Well it's finally here my last full week as a missionary is coming up! It's so crazy!! This week is going to fly by to because we are actually super busy now. We have a bunch of service opportunities and teaching opportunities this week so I'm pumped about that! This past week was super good though! We did not have a car this week because we have to share it with some other elders. Which is super lame but whatever! I never have to bike again as a missionary haha. Our area is super huge but there is a lot of bike trails that helped out. It also gave us a great opportunity to work more with Ward members. We managed to get 7 different joint teachers this week to help us get around. We had some great experiences! And some funny ones... I'll share the funny one first. So on Monday we were driving around with Brother keepman visiting people, not having to much luck. So we decided to visit this random less active guy named John. So we pull up to his house, knock on the door, and this guy answers the door with a huge bearded dragon on his hairy chest 😂 we were to say the least, surprised. But we started talking to him and he has definitely been inactive for a long long time... he was like, "I don't like a church that doesn't let you drink coffee or eat candy!" Lol. We talked to him about it and then he let us into his house! (Which I'm not sure if that was a good idea or not but missionaries don't really care as long as you get in the door 🚪👍) So he went on to explain how joining the church was the worst decision of his life and yadda yadda same old less active junk. It turns out he never read the Book of Mormon and doesn't know hardly a thing about what we actually believe. Who knows what the missionaries were doing when he got dunked! But he wasn't to interested anyways. 

So that was the funny story now here is the crazy awesome story! A while back we met a 16 year old kid named Jaelen. Super cool kid from Chicago and very mature for his age. His dad was a local Chicago rap artist and he is trying to make it big himself! He is just a bright kid. So we had a couple lessons with him and he really wants to have a church family and people who will support him. He doesn't want to follow in the footsteps of some of his older friends and family members who have turned to drugs, gangs, and other unsavoury paths of life. He wants to be successful! So on Saturday we invited him to the church so we could give him a church tour. We got there and showed him around some of the class rooms and the gym. We got to the chapel and he said, "Wow Johnny was right! You can feel a difference in this building. You can feel the spirit." Jonny is a member who met him earlier. But right then elder beach and I were super pumped! This kid was totally feeling the spirit! We then went to the baptism font and opened it up for him. All three of us just stood there leaning on the glass and not saying much. I was feeling the spirit though super strong! And Jaelen says, "I think I want to do it. I want to get baptized. But I want to make sure it is the right thing!" Wow so cool! After that we taught him about prayer and how important it is to have a relationship with God. And it is through him whom you should seek your answers from! Unfortunately he didn't come to church the next day. His dad is kind of an obstacle right now.. but we're working on it! I'm super excited for this kid! Many lives could be changed if he were baptized and went on a mission. He invited us to his improv play this Thursday as well so we're excited to see that! Never been to one before. 

Yesterday was super weird... my last Sunday at church as a missionary. The bishop made me bare my testimony in Ward council and in priesthood opening. Which is fine but it's still weird! This Wednesday we're doing a mutual thing with the young men about missionary prep. They figured an old missionary like me must have some good wisdom. It should be fun! 

I am not sure how much I will write next week.. or how motivated I will be so I guess I will make this one a bit longer. My mission has changed my life forever. The things I have learned and the experiences I have had I will always remember. Our mission president has us write kind of an essay at the end of our missions. Here is a piece of it 

Probably what has had the biggest impact on my mission are these; what I have learned from the example of local church leaders and members, how I have learned to study the scriptures and apply them, my relationships with other missionaries, and the people who I have taught who's lives have changed because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

 

It was so hard to pick just a few things but I think those four were the top ones! I also had to complete "My Plan" which is an online training course for a missionaries last transfer. It really made me pause and reflect on all of the many things that have changed me and made me who I am today. I know I still have a long way to go and many things to learn. But I feel confident that the principles I have learned will propel me on to the next stage of life with the Holy Spirit to guide me! Like Elder Holland has said, my mission means EVERYTHING to me. So much that there is no way I could express it in this one email. I may not know what the heck I'm doing when I get home. But that's ok! Life goes on and things will work out. 

I love this gospel. The church is true. Jesus Christ is the very Son of God and it is through him we receive a remission of sins. It is the Savior who is with us when know one else is around who comfort us, mourns with us, and bears our burdens so they may be light. The Book of Mormon is true! It answers both spiritual and physical questions and invites the spirit into our lives. The priesthood authority has been restored to the earth so we can again enjoy the blessings of having ordinances which in turn allow us to make special covenants with our Heavenly Father. I love the my family and I am so grateful for them and all they do and who they are! I'm so excited to see them soon! I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.  

