Christmas Week

I am so excited by this news! We can actually see him! Far far away but still close enough to see. Yay!

Are you ready for the best news ever? This year, and probably forever, we are going to be permitted to use Skype. Not only audio - video. All the cibers (intenet cafes) including the one I´m in have cameras... so yeah. Skype. It´s happening. I´ll have to show you how big my pants are.

Therefore, you will need my name. elder.crist. That´s it. Just type that in and it will find me. Furthermore, it will be free, besides the money to use the computer, which will be about 1.60. Win. We don´t really get to decide when to do it, as it will be next week. I´m really sorry about this, but I´m going to talk to my companion and we´re going to decide when and you´ll have to figure it out. Sorry. Use my computer probably, skype works best on it.

The thing you´ll find with Chilean food is anything made for an occasion is good. Desserts are amazing. Party stuff, like empanadas, completos, pizzas, all very good. Normal food is pretty much a choice between three things : Chicken leg with rice, porrotos, which is a kind of bean soup that is really bland, and pana, which is like "meat surprise", essentially. It could be pancreas, heart, kidney, or liver. Occasionaly they give you queso de cabeza, cheese of head, which is ground-up tongue and brain together. It is the worst thing they have here, bar none. They always have salad drenched in oil and lemon juice, which is not terribly good either. The only things you can depend upon are the drink, which is either soda or juice, and the bread, which is always good here. Always. Certain ward members make their own professionally - needless to say, I stopped buying it at the market. And tomatoes. They love tomatoes pure and raw. You can always find those too. Juice is a strong point of the stuff we get. I went to the completo place in the mall and got some pineapple juice they make with a grinder in front of the store. They add nothing to it, and it totally has awesome pulp, but it´s just good.

There are actually ads for Tron on the buses we take. It does look pretty cool. (I do remember the original) It sounds like one of those movies that Jake and I would like. I´ve already started a "trunky list" at the back of my journal, so I´ll be sure to add it.

I will probably get the stuff you sent on Wednesday at meeting. The stuff goes to the mission HQ and it gets to us over a week or so. I´m sure I´ll be getting it, in fact. Exciting. Hope it didn´t cost too much... oh, what do I care- it´s a package!

The doctors said the thing I got was probably from stick deodorant... so I am now using cool Chilean spray deodorant. It works just fine, actually. The stick kind gives certain people ingrown hairs, especially if you put it on and then put a shirt on right after without letting it sink in or something... whatever.

(my companion just said we´re going to call at 1530 Chilean time. I belive that´s 1130 there. Just be ready. elder.crist, okay? We kind of got screwed with the announcement coming out so late. If it fails, I´ll just call, but I imagine you´ll be able to do that.)

Cambios (changes) was Sunday, and we are... doing nothing. Usually you stay with your dad (trainer) for two cambios, then you leave, and he probably stays, maybe not. That´s how they call it here. Your brothers had the same trainer, your son is the Elder you trained, and so forth. Therefore, it´s very rare to meet your grandpa, but it happens from time to time. The only time I saw the MTC guys was at the "greenie meeting" a month ago, and one Elder who ended up in my zone, who I see every week. It´s way fun to meet them and talk about their areas. My companion from the MTC (the sane one) is in the most flaite area of the mission. They have a crack corner, a weed corner, etc. They get threatened all the time but nothing happens. They actually can´t go into half their area without a local. That reminds me of a story... just a second.

We were walking home one night along the highway (imagine this - it´s very loud) under an overpass. We contact this guy who is walking next to us. He was a member, but he went inactive because he didn´t believe in the Word of Wisdom. We asked him why, and he said because when Noah got off the ark, God said to him he could eat anything he could see. We tried to get his address but he didn´t let us. We started walking away, me having heard nothing, and Elder Mann says "Yeah, I´m Noah. The first thing I thought of when I got off the boat : I´m gonna go make a bong." I had no idea why he said that, so it made me laugh so hard I tripped on a rock.

But other than that, we actually do have investigators. Our best right now is a lady who lives out in the boonies of our sector. She lives in this house with a half-metal roof with her kids and husband. She has this tiny little garden of carrots in her front yard, which is mostly cement other wise. There are really only three rooms: the front with the tv, the bedroom for everyone, and the laundry/dump room. The kids sleep outside when it´s hot to save space, to give you an idea. We got in the first time, and it went really well. She had a lot of faith already in God - she said that she´s gone hungry before, but since she´s had her kids, she can feel God´s love because she never lacks food for them.

Another investigator we have you may want to hear about as well. I think I may have met one of the people most similar to Granny in the entire world. She accepts the Gospel readily, even to the point that it seems she knows it already. She hasn´t been able to set a date for baptism yet. You´d suspect the classic problems : fear, inabilty to commit to coming to church, etc. She can´t because she is too busy organizing a community-wide Christmas program for kids who don´t have enough money to do Christmas, complete with a meal and presents. She lives day-to-day almost failing at times, for she can only work on donations - she has no money to speak of. People are touched by her just enough to contribute, and the program looks to be coming off resoundingly well. What´s more, she has a bent coccyx that gives her serious pain, and a compressed siadic nerve, and diagnosed fibromyalgia, but she doesn´t stop for a moment.

When you see a person who is not a member of the Church, you need to realize something. Or a member. There´s a lot of judgment along with missionaries who don´t complete the mission. The thing is, though, all people are doing the best they can with what they´ve been given. I´d like you to reread John 9 if you find yourself thinking otherwise. They are just trying to utilize the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

The time really gets away from me on these things. Peace.

Love,
Elder AC Crist

week #5

I will not say much and just let you get to the letter. Pray for him to get over the infections that plague his life. I know they make him miserable and not very effective as a missionary. It brings him down because he can't seem to do much. Darn it! So here you go...


I did a mail to dad about the details, but it sufficeth me to say that they certainly did, and I saw the doctor. I could probably use some of that wash stuff. As for not working, it could be a few days before I can go at all. Fetch. I would work inside in a second, and the President said that could very well happen because I know computer stuff, but I have to be good enough at Spanish first.

The call can be 24, 25, or 26th. Whenever. It's an hour long. I don't know how to do google voice with it. Maybe look into it? I could maybe have you call from voice to a member's phone. I don't know. Is there a way to call collect on google voice? I don't know. I can always get a phone card, but that's rather expensive. And the coin phones are hard core shank. Basically you just do it however you want. Some crooked "chueco" missionaries will call every day or for like 3 hours, and no one ever finds out. In conclusion, a lot of freedom there. Whenever is better. Remember the time difference.

I still haven't been homesick except for when they were working on my infections. I just thought about mountain dews and doing stuff that's fun that you don't have to do.

Turns out the reason I couldn't do pull ups was that I had too much weight. I don't know what I've lost, but I can do double the exercises now. From walking very briskly all day, I actually am pretty conditioned. We play soccer and I run around the whole time and never get sideaches or out of breath. It's really suprising because it doesn't seem like I've done that much exercise, but I have. We truly walk ten miles a day very easily. Every part of our area is a mile apart or more, so if we have a different appointment, we do a mile. This could happen hourly. You do the math.

We did actually have a baptismal date the other day. But then the lady, an older community organizer, bailed. She is putting together an enormous Christmas program for kids who don't have Christmas, with food and presents and all. It's a pretty good excuse, since she did say she wanted to start up again after. But losing a date is awful. We've really been having a lot of disappointments this change - Elder Mann says it's the worst he's ever seen in terms of people suddenly turning us down or stopping the discussions. We've just now found a couple of people that are refered to here as "los escogidos" - the chosen. You know it when you see it. People who have questions that fit the Church perfectly, like "Why are there so many chuches?" or "Why do priests get paid/never get married?" You show them the Book of Mormon and they often accept it before you ever enter their house. We have two right now. One's an older lady with a daughter who converted recently (having any family whatsoever in the Church is fantastic) who had the first question. The other is a single man with an autistic son with the second. He didn't believe the Catholic Church had authority because people vote on the Pope and stuff like that. Elder Mann and I just waited for him to look away to do a fist bump.

