Balaclava

Well folks, 'tis the season! It has been quite chilly this past week. I have been very grateful for my big, warm coat and wool socks lately. When we had service at the zoo on Wednesday it was a balmy 25 degrees and I don't think I've ever been more cold in my life. We were working outside taking down fall decorations around the grounds and I couldn't feel my face. It reminded me of the Vampire Weekend song: "In December, drinking horchata. I look psychotic in a balaclava." No, I was not drinking horchata (but that stuff is way good), and no, I wasn't wearing a balaclava. BUT I THINK I NEED ONE. That probably wouldn't be very becoming of a servant of the Lord, but at this point, I'm not sure I really care... (jk) But really though. Today is kinda weird because it's like 60 degrees. But reports are saying SNOW for this week. So yeah, exciting times!

More exciting times in the Missionary Department:

Rodrigo and fam: We invited his mom to officially investigate the church.... AAAAAAAAAND SHE SAID YES! Rodrigo is all set for his baptism for Friday at 7 pm, so if I could get a blast of prayers that day that would be awesome! The whole family came to our open house or casa abierta on Saturday which was excellent! Which leads me to my next point...

CASA ABIERTA: Woot. It was basically one big chapel tour. We were able to have the PVC (portable visitor center) Sisters come to the event and bring all the portable visitor centers that they had in Spanish. I don't remember if I've mentioned these at all in the past, but I have some pics that I will include for sure. The description is in the name. Basically they are visitors centers that are very much portable. They are designed specifically for chapel tours so that people can watch a video clip and learn more about the church. They are very professionally made and look just like something you would see at a temple visitors center. So awesome. Hna Heileson and I were in charge of the Jesus Christ one and we got to show people the "Because of Him" video and bare our testimonies of Christ. It was super powerful. When the Tello family came and watched the video they were all crying and I was able to testify that what they were feeling was the Spirit. So powerful. If you haven't seen that video, stop right now and look it up on Mormon Channel. And the best part of the Casa Abierta was that afterwards everyone came together for a big, potluck dinner. Everyone. The members did such a great job mingling with the people who came to "come and see" and I was especially touched to see the Tellos integrate into our ward family. That's how it's done, folks. 

Temple Trip 2.0: So excited for my 2nd temple trip! We are going this Saturday and the best part is that the wife of one of our investigators is receiving her endowment! So we will get to be a part of that special event. It's gonna be an all day trip and I am so excited to spend my entire Saturday in the house of the Lord. Plus the Boston temple is cooler than life. No big deal. 

#November2Remeber Update: So far our goal for the #MBM70 is going great! We are now sitting comfortably on 63 baptisms with one more weekend left. And there are still about 60 more dates set, including Rodrigo's. This has truly been a #November2Remeber or #NovemberToBecomeAMember. We have felt the support of your prayers in addition to every missionary in the mission, the Packards, and Elder Holland. We have truly called upon the powers of heaven. 

Well, in honor of Thanksgiving I think it's clear that I have so much to be grateful for. This week take some time to reflect on the many miracles in your life and eat some delicious pumpkin pie for me.We will be eating with the family of our Ward Mission Leader so I have no idea what to expect, except that it is going to be great! I love that family, and I'm sure that the food will be delicious as always. 

Love you all. And remember that I am grateful for you all!

Con amor,

Hermana Frei

Casa Abierta with the PVC

MORE Casa Abierta con la Santa Biblia

Hna Munoz with the family history center

The Tellos and Hna Eastmand 

Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles

Well folks, here we are again. Writing a mass email is weird. I feel like I'm writing an entry into my journal and then sending it out into the void. It's kinda fun, actually. I'm just in my own little bubble called "mission" trying to get people to come closer to Jesus Christ. It's great. 

Exciting times are happening in the MBM! And so many miracles are happening here in Bridgeport. My first transfer was great and I learned a lot about myself, but this transfer I am seeing real life, honest to goodness miracles. The kind that people share in their home-coming talks. Haha. But really, what is a miracle? A miracle is a time when God intervenes to change the outcome. They happen all the time.

So anyways, I'll share a few miracles I have seen this week. But rest assured that you will have to come to my homecoming talk in approximately 15 months to get the full lot. So I have a huge testimony of member-present lessons. And sometimes you can't find a member who is available to save your life. And as I have learned it is better to reschedule your appointment with your investigator than to go ahead and try to teach by yourself. But it was an appointment with Rodrigo, and we can't afford to reschedule lessons with him because it is crunch time. We've got T-minus 11 days to his baptism. So Hna Heileson and I called the entire ward directory. Nada. And we were at our wits end. So we knelt down and prayed and asked for a miracle. Plain and simple. So when we got to Rodrigo's we called our last hope. And he answered his phone (a miracle in and of itself) and said he could come in 1/2 an hour. So we waited, and BAM. MIRACLE. 

