Carry the Future’s Cristal Logothesis on Scientology and her Family

Cristal Munoz-Logothesis is the Founder of a charity called Carry the Future which has been featured on Today, Huffington Post, and number of other news outlets, as a organization to help refugee families from the Middle East by fitting them with baby carriers and clothing to keep their children warm and safe.  She is also a Scientologist, and spoke with us here on how her religion impacts her family, and her drive to help others.

Where do you live – and what do you do for work?

I live in Glendale, CA and I am the Co-Founder of a translation and interpretation agency called Reliable Translations, as well as the Founder and President of a public charity that helps refugee families who have fled the Middle East, called Carry the Future. We mostly focus on personally fitting refugees in Europe and the Middle East with donated baby carriers so their hands are free and their babies are warm and safe!

How has Scientology affected your family, and your dealings with extended family?

I’m a second-generation Scientologist, so it actually took me a while to realize that things were different in my house and that I had so many advantages I had previously taken for granted.

I think I really saw this for the first time a few years after high school. I had decided not to pursue college for various reasons and so many friends and acquaintances had told me I was going to fail in life because of it. But there I was, self-employed and beating all the odds! I was good at sales, public speaking, and pretty much anything I set my mind to. And it was because I was raised doing Scientology courses like the Success Through Communication Course and courses on finance. Basic life axioms that I was raised with all my life and took for granted gave me an incredible edge when I went out into the world. I’ve always been someone who stands out as being competent and good at accomplishing what I set my mind to, and I attribute it entirely to the arsenal of knowledge I’ve amassed studying Scientology, and the confidence I’ve gained through Scientology auditing.

How do you and your family participate in your church’s activities?  

Even with a 3 year old, a thriving business and global charity, Scientology is a really big part of our lives. The Bridge encompasses so much knowledge, and when you see your life and personal happiness improving constantly in direct ratio to your studies and auditing, it’s incredibly hard not to pursue it! So, I go to my church in Los Angeles for at least 3 hours a day 5 days a week. I watch little or no TV and I have to be really efficient with all of my routine chores, like cooking and shopping. Time is a very precious commodity so I’m mindful about how I spend it. But as hectic as all this sounds, I still spend a lot of quality time with my husband and son! It helps a lot to work from home 🙂

How do you like being a Scientologist?  What do you like about it?

I like the comfort of knowing that no matter how bad a current situation is, that I can ALWAYS do something to improve it. One of the most valuable things Scientology taught me early on was the value and power of having a causative outlook on life. I live assertively and I strive to take responsibility for everything that happens to me and around me. Sometimes it can be a tough pill to swallow, but I always feel good knowing that I am strong enough, smart enough and able enough to have a positive impact in every facet of my life!

Recently with my work helping refugee families, I have come into contact with lots of people from many different walks of life and I’ve invariably seen how much happier people are and how much better their outlook on life and the goodness of mankind when they are actively engaged in volunteer activities. On the other hand, I often encounter people who are very pessimistic, depressed about the refugee crisis and who feel truly helpless about it. I’ve made it my personal mission to reach out to as many people as possible and to prove in some way through my own example that ANYONE can create a positive and meaningful impact on a situation big or small. They just have to believe they can do it and decide to do it! I can’t talk enough about the importance of having a causative outlook on life and how much it can lift your spirit!

What positive changes in your family relationships have you seen as a result of Scientology?

I met my husband online and we married 3 months later. In retrospect, choosing a life partner in this manner may not have been my smartest move.  However, I absolutely know we would not have made it these past 9 years and would not be as entirely happy as we are if we had not been constantly improving ourselves through Scientology. We have evolved and matured so much! Just as an example: when we got married, we were both working 9-5 jobs and wanted to create a business that would allow us to work from home on a flexible schedule, earn us enough money to be comfortable and give back to the community with good paying jobs in a low stress environment. We accomplished it in 3 years using Scientology tools and today Reliable Translations employs 6 staff and over 150 independently contracted linguists (many of whom are refugees!).

Tell me about a recent Scientology service you’ve done.  What did you get out of it?  

I recently studied a course called the PTS/SP Course: How to Confront and Shatter Suppression.  “SP” stands for “suppressive person” – a person who seeks to suppress or squash any betterment activity or group.  A “PTS” is a person who is in some way connected to and being adversely affected by a Suppressive Person. He is called a PotentialTrouble Source because he can be a lot of trouble to himself and to others.  (further info if you’re interested)

I’ve always had a very low tolerance for bigotry, and as a Scientologist I’ve experienced it quite a bit. Currently there is a mountain of misinformation and divisiveness over violence against blacks and against Muslims. After doing this course I gained a vastly more complete and intricate picture of what evil really is. This is something we don’t really learn about in school and generally speaking “evil” has a different meaning for virtually each person on the planet, and usually these are not very workable concepts.

After doing this course I’ve gained so much appreciation for my fellow man and have really learned to let go of a lot of past rifts. But I’m also less tolerant of unacceptable behavior and refuse to be a passive bystander to things that are degrading our civilization. I feel like a global citizen in that I share responsibility in making sure ideals like world peace and an end to hunger come about during my generation.