I may be shorter than Jake, but you should see the people here. On the metro today I could see the eye-level exit ("salida") signs at the very back of the train 100 feet away; not a single person was tall enough to block my view. I have seen probably 20 people up close who where heavier or taller than me. I am a very large person here. I don't fit in most seats. It's really kind of funny. I routinely accidentaly move couches when I stand up and my knees usually sick out in the air because of the lowness of them.

They do have a metro here. It's a lot like the DC one, except with people pushing into the car to let the door close. It's kind of dark and it smells like cave. Even so, people sell ice cream bars and play saxophones on the trains for money. You'd think it'd become annoying - and it does at first, but you actually wish there was one when there isn't. We actually heard a really cool tribalish singer/drum player on the bendy-bus (Oh, did I mention there are bendy-buses here?). They actually have a deal with the bus company to not pay every time they get on the bus, but rather pay a commission or something. You really think it's going to be annoying, but sometimes you actually do want a cold pear or a ice cream bar, and it's not at all expensive. They sell creamies (different in name only)(called "Como Mono" [which is wordplay, because como can mean "like" or "I eat". It's banana flavor, so it's "I eat like a monkey" ie, a banana. You get it, I think.])

The first picture is one of the four of us in our pension. I don't remember if I've told you about them before. Elder Silva is the native. He's a firefighter, actually. He is learning english, which is huge in Chile. Speaking English is a guaranteed good job anywhere. You can translate instuction manuals and other such things, teach in school, be a live translator for tv shows or conferences, or whatever. Elder Smith is a very white guy from Texas. I think he did a bunch of school in history already. I belive he likes history in the proximity of Joseph Smith and the Civil War, which means he's a good authority on anything about the beginning of the Church. They work immediately around the pension, and we work 15 minutes away.

That baked good is an empanada. I finally got one, and that was it. It was a nepolitano, which means it had pizza ingredients in it. Fantastic. Like nothing the states has. It's like the best bread you can imagine for an empanada, with legit, thick slices of meat in it. They cook them in broiling oven things while you wait and give them to you hot enough to melt plastic. I mentioned the good chocolate milk, but that is it. Soprole. It has no sugar really, but it's dark and just awesome. It's utterly fantastic also. That's the trend in Chile. The normal people food is pretty so-so. I ate freaking pancreas the other day! It actually wasn't any worse than the meat-meat, but the meat-meat was pretty bad anyway. They just boil it usually, no seasoning or anything. When you see them get out the barbeque though, that is an exciting thing. Things made for occassions are very, very good. Restaurants are extremely good and rather cheap. Desserts almost of all kinds are also just better than the States. They sell layered ice cream in sleeves, much like those dairy queen cakes, but they have twenty kinds. Of course, this ice cream follows the "more cream, less sugar" philosophy. It's so creamed out that it doesn't ever get hard in the freezer. It will always be scoopable. People here have discovered how great cold stuff is recently, and now most people have a legit cold fridge. It's always great to see people come out of the kitchen with a condensing Coke bottle for lunch. It's often the best part of the meal, unfortunately. They operate on a bottle-exchange system, and when you get them, they are already cold enough. The only reason we don't buy them is there's no room in the fridge.

I'm trying to be more focused with these things. I need to read some of Randy's letters again. He had it figured out. What did he do?

Also, I have confirmed that Grandma can email me. Or any family. Just saying.

Elder AC Crist

busy week

Sorry I didn't get this posted sooner but we can blame the flu! I hate being sick especially this close to Christmas. The highlight of my week is obviously the letters that I get from my skinny son. I think I will have to send him some money for new clothes...already. I was under the impression that most missionaries gain weight on their missions, not lose it. We'll see if he finds some delicious treat to fill him back out.

That´s interesting that you talk about Jesus is the Americas, firstly, because that´s where I am, and secondly, because that is more often than not what we give to investigators to read the first time we leave them a Book of Mormon. The answer is always the same when we ask them how they felt when they read it - "Me sentí... paz. Tranquilidad." (I felt... peace, tranquility.) They have the same feelings you do. Jesus becomes a real, real person for them, and knowing he surely exists is what leads them to listen to us again.

I don´t know if you´ve ever read Jesus the Christ, but I´d consider it once you feel like you get the scriptures more or less. It´s not that hard of a book, or, at least, isn´t as hard as people say it is. I´ve read to about page 500 since I arrived, and I know every whit why we can read it and we cannot even read the Gospel Principles manual (true). It´s a fantastic way to get to know the Lord.

You don´t have sunshine. You should take some of mine. It´s about 90 degrees right now. There´s also an ozone hole over Chile, which means you burn in about thirty minutes of direct sun. Needless to say I´m tanner, and I use a lot of sunscreen. We are out in it about 8 hours a day, occasionally less, usually walking outdoors, which explains why I´ve made a new hole in my belt and in three weeks I now will need a new one today or tomorrow. My pants are vaguely looking wierd now because I have to pull the slack around to make it not bunch up in the front. Fetch.

I´m happy to hear that you´re doing the music stuff. Of all the stuff I did, it was the most memorable and fun. The choir trips I went on were the most fun things I did all year. I did caroling with some friends independenly of school yearly until we actually developed a reputation and received requests to go to certain places, like the hospital and such. People crying, especially around this time of year is not too uncommon when music is involved.

Here are some pictures to make you understand a little more. THAT is the shower. Scary, isn´t it? It is two feet wide, ie, you couldn´t step any more than your two feet already in the shower. The paint comes off the ceiling randomly and it routinely will stop being hot. Did I tell you about the way we get the heater to work? We have to turn on all the sinks until it turns the heater on. Whatever. Then it will go out. Why? No reason.

I´m finding those really good foods now. I had a completo, finally, that had bacon and barbeque sauce. Fantastic. It´s not exactly a fransc hot dog, but still. Also, they have a little pudding cup (of which there is a picture) called Manjarate which is a mousse with solid chocolate in it... also fantastic. I think I sent it. Hang on.

Guess it didn´t. Here they are. They gay out a lot and I have to do stuff.

But yeah. I don´t have much to say. Have any questions about stuff? There´s so much stuff here I don´t even know where to begin. We kind of got screwed on time today, as you may have noticed. I got some candy bars. I´m not hungry that much anymore. Not dead. Not injured. I have like three infections though. Pray and stuff. I need to go.

Que le vaya bien
Elder AC Crist

Thanksgiving Week #1

I say Thanksgiving Week #1 because he only has one more to go before he comes home. Okay that is still long and it doesn't seem to be going very fast! But, only 1 more Thanksgiving without him. Yay!

I finally kind of am starting to understand where I am in Chile and stuff. This may get you close on google earth: Pablo Suarez, Los Cerrillos. Our chapel is on El Mirador, with a huge parking lot/mini-soccer field, and a green fence, if you can see it.

You'd find mostly about Chile, having lived in America, that people are more concerned for the well-being of others. People generally are very accepting even of missionaries that they don't like. You can ask for a glass of water from anyone, and they'll probably offer you juice or soda instead, even if they've turned you down before. Sometimes, though, they offer you agua con gas, that is, soda water... yeah, I'm not so much into that. You drink it either way. It's better if you put a drink mix in. In fact, actually good.

