Talking With Elder Ballard‏

So it was incredible getting to have the conference with Elder Ballard. I have known that he was going to come to talk to us for about a month now, but the original announcement was that it was just going to be by satellite. But a couple of days before the conference i was on the phone with my leaders asking for more information so i could pass it on to my district. And they said ```Well Elder Crockett, Elder Ballard is going to speak to you at 10am, but you and your district should be there in the chapel with everything ready at least a half hour early. And by the way he has decided to change it from a satellite broadcast to a skype broadcast, and so if you arrive late that means that Elder Ballard is going to see you arrive late´´ And so when i called my missionaries i told them that and they all freaked out with excitement.

But we got there and we had skype ready, and we were doing a three way skpye conversation, there was Coyhuique (me), Punta Arenas (the only zone farther south than the one i am in), and Elder Ballard, and the other general authorities that we accompanying him. And so before the conference started we were doing a whole bunch of sound tests and stuff and everything was working out great. But then Elder Ballard entered, and suddenly we lose all audio with Puerto Varas (the city he was in), and of course every single one of us starts freaking out, and we start making a bunch of phone calls and everything, but we had no idea what to do, when i look back up at the screen, and i see the Missionaries in Punta Arenas all start kneeling down to pray. And instantly wondered why i didnt come up with that idea, so i told all the missionaries in Coyhaique to calm down and stop talking, and we all decide that we are going to pray as well. 

 

And so we all kneel down to pray. And after we pray we all sit down again. We see (we always had visual but both zones lost communication) that the missionaries in Punta Arenas finished praying too, and all sat down. So we are sitting there in silence for about a min, when a missionary sitting close to e says ``Well now what do we do?´´ And I just say ``Just wait. Everything will work out´´ 

 

So we started the conference and i dont think that the general authorities knew that we could here anything, so they started talking and we missed the entire first talk, but it was from the wife the Area President in the area SAS (its the south part of South America. And after she talked her husband, started talking, and as soon as he started talking the audio came back in. After him the wife of, and the President of the Quorum of the 70 talked to us. 

 

And then after them the Apostle Elder Ballard. And honestly i have no idea how i can write about all the things that he talked about. I have like a million pages of notes from him (not really, but i have a lot) But it was honestly a life changing experience. As we were talking with him i really think i saw who i want to be when i grow up, and more than that, he told me what to do to become that man. I cant explain what i learned, but i wont ever forget it. 

 

And leaving from that conference i have about a million stories already of the miracles that happened as i did everything i could to follow the councils he gave me. But i remember the night before we were going to talk with him. I was having a really hard time, inbetween the normal mission problems, being a leader, and other problems that i dont feel the need to talk about. And while i was in a sleepless night meditation state i narrowed my problems down to three question. And knew that if i could get the answers to these 3 questions that i would be fine, i´d be able to happily continue my adventures here in chile. So i prayed begging God to give me the answers to these three things. And as i was talking to Elder Ballard, he specifically talked about every single one of them, using the same words that i used in my prayer (well the English translation of the words haha) 

 

So leaving the conference i felt like a changed person. Still do even though it was a week ago. This week i have to teach all the missionaries in my District in our District Meeting, and the mission leaders want me to talk about the conference with Ballard, and how we can apply the things he taught us into missionary work. 

 

And so these last couple of days in my personal study time i have been studying the notes i took, and prepared my meeting from them. And i am super excited to give it, i already know that my missionaries are doing everything they can to follow the things he taught us judging from how incredibly all the numbers in my district jumped this last week. One thing i have been doing is randomly through out the day when i am not teaching someone, i`ll call my missionaries and if they arent busy i`ll talk with them for a min and do a little practice teaching with them there in the street so they can keep their focus where it should be. And its been working pretty great.

Welp i love yall Keep me posted!