My new comp, (yes, yet another, 3 in 3 changes) has this neat device that is a keyboard that records what you type. Then, you plug it in to the computer later and it writes it all really fast. So, basically, I can write a little more for the next 6 weeks at the least. So, I'll share a little bit more of what's been popping down here, especially I had a baptism this last week.

 B__ is a 10 year old  litle kid, and he's amazing. He has some real desire to do the best he can in the church. He's even preparing himself as hard as possible to receive the priesthood. It's good, because his parents are having a hard time. One is a less active member who doesn't want to go back to church until he is 100% worthy.  The mother of B__ wants to get baptized and join the church, but can't while she's not married, and they can't get married because he can't get divorced. At the least we hope that the baptism will get them into the habit of attending church and being as faithful as they can in the current situation.

This last change that just finished was a change full of learning about how different even other members of the church can be between each other. Elder Untch was amazing, a great teacher and user of his divine calling in regards to showing the power of god. for example, there was a lady he contacted that he promised that if she went to church that week, she would find a job the day after that would allow her to attend every week. She went, and that happened. Then, when she stopped coming and said to us Ï don't need god anymore, I have the work I need"he promised her that if she wouldn't attend that week, she would lose her job. It happened as well. He's also amazing at seeing the small miracles in things, like how when we plan for someone and they are there right as we arrive.

My new comp is Elder Olaiz, from Argentina. He comes from the South, near the border of Chile. He lives about as far away from the mission field as Elder Nissinan does from his home. He's a suprise because it feels like as if my friend E___ was an Argentinian and was currently serving a mission.  I still don't know everything about him, since I've literally spent maybe 1 day with him, but he seems like a dope dude. At the very least, it seems like he is a good worker and he does bomb at street contacting. We'll be doubling the number of contacts Untch and I did together, and I know because we hit a 50% growth on day 1 together. His type of humor is a very punny type of humor too, so I feel like this change is going to be great.

This week I've been reading in the beginning of the book of mormon again, and I spent the last personaly study reading a little in 1 Nephi 11 to 14. Reading over it, I have to wonder how long that vision must have taken, considering he seems basically all of Nephite history between Chirst and the end (though to be fair, it only is 4 Nephi to Moroni), but afterwords sees Columbus, the Revolutionary War, the Restoration, and the revealing of new scriptures via the Book of Mormon. God probably uses dreams because if he took them physically away they'd probably be gone for hours if not days. Not only that, but think about how a dude who lived 600 years before Christ saw guns. How weird would that be to him.

A neat spiritual experience this week was seeing how the gospel can literally change lives. We have an investigator named P__, who is addicted to alcohol, and has told us that he has tried very hard to get off it for many years, but he just hasn't been able to do it. So, we taught him how to pray, and told him that every time he feels he wants to drink, he will pray, and he will gain the strength to not drink and put it down or dump it out. He managed to keep himself sober for a week at this point, and he also went to church on his own, without too much of our help. If anything has truly been powerful, it must be the gospel, where it can sometimes make even that strong addiction disappear just like that.

And now, for a funny story for the week. We passed by the area we have in the sector called Dr. Yazigi (that's the name of the street), which is completely filled to the brim with Haitians. The thing is, sometimes I don't think some forms of logic exist in that place. Like how the last time we went, there was a group of around 6 Haitians working together to throw a washer machine out of the window. The thing is, they were doing this on the 3rd floor, and all of the doors in the place are wide enough to fit this washing machine they have. Why they didn't carry it down the stairs, I have no idea. But, they managed to get it out and pushed it away. But, since they had it tied up to help them lower it, it came swinging right back at the wall below them, then into the window of the floor below, knocking everything everywhere. It was a pretty funny sight. It's difficult to get a baptism there, since there is a lot of chastity issues and even the faithful ones aren't legally married.

Looking at my diary, it's hard to realize that I've filled it halfway up. The diary is only meant to last a year, but still. I've hit and passed the 1/4 mark already. I did burn a tie at Elder Untch's request, but I'm not sure if I'll ever burn a whole shirt. As for which tie I burned, I found one in the back of the closet that another missionary left at the end of his mission.

