"Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction."
--- Ezra Taft Benson (Past prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; 1899 - 1994)
I don't like to dwell on the negative. But I only ever share the hardships as a contrasting backdrop to the wonderful things which outweigh them. I love Mexico and the Mexican people. The sweet overpowers the bitter. But censoring out all the challenges I overcame would fictitiously portray life as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as an easy thing, which it wasn't. Nevertheless despite the hard things, and sometimes even scary things, I overcame them. Life is meant to be challenging. Without opposition in all things, we would never have the opportunity to prove our strength and know the joy of coming out on top. (See "Return of the King -- Part 1")
Click to Navigate (Table of Contents):
NOTE: Be warned that this blog post discusses a sensitive topic of violence. While I don't intend on portraying anything graphic, be aware that the stories and subject matter can still be distressing.
THOUGHTS ON TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO
I express sincere condolences for all affected around the world by the many faces of hate and injustice. I know that what I say won't heal every wound, but know that my heart goes out to you and I pray for you. Whereas I might only be able to relate to your suffering to some small degree, I know that Heavenly Father loves you and sent His son Jesus Christ to prove it and that they understand how you feel. The Son of Man hath descended below us all (D&C 122). "He [took] upon him [our] infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor [us] according to [our] infirmities (Alma 7:11-13). Sometimes they calm the storm, and other times they calm the sailor.
As you've had a small taste by now, if you didn't know already, the border cities of Mexico can be incredibly dangerous, namely because of the cartel activity with drug and weapon smuggling, kidnapping, and more. Basically, every felony possible is rather prevalent in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Reynosa is one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico (See "Culture Shock of Mexico"). No one can disagree with that.
Nevertheless, no harm ever came upon any of us missionaries in the Reynosa, Mexico Mission. When I think of our purpose as missionaries, I think of what Jesus said, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Mark 2:17). Despite the cartels and crime, I assert that the vast majority of the city are good people unaffiliated with such things. As a matter of personal opinion, I believe that most of the world falls under this category.
BUGAMBILIAS
My first day in the Bugambilias Area went quite well and I was so excited to get working anew with an open mind (See "7th Area: Bugambilias, Reynosa"). We got to know each other a bit, had some laughs, and it felt like a breath of fresh air. But I didn't even make it through that first day before Elder De León revealed the "fun fact" that Bugambilias was the most dangerous Area in the whole mission (apart from San Fernando in the far south where Caucasian or American missionaries were not allowed to go). Whether or not it was truth or opinion, it seemed credible enough (although I don't have enough experience in other cities and neighborhoods to say it was the most dangerous). As you'd expect, that insight put me a bit on edge but I didn’t hold back from giving the best I had to offer. After all, I was only about 4 months away from finishing up my time in Tamaulipas and going home to Utah. You can't keep fear from stopping you or you will never accomplish anything in life. There was a distinct event, an omen so to speak, that alerted us to apparent criminal activity in Bugambilias. The general rule of thumb was that if there was a helicopter in the sky nearby, you should probably take cover. The odds of seeing a chopper in the Area were at least every other day. And to think, this is what normal life is for these people! Unlike what movies depict, many criminals do their thing in broad daylight, and not always in covert corners. But if you kept to yourself, especially as missionaries, the odds were that they wouldn’t bother you. But the bystander effect is probably the main reason why the mañosos --- the criminals --- got away with so much (See "Boom! Bang! Balazos!"). It's sad but it's reality. Edmund Burke is believed by some to have once said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. Whatever the identity of the author, the principle rings true. The helicopters were bulky military choppers, not the sort that’s out and about getting picturesque footage for the local news. Helicopters were eyes in the sky. Their primary objective: to locate and track suspicious activity or persons on the ground. A passing helicopter wasn’t too much reason for alarm but you had to take extra precaution when the choppers were hovering slowly near the ground, constantly banking and circling like vultures on potential prey below. Circling helicopters were a definitive sign to head indoors. I never saw helicopters do more than aerial surveillance but had the need arisen, the gunmen aboard the chopper were equipped to let it rain hot lead from above.
Although the helicopters were scary, they in and of themselves were there to protect and serve us. It took quite a while for me to adjust to helicopters when I got home from the mission, to keep my heart from accelerating whenever one flew by. If you watch the video at the top of this post, you will understand. I arrived in Bugambilias in early March of 2016 so the YouTube video is footage that occurred while I was serving in the Area meaning I was around when it was filmed. Notice the soldier with his gun pointed out the open door of the chopper as it flies by. Fair warning that although the video is not graphic, it might be a little scary in principle.
The bad guys devised distractions to avoid getting caught. They’d have someone ignite tires at faraway locations from the illegal activity. The lit rubber tires, and/or entire vehicles aflame would cough up thick black petroleum smoke that could be seen from miles away, like a beacon of coal, leaving white ash and a metallic skeleton where a vehicle once lay. The smoke signals would attract the police towards it and away from the actual crimes while simultaneously ensuing terror. On rare occasions, entire roads were blocked off with buses and the like as a barricade from the police; I heard stories and saw pictures but never personally witnessed those. When things like this happened, it was best to head home if within walking distance or to take temporary cover with a nearby member of the Church. There were multiple days when we went home temporarily or called it a day altogether. The helicopters were so frequent that it felt almost unnatural to go more than a few days without hearing the rumble of helicopter blades, the distant echoes of crackling gunfire, or seeing the black beanstalk of smoke. But I reaffirm, nothing ever happened to us; most of it was just for “show” as a distraction, not an actual threat.
