Week 59 - August 17, 2019

Well, this next week is the start of transfer 10 on the mission. This last week was super busy, but super great! We started teaching a super new cool family - the Garza fam. One day we were out talking in the street and a car stopped by and we stuck a card out to try to get them to stop in their car but they drove past so we kept knocking other doors. Well as we were knocking we heard a horn again and they had drove around the block and came back looking for us. We walked up and they rolled down the window... Immediately they said "Are you from Utah?" Well, it turns out this Garza family lived in BRIGHAM CITY UTAH before and moved down here to the Rio Grande Valley a few years ago. They're catholic but told us to come back the next day. Something fell through so we went over there and they let us right in. Well after meeting with them 3 times this last week they said they have felt such a big change within their home and they just feel super good vibes about everything. They said that before we came they were having a super hard time in life and last night after we were leaving, all they said is, "the only thing we can ask from you guys is to keep coming over. we want to learn more." Then we left and blessed their home and it was honestly a super good experience. SUCH A BLESSING! Also, the Salinas family (Mario, Martina, and Araceli), are still scheduled to be baptized this weekend. Please keep them in your prayers! Satan always goes after people right before they make an amazing decision like getting baptized! I hope the lord continues to bless us here. We are also teaching Cynthia and her parents finally are starting to warm up to the idea of her getting baptized. Also, Maria, the lady that had a previous baptismal date is starting to warm up again and we have high hopes for her. This last little bit we have been finding some really cool people - I just know that it is in Gods hands what happens with them and what we need to do as instruments is work as hard as possible to help these people. Sometimes its hard but the best things in life always take work. Something im learning out here is that the world is so full of temporary forms of "instant gratification"The mission is starting to teach me that things that really matter, things that really make people happy, things that bring us everlasting joy are those things that ACTUALLY take work. Weird. But that's how life works and how God designed it. Its still a battle inside but im thankful for the things im learning out here. Transfers is going to be nuts. Lots of changes and its going to be a busy time but super fun and such a cool opportunity. Love you guys. Shoutout WTOD shoutout Andrew and Ben.

Elder Freedman 

Week 58 - August 12, 2019

this week was good. I don't have a ton of time so I'm gonna keep it short.  this next week we are having transfers so it's gonna be a busy week. there are 24 new missionaries coming in so it's gonna be pretty crazy. the Salinas family is doing good, they still have a baptismal date for this Sunday so let's hope it goes well! they say that they see a difference in this church so we need to finish teaching them a few things and they should hopefully be ready! please keep them in your prayers! other than that were teaching a few people - Javier and maricarmen actually blessed their new baby at church on Sunday even though they aren't members yet so that's cool. it was good to have them there:) I went on an exchange with elder king from Vegas and that kid is a beast. other than that things are going well. it's always hard but always good. sorry I don't have much more time. have a good week! 

elder freedman 

1.teaching Maria 

2.a little girl gave us costumes during a lesson ahah

Week 57 - August 5, 2019

Well this week was prolly one of the littest of the mission so far. It's weird cuz honestly it was a grind but so sick at the same time. Elder Murdoch my MTC comp came up here from Harlingen for 3 days so we were on an exchange together for the whole time. It was so stinkin fun. every day literally felt like I woke up and hit the pillow again to fall asleep in 2 seconds. they just flew. after that on Thursday we had MLC and elder Murdoch got transferred to be a zone leader in Brownsville. we gave a training on stewardship. right after MLC I grabbed my bags and went on an exchange up to Laredo with my boy Elder Gardner. gotta sleep two nights up there and we also had a blast. it was honestly super fun. we prossed right along the border of Mexico and it was nuts. took a pic right on the Rio Grande (the river that separates Mexico from the US.) almost all of my areas have been on the river but this was the first time I've really been right right by it. took some pics. after the exchange we taught some lessons. honestly since I've been in this area we hadn't been able to work as much and when we did get to work we were finding people but just something wasn't clicking. we were teaching people but we just couldn't get them to turn the corner and accept a baptismal date. Well, yesterday was fast Sunday and boy is it such a blessing to be able to fast. just express your concerns to God. and seriously I have such a strong testimony. sometimes he answers quick sometimes slow but yesterday we really just had an amazing day after church. we were able to set a baptismal date with a lady elder Murdoch and I started teaching on our exchange named Maria for August 18th. after that we headed to the Salinas families house and they accepted baptismal dates for the 18th of August also. I just feel like really God is in control of everything out here and in life. 

spiritual thought: 

Ephesians 2:19-20

tell me of any other church that has prophets and apostles 

Galatians 2:9

and a first presidency (three pillars)

luke 10:1

tell me of any other church that has a seventy 

acts 6:2-3

tell me of any other church that has a presidency of the seventy 

acts 14:23

name the number of churches that have elders in them 

1 Timothy 3:1-5

and bishops in their church 

Hebrews 7:11

AND claims to have the priesthood and authority of God. 

there's only one. did it say anywhere in the bible that these things shouldn't exist anymore after Christ's death? no, because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. it's the true church.

Matthew 21:43

43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

 thanks to the restoration of the gospel, we have all of this back on the earth. 

have a good week!!!

elder freedman 

1&2: Rio Grande 

3: chillin with Mario Salinas my guy 

Week 56 - July 29, 2019

Whats up!
well, another week.
this week was kinda stressful but good at the same time. we were able to work in our area quite a bit this week which was sweet! we found a few cool new people but the one I'm most excited about is Edgar. We found Edgar knocking and have met with him twice now. he has a little girl who is super cute and we met with him yesterday and were able to set a baptismal date for the 18th of August! we are also teaching Jose, Martina, and Mario. Mario is the dad and he is blind but a super cool funny guy. they came to church yesterday which was good. I have confidence they will be baptized as a family one day and hope the Lord will bless us and continue and allow to help us. Cynthia is also doing well and came to church:) she wants to be baptized and even went out knocking with the sister missionaries last night! Javier and maricarmen are doing good but we need to help them actually make it to church - hopefully things can change after maricarmen has her baby (hopefully this week). other than that just continuing to try to find prepared people. it's quite the journey. also on Thursday we will have MLC so we have been preparing for that. some things happened so I'm going to spend most of the week with my MTC companion elder Murdoch. him and his companion will come on a two day exchange with elder Johnson and I up here in McAllen! should be pretty fun hahaha. this week we met a guy who loves to take walks so we asked if we could join him on a walk and teach a lesson. this manz took some LONG walks. we walked like 3 miles with him for like an hour and a half. I'll attach a pic of me and him chilling on a bridge we crossed on our walk hahaha. hope all is well with everyone and everything!

till next week!

