How to Help a Drunk Person

Last Sunday, a miracle happened here in Chile.  I will quote part of my weekly letter to President Rappleye:

"President,

I want to share with you an experience we had proselyting this week.  We always run into a drunk guy on the street.  His name is Eduardo, and he knows a lot about the Church.  Every time he sees us, he tells us how much he wants to get baptized.  His only problem is that he has an alcohol addiction.  He was hit by a bus a few years ago, and his body is pretty messed up.  I think he drinks largely to dull the pain.  But he wants out.

The other day we were at the chapel waiting for the Sisters to have a correlation meeting with the Ward Mission Leader.  Eduardo walked by and saw that the doors were open, so he walked into the Church.  We talked to him until the Ward Mission Leader and the Sisters came, and then we talked to him some more.  He told us how he has a Book of Mormon, and how he knows all about the Word of Wisdom.  He even told us about his plan to break his addiction.  Apparently, there are free beds at the "Home of Christ", but all of his drunk friends offer him alcohol every time.  So even though the cold makes his body hurt more, he is going to sleep outside under a tarp, instead of going to "Home of Christ" and getting drunk.  I gave him a Priesthood blessing and told him we want to help him.  We invited him to church the next day, and made plans to accompany him to the Center of Mental Health the day after.

He always tells us that he's going to come to church every time we see him on the street, and we always remind of the service times and give a card with the information on it.  And he never shows up.  BUT THIS TIME HE CAME!  Some of the members even shook his smelly hand.

Unfortunately, he doesn't have a watch, and he missed our Center of Mental Health appointment.  After that, we kind of let him go, because there's no way to get in touch with him except by chance on the street, and it was a busy week in the office.  So imagine our surprise when, the next Sunday, HE CAME TO CHURCH AGAIN.  And here is the best part.  HE HASN'T DRUNK IN SIX DAYS!  SIX DAYS!  If that isn't a miracle, I don't know what could be.  I gave him my watch, and we rescheduled our appointment.

Eduardo has made amazing progress, but I'm worried about his future.  His employment prospects are dim, but he might be able to get a stipend from the government for his destroyed body.  However, cash is the absolute last thing he needs right now, because the temptation to spend it on alcohol would be enormous.  I just don't really know what his long-term future will be."

President Rappleye is a boss.  It's not easy to look at someone's mangled body and damaged mind, and a see a child of God underneath, a soul yearning to fulfill its potential.  Yet he did it.  I couldn't see past the broken bones and problems, but President did.  And he gave me a plan for overcoming addictions, and told me to look through it to find *something* for Eduardo.  This is what President Rappleye wrote back:

"Something that can surely help him is if he can understand who he really is.  What potential he has.  That his [potential] is so much more than the weaknesses that afflict him.  That the Lord will help him overcome his weaknesses (Ether 12:27) if he will do his part.  If he truly understood what was at stake, he would not touch alcohol again.  Find out if there is an AA program in Osorno that he can go to."

We're planning on meeting with Eduardo tomorrow at church, and we will go from there.  Keep us in your prayers!

Here is a photo of the missionaries in the Ecuador ward.

Also, we played tennis.

AND IT WAS AWESOME.

Love you,
-Elder Crotzer

Training, Tires, and Football!

It's been a crazy last couple weeks.  Let's do a quick recap.

Last week, Elder Pulsipher came down from Misión Concepción, and trained all of our missionaries to use the new program.  Thank goodness all of the equipment worked okay.  We had two live training sessions, and then broadcast the rest of them to the rest of the mission.  We were pulling our hair out the night before over connection problems, but everything went okay the day of.

Elder Pulsipher was kind enough to buy my companion and I lunch after we finished training everyone.  And we got to eat at a nice restaurant.

Frau B, this next photo is for you, of a small shop found outside the mission office.  A German/English sign, in a Spanish-speaking country.  What?

The next photo is a picture of where I sit.  Haha, in the mission office, there are four computers, and President is never there to use his.  So I get to.  It's a really nice chair.

Speaking of President, I thought of something the other day that will blow your mind.  It blew mine.  Our mission president is named John Rappleye.  And... he had a career before he was called to serve as mission president.  And do you know what that was?  He was CEO of all the Bridgestone/Firestone branches in South America.

Bridgestone/Firestone is the largest tire company IN THE WORLD.  With a net worth of TEN BILLION DOLLARS.  And President Rappleye was CEO.  FOR ALL OF SOUTH AMERICA.