On one occasion in Bugambilias, I was casually chatting with Elder De León about life and work and so forth as we walked towards an appointment. I was facing him to my right as we passed a side street I subsequently had my back to. When we were almost past it, he cuts me off and whispers, “Did you see that?”, I casually turn around not expecting to see anything super interesting. I glance for only a split second not sure what to look for, turn back to face Elder De León, and then instantly whip my head back for a double-take when I realized what he meant. I didn’t believe it! About 50 yards away was a man by the trunk of his car holding what looked like a long fishing pole at first glance. When I double-checked, the dude was packing his trunk with an assault rifle! He saw me staring bug-eyed and shot an evil smile in our direction and went about his thing unperturbed. Once we ducked around the corner, Elder De León and I jogged off. Nothing happened to us.
On another occasion, I was the first to catch a glimpse of a police vehicle parked just on the other side of the gray cinder-block wall next to our house which concealed our gated community. I could see the tops of the soldiers' black helmets from our bedroom window. I assumed they were waiting for someone. I assumed they knew something that we didn't. How would you like to look out of your bedroom window and see a SWAT team in your driveway?! We kept an eye on them from behind our bedroom curtain. They weren’t there to bother us but we didn’t want to draw attention either and potentially distract them from their job. They stayed there for quite a while. Nothing happened and they eventually left but it’s unsettling still seeing something like that so close to home where anything could play out at any minute and you have no idea what.
These weren’t my first time being near potentially dangerous activities. I’ve already narrated on this blog one shootout that occurred early on in Buena Vista (See "Boom! Bang Balazos!") and another in Riveras (See "No Harm Or Accident"). There were other sketchy situations like in my posts "Tongue of Angels" in Riveras or "A Close Encounter in Mexico" in Monterreal within days of arriving in the country. But there are other scenes that I haven’t found a reason to illustrate on their own. Most of them were minor and nonthreatening. Let me share a few, again reassuring you that the military were our protectors and servants and that nothing bad ever happened to either myself or anyone that I knew.
BUENA VISTA
Once in Buena Vista, my trainee Elder Chavarría and I were walking down the quiet side streets of Matamoros one late afternoon (See "Trainee to Trainer"). It was a day like any other until we passed by a cluster of residents who were all staring in the same direction down the street like people waiting for a parade. As we were cutting through them, I had to stop in my tracks and wonder why there were suddenly so many people when it was normally so hard to find anybody home or otherwise. What were they all looking at in the direction we were heading towards? We take a glance down the road and what else should we see but a tank! Yep. A tank! Probably not the kind of tank you think of from one of the World Wars, but a thick-skinned battering ram rhino of a vehicle nonetheless. We nervously turn around, speed walk the way we came, and wait it out with M.M for a while (See "See Others As They May Become"). Nothing happened but that’s something you don’t see every day during your afternoon stroll through your local neighborhood.
SAN JOSÉ
When I was with Elder Mullins in San José just a couple of weeks earlier, not all that far from Bugambilias, we encountered an extremely low flying helicopter only about twenty or thirty feet above us! It was the closest I've ever been to a helicopter but this was too close for comfort. We thought it was going to land in the grass field next to us but it kept doing donuts like a vulture or a dog chasing its tail (You can see a picture of that field below). The gust of the deafening spinning blades ruffled our ties like a flag by the sea. Many people were out and about, jogging laps around the grassy field, or doing other normal activities when this helicopter seemed to centralize over Elder Mullins and me. As this is happening, a man comes running up to us out of nowhere and tries to start up an empty one-sided conversation. Speaking from experience, we only ever had one interested person run up to us as missionaries and that was Brianda (See "No Accident"). The rest were shady. This man was no different. As soon as the helicopter took off again, this man cut the small talk and left without so much as a goodbye, running away as fast as he appeared. You could guess why.
THE PRIDE CYCLE
I was only in Tamaulipas for a short time but it was surprising to hear from locals who'd grown up there that it wasn't always a dangerous place. It reminds me of a theme of the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, namely the Pride Cycle. When people keep the commandments of God, they are blessed and happy (Mosiah 2:41). But when they begin to trust in their own strength and start to forget their God, they must again be stirred up in remembrance of the Lord (often in threatening ways) to repent and keep the commandments again (Hel. 11). If people repent and again turn to the Lord, they will be blessed (3 Nephi 10:4-6).
If we can learn something from the people in the Book of Mormon, it is that with solid reliance on God’s strength and charitable works, we are blessed, but when we separate from God and our fellowman we are weak. There are many good people in Tamaulipas, but there are also many who need to repent and receive the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that is true everywhere in the world, and that is why the Lord sends missionaries to all parts of the world.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the key to peace and salvation both temporal and spiritual. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the Redeemer. He is the Savior. He is the King of Kings and our commission as members of His kingdom upon the Earth is to prepare the world for His Second Coming which will usher in the Millennium -- A Thousand Years of Peace. (See "Return of the King -- Part 6")
President Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994), a past prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, taught:
“We are commanded by God to take this gospel to all the world. That is the cause that must unite us today. Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family.”
It is my testimony that those words are true and prophetic. That is why sharing the gospel is so important! Where the gospel and gospel principles are removed from society, the fabric of civilization wears thinner and thinner. But where society holds to that binding thread of religion and righteous morality, evil has no footing (See "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism"). The righteous may not indefinitely win every battle that befalls them, there may be sacrifices and struggles along the way, but the final victory is certain— the righteous disciples of Christ will win the war against evil (See "The Return of the King --- The Final Part"). Opposition in all things is part of our mortal existence and we are meant to walk by faith which means relying on God. I testify that our Heavenly Father loves us and desires to bless us. If we keep the commandments and are true and faithful to our covenants, we need not fear because the Lord is on our side (See "Fear Not"). No matter what happens in the world, I know that we can find peace in Christ.
Comentarios