I wondered how long it would take for Alex to really get into the culture of food in Chile. It looks like he has done it. I wonder though if he likes mayo, mustard, ketchup, etc yet. I think I will have to ask in the next letter. And tomatoes, forget it. But he is eating them. Now there is some growth! The only picture this week is of the whole group with a General Authority and I am pretty sure he is one of those tall guys in the back row, middle (ish). The picture is quite fuzzy and far away so I cannot be completely sure. He sounds great and I am getting excited to talk with him at Christmas. It seems far but really it is less than 2 months! I can do two months!
This holiday (holy day? I think not.) is perhaps 1/8 of what it is at home. They usually have a party at school, but there's not really anything in store windows and you don't ever see people just walking around in costumes. Today is a holiday here, but not for Halloween. It's some Saintly Virgin of the Andes day or something today and tomorrow. Which means a few less people aren't working normally. But that's all.
It's now officially hot, but still there's some wind. The things people cook have changed completely. Suddenly it's all empanadas and salads and an occasional meat and potato plate. It's fine. One must drink Chilean "Zuko" gatorade all day though.
Fernando and Natalia are doing good, but we could only see them once. At this moment they have gone to the outsides of Santiago to an area not unlike Melipilla, though a little bit more to the south insead of west. We had hoped that this would be the time for them to go to church... blast. We started to read from Alma 32 in response to their collective doubts about the necessity of scripture. We read one verse aloud, and asked a question. He was silent, as was his wife. We waited, thinking they had to think or process what they'd read. After a pretty long time, we re-asked the question. More silence. Then Fernando looked up and said, "What? Sorry, I got stuck in this chapter. I really like it. I read until 42. (We were on 28.)" They committed themselves to read the chapter without us saying anything later. If we can just get over their non-institution stuff we'll be set.
Some people have already developed quite deep Christlike attributes when we meet them. These people are the most likely to progress, I'd imagine. The Spirit and the Light of Christ work outside of the Church. It's evident that Fernando and Natalia are possessed of these attributes already. They cannot let us sit down without drinks and sandwiches. They are very good with their daughter of four.
I'm really starting to understand what Alma meant when he spoke of people having the Image of God graven in their countenances. You can simply see it. Not with your eyes, but you can see it. What is that? The light of Christ?
I did divisions with Elder Christensen again. That was fun. We worked in his sector, doing contacts and generally having a very successfull day. One thing you learn in the mission is that missionaries who get along do well. Even if two companions are good teachers and everything- if they dislike each other it's very noticeable and they simply will not have success. Elder Christensen and I get along like I get along with Brennan and Riley. It was just plain fun and success all day. We had four lessons, including two new investigators in the same day. Then to end it all we had sort of grilled cheeses (Boy Cheeses) with salami in them with avocado on them. (Have I mentioned that I like avocadoes now? I do, but it absolutely must be accompanied by something of hard texture. The flavor, I find, is of similar use to eggs. Not the same, but still close to eggs. I still don't like tomatoes at all, though I've learned to eat them raw if necessary.
Speaking of food, I ate a bad empanada for lunch yesterday and it wrecked me for the whole day. We didn't do anything yesterday after lunch. I just slept and visited the toilet. I'm wierdly better today, if feeling a little electolyte loss.
Gross. Sorry.
Okay. Have a good week and stuff.
Elder A Conrad Crist
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