Golden Area

So I am IN LOVE With Coyhuique!!!!!!!!! Actually im not in the city of CoyHuique i am in a little town called Puerto Aysen that is about an hour outside of the city but it is SO BEAUTIFUL! But just about everything that other missionaries is true haha. Except for the snow part. There is snow on all the hills that surround the town but none in the city. But shoot it is so freaking Cold here. Goodness. Its like the cold just slams through my pants, the pajamas that i have under, and the thermals that i use under those, and gets me to the bone. Shoot its cold here.

So my companion is a Chilean named Elder Silva, dudes pretty awesome we have been working a ton here. OH AWEsome random fact, my district Leader is Elder OWENS!!!!!!! He was in the MTC with me, and he would come into my room all the time and we would have Nacho Nights. He is awesome i love him so much, i am so excited we are in the same district. He called me last night too, and he is just excited to work with me as i am to work with him.

Ok story time. I was with my companion driving down to Aysen when he said ``Elder Crockett, i feel like i should tell that i expect alot out of you. Just so you know there has been a bunch of unfocused disobedient missionaries here in Aysen before, and when it was almost impossible to work with them, and because of that this sector is pretty bad right now, we havent seen progress in a long time. And so i wrote a letter to President asking him to please send me a missionary who is a hard worker, who would be able to turn this sector around. Because all we need here is someone with a really good work ethic. And then a couple days after writing that to president he called me telling me he was sending you here, so i am expecting a lot out of you``

So we got to work here, and Aysen is AWESOME. We have found so many families who are just straight up GOLDEN! I have never in all my mission have found a people so prepared to here the gospel. Ever. They are incredible here.

We found one girl who while we were talking to her she asked ``If Christ established his church in the world why is there so many now`` And so we taught here about prophets and apostasy, and right after teaching about apostasy she asked ``Why would God let this happen, wouldnt he just call a new prophet`` So we taught her about The restoration of the Gospel, and the prophet Joseph Smith, and then after that she said ``This is incredible, but i feel as though God would give us a little evidence to help us believe this happened.`` So then we taught her about the Book of Mormon, and gave her a copy. And wow she was so excited to read it. And then we taught her about prayer and how after reading in the Book of Mormon to pray to ask God if its true, and if everything we just taught here was true`` She then said that she wants to come to our church, so we told her when it starts, and she also asked if she was aloud to get baptized too. Pure Gold

She isnt the only person we found that was super Gold either, there was another man who works in the fishing boats, and so he is only here for 7n days and then works for 14. SO we wont be able to teach him much. But this man was just as receptive as the first.

There was another family who went through a really hard crisis and was really wondering if God Exists. This one of them wants to get baptized the other is a little more skeptical but is willing to investigate to see what we are teaching is true.

there is so much potential here in Aysen. I am so excited to get to work here. Its crazy i have been seeing so much success in this last week, but shoot i have been seeing so much opposition too, kind of things that you only imagine happening in missionary movies haha. But thats good, because i know that if satan is working so hard to stop us, it`s because God has alot for us to do here.

Love you all Keep me posted!

Reading my Flight Itinerary‏

So i was pretty ready to go on a baggage security rant right about now but eventually everything turned out good so im happy now.

So I am going to quote a conversation that i had this week. I was in a city called Llanquihue working with my friend Elder Werner when his cell phone starts ringing. And i over hear ``Her Elder I have some information that i need to you to pass on to Elder Crockett`` And so he replies ``Well he`s standing here right now so you can just tell him yourself if you want to`` And then passes me the phone.

And on the phone is my Friend Elder Johnson, and he is currently the mission presidents Secretary. And so after talking for a min he says ``Elder Crockett, i have news for you.. You`re Going to Choyihueque`` And my first reply was ``You`re messing with me right`` And he says ``Yup i was just kidding`` And i reply ``Oh thank Goodness you scared me there i thought i was going to freeze to death for a second`` And then there was a awkward silence and he replied ``Actually i wasnt kidding you actually are going to Choyihueque``

Now just so you know This city Choyihueque ( i dont know if im spelling it right) is so far down south that I have to take a plane to get there. It is a place where there is literally snow all year round. And sense it cost so much money for president to send missionaries there they normally stay down there in the south for at least 6 months many are there for more than i year.

