La Cisterna or La Granja

I really love that Alex is back into a 1st world-y place. I am not sure I even understand how 3rd world the last place was! It would be kind of like living in the sticks and then going into the city. Everything must truly seem bright and shiny and clean. My hope for Alex this time is to have happiness. That is it! Just for him to be happy serving and leading. I love the kid and I actually want everything for him but right now more than anything else, I want him to be happy!



Well, the sound worked. Just make sure immediately that you don´t throw them away, because I´m not going to keep them, and people could concievably want to have them after the mission - I mean, they´re responses to what I wrote, and I can´t listen to them here, so I´m going to lag two weeks on stuff you put in there. So if you want a response, put it in text.

Anyway, this has been a longer week. A week ago I was in Melipilla. I´m not in Melipilla. I´m far away. I´m kind of back in the city. I live on Camilo Henríquez in La Cisterna or in La Granja. It´s a old-person area of outer Santiago. It´s about the same distance from Santiago center as my first sector

My thoughts immediately are that this place is quite a bit more clean and 1st worldy than where I was. I walk around dazzled by the cleanliness and technology-usury that I see. Maybe bad because it´s easier to be trunky. Maybe better because I don´t have fleas.

It´s weird that I don´t really have anything to tell you. I´m thinking and there´s just not anything. I think I may have been so stuck into what I´ve been doing that I don´t have any empty-head echo time when I usually formulate ideas and make observations. I´ve been just rather focused on this place, and trying to make a difference in it. It´s hard, but I´d like to think I can do something about it.

My district leader class was weak, but I think that happens the first time. Not only that, they gave me the class topic with like eight hours to do it, so it kind of came out lame. I don´t think the district noticed, because changes always costs one a few hours of sleep.

I´m sorry about the lameness of this one. I don´t have anything.

Oh, "Recibí lo que Kelsey me envió." Try out google translator.

I´m doing a lot better in terms of member relationships this time around - I´ve learned exactly what to do and what to avoid. I actually had a thought that helped a lot. There was a member that I got along with really well. Her name was Sister Marta. It was way easy to talk to her - to the point where I didn´t even have any problems speaking because I wasn´t afraid to just talk normally. It turns out that a very large part of my impediment was kind of a pretentious nervousness. When it wasn´t there, I speak pretty good - several people here have said it´s alarmingly good. That´s the key.

So when I speak to people, in contacts, or members, or whatever, I just say to myself, "It´s Sister Marta, or her husband, Pulpo." It´s changed things quite drastically. I made a very good impression here - there´s no talking around me ever. Then, their opinion of you is that of another member, which brings you internally up to that level. That´s when you can be a part of someone´s life. That´s the idea.

You sound dang bored on the audio. "Say hi." "yeah..."

I´m really just kind of tired.

Oh, there´re sister missionaries in my district. So I have to call them all the time. I thought it would be really awkward, but it´s okay. I´ve just heard a few funny stories - that have to do with pads. So I´m just hoping nothing "funny" happens to me.

I think I´m just going to go before this gets too stupid.

Elder A Conrad Crist
Apparently District Leader, La Cisterna 1




CDs (preferably an Mp3 CD so I don´t have to have a thousand discs.)(These are seperate things.)
Josh Wright
Essential Missionary Collection
Paul Cardell

For you guys to get for me when I get back (I heard them in the house of an investigator´s house)
Soundtrack of Tron, Transformers extended edition (there´s a sick song that isn´t in the movie)

Address Change

I am not sure why the mission has changed the address that all mail and packages go to but they did. Here is the new one. Tell everybody not to send mail or packages to the old address.


Elder Crist
Misión Chile Santiago Oeste
Correos Casilla 149
Pajaritos 1229
Maipú, Chile

District Leader July 19, 2011

Dear Crist Family,

I am pleased to inform you that your son, Elder Crist, has been called to serve as a District Leader in our mission. He has exhibited leadership capabilities through his desire to learn and lead out in his efforts as a missionary. His example of hard work, following the Spirit, and concern for his fellow missionaries have prepared him to assume these new responsibilities.