I'm not sure how many missionaries in our mission know this.  Or if they do know, they don't recognize the full impact of it.  Every 12 weeks, we have the opportunity to have a personal interview with President Rappleye.  And that is about the coolest experience ever, if you think about it.  Personal advice from the South American CEO of an international company.  Wow.

I have the opportunity to interact closely with President while I'm here in the mission office.  He put me in charge of implementing a new program in the mission.  And I've learned a ton about effective leadership watching him.  He runs the mission like a company.  Like a 10 billion dollar international company.

These next two photos are just a random tire shop, but it's actually really nice, considering what most stores look like in South America.  And all Bridsgestone/Firestone shops look like this.

And to finish, today we had a barbecue.  We played touch football, and it was about the most fun I've had in a long time.  One of the Elders on our team was Elder Amone, a signed BYU linebacker.  You might say we had a small advantage.  I was pretty scared that I was going to hurt one of my knees, but everything went okay.

Well, I've got to go.  Have an awesome week!
-Elder Crotzer

Lots of Sheep, Not Enough Shepherds

I've been thinking about a quandary for a bit of time now.  Here in Chile, 10% of the population are baptized members of the Church. However, only 10% percent of those members are active (attend services).  I've thought about it and I've heard various authorities speak on the subject, and I think the problem that Chile has is that they don't have enough Priesthood.  Wards and branches in Chile need more shepherds, and a lot less sheep.

And so that has been my personal goal, as a missionary, for a little while.  Strengthen the Priesthood in the Church.  And there are two ways you can do that.  One is by baptizing new "potential leaders" into the Church.  The other is by reactivating "potential leaders", and making them actual leaders!

But they're both really hard.  Potential Priesthood leaders are generally successful in their career and family life.  That means they're busy, and what little free time they have, they want to spend with their family -- not listening to the broken Spanish of two foreigners on their doorstep.  They are generally hard to find, and even harder to teach consistently.  And knocking doors in the rich side of town has a bad reputation, because there's a lot of rejection.

Less-active potential priesthood, on the other hand, are generally less-active because they lack the fortitude to do things for the right reason.  A leader is someone that still makes the right choice, even if you strip away all of their support, and all of the secondary benefits of making that right choice.  They have the strength to make the right choice, and the ability to inspire others to make that right choice as well.  And that's hard to find.

There's a lot of pressure in the mission to have "good numbers."  Meaning, high key indicators.  Lessons taught, number of investigators, etc.  And so, many times, missionaries reach for the low-hanging fruit.  They baptize all of the young single moms and poor people, and then the missionaries get transferred, and then the converts go inactive.  That is essentially the problem of the church in Chile.

So my quandary is, should I drop all of the young single moms and kids that we're teaching right now, and start spending all of our time knocking doors on the rich side of town?  The benefits will be a lot more long-term, but also worth a lot more, I think.  But knocking rich doors stinks.  If there is one thing that saps missionary spirit like no other, it is tracting rich neighborhoods.

Love you,
-Elder Crotzer

Two Gringos, Loose in Chile!

This week I got my new companion.  Elder Kastner is going home because of feet problems, so he's sleeping in style with the other mission office Elders in the 8th floor penthouse suite.  So then, my companion is now... *drumroll* ...Elder Barney!

Elder Barney comes from Mesa, Arizona, from Mountain View High School.  (shoutout!)  He enjoys pitching no-hit baseball games and taking long, early morning runs in the pouring rain.   ....At least I hope he likes long runs in the rain, cause that's where I dragged him this morning!

Elder Barney has six weeks more than me on the mission, and it's the first time I've had a companion that isn't just about to go home.  It's refreshing.  I've heard that President doesn't like to change up the office Elders often, so there's a good chance that we'll be together for a long, long time.

In other news this week, the program that I'm heading is about to be released mission-wide.  That means coordinating three separate training broadcasts, being sent to a total of 11 zones in the mission.  It's been kinda crazy for the last week, and the next week will be even more nuts, but hopefully afterward everything will go back to normal.

All the time I've spent in the office has given me a great appreciation for normal, good, old-fashioned missionary work.  I have the rest of my life to sit in front of a computer and coordinate trainings, I want to get out on the street and talk to the people!  Teach them about the restored Gospel, and where they can find true lasting happiness in this life!  Teach them about the things that actually, truly matter in this life, like family, as opposed to fleeting moments of fun and pleasure!

Well, I'll step down off my soapbox now.  I love you.  Now go have an awesome week!

-Elder Crotzer