Now honestly I have wanted to go there sense my first day here in Chile. And my first initial thought was of super excitement. Until i thought about it a little. I am still recovering from pneumonia where i cannot spend too much time it the cold, and i am getting sent to a place where it snows even in the summer. It is literally the coldest area in the mission. Even Colder Than Punta Arenas which is the farthest south city in the world, because not only am i really closest to Antarctica i am also up in the mountains, at least i think so.

I have only really heard 2 things about this city. That it is Super Beautiful. Possibly the most beautiful place in Chile, but it is deathly cold all year long. But honestly i am super Excited.

I told my ward mission leader this and he said ``Are you kidding? I mean if God needs you in the spirit world to preach the gospel he is definitely sending you to the right place. Because if there was any place in this country that could hypothetically kill you, that would be it`` I then said ``Thanks Love you too``

My personal theory is that God is sending me there to go through like a shock therapy. If my lungs get used to the death cold air there then i will never have a problem with my lungs ever again in my entire life, because im not going to experience much colder than that hahaha.

Actually its not even that bad i will be there during the summer and so it will be alot less cold than it would be if i was in there in August or something in the middle of winter.

My friend Elder Warner Told me that there in the summer the sun Raises at about 4 am and sets at about 11 pm. So i am pretty excited for the awesome missionary tan that i am going to get there hahaha

Over all i am actually really happy, and excited to go down to Choyihueque, but i am kind of bummed that i am leaving Puerto Varas so soon.Because i found a ton of new investigators here and taught a ton, and was in the process of preparing 10 different baptisms in the next couple of days actually, and so i wont be around to see my investigators be baptized, again haha. This has literally happened in ever single transfer ive had haha

Also there was elections for president this Sunday and so it was illegal to have a church meeting, and so i didnt get to say goodbye to the members. Which Kind of Sucks, i literally had just enough time here in Puerto Varas to fall in love with Everyone, turn the dieing sector into a sector that is going to explode with baptisms really soon, and all of that while fighting off Death hahaha. And the worst part is i dont even have time to say goodbye to really anybody. Kind of bummed about that. But its ok, i`m hoping that some day i`ll be able to come back here, even if its just for a day i would like to see how everything i`ve done here is going to turn into.

Actually i have had the opportunity to tell a couple of the members and none of them are super psyked , they all feel that i just got here (because i did) and want me to stay longer, and honestly i want to stay longer too, but i know that God needs me right now down south so i am excited to go.

I just delivered one of my maletas, i have no idea what there are called in English, they are those really big bag things that you put clothes in to travel, you gave me some when i graduated. I can only take one with me on the airplane and the other has to go by bus, and so they are sending it to Santiago Chile, the Capital, super far away, and then from there they are going to send it down south, the the leaders told me to only pack the things that i absolutely need right now in the one that i am taking of the plane, because my other bag will take about a month or so to arrive in Choyihueque.

Well this next time next week ill let you know if i got any snow!!!! Hahahaha

Love you all! Keep me posted on how you are doing!

Still sick?

So before i start my story i want to tell you all that i am pretty much almost all the way better kind of haha. But for real i feel fine. But due to something that happened in church the other day no one believes me. And that is where my story starts this week.

Actually background info The Ward Mission leader That i work with is named Brother Gonzalez. And he is awesome. The best ward mission leader ive ever had (in fact the only ive ever had haha) But he has seen all my x rays and my medical reports and everything so he knows that i`ve been a little sick haha. And this last week it literally rained every single day without stopping, so the mission presidents wife told me that i wasnt aloud to leave to work this week due to the rain. And so all of the meetings that i had with Hno Gonzalez this week. have been in my house.

