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