A Sign

This is what I have been praying for actually. That Alex would see something or hear something that would let him know that God was aware of him and that he was in the right place, right now. A small, unassuming decal on a bus window. Amazing! I love how when we are at the most needy that God shows himself and let's us know that He is there.





Grandpa said in his letter that I could be in the hardest part of the mission right now. I could believe that. Or that maybe it peaked on Saturday.

We did our planning on Saturday. The whole week was awful. Seriously awful. We got stuffed, people didn´t show up, it was really cold, we barely did any contacts, and our lessons were cut short by different problems. When we got to the part when we talk about each other as people, Elder Silva wrecked me. He said I´d barely helped him do anything the whole week, especially in lessons, that I didn´t know where I was going half the time, that I was too timid with people, that I always forgot things, and that I seemed unfocused. He was absolutely right. (I am glad for someone who is willing to just say things like that, even though the natural man wanted to punch him out.) That day I was devastated. I barely ate at lunch. Spanish was clunky. I didn´t get what I could do to help myself.

Do you know what that feeling was? That´s what it´s like to not have the Spirit, in this case because of fear and lack of faith. I promised God I would do everything He wanted me to, after the manner of President Hinckley. I still felt like I was nothing.

I was looking out the window of the bus. There was a little brand decal in the corner. It was something like this:

Glass - Vidrio - Vedri
Hecho en Brasil
CRISTALEX
---------------------

Do you know what really struck me about that little decal? Look carefully at the brand´s name. Could that possibly have been a coincidence?

Since then nothing has happened, save improvement. I´m just a little closer to understanding what to be here. I have learned one thing, though. Look at a picture of Jesus and watch what feelings come to your mind. Fear because of timidity or laziness? The way is there for you to look at Jesus and smile and have no fear.

Anyway, it´s very cold new. I have cold hands all day, and people don´t stop commenting on them. We´re coming up on jacket-with-sweater days, finally. I looked forward to it the whole summer, and now I want a little more sun. I do get to drink fake coffee more, which I like, and I´ve recently discovered oats, but sometimes you want to type fast, and when your hands are cold they just won't go. It was funny earlier because my left hand was colder than the right, so they would type at uneven speeds so my words would come out like establsihmetn, for exampel. See, it happened again.

I saw Elder Mann on Thursday. He was even thinner. We reminisced about our investigators, blisters, and how he taught his companion to say "Don´t be a fag." Great.

This is week six in Melipilla, the best week of my mission so far.

Amor y toda la cuestión,
Elder A Conrad Crist

That Shave Secret stuff is amazing. I ran out of shaving cream, and I thought, "Well, I can´t really buy more until next Monday, so I guess I´ll give this snake oil a try." It turned out better than any other thing I´ve ever tried.

Thanks for the socks, they were very needed. (I got that package)

You know what would be cool?
Pocket knives that have tweezers and stuff like that are expensive here.
Pictures - St George, new things that are happening, Family that´s not you guys (sorry), that picture with AJ with Kato when he´s smiling, preferentially outdoors
American coins - doesn´t matter which. People think they´re cool.