Ok background established

So this Sunday was awesome. I was in my class with Hno Gonzalez with all of my investigators that came to church, when a member of the bishopric walks in with a gringo. And he comes up to me and says. ``Elder Crockett, this man is from the United States, and he was preparing to get baptized before he came here to South America, but he doesnt speak very much spanish, so can you translate everything for him?`And i told him sure. Because i generally feel like a boss when im translating for people haha.

So in our class Hno Gonzalez would teach something, and then i would translate everything he said from spanish into English for this man. Scriptures, examples, questions, testimony, answers, everything i translated everything. But after a little time Hno G starts being a little jerk, and starts speaking super fast, using really strange words, and weird examples just to make it harder for me. (He also speaks some english and so he knew what words dont have easy translations into english) hahaha But to his disappointment i showed him up and did a good job translating everything..

But after the class i talked to the gringo a little bit, and it really makes me want to know how their conversation went with the councilor, because he definitely was not a investigator, or a new convert. He told me that he was baptized at 8, was faithful all his life, served a mission on the east coast of the states, and was here in south America just because he wanted to explore it, and he wanted to learn spanish, and figured wheres a better place to learn spanish then in South America. Which is valid thats how i learned Spanish haha, but granted i know that i had divine help, because becoming fluent in a matter of weeks is something that isnt exactly normal haha.

My story with this man keeps going but i want to get to the good part of my story, about why the ward is so worried about me now.

In Priesthood meeting all of the men where gathered, and there is actually a ton of men in this ward. I didnt even know that many men lived in Chile hahaha, but like any normal Priesthood meeting we were all joking around, the High Priests really like making fun of me, so they make some joke about me, and then i make some smart alek back, and then hit them back with another joke, and so all of us are just messing around, and no one is focused, but we start the meeting, and so i stop messing around with the old guys and i am paying attention, but the rest of the men kept whispering and werent really paying attention, like any other normal priesthood meeting.

But then the bishop asked Hno G to stand up to give a update on the obra misional. And so he stands up and starts telling everyone whats going on, and what we need them to do. But then he says ``But i have something a little more important that i want to talk about. Our good Friend Elder Crockett, has been keeping a secret from all of you. Over the past couple of weeks has had to make constant trips to the hospital, and in these trips we've learned that he was ``una Enfermadad Grave`` (In other words he literally told everyone that i was seriously sick)`` And then the room went totally silent, and everyone turns and starts looking at me, and there passes almost an entire min of everyone staring at me in complete silence without saying anything. Until one of my friends (one of the youth) asks ``What do you have?`` And so i said ``pneumonia``

And then everyone starts talking again, and are all saying how thats super dangerous, and even more so because i am here in Chile where it never stops raining, and that how that could make my infection worse, and kill me. But then Hno G starts talking again and everyone stops talking to listen to him, and he says ``Yes, but we all know Elder Crockett very well, and how faithful he is, and he has been walking around working with the sickness his entire time here in Puerto Varas, but its come to a point where he hasnt been able to leave in a couple of days due to how serious his sickness is, and he needs your help right now.``

Now right about now im thinking ``Oh my gosh Jaime (his first name) i`m totally fine, i havent felt better in a long time, i`ve literally used up all of the pills, and im pretty sure that my infection has died. I am totally fine. But then Hno G keeps going, and this next part doesnt make much sense of how it worked out.

He said ``And so right now he needs your help. And so i need a list of what days you are free from work, and what hours so you can go out to leave with the missionaries. And i want all of you in your quorums to make me the list and give it to me, and then i will email it to Elder Crockett so you will be able to go out to work with him``

And i am amazed at the response of the ward, because one of our biggest problems here is before i got here the members havent really done anything with missionary work. But the other sunday ( i didnt tell this story) i gave a talk in church in which i told the members that they need to be missionaries ( i actually mailed my talk to the Myers family, its in all spanish, and granted i didnt read my paper at all as i gave it, so its not exactly the same, but its close) But after i gave that talk, everyone started bringing friends to church, and then after Hno G made this little announcement, everyone started shouting out when they can leave with us, and so he had to calm them all down and tell them that they needed to make the list in the quorums and that he would send in to me.
I have no idea what the heck Jaime was thinking, and granted he only told the truth (from his perspective), but gosh the members are jumping alive.

