Hey! Its Elder Langford
Everything is great here in taidong, we were sapposed to have some baptisms on sat but didnt happen- we had one of the sisters so just one of em- zhang wanted his family to be there to watch the they were stck in another city because of the huge taiphoon also because of the taiphoon lin jia yi couldent get over here- his parents wouldent let him go out side-- i guess it is pretty dangerous-- we were wondering why everyone was running inside- the whole mission was told to stay inside on sat.- our building was rocking with the wind and the wind sounded like people hitting our windows-- we had to tape all the windows it was really fun except for the fact i had a fever of 39.5 which translated to like 110!! or somewhere in the area- mabey a little less.
Brother zhang an Lin will both be baptised sun. mourning before church- ill be baptising lin and elder marble will be baptising Zhang.
we did get a new person in the baptisimal pool- so he accepted baptisim and we gave him a date- but his mom has alot of fandui- she is ageinst the baptism so we are praying her heart will be softened- his name is Brother Lin
The ward lists are really funny out here because everyones name is the same-- half the ward is lin the other half zhang and the other half wang. so we half so know alot of first names.
so when are you going to newzealend?? do we have any dates-- we did have to do x-rays and bunch of the tests in the mtc for visa stuff so ya the mtc does take care of alot of it.
jalapano jelly- hun hao chi -- literally means very good eat-- i love that stuff- you should fill and envelope and send some out with some wheat thins- good stuff
yesterday we had a good first lesson with this guy-- he is more intersted in the differences between the christian churchs- he is fojiao right now(buddist) hopefully he felt the spirit and we can teach him again- he is a realy nice guy with really good english-- that makes it nice so i can if i dont know a word in chinese which is alot i just say it in english and he would understand- really good lesson though the spirit was strong ang i pray he felt it and wants more of it.
for a missionary moment- i dont know-- i have told all the good ones in my letters so mabey look at one of those.
well thank you all for everthing i love you all
- i can e-mail all close family including grandparents- i dont know if you knew that so yah- laura and scott and danny and rachel can e-mail me-- i dont have their addresses
-Elder Langford
Editor Note: Joey didnt add that link above just as an FYI. I'm guessing that article is the storm that they encountered though.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Letter from Joey!
Hey sounds like all is well at home!! right now i am at a internet cafe place- even though it is 6:00 in the mourning there are about 20 kids here that probley stay up all night long playing these games like warcraft and such- we are in a diffrent room that is non-smoking so there is only one other one- still smells like smoke though. this place in just around the courner from our house we pay like 10 for the computer then another 15 for a water that we have to buy or we cant use the computer. kinda funny eh?
So this past week has been so good - it has rained alot- and when it rains it really raines it is crazy how much water comes down- we usually will go trackting in the rain because no one will be out side to contact. the hard part about it is alot of people let us in because of the rain and they dont nessisarilly have intrest- the other day on a street of maybey 10 or so places only 2 completly rejected us and told us to leave - they other we were able to share a message with and then they say sorry we are budeist and then they say they dont need it- we get into alot more houses when its raining.
right now it is raining pretty good outside- this whole past week as been rainy windy- the taiphoon that missed us went to vietnam and killed 100 people-- that pretty intence i would say--- glad we missed that one.
so we havent had very much sucsess-- man i cant spell- we havent had very much chonggong this past week -alot of people are so nice they set up and just give us a fake number so they dont have to reject us to our faces- it frustrating because we then wait for someone who isent coming and waist the lords time we could be out contacting or working- but becasue we worked hard the lord still blesses us so much-- monday night we got a call from a member that had a referall and we set up the next day to met with him- she piekaed for us-- or she came and helped us teach- its always good to have a member there who speaks good chinese and they bring the spirit so much more-- it really helps a ton!!!
it was a great first lesson and he committed to prepare for baptism on the 15 or so of next month- that made the whole week for us.
Everyone in taiwan loves baseball! the yankees have a pitcher from taiwan and everyone has posters of him everywhere- for lin jia yi -who is getting baptised this sat- we got em a base ball and wrote our testamonies on it and we are going to give it to him-- i will be baptising him!! im way excited and he is to. After the baptisim we are getting pizza!!!
Its sad about pres. faust-- i dont know if many people down here really know about it yet-- they didnt mention it at church at least.- i would love to get some pics of the yard- it sounds like it is doing well!!
Carter creek sounds like alot of fun-- have i ever been there? i dont know- I have progressed in the language a bit- not as much as i would like-- i would rather just be fluent its coming little by little-- because elder marble is distric leader i get an extra 2 hours on mon. and fri. to study because he does follow ups with the other companionships.
i try to use new words on the streets every day-- that is how i cement them into my head- when you use it and they understand it it is great.
every month we get 7200 in our accounts they set up for us-- that is like 7200 pennys times 3 and then you have american currency-- at least in the area of it. for most elders that it way more then enough-- becasue we travel so much we use all of it but thats all rembursable - the elders up in yuli about an hour up from us get on tains most days if the week and they started eating their 72 hours kits because they were waiting for their rembursment of 4000-- they probley use the most money in the whole mission-- all is well here in taidong though- never to bad.
Yesterday yuli had a baptism up in a waterfall--- because of so much rain the water fall pool was closed of because of rocks so we found another little pool that was a little shallower then we normally would have liked for a baptism-- the water was high though and they were fighting the current-- how cool is that!! baptism in a river-- thats the only place in the mission that doesnt have a font and they are way to far away from the ocean.
