Free refills

How can Alex run out of things to say? He says he is 98% out of things to say. Does anyone have anything to ask him? I came up with a few but apparently he needs more! I think the office has taken much of the spirituality out and put him on Workman mode. Not to say that this a bad thing and Alex does enjoy it, so it can't be bad. But I do miss the spiritual nature of his earlier letters. He will be in the office for a number of months and then back out onto the streets before he comes home. I hope he finds something to write home about!!!!

Chile has become to much of my life to really have anything to report. Same with the mission. I don't really remember what it's like to just waste days and weeks doing nothing and have no consequences. I only theoretically understand drive-through fast food and gas stations. It's all seeming pretty distant.

I got a bad sty! And I popped it this morning! And my left lymph node by my hyoid bone hurts.

That's it.

We haven't seen our investigators all this week, so there's not much to say. Yesterday we found some new people by knocking that were very good, though. I knocked (in reality, yelled at) a house with a forbidding black spikey fence. A lady appeared in the window and pointed to the left, saying what I thought was, "Your Mormon friends live in that house."

It turned out that she said "You have to go to the other side of the house - this side has no door."

So we did, somewhat excited that she'd bothered to even tell us. We talked to her about thirty seconds, then got in. Her daughter and son were also there, both about thirty. They had just been talking about how the mom needed to "look for God more in her life." It's a good time for missionaries. The two kids go to a non-denominational Christian group, which is missionary speak for "some previous knowledge, no previous commitment," i.e., good.

It was great to see this because we have really had a dry spell in our contacting efforts. But constant effort prevails.

Today's going to be fun, too. We are going out to lunch with a member family, Boris and Carol and their kids, Vicente and Renato. They are the biggest nerds in the universe, but are also one of the three indestructible go-to families for the ward. Boris is a programmer and accountant. He has a projector set up to play Call of Duty 5 and Resident Evil. (Myth about Chileans : they don't know about technology.) His house is full of circuit boards and Apple Computer Products. (He's a fellow Appleite.) Carol prefers Mortal Kombat.

(This brings me back to one of my biggest realizations on the mission. More on that later.)

Should be a fun lunch. Not only that, we are going to a restaurant that is one of three confirmed places in THIS COUNTRY that has free refills. Here's an excerpt from a conversation I had with my  fellow officeers:

Elder Spencer: "We should go to Mahmut."

Elder Crist: "Is that that place in the Mall Arauco?"

Elder Spencer: "The one that has free refills? Yes."

Elder Crist: "...Are we going there? Now??"

Elder Smart: "Wait... what food do they have there?"

Elder Crist: "FREE REFILLS!!!"

Elder Smart: "..."

You may have noticed how I feel about free refills. Apparently it's a burger place similar to Applebee's. But believe you me, that had me at the those first two glorious words.

Does it ever seem to you that I speak about retarded nonsense for 75% of my letters? I'm just warming down to the meaningful parts. Dad always told me to just write and not edit at first. I guess I don't ever edit, but I figure you'd rather have more than less.

This is a good time to purge some business.

I am pretty split up about staying at home just at first. I really do not have any money whatsoever, so that could help me out a little. I don't think I'll be doing too much dating at first, so that won't be a real issue.

(Are you sure the dates are right? Elder Jones the assistant is going to do his in like a week.)

I need a Physics 105 and Organic Chemistry. I'm pretty sure it was those that I needed absolutely for this first semester. I think I'll soon ask permission to look at it on PDay in Februaryish. I am pretty much into the third and fourth year classes now, which is not okay. I'm dizzying up a little thinking about it. I will definitely need a job, which will be hard coming out of the mission without having research time. I'd like a TA position, but I don't know if I can manage that this first semester. Probably not. It's okay. I know how to study, I know how to have God with me, I know how, especially now, to work on something tirelessly and not waste time getting distracted. I got amazing grades the last two or three months at college because I learned to study insanely well. I think it's going to be an instant replay of Dad's come-home story.

Questions. Please. I'm dying here.

Joder'd (shanked)

When Alex starts talking about coming home or about what to take for school next year it helps me realize how fast the time is going. I may not say it to your face, but I do think the time is going by quickly. now, if it were only August!!!

