chi chi chi, le le le, viva chile!!!!

hello erybody!it was such a busy week!!! we worked so hard this week and finally found some new ppl to teach, so thats good. we went to the doctor for my companion, saved a dog from being eaten by ticks, and we had the 50 year celebration of missionary work in chile!!! it was sweet because the missionaries got to watch the show and also we got to sing "i´ll go where you want me to go". the show was so cool because there were people dancing the traditional dances of all the countries in south america and my little anthropology heart was super happy! im going to download all the music when i get home and listen to it in my car... and probably cry while thinking about chile. the chileans have so much pride.. its awesome. they are so crazy. every chance they get they shout "chi chi chi, le le le, viva chile!!!" i like shouting even though im not chilean. when all the missionaries shouted it, the crowd went crazy and were cheering for us. it was cool. the celebration also did a moving rendition of the pioneers crossing the plains and got all teary eyed which never happens. one of our new investigators name is Adrian. He is the boyfriend of one of our memebers who´s son has brain cancer. they had to build a whole new house that was equipped like a hospital for him so he could come home so we went to help them build and paint every chance we had. we also came and sang to thomas (the kid with cancer) and brought him pictures of jesus. one day while we were telling him about the 2000 strippling warriors he started crying (thomas) and Adrian held up a piece of paper with the alphabet on it so that he could tell us what was wronge. he spelled out spirit. he was feeling the spirit. After that Adrian decided to start taking the missionary lessons! how cool is that? so your challenge this week is to go out and do some service. i have heard countless stories of peoples lives being changed because somebody cared enought to serve them. well, i dont really have anything else to say except that im happy and im loving the work even though its really hard sometimes. the time is flying!! i cant beleive i have been out here for 8 months! well, i love you all!love crystal

LUCKY GIRL

Well Crystal is loving the MTC and really getting into every aspect of missionary life. She is trying to get familiar with EVERY part of the missionary training center. In order to do this she has torn her ACL and in so doing has made herself a candidate for a long stay in the sports medicine rehab area of the compound. I had no idea that such a place existed but it does. BUT before she can go there, she will be transported to Payson where she will undergo a little St. Patrick's day operation to reconstruct her bum knee. Lucky Lucky Girl!!!

There she goes...

Sister Crystal entered the MTC on Wednesday. She was excited to get this party started! No doubt Chile will never be the same after they meet Hermana Bates!

AAAAHHHHHHH

I LEAVE TOMORROW!!! tonight at 9 i will be set apart as a sister missionary! :) im super excited and super scared and ready. please write me letters PLEASE!!! my address is in the about me section of my Facebook. i love you all and i will write you back if you write me i promise. k see ya in a year and a half.

copy catter...kitty

Alright so i just read Stephs blog and it reminded me that i have this big list of things to do on the day zero project page, and one of the things on the list is to write a letter to yourself to read in ten years so i thought.. why not go ahead and write it now that im right here before a pivotal leap in my life. so here it goes.

Dear 32 year old self (yikes!)

I hope you are doing well and are still kickin it like a kid. (not in an immature way but like a kid spirit way) I hope you are married and not living with your mom and some cats. Did you marry a mountain man with a good taste in music who seems like a hard a** but is super sweet and rational? Well whoever he is, im sure he's a catch. Do you have any kids? That seems super creepy to me right now... yeah. Well if (we) do i hope you chose some good names like Noah, Jonah, Hannah (named after a beautiful friend), maybe a luke? anyway. So Im about to head out on this mission in Chile. I hope its going to be everything we dreamed it would be. Did you love it? I hope you loved the people and gave them your full attention. I hope you were obedient and followed the spirit without any doubts. I hope you tried really hard to get a long with all your companions... even that one i haven't met yet and wished i hadn't. And for the love! I hope you lost some weight and now you are thin and livin it up all active! I hope that you didn't come home all super weird and scare people away. I think you either go to BYU or BYUH... and if you go back to Hawaii I hope you found some people who you fit with and who will let you be yourself. Right now i really love music and I hope you do too. And i really want to be in a band with my friend Hannah... did we achieve that? I don't even care if we sound good, i just want to make some music. if it hasn't happened yet... find a way to make it happen. Invite the hubs to be in it.. he sings right? I hope that you appreciate your family more and really show love to them because so far I have done a really lousy job. Especially your mom.. you are probably best friends now and you realize how similar you really are. ( eek). Well... I hate cheesy goodbyes so... see ya in ten.

22 year old Crystal

Oh botha

Tonight i disappointed myself. Its really not a big deal, just one of those things where you wish that you would have done things just a tad differently. Kicking myself!!!

No doubts.

I had a really great Sunday today. Church was meh like it always is in my moms ward. I seriously do not like the people in there. They are so.... they just give off a weird vibe that i cant get used to. Glad im leaving it. Anywho. I went to my aunt and uncles for the monthly fast Sunday dinner and today was one of those days where i just felt really good being there with all my cousins and stuff. I have never really been close to my aunt and uncle or their family. just my cousin Jordan (the youngest of them) and my cousin Tomi who cuts my hair. But today I really felt super comfortable and loved? thats really cheesy but thats the way it went. So i decided to ask my uncle for a blessing while my grandpa and everyone were there. It was really cool! I had my uncle, grandpa, Jordan, and Tomi's husband Derick give me the blessing. It was a great blessing. Before I got it, i was having a lot of doubts that im sure everyone has before they go to do something really big and great, and it was really slowing me down and putting me in a bad and worried mood... but my uncle blessed me with peace and calm and a heightened awareness of the spirit which is what i need so badly right now. You are supposed to be so oober prepared to go on a mission and i just feel like i have been flailing! But now i feel like im back on track and just ready to get outa here! Lets do this!