Easter Week -- Tuesday, Teaching in Jerusalem

The last week of Jesus Christ’s life changed the world forever.  See how each day can help us better understand His miraculous mission—then and now.

Jesus’s presence in Jerusalem did not go unnoticed by the authorities.  Seeing Jesus as a threat, they seek to discredit Him. On the Temple Mount, they question Jesus in hopes of finding something they can use against Him. But Jesus’s inspired answers reveal no crime, and His enemies only discredit themselves.

Despite incredible opposition, the work of Jesus Christ moved on. Because of His great love for us, we don’t have to face life’s obstacles alone. When we seek His help, we can overcome even the greatest of challenges.

Why do we have challenges and obstacles in our lives?

Find out here.

Easter Week -- Monday, Cleansing of the Temple

The last week of Jesus Christ’s life changed the world forever.  See how each day can help us better understand His miraculous mission—then and now.

After entering Jerusalem, one of the first things Jesus Christ does is go to the temple.  There, inside His Father’s house, Jesus sees various merchants buying and selling to those passing by.  Speaking with unmistakable authority, He commands them to leave.

The cleansing of the temple at Jerusalem was an act of bravery.  We can take courage knowing that Jesus Christ did what He knew to be right, whether it was popular or not.  When we follow Him, we receive the strength to do the same.

How can I find happiness by following God?

Find out here.

Easter Week - Palm Sunday, The Triumphal Entry

The last week of Jesus Christ’s life changed the world forever.  See how each day can help us better understand His miraculous mission—then and now.

Jesus Christ rides triumphantly into Jerusalem, His followers reverently laying down cloaks and palm fronds in His path.  It is not the first time He has entered the city.  His three-year ministry took Him across the Holy Land, where He taught, worked miracles, and spread the light of His gospel.  But this time, Jesus Christ is preparing to perform His most important miracle of all.

Like everything He did, Jesus Christ’s entrance fulfills prophecy.  His arrival in Jerusalem is powerful evidence that God keeps His promises to His children.  Our Heavenly Father provided a way for us to overcome sin and death—through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Who is God?

Find out here.

As We Approach Easter

Easter celebrates the greatest of all victories:  the triumph of life over death.

Why does it matter that Jesus Christ lives today?  Who is He?

The last week of Jesus Christ’s life changed the world forever.  For the next week, a new blog post each day will show how.

See you tomorrow.

General Conference Invite -- for You!

Conference Center in April

All people everywhere are invited to participate in the 185th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Messages of inspiration and guidance will be delivered by the First Presidency, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and other General Authorities and general officers of the Church in six sessions:

General Sessions:  Four sessions will be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 4–5, at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (MDT).  Each session is different (featuring completely different talks and speakers), so be sure to catch all of the sessions.

Women’s Session: The general women’s session for all women and girls age eight and older will be Saturday, March 28, at 6:00 p.m. (MDT).

Priesthood Session: The general priesthood session for all priesthood holders will be Saturday, April 4, at 6:00 p.m. (MDT).

Viewing Options

All sessions will be streamed live on the home page of LDS.org.  They are also available via the Church satellite system, radio, television, satellite, and other digital channels.  See How to View Live for more details.  Sessions will be recorded and archived for later viewing on conference.lds.org.

Editor's note:  During general conference weekend, Church members and others gather worldwide for a series of two-hour sessions to receive inspiration and instruction from Church leaders.  The talks by these Church leaders are broadcast live from Salt Lake City and may be viewed online.  If you have never watched General Conference, you might check it out this time around.  The quality of the talks is exceptional.  On both Saturday and Sunday, sessions begin at 10am and 2pm.  Each session is unique, featuring different speakers and topics.  The president of the Church, Thomas S. Monson, usually appears during multiple sessions.  His longest talk usually takes place during the Sunday 10am session.

Intercambios: Valdivia and a Family Prayer Chart!

This week we did intercambios [companion exchanges] in my old zone, Valdivia.  On Tuesday, we went back to good old "Corral".  Corral is a small town across a bay.  There are two ways to get there:  a few hours on a rough, winding mountain road, or a 15-minute ferry ride.  It was odd to drive a car onto a boat.  Corral doesn't have many church members, and a small group was opened there just a few months ago.  We worked with the elders, and it was good to see their vision of how the Church could grow in that little town.

On Wednesday, we worked with the zone leaders in the east half of Valdivia, and then on Thursday with the other zone leaders, in my old sector.

On Thursday, we visited an old family that the missionaries hadn't seen much since cambios [missionary transfers].  We knocked on the door, and they answered with an enthusiastic "Come in!"  So we stepped into the room, and imagine our surprise when we discovered that we had interrupted a visit from the Jehovah's Witnesses.  It was a little uncomfortable at first, and all I wanted to do was leave, but we broke the ice by talking about some of the things we have in common.  By the end, my companion and I ended up explaining the pre-mortal existence.  It was a great lesson, and we felt the Spirit really strongly.