I love being hear in taidong-- it is so great!! i love the work and the gospel- thank you so much for all you have done for me i love you so much!!-- elder Langford
So this past week has been so good - it has rained alot- and when it rains it really raines it is crazy how much water comes down- we usually will go trackting in the rain because no one will be out side to contact. the hard part about it is alot of people let us in because of the rain and they dont nessisarilly have intrest- the other day on a street of maybey 10 or so places only 2 completly rejected us and told us to leave - they other we were able to share a message with and then they say sorry we are budeist and then they say they dont need it- we get into alot more houses when its raining.
right now it is raining pretty good outside- this whole past week as been rainy windy- the taiphoon that missed us went to vietnam and killed 100 people-- that pretty intence i would say--- glad we missed that one.
so we havent had very much sucsess-- man i cant spell- we havent had very much chonggong this past week -alot of people are so nice they set up and just give us a fake number so they dont have to reject us to our faces- it frustrating because we then wait for someone who isent coming and waist the lords time we could be out contacting or working- but becasue we worked hard the lord still blesses us so much-- monday night we got a call from a member that had a referall and we set up the next day to met with him- she piekaed for us-- or she came and helped us teach- its always good to have a member there who speaks good chinese and they bring the spirit so much more-- it really helps a ton!!!
it was a great first lesson and he committed to prepare for baptism on the 15 or so of next month- that made the whole week for us.
Everyone in taiwan loves baseball! the yankees have a pitcher from taiwan and everyone has posters of him everywhere- for lin jia yi -who is getting baptised this sat- we got em a base ball and wrote our testamonies on it and we are going to give it to him-- i will be baptising him!! im way excited and he is to. After the baptisim we are getting pizza!!!
Its sad about pres. faust-- i dont know if many people down here really know about it yet-- they didnt mention it at church at least.- i would love to get some pics of the yard- it sounds like it is doing well!!
Carter creek sounds like alot of fun-- have i ever been there? i dont know- I have progressed in the language a bit- not as much as i would like-- i would rather just be fluent its coming little by little-- because elder marble is distric leader i get an extra 2 hours on mon. and fri. to study because he does follow ups with the other companionships.
i try to use new words on the streets every day-- that is how i cement them into my head- when you use it and they understand it it is great.
every month we get 7200 in our accounts they set up for us-- that is like 7200 pennys times 3 and then you have american currency-- at least in the area of it. for most elders that it way more then enough-- becasue we travel so much we use all of it but thats all rembursable - the elders up in yuli about an hour up from us get on tains most days if the week and they started eating their 72 hours kits because they were waiting for their rembursment of 4000-- they probley use the most money in the whole mission-- all is well here in taidong though- never to bad.
Yesterday yuli had a baptism up in a waterfall--- because of so much rain the water fall pool was closed of because of rocks so we found another little pool that was a little shallower then we normally would have liked for a baptism-- the water was high though and they were fighting the current-- how cool is that!! baptism in a river-- thats the only place in the mission that doesnt have a font and they are way to far away from the ocean.
I love being hear in taidong-- it is so great!! i love the work and the gospel- thank you so much for all you have done for me i love you so much!!-- elder Langford
Tuesday, August 07, 2007 4:55 PM
Hey Hey Hey im in taidong or taitung there are a couple different ways to spell it but its wonderful-- as far east and south as you can go in the mission--- it is very beautiful down here with the east coast and the huge mountions. i love it!!!
Right now we are just strating a tiafeng (taiphoon) its been raining solid for about a day--- like serious rain and wind that will blow you off your bike!! so we dont ride our bikes to much in it. taidong we hear is sapposed to get the worst of it -wind wise- since taibei is below sea level it usually gets alot of water in the streets and stuff but thats just what we hear-- this is elder marbles first also.
We are still working with 3 solid investigators lin jia yi , ye di xiong,and zhang zhao rong Lin and zhong will be baptised on the 18 both of them are so excited and very prepared for baptism-- Zhang has a family who is coming to the baptism so hopfully we can start with them!
the food here is great-- we always go to this one place that has been here for like 30 years little old 3ft grandma and her husband-- really good food- i like the curry they make but they have alot of other stuff-- with our my companion i would for sure starve to death-- i wouldent be able to read any of the menus.
we get fruit drinks alot-- soooooo good - kinda like a slerpy but they grind up the real fruits ang put ice in em and man its good--- mangos the best!
Most of our contacting is on the streets riding bikes around and stopping people-- most of just say meiyou kong which means no time or they say buyong which is dont need but them we teach them a bit and try to get them to have a little bit of intrest-
when it rain and blows we usually tract houses-- because nobody is out side or they are running away from the acid rain that is going to make us loose our hair-- alot of times people will set up but just wont come-- they are just to nice to say no on the spot-- then we lose more time when we wait for em so thats no good at all.
the weather has been really good with the rain-- its not hot-- we love it about 25 to its real nice-- i have no idea what that is in normal temp.
party at the house-- that sounds so fun-- so the water feature is working again- that is grand.. And lori is home from her mission-- how many fingers does she have-- didnt she cut em off er something-- that would make it harder to carry book of mormans!! i remember she had the goal to hand out a book of morman ever day of her mission--- did she do it?? we only get like 10 or 15 a month so that would be hard for us.
every night we are dead tired-- we ride our bikes like 20 a day i bet-- we just die and fall into bed-- sleep sound all night-- we get up at 6:00 go excercise- about 2 mile run on a track next to our house- and come back get ready eat our oatmeal and study chinese-- 8 is personal study-9 in comp. study- 10 is chinese study- 10:30 we leave.--- wow that just scared me-- i erased the whole message and hada heart attack-- thank goodness for undo buttons right---- anyways- we get lunch and dinner at little stands are resturants- i try not to spend over 60 which is like ummm 1.70 american money-- so not to bad eh - sometime throughout the day i get an extra hour of study-- and that is only during my first transfer.
hey we sold a griddle!! yah!! fun fun so your leaving for a year eh?? that is grand sound like alot of fun-- can i come?? so what are you going to do with the house just board it up for a year or what? that sound like a fun oppertunity.