Making and keeping covenants 

Good morning I am grateful to be here! I'm not exactly the best public speaker but I am going to do my best! I just pray that the Holy Ghost can be here to be the true teacher and that he may testify of the words I have to say. 

The word often translated as “testament” in the New Testament means “covenant” (see, for instance, Matthew 26:28). When covenants are spoken of in the New Testament, they are often mentioned particularly in relation to the old covenant (kept through the law of Moses) that was done away and the new covenant that was established through Jesus Christ in the meridian of time (see Hebrews 8–10). The Restoration of the gospel is the reestablishment of the new and everlasting covenant and helps us see how the concept of covenants permeates all of the Savior’s teachings and is central to our understanding of discipleship. 

But first, what is a covenant? According to the reference guide "True to the Faith" 

"A covenant is a sacred agreement between God and a person or group of people. God sets specific conditions, and He promises to bless us as we obey those conditions. When we choose not to keep covenants, we cannot receive the blessings, and in some instances we suffer a penalty as a consequence of our disobedience.

All the saving ordinances of the priesthood are accompanied by covenants. For example, you made a covenant when you were baptized, and you renew that covenant each time you partake of the sacrament (see Mosiah 18:8–10; D&C 20:37, 77, 79). If you have received the Melchizedek Priesthood, you have entered into the oath and covenant of the priesthood (see D&C 84:33–44). The temple endowment and the sealing ordinance also include sacred covenants."

When Jesus Christ was on the earth he established a higher law. He taught us principles such as "Love thy neighbour and thy enemy," "whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart," and "he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." He suffered in the garden of gethsemene and felt every pain of this world. He died on the cross and voluntarily gave up his life as  the only perfect person to walk the earth, even the Lamb of God. Thus fulfilling the law of Moses and the old covenant. 

Unfortunately after the death and resurrection of Christ there was a falling away. Those whom Christ ordained to be apostles and teachers were either killed, banished, or died off. The fullness of Christs gospel was no longer on the earth because the priesthood authority was not to be found. The authority Christ gave his apostles to preach, teach, and baptize was gone. And thus began the beginning of the great apostasy. Many churches were created looking for the truth. Many good people desired to follow God. But without the priesthood authority the fullness of the gospel was not to be found. 

In the spring of 1820, in upstate New York a young man 14 years of age had a question. His family was religious. They read the bible and were good people. They even attended churches most weeks. His question was which of all these churches was right?! With the many church's around surely there was a church that was the correct one. As he was reading in the bible one night for guidance he was reading in the book of James chapter one verse 5 which says,

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

He followed the counsel of James and early in the spring of that year in 1820 he went out into a grove of trees not far from his home and said a prayer. He received a marvellous vision that he wrote down later in his own words. He said

"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. … When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other--This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”

Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet. Later he would be given the priesthood authority by heavenly messengers and thus restoring the fullness of the everlasting gospel on the earth. 

Bare testimony on the prophet Joseph smith. 

Because of this restoration all of the ordinances of the gospel were also restored in its fullness such as baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the sacrament. And along with these ordinances came sacred covenants. Covenants that had been lost for hundreds of years. 

As I have been studying about covenants this week I have felt an extreme appreciation for the Sacrament. A chance we have every week to not only renew our baptismal covenants, but all covenants we have made with God. I found this teaching by Elder Delbert L. Stapley who was quoted by Elder Perry in 2006

Open quote

“The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is a covenant between God and his people. … When baptized by an authorized servant of God, we covenant to do God’s will and to obey his commandments. … By partaking of the Sacrament we renew all covenants entered into with the Lord and pledge ourselves to take upon us the name of his Son, to always remember him and keep his commandments” closed quote

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have each week to renew my covenants with God. I cannot imagine my life without these sacred covenants. But in order for us to even come close to these blessings we need to take the first step. We need to be baptized by one having priesthood authority. Without taking the first step by being baptized all of these amazing blessings are unavailable. Baptism is the gate. Nephi teaches us 

"For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost." 

Baptism is the beginning of discipleship and the first step in making sacred covenants with god. After baptism we make more covenants and learn how to keep them. 

The Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 5–7 is a good example of how the Restoration places the Savior’s teachings in a covenant context. When the resurrected Jesus Christ appeared to the Nephites (see 3 Nephi 11), He called twelve disciples and gave them authority to baptize; taught the people His doctrine; told them the purpose of His doctrine; and then delivered a sermon nearly identical to the Sermon on the Mount (see 3 Nephi 12–14). Significantly, though, He introduced that sermon with these words:

“Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen … ; and unto them I have given power that they may baptize you with water; and after that ye are baptized with water, behold, I will baptize  you with fire and with the Holy Ghost. …

“… Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized, for they shall be visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins” (3 Nephi 12:1–2; see also Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 5:3–4).

