Week 80 - January 27, 2019 - "Great Week"

Hey everyone! I hope everything is going well back home!

This week was great - maybe a little bit less wild from last week but still a super fun time. This week we met some cool new people. I'm excited to see what happens with them. Sadly, I think there could be a chance that I could be moved from Laredo because transfers are next week. Anna is still progressing super well and honestly she is a super big example of someone with faith. Even with a lot of opposition, something I think is super cool is her ability to hold fast to the things that God has witnessed to her, testifying to her that these things are true. Something super fun happened this week - I got to go on exchanges with our mission presidents son, David. My companion stayed with President Ocampo to go to a stake training and David and I went out to visit some people. I wish I had more to write about this week. Everything is turning into a blur out here! Was reading the scriptures and I loved this verse in proverbs: 

11 My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction:

12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

Pics: 

1. Birthday dinner at the Villareals

2. The beast Hermano Villareal. They feed us so well. Carne Asada for days <3

Week 79 - January 20, 2020 "Got put on the News, Gun pulled on us, and a baptism! Wild Week!"

Hello! This week was insane!

Honestly quite the roller coaster. This week my companion and I were at the gas station and we saw a news lady there and we asked her if she would put us on the news... It turns out someone had won the lottery at that gas station and she asked if she could interview us and ask questions. So we said yes but basically just tried to put a free advertisement to get people to come to church that Sunday. So she asked us "What would you do with all that money?" And I responded "I would buy everyone cars and then invite all of them to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints"and it turns out it actually made the news! Kinda lit. Hahha. https://www.kgns.tv/video?vid=567064272

Me and my companion stopped to talk to a guy but he didn't pay attention to us so we just went on and stopped the car and then started to pray before we went into a lesson... When we opened up our eyes the guy was standing outside our car so I opened the door to talk to him and he like flashed his gun at us cuz he thought we were trying to do something to him but we told him that we just wanted to give him a little picture of Jesus and he was chilling. Kinda super sketch though. He felt bad and actually it turned out it was a BB gun but we were seriously so scared when we just saw he had a gun at first. 

This week, my man Dylan was baptized! That was such a cool experience and he was just smiling the whole time. I'm way happy for him and gave him a little tie so hopefully he doesn't forget me hahah. I'm excited for what's ahead in his future! With other people that we are teaching, Anna is honestly such a big blessing to teach. She has a baptismal date for the 1st of February and honestly is just the biggest blessing. She is facing some adversity but really trusting in the Lord and it is honestly like the coolest/most beautiful thing ever to see her just really put her faith in God, overcome her fear, and continue to learn more. We actually met her at a park and didn't really want to walk over at first but we just sent it and talked to her. I really am so thankful for these experiences. Jaime is doing good too, we have a few things we need to do to help him get ready but we had some crazy teaching experiences with him this week. We came by and he had read like half way through 2 Nephi and he was just like saying all of this stuff like "It makes so much sense if Adam and Eve didn't eat the fruit, we really wouldn't be here right now.." and just my companion and I were awestruck at the things that he was understanding from the Book of Mormon. So we start our lesson and we just hear this weird noise and we end the prayer and his dog threw up all over the floor... so he was like "It's demons are coming out of it... I'm not kidding... I opened up the Book of Mormon earlier today and literally he threw up right after that too..." That was kinda nuts. 

Anyways, I hope you guys are all back home. I think I could do this forever probably. I'm really so thankful for the scriptures. On my mission I have begun to see them differently. They're not just something there to read when were super bored. They're there to change our quality of life. The church and this gospel is true. Read and you'll find out. 