Well the other day president came down-- which is really rare he only comes down ever couple transfers and we had interviews with him. He is the greatest guy ever-the other day he had a dream my companion got hurt so he called us early that mourning to check on us- he is just really nice. he bought our whole district lunch and then we had district meeting. we also got our appt. inspected and we got called to repentence for that!!-- no just kiddin--- our appt. is soo clean.
well im going to send this early so i dont lose it again i love you all thank you for your prayers we can feel them-- our whole mission right now has 87 people in the baptisimal pool so we are doing very well our zone alone has 20 of em cool huh!!
- Love Elder langford
Right now we are just strating a tiafeng (taiphoon) its been raining solid for about a day--- like serious rain and wind that will blow you off your bike!! so we dont ride our bikes to much in it. taidong we hear is sapposed to get the worst of it -wind wise- since taibei is below sea level it usually gets alot of water in the streets and stuff but thats just what we hear-- this is elder marbles first also.
We are still working with 3 solid investigators lin jia yi , ye di xiong,and zhang zhao rong Lin and zhong will be baptised on the 18 both of them are so excited and very prepared for baptism-- Zhang has a family who is coming to the baptism so hopfully we can start with them!
the food here is great-- we always go to this one place that has been here for like 30 years little old 3ft grandma and her husband-- really good food- i like the curry they make but they have alot of other stuff-- with our my companion i would for sure starve to death-- i wouldent be able to read any of the menus.
we get fruit drinks alot-- soooooo good - kinda like a slerpy but they grind up the real fruits ang put ice in em and man its good--- mangos the best!
Most of our contacting is on the streets riding bikes around and stopping people-- most of just say meiyou kong which means no time or they say buyong which is dont need but them we teach them a bit and try to get them to have a little bit of intrest-
when it rain and blows we usually tract houses-- because nobody is out side or they are running away from the acid rain that is going to make us loose our hair-- alot of times people will set up but just wont come-- they are just to nice to say no on the spot-- then we lose more time when we wait for em so thats no good at all.
the weather has been really good with the rain-- its not hot-- we love it about 25 to its real nice-- i have no idea what that is in normal temp.
party at the house-- that sounds so fun-- so the water feature is working again- that is grand.. And lori is home from her mission-- how many fingers does she have-- didnt she cut em off er something-- that would make it harder to carry book of mormans!! i remember she had the goal to hand out a book of morman ever day of her mission--- did she do it?? we only get like 10 or 15 a month so that would be hard for us.
every night we are dead tired-- we ride our bikes like 20 a day i bet-- we just die and fall into bed-- sleep sound all night-- we get up at 6:00 go excercise- about 2 mile run on a track next to our house- and come back get ready eat our oatmeal and study chinese-- 8 is personal study-9 in comp. study- 10 is chinese study- 10:30 we leave.--- wow that just scared me-- i erased the whole message and hada heart attack-- thank goodness for undo buttons right---- anyways- we get lunch and dinner at little stands are resturants- i try not to spend over 60 which is like ummm 1.70 american money-- so not to bad eh - sometime throughout the day i get an extra hour of study-- and that is only during my first transfer.
hey we sold a griddle!! yah!! fun fun so your leaving for a year eh?? that is grand sound like alot of fun-- can i come?? so what are you going to do with the house just board it up for a year or what? that sound like a fun oppertunity.
Well the other day president came down-- which is really rare he only comes down ever couple transfers and we had interviews with him. He is the greatest guy ever-the other day he had a dream my companion got hurt so he called us early that mourning to check on us- he is just really nice. he bought our whole district lunch and then we had district meeting. we also got our appt. inspected and we got called to repentence for that!!-- no just kiddin--- our appt. is soo clean.
well im going to send this early so i dont lose it again i love you all thank you for your prayers we can feel them-- our whole mission right now has 87 people in the baptisimal pool so we are doing very well our zone alone has 20 of em cool huh!!
- Love Elder langford
Elder Langfords Trainer
(Joeys trainer sent this to his mom and she forwarded it us)Hello everyone!
Pretty much a long time since I have been able to email (or so it feels) so I am feeling pretty good right now. What a busy week this week. A lot of cool new things to do, and so I have been a little more busy than before. But let me tell you something cool about being the district leader. Every night all of the companionships have to call and report in and they tell me how the day went and what happened and so on (we have 3 sets of Elders and one set of Sisters) and so I have them tell me their miracle for the day, and I get to hear stuff that is so amazing. I tell you what, this truly is our Heavenly Fathers work. I sometimes am just sitting there with my mouth opened saying "really?" There is some great faith in this district, and everyone is recieving so many blessings. Like yesterday for instance, we had a lesson with a young man named Lin Jia Yi, and he had no showed the day before, and so I was worried that he was gonna do it again(me and Elder Brown taught him before, but he stopped coming to his appointments, but I felt like we should give him another chance). So it is time for his appointment, and he is not there. So I say to Elder Langford, lets say us a prayer. I said a prayer and told Heavenly Father that we really wanted to help this young man return and live with Him someday, and if he didn't come to the meeting we had set up, that it was because now was not his time. So, we said Amen, and right after, I mean right after, the phone rang. I said "Elder Langford, if that is him I am going to pass out." Wow. It was him. So basically, we met with him, and he is getting baptized on the 18th. It was a really cool experience.
