Doctor Elder Crist

I really couldn't tell you what I will do when I get back, but I did think I had to have 15 credit hours to get New Century stuff. I will pretty unavoidably work. I hope at least my mission office group of bizarre skills will help me out a little.

 I was looking at the schedule. It is a lot, though. I don't know when I would work, but I have to. I won't have any cars or other expensive nonsense, I hope, but I still will have to pay tuition and those insane books. (I don't know how you could, but if you could look online for some of those books, you could save my bacon.)

 I do think, though, that I can be a lot more disciplined than I was before (and I even got good grades.) As I challenge myself more I find that I get a more-than-multiplied increase in performance... or rather, when something is twice as hard, I get more than twice as much work out of myself. So I'll do good. And I can't be more busy there than I am here. No way.

 To not be repetitive, I'll quote my weekly report: "This has really been a good week. We're back out into the sector every day helping people out. I'm getting along great with Elder Wheelwright and we're working hard to be ready for when I leave. He's a very hard-working fellow and he's learned just about everything. I think I'll retire on Monday from the job mostly and be around doing the datos projects and being backup for him and Elder Fuentealba to make sure they both are okay with their new responsibilities.

 I've been practising something Elder Christensen told me to do that has made a great difference. He told me to focus on loving - loving people we contact, loving investigators and members, and loving God. As soon as I did, everything became brighter, easier, more fun, more desirable, more hopeful, and so forth. Since I have been doing it time in my day usually is made up of loving people and enjoying what I'm doing - right down to difficult contacts - and not enjoying something, realizing I should be loving, returning to loving, and enjoying it.This is a pretty big revelation for me. I have always wanted to be a youth leader, but I was afraid I would not know what to do or to say. I can see that if I can love them fiercely, I'll know what to do and say. I hope to be able to apply this to the maximum for the rest of my mission." It turns out, Elder Christensen and I are an example of that same principle. I might not have talked to him if we hadn't been "relatives" of some degree, but now we're great friends because it started on a pre-friend ground. Something to think about.

 Well, here I am, learning secrets of the universe and also very slightly freaking out about my future. I'm good though. The two people who are taking over my jobs here (one's taking my old job, the other one is taking my new job that I've had for only a change). I kind of bounce between them and my projects to present the retention data to the stakes of the mission.

 I'm elbows-deep in Pivot Tables, if that means anything to you. I remember like ten years ago I started to make a graph in Paint for a science class and Dad came in and looked at it and said,"Nonononono - Let me see it." He made me my very first Excel chart. It's very odd that God prepares things so far in advance - I got here knowing how to do graphs in Excel pretty well, but that was the absolute last thing I could have expected to do here. But it is needed - the stake leaders very often have no idea if the Ward Mission Leaders are working or if their bishops are doing meetings. Glad to be a part.

 I think you'll like this audio, even if it's very random. You may need to know that "Semana Santa" is the "Holy Week" that's going on right now. It's supposed to be dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ. Mostly people just drink. And they don't eat meat - the tradition is that all meat is the body of Christ this week. Needless to say, meat was discounted at the store.

 Sorry, a missionary just called from the city center having fainted and needs to go to an ER. We're going now.

 Love, Dr. Crist