Trinidad is the Most Beautiful Place on the California Coast

Sorry that I didn't get to send you an email last week, but I was sure that I sent it to you, but I guess I just didn't press the "send" button.

McKinleyville is a great place. The ward members are really supportive and willing to help us with the work that we are doing. Our investigators are steadily progressing towards baptism. Their progression is very gradual, but as I look back over the previous weeksI can see how their faith and commitment have increased. We have this family that has been having trouble coming to church and suddenly this week they were very interested in taking their daughter to Primary. When I saw all of them come together to church it just made me really happy. Although the parents left after sacrament meeting, I was glad that they were excited about getting their daughter to Primary. I think looking back over my time in McKinleyville with Elder Williams, it has been good to see our investigators steadily come closer to Christ.

Elder Williams is a great companion. I learn everyday from him and he always tells me about things that I need to improve. I am happy that he criticizes me because I have been able to concentrate on some of the things that I have to learn or know and then I can become better at them. There was a time when Elder Williams just told me that I don't understand baptism at all. Although it was a little hard for me to accept that fact, he helped me concentrate on making that weakness become strong. I am glad that he made it obvious my lack of understanding, because they I had an opportunity to really research baptism and know more about it. That is just one example. It hurts sometimes to be told that you are doing things wrong or that you have a certain weakness, but in the long run,

I swear I have the most beatiful area in the whole mission and the most beautiful section of the California coast (no questions asked). My area covers McKinleyville, but it also covers a town called Trinidad, and all the way north to a town called Orick. Trinidad is the most beautiful place on the California coast. We went to a breakfast appointement with some members in the ward and it was just gorgeuos. All of you have access to the internet, so I would encourage you to look up pictures of Trinidad on Google.

My companion is awesome. He is going home  at the end of this transfer (we just started new transfers). He is from Layton, Utah. All of you in Utah, can you say hello to him? He is a funny guy. He makes a lot of jokes. In our car we made a portable area book and it holds a lot of the records that helps us out find former investigators and potential investigators, we call the "portable area book" Bulbasaur. The portable area book is in a green folder and on the front of the green folder he put a picture of Bulbasaur. When we want to summon the the portable area book, he says to me "I choose you Bulbasaur." My companion is kind of a nerd. He loves big foot, Star Wars, Pokemon, and other things. Me telling you this, you probably think he is a disobedient missionary, but he is super diligent and hard working. He helps me a lot whenever I have problems and he supports me. I am really going to miss him after he leaves. He is like one of my favorite people. I would be lost as a missionary if he specifically didn't train me. (There is no other person on earth that could do as good of a job for me as he is). We work hard everyday and we have been through a lot of stuff. He is really good at drawing. He has this one book that is like an illustrated journal that he made and it tells the story of his mission. I think one thing that I have learned from him and that I am still learning from him is that you can still be light of heart as a missionary, but still be diligent. At the MTC, I was just too serious and I was always sad. But when you are in love with people and places, there is no room to be serious in a way that is not light of heart and joyful, instead you rejoice and smile in the success of your brothers and sisters as the make positive changes in their lives. It is great. We still both take ourselves seriously as missionaries and we take our calling seriously, but who says that you can't be smiling whild you do that?

Elder Longstaff

Misty Mornings

Hello Family,

 

How are you doing?

 

This Tuesday we had a very busy day. It was nice because we were able to rush from appointment to appointment. The best part was that at each appointment we were able to have quality lessons that really helped our investigators understand gospel principles that they were struggling with. At one of these appointments, we were privleged to meet a woman name Renata who was referred to us by her member friends, The Smith's. Throughout the whole appointment Elder Williams and I did not speak a lot, instead the Smith's talked about how the gospel has blessed their lives and the lives of their families and Renata talked to us about how she has been searching for the gospel message throughout her life. It was a humbling experience because I realized that we were at the lesson to help the Smith's share the gospel with Renata. We are only a minor part in the conversion process as the member's will stay in McKinleyville to fellowship our new investigators after they have been baptized. We are really blessed to be able to help Natasha learn about the Gospel and how it can help her family.

 

Elder Williams is an excellent missionary. There was a time this week where he was feeling terrible with a headache and an upset stomach. Even though he wasn't feeling very well near the end of the day he said that we should keep going and continuing to work. I was feeling fine, but because it was near the end of the day, I am sure that there was temptation for him to say "Let's go home a little early tonight to rest". I think that he is a good example to me because even though he was feeling terrible, he continued to work and endure until the end of the day.

 

Some of our investigators just have problems with reading the Book of Mormon. We have emphasized over and over again why they need to read the Book of Mormon. We just hope that they can take the time to just read and pray.

 

We have been keeping busy a lot.There are some great people here. (and some yummy fish too!) I miss all of you.

 

How was the Lavulo Reunion? did you party? lol. Ha ha. did you get a 6XL shirt? Rhiannon showed me the post. So funny. Lolz!

 

How is everything else?I hope everything is going good.

 

Elder Longstaff

 

Fish-Eye Lens Perspective

To Friends and Family: 

 
Something that has been troubling me this week is how a lot of our investigators are just not keeping any of their commitments, most specifically the commitments to read the Book of Mormon. We dropped one of our long-time investigators from "progressing" to the "new or other" category and it is just too bad that she hasn't been keeping up with her commitment to read. We have emphasized the importance of reading the Book of Mormon in the past, but I am sure that we still have to emphasize it again. 
 