Elder Freedman 

1.walking places 

2.i love it when it rains here. my comp took a candid shot of me standing in the rain just soaking it in ahahah

3. chillin on the bridge 

Week 55 - July 22, 2019

this morning I just woke up hyped smacking a fist into my hand. it made me so happy to read two letters from other missionaries - Andrew and Ben. I am literally so hyped that two of my best friends are missionaries with me. reading their letters makes me flash back 13 months ago when i was exactly where they are.

this week was pretty packed. we had zone conferences this week so we traveled around the mission with the ocampos doing different things and just helping them out which was fun to see the people that I've become friends with on the mission. got to stay the night in Laredo with my boy elder Gardner which was fun. the only downside is that after all of the zone conferences we basically had Saturday to work in our area and that was it for the week. In my last email I said that I knew the Lord would bless us regardless and we really saw that and are seeing it. I learned this week that God is in control of everything. all we can do is our best and that is what god asks of us. so Saturday we went to all of the people that we were teaching and on Sunday were hoping that maybe one or two people would come to church. well, it turns out that God had other plans and we had 7 people at church. I can honestly say that was all because of him and I'm so thankful! then last night a lady asked us if we wanted to eat and something inside me said "TELL HER WE CAN TAKE THE FOOD TO GO". well, It turns out after the lesson she gave us menudo. menudo is a Mexican food that is made of cow or pig intestines. people love it here but I honestly have avoided it my entire mission. really got lucky on that one.

something I've been thinking about is being a missionary is like a two year meditation session with God but you get to help other people at the same time and it's not really meditation at all cuz you're running around but you have a lot of time to think and work every day hand in hand with God.

"16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

I feel like the purpose of the mission is to help other people develop these spiritual eyes, but at the same time, yours are opened also. I just realize every day how far I have to go but it really is such an amazing experience! have such a good week!

Elder Freedman 

1. mirror pic at the chapel that I went to in my first area with elder Gardner ahaha

Week 54 - July 15, 2019

this week was pretty lit. Manuel and Maria came to church which was super good. we were expecting some other people but once again people have their agency and the good this is there will be time this week to find more new people. we started teaching a family that is super young and about to have their first son. Their names are Javier and Maricarmen and they're honestly really interested. the only thing is that maricarmen is going to have a baby any day now so they're waiting for them to have their son before they come to church because maricarmen gets pretty uncomfortable. I have super high hopes for them but all we can do right now is pray everything goes well! we're also teaching Cynthia, who has been to church 3x now and was invited by a member to church #blessings . she has some opposition from her family but has been reading the book of Mormon fervently so I know God will give her an answer this is the true church if she asks with faith.. the best thing that happened this week was that me and my comp both Got bitten by a pack of 6 dogs this week. sounds kinda sucky but it was honestly kind of a fun and funny experience. they literally ripped my pants to shreds and we went to the hospital and got tetanus shots. after that they gave me and my comp little teddy bears. I'll attach a pic. unfortunately the dogs don't have their vaccination papers so animal control came and got them and they're gonna be quarantined for 10 days to be tested for rabies and I think if they don't have their shots they're going to be put down :/ this next week we have zone conferences and now we're gonna be traveling with the ocampos so it's like an opportunity but it also means less time to work in our area but I know God will make up the rest just keep going :) hope everythings well back home!

SHOUTOUT TO ANDREW AND BEN IN AFRICA AYEEE.

elder freedman 

Week 53 - July 6, 2019

this week was crazy. we had the mission tour with the ocampos this week and it was really good but pretty exhausting hahah. Tuesday we went to mission, Mcallen, and hidalgo zones. the next day Brownsville and Harlingen. after that corpus Christi and robstown. while there we actually went to the horne road chapel which is where two of my uncle's were baptized. I took a pic in front of the font. after corpus we went to Laredo on the fourth of July. we ate some tacos and then went to the Laredo outlets with his family. pretty sick cuz we got to go to the mall on a Thursday ahaha. after that we had a pretty long meeting about transters . the next day we met with Laredo zone and then drove home. we finally got into our area for the last little while at 7:00 at night. probably one of my favorite things that happened this past week is we met a guy who was SUPER cool. let us in, asked perfect questions.. then all the sudden he was like "have you guys studied in the bible about the firmament?" and then proceeded to literally go insane about how the earth was flat and that we couldn't convince him he was wrong. it also rained hard a few days which was such a blessing here as it is so hot and dusty. i just was getting absolutely soaked and i loved it. today is our pday because on Monday we have transfers. it's been a really cool experience and has been different with the ocampos but it's a blessing! also some of my best friends in the mission are going home on Monday which is super weird like elder allen. life goes on though. I'm so thankful for my companion, he's just such a good guy and its crazy how much there is to learn from other people. definitely lots of learning experiences and honestly something im realizing is we can not expect perfection in this life. if you expect perfection you're never going to be happy, but we can try to be better every day and appreciate the little things. as we do that we'll be so much happier.