There are very few homeless people, actually. We always think they could get a job if they wanted to - here, they just do. People have awful jobs for ten hours a day, but they find that to be totally fine. They and a child or spouse will work full time and they think that's totally acceptable. The families usually take their grandparent-aged people in after they retire, and said person usually still performs some function, such as daycare for the kids or sometimes a grandpa-type person will have a small business. I've seen ones that sell woodcarvings and paintings. That kind of thing.

Pictures are interesting. Some of them just didn't load so whatever. I'm going to try this time.

I actually am kind of sick. I hope it has nothing to do with the fall. Speaking of showers, our propane tank ran out. So we had cold showers. They were fantastic, as we'd just played soccer with another zone, La Cisterna. If a little asthmatic.

I am finally buying enough stuff now. The chocolate milk by Soprole is fantastic. It's got fewer calories than the US, but is better. It's darker than you'd think. They also make a mousseish pudding cup that has chocolate in the bottom... very good. As you can see, if the pictures worked, is my first completo. It has bacon and barbeque sauce. You don't have to do guacamole ever. The place is called Dominó. It has nothing to do with pizza. They're about three bucks, and they sell juice they make in front of your face out of fruit. Ridiculous.

A mission is divided into cambios, which are six weeks, always. The next is before Christmas. A transfer could theoretically happen every cambio, but that's unheard of. Usually two at minimum with each companion. Furthermore, usually you stay in the same sector and zone for two companions. Nowdays, how President King does it, the newer you are, the faster you move around. You kind of solidify and take more time in each place as you get 'older'. It's not surprising to end up in your last area or job for seven and a half months or more. I secretly want to be an office elder because they do cool bank stuff most of the day and get really fast at business Spanish, not just gospel. We'll see. Often they are Elders with injuries or sicknesses - one there now can't poo. He just moved from being my zone leader because he's developed IBS over the mission. He's actually from Concepción, so he'll finish soon and go home to get it figured out. Ouch.

It's pretty ridiculous that you are cold right now. It's freaking hot here. We sweat all day. I have to bring water every day. It's freaking hot. We are out for about 5 hours of heat, and the rest is okay. My feet are pretty hammered, but it's been so much worse, you don't even know. I did get some kind of foot supports, and they help, but it doesn't help with the heat.

Before I forget, what do you do with this email? Do I need to include anything for the other readers?

We actually have to investigators now. We have a lady with a date this January. She was thinking of the temple and how pretty it was, and how she wanted to get inside of it when the missionaries first came over. What does that tell you? We've even had a new investigator cry when we told her about the possiblity of eternal families. All our sowing, as it were, is paying off, I think. We're up for a fantastic week.

I kind of know what you mean with languages. At the end of the day, you pretty much can figure it out and it sounds right, but the person-you-are-talking-to's mind was built in Spanish and some stuff just doesn't make sense. For example (this is very obscure one) in Spanish, present tense covers present progressive, meaning, I run also means I am running. You only say "I am running" if you are stressing that you are doing it at that moment. So when you want to say "Running is fun", it's not 'running', it's "run is fun." You'd think that wouldn't be that big of a deal, but it is. They will not see your point until you say it 'run'.

But by and large, the languages are close. There isn't a word for 'to fart'. You actually say "I threw a fart". It makes it sound like some kind of weapon, which is funny. So now you want to know how to say "I farted." You´d say "Tiré un pedo." I suppose you may also be interested in the opposite: "¿Tiró un pedo?" Did you fart?


Honestly I must say the thing I am most interested in is V. That show is freaking sick. There are a couple things I have to do. I have to watch Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre, drink a Mountain Dew (They don't have it here, even though they have almost everything else.), and watch the Vs that have come out since. We call these trunky pensamientos, or thoughts. The command is this from the President : No sea trunky. Don't be trunky.

All I really have to do for that is find some of their bread. Especially if it's just out of the oven. They sell it like that, by the way.

It occurs to me you probably want to come see this someday. I need to write my email to President King. Do good stuff, okay? I think Grandma can email if she wants, by the way.


Speaking of writing... Here is the Mission Home address. All letters, packages, etc should be sent here. If you send a package, get some pictures of Jesus from the dollar store and put them all over the outside of the package. The thieves are superstitious so they won't(usually) bother with a package like that. Also put Missionary Supplies on the box.

Elder Alex Conrad Crist
Chile Santiago West Mission
Casilla de Correo 149
Chacabuco 166
Maipu
CHILE

Week #2 in Maipu, Chile

My favorite Missionary looks just like every other missionary ever! Weirdly. I love to read his letters and encourage everyone to write to him! He would love it! To do so you can go onto dearelder.com and follow the questions. I think all you need to fill out is easy. If you go this way, he will get your mail within a week. Otherwise, it may take up to a month for him to get anything, and then he has to respond. So write!
Oh and the pictures he is describing, we didn't get. Hopefully we will sometime. No idea still who the "other" missionaries are and the cake sounds amazing but sorry, no picture!






You know what is really wierd about this place? They love American music. Right now that "I - can´t - wait- no-more I´m-yo o ours" Song is playing in this internet café type thing I´m in right now. I hear Lady Gaga and newish rock and pop all the time just walking around. They have a fair amount of their kind of music, you know, Rigatón, Mariachi, that sort of thing, but you´ll hear American as often as not. People know about many states, usually New York, California, Washington DC, maybe Texas. All the members know Utah. They call it the "fávrica," which is to say, "factory."

I am going to buy more food this week. It turns out I was roughly at half my budget last week. Bread is about two dollars per kilo. A person´s bread for a week is probably 250 pesos, or 50 cents. They have jam in bags that´s about a dollar that lasts for two weeks. It is one of the coolest things they have here - you can just squeeze it out of a corner. I have no idea why we don´t do that in the States. (That´s what we call it here. America can mean Canada too, so you say Estados Unidos, or usually just Estados) You want jam on bread, you just get bread and put it on, no sticky hands or knives required.

Before I forget, though, the address. You send it to that mission office one that´s in my packet and stuff. By the pouch system, which is actually a senior couple who drive stuff around all day, they get it to me. It´s way easy to do letters and stuff, especially dearelder ones. Nothing comes to the pension, as we move often. As for stuff I could use, mostly just ties and handkerchiefs. I can´t find either of them in our sector. There´s the Walmart-owned LIDER, but they have Walmart stuff, but less variety. There isn´t a food I can´t get here, but some stuff just doesn´t exist. Good shoe polish, for example, is extremely difficult to find, says an Elder I know. My big problem right now is finding foot supports or gel inserts. We walked through this mall all day for them and found nothing bigger than a size 11. I am going to call up to the medical advisor to see about it. I have a few blisters, which is, you know, crappy, but my feet feel bruised and the long bones hurt all day. That, with a wierd gastrointestinal attack yesterday, made for a fairly so-so Domingo.

We are in the middle of the city Maipú. We didn´t take the metro today, but we have a few times for meetings with the President. It´s like the DC one only it´s ten times the people in the same size of car, and the lines are several times longer. The buses go everywhere, and between them you can get anywhere. Things get pretty personal on the bus. You hold your bag in front of you so no one takes stuff, and usually you touch no less than two people just by standing. In the metro it can get mosh-pit, because people will almost tackle into the car to compress everyone so the door will close. Pretty ridiculous. I feel bad because I´m a big white guy who takes up a lot of space.

You have a beep (called bip, because "i" in Spanish is "ee") card that you scan to get on, and it charges some amount. If you use another system within 2 hours going the same general direction, it doesn´t cost extra, so you can get somewhere on just 500 pesos, which is normal. There are machines that let you recharge your bip card, but it´s easy to forget. Which is bad.