This introduction suggests that the sermon that follows is for disciples--those who have made a covenant through baptism and have received certain promises. The remainder of this sermon, then, rather than simply being seen as good moral or ethical teachings, can be seen in the context of covenant making. It shows us the requirements and the promises associated with entering into these covenants.

For instance, when the Savior says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me,” and “Blessed are the meek” (3 Nephi 12:3, 5), He is telling us what is required of us and what we will receive as a result of entering into the baptismal covenant. As we learn in Moroni 8:26, “Remission of sins [through baptism] bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost.” We are “blessed” when we receive the Holy Ghost, which is one of the greatest gifts we can receive in this life and comes as a result of making and keeping covenants.

“Blessed are all they that mourn” (3 Nephi 12:4) reminds us that we must feel sorrow for our sins and repent and that part of the baptismal covenant is to “mourn with those that mourn” (Mosiah 18:9). We are told that those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness … shall be filled with the Holy Ghost” (3 Nephi 12:6; emphasis added).That last phrase is added in the sermon to the Nephites, emphasizing again the result of keeping the baptismal covenant.

So, rather than its simply being a catalog of ethical teachings or a list of things a good Christian should do, this sermon becomes for us a description of covenant discipleship, a covenant that can lead us to move beyond our initial following of the Savior to becoming like Him.

Yep. I got sick last week. Probably the second time that has ever happened on my mission. On Tuesday I just had that "I am going to get sick" feeling. Then it finally hit on Friday, Saturday, and yesterday. But Elder Beach and I both got blessings last night and we are both feeling super good! Just in time to because this week we are on bikes 🚲. We both just got hit with the classic change of the season cold. Sinus and sneezing and runny nose and all of that. SO FUN! Not... but we actually did have an awesome week besides the whole getting sick part! We found a new investigator named Jaelen. He is so Cool! He moved here from Chicago about a year ago. He is 16 and is a singer/rapper. And he is a baller to. I was on exchanges when Elder beach found him so I wasn't there but I guess they tried to stop by a less active family and they moved.. But Jaelen and his dad moved in and Jaelen was the one that answered. This is how the conversation went.

"Hey are you guys missionaries?"

-Jaelin

"Yes we are!"

-The Elders

"Great can I have a card so I can come to church this Sunday? I really want to come."

-Jaelen. 

I'll stop there. So as you can see Jaelen is awesome. He wanted to come to church and meet with us. Which rarely happens to us so we are super stoked for him! He couldn't come to church last Sunday because he had an improv practice for school but he said next Sunday for sure. He has two performances this week he invited us To! So obviously we are going. 🎤🎭 

Also I had to give a talk on Sunday. It was kind of a struggle because I had a cold but I got through It! Afterwards a member who just got called into the temple presidency gave me the nicest compliment ever! He is seriously one of the nicest men I have met. He told me, "That was the best doctrinal talk I have heard in a long time." I was like.. wow  😳 thank you so Much! I will send you a copy of it for yourself to see. It was about making and keeping covenants. So I got to spend all week studying about covenants! Which was fun. I like having good topics to study about. And covenants is definitely a good topic! 

I think that is about it. I think I am good on the money department. Also mom please don't make matching t shirts for when I go home.. unless they are all Minnesota wild shirts. And you have one for me to. Haha but for real just as long as you are all there that is all that matters! 

Love you 😘 

 

Chinese Moon Cake festival party!

Moses's Baptism Day

Happy birthday Mom!!!!

Hope you have an amazing day! I also hope that the kids do something
special for you or at least be nice to you. That would be good. This
past week for me was pretty decent. We found a couple people who might
have some good potential! One is a nephew of a west African member who
will hopefully be getting a date set soon. We are having dinner with
them on Friday so we will see how that goes. This past week has been
pretty difficult though. We don't have a lot of people to teach and
some of the day's seemed pretty long when no one wanted to talk to us!
But you know that is what it is about! It's about working and showing
God that you are obedient and trying to do his will.

Last week on Friday we had a zone conference and it was pretty sweet.
President Beecher of the stake presidency gave a training that was
just amazing. He brings so much energy! It was about how to help
members fulfill their callings to create missionary opportunities. Ya
it was just awesome, you had to be there though. At the end of every
zone conference or zone training every month they always have the
departing missionaries give there "dying" testimony. So it was my
turn. Super weird! You see missionaries do it your whole mission then
when it is your turn it is so crazy!

Hey mom, a couple questions. Where and when did you buy my Fitbit? It
is kind of busted so I am trying to get another one from the warranty.
Thanks!

Well I can't think of anything else to say. I got asked to say a talk
next week. 🙄. I will be sure to send you a copy of it.

