Nope, don't need new shoes.

Elder Hancock My Lider Misional is named Hno Jacob and he just got home from vacations in Conce. And i was eating lunch with him the other day, and he said ``Hey Elder Crockett I met an Elder In conception that reminded me alot of you.´´ I cant remember his name but i remember that it was the name of that Superhero movie that Will Smith is in.´´ And so i said ``Hancock?´´ And he said ``Yeah that one´´ And then i described what you looked like, and he said ``You know him?´´ And i said ``Ya i grew up with the guy.´´ Small world right. haha

So mom my shoes are not that worn out, i am sending you a photo just to prove it hahahahaha. But actually Dont worry about the shoes i have another pair that i have hardly used. Its just on the days when it isnt raining i wear my dead shoes, and i wear my good shoes whenever there is chance of rain because i dont want to ruin my good shoes haha. And i would tell you my pants size but i have no idea haha. But i actually do need more pants because im at the point in my mission where every single pair of pants i have is worn out in between the legs that every single pair of pants i have has ripped at least once. And after having them fixed they just last until i have to sit down again and they rip in a different place. And i would buy new ones myself but i dont think my length size exists here in South America hahaha. What you could do is just find pants that are long enou8gh for Truman, because he waas a little taller than me before the mish. And i imagine that he still is now, and then just buy a size that isnt so skinny. like a 34 or 35 por alla. I think thats what i am using. Even though i said i got fat when we talked it was only half true because i still use about the same pant size i really just manned up

So speaking of that Song How can i be. Earlier that same day my companion and i were planning a couple of games for the activity, and when we finished we still had about a half hour until we needed to start studying again. And so I bust out my uke and start singing primary songs from that book you sent me. When i remember that song How can i be that i used to sing all the time. And so i started to sing it in spanish (quickly translation it from english to spanish as i was singing) (Because speaking englsih just doesnt feel right to me) (Another story about english will follow) But i was singing that song in spanish and my comp thought that it was LEGIT. And he Said `` Elder Crockett. That song would be perfect for our Book of Mormon Activity today. You need to sing it.´´ And i realized that he was right. So when my Language study started i spent a couple of mins to translate it good and write down the words so that it would all sound good and everything. And then practiced it like once. And that called it good. I sang the song and i was awesome. Everyone thought it was awesome and they were super excited for the other activities that we had planned that night.

So another English story. This Sunday there was a family visiting who is from Colorado. And Both of the Parents Spoke spanish but their daughter didnt. (she has like 18 years old) But i was talking to the parents making them feel welcome, when i realized that the girl had not said a single thing and was just looking at me with a really confused , yet amazed look on her face. And i just wanted to laugh because it was the exact same look that every single new missionary has on their face when they start talking to people in spanish, and realize that they dont understand anything haha. So I say something in English to her, and oh my gosh she spoke so fast in English. Almost as fast as you all did when i called you for Christmas. And then i responded, and i spoke really Slowly and had to think about every word that came out of my mouth. (like i had to for Christmas too haha) And my companion is just sitting there trying not to crack up at how bad i am in speaking in English. (little known fact when i write my email every week i constantly find myself erasing a ton of things i wrote because i realized that it was all spanish) (Only has happened twice today, im going for a new record haha)But after i finished talking to her. I felt really comfortable speaking in spanish again, and i was speaking at normal rate (faster than my english) And my companion just starts making fun of me saying ``Elder Crockett, you speak english like its a foreign language to you.´´ And i reply saying ``Well it pretty much is. I speak Spanish all day everyday. I think in spanish. All of my dreams are in Spanish. And when i am alone with other gringo missionaries, I still speak spanish. Even if they try talking to me in english. The whole English thing just doesnt click in my brain anymore´´ I would say ``Sad, but true´´ Pero no estoy ni alli con ingles, entonces no me importa si no puedo hablar en ingles bien hahahahahaha

Oh mom Carmen, and Rodrigo Requelme told me to say Hello. It´s funny, ever time i see that family they seem to know more about whats going on in the house than i do, because they see the pics you put on facebook, and then they will ask about something that i have no idea about, and then say ``Ok right it was a new photo. Im sure that your mom will tell you about it next p day´´ hahaha

Love you all. Keep Me posted!