I actually would like a little colder weather. It's pretty hot here nowdays. It's up to 90 usually while we work. Right a 4 or 5 is the worst. It's bad enough that if you don't eat something salty you get all de-electrolyted and tired in an hour or so. It's worse after you have a gastrointestinal attack of some kind... wait, I think I said that. It all started when I discovered the best thing they have here.

They call it manjar. It's dulce de la leche, I think. We had a cake with it in the middle instead of frosting. Un-freaking-believable. It's like carmel but more creamy and less sugar. That's the philosophy with everthing here, actually. Less sugar, more cream. The milk tastes like a milkshake, but has about the same calores because they barely put any sugar into it.

We haven't had a lesson this week, really. We contact about five hours a day, at least. I'm kind of starting to look for those days when we don't have to go out for the full time. I know that's a bad attitude to have, but it gets really, really long. I'm pretty much hot all day, only ending at night. There has never been AC for the common man, except in the chapel and certain rich-people stores. Sometime we'll go in just to be in. Last PDay we did that by going into a mall. It was like we went back to America. Same restaurants and brands of everything, just cheaper and less selection. Pizza Hut is really good here, actually. It's a little Latinized, which is to say, they put more vegetables, and the sauce is more cream, less sugar.

Let me see what pictures I have. Those crazy two are the others in my pension. Elder Silva is.. ethnic. And Elder Smith is a saxophonist from Texas. Figure it out.

That cake is the manjar cake. We got it for his one-year-in-mission.

That overpass you are seeing is over the big freeway in Maipu. It's like 70 feet above ground.

That street is the street we live on, and there are some pictures, I believe, of the inside. It's small. It's really, really small. The closet is ridiculous. Apparently it's one of the smallest in the mission, and I believe it. The only space you can be comfortable in is the bed, which is wierdly smashy... so whatever. The floor could have ringworm so we can't touch the ground, which is frustrating, especially when I fell in the shower, which was gross. The shower is really gross, but the way. Let me just say the Scouting program was invented for more reasons than to give boys patches. There's no way a person could deal with that level of grossness having lived in American Suburbs for his whole life.

But we have hope. We have a new investigator that wants to be baptized before she's even met us. She decided while talking to a member in our ward (her uncle) that our church is true. That works. I want to be a part of it, but I don't know how much I'll be able to say. We did a lesson for a preacher... no, really, and his family, and I sucked. There were like seven people watching, and I sucked. I couldn't remember how to say anything. I ended up giving the First Vision, having luckily memorized it, and at least a few of them want us to come back. The preacher is so-so with us, but he'll let us return. He was one of those ones that say "Glora, Amen" and stuff while you pray. It was way, way wierd. Then his wife prayed, but it was more like a revival speech. She was almost yelling by the end. Hno Maughan at the MTC said you'll see some stuff you'll never see in the States that will wierd you out so bad you can't even speak. There we go.

I have to admit, this really does seem like a long time. I've only been here for two weeks? What? But at the same time, it hasn't been that long. I don't know. I hear that after you can speak the language, the rest is sickeningly fast. Companions will go by like bunnies, they say.

Love,
Elder AC Crist

First week in Chile

I love that Alex gets to add a little more detail now. I think he will be able to make us feel like we are there after a few more weeks. Maybe it is the amount of time he gets as opposed to the MTC. I Love to get his letters and know he is where he is supposed to be.



What can I say about this week? I don't even know. It would take about as long to tell you everything as it did to experience it -- you can't really easily compress time down on the mission. New stuff happens all the time. All the time. (If I spell things weirdly, the keyboard here is much different.)

Let's see. We don't have a lot of investigators in our sector immediately right now, so we spend a lot of time looking. We contact for about three hours a day, usually more. A lot of talking in Castellano, essentially. (The dialect is different enough here that the locals don't call it Spanish) Basically they take most protruding ss and combine two different word endings, for example, if a person is asking me and Elder Mann how we are, he may say, rather than "¿cómo estás?", "¿cómo estái?" Needless to say, it´s rough on new speakers. We are not supposed to talk in the informal unless we are talking to toddlers, dogs, or inanimate objects, or in prayer, so we don´t have to worry about picking up that peculiarity.

Food. Everything is very different. Milk is in a box, and is cheaper. Flavored milk is much more common and is very, very good. The chocolate milk tastes like a shake, but has about thirty or forty less calories somehow. It´s just not so homogenized and watery. They have these cool little stores called almacéns that are basically what convience stores are to cars to pedestrians. You can´t go more than a few blocks without seeing one, usually it´s just in front of the house of the owner. They have different themes, but you can always find certain things. You can always find glass bottle coke in a few sizes. By the way, the coke here is much better. They use unpurified cane sugar and don´t use as much coloring.

Oh, and the bread. Everything made of flour is incredible here. My favorite is either the hallulla or marraqueta. The first is like a big flaky english muffin that´s the size of a hamburger bun, and the other is a small loaf characteristically divided into four pieces (as if cut with a cross) that you can use for hot dogs, jam, eggs, or whatever. They have pretty much everything we have. It´s as expensive or less, never more. Some stuff is ridiculously cheap -- glass coke bottles are like maybe 150 or 200 pesos, which is about 40 cents. You don´t keep the bottle, usually. You pay 350 or 450 and get the rest back when you give back the bottle, unless you want to hang onto it. It´s the same way for these three-liter bottles of soda. You pay the deposit, like 300, with the actual price 500. You only pay 500 again when you take the bottle back to any other place. You can get your 300 if you´re moving or something and you give it back permanently. Good idea.

Pretty much everyone has a few bottles of juice and one thing of some soda, usually a coke product, and even people who want nothing to do with you will bring you a glass of whichever if it looks hot outside - you might not even ask. Older people tend to like soda water, or as we call it, agua con gas. So we avoid asking it from them. You want a person with kids, because they have the good juices and don´t have ecco, which is a gross coffee substitute a lot of people like that is okay with the church.

In conclusion, this is not guatemala. It´s hot, but in the way that provo is hot. It´s not humid or dry, and everyone has nice plants you can stand under. No one rejects you really hard. They always say something like "Ah, no, estoy preocupado." We get good investigators all the time and those who need to hear it recognize it quickly. We´ve given five or so copies of the Book of Mormon this week, and we have several "nuevo"s.

I did get sunburned like crazy the first three days, but then I was tan and put on sunscreen. I got a blister on my heel on the side for some reason, but it´s going away. We walk at least those ten miles, I guarantee that. Our working sector is a mile and a half from our pension (that is what they´re called), and we usually do it at least twice a day, there and back. And we have three main neighborhoods, all about that far from each other, so when we cross, that´s another mile or so. We have three areas, Santa Adela, atrás de Lider, and mas atrás de Lider. The second two are made up and just mean behind Lider (basically Wal-Mart) and further behind Lider. Santa Adela is the nicest, but we have had more success in atrás de Lider. We have six or so good shots at baptism going right now.

It occurs to me you don´t know much about Elder Mann. Elder Mann is from California and has about a year. He´s been in this area for the last three changes, so he really knows the people and area. He is relatively a ground-pounding animal. We walk fast, contact a lot, and don´t leave until the time is really over. He speaks and understands everything people say. It´s pretty ridiculous. The other two in our pension are Elder Smith of Texas with 13 months, and Elder Silva, a Chilean native from Concepción, who has about five months. They have the close sector, and we have the far sector, which means we work more in areas they haven´t been worked very much. Elder Mann split the sectors, which were one until recently, so that we would have more contacting and tocando puertas (knocking doors) so I could learn faster. Nice. Not. I know I need it but it´s not my favorite. I can usually do a whole contact by myself, but if the person talks back really at all, I´m poked. They say generally that I´m doing well but I still am bouncing between a quarter and a half understanding, unless the person is being really "flaite".