"we would do well to slow down a little, lift up our eyes, and see the things that matter most in life. pay attention to the divine things that matter most. diligently doing the things that matter most will lead us to the savior." -the boy Dieter F.

it's true though. focus on the simple important things, and little by little we will see big changes in our lives and ao much more happiness. its ALL about our perspective. love you guys!

elder freedman 

 
1 pic this week sorry - pila where my two uncle's got baptized 

Week 52 - July 1, 2019

well. our new mission President is here. I am so excited. dropping off President Torres was kind of weird but honestly I just have the best feeling about our new mission President. Once he got here we met the next morning with him and didn't leave the mission office until 6:00. President Ocampo is literally like EXACTLY what I feel we need. you can feel of his love every time you talk to him. His family and kids are all from Honduras but his son and him love the NBA, which is sick. we've been super busy and it's been hard to keep our area really alive with lots of curveballs but Michael and Dulce were baptized this week which was amazing! God really has been so good. with all of the craziness I know he's looking out for us. This next week and a half is going to be crazy, we are going to be touring the mission with Pres Ocampo and His family and then this weekend are transfers so all of that is going to happen so fast! today we actually had MLC this morning so there has just been a ton going on. life is crazy. shout out to Andrew and Ben leaving soon for their missions! shout out to my family and friends (all the boys getting home from their missions). see you soon cuz  these next 11 months are gonna fly. 

In the picture I'm doing the same pose that my trainer did. just in memorium of papi Beutt. the lady who's posing funny is Maria the lady that I talked about who's super funny. 

Week 51 - June 24, 2019

This week was really good honestly. When we have a ton of office work to do the weeks go super slow and this week we were able to work in our area a lot. It was such a blessing and honestly we really saw some miracles this week. First off, Miguel and Dulce are going to be baptized this sunday which is super exciting! Im sure happy for them and I think its going to be an amazing change in their lives. I taught their mom Maria how to hit the folks which was pretty funny. shes super energetic and we just joke around all the time. We also found a really cool new young family that we are so blessed to be teaching now! Their names are Manuel and Maria. They have two kids - one a little daughter who is just over a year old and then a newborn baby! We saw them and it was a door that we had already knocked but we saw them outside and decided to talk to them anyways. We walked up and the mom was actually taking their 1 and a half year old to the doctor. Their little girls optic nerve isnt fully developed and so she is actually legally blind. this has been a huge trial for them and when we began talking they let us right inside. I feel like we have met them at the perfect time in their lives as they began to pray to God and ask for answers. As we came in we began to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we continued to explain and read some verses from Alma 40 about having a perfect, resurrected body, their eyes lit up. Then we began to explain about how we know that families can be together forever, and how they would be able to experience things and live with their daughter in a perfect state in the next life, you didnt just see their eyes light up, you could see it hit them super hard. Like really really hard. So two days later, we came back for our return appointment and Victor our recent convert came with us. Something that they said in the lesson really hit me. The dad manuel said something along these lines - he said, "Ever since this happened, i see all of these people who are so sad, and they have everything. When this happened to my daughter, i saw things differently. For example, she can hardly see. She can hardly walk. But one time, when i saw my daughter walk up to the coffee table right here and notice that there was a water bottle there, she reached out, grabbed it, picked it up, and looked at it. For me, that brought me so much joy. For me, that was a win in life." We started to talk about the atonement of Jesus Christ with them and it was honestly super good. Victor came in clutch and bonded with them so well. Our ceiling in our house fell through this week and that was pretty funny. We went on an exchange with the zone leaders in brownsville this week and elder moyle came with me to the area. There is just so much to learn from so many different people. im so thankful for all of these experiences! Victor came with us this week out to pross around for like 3 hours. He also got the Aaronic priesthood this sunday which was such a blessing!!!! I gave it to him which was a good experience. Love you guys so much.

Till next week. Picking up the new mission president on thursday. going to be interesting to say the least. its a crazy ride out here. and im thankful for every second. the good and the hard. 

Love

elder freedman

Week 50 - June 17, 2019

wow well this week felt like I don't know how much time. it was super good but like time doesn't really seem to exist anymore. on the mission it doesn't exist and its hard to explain. this week was crazy. on Tuesday we had a missionwide conference and it was super good. I'm gonna miss the Torres. President Torres gave a deep doctrine training that was so intense and so powerful I was literally like shaking. the rest of the week was good. we went on an exchange with some elders and I went with elder tolman. we worked in our area and it was so good. he is a beast. definitely learned a lot from him. Joanna and Victor were confirmed this week and that was awesome. we also found a new family- the Gonzales' and they came to church. the mom is a member but her two kids and husband aren't. they liked church so I hope God blesses us and allows us to continue working with them. the mom is flipping funny. just super energetic and always joking around. we also found a guy named Jose who is so cool. he's really motivated and we set a baptismal date with him for the 23rd of June but he couldn't come to church because of work so its going to get pushed back so we will continue working with him to see what happens. the mission is the hardest thing I've ever done but I wouldn't trade anything for it. if you get to go, do it. you'll never know what you miss out on unless you go. when it's over, I know it's going to feel like a dream. the best dream in the world. the craziest thing is when our lives are over and we're in heaven, we're going to look back and say the exact same thing... "it felt like a dream"

have a super good week.

email me if you want!

elder freedman 

Week 49 - June 10, 2019

this week was great! so hot but great! it was like 108 every single day this week. Victor and Joanna were baptized. the day before the baptism he bought us a cooler and filled it with Ice and a ton of drinks so we could stay hydrated during the day. then that night they had us over for a carne asada. on our way home he texted us saying "thank you guys so much for everything". I'm so thankful for them and honestly it went so well. I gave him one of my ties and on Sunday he showed up in a white shirt with the tie I gave him. that was awesome! other than that this week was super hectic. we had MLC also. that was good and we trained about obedience again for the second time. we're prepping a lot to get ready for the new mission President to come so that has been kind of stressful. we're even having ROLE PLAYS on what we're gonna do and say to him to Inform him about the mission when he gets here. it's stressful but honestly I'm so thankful for the opportunity! tomorrow we are having a missionwide conference to say bye to the Torres. I will miss them a lot. every one looks up to them a ton here.