In Jail....again.

So the English Copies of the General Conference finally got here to Coyhuaque!!!!!!! I`ve been waiting to read the talks from general conference for so long now. And finally this week they came in!!!!! I also got that package you sent me with the childrens song book. Super awesome I love it! The Temples are super awesome too.

But oh my goodness i have totally forgotten how much of an emphasis that God put on missionary work in this last conference. There are so many talks that talk about the importance of the members working with the missionaries right now. And how Today is the day. It was awesome. But i was reading it when i had a thought that is a super Palo to anyone not doing missionary work right now haha. And as i was reading i heard a voice in my head say `` Anyone who isn`t doing missionary work, either doesnt understand, or doesnt appreciate the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ´´ But as i had that thought i realized that i need to do a better job with ``giving´´ members more opportunities to share the gospel. Because right now, yes  do call members every single day so they can leave to help me teach. And each one that leaves with us has talked about how grateful they were for the opportunity that they had to feel the spirit and help people learn more. 

 

But i realized that if they are not having missionary experiences for themselves (outside of leaving to teach with us) that they are not doing what God wants them too in regards to missionary work right now. And sense i had just received the Conference talks i was able to remember the importance it is for the members to share the gospel. Thankful the Zone leaders must have had the same impression because we had a meeting this week (i had to travel like 2 hours to get there by the way haha) (not that im complaining the Elders in Puerto Cysnes had to travel 6 hours to get there haha) (poor souls haha) and in this meeting we started a new program in which we are going to help the members to start working for themselves. And Its was awesome. I am actually going to steal a copy of our secret plans and hold onto them for another year, and then use the same program when i get home so for one, i will still be constantly doing missionary work. And two so i can help others do it. haha. But we started to program and it was awesome.

So new experiences from this week. 

1. I know what its like to get a ``Pat Down´´ (searched for weapons)

2. I know what its like to be INSIDE PRISON (not just the lame police station stories that i had in the past. I made it all the way to the slammer this week haha) (p.s. Jail is not a fun place)(i didnt like the music they had there either haha)

So speaking of jail i had a really sad experience this week. I have an investigator who was going to get baptized (this saturday that just passed) But we went to his house early this week and he wasnt there, but his wife was, and she told us that he had to leave and wouldnt be coming back for a couple of days. Because the other day 3 men came over to the house in white shirts and ties the other day, and they saw thier clothes and got excited thinking it was us, and immediately opened the door, and it was three PDI agents. (its like the Chilean FBI) And they were searching for her husband (my investigator who i am really good friends with) (he recently left jail after being there for 11 years) And they were going to take him back. But luckily he wasnt home so they didnt find him. But eventually we find our investigator (before the PDI could haha) and we talk to him, and he decided that this Tuesday he is going to turn himself into, before the cops take him in, because he thinks that they will be more sympathetic with him if he brings himself in. 

 

And so this tuesday he is turning himself in. I would tell you for what but it doesnt really matter. But he really wanted to get baptized because i wanted to change his life. And has changes alot sense the day that i met him. But it wil be ok, because it may have been inspired that i had a little field trip to jail because now i know the process of entering, and visiting hours and all that stuff. And so we will be able to go in and visit him. And when i went through i had permission to bring in books and stuff (they checked them first to make sure i wanst hiding anything inside haha) and i gave out pamphlets. And so i know that when we go visit him i will be able to bring in a copy of the book of mormon to him, if they dont let him bring one in, and we will be able to teach him still. And even though he wont be abe to be baptized for a little while, he will have enough time in there to get to know the book of mormon well,and to gain a testimony. (this man actually amazes me. he knows the Bible by memory (because he had nothing else to do but read it for 11 yearts haha) 

 