This opportunity will stretch him and give him new opportunities for growth. As he lifts and sustains the missionaries under his stewardship, he will develop a deep love for them and for the Lord. These abilities will sustain him throughout his life.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve with your son here in the mission field. This is the work of the Lord. His efforts are blessing the lives of so many. I am grateful to you for supporting him in this new and important calling.

Sincerely,

President Richard W. King
Chile Santiago West Mission

I got changed!

I am posting the last two weeks in this post. I think that time is just flying and I cannot imagine how fast it goes for a missionary who is super busy every day! We have passed the 10 month mark! Crazy, it still doesn't seem like that much time! Alex is (was) having a lot of trouble with his companion and I feel so bad for him. I want to protect him from all things bad but Heavenly Father has a plan for him and is teaching him quickly. This first letter is kind of sad and depressing. I am sad for him but I know Heavenly Father is preparing him for something down the road. Something amazing!

Okay, it seems that the audio doesn´t work - your bitrate was 256 and the ones my camera makes are 44 - maybe a little too much for the camera. It says 44kbps, 4bit 1 channel 11KHz IMA ADPCM. Don´t know if you can try saving the ones you have in that size - I think audacity or garageband would have the options to save like that so I can hear it. I would just put it on the computer and play it, but they have a weird anti- headphone thing in the mission, so I can´t.

Anyway, this has been a rough, rough week. I got sick on Saturday, and could barely go out. I am still pretty bad. I have what appears to be the flu, with bad poo, crazy runny nose, and strange aches all day. I am taking some drugs but they don´t do much.

I´m listening to those recordings. It´s really fun. A lot better than just words.

"Tell Alex to send more BODILY INJURIES. Those are awesome."

That´s awesome.

I´m not feeling particularly inspiring today. I am learning that I´m a lot tougher than I thought, will all the insane things that have happened.

My companion is really struggling right now. I asked him straight if he hated the sector or not. He looked at the ground for a few seconds and said yes. He went on to say he doesn´t find any love in himself for the people (naming a few by name, which surprised me, as they were some of my favorites). He doesn´t have any drive to do anything, and I´m sick as anyone´s ever been, so we haven´t really done much recently. He even said he is absolutely disinterested in talking to me, and because of that we have not progressed much in unity. Not only that, he doesn´t like anything I do or say. I plan alone.

Like I said, it´s been hard. I don´t want to start the drill sergeant angry thing but nothing else works. I know how much I hated it, so I´m hesitant to do it to anyone else. But the choice is seeming to be that or work alone. I would like him to leave. I think it would be better for everyone involved.

One of the interesting things that I´ve realized recently - in my patriarchal blessing I´m blessed with love for people. I´ve never not had love for people in the mission. You could say God kept up his promise. I never even considered how hard it would be if you didn´t even love the people - I don´t know how you´d get out of bed in the morning in the mission. Why else would one be here?

I´m thankful for that gift. A person can talk about how I don´t commit people to be baptized fast enough, or how my contacts are slow and lame, but no one can say anything about my motivation. And rest is doable if you´ve got a motive.

I have spent a little time thinking about what you could send me. I have been unable to think of anything. Anything I could want I have or I can´t have. I was going to ask for an analog watch, but I found one in the pension and fixed it up so now I don´t need one. More CDs, preferably an MP3 CD with several albums so I don´t have to keep so many. That´s all I´ve got.

I´ll keep thinking about it.

Keep progressing, and, like Randy´s dad says, "Take care of your feet."

Love,
Elder A Conrad Crist




July 18, 2011

Somebody sign into facebook and say yes to all the people who are adding me. There are a few.

I´m afraid that the audios are still too big. Needs to be 44kbps, 4 bit. I think audacity has the options to do that.

Anyway, the biggest news item for today is that I got changed. It´s a very strange division, three changes, but here we are, and here we soon shall not be.

Like Dad has said, the mission is a really long 50-miler in terms of baggage. The more intelligent, older missionaries have perhaps 25 pounds, while the noobcake people have 45 or so, mostly of ridiculous things like canned food and other nonsense. I´m now well into the old phase, so packing was a matter of folding some clothes up. I already knew how I was to put everything in, for I´ve done it twice already.

