Christmas explosion

I honestly have zero ideas of what happened in the beginning of this week, so from what I remember of the weekend... (Wow, I sound like a drug addict or something. Just high off the gospel of Jesus Christ I guess.) Between Friday and Saturday we received 3 Christmas packages in our apartment! I got one from Ashley and D and the Chongs (thanks guys!) and then Sister Lowenthal (one of the Portuguese sisters that I live with) got one from her family, and Sister Batschi got one from her family. So in like a 24 hour period we had Christmas explosions going off about every 8 hours. It was so great :) We now have a tree all decked out with presents underneath and everything! We have stockings and a cardboard fireplace! It's pretty sweet. 'Tis the season :) 

Also, last night the Boston 1st Ward had its Christmas Party! And man, was it a party! We had several investigators there and we didn't even have to worry. Once they stepped in the room, our ward did the rest. We have some pretty awesome members. There was a musical portion of the party and it was way cool. There was a couple that played a jazz version of "Mary Did You Know?" on the saxophone and piano/vocals. I was in awe. But yeah, it was a great party. Lots of food, tons of cool people, very successful. 

I feel like I still don't know this area very well at all. But it's cool. I'm still meeting investigators that I didn't know we even had. It's kinda fun. Haha. Boston is great. The library is way sweet. Someday when I get a camera I'll have some cooler pictures. But until then, I'm at the mercy of my companion and roommates. But we've gotten some pretty sweet shots lately so esta bien. Btw, I miss Spanish. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas Season! I love this time of year! There are tons of lights and wreaths all over the city. It's absolutely beautiful. We are having such a great time passing out the #HeistheGift cards. They are so easy to share and nearly everyone is ok with a Christmas message. Until you start talking to a Jewish family on the T. And you don't realize they are Jewish and don't believe in Jesus Christ/celebrate Christmas at all until after you hand them the card... Haha good times. Sometimes you just assume that everyone is Christian. Whoopsies. Haha, I love awkward moments. 

Anyways, I love you all! If you haven't had the chance to watch the He is the Gift video you totally should! Especially if you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed by all the things that "need" to get done. Just remember the reason for the season! 

Have a great week!

Con amor,

Hermana Frei

Becca actually in Boston

Hello hello! 

You know what's weird? English. 

Anyways, I made it to the big city and it's crazy. Everywhere we go we just talk to EVERYONE. The T is the subway system here in Boston and it's a lot like the Metro system in DC. So sweet. I've only been riding the T and buses for a few days and I've already seen my share of crazy, wacked out things. People are so great. And we just try to hand out as many #HeIsTheGift cards as physically possible. It's so fun! I was never the kind of person to talk to random people on the bus, but it's actually a lot of fun. Plus we get to walk/run everywhere. We run at least 3 times a day to try and catch a bus. Haha. 

So basically this is my dream area. My companion, Sister Batschi is so great. I just love her to death. She is from Renton, niece of THE Batschis, and we were in the Dance Festival together way back when! We have a lot of fun together. Plus we serve with 2 other companionships of elders in our ward. Our church building also has a Haitian-Creole ward, a Spanish branch, and a Portuguese group. So there are about 20 missionaries roving around our chapel ALL THE TIME. This building has the highest number of missionaries in the world probably. It's insane. So fun. I just love being a missionary. 

The work here is very fast-paced and we pick up new investigators and baptismal dates like candy. We will probably have at least 2 baptisms this month. I've learned a lot about opening my mouth and sharing the gospel with EVERYBODY. There is so much going on all the time, it's a little overwhelming, but so good. 

At church on Sunday during 3rd hour the fire alarm went off. So that was fun. Basically some little kid pulled it as a "get-out-of-church-free-card" and it worked pretty well. The fire trucks came and church ended 30 minutes early. Can't complain. Haha, jk. But really though, it was really funny. 

The members here are awesome! There is a really good mix of young married couples in graduate school and a bunch of elderly/middle age African American families. It's an interesting demographic. Teaching in English is so easy, it's not even funny. You don't even have to put any effort into it. I feel like I'm serving a completely different mission. I love being able to freely express my feelings about my Savior Jesus Christ to the people here. 

I love being here, I love these people, and I love my Savior. 

Have a great week, and Merry Christmas! 

Love, 

Sister Frei

Sister Batschi with the fire trucks on Sunday

Obligatory Companionship Pic

It's Been Wet

Hola Querida Familia! 

Or should I say, Hi dear family. Because I'm being TRANSFERRED. To the Boston 1st ward as a Sister Training Leader speaking ENGLISH. That is not the language I learned in the MTC... Haha, but hey, I think I'll be fluent soon enough. No worries. But really though, all joking aside, I've never been so taken by surprise in my life. Hermana Heileson and I have been telling our members and investigators the past couple of weeks that we'll be staying in town for a while. Note to self, NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. I'm just gonna shut my big fat mouth from now on. After we went to the Boston Temple on Saturday (we did a session in espanol! CRAZY) we checked our phone and we had a missed call from President Packard. We freaked out, and lo and behold, Hna Heileson is training, and I'm heading off to Boston. And just like that, my life was changed. There were many a tear shed, and I'll probably cry several times a day until Wednesday night. So yeah, it's been wet. 

MORE WETNESS: Thanksgiving was great! and it was supposed to snow a million inches, but instead it just rained. Good times. Thanksgiving with the Borjases was great! It was very American, not what I was used to, but great nonetheless. It was probably the least amount of food I've eaten for Thanksgiving since the womb. 

THE BEST WETNESS OF ALL: On Friday Rodrigo Tello was BAPTIZED! #B4Bautismo Everything went really well. If I never have another baptism for the rest of mission then it will be totally chill because it was so perfect. We had a bunch of our members come and support Rodrigo and his family, we had some good food afterwards, and the whole family participated in the service. Yesterday Rodrigo was confirmed in Sacrament meeting and he is preparing to be ordained a deacon very soon as well as attend the temple next month. Leaving the Tello family will be hard, but I know that they are in good hands. Plus, their cat loves me now, so no worries. 

All in all, it has been a great week full of so many great memories. It has been so hard saying goodbye to people and this city that I know and love so well. But on to bigger and better things! Boston has been my dream area since I opened my mission call. Plus it's a walking area so I will get to do a LOT of street-contacting and riding the T. I'm SO STOKED. Also, my new companion is Sister Batschi! She is some sort of relation to THE Batschis. I'll let you know what relation exactly next week. So stay tuned. I am so humbled to be called as a Sister Training Leader and help lead this mission to greatness. WHOA SPEAKING OF GREATNESS. Last night the final baptism count rang in at not 70, not 80, not 90, but 100 BAPTISMS. We didn't just meet our goal, we EXCEEDED IT TO THE MAX. So yeah, pretty exciting times! It's been raining miracles!

I love you all so much. I love the Lord. Who can say too much of his goodness? Miracles are happening and the work is moving forward. 

Con amor,

Hermana (para siempre) Frei

Pic 1: T-day selfie in the slushy snow/rain.

Pic 2: #B4Bautismo with Rodrigo and Jose De La Cruz

Pic 3: Hna Heileson and I at the Boston Temple. And there was snow :D

Pic 4: The Tello's cat being my buddy obvi

(sorry it's sideways!)

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