I think that the most difficult part of missionary work is working with a companion. It is a daily effort to change for another person and to be considerate of their feelings. I am really glad that I get this practice because if I were to never come on a mission, there would be no hope for me to have a harmonious relationship with my future wife.  I am an introspective person that is self-aware and I know what kind of person that I am, but I have a challenge in knowing someone else feels about certain things or being considerate to their feelings. I am just really grateful that I have a chance as a missionary to change to become more harmonious with another person. I am really thankful for the disagreements that Elder Williams and I have and the chance we have to work together to become more unified. Although I am at the beginning of my mission, I am excited to work on the problems that I have so that I can become a person that works well with other people. I know that Elder Williams was supposed to be my trainer because he is so patient in such a unique way that helps me become more humble and meek. 
 
The missionary life is great and I love this chance that I have to share with people the Gospel. I love how we get a chance to visit with people every single day and how we are able to spiritually uplift them. My favorite thing as a missionary is to see in someone's eyes how their faith in Jesus Christ and his gospel increases because of what the Holy Ghost testified of them.

 

One of our investigators had a baptisimal date and is now moving down south to be with is family, He is completely GOLDEN! We have already taught him all of the lessons and he has a strong testimony in the church, but he is moving so that his family can see his baptism. The missionaries down their will be so surprised and blessed. Although we would have liked to baptize him or for him to be baptized here, it is just a lesson from Heavenly Father that it is his work and not our own. 

 

There is a really awesome family here and they are such good missionaries. They let us bring our investigators to their family home evening every single week and they give us so many referrals. Can all of you follow their example wherever you are? Can all of you be like that awesome family and be member missionaries to their investigators and open your home to the missionaries and their investigators? And also go to lessons all the time with the missionaries or give more people the BOM? I realized that I wasn't a good missionary at al before I came out and if more people are like this family, missionary work in the world would really go a lot smoother.

 

Our investigators are awesome! and Elder Williams is Awesome too! By the way family, he gets off of his mission in two months and he is from Layton Utah. Do you think that you could go meet him? He is great and if you let him know that you are there to support him he will be really happy. So hey! What do you think? Please! Ok bye bye!

 

 

Thank you!

 

Elder Longstaff

Week 3

James sent us a postcard instead of an email. :)

He'll send us one in a couple of days.

If my computer would cooperate with me I would show you the front side as well, but imagine this... a picture of tall trees and underneath it says, "The Redwoods". It's not too glamorous really. Enjoy!

Week 2

So, I told James I would do this blog for him, but I've been slow on getting it up. Here is the 2nd email we have gotten from him. Stay posted on many more that we shall be receiving! I'll be posting pictures up too! -Rhiannon (his sister)

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Hey Family,

Before I talk to you I just want to tell you a few things. I don't have a lot of time on the computers, so if you send me an email I won't have time to read your emails to the full extent that they deserve. If you are in the US, just send me a letter and it will make everything for me a lot easier. For the parents, I will only reply to your individual emails. Is that alright? OK!

My immunizations have been taken care of, thank you for sending my contacts and patriarchal blessing too!

Well I only have one more week at the MTC and so far, I have been loving it. I have been studying a lot of gospel stuff and teaching a lot. I have about four progressing investagators and they are all very special. I teach one lesson everyday if not two or three lessons. I love my MTC district. If you want me to go into more detail, just write me a letter. Because email is really shallow and I can't really share you my feelings I have chosen to share with you an entry from my journal. This is how I felt a few days ago, but the problems that I was facing then are not the same now because I have already resolved that conflict. It is mostly about how I kind of miss my life previous. Enjoy!

Both of my companions have girlfriends that they are writing back home. Today their girlfriends's sent them letters.

Although I am not writing to a girlfriend while on my mission, I am leaving someone that I am deeply in love with: Myself.

Last year while at BYU I would spend long hours with myself enjoying the things that we both liked to do. Watching the seasons change, laughing at jokes that only we would think are funny, and having deep and pensive conversations that only we could follow or understand, these are just a few things that we both liked to do.

When I refer to "we", I do not mean to imply that I am crazy or suffer from some mental disease, but rather the person that I would spend time with when no one else was around. Also, when I say that I am in love with Myself, I do not mean that I don't care about anyone else or that I am excessively self-centered. Instead, I mean to say that I loved spending time with the person that I was, in solitude.

Why shouldn't I? In my mind's eye, the person that I loved spending time with had the same interests as I did. We would read all sorts of newspapers and magazines, like National Geographic and the Economist and the Daily Universe. because that is what we both like to do. We loved watching Japanese Anime, films with subtitles, and we would go to random lectures and symposiums on campus about different cultures and nations. We loved International and Global things because frankly we both felt strange living in Utah where everyone was American. We discovered together a common passion in learning.

Overall, I am confident about the person that I am and the relationship that I have with myself.

Actually6, I was confident about my relationship with myself until I started my mission on June 29, 2011.

On June 29th, I kind of feel like I left myself at home. I can't spend time with that person that would stay connected with the outside world. I can't spend time with that person that would watch the world in silence. I can't spend time with the person that is named "Myself". It stinks because I miss that person. A lot.

But this was my choice and this is my sacrifice. The Lord requires this of me and so I have to continue on with faith. In fact, there is a scripture somewhere that says that whatever you left behind at home, you will receive a hundredfold  if you serve God with all your might on your mission. Also, I am supposed to loose Myself in the work. And now I know what that really means. I just need more faith in these words. I just hope that when I am reunited with Myself after my mission, that he hasn't changed too much, or if he has changed, that I still like the person that he is. But my name is no longer James Longstaff, I am Elder Longstaff and I am a servant of the Lord.

-Elder Longstaff