"A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit"
--- John C. Maxwell (American Author, Speaker, & Pastor; 1947 - Present)
Many things about the Las Torres Area are similar to the Buena Vista Area and with good reason. They're next-door neighbors. Nothing but an imaginary line separating the two. Both Areas were about the same in size too in terms of population. However many Buena Vista had to deal with, Las Torres sang the same tune. But this time, I was a brand new District Leader.
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A TRANSFER OF POWER
I was in Riveras for a total of 5 months and so much happened in that seemingly short time as you've noticed (See "3rd Area: Riveras, Reynosa"). But allow me to go on.
It was Halloween, Saturday, October 31, 2015. Not yet cold, but the heat was finally sizzling down. The nights were especially cooler than the days. I’d only been with Elder Q. a few weeks (it felt longer; see "Choices"), but the call came for me to move on. I was hoping I would; I loved Riveras but a change of scenery is always good motivation to find new places and things to try.
Earlier in the week, we'd helped a member of the Church paint their new house. The four of our household: Elder Q., Elder Gray, Elder Urias, and I were in the back of their white van helping them move on Halloween night when the phone call came with news of transfers. Each companionship had a phone. One of the APs, Elder Rodriguez, called Elder Urias first who was told that he was leaving the area and would be going to Nuevo Laredo (which at the time was part of the Reynosa, Mexico Mission but soon after given over to the Monterrey East Mission which was by far closer to them; I actually believe Elder Urias was one of the last ones from our Mission to be there because I think it was given over just before Christmas about 4 to 6 weeks later). I was a bit jealous. Elder Rodriguez called me immediately after within seconds of Elder Urias, not knowing that I was nearby. Here is an English translation of that short conversation and my thought process in parentheses:
“Elder Robertshaw! How are you liking your area?” “It's good.”“That’s great. You’re being transferred to Matamoros” (Again? Great.) “To Las Torres 2” (Oh great. Right on the other side of Buena Vista.) To be with Elder Yagual” (No way!). “As District Leader” (NO WAY!). “Congratulations Elder!” I was speechless apart from a thank you to finish the call.
Elder Yagual would be my 13th companion.
I couldn’t believe I was going to Las Torres! That was the Area where we had our weekly training meetings every P-Day on the west border of the Buena Vista area (See "P-Days and Peceras" and "2nd Area: Buena Vista, Matamoros"). I’d been to that chapel building dozens of times and now it would be my chapel building. I couldn’t believe that Elder Yagual was going to be my companion either. I knew him in Rio Bravo when he was Elder Martinez’s companion and trainer and Elder Lopez’s best buddy almost exactly a year before (See "1st Area: Monterreal, Rio Bravo" and "Intercambios"). I didn’t understand most of what he said back in Rio Bravo but he'd been something of a goof.
Furthermore, I couldn’t believe that I was going to be a District Leader! I knew that leadership positions were assigned by inspiration but I normally thought of leaders as missionaries who worked extra hard and baptized a lot. I was working hard but I had hardly reaped any fruits in the last few months. It was then that I believed what everyone tried telling me: Numbers aren’t everything. Obviously, there were other redeeming qualities to be found in a leader.
Much could be said about leaders. I have already mentioned a few that I had like Elder Rangel (See "Attributes of Christ") and Elder Turner (See "Listen"), etc. I learned the truth of what business strategist Simon Sinek says, paraphrasing, “A good leader doesn’t make more followers. He produces more leaders”. My best leaders are the best because they serve others with love. I learned much from them and I promised myself to be like them in my new responsibilities. A Christ-like leader. A good leader isn’t someone who’s good at telling others what to do. A good leader is one who doesn’t need to be told what to do. They take the self-initiative. They’re innovative. They aren’t just good at what they do, they care about what they do. They work hard. They're passionate. It’s just the opposite—a good leader doesn’t need to tell people what to do. He or she inspires the people around them. A shepherd, not a sheepherder (See "Bishops and Shepherds"). They demonstrate what works and use experience to warn against what won’t. They work with the team. They bring out the best in others.
About that time, President Morales had recently started experimenting with new implementations and had companionships serving together as Co-District Leaders (See "Mission Administration"). Double that of other Missions. This was announced at a multi-zone conference with President Morales on September 24, 2015, which was the same day he announced that a new Zone was opening up in Reynosa (Our Zone in Riveras), and a new Stake was planning to be organized in little Rio Bravo. The idea was that if co-leadership could be implemented that one experienced District Leader could be transferred to become a Zone Leader and leave the other District Leader ready to go train someone new in his place; that way District Leaders didn’t have to teach themselves. It seemed to work well.