When we got back from the intercambios [companion exchanges] in Valdivia, we started preparing for the family that we had an appointment with today.  We wanted to teach them about family prayer, and we were going to give it all we had.  In the brainstorm yesterday, Elder Jacobson had a stroke of genius:  we make them a prayer chart!  In the mission office, we fleshed out the idea a bit on the whiteboard with Sister Beecroft, seeing how arts and crafts is not a strong point with either me or Elder Jacobson.  I never got a picture of the final product, because we finished it about 5 minutes before the appointment, but I'll send some scans.

In the lesson, we taught them about how "prayer is like a sandwich.  You can put a lot of things in the middle of the sandwich, whatever you want, but the top and the bottom of the sandwich are always the same:  bread.  Just like a sandwich, prayers can have a lot of different things in them, but they always start and end the same:  (1) address God and (2) close "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

As we taught, I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which they all got to try (peanut butter is not a traditional Chilean food).  They loved the sample sandwich, and the prayer chart.  Next week, when we check the chart, if they prayed every day, everyone gets their own sandwich.

A Family Prayer Chart

I love being a missionary.

-Elder Crotzer

La Union, Puerto Varas Intercambios

This week, we did three intercambios [companion exchanges].  First we went to La Union, and worked with the zone leaders up there.  Later, we went to Puerto Varas, and we worked with the zone leaders there.  I got a photo with the only other elder from New Mexico, Elder Marsden.

On Friday, we spent the whole day in the office, planning.  The Church is doing a HUGE Easter initiative called "Because He Lives", and we are hoping to take full advantage of it here in our mission.  It is a video a few minutes long, and the Church is going to be the sole advertiser on YouTube for Easter Sunday.  We have to plan how the mission is going to utilize the program for maximum success.

Sorry I don't have time to write more, it's been a busy preparation day.  More next week, I promise!

-Elder Crotzer

Editor's note:  Thomas' birthday is coming up on April 11th.  We know he'd enjoy receiving a card or an e-mail wishing him a Happy Birthday.  His mission mailing address is shown on the right side of this web page.  Letters / cards are delivered somewhere between 10 days and three weeks after mailing.  The mail system to Chile seems to be pretty good.  An international (global) postage stamp is necessary and is available at the local post office for just over a dollar each.

Intercambios Every Day, All Day

This week was my first normal week as AP [Assistant to the (Mission) President].

On Sunday, we attended church in the new ward.  It's pretty small (about 30 members), but we had a big surprise this week.  The sister brought a family of investigators!  So everyone was scrambling around to make them feel welcome, and I think it went well.  Hopefully they come back tomorrow.

On Monday, the phone rang at 3:30AM in the morning.  One of the volcanoes nearby had erupted, and the zone leaders were calling to let us know that they had evacuated the missionaries into a nearby town.  I'm glad that we have such good zone leaders, because I never really had to verify or organize anything when the volcano went off.  The zone leaders did all the heavy lifting.  The missionaries are fine, and there was no damage as a result of the eruption.

Tuesday morning, we started the companion exchanges.  One of our main responsibilities is to do companion exchanges with all of the zone leaders and any special-needs missionaries, and it involves a lot of travel.  We woke up and drove three hours north, and split up with the elders in a town called Lanco.  We worked with them for the day, and slept in their house.  Then the next morning, we traveled two hours to the next exchange (intercambio) and worked with them for the day.  And so on, and so forth, until today, Saturday.

Lanco looks a lot like Los Alamos.

It was fun to get to work with so many different elders, and see their technique, good habits, and bad ones.  Also, it was pretty cool to get to see so much of the mission.  We really are in the prettiest mission in the world.

It was interesting living out of a suitcase for four days.  Your towel never dries, and it just stinks up the rest of the stuff in your bag.

Our car.

On Thursday, I had the chance to work with Elder Medel.  He is from Mexico, and I left the intercambio [companion exchange] really impressed.  I've never met a man so self-confident, serious, organized, and spiritual, with such a wide vision for the impact he can have as a leader.  Wow.

Also on Thursday, we drove through Valdivia, the city of my last sector.  As APs [Assistants to the (Mission) President], we eat a lot of lunch on the fly, so I was able to enjoy a meal with Andres, one of the recent converts from my last sector.  It was great to see him, and to hear him talk about the progress that the ward has made.

I think the role of the AP is to take everything that we see and do in the intercambios [companion exchanges], and then try to come up with ways to do it better, or ways to correct common missionary errors, and then to implement that in the entire mission.  I'm glad for my previous experience in the office with el rescate, because I learned a lot about project implementation on a large scale.

Until next week --
Elder Crotzer