Then the other night we had a goal to get 1 new investigator from our appointment and we rolled out of there with a solid 2! No big deal. Just call me Ammon. Jk, MIRACLES. OR AS MY HISPANIC FRIENDS SAY, "MILAGROS."

Also, update on the #MBM70 we are sitting on 39 baptisms so far for the month. And we have 101 baptismal dates set for the rest of the month. So lets get more faith and prayers up in here and watch the Lord do his good and mighty work. 

I love you all! Now is the season to start counting your many blessings. Because literally you have no idea how much you are blessed. Every day I walk into a home and they basically feed me all the food in their fridge. They give us everything. So go out and do something nice for someone else. Be nice to the missionaries. :)

As our member tells us every time we see her: "Be good!"

Such love,

Hna Frei

Fun for the whole family

Que tal? I don't have much time to email today since we are going to the zoo for non-service! Yay!

Anyways, HAS THE DAY OF MIRACLES CEASED? (Moroni 7:35) I can answer that with a resounding NO! Basically we have started teaching the entire Tello family and Rodrigo RECEIVED AN ANSWER TO HIS PRAYERS. Forgive me for the all caps, but I am so excited. It was so awkward a few weeks ago when we asked him if he had received an answer from God and he said he prayed and he felt... NOTHING. And then this past Tuesday we were ending our lesson and he was like WAIT! And he shared with us that he received an answer to his prayers. He said at first he felt a pain in his stomach (and at that point I was thinking that sounded more like indigestion, not the Spirit) and then his heart got all warm and fuzzy like God was hugging him. (ok, that sounds more like it) And he now has a baptismal date for the day after thanksgiving! Yay! #MBM70

If that wasn't a miracle then I don't know what is. 

MORE MIRACLES: the entire family came to church! WEEEEEEEEEEEEE

So yeah, things are pretty great. Life is good. Please pray for the Tello family and for the #MBM70. God is working miracles out here guys. No joke. The gospel blesses families, and it is so awesome to be working with an entire family and to see them support one another in their studies and prayers. 

To my family: gosh, I love you guys. And it is because I know that we can be together forever that I want to share that message with every family I meet. It is such a beautiful promise. FAMILIES ARE LITERALLY FOREVER.

Anyways, have a great week everybody. Remember the #MBM70 in your prayers.

Truth will prevail!

Con amor,

Hermana Frei

We're Going Global! #MBM70

As many of you probably saw, I'm back in the Facebook world! It's something I thought I wouldn't have to do for another 18 months, but here I am... Because I'm now a digital missionary! The fabulous MBM (Massachusetts Boston Mission) has a force of about 30 missionaries who proselyte on the world wide web. It's pretty exciting. Just this past week we had a skype appointment with a guy from Brazil. This is all very new for our mission, but we have had one baptism come out of it already. Some guy from Uganda. So yeah, all sorts of exciting things going on. But just remember that I can't talk to any of y'all on Facebook.

Gracias.

But other than that, this week has been all sorts of crazy busy! And on Halloween we celebrated by attending a Zone Conference all day! We had a member of the 70 with us and we learned all about the Abrahamic Covenant, the House of Israel, and beyond. 

My mind has been blown. 

Also, we have set a mission goal to get 70 baptisms for the month of November! It is so exciting, and we pray for help for this goal in EVERY. SINgle. Prayer. So if you would all like to unite with our efforts and include the #MBM70 in your prayers this month that would be awesome! 

(And yes, it's a trending hash tag (at least it should be. (gmail does hash tags, right? (#MBM70))))

 We already have 9 baptisms down. So the ball is rolling for sure. I LOVE GOALS. Literally they are the best. If you don't set goals and something good happens then it's just a nice coincidence, BUT IF YOU SET GOALS then you get all sorts of happiness and satisfaction from knowing that you accomplished something awesome. And in our case, we know that God accomplished something awesome through us. 

Another exciting thing that happened on Saturday: our phone died! And somehow we lost it in the middle of Bridgeport without us knowing... So Hna Heileson and I were nightly planning, frustrated that our phone was being dumb, thinking it was in one of our bags... And the English Sisters walked in to our apartment and presented us our phone! And it was working! Apparently some guy called them up and brought it to them. Haha! God works miracles and is watching out for you-- even when you don't even know you need a miracle. 

Anyways, the work is rolling forward! Especially in little baby Bridgeport, but also throughout the whole world! I love this time of year, and I got a little excited by all the fall leaves (see attachment). I love our Savior, and for all his tender mercies. 

Tenga una buena semana!

Con amor,

Hermana Frei #MBM70