I'm sure the Returned Missionaries from South America know this, but I've gotten hooked on the agenda-making here. As missionaries, the church provides us with an agenda per change, so 1 every 6 weeks. The thing is, the covers are kind of flimsy, so people take the pass along card or whatnot to stiffen them, and then put a picture on top to make it look nice. I have gotten hooked on it, and I feel like mom in her card-making room, doing crafts for other missionaries when I have that little bit of free time at the start or end of a day.  I'll usually get a funny caption, add a scripture that relates, and tape it all over to make it look nice. I can definitely see my creativity getting better as I now find random images and think "how can I make this a good agenda cover."

One thing I've learned here in the field is how to incentivize myself. there is a sushi place that does delivery nearby our house. So, when I and my comp make 30 contacts together for a whole week, we get sushi on Friday, because that's when they have a deal of 60 pieces for 11,000 pesos, or about 16 dollars. I don't know if that's expensive for the states or not, but it's the cheapest here for over 50 pieces.

Also, for the last few pdays, I've been reading Saints- a History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since my comps talk a lot with there families and call every week, I sometimes have extra time after I've written all of my letters. So, I browse the Church websites, downloading videos of the church, reading the Joseph Smith Papers (of which I understand 0%), or whatnot. But recently, I've been hooked on Saints. I'm currently on Chapter 22 or so, when the Saints first get thrown out of Missouri. It's a pretty good book, and I learned a lot of things I didn't know beforehand. For example, how during a special meeting in the Kirkland Temple, the Acts 2 decending of the Spirit like a fire and the speaking of tongues happened again, giving them the power from on high mentioned in the D&C sections preceeding the dedication.

Alright, I have alittle bit more time, so I'll talk about chilean things that were weird to me when I started but now I don't really notice. They still use horses here on occasion, like in the central plaza areas the police have a calvary group of like 2 or 3 officers on horseback.

A lot of people want to know english, so they occasionally yell "Hello! How are you?"to me, to which I always reply Ï am fine, and you?"They always say "very good, very good."It's kind of funny to me, because that was about my ability with spanish when I left the CCM, os Ican't really fault them for literally not knowing anything else in English.

When people finally realized that it isn't pronounced "Helders"and instead is Ëlders,"and that it's a title and not our first names, they always ask for what my first name is. I usually go with Malcolm, but to the occasional drunk who won't even remember the conversation, I sometimes say that my named is Aetheldred or some other weird Anglo-Saxon name. They can't even pronounce Malcolm right, so seeing them try to say Aetheldred in a drunken slur is kind of funny. I don't think I've met a single missionary here that likes giving out their first name. I barely knew my comp's first name, and he's already left for home in Ecuador (that's my 2nd comp, Elder Cuenca).

No one here get up until after 12 oçlock, and the grandmas not until 2 or so. So, here is me, a gringo, walking about at 11ish and wondering where all the people are. We usually have to take all of our studies in the morning because no one is out that early except for us and the occasional Jehovah's Witness group.

Actually, speaking of the Jehovah's Witnesses, I had no idea how popular they were here in Chile. They might have more Salones del Reino de los Testigos de Jehová (that's the spanish name, I don't know what it is in English because I've never seen one) than Chapels for the true church. So, on occasion, we'll run into their proselyting groups. It's interesting what they believe, but I think it's more because of the fact that I hear more about their doctrine through the missionary grapevine than from themselves.

A native dish here is called Casuela. Imagine a half of a chicken in a broth with undercooked vegetables, including either a whole potato or a corncob. Then, to eat it, they just give you a spoon. A spoon to eat a half of a chicken, bones and all. Then, for dessert, they give you half of a watermelon to eat with another spoon. I absolutely love both of them, though. On the occasional cold day, the broth can really warm you up, and the lots of food and fruit keeps me going, usually to the next lunch the day after. I don't need to spend a lot of money on food because the members are so genereous. They are willing to do whatever we need to. I'm 100% sure they are better member missionaries than I was.

Anyway, Olaiz is asking for this back, so here is where I'll end it for now. Hopefully I'll write more next week if I have more time!

Elder MacGregor

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