But every time we taught him, as we were reading in the book of mormon he would stop us and say ``The bible teaches something exactly the same but with different words`` And then would quote it by memory, and show us in the bible where it said something to same. (i actually learned alot of scriptures from him haha) One day i asked if he believed the book of mormon is true, and he said ``Of coarse it is, any one who has read the bible, and believes the bible would be an idiot to deny the book of mormon, it teaches the same things but its just alot more clear´´ And i said ``Well yes its true, the same God that talked to the prophets and apostles in the Bible are talked to the Prophets in the Book of Mormon´´ But then i asked him if he prayed to know if its true and he said ``No i didnt need to its obvious that its true´´ And i replies, ``Yes it is obviously true but you still have to pray about it. And if you already know its true than you Already know what to expect. So just do it.´´ And so he did haha

Welp i want to keep writing but i got to go. Love you all

Tracting

So this week was super awesome. Earlier in the week my companion and i were talking about our investigators, and we realized that when they get baptized the missionaries that are going to be here in a couple months (after us) are not going to have ANYONE to teach. Because out of everyone that i was teaching with Elder Silva, some of them got baptized, we´ve dropped others, and the few that we are still teaching are going to get baptized and so there would be no one for the missionaries after us. So we decided that we needed to find new people.

So at the beginning of the week we started making our plans so we would spend less time teaching so we could have more time to do contacts and find new people. So we werent teaching as much, but every moment we werent teaching someone we where knocking doors or talking to people in the street. And that first day yes we met a bunch of new people, but it was not exactly the best spent time in the world because we spent most of the day getting doors slammed in our face. 

And so the next day we tried a different tactic to find new people, and that was visiting members and asking for references. And whenever we would pass by the house of a member we would teach them, and then ask for references. But It appears that they didnt understand the whole message of the special conference we had ´´The work of Salvation`` which was dedicated to members working with the missionaries. But we spent al day doing that but didnt get out with anything.

So the next morning we were in our companionship study talking about what we could do to find new people, and we decided tat we just needed to keep knocking doors, because the members arent helping at all. But we realized that we needed to change our tactics. So we set a goal to teach at least 2 full lessons in the street that day. That means that we would have to do contacts and start teaching right away, and if they didnt reject us, keep teaching. And so we went out work, and our entire plans was only this. So we went around and just started teaching everybody in the street. And it was incredible. There was SO MANY PEOPLE who actually listened to us. I have never taught more in one day in my entire mission. We taught so much. And then was we were walking down the street i just made sure that i did every single thing that popped into my head just because generally when the Holy Ghost speaks to me, its just in thoughts (I almost never get that warm fuzzy feeling thing) and i wanted to do literally everything that God wanted me to do so i just did everything that popped into my head, and just trusted that He would make sure that i didnt get any stupid ideas. And that worked too because literally every time a thought came into my head about something to do (even if it was like buy a chocolate) we always found someone new to teach. It was super awesome!

We went home that day super happy because we found so many people to teach. but we decided that we stil wanted more people. So the next morning we decided that we were going to do the same thing, combined with visiting less active members (random fact i normally prefer visiting less active members, that the active ones because they generally understand the role that missionaries play in helping people) And it was awesome, because literally with every less active member we visited every single one of them had a friend over who wasnt a member, so we just taught their friends, and that was awesome, because even though the less active members dont always go to church whenever they bore their testimony it was super sincere. So we found a ton of people that day like that. And its awesome because now some of the less active members want to come back to church because they want to help their friends get baptized.

And so we went around all week just teaching every single person that there is. And wow we found so many new people to teach. And now we are working in a part of the city that i almost never visited with Elder Silva, because we never had anyone to teach there, but ever sense Elder Dominguez and i took a ton of time dedicated to finding new people who arent already in the Area Book. And its awesome. Now i am positive that a ton of these people are going to get baptized. I may not be around to do it, maybe yes, hopefully yes haha, but i know alot of them will.