hope everything is well back home. going yo enjoy this little bit let of the pday we have! be good!

elder freedman 

Week 48 - June 3, 2019

hey! this week was the craziest most tiring week but also probably the best week of my mission! transfers were last week. bringing in the new greenies was so fun. their spirit is so strong and their energy is INSANE! I loved it! it's so fun being with them because I remember coming from the MTC and having all those same exact experiences. it's crazy how much has happened since then. this week im going to have less than a year left on my mission. there were tornadoes in Dallas I guess so all of the missionaries who finished had delayed flights and that was havoc. they ended up staying at our house another night and it was insane. lots of early mornings and late nights with transfers. our first full work day without transfer things to do was on Friday. we talked to a lot of people but the best thing was Sunday nights lesson with Victor and Joanna. theyre our most progressing investigators right now and we got a text from them saying "we feel like there's something missing from your church". elder Johnson and I were a little nervous because that's not something super good to receive so we dropped our plans and headed to their house. before we got there we said a prayer to have help to guide us to know what to say. We got in and talking and we had a huge lesson about the Authority and the priesthood restored on the earth. We got talking about eternal families and how with this power that christ gave peter in matthew 16, his family can be forever. We started talking about that and Victor goes "That was the empty gap we felt with your church. I think that was the answer". Then him and his wife just got talking about how much they loved eachother and their family. Almost everyone in the room was crying! It was so awesome and they have a goal of going to the temple in 1 year to get sealed.. We also set baptismal dates for them and they will be getting baptized this sunday and then confirmed the next. At the end of the lesson they have a little 3 year old named Maxcito and the wife said "We need to start saving money now so Maxcito can serve a mission". That was the coolest thing ever. I am so excited for them, so please keep them in your prayers! They are such an amazing little family! Other than that me and my new comp elder johnson get along great. He is a GENIUS. 35 on his act genious.  I love spending time with him because hes so intellectual and i feel like im learning something new every day. I know i have so much to learn out here. Sure love you guys and I hope everything is doing well back home. Keep balling out and doing whats right!

Love you!

elder freedman

Also shoutout my family. I always love you guys. And shoutout WTOD. 

I took next to no picutures this week so heres a random picture of me Standing next to the texas mcallen mission sign doing something with my hands. Yay hahah

Week 47 - May 27, 2019

What's up! This week was real busy with a lot of changes! Both of my companions are going home and so this week we picked up my new comp from Corpus Christi this week. His names elder Johnson and he's from Pleasant Grove utah! Elder Gus and I dropped all of our plans and appointments to go get him. It was fun though and we stopped at the beach for like 5 min to take some pics hahah. I Literally felt wet walking outside there but it's pretty - everything is so green. Pretty fun to see the water. It's going to be pretty crazy with the new mission president coming in 3 weeks. This week work wise we honestly didn't have the strongest week finding wise. The Rodriguez family came to church (they're a married couple with a little boy) and we'll see how they progress! Transfers were last night and that was crazy too. Today we're picking up the new greenies. That should be fun. It'll be Nice to get some fresh blood in the mission and feel the energy they have to share the gospel! Other than that we got to go to the Pulga (like a street market) on pday and that was super fun. Lots of different vendors selling different cool things. You can basically find anything there. Other than that we will keep working!

Hope everyone is doing well back home!

Elder Freedman

1. Had to take some swaggg pics at the beach with my comp. ;) just a joke hahah

Week 46 - May 20, 2019

Whats up!
This week was crazy... I think these next transfers are going to be quite interesting but we'll see. I can't believe this is the last week of the transfer. The days feel long sometimes but then I look back and I'm like "whoa where'd all the time go?". This week was good and we are still teaching the Guevara family. They came to church and loved it. We're also teaching Victor and Joani Rodriguez who are a married young couple. They are a missionaries dream. I am so thankful for them! I just hope God will continue to touch their hearts and help them progress. The truth is as missionaries we really don't have control about what happens - really we're just all instruments in his hands.. It's a blessing to be here! We also had another family in church but they told us they didn't really like it so we're gonna go by and see what's up... We set two baptismal dates with Jonathan and Jocelyn Guevara for the 9th of June. Such a blessing! Shoutout to my brother Andrew for graduating. And the rest of my family! I love you guys! Stay safe out there!

"Read the book of Mormon!" - Jackson hart

Elder Freedman 

1. No pics so here's a Pic of two of the coolest sister missionaries and me and elder Gustafson.

2. Me flexing with a random dude on the street 

Week 45 - May 13, 2019

This week was litttt. A lot happened.
I was too hyped when I hit 230 on the bench. Still skinny tho but I'm trying :) Me and my comps work out every morning together and it's hilarious. One of my comps every morning just walks in front of the mirror and is like "Oh DANG". I got a letter this week all the way from india from my boy Benny Gantner! Love you brother! On Saturday the McAllen ZL's baptized the Casanova family I was teaching. I got to go to the baptism and watch it and everything and that was super fun and a treat! This week was good though with the work. Honestly we didn't have anyone really at church this week so that was a little disappointing. Something I realized is you can work super hard out here but if you don't have God's guidance nothings going to happen. He can do so much more with our lives than we can by ourselves and the same goes with missionary work. That's something I want to work on!! I was reading in Ether in the Book of Mormon and this scripture impressed me so much.

"O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know that thou art holy and dwellest in the heavens, and that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually; nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires."

So much more will get done with him on our side:)

We met a guy who had investigated the church for like a year with his wife and he spoke so intellectually and loved to use logic as we discussed. I have begun to realize that anything that has to do with God is always spiritually discerned. You can never logic your way into having a testimony! It's all about having experiences and the way you feel. I shared this scripture with him and I think it summarizes what I'm trying to get across pretty well:

"14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned"

Another thing. When God created everything, it was created first spiritually, then physically. As God's children, we have the ability to create things in our minds and if we allow our minds to cultivate the seed or thought which we have planted and focus on it, one day, it will manifest physically - It's a literal spiritual law. We learned that from president this week and I believe it's so true.