(Oh, see, those are the classic words for ghettoness and richness. Ghetto is "flaite". It can be an adjective, like how El Espejo is "flaite", or a noun, meaning general gangster. The opposite, kind of rich, maybe snobby, is "quico". It´s said kweekoh and fly-tay. You can´t use quico as a noun, but many neighborhoods are referred to in this way.)

I need to leave to the store relatively soon, partially to buy a cord to send you pictures. We´ll see how much more Elder Mann will let me do.

This stuff is hard, by they way. The days are freaking long and I´m tired and hungry almost always. But I can say we still do it.

Love
Elder AC Crist.

He has flown the coop!

This week we get no letter from Alex but WE got a phone call! Actually, let me back up one day and say that I went down to the Temple and sat around and waited (about 1 1/2 hours). I was about to give up when I saw another group of missionaries coming and I saw him. I still recognized the way he walks. I wonder if I would ever forget it actually. We surprised him and I think he was a little shell shocked. He didn't really know what to say or even do. He kept asking some of the others what he should do. He walked away from us at first but came back. There was some random missionary there that was a nark. Alex told us today that he really thought he was going to report him to the authorities. Whatever!! I attend that Temple too. It is not just for missionaries on Sunday. Besides, if anyone was going to get into trouble it would be me since he had no idea that we were going to show up. It is a bad thing to live less than a mile from the MTC. I seriously thought I would see him a few times. I never once in 9 weeks saw him. I had to go just to get a glimpse. I would have been fine just being able to see him from afar. I would like to report that he looks great! He had a whole bunch of guys around him and they were all speaking in Spanish! Totally cool.
On the phone he said that he is nervous and excited but more apprehensive than anything else. I think he nailed that. He gets in at 7:25am and they get to do a whole day of work before they get to rest. Hopefully the airline is generous in blankets and pillows and comfort. The only sleep they will get is in the air. Apparently they want them to get right to work and not be able to sit around and hang out. "We aren't on vacation. We have something we want to share" Direct quote.
Many of you know that Alex is very picky when it comes to food. He says he is way exctied to eat some of the meatcakes, fruit compotes, and bread. All of the things the Country does not have to import is cheap. So I think he will eat pretty well. He does love plain fruit and most non-white bread. I would not say he is very adventurous in what he eats though. Maybe he will be a changed man when he gets back.
The only thing that has me worried is that he said he thinks it will be too long. 22 months is long and he said he could be graduated and off to Medical School by then. But, he may change his tune once he gets on a roll. Brian said he thought the same thing when he was on his mission and it turned out pretty short. We can hope but I think it is long as well! And I have no message to share. Well, nothing like him. Maybe a few short lectures on eating right and sleeping in!!
Well, that is all I have to report. Alex is where he needs to be doing what he needs to do and I will miss him every second he is gone.

1 More week at the MTC!

How's the computer? Have you encountered any problems with it? I'm not really going to give advice or whatever, but are there passwords or small issues?
This weeks has been nuts. More nuts than ever/usual. Elder Allen was sent home Friday last. Saturday I was in a trio with my good friends Elderes Madsen y Clark. The Branch Presidency came over to our class on Sunday before Priesthood and thanked me for what I did for Elder Allen, which I didn't get; I thought I was the most incorrectly placed person in the MTC for him. The branch president said there aren't many missionaries that could have stayed around him that long and remained productive and not snapped. Several missionaries had said that before, but I only believe leadership. (Haha.) But then he asked me to be a Zone Leader with my original companion, Elder Hassler, and the companion of one of the Elderes who was sent home. That's six districts of about eight that I'm helping to manage now. I went immediately to where we have Priesthood and taught the ordinance of Baptism to the assembled Elderes with those two others.
I don't feel like I'm where my first Zone Leaders where when I arrived. They were the best speakers I had heard beside teachers until that time. They had everything figured out, including some very important 'secrets of the pros', such as how to avoid the stingy lunch workers, the importance of shower flip-flops, and how to remove collar stain. Thing is, though, we're doing the same things they were, including teaching lessons in Spanish to random pretend investigators, not only to those who want the normal lesson, but to those who have problems that make us change our plans. There are times where the words will come out as fast as I say them in English and it's really just plain amazing. I've learned every major grammar principle in Spanish in two months. No one just does that. I haven't said an English word intentionally (besides in the temple) for several days. I can tell stories (using the infamous dual past tenses Spanish has) and ask legitimate questions. I can pray and bless the sacrament. I can even sing. One of my new favorite hymns is a Spanish-exclusive one called "Placentero nos es trabajar," meaning something like "To work, to us, is comforting." That's the key. You don't feel bad at the MTC until you stop working. I've had a drop-off in letters, but I don't care. At first I was all about world updates and stuff, things I'd miss out on. But there's really not much. I thought it was ridiculous that we could only study from the four missionary books, the Standard Works, church publications, and General Conference. What else is there, though?
That doesn't mean I'm not interested in what you (this is a plural 'you') (by the way, in Spanish, there is a plural 'you' and it's rather handy) are doing. That stuff is just downright fun to hear about. Nothing is too small to write about. I would be more ridiculous with the details if I had time. I have thirty minutes. It's kind of not very much.
This is about one-twelfth of my mission done - oh, wait, hold that thought We got our travel plans! We leave sometime in the morning next monday, the eighth. What does that mean? That means my next email to you (plural) will be from Santiago, Chile, following an approximately 12 hour flight. We go to Ft. Worth/Dallas first, then that's it. I need you to make sure there's a sufficient (>150 or 200 dollars) amount in there for emergencies, as a side note. We be there drinking milk out of bags and using p'days in less than a week! Sound dizzying to you? More for me, I promise.

So, yeah - one-twelfth done. That doesn't sound like the time that's passed. I've grown up about a year, I think, since I came in. I have to shave every day now, for real, which is proof.
What can I say? No more geographical comfort. Be ready for a call monday, I think.

Vayan con Dios.

Love and stuff,

Elder A Conrad Crist

Almost gone

I marvel to know that a young man like Alex can learn an entire language, passably, in this short amount of time. He seems to me that he is ready to go. I read a letter he sent to his Grandparents and he said he is totally ready but he has not actually told me that yet. I am excited for him to go but that just means the time is going and he will be back soon. I also find it hard to believe that he is only a mile down the street and I haven't seen him once. I wonder if he is avoiding the field, changing the times he goes to the Temple, or if he just stays inside all the time? I know I am not supposed to see him but I truly thought that I would. NEVER in 7 weeks!!! And I drive up and down the road many times every day...

Okay. First, I did get the packages, up to the one with the pudding in it. I don't know if you know about that scarf grandma sent me... but holy cow. It's pretty ridiculous. It's like touching a cloud. Anyway, it's much appreciated. Issue, though : it seems I have smaller fingers than you thought. I really do understand that. They are ridiculously thin for my age. I would say one, maybe two sizes down? So should I send it back to you guys? Absolutely get that one again, though. It's dang cool, possibly the coolest one I've ever seen.

As for that annoying stuff I always seem to need, this week's is pretty tame. Could you type out how to but a button on, how to shine shoes, and how to sew up rippy pants in case it happens? I really just don't know, but all you'd have to do is type it on a dearelder letter and I'll just hang on to that one. Anything else you can think of is great. "I've got a sick sewing kit but I have no idea what to do with it." is a direct quote from five minutes ago.

We just learned something in spanish that may help you appreciate how insane this is. Have you ever heard of the Subjunctive mood? Dad may have from Danish or his English studies. It's a whole category of verb modifications you use if you think that the thing you are talking about is doubtful, emotional, or is your opinion. Ever sentence you have to think if what you are saying needs it or not. Saying "It's true that the church is true," which isn't subjunctive, and "It's important that the church is true," which is, use two different verbs for 'is' (es and sea, to be exact) Sounds confusing, doesn't it? It is.

