An Apostle and Playing Violin

So, an Apostle came to Chile the other day.  Every missionary in the Chile Osorno Mission attended a special conference in a place called Puerto Varas to hear Elder M. Russell Ballard speak to us.  AND we all got to shake his hand.  AND I played violin prelude music!

I had the opportunity to play a few violin duets with an Hermana Lee, accompanied by an Elder Nelson.  I'm sorry I can't share any pictures of the conference, but there was a strict no-cameras rule.

Actually, Elder Ballard kind of surprised me.  I was expecting him to be a bit more... impressive.  When I shook his hand, he looked a little frail, and his handshake matched his appearance.  And when he spoke to us, I thought we would hear a thunderous, spectacular oratory experience.  But his address was delivered calmly, firmly, and without either notes or shouting.

(Actually, Elder Ballard did something that a lot of old people do.  When they tell you a story, every time they introduce someone new into the plot, they get diverted into a tangent describing all of their accomplishments and history.  Example:  It was late one rainy night in London, England, and I was walking with my companion, Richard Nelson.  Richard later became a US Congressman and renowned rocket scientist, and married my second cousin, Anna Smith.  They're a great couple.  ...What was I saying?)

Accomplished-friend-tangents aside, Elder Ballard gave a solid address.  He spoke to us for a little bit over an hour, and bore simple testimony of Jesus Christ.  He spoke of the love that Christ has for each one of us, and the great sacrifice that He made for us, that He laid down his life for all of us that we might live again.  Elder Ballard told us we need to do the exact same thing that he did to us:  Bear simple testimony of Jesus Christ.

Pictures!

This first one is of my new companion, Elder Kastner.

Elder Kastner is a boss, from Napa Valley, California.  He has some pretty awesome skills and talents, like maintaining a 4.0 GPA at BYU, being mistaken for a native Spanish speaker, and calligraphy.  Actually, Elder Kastner is teaching me a bit of calligraphy, and it's crazy interesting!  Who knew there was a system to writing neatly?

Third picture is of Elder Nelson, me, and Hermana Lee practicing before the conference.

No smiles this time, because it was the night before, and there were still some difficult parts to work out.  But everything came together in the end!

This next picture is victorious Elder Crotzer and Elder Nelson.

The fifth pic is a recent convert family we taught a couple weeks ago.

And... this last pic is of some cool drunks we met in the street.

Until next week,
-Elder Thomas Crotzer