DOG BITE AND RABIES SHOTS!

Not much time today so I´ll be quick. Oh... and ¡Hola! :D  Where to start.... ok

Thank you, Sister Stromberg, for the card. It´s great to know how many people there are looking out for me.

I´ve gotten some questions about food:

1.  To the Ballards: No, I haven´t eaten anything crazy yet. I´m living in the city right now so there isn´t much campo food (campo means country).

2.  To anyone who has asked if I´ve eaten lots of chile in Chile: Yes, you´re all very clever, but I´ve eaten less chile here than I ever did in the United States.

Oh! I was bitten by a dog about 2 weeks ago. :) I´ve gotten so used to just hearing the sound of barking dogs that I didn´t even notice it behind me (did I mention that there are many many many many many many many many many many dogs in Puerto Montt?) It tore through my pants, but didn´t tear through my thermals. It drew blood, so I need to get a 5-phase rabies vaccination at the clinic.....which is way on the other side of Puerto Montt. It takes a lot of time, but it´s something we need to do because there's that 0.1% chance I have rabies. *twitches and foams at mouth*

We actually went out to the countryside this Sunday because it´s part of our sector and we got a referral. But they didn´t answer the phone after setting the appointment, so, since we were already far away, we visited local members who'd recently moved there from the city because it´s cheaper and it´s a bigger house.

We´ve had a very successful week in la obra missional (missionary work). We found two really nice families while knocking doors, and we got referrals from other missionaries to two other families. The real test is if they´ll actually listen to the lessons. Missionary work often feels like throwing darts. On Saturday, we had tons of appointments and only one didn´t fall through (a less active member who needed to leave shortly after we arrived). I´m excited to meet the new referrals. We have an appointment with one of them today, so let´s hope it holds through.

This week, I learned a ton about mercy and justice. Justice exists because there´s a law, a law set by God before the Earth was ever created. When we break the law (the commandments of God given to us for our benefit), we sin and are subject to justice, which separates us from God. Thankfully, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we have mercy. Mercy is the opportunity to repent. It’s given to us through the Atonement. Repentance is the real intent to change our lives to conform to those laws of God. However, none of us are perfect and none of us will make all the changes necessary. We show our faith and our real intent by actually changing as much as we can, but we can´t be perfected without the Atonement. We can´t be perfect because the law has been broken and justice claims those who break the law. Mercy claims those who repent because of the Atonement. It’s our opportunity to change.

If I had more time, I´d make that more concise and clear, but I don´t, so I hope that made sense. :)

Love you all. :D  I especially love the emails I´ve gotten.

¡Chao!  (I spelled it "ciao" before... but I saw it spelled "chao" on the side of a truck... so I hope that´s spelled right. It´s how everyone says "bye" in Chile. Almost no one uses "audios".

-Elder Christopherson

Mom: Music probably isn´t a fantastic idea for Christmas because even if you sent 100 songs, 2 years is a really long time with the same music. I don´t want to get sick of good music. I´m seriously provided with everything I need.... I´m trying to think of what I might want..... Your letters are really what matter to me. Those are the things I look forward to.