However I talked to a Russian-speaker who said that in russian verbs change based on who does it and who recieves it. And a Latvian speaker who says there are no connecting words - to when you want to say 'to' or 'so that' you have to throw it onto the word. That may be worse.

In spite of that, we seem to be doing pretty well on the whole. I am at the stage of language learning called 'asynchronicity', wherein your brain has your primary and new languages sort of jammed together, so neither works particularly well, especially in writing. I make a spelling error or wierd grammar problem in every paragraph I can't edit afterward. I've already done a few, including mispelling 'languages' and 'asynchronicity', but Google saves me.

The teachers have frankly said that my missing classes and things was planned deliberately because I can deal with it. I don't believe it often, but they've said my grasp is fairly sophisticated and my accent is already very good. I, for one, am glad to hear that. I think the first few times you teach lessons in Spanish is intended to make you suffer a little so you'll study harder. I thought struggling through the lessons meant I was incompetent and I studied too little. Turns out everyone has that problem. But nowdays I can actually do it. Elder Allen hasn't learned much Spanish yet, so I talk about 95% of the time in lessons, which is good for me, really, so I can learn to not just bail when I go down a bad doctrinal tangent or get confused with what I'm saying. I have to just pick it up and try to get somewhere.

I think I'm about 75% excited to go to Chile, and 25% apprehensive. It was about the opposite before I got here, so that's something. There are days, especially after the temple, like right now, that I'd leave now, but there are days, often after teaching a lesson, that I'd almost take the Provo MTC mission. Okay, definitely not that. I don't know if I am super-excited to contact people, but teaching people, and studying for and answering their deepest questions, which I've only had a little experience doing, is fantastic, and I'm ready to do that for anyone that will listen.

Have I told you about that yet? Let me tell you that you have never studied until you have studied for someone else. Reading through the scriptures a few times each is definitely necessary, but that is how you will become someone who can help people. You should probably get Jake a Preach My Gospel (or the Predicad Mi Evangelio, as it were). Everything people will need to know comes out of there. Knowing the orbital period of Kolob (1000 years) is not really a useful thing for teaching. Endend'eis?

If you want details physically, say something. I feel like I'm pretty abstract, but that is how I think. If you want details, be specific enough for details. I mean, it took me the length of today to experience it.

Love

Elder Alex Crist

6 weeks in the MTC

I cannot believe how fast these last 6 weeks have gone. It still feels like yesterday when we dropped him off. But so much is different! He is that guy. The guy everyone looks to to make sure they have the right answer. He is so ready to go and I think he will be better prepared than some and certainly able to teach and love those in Chile.

It's now been 6 weeks, and, it's true, the English speakers are basically rabbits in the scheme of things. We've seen two generations of them and next wednesday is week three. But the really annoying ones are the italians. We have a few on our floor and they sing really loud in the shower and regularly destroy our toilets, if you know what I mean. It feels like it's been a long time, but also not. It's kind of like the day is 16 hours long, which is a long time, but at the end, you think about how long it's been, and it's not been that much. I suspect this only continues.

I hit that point two days ago. I'm sure Dad knows about it. You have had about as much of the language as you can get in a classroom speaking English. There's isn't more teaching skills that are better practiced for other missionaries rather than real investigators. And you've got enough experience with the heightened level of Spirit we have here - all in all, you wake up one morning and say, "Yeah... it's time to go to Chile." I would go tomorrow if they'd let me. But not just so... this is going to be a long two weeks.

Pictures... yeah. They have a printing service. I'll be sure to get those out today, probably within thirty minutes or so. Be waiting for those. I think I'll send you the memory card with some slightly less exciting pictures when we've got ten days or so left for you to get off. But until then, real pictures it is.

I promise I have been doing the rotation like I'm supposed to. I wear all the ties, slacks, and suits, pants included, equally. Same with shoes. I shined them today, which reminds me, could Dad figure out the cool way to do that? The army way, if you will? Though in Chile, I'm told, in most train and bus stations there are shiners who work for a dollar or two, and they really know how to do it. So either way, I think I'll be good.

I actually play in the gymn these days. It's got a cushioned track and weights around it. And the actual gymn has a foursquare court in it - do you remember that I played that religiously at Ivy Hall? I do again, almost every day. It's a surprising workout when you play with adults. But, to make it really good, I also do push-ups, sit-ups, burpees, etc. every time I get out, which, as well as doing the BFL run a few days a week instead, hasn't affected my weight any, but my belt is maximally locked in. I started on the third smallest, and now I'm on the smallest. I don't know what to do about that. My pants are almost too big now... Oh boy. They also seem to be creeping upwards with respect to my feet... I think that that weird mission inch may be coming in my ankles (I always did have cankles). I hope not.

I may need you to track down Randy's address. I don't really have a way and I think he'd like to hear about these things, especially once I get to Chile. He sounds like he's figured things out, basically. We're going to be even more strange when we get back, but it's going to be awesome.

I'd just like to say to Kato : roof roof roof, rooof.

Anyway, what else... I can translate RM (teachers at the MTC) from Spanish as fast as they can speak out loud, and I can translate slow english speakers in to Spanish. That, to me, is insane. I was in the temple, translating the stuff into Spanish as fast as it was said. People are starting to look at me when they don't understand something a teacher says. I write speaker notes in Spanish. I'm actually doing some group practice-sessions for my district nowdays. But I boast not of myself - no human being can learn 50% of a language in six weeks. Our MTC president said a diligent missionary with no learning impairments will speak fluently with four months (two in MTC) training. No one believed him until now. I believe it.

I'm pretty much writing Kelsey, Grandparents, Gypsy, and you guys. I would like to write to Randy too, and I will. I haven't heard anything about Jadon. I'm sure to run into Andrew here, though. That should be interesting. Their lives seem to be moving in slow motion, honestly. Halloween (a nice pagan holiday) is sort of beginning to be here and stuff, but it seems that it's been longer than that by far. People write me about the same school project and I've changed companions and learned 10% of a language's grammar. No offense, observation.

Elder Allen goes in to see if he needs surgery thursday. It will pretty much decide whether he stays here or not. He may be here until after I am gone even if he doesn't need surgery. His attitude is improving, but he's now starting to try to avoid me.

Please love each other and read the book of mormon, okay?

Love,

Elder A. Conrad Crist

Week # 5

Sorry we are late getting this one out. Alex didn't write until late afternoon. I was gone from mid afternoon until late night and I just thought maybe he was too busy so didn't check until today. He seems so mature and his ability to handle everything is probably ten times what he was used to. He just seems to get the whole thing!

October 12, 2010

On the subject of pudding...maybe. I don't know how that would work, But yes.

I won't talk too much about my companion nowdays because I sent a letter about the situation on saturday. I was feeling a little trashed at that point, so it may be a little depressing. I mean, the situation is still depressing but I can feel something is going to change soon for him. It may not be that he stays.

Two Elders have been sent home from our district for emotional problems. You never expect it, and that's what makes it so hard when they call everyone together and tell them that tomorrow we;ll wake up and they;ll be gone. Twice now. And it it;s really hard on my companion because I think he wants to go home but his honor is keeping him here until someone tells him to go home. He cried all night both times it happened (within a week). But you;ll get plenty of that.

(Note, the companion I had first was moved to another Elder, and the companion of my current companion left to Guatemala CCM.)

I'm just going to move on.

