I love the letters home! I love hearing about Alex's day to day activities. It really gets so inspirational to just read of the things he is doing and the things he is working on. He will have so many stories to tell and these are the things that are going to pull him through during rough patches later in life. I think we have all gotten to that place that is just accepting. I really hope Alex makes the most of the rest of the time. It really isn't that much.
Firstly, much thanks for the music. I passed through a more or less boring music time there. It worked seamlessly with my ghetto blaster mp3 stick thing like the one I had before iPods came out. I really could only ask for "The Lower Lights". You've done a great job.
Well, there's no changes for me this time. I'm here for another change at least. I also just realized I now have 13 months. Not exactly a slow change that just passed. We worked and stuff and then it was over. That was it. We have some amazing people, finally, that we'll surely have baptized before too long. I was scared of being changed out and not being able to see it, because it is basically a sure thing.
Here's an excerpt from my weekly report so I have more time to write other things:
"I'm quite glad I don't have changes, because this next change is going to be a great one. Fernando and Natalia are going very well. We managed to have our first MAC of the change with a great member with them, in which he gave excellent testimony and allayed some doubts they had. The lesson started to get a little of track, for Fernando had always been taught that God was a Spirit. As we talked, though, he started to see more reason in our being here and living our lives. He is reading and praying - we know he reads because he always comes with questions, and because when we asked him to pray to end the lesson he did it without hesitation, and did it absolutely correctly, having prayed so starting only three weeks ago.
Needless to say we're fairly excited for their progress. We are going to work as hard as possible for those MACs. They really count when they do happen. What's more, the brother who came out with us talked about it in his testimony, which can only help excite others. Immediately several other people who had evaded it before asked us when we could go out."
It was a very good week. We had a ton of meetings that kind of messed up our plans many times, but we ended up being able to get to a lot of super cool investigators.
I'm now finding myself at a difficult language situation. I understand word-for-word every person, I read the same speed in Spanish as in English, and several people have noted that I use some grammar that most people disregard correctly. Now I have two problems. I'm not satisfied with my accent, nor am I with my vocabulary. The thing is, it's hard to do anything to make it better with four gringos (one is going, Elder Lowry, who Kelsey knows, from our pension, and Elder Van Dyke is training a gringo, so it's all gringo again).
Improving your accent from 0 to 75 % is really easy. The next ten takes as long as the last 75, then five, then you start getting to a point where you just can't quite do anything noticeably better, even though you still have an irrepressible accent. Unfortunately, unlike in English (especially at BYU), accents are not attractive. I like pretty much any accent in English. They just don't get the coolness of it here.
I think of this because we went to a member's house last night and his daughter of perhaps 19 came out and said they were all in bed almost because it was Sunday. I asked her if she was studying or working to be friendly. English. As a classic test I immediately asked, "So then you'd be fine if we just spoke English?" She came back, "Actually, that would be good so that I could practice it."
Looking at a Spanish-speaking face and speaking English is extremely difficult, but we proceded to talk about how she'd learned it and how she'd use it. Super interesting. Her accent was cool - and slightly British. Apparently her school has Britains teaching it. After telling her to do a Study Abroad at BYU, we went home. And all I thought about was how to become that good at some point.
Anyway, beside that, there's a huge event coming up in Chile. The missionaries first arrived fifty years ago, so they're having a huge thing in a stadium. Supposedly the Prophet will be there... Could be. Looks like our mission is going to sing in it. I wonder if you'll be able to see that. Saturday.
There's another random letter. Enjoy if you can.
Love and stuff,
Elder AC Crist
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