Here's the thing immediately -
Without special permission, President King can let me leave up to three weeks early. That would put me on the 20 of august. Do you think that would be okay? I have readjusted to new stuff about every four months in the mission; I don't think the "shock" of it or whatever really will give me any problems, honestly. And it's that or lose out on a semester, reapply, and add on a year to the end of my degree. I don't really want to do that. I have found that I need change constantly to be comfortable - maybe a slower version of Dad's ADD. I get fried of working normal missionary work after a few weeks and I have to do something different, like go to a training, or stay in with a sick missionary, etc. The office is the best thing that's ever happened to me, in other words.

I think getting home will be way more fun than anything. I think eight days is enough. As for living,

I'm fine with going back to Wyview if it's open. I could do whatever. Well, whatever besides Helaman Halls. I just want to avoid cars at all costs, and costs at all costs. It was beyond cheap when I was there. I would definitely need a single room. Definitely. I am going to need help with what I am to take.

This week we were joder'd (shanked) a lot by the office, so we couldn't go out to work very much. Which can be discouraging. President King wrote me and said that sometimes that is going to happen here and it doesn't serve much good to think twice about it. So I won't. Just onward and hopefully upward.

When you don't write much I don't have much to say back, can you tell? Time is going faster than I know how to deal with. We go out and teach a few lessons and knock a bunch of doors and then sit down and realize our planners are now on week x (for example, four this week). Also, I've now done rent twice alone. Twice. Elder Monsen left a month and a half ago - it's been me solo for all that time. Every day I'm solving problems with skill I had no idea I had. If I can't get a TA job at BYU, I could work with the missionaries in Latin America as a finance coordinator or something. I know a lot about the Church system and legal stuff from Chile at least now. I wouldn't want to take a career in this, I don't think, but to fill in the gaps it's a possibility.

Of course I can say similar things about our ward. It's a fantastic young ward. Everyone wants to help, everyone loves us, and everyone is a great "example of the believers." We are honestly limited only by what we can imagine and communicate in terms of working. We set up an activity to watch the Joseph Smith movie the other day in ten minutes. Youth are fantastic.

We are going to watch Prince of Egypt.
Permiso.

 Elder A Conrad Crist

Giving palos

I read this letter from Alex and then went to read it to Brian and a little less than half way through, the entire letter disappeared. Does that really happen? I was a little bugged because I can't find it anywhere. I had to have him resend it this week so at least it isn't gone forever! So this week we get two posts but they are really two weeks worth.


Palos is spanish for sticks. Or, to be more correctly interpreted, "hard disciplinary counciling."

So, today was kind of disappointing. We were going to go bowling - the one of two known bowling places in Santiago. We went and their Windows pteranandons had blown out for some reason. We got lame overcooked pasta while we waited, then came back to see if it was going to be fixed. The man said, "Honestly, I simply wouldn't know what to tell you," hefting a stack of old backup discs. "We have some serious problems in the computers."

In the end, we had to still do shopping and write home, so we left the lanes unbowled. I was able to find frozen waffles at the store, so that was a plus.

This week we've been busy. Elder Smart and I have been running around to get our van fixed up, getting apartment common expenditures figured out, figuring out Chilean Service Tax and inflation adjustments on the rent payments, then going out to the sector and being normal missionaries for a whole day. It's a little cognitive dissonance, to be honest. It is hard to focus on progressing as a child of God when so many other voices compete for our attention. You think it'd be easier in the mission, and it is to an extent, for most of them are blocked out. Even so, they're there. They're always there.

The office is a great example. Right now there are six missionaries in the office and in the huge apartment. There are the assistants (Elder Lopez and Elder Jones), the Secretary (Elder Spencer), the new Secretary Trainee (Elder Gimenez), the Financier (Me), and the "Quartermaster" (Elder Smart). They are all generally good together, but occasionally things happen. In addition to that, the Office usually knows every funny story that has happened on the mission. Including some stuff that probably shouldn't be passed on. It's hard to see the evil in it when we are teaching people about huge things they aren't doing right like the Word of Wisdom or the Law of Chastity. We are in a situation, like everyone else, that we have to be able to either apply the teachings of Christ, or those of Satan himself. And as we do so, we will take on the image of what we love. Talking in the office these last few days we've decided that you really can see God graven in the countenances of people. It can be seen in the prophet pretty easily, but it doesn't end there. One of the people I noticed it in first was Bishop North. In my ward now I can see it evidently in my Bishop here, and in his daughters. It's on our leader to varying degrees. President King has a lot of it too. Do you know what I mean?

