Monday, September 30, 2013

I've always wanted to write one of my emails like this!




A lake in our area (love the leaves changing colors!)



The Book of Elder DeLong
Chapter 22

  1. And it came to pass that on the twenty-fifth day of the eleventh month in the two-thousand-and-thirteenth year since the time of the birth of Christ, a gathering of missionaries did take place in the chapel in the city of New Haven, in the state of Connecticut, within the northeastern region of the land. Yea, we did meet together to be interviewed by the president of our mission.
  2. Therefore, having journeyed long by commuter-rail train because of a lack of miles on our car, we did arrive in New Haven with much anticipation to see those of our brethren within this zone of our mission.
  3. And it came to pass that we did greet our brethren and friends with much joy and love, rejoicing in their goodness, especially the leaders of our zone, for they are true friends and they doth lead us in the way that our Savior has set forth.
  4. And it came to pass that after we did gather together, President Packard did speak unto us in the energy of his soul. Yea, he did express his love for us and his desires for our success.
  5. And after my companion had been interviewed, I did make my way in to visit with President Packard. We did share much in the sincerity of our hearts and spoke together of trials, faith, and strength. Yea, he did counsel me in the ways of truth and happiness.
  6. Wherefore, I did also speak much unto him of the struggles in the area of working with the members of the Lord's church, and he did advise me in the ways I should go. Yea, my difficulties at this time are great, notwithstanding the kindness and hospitality of the several members of this congregation.
  7. Yea, they do invite us into their homes and do impart unto us of their substance in great abundance, which is most delicious above all that is good. Even they do share with us in the Spirit of the Lord, and we delight together in the truth of our God.
  8. But it hath come to pass that the members, notwithstanding their goodness, doth not so easily engage in the work of salvation, which doth cause our hearts to mourn and sorrow. For verily, this is the work of the Lord and we need great amounts of assistance to accomplish His will.
  9. Nevertheless, I know in whom I trust, and we do proceed forth in our work with great enthusiasm and expenditure of effort. And it came to pass that we did leave the city of New Haven, much uplifted and filled with the Spirit of our God, and did take our journey home through the wilderness by train.
  10. And thus we did take the knowledge we had been given by the Lord and did establish an appointment with the Bishop and ward mission leader in our area, and we did speak unto them in much boldness and sincerity of heart regarding our desires to work in this ward. 
  11. And it came to pass that we did set goals and make plans together, having our hearts knit together in unity and desire for the work of the Lord to progress on the face of the land. 
  12. And it came to pass that two days later, we did trade companions with the Elders nearest to us for the space of one day and one night, and we did work hard in our areas, eat much pizza, and rejoice together.
  13. Therefore, having learned much as the servant of these my brethren, I did thank the Lord for the ways in which He had blessed us and instructed me to be the leader He needs over this small number of His missionaries.
  14. And it came to pass that after we had returned to our own areas that Elder Gibson and I did plan exceedingly for our week and did make many phone calls unto the members of our ward to attempt to find times to visit them. Yea, we did stop in a beautiful park, and as we admired the beauty of the land we did call all the members we could in the certain towns that we would be in for the next several days of our work. 
  15. And we did also try to contact those of our investigators, who have not been showing the levels of interest that they have previously, which has given my heart great cause to sorrow and be troubled. 
  16. And notwithstanding the difficulty of obtaining appointments, I did glorify our God for the multitude of His tender mercies, and did give thanks in all things. Now, I do not write all of the feelings of my heart, for they are sacred unto me, but suffice it to say that I do feel deeply blessed and do feel the love of our God with the utmost power and assurance. 
  17. And it came to pass that we did also attend the funeral of a young man who did tragically pass away in a car accident last weekend. Yea, his family did request that the service also be focused on sharing the gospel with others, and the leaders of our zone did request for our presence to help them make their necessary preparations for the funeral. 
  18. Therefore, we did travel to the land of Woodbridge to assist them in the funeral service. The people of the land were weighed down with much grief, and thus were the affairs of the people on this day. They did honor the memory of their young friend, who was only seventeen years of age, who did hope to serve a mission for the Lord's true church. Yea, we did pass out copies of the Book of Mormon to those in attendance who were not members of the church at the request of the young man's family. 
  19. And I did thank our God again for the blessings of the gospel and the peace and joy that it doth bring into our lives. Yea, it doth light our minds and bring us hope in our Savior, Jesus Christ. 
  20. And it came to pass that the Madison ward of the New Haven stake of Zion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did meet together for fast and testimony meeting on this most recent Sunday. And it came to pass that the congregation's most recent convert did bless the sacrament for his first time. We have been helping him to prepare, he being eighty-three years of age, and he did bless the bread with strength in his voice and faith in his heart. Yea, my heart was warmed at the sight. 
  21. And it came to pass that there were many beautiful and wonderful testimonies born by the members of this land, and it did fill my soul with joy and love for them. 
  22. And it came to pass that I did serve in the primary, along with many other brethren, on behalf of the women of the ward who were attending an important meeting of the Relief Society during the 3rd hour of our Sunday meetings. Yea, I did play the piano and did rejoice in the presence of the young children of the church. 
  23. And now, I, Elder DeLong, do wish to close mine epistle with an experience of my week which did touch my heart most deeply, yea, above all that had come to pass in this week. 
  24. For we did eat in the home of a certain family in the ward, and when they did discover how long I have been serving the Lord as a full-time servant in the Massachusetts Boston Mission, they did rejoice with me and congratulate me in my success. And now, when they did this, I was surprised, and thought in my mind upon the other members who had made remarks of me going home soon. Yea, for this purpose, I used to try and hide how long I have been serving. 
  25. Nevertheless, this family did rejoice with me in the service of the Lord, and did thank me and my companion for bringing the Spirit of our God into their home. I did feel of their sincere love and appreciation, which did pierce my soul, yea, even to the very center. 
  26. And it came to pass that as we left their home and did drive away after much speaking with them and sharing in the joy of the gospel, I did cry many tears of happiness and of sorrow. Yea, I did sorrow in the small amount of time that is left in my service as a full-time missionary, but I did find great happiness in the knowledge that our Lord doth lead me and guide me each day. 
  27. Yea, we do each have an important part in the work of the Lord, for which we have great cause to give thanks and rejoice. He doth use each of us as His instruments to bring salvation to His children, and His work for me doth not start nor find an end with my full-time mission. 
  28. And now, my beloved brethren and sisters, I do bid thee farewell. May God be with thee till we meet again, or until I may write further unto you. 