Do you know how to learn a language? It;s not memorization. It's not flash cards. It's learning like a toddler. You read two-year old books, then five-year-old books, etc. The reason I think of this is everyone was making fun of me for buying a Spanish kid's Picture Dictionary. Sounds ridiculous, right? It is. I can barely stand the cover with a bunch of dorky smiling people on the front. I'm reminded of Richard Scary's Busytown, though. When you think about it, that is how you learn what a wire whisk or combine harvester is when you're a kid. There's so much stuff to be familiar with to know what people are talking about when your're a kid. So, you two who are studying a language , learn as if you're tow. Seriously look for some kid books(I don't know about Latin so much) and just fight through with a dictionary and maybe a little google translator. Again, I don't know why I thought of that.

What is seminary this year? D&C, right? Rough stuff. I really had a hard time with it. I just didn't find it that interesting in school. If you find that you're having trouble being interested in it, I'd suggest reading Our Heritage. It's a history, sure, but it rips through the D&C ten times faster than a teacher does and makes the important stuff obvious.

I don't have my notes, can you tell?

Do you actually want pictures? I can get some printed here for suprisingly little, if you want me to.

I have about 40 seconds left. I´m doing good, okay

I'd like to address the readers and stuff (if that's how these are posted).

You're probably good at some subject in school. There may be a few, or just one. Maybe you're good at something outside of school instead. All things considered, there is going to be something you are above-average at doing. Make no mistake - that thing is a gift from God. He has sent you equipped to combat any trial that could be contrived for you. He has seen the end from the beginning and has given you well enough the tools you will need. Have you ever seen Paycheck? Those who have know what I mean.

For example, Ben Affleck is sorting out these things he's been given with the evil future-police on his tail. He had just escaped said police with glasses that allowed him to see through smoke that was created by a cigarette he was also given, that just happened to be a smoke bomb. One of the things he pulls out is a nice woman's wedding band. A teenager falls over him, but in reality steals the ring and runs off the bus. Ben Affleck chases him - not catching him - but it leads him to the place he needed to go next, as the police were just about board the bus and capture him. He lost the ring! It was a bad thing. It could have been a nice job. I could have been some solid investments. It was lost for a reason you can't even realize yet. But there is a reason. There's always a reason.

Love,

Élder Alex C Crist

Half-way there!!

I have to tell you, I miss him!! Probably a little more than I thought I would. I am happy he has taken a liking to making his bed though. He is growing more than I thought possible in a month and that is a wonderful thing!



I think you'd be surprised at what I enjoy these days. Without actual entertainment it's surprising what you wind up enjoying after the withdrawal fades away. (It's worse for some people.) Just walking around while it's raining or making a lot of wind (that's a spanish expression, I can't think of how else to say that). Also, cleaning the bathrooms - let me just say that Dad was rather right about that. Almost all the others are vying constantly to get out of doing the toilets and sinks because it's 'gross' or whatever. That's one of the best activities. You end up in class a lot, as you may know. Getting out of it for any reason is spectacular, and if that thing happens to be surprisingly physical, so be it.

I took gym easy at first, but once I understood how much not-activity there would be in each day, I started doing the BFL 20-minute satan run and I've lost five pounds from it. Some missionaries in lunch lines or what have you say not to lose too much because you'll lose at least 15 in South America just walking around and being afraid of the food.

I even do my sheets right. It looks pretty good when you do it perfectly right. I may not be nuts about how long it takes, but I get it more now than I used to.

I have to shift gears because my notes are kind of disjointed. So here we go:

One of my pants got stuck on a metal thing and ripped (seam) under the pocket. It's not bad and is only thread, but I don't really know how to deal with it. It seems like the dry cleaner-alteration people could do it. I think that's what I'll do. What would you do?

Did you look throught Missionary Pal? Fantastic, isn't it? It wasn't printed for a long time because it almost encourages Bible-bashing, but it's still useful as heck. We have an investigator who doesn't understand the need for baptism, and I'm all ready to show him on wednesday. Maybe I can get a commitment out of him? That'd be cool.

On that note, if you were here, you'd realize that you have to be pushier than is comfortable. People don't want to change, even if they see the truth and feel it for themselves. It takes a little incisiveness to get anywhere. You'd think you'd just throw baptism in at the end of the last lesson and they'd just do it - not so. It's not terribly rare to ask at the first lesson, and you'd always mention it then in passing at least. It almost seems too fast, and it would be. If this were the wrong church. But since we know they need it, we don't feel bad about commiting them early. Turns out they don't have to know everything to be baptized.

It seems like I always am asking for something. Here we go again. CTR ring? They just look so official on missionaries. Come to think of it, I just realized I have no idea what size my finger is. I thought ten, but I'm not sure at all. However, since that was what my message was based on, here it goes anyway: Choose the Right. It translates a little differently in Spanish: Haz lo Justo. I think it's a little more meaningful this way. 'Haz' means do, but also make. Make the right? It's not just choosing. Sometimes it's making, too. This is a work of building. Not so much for us, but for others. If you want to study the Book of Mormon, study for someone else. Think about what could help them out of what you read. Reading to get through the book to say that you read it again for yourself is good, but what's better? What's best?

I'm getting acquainted with how loving those you teach and talk to and actually caring about them personally is most of missionary work. People know instinctively when you want to sell them something. No matter how fun it is to say missionary work is sales, or marketing, or a pyramid scheme or whatever, that's just not true. There's a tiny bit of that on the outset, such as looking and acting professional, but that's the beginning. That can get you through the gate, but you can still have a door slammed in your face. You have to be there because you care about them, not your church. When you listen to them and address their concerns like you would to a good friend, they take whatever you give them. What does this mean to you, though? Everything. When you talk to people, any people for any reason, realize that they are doing the best they can. Care.

Elder A Conrad Crist

Is the Pursuit of Happiness Making Us Miserable? - Petrea King

I finally figured out how to get the video on Happiness to work on here. So, now if you were wondering what he wanted "us" to watch, you can watch too!!

P-day #3

Alex seems so grown up and it has only been 3 weeks. I can't believe it! He has changed a lot already and is finding his true self. The person God wants him to be and I kind of like it!



Well, hello. It's weird to think that it's only been three weeks. I feel like I've been here and known these elders for several months. One of them left to Guatemala (there's a three-week, six-week program where he goes to the Guatemala MTC (actually it's the CCM) for the latter six weeks. It felt like someone was going somewhere after a school year or maybe a semester. It's kind of how military men talk about their time with their platoon in basic. Well, there you go.

Do you remember Sister Keller? She had a daughter in Mom's young women's class and that daughter is a teacher at the MTC. She recognized me by my name in a teaching activity. I guess you did something right. She went somewhere Spanish.

Did you see Brennan? Holy cow. He's done. It hasn't even been that long, I think. And now he's all bomb and wants to go to college and stuff. I sort of want to be there for his wedding but I accept that that's unlikely. Meh.

How am I? I don't know. I have never gotten up at this time for more than four or five days, but I don't feel it usually. I had some issues staying awake in slow meetings but that's almost passed. We eat well, but the food is getting repetitive and what we hear about from Chile seems a little better. I've been running every day and lifting whenever I can make it into the gym and the basketball courts are full. I do play that sometimes, surprisingly. It turns out you like most sports as much as you do them, some less, some more. I still prefer lacrosse though.

You probably know this already : dear elders get to me the day you write them, but if you email, I have to read it before replying. So send as much as you want throughout the week, while I can read it off a computer, and I'll reply on email only. When I'm out of the MTC I get about twice as much time, so it will be better then.

I don't think I've ever used the gift of the Spirit like it was given me when I was confirmed before now. I get impressions on a daily basis about what to study, what to do, and what to avoid. I think it has to do with having a little quietness every so often. You only hear it when you show the faith to be quiet enough. It's not because He couldn't turn the volume up if he wanted to.