Alma 5

"7 Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word"

Week 78 - January 13, 2020 "Great Week"

Hey! This week was great! Lots of different things happened. Jose Luis was baptized. That was a huge blessing:) It went well and we had one of the people that we have been teaching come to the baptism also. That was super cool. We got to go on exchanges with the assistants back in McAllen and that was super fun. I got to go work with my old companion Elder Johnson. We got to see some of the people I helped teach and the Garza family fed us. They gave me a late Christmas gift which was super nice. They gave me a tie and like a geode rock. Then later that night we went to coordination and I got to see some familiar faces like Osvaldo and some of my favorite people like Israel and Ricardo. This week we met a few new cool people. Jaime was one of them. About a week ago we talked to Jaime on the street. He told us to come back. We kinda lost contact with him but then one day we came back to teach him and he was there so we taught him the restoration. At the end he was just like "You know, I feel like this is true." So we went by on Saturday to remind him about church and he was like "I was actually just reading the book" and he had read all of 3 Nephi and then like almost all of 1 Nephi. He then was like " I was actually just reading about the great and abominable church.. I got baptized into the Catholic church when I was little but would it be possible to like... get baptized in THIS church?" so we set a baptismal date with him for the 25th of this month. That was a miracle from God. At the end of the day he is in control of everything. 

"8 But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. " 

We have also met some other cool people and we will see what happens! 

Im so thankful to be out here! Have a great week! 

Elder Freedman

Baptism of Jose Luis

My Main Man Osvaldo

 Back with Elder Johnson

Week 77 - January 6, 2020 "Look Around"

This week was so dope but also insane.
Where to start.. Me and my companion were walking around the streets of downtown Laredo and started hearing what sounded like gunshots and explosions. So we were super confused and a little concerned. We thought maybe it was fireworks so we just decided to get in our car and drive away and we called the police.. They were like "yeah it's most definitely not fireworks but we've been getting tons of calls".."you said you were walking outside? You should probably be indoors right now." Kinda insane so we called our mission President and he had all the missionaries along the border in our zone go home for the night. If I'm not mistaken what a member from the ward told us is that there was just some crazy cartel stuff going on across the border and I guess we could hear all of it. Kinda Insane. Just thankful to be in the United States and safe! 

[Note from the editor (Dad) - https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2020/01/03/video-rounds-of-gunfire-in-nuevo-laredo-heard-during-deadly-shootouts/]

Anyways, back to missionary work! There is a kid here named Dylan Diaz who has been wanting to get baptized and we were waiting for his mom to give him permission. He's actually the bishops nephew here. So we went by because the mom finally came into town to visit and talked with her. She was such a nice lady and gave permission for her son to be baptized! We also had another miracle where we walked up to a lady in her car and she told us she was a member so we went by and it turns out her daughter has not been baptized so we went by and taught them a lesson and set a baptismal date for the 26th of this month! 

Elder Farley and I went down for MLC this week and that was a good time. Our mission President is such an awesome guy. His wife too.  For new years we ate Cabrito which is Goat and it was pretty good honestly. Then last night for the 5th of January we had some super good Ceviche and Fish and then we did this things called the Rosca de Reyes which is like a Mexican tradition that has to do with the Baby Jesus and whoever gets the baby Jesus in their sweet bread has to make tamales for everyone else. It was honestly a good time. 

On Sunday, we were expecting to have a good amount of people there at church.. Most of them didn't show up and I was a little bit disappointed by it because we really wanted those people to get here. But as I was sitting there in sacrament meeting kind of being a little sulky about the entire thing, I looked over at Jose Luis, who was someone that we had invited and who had come to church. I saw him there sitting, so reverently, so attentively, with his hands in his lap and just paying such good attention to what was going on. I realized that that alone, him being there, sitting there so attentively and taking everything in was the biggest blessing in the world. The fact that I got to take part in that special moment and share that with him and that he was willing to take time out of his life to come to church and to listen to this message of the restored gospel was the biggest blessing ever. I think i learned a pretty big lesson in that moment. When i was sitting there so sulkily, so sad about the fact that these other people didn't come, I didn't open up my eyes and see the amazing blessing that God put in our place that day. That's why this letter is titled "Look Around". Because honestly, in all of our lives, there are a trillion things that go wrong every single day. When we focus on them, its obvious that we're going to be sad and gloomy. But what I challenge you guys to do it to open up your eyes and look around at all of the amazing blessings that God put in your place today. They're ALL over the place! We just need to change our perspective and open our eyes! 

"16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

Change your perspective and everything changes. Also, one of my favorite things to study recently has been the teaching of the presidents of the church. They take super simple topics and literally expound on them so much. They're so good. 

Have a great week! 

Elder Freedman