(Interesting note : we've noticed that every person who progresses already has some kind of evidence of those things already.)

Well, I just delete a dumb paragraph here about metaphysical religion. I'm going to just move on.

I think I need you to ask me stuff because I don't know what to write about anymore. I'm just trying to figure out my life and stuff. I am now 16 months into the mission - in my second-to-last stage of the mission:

0-4

Young - knows nothing

4-8

Starting to know something, but still kind of a sheep

8-12

Capable of working a sector; knows stuff

12-16

Experienced. Probably a leader by now. Can get success anywhere

16-20

Old. Seeing the end. Knows everyone in the mission, has had every training in the manual before. Occasionally has to really try hard to learn new things in meetings. Teaches fairly regularly

20-24

Very old. Trying to ignore the terrible end. Usually a high leader, teaches much more to others than missionaries teach him

As you can see, there I am. I have been putting down some goals - let me know what you think.

1. Be the living embodiment of the Scout Law, and of Love
2. Absolutely give in to the will of God as far as I can understand it

I need help quantifying these. Any ideas?

Random ending now - Go!

Love,

Elder A Conrad Crist

Called Out!!!

I or rather we, have been called out! I love it! I think every missionary family should have a missionary who is not afraid to show us our weaknesses and a way to get better! I love this letter for so many reasons. It shows that Alex has turned himself over to the Lord and is making huge gains in his personal development. I also love that he admits he has weaknesses. I kind of think of him as a super kid, always obedient, never straying, keeping everything within the bounds of what the Leaders have said, but he is human and normal. He doesn't like every part of missionary work! I miss him like crazy but I absolutely know that he is where he needs to be because of the growth that is happening in him!

 I do have pictures, but they're pretty lame so I'll just wait until next week. You see, I somehow was relegated to the missionary couple's dinosaur windows NT fossil. It says at the top "Upgrade to a modern browser."

 Right.

 I suppose it does work, even though it makes wierd crunching noises when it loads and possibly needs vacuum tubes and punch cards.

 This week has been okay. We split our sector, which is good, but also bad. We can focus much more on individuals and work closer with local members. Only one issue - almost three quarters of the investigators and virtually all members live in Elder Spencer's and Elder Gimenez's sector. Elder Smart and I have a lot of work to do. We have two investigators. The rest is an inactive family that's coming back and just door knocks. Maipu, where we are, is one of the easiest places to find new investigators, but even so the part we have is essentially one-third drug territory. Let's just say I take my watch off sometimes.

 This last while has been a lot of self-figuring out. I love my job. I like doing it fast and well, especially for people who don't even know I do anything. It's uniquely satisfying to save people from getting their lights cut or something like that. Here's the strange part. I don't like that I like it. I have done my best to surrender to God's will in the mission.

The funny thing is that I haven't liked a lot of the mission. I don't know if that's extremely atypical or not; some people really like contacting, some people like motivating ward members, etc. I find that I like teaching. I like interacting con members. But I spend most of my time not doing those things. So you could say I spend a lot of time doing things I don't really personally want to do. Keep in mind that I make no complaint in that. But so it is. (See the attached discourse "4th Missionary" for more information on my logic there.)

 Now I have something to do all day that I enjoy very much. And I feel guilty. I almost feel that I'm not doing something right in the mission because that's been my experience so far. I thank God for it, though perhaps a little hesitantly. Am I missing out on some personal progress I should have had?

Am I not strong enough to keep in the normal mission? My companion, Elder Smart, feels bad when we are stuck in here all day. Most of the time he learns from the Packs (the missionary couple he's replacing) a few days a week for a few hours. I spend every day 10-6 busy. He ends up with a lot of time left over. He says he hates it - he should be just out doing something, even just contacting random people in the street all day. That desire is simply not found in me. You see, usually we have this reversed - someone doesn't like their current situation and wonders what they should do differently. Here I like my current situation and I wonder what I should be doing differently. What do you think?

 This song is a new favorite of mine. Something that's been occurring to me lately. 