We also had a lit ward party with a super dope mariachi band.

Email me!

Les quiero mucho

Elder Freedman

Week 44 - May 6, 2019

Times flying. My head feels like it's running 500 mph out here. This week was crazy! A member invited us over for lunch and it turned out he got married right there on the spot. It was kinda funny. I went on an exchange with elder mahler this week my companion in the mtc. He's a zone leader up in Corpus Christi. He came down to our area though. It was pretty fun. Going up to Corpus felt weird though because it's a totally different world. The Guevara family came to church this week along with Derrick who's an unbaptized 11 year old. The Guevaras loved it :) we have a family night with them tonight planned and are bringing a few members. I hope things continue to go well for them. We had to drop Luis the guy we had a baptismal date. I was the saddest drop ive had to do. He's such a good guy. We are going to continue to work and find. That's the nature of missionary work. I'm enjoying my comps and it's good. I literally have no pictures. I'm sorry I'm going to do better taking them... I just had a dude take a Pic of us in the barber shop so there's at least something 

Week 43 - April 29, 2019

Well. This week was good!
I went on an exchange up to Laredo (my greenie area) this week. It was crazy weird to be back there honestly. Definitely brought back a lot of emotions and memories. Working in the office week we've been preparing for MLC. Our president is having us train on obedience... Should be fun ahahah. We have been in finding mode and have found a few cool people with some potential! Especially the Guevara family. They're super cool and are actually from Guatemala. We also found a super cool guy named Luis. We set a baptismal date with him but he didn't come to church. Hes on dialysis and he got up for church and felt horrible so he didn't come :/ Corina and her family came to church and unfortunately they didn't really like church :) we just are going to keep working. I feel good about things. The mission is good! My comps are awesome and we go hard every morning for morning workouts and have a good time talking to people.
Email me if you'd like!

Elder Freedman

1. Weem Team Worldwide

Week 42 - April 22, 2019

Well this week flew like water falling through my hands. So much happened its insane. The first few days were crazy. We had to take all of the missionaries who finished their missions home and elder beutt and I said by to our favorite sister missionary - sister flanary. She is literally one of the boys. Right after that, we had a meeting with pres and then he took us out to eat. My mission President is literally the coolest dude in the world - Literally almost like one of the bros. One night it was like 10:00 at night and we were driving home and we just get a call from him and he was like "have you eaten?" we told him no and he was like "k come over" so we went over and got some food. We also got in a car crash... I wasn't driving I was sitting in the back.. That was crazy. This week I went on an exchange with the zone leaders in mcallen because I was just there so I filled them in on the area and some of the people we were teaching. I learned a lot from them. That was cool. We also went down to Brownsville for part of the day and did some stuff down there. We're super busy but we have a goal to be out at 2:00 working in our area. Right now we have some cool Potentials but we have to keep working. No one came to church on sunday so we have been talking about a vision and trying to dial in on the purpose we're trying to achieve here. At the end of the day it's in the hands of the lord but we're working and figuring out how to gel and use what we know to compliment each other. I honestly love my comps and being in a trio is so lit. They both went to GNC and got protein and we work out together in the mornings. It's super fun! Other than that the mission is good! It's kind of funny because I replaced my good friend elder Allen here and everyone thinks we look similar so a lot of kids call me Allen.

SHOUTOUT TO THE HART'S, THE WARD, AND MY FAMILY FOR THE EASTER PACKAGES. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!

Email me if you'd like!

Elder Freedman 

Week 41 - April 15, 2019

Well last night we had transfer calls and I got blind sided by a truck.. It turns out that I'm getting transferred from mcallen and going to be AP with my trainer elder Beuttenmuller and elder Gustafson - so we're gonna be in a trio. This week was good.. I just feel humbled right now and know that I'm kind of young in the mission still but I'm going to try my best.. I have a lot to learn but I know I have the big man on my side!

Have a good week!

Email me if you want!

Elder Freedman 

Week 41 - April 8, 2019

Well this week was a Rollercoaster.
This week flew and then conference hit. When you sit around as a missionary time goes so slow.. So these last two days of conference felt like two weeks honestly.
Conference was amazing but by the end we were a little sad. For those of you who don't know, I am serving in the Rio grande Valley, which is right along the south most Border of Texas and Mexico. All there is separating Texas and Mexico here is the Rio grande River and so it's super easy for people to cross here illegally. I've heard that 80% of those who live here are illegal immigrants. To get here is super easy, but if you go two hours north of here, there is something called a "checkpoint" which is basically like the REAL border. All of these people here can't get up north across the checkpoint to the temple and they can't go back to Mexico to go to the temple either. Actually there are two temples in Mexico here that are closer than the one in San Antonio for us. So basically, these people here and a lot of the converts who are some of the most faithful people I've met Literally can't make It to the temple because they're stuck between borders - even though they want to go so bad. Regardless, conference was Amazing and I loved the talks. You can just feel and tell that those men and women are God's chosen people to help lead the church. Conference is like Christmas for a missionary. Literally. It's better than any holiday.

Also, my mission president is lit.
In mcallen zone he's letting us watch 2 movies because the lord blessed us and helped us have some success last month. We're watching black panther and the new animated spider man. We're hyped!

This week was good though and we had some MIRACLES!
We literally taught probably the most amazing restoration lesson I've taught on my mission. We also have just been teaching some good people and have had the opportunity to set some baptismal dates with a few people! We will see what happens and what the lord has in store for them 😊

Other than that shoutout to my favorite dad in the world the BIG MAN BILL! APRIL 11TH is your bday! Call you then!