Monday, September 23, 2013

Developing the Talent of Pondering



Hello all! It's been a long week, but things are really starting to go well. We've met with a couple of more less-actives who have great potential of returning to the Church, we got a new investigator in a small community in the middle of nowhere on the very edge of our area, the weather has been cooling down and is perfect right now, we had a really great exchange with our zone leaders, and on Thursday, I had surgery!

...okay, so not really surgery. It was just a small procedure to remove a cyst on my neck. Everything's fine. The only reason I bring this up is because I had a great experience chatting with the nurse who prepped me for the procedure. She noticed my name tag and asked me all sorts of questions about who I was, what kinds of things I do, and why I chose to serve. She was very interested and was excited to hear of someone my age doing something so good. She believes in God and wanted to hear more about the Church. I told her the short version of my personal conversion and gave her a mormon.org card with my profile address on the back (http://mormon.org/me/5st7) - it was really great to chat with her about the gospel and about being a missionary!

This past weekend was stake conference for the New Haven stake, and it was a privilege to hear such inspiring messages from the leadership here. Everyone's pumped up about the Hartford temple, and it's exciting to be part of the effort to prepare this area for a House of God! We got to hear 4 conversion stories from recent converts who also spoke, as well as the story of a woman who recently returned from years of inactivity. There was a beautiful musical number from 3 women in the YSA branch - a gorgeous vocal trio of "I Need Thee Ev'ry Hour." They each have music degrees and sang very, very well. One of the things that one of the members of the stake presidency spoke about was reverence in sacrament meeting. In his talk, he mentioned the need to disconnect from the world, from electronics, and to commune with our Father in Heaven. He said that we need to develop the talent of pondering, and admitted to not being so good at it himself. It really got me thinking about my own relationship with my Heavenly Father and about what I need to do to improve it. I've been working on making my personal prayers more meaningful and on seeking revelation and asking Him questions while praying. It truly is a difficult thing to do with all of the distractions of life, even as a missionary. However, I know that the effort is worth it as we strive to discover His will for us and listen for the promptings of the Spirit. We can receive guidance from Him and may even be inspired to serve another or open our mouths to share the gospel. I invite each of you to "develop the talent of pondering" as I work on doing so as well! May the Lord bless each of you and strengthen you as we serve together in this great work!

With love,
Elder DeLong

Monday, September 16, 2013

"Behold, I will hasten my work in its time" (D&C 88:73)

The Lord is indeed hastening His work! What more can I say than that? Things are really, really exciting right now. Not only are the members super supportive and really starting to trust us, but new investigators and potential investigators are beginning to pop up where we least expected them. I don't have much time to tell all the events of this week, but I'd like to mention a couple of special highlights:

One non-member husband in a part-member family invited us over to help him split wood this last Saturday. We worked for about 3 hours, and then he fed us lunch and gave us a tour of his entire farm. Without us even bringing up the gospel, he asked us to teach him the lessons. 

A young woman who lives across the hallway from (and is good friends with) a young couple in our ward, agreed to meet with us at the suggestion of her member friend. We taught her last night; it was a long but very powerful and spiritually moving lesson. She accepted a baptismal date right then and there. It was an incredible feeling! I haven't been able to teach like that in quite a while. 