LAS TORRES, MATAMOROS
“Las Torres” (Lahs-Tohr-ehs), literally means, “The towers” although there were no towers around; it was a relatively small and poor area. I was excited to work in a new Area with fresh eyes. I finally knew Spanish and could understand everything Elder Yagual said as if it were my own language. We finally spoke the same language! But I don’t know what happened, it was probably the nerves of new responsibilities or the over-exposure to English in Riveras, but I couldn’t speak as smoothly as before with him. Spanish was fine in Riveras but something switched as soon as I left. As I’ve thought about this, I’ve realized that my Spanish is always best when I am comfortable with those around me; when I'm not scared to make mistakes and make a fool of myself. When I felt put on the spot or like much was expected from me, that’s when I stumbled. Being in a new house, I now lived with my Zone Leaders who happened to include Elder Romano (See "Take Up Thy Bed" and "Hermanas de las Chamoyadas") and his companion Elder Uuh (pronounced “Ooh”, also from Mexico). Even though they were my friends, living with my “superiors” added pressure on me. Honestly, it was all psychological. I really had no reason to feel uncomfortable. But I felt like I was expected to be a pillar as a District Leader but I felt more like a child amongst men I greatly admired. I was nervous that next to them, not only as successful missionaries but missionaries who were native Spanish speakers, I would disappoint them. Even so, these were only internal concerns because the truth is that they were some of the kindest, most chill, patient guys in the Mission.
I didn’t have the highest regard for Elder Yagual back in Rio Bravo. A little bird informed me he wasn’t the hardest working of missionaries back then. That information seemed to match with what little of him of got to see at least once a week. He always acted silly whenever I was around him and he prided himself in his comedy, which isn't a bad thing but that's all I saw of him.
You can imagine my surprise when I saw his newfound maturity. He worked hard and smart (See "Yard Work, Hard Work, Smart Work"). Despite my bumbling tongue, he never made me feel lesser than him; his patience with me was wonderful. I was by far my biggest critic. Not unlike Elder Howard (See "Testimonies and Trainers"). He was so kind and as hilarious as I remembered him to be. I genuinely had a lot of fun with him and thought he taught really well. It really meant a lot to me when he complimented me for the spirit with which I testified of the Restoration. He told me that he never had a companion that taught the Restoration as I did before and that he was moved (See "Apostasy and Restoration"). I believed him. I could feel an increased power in that particular lesson too every time I heard it come out of my mouth. Nothing of my own abilities but because of the depth of love I had for the restoration and the powerful spirit it brings on its own. I was sure I was going to have a great time in Las Torres!
Within days, Elder Yagual went from being a potential concern of mine to being like a brother.
The layout of the Area and house are far foggier in my memory than other Areas I lived in. For example, I don't even remember if we had a kitchen or not. It might have been in our study room, or we might have kept our fridge outside; I don't remember. I do remember that our bedroom (which all four of us shared) was perpetually dimly lit, we had some light break through the study room window in the morning, the toilet was on the far wall of the bathroom so we couldn't confidently hold the door closed at the same time, and we had a spare room in the back that was mostly empty except for some teaching materials like pamphlets and old copies of Church magazines and so forth, and that we used that mostly vacant dark room to exercise in. Our house was mostly hidden away from streetview which was nice for privacy. Our concrete front porch was slightly elevated above the road and sidewalk to prevent the heavy rainwater from seeping into our house. There was a Dr. Seuss concrete staircase precariously placed in the porch up to a patio area on a second-floor level. I think someone lived up there or did at some point; I never saw anyone up there but I think it might have been the landlord.
Here's a couple of videos I took while on Intercambios months before I lived in Las Torres on Friday, May 29, 2015. I was on intercambios with Elder Emory because his companion Elder Baker, who had recently become a District Leader back then, had to evaluate my trainee Elder Chavarria (See "Intercambios" and "Trainee to Trainer"). It had rained hard for about 3 hours that whole morning and flooded the Area. We had to have a Church member drive us back to our respective areas because we couldn't walk in those conditions. The day before, I'd spent the day with Elder Barbosa from North Carolina in my Area who was only about 6 weeks behind me.
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