"I fear not the dark itself, but what may lurk within it"
--- Unknown
Every now and then, a good story needs a little embellishing. We've all been there. You're going about your day, and then without warning, the power goes out. In my experience, for whatever reason, my power outages usually happen when it's already dark outside. This was no exception. The only difference was that this was on the Mexican border. On the bright side (pun intended), this happened during the summer so with the sundown, it wasn't going to get any hotter inside than it already got during the day. In fact, it was almost pleasurable even to step outside in the dark of our safe property and just listen to the crickets and look at the stars without any distractions.
This life, this day, is the time to prepare to meet God. Because whether we like it or not, the night will fall upon us, even like a thief in the night. Will we be ready when the light goes out?
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LIGHTS OUT
It was August 13, 2015. Elder Scott, Elder Brogan, and I had just passed our 1-year mark as full-time missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with one more year to go (See "Adventures of District D"). It was unbearably hot most days but it made it all the more pleasant whenever we came home and I got to take a shower and start the air conditioning. We were fortunate to have excellent air conditioning which was a rare commodity in my mission. The cold air on our wet skin was magical. It was dark (about 9:45), nothing left to do but to wind things down for bed. We'd finished reporting and planning our schedule for the following day, and I was taking my much-needed shower before bed. For whatever reason, that night, I was borrowing Elder Brogan and Elder Urias' shower which was the larger of the two. We kept a fan in the bathroom to force the excess humidity out the tiny porthole of a window; however, the fan was missing the protective cover that shielded the blades. As it slowly turned back and forth, left and then right like a sprinkler, I could hear its loud buzzing and see the smooth shower curtain flutter faintly against its gust like a sail against a burst of wind.
I was in the process of shampooing my hair, getting it all lathered and foamy, when, all of a sudden, the lights went out, and the vibrating hazard of a fan slowed until it went quiet. At first, I didn't even notice it because my eyes were closed when I was shampooing my hair and my face was lent to being a target board to the watery darts of the shower faucet. Everything went pitch black and silent except for the chirping of the summer crickets through the cracked bathroom porthole window. I was left naked in the running shower unable to see anything. It was like something from a horror movie, shampoo still running down my face in the dark.
I heard the shower curtains metallic "shing" across the rod as I swiped it open. I stepped cautiously out, careful not to slip on the tile floor, and felt around for my towel, eyes closed, half wondering whether there was even a point to covering up. My first concern was that the fan would turn back on and whack me in the "worst of ways" without a towel. I'm lucky it didn't. I dried off in the dark and managed to throw my clothes on (not backward or inside-out miraculously). And I went to see where the other Elders were. I had a flashlight on my desk but I almost needed a flashlight in order to find that flashlight. Luckily by the time I came out, Elder Scott already had a flashlight to hand me.
I didn’t know how long the power was going to be out but I hoped it wouldn’t be long because, if anything, we needed the air conditioning to sleep comfortably (since it can still get around 80 degrees Fahrenheit at night in Reynosa). It didn’t take more than five minutes before the house warmed up and the precious cool air from the Air Conditioners was consumed. For all we knew, it could have been hours before the power came back on. We each went digging for our flashlights, like little spotlights, such minuscule circles of energy flying across the large stage of our study room and kitchen like an uncoordinated light show. I took a peek outside, first stealthily from behind our massive curtains, and then Elder Urias stepped out back and peeked over the wall for a better look at the neighbors. We wanted to know if it was just our house or the whole neighborhood. Sure enough, the whole neighborhood was out of power. It wasn't as simple as a blown fuse that we could flip back on ourselves. It was out of our control.
But put yourself in my shoes and imagine being in that part of the gang-infested region of the Mexican Border! Reynosa is one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico, and Tamaulipas rates a level 4 danger rating from the U.S. Department of State, equal to Iraq and Afghanistan. We were four guys, about 19 years old, three of whom were from America. As far as I'm concerned, we barely qualified as adults. And there we were, alone, inexperienced in many things, with only each other to rely on.
Only 4 hours earlier, Elder Scott and I were teaching J and T (See "Hermanas de las Chamoyadas") when we heard gunshots a ways off in the distance. Almost instantaneously, Elder Brogan, who was also our District Leader, called us to tell us not to leave for a while. So we rushed us and the chairs inside and waited it out a bit just to be safe, and then finished our evening. And then this happened.