Also. Happy birthday to Andrew on the 13th. Sure love you bro. My Screensaver is a Pic of me and you back in the day balling up playing some lax. Can't wait for you to be out in the field with me real soon!

Love you guys so much!

Email me if you want!

Elder Freedman

Pic: Some movie sauce

Week 40 - April 1, 2019

This week.
A grind.
Freezing.
Hot.
But really good.

We found a really cool family - the casanovas, that look really promising and are a blessing! They came to church yesterday and loved it.
We had MLC this last week which was good. I'm super excited for conference. Rumors are always fun to think about as a missionary because it's your life. Other than that this week has just been a grind and elder Fusco and I are having a good time. Next week we are planning for our zone to do something fun. We might get permission to Go to south padre Island as a zone which would be lit!
Love you guys!

Elder Freedman

Me and my comp got twinning shirts 

Week 39 - March 25, 2019

First and foremost, shoutout to my brother Andrew.. I've been thinking about you all week man! You're gonna shred it out in COTE D'IVOIRE! I can't believe it. This week we hit the pavement super hard.. We are just trying to find the elect people here in Edinburgh. This whole week we had just return appointments set all week from 2-9 at night and like 95% of them fell through. It's all good though I really just think when someone doesn't show up to a lesson God is just preparing someone else more prepared somewhere out there :') Something im learning is missionary work is ALL in God's hands. We are just instruments in God's hands as missionaries.

Other than that the mission is good. We had a few people randomly come to church this week which was a blessing but we met them off street contacts and haven't been able to teach them much so we'll see what happens :)..

One of them was cool though. We were walking and this dude was just chilling inside his car so we walked up to him and told him to roll his window down. We asked if we could give him a little picture of Jesus christ and he took it and was just like "I'm never going to forget this for the rest of my life".. He explained to us that he was sitting in his car for like 30 minutes wondering why and questioning why the world was so crazy... So we talked to him and then he said he was coming to church and he came with his wife. This dudes name is Eduardo if yall want to pray for him!

Les extraño y les quiero mucho

Shoutout my boy Garfield123. Love you bro and happy birthday. Welcome to the 20 club. Wtod for life 

Elder Freedman 

Week 38 - March 18, 2019

Hey! This week was honestly good but not much happened. We had a baptism fall from the heavens this week which was a straight blessing. I got a call at like 11 at night and a lady who has been investigating the church for 2 years wanted to get baptized! Her name is rosalba! Such a blessing! Other than that we are just finding finding finding. Right now there is no one with a ton of potential that we are teaching but we are just trusting that as long as we continue to work God will handle the rest. The mission is good and shoutout to. My cousin Ben for getting called to. Africa! I'm too hyped for you.. Andrews call coming soon. So crazy that three Freedmans could be out in the field together. WTOD. Love you guys so much. Just do your best. It's all you can ask of yourself!

This week I've been thinking of my experience I've had at the hill cumorah pageant... I came across this scripture 

"26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?"

30 And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things.

We just can't ever forget those good experiences weve had or felt in the gospel..

Sometimes we have one question and forget everything we've ever felt in the gospel and let it ruin our testimonies... We're greedy as people and let it get to us! If you've felt the change in your heart, let it be evidence to you its true, And never turn back!

Love you guys so much. 

Shoutout to all my family 

Shoutout Wtod 

ELDER FREEDMAN 

200 W LA VISTA AVE

MCALLEN, TX 78501

Week 37 - March 11, 2019

Hey! So much happened but so little happened at the same time this week. Being here in mcallen was super stressful at first. It's actually the biggest zone in the mission and so when we all showed up at the church for Zone meeting it was so much different than my last zones that I was in. But my companion elder Fusco is a beast. He's like more than fluent in Spanish and knows every little slang word there is. He sips mate in the morning and just wants everything to do with any type of Mexican, central American, or south American culture. I'm going to learn a lot from him. When I got here it was pretty discouraging because we literally had no one to teach so we hit the pavement super hard. On the bright side in my last area Jacob, Raelynn, and Jessica were baptized! They all messaged me pictures and stuff like that and so even though I missed their baptism and was transferred 4 days before I was so happy for them! A lot of appointments (almost all of them) fell through but we did have one miracle this week. We met a lady named sol who literally has been having such a hard time in her life. She has been hiding from some bad people in her life but this one day, her friend convinced her to sit outside. Well, that day we found her. We invited Her to church and she came! That night we went over to follow up. She said that she had been praying and praying. She came to church yesterday and said that it was the first time she felt the spirit at a church. The ward here is huge. They put in so much work with sol and she said she had the best experience. She told us all about her life for Literslly like an hour and a half and elder Fusco and I probably said 50 words total that whole time. She said she was about to throw in the towel with God and she knows that we met her for a reason. Other than that things are good. I am super sad to hear that my uncle Mark Passed away but I am so Happy that he is in a better Place. Not a single bad word came out of that man's mouth. I'm going to miss the tickle fights and I remember one time especially that he took just me to a jazz game. I can't wait to make more memories with him and I know that is what the gospel is all about.

 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

I just realized that although I've made a lot of mistakes I want to do my very best to love everyone around me and love God because that's what uncle Mark did.

 I'm just so thankful that I know the things I know and I am hyped to be a missionary, because I get to share these things with other people.

Till next week!