There's only one way I know of motivating scripture study. You have to do it with a purpose that is important to you. Do you know why I've written this up until now? I didn't either until I wrote this last paragraph. I knew I needed to write this, and I just found out why from God: As my family, I'd like you to study for me. How can I know I'm doing the right thing? How can I be sure God accepts it? What does he expect from me as a missionary?

 I'm sorry, I need to go eat. Please actually do this. God has asked you to.

 Love,
Thanks in advance,
Elder A Conrad Crist

Christmas fun and food!

It was so great to see Alex this past Holiday Season! I was going to say a week ago but it has been longer! Is that even possible? I think I really enjoy the last half of the mission much more than the first. That seemed endless and now it is just flying by. It is a testament to the power of the mind and looking forward to something. Anyway, Alex looks great! He has a smile and that is good. The sense of humor is good, still there anywhere. And he has lost a bunch of weight. He showed us his belt that he was 2 or 3 holes from the top when he left, it now has 3-4 holes punched into it and he can grab a handful of cloth on either side of his pants. Why won't he buy new pants? Weird, I am not sure he can or can't but I am sure he doesn't want to waste so he doesn't buy them. I wonder what his true size is now? I think he was a 36, maybe a 38 and now has to be 32 or less even! That makes me cringe a little bit! But he looked good and happy and his hair is turning white...What? Yes, my 20 year old son looks like he might have a head of white hair for medical school. I sent away a little boy and I am going to get back an "old" man. Wah. We will have to see in real life but...

Well, in the aftermath of the Christmas party and having our office painted, things are starting to settle down. Elder Spencer is bringing in a trainee Secretary, and another Elder will be coming in to replace one of the senior missionary couples, who will be my companion for the next change. In the end, another office Elder will come in when Elder Spencer leaves to replace the other senior couple. So we will be four, and the new Secretary will be my companion, and the other two senior replacements will be companions. When all this gets figured out in another change or so.

Maybe I should draw a diagram.

No, it's not interesting enough.

Another fast week of work has has passed by since we talked. The sector is still fantastic and young and white for the harvest. I am still satisfied immensely by my work. We had some lights almost cut yesterday, but I was able to figure it out. I've officially banished my fear of phone talking. I haven't the slightest bit left of that. I have special permission to use a headset that I use for an hour a day, I've started liking it, even.

I think the main lesson of the office, though, is not how to file expenditures or how to talk to people on the phone. It's about learning to make time to study the scriptures and be a better person within the bounds of a daily job that isn't seminary teaching or being a general authority. I have to work a lot to make time to study the scriptures and think about my investigators. I imagine it's similar for any adult, really. I know I needed to learn about this here to be able to keep all the progress I've made away from wasting time and studying to be an expert in what I do. It would have been easy to go back and go back to it all, if you will.

I'm starting to go hypoglycemic a little from the two hour soccer game. I'll finish this up for you.

(I am not diabetic though.)

We are about to divide our sector, which is too bad, but either person will have two secure baptisms each, so it's hard to complain. All of them, barring physical dumb things that take them out of town, etc., are the only things that keep the people we are teaching from getting closer to baptism. They are so prepared for the gospel that there really isn't any convincing to be done - just teaching sound doctrine and watching as they gain faith through the understanding we bring. Easy.

I haven't made a lot of spiritual breakthroughs recently, but I haven't felt a great need either. We're working on doing more contacts and using our ward better, for example, to get them do the teaching of new converts by themselves to strengthen their bonds between each other instead of with us. Normal stuff. Seeing the power of God working good in everyone, including myself. That's my job.

Speaking of things like that, please consider

Writing in your journals

Getting your patriarchal blessings

Doing family home evenings

Reading scriptures daily

Reading scriptures daily with purpose

Have you ever heard the phrase "Wherever are your treasures, there your heart shall be also."? Please keep that in mind. I think Mom and Dad, and Grandma and Grandpa pretty much get this - happiness comes from the right. Please take a moment to think about what you do on a daily basis. What of it brings you closer to God? (Let's not be naive with this one; I think, for example, that Black Hawk Down brings me closer to God. It doesn't have to be a Church thing.) What of it brings you nowhere in particular? And perhaps what of it brings you down? Some things can be enjoyable and not good for you. Think about it once or twice. Then change.

Have a good week and stuff.

Love,

Elder A Conrad Crist