So Elder Langford has a lot of faith, and I am just working my hardest. I think that I really have seen more miracles this past week than in my whole mission put together. Last Sunday we had a whole family at church. A man named Zhang Jiao Rong, his wife, and their 11 year old daughter. I was so happy. Let me tell you about Zhang Jiao Rong. He is a member referral and me and Elder Brown taught him one lesson, and he kept his commitment and prayed about the Book of Mormon, and basically he was overcome with the spirit, and he knows that it is true with all of his heart. When he got that answer, for some reason, he decided to quit smoking. He hadn't heard the word of wisdom or anything, but a ten year smoker just quit:). Anyways, he is awesome and is also getting baptized on the 18th of August. His wife and daughter live in a city called GaoXiong for the summer so we cant teach them until they come back when school starts again. This man is a leader. It is amazing how many miracles that I have seen. I love it.
Elder Langford is doing great, he isn't scared to talk to people and he is learning and growing fast. He is obedient and humble, so it has all worked out so far. I hope that it will continue to do so. I really feel honored to be his trainer. I am glad that you were able to meet his family, everything that I have heard from Elder Langford has been great, so I am excited to meet them one day. I have been learning and growing so much this past week, I wish you could all see me now:) I am definately not the same one who left, but it is such a good change. We had zone conference as well this week and I was able to see Elder Wynn in action. It made me so happy, he is such a knowledgable guy, and this is his last few weeks on his mission. Have you recieved a letter from him? He asked me to ask you. He said he wrote one a while ago. Man, I am getting along in the mission. Pretty much a lot of the older missionaries are gone now, and I am one of the older, it is crazy. I still love it with all my heart (even if this drunk guy at 6:00 in the morning just came over and yelled at us. It was the first bird that I have got so far. Poor guy) Anyways, all is well, I am seriously finding myself completely immersed in the Lords work. I love my Savior Jesus Christ so much, and I love you too family! Love, Elder John Marble Taidong North Branch
Pretty much a long time since I have been able to email (or so it feels) so I am feeling pretty good right now. What a busy week this week. A lot of cool new things to do, and so I have been a little more busy than before. But let me tell you something cool about being the district leader. Every night all of the companionships have to call and report in and they tell me how the day went and what happened and so on (we have 3 sets of Elders and one set of Sisters) and so I have them tell me their miracle for the day, and I get to hear stuff that is so amazing. I tell you what, this truly is our Heavenly Fathers work. I sometimes am just sitting there with my mouth opened saying "really?" There is some great faith in this district, and everyone is recieving so many blessings. Like yesterday for instance, we had a lesson with a young man named Lin Jia Yi, and he had no showed the day before, and so I was worried that he was gonna do it again(me and Elder Brown taught him before, but he stopped coming to his appointments, but I felt like we should give him another chance). So it is time for his appointment, and he is not there. So I say to Elder Langford, lets say us a prayer. I said a prayer and told Heavenly Father that we really wanted to help this young man return and live with Him someday, and if he didn't come to the meeting we had set up, that it was because now was not his time. So, we said Amen, and right after, I mean right after, the phone rang. I said "Elder Langford, if that is him I am going to pass out." Wow. It was him. So basically, we met with him, and he is getting baptized on the 18th. It was a really cool experience.
So Elder Langford has a lot of faith, and I am just working my hardest. I think that I really have seen more miracles this past week than in my whole mission put together. Last Sunday we had a whole family at church. A man named Zhang Jiao Rong, his wife, and their 11 year old daughter. I was so happy. Let me tell you about Zhang Jiao Rong. He is a member referral and me and Elder Brown taught him one lesson, and he kept his commitment and prayed about the Book of Mormon, and basically he was overcome with the spirit, and he knows that it is true with all of his heart. When he got that answer, for some reason, he decided to quit smoking. He hadn't heard the word of wisdom or anything, but a ten year smoker just quit:). Anyways, he is awesome and is also getting baptized on the 18th of August. His wife and daughter live in a city called GaoXiong for the summer so we cant teach them until they come back when school starts again. This man is a leader. It is amazing how many miracles that I have seen. I love it.
Elder Langford is doing great, he isn't scared to talk to people and he is learning and growing fast. He is obedient and humble, so it has all worked out so far. I hope that it will continue to do so. I really feel honored to be his trainer. I am glad that you were able to meet his family, everything that I have heard from Elder Langford has been great, so I am excited to meet them one day. I have been learning and growing so much this past week, I wish you could all see me now:) I am definately not the same one who left, but it is such a good change. We had zone conference as well this week and I was able to see Elder Wynn in action. It made me so happy, he is such a knowledgable guy, and this is his last few weeks on his mission. Have you recieved a letter from him? He asked me to ask you. He said he wrote one a while ago. Man, I am getting along in the mission. Pretty much a lot of the older missionaries are gone now, and I am one of the older, it is crazy. I still love it with all my heart (even if this drunk guy at 6:00 in the morning just came over and yelled at us. It was the first bird that I have got so far. Poor guy) Anyways, all is well, I am seriously finding myself completely immersed in the Lords work. I love my Savior Jesus Christ so much, and I love you too family! Love, Elder John Marble Taidong North Branch
Jul 22, 2007 6:09 PM
Hey Hey Hey-- Im in taiwan!!!
Today is monday About 7:30 in the mourning we are about im thinkin it is about 4 30 on sunday at home.-- thats kinda weird to think about--
any way plane ride was grand the flight to taiwan was long--- slept about an hour so not that long but it was fun.
we arrived at the mission home about 12 here and went right to bed-- the next morning we started orentation-- we had a good breakfast full of cool fruits that i have never had befor and throughout orentation we went over being heathly in taiwan and just stuff-- had an interview with the Pres.-- he is a real nice guy him and his wife-- that evening we went to the grand hotel and a little below were the island was dedicated for mission work-- we each went and said a little prayer of dedication for ourselfs to the mission it was fun.
