big. Haha! I didn't get the chance to tell you about it, since I found out I'd be performing on Friday night. It went really well and I've been getting tons of compliments. I played the piano solo of "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go" that I got directly from the arranger, the one who has her CD out but doesn't have the sheet music yet! So that was really cool. It was awesome to perform there!!!

I also wanted to mention another talk I heard - remember how Elder Maddux was talking to me about the "Good Boy/Good Girl" talk by Elder Bednar? I got a chance to watch it a couple days ago, it was absolutely fantastic!!! Elder Bednar is one of my very favorites. I asked about getting a text copy of it and was told that the General Authorities don't release their talks, and that the MTC is extremely strict on recordings of them. So, I wasn't able to get a copy for Elder Maddux (or for myself, that talk was AWESOME), but that's alright. I have 3 pages of notes on it!

My time is past up! Oops. Hopefully I don't get in trouble. 30 minutes isn't long enough!

I love you so much! Hope to hear from you soon.

Love,

Elder DeLong