So today I go to say goodbye and stuff like that. I actually have only four families I need to visit, and an additional two to call. I don´t know if I just didn´t do my job enough to meet and love all the people. Whatever. I find that I haven´t actually done a lot of things I regret here, so we´re okay. I guess I just wasn´t a "big splash" here.

The only thing that really makes me sad is our best investigator ever, Carlos. I´ve told you about how we knocked the door of his parents-in-law and they were members, and they were reactivated. He has been to church twice now, and likes it. His girlfriend asked him if he´d like to be baptized, and he said yes. The only thing that´s hanging him up is that he´s not married to her, and they kind of live together. The parents said they´re sure he about to propose and get it all fixed. The only thing is that I won´t be here to see it. I´m on the records, but I kind of wanted to be there. That kills, that. Ach.

I´ve listened to the recording. In audacity, there´s one of those hangy bars, I think FILE, and there´s a save wav, I´m almost sure. All you´d have to do is put 44 and 4.

Anyway, I´m gone, and it´s kind of lame timing. I asked President King to watch out for Elder Aguilar. Honestly, I´m a little scared for him. I make pretty clear the level of problem he has with the sector. President King´s comment on him was something like, "Elder Aguilar has some rough times ahead. He is going to have to learn to humble himself before the Lord." Oh, man.

You know, I think the whole relationship, or lack of relationship, comes somewhere from in there. He doesn´t want to be here. I don´t know how exactly his lesson´s going to come, but he´s going to have to find it soon if he doesn´t want to suffer a lot. He´s got, in all probability, two to four more changes here. That´s a long time, as far as I can think - imagine six months in a job you hate from which you can´t quit or take a vacation. I´ve been blessed, but blessed (that´s a Chilean expression) in terms of love for people so far. I am finding out that I have a really, really heavy prejudice against leech/entitled people. Other than that, I do fine. I gave it at lot of thought - I think pride is the thing that deters me. Could be.

I´ve also started applying Getting Things Done in the mission. Preach My Gospel is very conventional, and good, but I find that the planning section is too "How many people can we push to be baptized this month$" which is to say, less about people than it should be. I think about people in more of a person-by-person way, and I find it gets to the goal better than putting a made up number and then trying to figure out how to force someone to accept our will. GTD says when planning, one should think about the very next thing that can be done with each person, not so much a top-down "People we can get to accept a date", "People we can get to church," etc.

But if I´m wrong, I suppose I´ll have to change. This, my friends and countrymen, is the destroyer of people. I think of myself as humble only because I´ve been hammered so hard so far in the mission. But if I can´t teach, contact, or baptize, at least I can change to be able to do it. I´ve thought about Satan a little more than I should have in my trials to find my testimony. One valuable thing, though, is the realization that if he hadn´t had pride, things would not be at all the same.

Imagine it- I am Satan, everyone is obligated, everyone comes back. (We can argue also that the plan he proposed was just to usurp the power of God and destroy us all right there in terms of progression, but anyway, for the purposes of the story,) Then Jesus stands up and says no, we get agency, and he´ll go and save our bacon. We liked that plan more, and God approved it. What would have happened if he´d said, "You know, Jesus is a pretty smart guy. His plan was better - I´m just going to go along with it."

That´s not what happened. He got angry, and left, and the rest is history - or more accurately, the Bible.

Well, then. That´ll be all. I´ll be somewhere that´s not here tomorrow. Prayer, please.

Love,
Elder A Conrad Crist


Random note before I forget - I will write to as many people as will write to me separately. There´s nothing holy about ludacrist5; Jake and Abby or whoever can write separately from wherever and I will respond as individually as people write.

Mistaken for a Chilean (on the phone)

It is a miraculous thing that we coming up on 10 months gone. I feel so blessed that it does not seem that long. Although I am definitely looking forward to the Homecoming! I see the growth and determination from afar and know this is a great way for him to spend a few years really learning to obey and be a servant of the Lord.
The pictures are $250 pesos to use the bathroom, glasses get fogged because of coldness, and a jhot pizza!




Before I get on any more, I just realized that you could record .wav files (it has to be .wav)(do it in garageband or audacity and just make sure the thing that comes out says .wav) and send them. I can put them on my camera to listen to them. There´s no rules against that - think sending cassette tapes back and forth. Same thing, just electro-fancy.