That evening we were going to go out with some other elders on splits for our first run-- i got lucky-- my companion was elder mortonson from camp!! it was fun to see him and spend the evening with him-- we rode around the city visiting people -- man the traffic is crazy-- but it was fun -- no one really follows any traffic laws-- i dont even know if they have any-- we tracked a little and went back to the church were we taught the first lesson so an investigator-- i taught a little on each princable--- mostly i just beared testamony--- it was fun-- i would ask a question and becasue i couldent understand anything bryan would help me with his response-- well at the end of the lesson-- i i did understand this part-- bryan invited him to be baptised- he accepted and set a date with him-- it was real fun-- even though i couldent understand most of it i felt the spirit and i know the investigator did also.
so hey-- i think that is a good example set for my by bryan--- get em baptised!! after words we went to a members house and sang a song with them and prayed we ate some really good fruit and some other stuff that i just ate-- dont really know what it was-- looked kinda like frog eggs to me and had the texture i would think they would have--- i dont know- dont to shabby.
So monday today is p- day but it will usually be on wed. so a week and a half till the next one--
so they next day we got our companions and headed to our areas-- my companion is from west point- he lives on 300 north on the way to scotts house--- his name is elder marble 801-773-3536 awesome elder he played foot ball at clearfield-- he graduated a year befor me-- iv spent the past couple days in a three sum until the rest of the transfers were made. his old companion was elder brown- he left this mourning he couldent tell me how much he loved elder marbel-- he said he was very obedient and loved the work-- worked solid and never went short on anything--- from what i can see he is just that-- solid-- we get along great its real fun to be with em-- no his breath doesent stink--
so we were sent to the best part of the mission--- to get here we took a 30 min. plane ride and a 3 hour train its called tai dong - you can look it up under google earth with this spelling- taitung- its a small city compared to up north-- church yesterday was fun-- i got up in front of the ward-- about 100 members and bore my testamony and all the members said they could understand it. so thats good! i didnt get much out of church but i felt the spirit--- it wasent to big of a shock with the language-- i knew i wouldent be able to understand--- i pick out words here and there but ill get better.
Our apt. is real nice i even have my own bathroom-- there is a sitting area and a room where we have our desks- another with our beds and stuff-- its super. havent used a public toilet yet-- ill try to stay away-- dont really have to go much because we sweet so much-- im always wet-- just drenched i just have to get used to it--- im wetter before a shower then in the shower- might as well not even dry off.
iv stayed clear of the betel nut babes but the stuff is nasty it looks like a mouth full of blood- but it isent-- bad stuff- umm smells it stinks and then it dosent-- mabey im getting used to it-- traffic is not as bad at all down here but we are stilll carefull--
so i have been usung this older bike for a couple days and today we are going to grab my new one- i paid for it the other day its a nice one and one of the cheapest-- same one as my comps. they had to get it from somewhere else so it took a coupel days-- and we get to paint it too!! That will be fun!!
when we go contacting we just ride around and stop people its fun-- i can talk but usually cant understand so i just talk and pray they feel the truth of it--- on saterday night we had a baptism of some of the other elders in our district we have 2 sisters and 2 other elders in the ward-- the baptism was great
they lessons we have taught have been grand the spirit was their and they went really well-- so during oerntation i was going to call you but they never got to it. i love you all i have to go the time is up happy birthday dad i love you so much-- you have been a great example to me all through my live i love you all!!-- Elder Langford
Today is monday About 7:30 in the mourning we are about im thinkin it is about 4 30 on sunday at home.-- thats kinda weird to think about--
any way plane ride was grand the flight to taiwan was long--- slept about an hour so not that long but it was fun.
we arrived at the mission home about 12 here and went right to bed-- the next morning we started orentation-- we had a good breakfast full of cool fruits that i have never had befor and throughout orentation we went over being heathly in taiwan and just stuff-- had an interview with the Pres.-- he is a real nice guy him and his wife-- that evening we went to the grand hotel and a little below were the island was dedicated for mission work-- we each went and said a little prayer of dedication for ourselfs to the mission it was fun.
That evening we were going to go out with some other elders on splits for our first run-- i got lucky-- my companion was elder mortonson from camp!! it was fun to see him and spend the evening with him-- we rode around the city visiting people -- man the traffic is crazy-- but it was fun -- no one really follows any traffic laws-- i dont even know if they have any-- we tracked a little and went back to the church were we taught the first lesson so an investigator-- i taught a little on each princable--- mostly i just beared testamony--- it was fun-- i would ask a question and becasue i couldent understand anything bryan would help me with his response-- well at the end of the lesson-- i i did understand this part-- bryan invited him to be baptised- he accepted and set a date with him-- it was real fun-- even though i couldent understand most of it i felt the spirit and i know the investigator did also.
so hey-- i think that is a good example set for my by bryan--- get em baptised!! after words we went to a members house and sang a song with them and prayed we ate some really good fruit and some other stuff that i just ate-- dont really know what it was-- looked kinda like frog eggs to me and had the texture i would think they would have--- i dont know- dont to shabby.
So monday today is p- day but it will usually be on wed. so a week and a half till the next one--
so they next day we got our companions and headed to our areas-- my companion is from west point- he lives on 300 north on the way to scotts house--- his name is elder marble 801-773-3536 awesome elder he played foot ball at clearfield-- he graduated a year befor me-- iv spent the past couple days in a three sum until the rest of the transfers were made. his old companion was elder brown- he left this mourning he couldent tell me how much he loved elder marbel-- he said he was very obedient and loved the work-- worked solid and never went short on anything--- from what i can see he is just that-- solid-- we get along great its real fun to be with em-- no his breath doesent stink--
so we were sent to the best part of the mission--- to get here we took a 30 min. plane ride and a 3 hour train its called tai dong - you can look it up under google earth with this spelling- taitung- its a small city compared to up north-- church yesterday was fun-- i got up in front of the ward-- about 100 members and bore my testamony and all the members said they could understand it. so thats good! i didnt get much out of church but i felt the spirit--- it wasent to big of a shock with the language-- i knew i wouldent be able to understand--- i pick out words here and there but ill get better.