People always say that Knocking Doors is the least effective way to do missionary work. I have something to say to them. ``You`re Wrong!´´ hahahaha Thats an excuse lazy missionaries use because they are afraid to talk with everyone. I`ve found more people in just this one week dedicated to knocking doors than i have in my entire mission from references. Now talking about references they are awesome. I love references, when you have a good reference it is so much easier to teach them. And there is some statistic that 1 out of 22 references gets baptized, but only 1 out of ever 1000 something people met by knocking doors gets baptized. And yes it makes sense. I was rejected alot more times than i´ve had people listen to us this last week. Some of which were incredibly rude. but for all you future missionaries out there when the members wont work with you you`ve just got to do it the old fashion way. Because God is always preparing someone to get baptized. And if the members wont tell you who it is, you just got to find them yourself haha

Welp love you all. Give references to the missionaries haha

New Companion!

That awesome that Elder Larsen came to visit you guys. I still remember that dog we named her Valeska. I wanted to mane her Valeria but Aaron wanted to name her some Russian name, so we made a compromise, Valeska. Stupid dog hahaha

My new companion is awesome! Elder Dominguez is from the Dominican Republic, and he is brand new in the mission. He only has 3 months in the mission, i am his second companion. And his trainer was my friend Elder Spriggs. His accent is freaking legit. Its like a Jamaican dude speaking spanish. Its awesome. But man this sector is going to be an awesome area for him to be in in the beginning of his mission. 

And i cant even imagine what he is thinking about how strongly we are guided by the spirit here. Last night it was his turn to pray before we went to bed and he said ´´God we are thankful that we are being constantly  guided by your hand to find the people who are prepared for your gospel´´ But this last week has just been ridiculous about how many awesome people we are finding.

On the first day we got to work here it was awesome, we were walking down the street, when we walk pass a big red house, and we walk past it when i feel like i need to turn around so i turn around and look at the house, then turn to my companion and say ´´Elder, God wants us to knock this door´´ And so straight away we knock the door, and a man answers and straight away says ´´Welcome to my home, Please, come in´´ And we were both taken off guard because no one ever invited us in the first time we knock their door. But we go in and they offer us Soda, and we all start talking. And it turns out that he was a member who was baptized at 11 years old but went inactive when we was about 17. But now is in his 30s has a wife and 3 kids. And his wife isnt a member. And oh my gosh she was so receptive. I could talk all day long about them. But she wanted to come to church and to read to book of Mormon, and wanted to investigate more of the church. They were awesome

But we leave the house, and were just talking about how awesome they were, when we took at our planners to see what our plan was. And so we read the planner and i read the name out loud, and then say. "I know that they are our plan right now but i feel like thats not where we need to go right now. Lets walk over there" (pointing in the opposite direction from where we were planning on going.)

And as we were walking i see a house of a less active member that i know. And i say ´´Ok this is where we need to go´´ So we knock the door and they invite us in, And the less active member was sitting there playing X Box So we go ever there and start talking to him, when i see that he has a friend over. So i start talking to him just to be polite, not to leave him out. When i ask the less active member to search for his book of mormon because we wanted to share something with him (3 nephi 18) And i give my book of mormon to his friend, and invite him to read with us. And then as we were talking about the Sacrament. I explain to his friend the covenant of baptism and how when we take the Santa Cena we are renewing this convent that we made. 

And then i say ´´And even though at this moment you dont know much about our church we want to invite you to be baptized so that you can make these same covenants with God and enjoy the same blessings that we talked about.´´ And the friend is sitting there and is thinking about it and then starts nodding his head and says ´´Ya. I want to be baptized´´ And then i say ´´And we want to help you arrive at the point to where you feel ready to be baptized. And we are preparing a baptism service on the 8th of Feburary. and we want to keep sharing with you to help you prepare to be baptized. So will you prepare to be baptized this 8th of Feburary´´ And he is sitting there thinking for a second, and then starts nodding his head again and says ´´Ya´´ And then i make a whole bunch of promises and then get his phone number and stuff and then we leave. And my companion was just in shock. And just starts staring at me. And so i just say like ´´Welcome to the mission Elder´´

We had a ton of more incredible stories from this week too. It was awesome. But im out of time. Ill try to tell more stories next week

Love you all keep me posted!