Then all the men told their wives, so they are all giving me food now hahahaha.

There is a lot more that has but i`ll have to tell you those stories another day.

Love you all keep me posted on all of your Adventures!!!!

Hotrodding at Death's Door

Wow mom you are in incerdible Guesser. But dont worry i am totally fine. Im not really concerned about my health at all. But i am going to get straight into Story Time!

So in the hospital i was checking in when they told me that i was going to have to go through a quick checkup before they sent me to the emergency room. So they call a young nurse to come and do it. And so she takes me away to a small room, and tells me that he is going to have to take my temperature and that i was going to have to take my shirt all the way off. And my first thought was (I know for a fact that i do not need to take my shirt off all the way) But i start unbuttoning my shirt and only unbutton the first couple buttons because i knew that was sufficient to put the little thermometer underneath my arm. And so she sees that i stopped and i guess she got a little impatient. And came up to me and started taking my shirt off for me!

And me being a missionary not used to having women taking off my shirt, i am getting a little uncomfortable, but then she pulls my shirt open and sees that i have a ``Undershirt`` on and she makes some stupid remark about how she was expecting that i just had the one shirt on. And me being pretty annoyed at how this freaking girl just tried taking my clothes off just because she wanted to, i said ``Yup i do. And i can take care of it myself thank you very much`` And then i snatch the thermometer things from her hand and put it under my arm. Check my own temperature. And then hand it back to her. And man did see seemed ticked. And then said in a pretty heavy tone ``Thank you. Go wait in the hall now`` And so happily i say ``Alright. See you later!`` And then i go wait in the hall, which i have a bunch of great stories from that but i will wait for another day to tell those ones.

After waiting for a while a women comes out and calls out ``Hamilton Denton`` In probably the thickest Chilean accent i have ever heard, totally butchering my name. And it was actually pretty weird hearing my real name instead of just Elder.
But i go with that man and he takes me down a long hallway and puts me in a room and tells me to wait for the doctor. And so i wait there messing around taking a bunch of pictures and stuff wen the doctor come in and said ``Mr. Hamilton Denton Crockett I am going to need you to take off your shirt please`` And my first thought was ``Well he said please and didnt just try ripping it off of me so i`ll do it`` haha

He then gets one of those things you use to listen to lungs and he spends a really long time checking my lungs. And Checks about every single inch of my chest, front and back. Not even kidding. He then says ``Alright. Wait one moment please`` And then leaves and comes back with a wheel chair. And i ask ``Why do you have that?`` And he said ``Its for you we need to transfer you to another part of the hospital`` And i wanted to say some mouthy remark (im a pretty mouthy person when it comes to hospitals) like ``Well i walked in here without dieing im pretty sure i can walk some more`` But i decided against it, and just happily sat down in the chair and they wheeled me off the the other side of the hospital into a room with a big sign that said ``Warning Radiation Danger`` (but in spanish) (p.s. this whole story takes place in South America so everything is in Spanish haha)

 And they take me to a tiny room. And handed me a sleeveless shirt that was made of some paper like substance. And told me that i was going to have to put it on. Then left me there alone. And i put it on, and i just think i look super buff, (one of the walls was a mirror) But i didnt do too much flexing or anything in the mirror because i could hardly move around the room was so tiny. But i thought it was so weird. It was the first time in about a year that i was dressed in so little clothes and i just felt naked haha.