Our apt. is real nice i even have my own bathroom-- there is a sitting area and a room where we have our desks- another with our beds and stuff-- its super. havent used a public toilet yet-- ill try to stay away-- dont really have to go much because we sweet so much-- im always wet-- just drenched i just have to get used to it--- im wetter before a shower then in the shower- might as well not even dry off.
iv stayed clear of the betel nut babes but the stuff is nasty it looks like a mouth full of blood- but it isent-- bad stuff- umm smells it stinks and then it dosent-- mabey im getting used to it-- traffic is not as bad at all down here but we are stilll carefull--
so i have been usung this older bike for a couple days and today we are going to grab my new one- i paid for it the other day its a nice one and one of the cheapest-- same one as my comps. they had to get it from somewhere else so it took a coupel days-- and we get to paint it too!! That will be fun!!
when we go contacting we just ride around and stop people its fun-- i can talk but usually cant understand so i just talk and pray they feel the truth of it--- on saterday night we had a baptism of some of the other elders in our district we have 2 sisters and 2 other elders in the ward-- the baptism was great
they lessons we have taught have been grand the spirit was their and they went really well-- so during oerntation i was going to call you but they never got to it. i love you all i have to go the time is up happy birthday dad i love you so much-- you have been a great example to me all through my live i love you all!!-- Elder Langford
7/16/2007 8:40 AM
Hey This is Joey!!I Leave Tomorrow!!!! at about 10 we leave the Mtc and i will call from both airports Saltlake And LA. We have just beeen packing and getting ready-- today is also our last sauna!! Thats sad-- we had that thing cooking!Well On saturday i walked into the room that we were going to teach in and there was this lady talking on the phone-- i said to myself--- self i bet she is on the phone with your mom. It was fun-- we taught the Plan of Salvation to her-- i felt it went well the spirit was strong and we tried to let the spirit testify to her of the truthfulness of our message--- mom we committed her to read in the Book Of Mormon 2 nephi 2 and 3 nephi eleven make sure you follow up with her and see how it went--- if we dont follow up it was all waisted! We talked about the promise in Moroni 10:3-5 and committed her to pray.- we could understand some of what she said- she talked fast!!! and luckly she understood most of what we said which was encouraging for us-- main land china and taiwan saw some things different and we had to adjust to those--- i have felt like i hsave done well learning the language here-- we can do alot of stuff and teach in our own words lessons 1 2 3Hopefully good comes of it is was fun to be able to teach her. We were a little nervous becasue it was a real investigator well kindof Some other elders that we talked to that taght her the first vision said it went well but she was playing the part of a non christian like she was supposed to but we kinda wanted to just teach her. That said the spirit was there-- i dont know what commitments they gave her, she might know.Well its been a good 12 weeks in the MtC alot of people say they hated the mtc but i loved it--- i guess in comparison to what the field might be like it probably is bad but the worst part was the same not that great food.
The name Long Zhong Lao--- Long Is Translated to dragon but it was selected for how close it is to my last name-- but it still means dragon so i like it alot--- Zhong Lao is elder Pronounced jong Lao My full name is Long yi de 2 4 2 tones de with 2 tone means kind and virtuous and a couple other things--- so im a kind dragon--- i like it!!! First names are always chosen for what the parents want their children to become-- they are very personal and usually will never know someones first name. Our teachers after teaching us for twelve weeks choose these names for us.
Well because of the scripture dissaster i needed to buy new scriptuers and case--- new socks and befor i knew i could take my close just to missionary mall i took em to the dry cleaners and they charged an arm and a leg and also made my pants two tone and mostly see threw so the was a waist of money and i still had to pay for it all-- Ill probably need to take out some money just for my bike and food while traveling. My Jazz shirt-- i guess becaue of the material came out of the scripters real nice-- my sweats are itchy and whitish but i dont where them that often--- socks and slacks only real dissaster
Thank you all for everything i love you all!!. Sounds like the grills and coming along Love Elder Langford
The name Long Zhong Lao--- Long Is Translated to dragon but it was selected for how close it is to my last name-- but it still means dragon so i like it alot--- Zhong Lao is elder Pronounced jong Lao My full name is Long yi de 2 4 2 tones de with 2 tone means kind and virtuous and a couple other things--- so im a kind dragon--- i like it!!! First names are always chosen for what the parents want their children to become-- they are very personal and usually will never know someones first name. Our teachers after teaching us for twelve weeks choose these names for us.
Well because of the scripture dissaster i needed to buy new scriptuers and case--- new socks and befor i knew i could take my close just to missionary mall i took em to the dry cleaners and they charged an arm and a leg and also made my pants two tone and mostly see threw so the was a waist of money and i still had to pay for it all-- Ill probably need to take out some money just for my bike and food while traveling. My Jazz shirt-- i guess becaue of the material came out of the scripters real nice-- my sweats are itchy and whitish but i dont where them that often--- socks and slacks only real dissaster
Thank you all for everything i love you all!!. Sounds like the grills and coming along Love Elder Langford
MTC Catastrophy
Mom and Dad found this little sound file and some still pictures
on the memory card Joey sent home.
I really don't know what to say...
... hope everything works out.
I got a good laugh.
Remember: The Word is clean, comes pre-washed!