We're teaching a fake investigator tomorrow. He's "from Saint George, going to Dixie, and has a job with the city." We studied to find what to teach him, and we didn't come up with anything meaningful. Then a teacher taught us to study for the investigator, pursuing his questions and needs, only using PMG as a guide and simplified resource. We had a lesson plan with scriptures in a few minutes that was the best we've ever had. (This is, of course, in Spanish, to make it more ridiculous.) We teach tomorrow. If I was doing some ridiculous message of the week, I say this: Study to help others. That's the deal here on earth, you know. I could be someone you'll don't think you'll ever teach - but that preparation could be what allows the Lord to bring to pass a converting work through you.

There's a movie on my computer's desktop I want you to watch. This 'you' is a plural 'you', which does exist in spanish. It's about finding happiness now, not when something is done. I lived like that as long as I can remember, and let me tell you it's not the way to live. Work as hard as you can, so you will not regret anything, but then, enjoy people and things when you are not working. Don't feel guilty for not working more. You deserve it if you worked hard enough.

Elder Alex C Crist

Things I'd like:
Ties (They're the only way I can express my individuality. And I could use more variety. Three or so could really make things more interesting.)
More chapstick (That bee kind)
Pictures : small book? Nothing fancy, I don't think
Cake - no. No. There's a lot of food here already. I don't think I can use any more for a few weeks.

P-Day #2

P-Day #2
Alex has been in the MTC for 13 days! (It seems much longer) It is hard to believe. The family won't let me leave cookies in a tree or show up at the Temple on Sunday when all the missionaries are milling around. I want to see him and have him tell me to my face he is doing well but... I may just have to sneakily do something!



September 21, 2010

We'll see what I think of.

We got into a Tuesday-wide arms race to get a good laundry stop this time and we prevailed, but we ultimately got up at an insane 5:30 to beat the other missionaries soundly enough to not fight or get in line for washers. It's never dryers; there's like three times as many. Which makes no sense. Whatever.

There's a really handy word in Spanish, 'pues.' It simultaneously means 'yes,' 'well,' and 'anyway.' So when you say pues, you say "Yes... well, anyway..." Good transition. Handy.

Pues, everything is keeping up to its normal insane pace and heavy spirituality. I haven't really had a desire to watch TV or anything. Music is enough. I'm focused like never before. We do this, and we do it all day, every day, without a chance to rest, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't think this is the hardest material I've ever studied, but learning it, speaking it freely to real people, being rolled like a doob several times before catching on to the right ways and doctrines to teach is a growing experience. We are up to a 5-7 minute message in Spanish about the Restoration. We only don't speak Spanish in meals, usually. Or today.

It's almost becoming too much. The language center of my brain is tired and makes mistakes in English very often. For some reason, I have problems remembering when double letters exist, and also those strange three-vowel syllables like the end of simultaneous. I have to spell check them.

Pues, on a normal day, we get up at 6:00. Most missionaries get up at 6:30, but we like the free showers. My companion is always dressed before me, he's one of those fast people. We go to breakfast, which is usually some entre, but most people get cereal and fruit. Then it's usually to class until perhaps lunch, so that's three and a half hours or something. The scedule changes every day, but that's usually how it goes. Usually that class is Missionary Directed Time, sort of a general study time, of which there is about three hours a day. Sometimes it's split up, sometimes all together. A missionary has to get through one hour of personal, companion, and language study each. I don't like personal study because I get bored with it really fast.

My experience with Spanish is really noticeable. If I may, I'd say that I probably was sent to that class to help others as well as learn. I didn't really learn anything for the first week beside Gospel words and things. We've done two kinds of past conjugations, one for instantaneous events and one for habitual or background events. Sort of a "At a time when there was a lot of religious excitement (that's one), Joseph Smith prayed to know which church to join (the other one)," if you will. Neither is really hard to use and the brevity you get compared to English is remarkable. Throw in some pronouns and you can get through a sentence with two words. Lo hacer'e means "I will do that."

Then lunch. Same idea as breakfast, but it gives people serious gas. Serious gas. Not me so much, but I experience plenty of it. Gym is usually about then. I usually play soccer on the big field for the exercise, but sometimes volleyball. I don't eat very well here, I think, but I've tightened my belt regardless. Then class, dinner, and class again. Sometimes a meeting with the Zone, which is about a company-sized group of maybe 4 or 5 districts of 6-12 missionaries. They come and go very often.

Then we plan the next day and talk about how it went. It usually takes about 20 minutes. We have that much to talk about, surprisingly. We contact other missionaries and teach lessons to fake investigators. I'll just some up what I've learned about it so far with this: you have to care about them. You have to care about them for the Spirit to be there at all. Once you have that, it's hard to go wrong.

Pues, I can write on Tuesday with email, then during the week. Dear elders get to me the day you write them, so do those whenever. Sorry, time's almost up.

First P-day

We were waiting all day on Monday to get an email and there was nothing. So sad! but thankfully I opened the email and yay, a message. It sounds like he is doing well and is happy. We miss him but this is where he wants to be.

I don't think I've ever been busy like I am. There are days when I don't get to choose what I do until 9:30 at night having gotten up at 6:00. (We get up at six to get showers and stuff first. Seven and a half hours is still enough.

I'm going to try to mention some stuff that isn't coming in my paper letters. I sent some because I wasn't sure if I'd get to email for a few weeks. (Turns out the Elder I had asked about it thought I meant laundry... weird story, really.) Turns out I do every tuesday for a half an hour.

Getting up early isn't as bad as I thought it would be now, but it was for the first three days. My being has adjusted to it and now it's really just what I do. I suppose I just moved my schedule four hours earlier. I was sore from gym too for that time, which made it worse, of course.

My teachers are sort of a straight-man funny-man combination. One, Hermano (Brother) Shelline worked at Pizza Factory two years before me in the same very store! He's the straight man. He is pretty serious and calm. He focuses more on words and the things we need to memorize for contacting and teaching lessons. The other, the funny-man, is Hermano Maughan (Mon). He's rather... animated. He jokes every other sentence and is primarily concerned with grammar concepts and non-rote speaking to use between memorized phrases. The way things are taught here is first you memorize some phrases to make yourself functional, and then learn the construction the next week or so. We've already covered about a semester of college spanish. Los Hermanos have promised we will speak effectively in five weeks. And pass for natives in five months. And I believe them.

Here's something for you to memorize like I did:

To invite others to come unto Christ by helping them recieve the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentence, Baptism, Recieving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

or

Invitar las personas venir a Cristo a fin de que el Evangelio Restaurado mediante fe en Jesucristo y Su Expiacion, la Arrepentimientos, el Bautismo, la Recepcion del don del Espiritu Santo, el preservar al fin.

I memorized those before I got to my room the first night.That's not because I'm me. It's because I'm His.

Sorry to write so shortly. Our time is timer-limited on the computers. Until then.

Love

Elder AC Crist

Gone!

Alex was dropped off yesterday and everyone told us it would be like kicking him to the curb. They were right. We got in line at 12:43 and were done and gone by 12:47. It was crazy! I like to think they know what they are doing and they give the missionaries a sense of urgency with stuff to do right away, but there was hardly any time for last hugs or advice or anything. Apparently that should all be done before the actual drop off time! So, two years seems like a lifetime right now but I am confident that it will go by quickly. Well, reasonably confident. It takes a little, read a lot, of time to get used to the idea of him gone. He will be great though so that gives me a little peace. Today I was thinking about him and it already seems like he has been gone for a while. I cannot believe we dropped him off yesterday! This will take getting used to!