They then come back for me and take me to a room where i had to do a bunch of X Rays. And i wasnt aloud to move. And it was super boring. They then tell me to go get my clothes back on. And put me back in a wheel chair. But they then ditched me there in a big room with nothing in it. And i had a wheel chair. So granted i use this opportunity to just mess around and race across the room and do wheelies and stuff like that. It was super awesome. But then as i was there messing around i hear talking, and butchering my name. So like a spy a start sneaking around in my wheelchair until i find a hall that had a bunch of doctors in it looking at my x rays talking about what they say.

And one of them said ``How long has this man had this infection`` And another one says ``He said about a month`` The first voice then replies ``Thats incredible that he has had an infection like this for a month and he still walking around like normal`` And then i decide i need to get out of there before someone discovers me so i use my ninja wheelchair moves to sneak back to where they one put me. And a few mins later the team of doctors leave their little batcave and come over to me, and told me that they where going to take me back. They then pushed me to my first room that they put me in. Sadly they then made me get onto a bed so they took away my wheel chair, which kind of bummed me out, because that thing was awesome.


A few mins later a doctor came to me and said ``Well the x rays came through good, and we could see your problem, and like you told us, you do have an infection in one of your lungs. But i prescribed you a medication that you will need to take, and there the secretary is waiting at the desk to tell you more about it, and to give you your x rays and your prescription, you are also going to have to come back next week for some additional x rays and we want to see the progress of your healing`` They then kicked me out and i went to the secretary and she gave me a bunch of papers and told me ``Well here is all of your medical reports you can just read then if you want to know more details about what you have. And here is you prescription that you need to go buy`` And then gave me everything and i left.

And i got into a bus to Puerto Varas where i was going to buy my drugs, and i decided to kill time i was going to read my lab report. And oh my goodness that thing was more straight Latin than spanish, it has so many strange words. But i to make a long story short i found my diagnosis and it was Nuemonia de Lobulo Medio Derecho. Which is just saying that i have pneumonia in my right Lung. But I was not freaked out at all. Because i figured, Welp it hasnt killed me yet, so i guess im fine. And then go and buy my drugs when a little red flag comes up. The pill they prescribed me was incredibly expensive. it cost 6x more than what we were expecting It costs 30,000 pesos for 10 pills. Which is about $6 a pill. Super expensive.

And so i called the mission presidents wife to ask if it was ok that i bought something so expensive. And she said that i needed to, and then the mission would reimburse me for the costs, So i paid with my personal money, because the money the mission gave me was not nearly enough. Hna Rappleye then asked me about what the doctor told me and i told here that he said pretty much nothing, just that i needed to take this drug, and come back in another week. So she asked me to send her copies of all of my lab records and of my x rays so she could take then to a different doctor to see if he says that there was more i needed to do. But then i bought my pills and have been taking then ever sense.

They are freaking HUGE! I`ve never had to take bigger pills in my entire life. Its like trying to swallow a Jolly Rancher whole. They are HUGE. (P.S: Kids dont try swallowing a jolly rancher whole. It will probably kill you haha) But i am happy to report that even though i got sick i still havent missed a single day of work!!! HIGH FIVE!!!! I actually called Hna Rappleye again today and we talked about how im doing, and she told me just not to leave to work if is starts raining, or if its really cold. Now granted i live on the southern end of South America so it is always deathly cold here, and it is constantly raining. So i think it was her way of telling me to stop trying to work. But i just have so much to do that i need to do it! hahaha Just kidding Right after i as told that i wasnt aloud to work in the rain i thought 'shoot what am i going to do' because it was a rainyday. And then instantly the wind starts blowing, and all the clouds blow away so its a nice sunny day now! Kind of warm too. Perfect to work!!!!

Ok time for the bad news. On Halloween i had appointments all day long so i was in houses the whole time. So i didnt get to knock doors. Which means i didnt get to go trick or treating. Sad day. I had an awesome costume too, i was dressed up like a missionary. And i played to part sooo goood. But a member has my back and he gave me a ton of candy yesterday in church. SCORE!

Welps Love Yall. Ill have to go back to the hospital tomorrow. Hopefully it doesnt take all day again. But i foresee that it wont. Love you All Keep me Posted!