~dan
7/9/2007 12:12 PM
Hey Hey-- All is well here!!!Im leaving for taiwan in like 8 days!!! I Cant wait!! we go out on tuesday--- we leave the MtC @ 10 and our flight leaves at one to LA-- then our flight leaves from LA At 5:30 and arrive in taiwan at 9 or 10 the next mourning.So its been a good week!! We taught the 2nd lesson and that went pretty well!! we have had alot of days were we dont speak any english at all--- all chinese-- its fun but sometimes frustraiting. UmmSo the temple has been closed for cleaned for a month so we havent had the oppertunity to go -- this mouning however we were assigned to go clean at the temple!-- it was pretty fun-- we cleaned out lockers and i cleaned the temple presidents office-- he has a cool little red button under his desk- i dont know what it was for so i went to push it-- luckly Elder meyers stoped me--J/K i wonder what it did thoughOh we got to clean and dust plastic plants!!!! fun fun-- brought back memories of home!! their are building some new storage sheds of the side of it but it is just a mountian of rocks and dirt--- we shoveled for like a hour or so and got some good blisters-- i got missionary hands!!----the only calusses i have are from my scripture marker and my scripture case handle!Speaking of scrip.... umm you should recive the remnits of my scripturs-- it was a diasture--- man the chinesse is killin my spelling--- i probley just never was a good speller--- any way their is a audio file on my card explaining it-- should just open with the rest of the pics of the computer pretty easy.So i purchased some new scriptuers and case and socks--- ther whole load of wash was pretty much messed up cause the glue from the binding mixed with all the shredded paper and it was a big mess so ya!! good times--- just trying to immurse my self in the word of God i guess!..
i have like 15 min. left so i will get back on at laundrey time and e-mail again so you can reply to the account and i will reply to what ever e-mail address you want me to-- sometimes it is as late as 5:00-- thak you all-- Love Elder Langford!!
i have like 15 min. left so i will get back on at laundrey time and e-mail again so you can reply to the account and i will reply to what ever e-mail address you want me to-- sometimes it is as late as 5:00-- thak you all-- Love Elder Langford!!
7/2/2007 9:34 AM
Hey Family-- this is Long Zhong Lao Just hagging out here in the mTc--- its fun-- we have had a grand week- it was the mission presidents training- so meals lines we so long- they went out the building and wraped around other buildings- it took forever and we were always late getting to where we needed to be.Tuesday was probley the best day at the mTc we have had!! It was Awesome!!!--- we got in the choir to make sure we got a seat in the room-- everyone new Elder Hollend was coming bacause of Steve Allen-- the sunday before he gave a great talk but told everyone he was coming!. Out district always know whos coming because we have inside sources- Anyways ony about 300 missionaries got in the room becasue of so many Mission Presidents- we were waiting for Elder Hollend to come in and then we watched Elders, Perry, uchtorfe, scott, eyring,ballared, and holland. So we had half of the 12 in the room with us! Elder Hollend gave a awesome talk on the atonment and everyone in the room was crying their eyes out. the spirit was really strong-- i dont have my notes with me but i will send you some later on-- the closing prayer was really good but the Elder couldent geet through iit and started crying and then everyone started crying again-- when he finished Elder Hollend and ballared gave him big hugges and kissed him on the cheek. Why couldent i give the closing prayer!!?? We always go back to our class room and go over the notes we had and we had a testamony meeting!! lots of fun!!Our Lesson was great on Saturday-- I have a stronger testamony of the gift of inturpritaion of tounges!! we were teaching a native and he talked different then we were used to- but we could understand alot of what he was saying-- at least enough to answer his questions---Well times almost gone-- i love you all thank you for everything!!!!-Long Zhong Lao
6/11/2007
Hey familyAll is well here in the mtc!!!Thanks so much for the package-- it was grand!! The watch didnt work for some reson so we did emergency surgrey and found out that it got water in it somehow and was pretty messed up inside.
Last sat. elder meyers and i gave a 45 min. lesson in chinese!! it went prettty well!!! Luckly the holy ghost was there and he helped us out a bunch!!!Bamboo sounds like it is doing well!!! Fun FunWell on thing that we get to go do on saterdays is the RCThat is where all the numbers on the back of the pass along cards goes to, Its a fun place-- we just study until the phones rings... They will all ring at once cause of the comericials on t.v. come on at the same time.Iv had a couple good conversations with people and been able to send them missionaries and stuff!!One of the really fun things is when you get a chat--- on mormon.org they have a place to talk with missionaries and they get connected to us. Every week we have one guy from scotland get on and we talk to him. He has started taking the discussions and is enjoying them. He has to do everything secretly cause of his parents, but he is coming along. He has asked us about our conversions to the gosple, the godhead, the holy ghost, and how to pray. He is really open with us with all his struggles and hopefully eventually will be baptized. He loves going to church and meeting with the missionaries.We get a new load of chinese missionaries this wed. It will be fun cause we have been kinda lonely for a week without the older district.Next sat. we teach the second lesson in chinese-- a 45 min. lesson hopefully we can learn it all it time-- not as long as we had before.Last tuesday elder eyring came and gave a great devotional on faith, hope and charity--it was fun--- ysterday at lunch i went to where we usually eat and Elder Perry was in my seat!! i got to shake his hand and say hi to him. He told me that i would be a great missionary-- also elder scott and elder ballered were here for some mission president training. I might have another watch kickin around somewhere- a another t-shirt for gym and my cool flosser thingy that i left at home--- mabey you guys could find them and send them out-- it would be grand well thank you for everything i love you all~Elder Langford