It wasn't too long before this too, while at a lunch appointment, we’d been talking with the host family about the one nicknamed “El Chapo”, one of the most notorious drug and crime lords in history who had a reputation for escaping prison more than once. I believe that the family brought it up in conversation as a courtesy to us who had no access to social media, or really media of any kind. A month earlier, July 11th, he had escaped again from a maximum-security prison through a mile-long underground tunnel in Mexico City and was at large. True story! It's not just Hollywood drama or Netflix special; those kinds of feats actually happen! El Chapo headed a cartel in Sinaloa along the Pacific Coast; his rival of the Gulf Cartel (prominent in Reynosa) was arrested in 2003 which officially made El Chapo the “Most powerful drug trafficker in the world” according to the U.S. government. And of course, with the gang reputation Reynosa had on the frontier, this news put me a bit on edge (See "Helicopters"). Something I would have only thought was action movie fiction. A manhunt began. El Chapo purportedly sent threats over his Twitter account (whether or not it was really his, it had over 604,000 followers before it was suspended). We were advised by this family at lunch that we shouldn’t be out late at night (not that we ever were).
The criminals who work with any cartel are referred to as “mañosos” by the locals which actually translates in English to “tricky ones” or “slick ones”. They were like rats in the gutter, ever-present, ever hidden in plain sight. Normal people who did bad things.
When the power went out, one of the first things that crossed my sleepy, dehydrated mind was that our power had been cut by the mañosos. We closed the blinds and double-checked that the doors were locked and prayed some just for good measure. I located our blunt rusty machete in the kitchen, half as a joke, and considered every possible escape route for a moment. If worse came to worse, I was going to barricade myself in Elder Brogan and Elder Urias' room which was furthest from the door and was in the back of the house.
I may have been overreacting not because I was actually scared but because playing pretend broke up the monotony of the day. This was something new. If we were going to have to put up with it, we might as well make a game out of it. I didn't actually think we were in any danger. If anything, we were more in danger during the day when we were spending 9 to 10 hours a day, 7 days a week out of the house and in the streets. If I felt safe anywhere in Reynosa, it was when we were in our home. Elder Brogan and Elder Urias parkoured onto the roof and kept a lookout. We listened for the sound of gunfire or screaming but nothing happened. It was quiet and dark, only the sound of the calming summer crickets to be heard and the glow from the moon shone from up above.
It wasn’t too long later that the lights came back on, just as I was scribbling in my journal under the light of my flashlight. The fans started moving again and the audible humming resumed. Absolutely nothing happened out of the ordinary. It was super anticlimactic but something I shouldn’t be disappointed about. I’m glad nothing happened.
BE PREPARED
It’s funny to look back at such an uneventful night but in the moment, it was a mental exercise, a drill if you will, to prepare for the worst. It is better to prepare and prevent than repair and repent. It’s better to be overly ready than to be unprepared. Just like any dangerous event, you might ask yourself what you'd do if an earthquake suddenly happened, or if a fire started. It's good to have a plan, not because you ever expect to use it, but because accidents are never expected and yet still happen occasionally. The heat and fatigue probably inspired my mild temporary insanity but I digress. It happened so suddenly.
I thought about the importance of being ready at all times again. Says the Lord, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear” (D&C 38:30). You're likely already familiar with the parable of the ten virgins. All ten were waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. Five prepared and bought ample oil during the day. Five did not and ran out. There wasn't enough for them all, so only the five with ample oil were able to attend the event and the others could not because it was too late to buy extra oil. May we be like the five wise virgins and always have oil in our lamps (Matt 25:1-13), batteries in our spiritual flashlights, conversion in our hearts so that when the “power goes out” or the Lord does come, “like a thief in the night” (1 Thes. 5:2; Matt. 24: 42- 44) we shall be ready. The phrase “like a thief in the night” is likely metaphorical but it’s to say that He will come when we don’t expect. No one knows when that day will be, not even the angels in heaven, but it will be a joyous one if we are ready to welcome Him.
The purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is more than to be a gathering of good people who are taught good things (See "More Than Good"). It is ultimately to prepare the world for the second coming of the Lord (See "Return of the King"). Everything we do, from covenant-making to financial self-reliance to personal worthiness points to that ultimate purpose. Most of us probably won’t know of His coming until it is happening. Those who put off the things that matter most until the last second will not have time to repent (Alma 34:32-34). The gospel is supposed to turn us into people who look forward to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that requires a humble heart and clean hands (Psalms 24:3-4). It is my testimony that if we live every day like it was our last if we are worthy of a temple recommend, we will be in good standing with our maker whenever we do see Him as He is. (Moroni 7:48; See also "Temples -- Holy Houses of the Lord")
Note: I am relieved to report that El Chapo was apprehended six months later in January of 2016. In 2019 he was found guilty and is now serving a life sentence in a maximum federal security prison in Colorado.
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