In PEC yesterday morning, we discussed the 67 prospective elders on the ward list, most of which are inactive. Our goal is to bring back 7 of them in the near future. This is an amazing work to be a part of, and although it saddens me to think that I only have a couple of months to be a full-time servant of the Lord, I know that the work will continue when I go home. I'll just play a different part. The Lord has a work for each of us to do, as He told Moses in the first chapter of the Pearl of Great Price. I love being a part of this! There's lots of work to be done. =]

Love, 
Elder DeLong

Monday, September 9, 2013

Of New Suits, Long Drives, and Off-Roading in the Work of the Lord

Justin's apartment in Clinton, CT

Shotgunning an area is really hard work. We are scrambling around, trying to meet as many of the active families as possible and help them with their missionary efforts, attempting to ascertain the less-actives with the most potential for reactivation, and desperately trying to find some investigators. Lots to do, which is good! I'm learning even more what it means to lose yourself in the service of the Lord.
Before telling you about this week's happenings, I'd like to share my awesome find from this morning! We did a little shopping (before coming to the library) to get a "side bag"/"messenger bag" for Elder Gibson to meet with the new dress and grooming standards for missionaries - no more backpacks! As he was looking at those in the Van Heusen outlet store, I happened across suit separates that were on sale. I got a brand new, perfectly fitting suit, entirely by accident, for only $55.00!!! Such a great purchase. I'm really happy about that!
It's been a busy week, that's for sure. Lots of work being done, but lots of stories to share, too! Something interesting and memorable for each day of the week:

We had a bit of an off-roading adventure on Tuesday...thanks to our GPS being set on "shortest distance" we were taken on a very small, very rocky, and very muddy path quite literally through the middle of the woods. We almost got the car stuck at a few different times, but we couldn't back up through a mile or so of forest. It was a narrow escape, but we made it...and made sure to set the GPS to avoid unpaved roads.

On Wednesday, we drove up to Weston, MA (there goes about a fourth of our monthly mileage allotment...) for a mission-wide district leader council. It was about a 3-hour trip each way, and I drove. We made it there and back safely, but it was physically more difficult than I anticipated it being. The meeting was wonderful though and has helped me better understand my calling as a missionary and as a district leader.

After weekly planning on Thursday, we went out with our ward mission leader to visit a few families. He's great, and I feel like things are going to skyrocket here in this ward!

Zone meeting on Friday, and we also met with our only investigator as well as with a prospective elder named Josh - we're helping him get on a mission! He and 6 other young men from ages 17 to 23ish are our highest priority right now aside from finding investigators. I don't believe it coincidence that Elders were put in the Madison ward at this time...we have the amazing opportunity to help these young men prepare themselves for full-time missions, and what a blessing that is!

Saturday morning was fun...we helped chop down a tree in someone's backyard, which was the first time I've ever done something like that!
On Sunday, I witnessed a 14-year-old, wheelchair-bound young man with cerebral palsy pass the sacrament. It was a special moment for me for two reasons: the first of which being that it made me think of my dear sister Keira, who also suffers from cerebral palsy. This young man's condition was mostly physical, whereas my sister has both physical and mental symptoms. The second reason is that no matter who we are or what weaknesses we have (or think we have), the Lord has a work for us to do. We can all take part in this "marvelous work and a wonder" in some way here in this, the "dispensation of the fullness of times." Each of us has something valuable and important to contribute. 

We haven't had much success here yet, but we keep pressing forward! The Lord has much in store for this area and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.
With love, 
Elder DeLong

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Greetings from Connecticut!


Justin at the Clinton Marina which is about a mile from his apartment (see his new address in side bar)

Things are off to a booming start for Elder Gibson and I here in Madison. We're doing well, and we're super stoked to be serving in this part of the Lord's vineyard! Ever since we got here, we've been making phone calls to all of the ward members, trying to set up brief appointments for us to get to know everyone as quickly as possible. 

Transfer meeting was awesome, and so was trying to fit 10 missionaries  (and the current earthly belongings of 7 of them) into 3 cars. 3 areas in our zone here got "shotgunned" (meaning both missionaries were taken out and 2 new ones were put in), and the other two areas don't have a car. We had to leave some things behind, but we finally managed to stuff everyone and everything else in. And then came the 3-hour drive down to New Haven, CT...fun times. 

Yesterday, we got to go to the temple - which is one of the reasons why this email didn't come until today. This included getting up at 3:45 AM and meeting our ride at 4:30, so we could drive and make it to the temple by 7:00...and then we had to wait in line for about 2 hours to get into a session! There were so many people there, missionaries and regular members alike. Prior to our session, I had the opportunity to be baptized and confirmed for an ancestor of mine that I found a couple of weeks ago as I was doing some family history work to practice using the website. We left the temple at 1:15 PM, and didn't get home until 5:30! 

On Sunday, we got a VERY warm welcome from the ward! Our dinner calendar for the month of September filled up almost entirely, and the Elders Quorum president and our ward mission leader have been discussing setting up exchanges on a regular basis for us. Many fathers expressed their gratitude to have us in the ward as an example for their sons. The Bishop is excited to have us as well, and gave us the names of several part-member families where the husband is not a member as well as the names of quite a few prospective elders to work with. As I was praying to close our correlation meeting with our ward mission leader after church, I felt something very powerful that I will never forget. I know that the Lord is pouring out His Spirit upon this area, preparing it for the temple in Hartford. Big things are about to happen, and He needs us to give Him everything we've got! That's just what we'll do. =]
Love, 
Elder DeLong

**Just a side note from Mom, he was also made district leader.**