Also, there´s a really, really cool scripture case maker in my zone I could get some covers from, but they´re rather expensive. The normal tacky trite ones that all missionaries get almost are 14 mil each. These are 30 each. That´s sixty bucks. But they´re between five and seven times better done. What do you think$ I may just get them to do it. And they are so much better.

This week was weak. We had a bunch of cool trainings about the doctrine of Christ. Allow me to present the five tenets of the Gospel -

Christ paid the price for our sins and will intercede if we obey
What we do in this life determines our happiness now, and in the thereafter
The true church, with the ability to follow Christ, exists on the earth
We are given commandments which we must obey to obtain blessings in addition to Salvation
It is our responsibility to share what we have received from Christ with others
Something interesting - every doubt, problem, sin, etc, results from our lack of understanding and acceptance of these things. These things are the most important things that people understand. You may notice that there are five lessons in Preach My Gospel - there´s a reason for that.

Then interviews with President King. I expressed to him the difficulties of the sector, and he just said, "Elder, you´re the best the Lord has for Silva Chávez." I kind of laughed, but he didn´t. He just said it again - "Elder, you´re the best the Lord has for Silva Chávez."

Kind of a heavy thing, that. It´s really easy to think about these transfers as "postings," like when your sergeant says, "Okay, Private Johnson over there, Private Miller stays here," etc. It´s as if anyone could do any posting, just according to how long you´ve been there, and what sector was open when it was too much. There´s actually a pretty large Divine component, if I understand what President King says. There´s something I have to do here, it seems. I´d like to know what it is, though.

Later we went to our executive comittee meeting, which is always a treat. Not so much because the things for which we are there are so entertaining, rather the members of the comittee are just so dang entertaining. There´s the Elder´s Quorum President, who is a cop, his counselor, who´s an executive of some kind, and our Branch President, who owns a company that rents construction equipment (that guy... bank) that are the most funny. The counselor reminds me a lot of Tres, and the Elders´ President is like that accountant Master of Accountancy guy. We get everything done, but there´s some fun in there somewhere. They´re all powerful, get-it-doners. The problem we faced was some people who didn´t come to the meeting, but now it´s fixed and we´re doing all kinds of stuff. They got people to go out to four houses to do pre-rain repairs in a few minutes. It kind of reminded me of a Utah ward, actually.

We´ve been working a ton with the members, and now they invite us over all the time, which is ideal. You could say we paid some time this week to get some more friendship and help from them in the future. We´re not supposed to just hang out with them all the time, but we also need to be a part of their lives. I never saw a single missionary in all my life before the MTC, which makes it difficult to tell what would be ideal from a member´s point of view. It´s so strange to never have gone out with a missionary before. It´s actually pretty unheard of to never have gone out with missionaries before the mission. When people are about to go the missionaries are all over them. They were practically mythological creatures before the mission. Apparently anywhere else in the universe you´re supposed to go out with the missionaries. In Utah it´s not possible. That is a reason for not being in Utah, I suppose.

Okay, so when did Riley go$ I didn´t hear a date in there ever. August 30 would mean he went in... yesterday or so$ But he´s seen missionaries! What a boon! He knows they exist! He needs no faith!

Tell him he can email me if he wants to. (I get that he doesn´t right now because he has like a half an hour and can´t send pictures, so he´s going to talk to his mom and write to his girlfriend.) But still. If he has a latin trainer he may need to ask me what flaite means or something.

Well, yes. Okay. I said hi from Chile to everyone. Tell Kelsey I sent a letter. (Who knows if it gets there.)

Not to be depressing or anything.

Love,
Elder A. Conrad Crist

I was mistaken for a Chilean on the phone! Yay! I´m toast with regards to appearance, but the phone doesn´t show anything (not this year, at least. Apple´s thinking about what they can do to help that).

I have a little problem, though. I can talk about small things all day, but if I want to talk about cooking, or medicine, or whatever I just don´t know enough words to talk like a human. I have the grammar of a sixteen-year-old with a four-year-old vocabulary. Maybe Dad knows something about this - I don´t know what to study, because everything is so obscure at that level. I though of just telling stories to myself until I encountered a word I didn´t know.