Elder Freedman

Sorry, no pics this week. I'll try this next one :) 

Week 36 - March 4, 2019

Well, this week was crazy. Last night Elder Allen called me and I found out Im going to be leaving Harlingen to be a new Zone Leader in Mcallen!  My new companion is going to be a kid named Elder Fusco. I just hope God can help me out on this one because this is something entirely new.. this week was honestly just awesome. I don't really know where to start. Jacob and Raelynn got their marriage license and they're going to be married on Friday and baptized on Saturday. I am so sad I won't be there to see that considering that im leaving. Jacob is literally my homie and I will miss teaching him. It has been such a blessing and been the coolest thing to see the change in him. At church he brought elder Evans and I these glass angel statues. He said he won them at the carnival the night before and when he pulled the prize out of the bag it was two angels. He said he knew that it was symbolic of us and told us at church that we were his two "angels" so he each gave us one of those prizes. I can't wait to hold on to that forever. Jessica should also be baptized this Saturday and I'm so excited for her! I'm so sad I'm leaving to mcallen right before they'll be baptized but I know there are opportunities ahead. I'm going to miss my awesome district, the people I had the opportunity to teach, and Also people in my branch who helped us out. I'm thankful that God put these things in my path as a missionary. In Harlingen we accomplished some great things with the help of the lord and because of that our mission president is letting us watch black panther and incredibles 2 as a zone.. Going to be too awesome. The best part is, I know that whether it be good or bad, I know there is so much more in store for me to learn in my next area and throughout the rest of my mission. Oh, a little birdy told me there's a bench press in my next apartment so I'm pretty hyped about that.. Lets hope it's true ;-) 

Week 35 - Feb 25, 2019

Hey! This week was awesome. I have been on my mission for 8 months. I think it's felt about that long to be honest.
To start off, diomed (Dewey) was baptized! That was awesome. He's only 10 but he understands so much about the gospel! His family was so supportive and the service was great. We also found some really cool people. Jessica and her 4 kids came to church. Hopefully If things go well she will be getting baptized on the 9th of March. We also set some baptismal dates with a guy named Jacob and his girlfriend raelynn. They are planning on getting married this week or the next so they can be baptized on the 9th also. We didn't even find them,  a member called us and told us her son wanted to be baptized. Well, that son was Jacob. He's pretty motivated and really liked church so we'll see what happens :) Straight blessing (we literally did nothing) ! After meeting with us he told us about his girlfriend and how she wants to do it too and they're trying to be better for their kids. I can't remember if I talked about Jerry last week but Jerry is another guy we're teaching. He has 6 kids and has been reading the Book of Mormon. I really feel like he feels something different with the message that we carry and he said that he wants this for his whole family. His wife (girlfriend) told us she wants to listen too. We extended a baptismal date and he wanted to do it but they're not married yet so that will have to happen first. Yesterday my comp and I were fed three different times by members - One of them being unexpectedly. Talk about feeling horrible about yourself. They don't mess around down here with food! This is the last week of the transfer here in Harlingen. We'll see what happens, I honestly hope I stay here but with the mission you just never know what God is going to throw at you. Love you guys so much!

Elder Freedman 

Week 34 - Feb 18, 2019

whats up! This week was pretty great. we had two baptisms on saturday which was a blessing - olivia and bones! I cant wait to see the things god has in store for them as they hopefully continue along with the gospel. I am really loving it here in Harlingen. The zone is great and i like everyone that im surrounded with! Other than that we have been continuing to find. Hopefully if the lord continues to touch the work here we should have another baptism this week. We also have been continuing to teach that girl jessica who said she had a dream we were coming to her door. She has been reading the book of mormon and is already in second Nephi! Hopefully she continues to move forward, we set a baptismal date with her for march 9th! the mission is something that is super interesting. something i realized is that as missionaries all we can do is try our best. everything else we have to leave up to the lord and his will! But i am so thankful that although the mission is super hard, every single day little things happen that remind me that no matter what is going on he is always there. im especially thankful for my family and all the support they give me. i know i couldnt do this without them! Shoutout to my brother andrew for getting accepted to BYU. im so proud of you man and you worked your behind off to get there!!! keep slaying it!!! Talking to family is weird but its super good. I love it because i just dont need to email as much. Love you guys!

elder freedman

Week 33 - Feb 11, 2019

This week was great. Olivia and her Son bones weren't quite ready and we didn't want to just pick them up and throw them in the font flailing without being ready so they will be getting baptized this saturday if things go well and hopefully they're a little more prepared:) please keep them in your prayers! Luis got the aaronic priesthood on Sunday and that was sick!! When he stood up in front of the congregation to get the branches approval before his ordination me and my comp went crazy (silent, but crazy) and people were just staring at us. He also had us over for dinner and his wife who is from Puerto Rico made us a ton of Puerto Rican food. I loved it. One time we were on a door contact and this lady like started crying to us when we were just talking about random stuff. As we continued to talk she told us that she had a dream the night before that two Caucasian men were going to come to her house to bring an important message. That was cool and we set a return appointment for tomorrow so we will see how that goes! Rhianna got baptized on Saturday so that was sweet.

Okay so this is something that I learned this week. How fake social media is. When you teach people on the mission, they open up to you and you discover what someone's life is ACTUALLY like. Their pains, sadness, super hard times - everything like that. As missionaries we have facebook to better stay in contact with investigators and stuff like that. When you go on people's Facebooks that you're teaching and see how they look and act on there, you just see how it's nothing like how they are in person. Something i realized about social media is not only are you looking at false perceptions and the lives of other people, which in turn makes YOU feel worse, but also with social media a lot of people create a false perception of themselves! I think that is what really kills us. Every time we look at our profile, it's what we want people to think and not who we actually are. I honestly think social media is one of the biggest reasons why people are so sad these days. Does this mean I'm not gonna use it when I get Home? Nah I will probably, but I don't know, It's an eye opener out Here and maybe I'll use it a little differently.

Diomed (Dewey) is progressing well and if things go well he will be getting baptized on the 23rd.

That's about it for this week but stay good out there! Email me if you want!

Ps. my moms having surgery so bring her cookies or something for me

Love you guys,

Tfreeds 

Week 32 - Feb 4, 2019

This week was super good! Luis was baptized this week which was a blessing! His wife and two kids came to his baptism and they didn't show much interest in what we were sharing until then so we're really hoping they follow soon. Luis said he'll get them soon and he's excited to help them understand what he's learned because he's tired of this "until death do you part nonsense." He eventually wants him and his family to be sealed together. We also are teaching a girl named Olivia and she has four young kids, she's pretty cool and super nice and they've come to church a couple of times so if it all goes as planned her and her son will be baptized on Saturday.