Last sat. elder meyers and i gave a 45 min. lesson in chinese!! it went prettty well!!! Luckly the holy ghost was there and he helped us out a bunch!!!Bamboo sounds like it is doing well!!! Fun FunWell on thing that we get to go do on saterdays is the RCThat is where all the numbers on the back of the pass along cards goes to, Its a fun place-- we just study until the phones rings... They will all ring at once cause of the comericials on t.v. come on at the same time.Iv had a couple good conversations with people and been able to send them missionaries and stuff!!One of the really fun things is when you get a chat--- on mormon.org they have a place to talk with missionaries and they get connected to us. Every week we have one guy from scotland get on and we talk to him. He has started taking the discussions and is enjoying them. He has to do everything secretly cause of his parents, but he is coming along. He has asked us about our conversions to the gosple, the godhead, the holy ghost, and how to pray. He is really open with us with all his struggles and hopefully eventually will be baptized. He loves going to church and meeting with the missionaries.We get a new load of chinese missionaries this wed. It will be fun cause we have been kinda lonely for a week without the older district.Next sat. we teach the second lesson in chinese-- a 45 min. lesson hopefully we can learn it all it time-- not as long as we had before.Last tuesday elder eyring came and gave a great devotional on faith, hope and charity--it was fun--- ysterday at lunch i went to where we usually eat and Elder Perry was in my seat!! i got to shake his hand and say hi to him. He told me that i would be a great missionary-- also elder scott and elder ballered were here for some mission president training. I might have another watch kickin around somewhere- a another t-shirt for gym and my cool flosser thingy that i left at home--- mabey you guys could find them and send them out-- it would be grand well thank you for everything i love you all~Elder Langford
6/4/2007 (first letter via email)
Hey Family Everything is grand here in the MTC--- We got to go to the temple this morning-that was fun--- last week was a holiday so they didnt open it for us. All the older elders left today- so for a week and a half it is just 10 of us until the younger group comes in. There are 52 new mandrine elders coming-- This coming sat. is elders meyers and my first full leanth lesson in zhongwen er i mean chinese!! 45 min!!! kinda crazy but it will be good---umm iv seen Elder Rigby, elder felix, Both Elder sutherlands, And Elder Mancail, and a couple other kids from school around--- we cant really talk cause was cant speak english-- they all speak russian and me zhongwenits kinda frustrating------fast sunday was great yesterday--- i understood most of the testamonies except for a couple words here and there.I forgot to tell you but all those new videos on preperation that the church made we saw them like our first week here--- it was the first showing in the mtc-- alot of the missionarys that were in the videos are teachers on campus---- the church did a expanded version of one of the stories in the video that acctually got done last fri. and we watched that one last night. It was really good stuff.i am so thankful to be able to be on a mission!!! Its hard but alot of fun---Zhongwen headaches are the worst--I know this gosple is true and am thankful for it- i know there is a prophet on the earth today- and that he recives revelation for the whole church! I know that we can live togeather as a family forever!! that pretty cool i think--- i know that christ suffered for all of us so that we can get the blessing promised to us-- i am so thankful for him---Yes i did mail thankyou letters to dedricksons and gruenbuergsno i dont have dannys pants no idea where they are-- sorryhow is the bamboo??i was wondering if i could get my watch--- i thought i packed it but i didnt-- also my pic book and i will send home all the pics i dont want- and ummm my ctr ring if you can find it and ummmm hey iv lost 10 pounds kinda crazy eh? and no scott doesnt need to e-mail all my friends- i dont even have their e-mail address--- but i would like my camp list-- oh ya a birthday list for the whole family that would be nice and ummmmm thats all i think thank you all for everthing i love you all!!!!! my times all up bye byeLove Elder Langford
1st Letter from MTC
May 5th 2005
Well great first day at the MTC! After I left you guys, I got in a line to check on shots and get keys and all this paper work. They also gave me a big blue bag full of Chinese books, like seven or eight of em!
I got my luggage and went to my room- 4 missionary's in the room. My companion is Elder Meyers- He is an awesome kid. He has already been to 2 years of BYU, he graduated way early from high school. He is in Cinematography. Like he goes freelance and makes commercials - Last summer he was in Africa doing a documentary. I like him a lot.
Dinner was great and we got Ice Cream too! They got like tons of Juice Stuff- flavors I have never heard of... lots of fun.
We had an orientation with our district. I am the senior companion and in 6 weeks we switch and I am Junior.
Every Sunday we write a talk in the Language. So when we get to Taiwan, we will have 11- 5 min. talks all ready to give in church!
Tomorrow we start our classes so all should be good!
Love Elder Joey Langford
[Back of Envelope: "This place is bāng! (awesome) Love Liág Zhāng Lăo(Elder Langford)]
Well great first day at the MTC! After I left you guys, I got in a line to check on shots and get keys and all this paper work. They also gave me a big blue bag full of Chinese books, like seven or eight of em!
I got my luggage and went to my room- 4 missionary's in the room. My companion is Elder Meyers- He is an awesome kid. He has already been to 2 years of BYU, he graduated way early from high school. He is in Cinematography. Like he goes freelance and makes commercials - Last summer he was in Africa doing a documentary. I like him a lot.
Dinner was great and we got Ice Cream too! They got like tons of Juice Stuff- flavors I have never heard of... lots of fun.
We had an orientation with our district. I am the senior companion and in 6 weeks we switch and I am Junior.
Every Sunday we write a talk in the Language. So when we get to Taiwan, we will have 11- 5 min. talks all ready to give in church!
Tomorrow we start our classes so all should be good!
Love Elder Joey Langford
[Back of Envelope: "This place is bāng! (awesome) Love Liág Zhāng Lăo(Elder Langford)]
The Call
Joey's Mission Picture Joey has been called to serve in the Taipai Taiwan Mission. He enters the MTC on May 2, 2007. We all wish it were sooner! He is going to be a great missionary.
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