Love

Elder Long

Happy birthday Mom!!!!

Hope you have an amazing day! I also hope that the kids do something
special for you or at least be nice to you. That would be good. This
past week for me was pretty decent. We found a couple people who might
have some good potential! One is a nephew of a west African member who
will hopefully be getting a date set soon. We are having dinner with
them on Friday so we will see how that goes. This past week has been
pretty difficult though. We don't have a lot of people to teach and
some of the day's seemed pretty long when no one wanted to talk to us!
But you know that is what it is about! It's about working and showing
God that you are obedient and trying to do his will.

Last week on Friday we had a zone conference and it was pretty sweet.
President Beecher of the stake presidency gave a training that was
just amazing. He brings so much energy! It was about how to help
members fulfill their callings to create missionary opportunities. Ya
it was just awesome, you had to be there though. At the end of every
zone conference or zone training every month they always have the
departing missionaries give there "dying" testimony. So it was my
turn. Super weird! You see missionaries do it your whole mission then
when it is your turn it is so crazy!

Hey mom, a couple questions. Where and when did you buy my Fitbit? It
is kind of busted so I am trying to get another one from the warranty.
Thanks!

Well I can't think of anything else to say. I got asked to say a talk
next week. 🙄. I will be sure to send you a copy of it.

Love

Elder Long

Nutha week

You might as well just keep those garments till I get home mom. It's
fine. Also with the airplane stuff whatever works best for everyone is
fine with me! And I know you are trying hard to not talk about home
stuff but it's ok really! It's good to talk about it. Even though it's
weird haha I can handle it!

So this week was interesting. Got some sad news unfortunately. Elder
Clawson had to go home ☹️. He was have some depression/anxiety
problems that were getting pretty bad. So I will be staying in contact
with him. I hope he will be ok!! My new companion is elder beach. He
is from Logan Utah. He is cool. He is going to a D2 school in Colorado
to play quarter back. He is kind of that super star quarter back kind
a guy haha, but he is alright. We are going to work pretty hard this
week to find some new people. Right now we are partying at the hickens
ballin up and shooting pool. Pretty fun. Last week I had dinner with
the CEO of United health care. He is our young men's president haha.
He literally has a mansion and guess what? The sisters live in their
basement. They are in paradise I swear. Pretty much the whole basement
is designed for them. It's pretty wild. But ya we have had some cool
miracles with finding this week! We found this Japanese guy named K.
He told us to just call him k haha yes I got your money transfer by
the way. But I can think of anything else to say right now. So see ya
later!

Here we go

Alright family what is Up! Opening Minnetonka has been super wild.
Going into an area not knowing anyone or anything about anything is
crazy. The Ward is nice though! And the bishop here is super
missionary minded. But this is also one one the most wealthy areas in
the mission. Actually it might be the most wealthy of them all! Some
houses here are like mansions. We have a dinner tonight with a family
who supposedly have a legit mansion. Maybe I will snag a few pics and
show Ya! But we have met some new people. Taught some lessons so it
has been ok. My comp isn't doing to hot though... I would really
appreciate it if you would pray for him and and pray for me on how to
help him out. Opening this area has been super difficult on both of us
but even more on him. So I'm really hoping he will get straightened
out soon. But ya... Pray pray pray! 🙏🏼

I'm basically losing my mind knowing that this is my last transfer.
It's so Weird! I have pretty much given up on lying to people about
when ingo home. I figured if I'm honest then members might give me
free stuff haha today we're going to play ball at the Hickens. There
this rich family that opens up there house to missionaries all day on
Monday to play basketball in here gym and eat all there food. Yes they
are awesome. Next week were probably going to go to the state fair
though! It will be packed because it is the last day of the fair.

I got to see Moses get baptized on Saturday! We got permission to go
back to Med lake and see it. It was so cool to see all the members
again and especially Moses. I am going to miss him so much. I'm hoping
to find at least one more person on my mission that will get baptized!
After talking with the bishop and other members there is some good
potential with some kids that are over 9 years old and haven't been
baptized yet.  So it should be good! Thanks for Everything! Also have
you payed the mobile device fee yet? And if it is possible I could use
like another 100.... But if it is not that it's ok!

Love

Elder Long

P.s
HAPPY BDAY IZAAK!!!

Zone service project at Second Harvest Heartland. Then we went to Smash burger for lunch.

The coolest family I know! The Jones! Love them so much I will miss them a lot!

I just love this #Preesethood

Brother Quaye! Honestly one of my favorite members ever.His testimony of the restored gospel is inspiring.

Thunder Bay reunion!

Last pic with Elder Roberts

One of my all time favorite for sure! The Thompson's