I think it is cool that he keeps noticing his name in different places. I like to think it is because God is letting him know he has not been forgotten. I can't believe he is going to be coming home in such a short time. It almost doesn't seem real but I am ready for it!
Today was our zone activity. We went to Santa Lucía's artesan mall thing and bowled. I made some last purchases for the mission, including a matelisto (I'll explain later) Then we found my favorite burrito place in the middle of the city, so we went there and partook of the only burrito made in town besides in my apartment. No we're in a cibercafe in the middle of santiago and I have this wierd CRT monitor that is flickering and making me epileptic. The computer is very fast, though. Odd.
This week, in terms of work, was very good right up until Sunday. We had seven people ready to go for church. Not a single one came. Some even answered the phone the morning of saying they would! I thought a lot about what more we could have done and, next to handcuffing them and putting them in a prison quarry line with a big iron ball behind each one, there was nothing more. We taught as much as we could, called the night before, and they didn't come.
There is an activity this Friday which will be a formal dinner. Unfortunately we only knew it was a 'dinner'. So we told some poor investigators to go however they wanted. Oops. Now what?
On the more fun side, people heard me singing in church and I got conscripted into the choir for ward conference next week. I wouldn't have done a ward choir that met weekly, for that's a lot of time, but since they have no one that can read music but the director and they have no decently high voices, me not participating basically means that the choir cannot function. So I am in it. We're singing Love at Home and Lord I Would Follow Thee at different parts. The bonding with the members has been worth it. I think we've scored several new people to come out with us as a result of being there just two hours in the last two week. I felt uneasy while I was there in terms of wasting time but looking back it was a good idea. This whole time I've only sang in the pension. I can tell how out of shape I am immediately. I'l have to get back on it as fast as possible and start practicing daily like I did at BYU. Is the piano still there? I am definitely loking foward to playing Grandma's piano.
We are officially signed up for the new house. The office, specifically Elder Wheelwright, did the contact and paid the security deposit in advance. (I had a lot of sway because the whole office is still my companions.) We move in July 2.
Speaking to your last email, when a person doesn't have the Spirit with them, they do go backwards. They may retain some intellectual understanding of the gospel. A lot of the time, though, they don't get what they read so they stop reading. They don't get the higher lessons of the gospel. I have come to understand some things in the mission I never would have supposed alone that have become extremely important. I feel like I can't teach them - every person would have to learn them alone. I had to look for the thing I wanted. I had to depend on God and the scriptures, mixed with experiences in teaching and talking to come to any conclusion. I think I understand to a great extent what the prophets feel. They say it in the most attention-calling language they can and try so hard but if people don't want to understand, they never do. Jesus' lament over Jerusalem sounds so much like my life sometimes...
But there's always next week. Send pictures of something.
Also, if I get home and Jake hasn't done his patriarchal blessing yet I will just go back to Chile.
Love and stuff,
Elder A Conrad Crist
Cool Folky Music to remind myself later:
inti-illimani
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