Last night was the Super Bowl in case you guys didn't know and honestly it was kinda fun because we spent that time knocking doors because nobody we're teaching wanted to schedule an appointment during that time, so each door we knocked we asked them the score and how the game was going and honestly it seemed like such a boring game haha so I wasn't upset at all for missing it.

Also this week was MLC. I got to see my boys Elder Murdoch and Elder Gardner. That was super fun. Big time sleepover right there. We learned a lot for sure. Other than that the mission is good. Just out here. Email me if you want! Im loving the area were in right now!

Tfreeds

Also, I want to give a very special shoutout to my brother Charlie who turns 15 on the 8th. You're going to be on a mission as soon as you know it Man! Make good choices and I love you so much!!!

Here are a few pictures from the week 

Week 31 - Jan 28, 2019

Alright so this week was great. We didn't find a TON of new people, but the people that we have are starting to progress:) Luis came to church again this week and is getting baptized this Saturday. He is the man. The members here have put in some work with him so he is fellowshipped into the branch pretty well. We owe a lot to the members and especially a guy named brother Garcia. He has helped us a lot! Olivia and her 4 kids also came to church and they are seriously so cute. Olivia said she was not expecting church to be like it was so we have a lesson with her this week and will clarify any questions she had. But she still has a baptismal date for the 9th of February along with her son bones (it's his nickname). They are super cool and seriously like the nicest people. Since they split the area that we were working in last week there are other sisters who are covering San Benito. We had a pass off lesson with them on Saturday and it went well with the people that we were teaching - Leticia, Rhianna, and Jazlyn. I feel like they were at a make or break point and the sisters came in clutch and convinced them to go to church for the second week in a row. That was awesome and I'm so happy the sisters can teach them. If things go well Rhianna and Jazlyn will be getting baptized on February 9th. I know they're going to do a better job with them than elder Evans and I would. We also passed cliff off to them and he is the coolest dude. I'm going to miss him but hopefully we will see him dressed in white on the 16th of February :) We got a new zone leader here and his name is Elder Faupula. He's from California and a beast. Something I learned this week is polygamy would be the hardest thing ever. In my district there are two sister companionships and honestly they're amazing sisters but holy cow does it stress me out ahahah.  Have a blessed week!

Elder Freedman 

Here's a few photos

1. This mommy dog wouldn't let us in to one of our investigators homes because she had babies. My comp is a dog tamer and all her babies just came and ran up to us.

2. My first district I was a part of when I got to this zone. They were awesome. 

Week 30 - Jan 21, 2019

Helloooo!
This week was good. It was the end of the transfer and we found out that elder Evans and I are staying together for another one. I will still be a district leader here and there will be another companionship of sisters coming into the district so that will be fun. This week we set another baptismal date with a guy named cliff. He is the boy. Right when we met him he was so receptive. If he keeps committments and carries on he will probably be the most prepared person I've ever taught. Right now we have 5 people on baptismal date but they are splitting my area and the new people coming in are getting 3 of those people - Cliff, Rhianna, and Jazlyn. I'm sad about that but it's a blessing too. I'm super happy for the sisters who will be getting them. Luis, Rhianna, and Leticia came to church this Sunday which was such a blessing! Other than that we're out here. I heard my cousins Ben and Will are turning into rappers and had a concert last weekend. Oh man. I love you guys. Stay good out there! 

Love

Elder Freedman

* I AM SO SORRY. No pictures this week. I literally took none. Next week i will do better i promise")

Week 29 - Jan 14, 2019

This week felt long but it was good. My companion tried to taze me with a tazer that was at an investigators house as a joke. He like reached out to taze me and I grabbed his arm and turned it back at him and it hit a gun that was hanging on the wall and it fell and broke. Whoops. I'm going to start out with the bad news before the good stuff. So irá, a mom we were teaching with 7 kids, had her husband tell her that she can't talk with us anymore. I was so sad because irá was sooo interested in the gospel. When we shared the restoration she was like "this is insane and it makes so much sense". She read some chapters From the Book of Mormon and then she said her husband took the book out of her hands and won't let her read it anymore. I told myself she'll accept it in the spirit world if she doesn't get the chance here. Other than that though, we found some cool people and set 4 baptismal dates this week! The first is with a lady named olivia and her Son! She is so cool and we came over 3 days in a row to teach lessons to her. She has read from the book of Mormon every single time we've asked - thats something that doesn't usually Happen. She is a blessing. Then we are teaching Leticia, Rhianna, and Jazlyn. They are all girls ranging from 16-20 but they don't have parents and  live together and are their own "family". It's super cool to help and teach them because they want to become better and get closer to God together. Jazlyn and Rhianna accepted baptismal dates but Leticia hasn't yet - hopefully she will follow their example :) Luis came to church this week and it was super good! He said that he loved it. This week I learned some cool things about the gospel.

Acts 3
 19 ¶ Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing (the restoration) shall come from the presence of the Lord;
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. (Joseph Smith)
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

In this scripture we learn that there had to be a "restitution of all things" (v21) when the restoration happens - Everything that was done by prophets since the world began had to be done again or restored to the earth to bring the fulness again.

Why that matters? Things like Polygamy. It was done by prophets of old, so actually, for the restoration to be complete, it HAD to happen again just as we learn in this scripture. Joseph Smith hated the idea of it, but it had to happen again as prophets of old had been required to do it. It goes the same for almost every single thing that other people would call "contradictory" that our church did. In order to bring the fulness of the gospel back, this HAD to happen, whether the people doing it liked it or not. It was a commandment!

This is the last week of the transfer so we'll see what happens but I feel like I'm going to stay here in San Benito for next transfer. 

Sorry for the long email. Shoutout to you if you actually read the whole thing hahaha. 

Until next week :)

Elder Freedman