Kung-fu Panda and Preparation/Photo/Peace Day

Hello hello hello everybody! So good to be with you all today! This week has been a crazy one but amazing as well! And as wonderful as it is to use P-day for the Temple, it´s amazing to have a full P-day! Today I have played some speed, as well as shot around a little bit. I got all my laundry done, and then prior to coming here, I did some foosball singles and duos! We kept switching up the teams but I still won 8 out of 10. Way fun!

Christian! 1-0! Congrats on the win! Dad sent me the KSL pic of the game winner. EPIC! Best of luck up in Pocatello, show em how we Utah boys do it. ;) 

Our investigators are progressing well! Carlos (Hmo. Tapia) has such a sweet heart and is completely receptive to the message. In fact, he has told us that once he feels ready, he wants to be baptized! And he has also committed to read the BoM and come to church! I always feel the Spirit so strongly with him. César is... well, still César, but we reached a small turning point this week! Our message was about praying sincerely, because his previous prayers have all sounded the exact same and not like a conversation. He still asked a lot of questions, but not quite as many, and this time they were sincere rather than trying to derail us. The Spirit was so strong and he gave a sincere prayer at the end of the lesson.

Hmo. Tapia is amazing as ever; I have actually convinced him to make a handshake for ourselves! He is always so sweet and caring and really funny. And I have really come to like Hmo. Hernandez! I can now understand most of what he says, and he really has a strong testimony of the gospel. At the same time, he has incredible English and is really funny and sarcastic.

In fact, Hmo. Hernandez taught us kung-fu one day! He taught us some defense moves if someone tries to push or punch you that were really cool. He used me as a demonstration. He is pretty thin but man!, is he strong! I actually taught them to my roommate that night. xD

Funny story: In Mexico we obviously say salud (health, or bless you), when someone sneezes, but if they sneeze immediately again, we say dinero (money), and the third elicts amor (love). However, on Elder Cheney´s dad´s mission in Germany, he would say chastity on the 4th (castidad en Español) xD For weeks Elder Cheney would get to three numerous times and stop; but this week alone, he elicted 2 castidads! I was rather excited xD

Leading the choir this last week was soo amazing! Their voices and the Spirit were so strong and they set the stage perfectly for Elder Mirón´s incredible talk. What a blessing it is that God gave us the ability to create music. I will be able to lead one more time this coming Tuesday, and we will be doing the EFY Medley en Español! #WOOOT

Yesterday I got to do TRC: people from outside the CCM (miembros o investigadores) come in and we get to teach them! My stomach was going haywire before we started, but when we realized we were teaching strong, faithful members, the Spirt drop-kicked away my anxiety and stayed there the whole time. I didn´t understand all they were saying but they were completely receptive and it was amazing. I don´t think I´ve ever felt the Spirit so strongly or come so clos to crying in my life. Amazing.

This past Sunday, we finally got to hear our MTC President, Presidente Tenario, speak to us! Whereas the other two members of the presidency are rather stern and straight-forward, Pres. Tenario was absolutely hilarious. He told us about a love letter he had written to his not-yet wife which was (get this) 12 pages long and mentoined that in the glorious Resurrection, he would be more handsome than Paul Newman! xD Wonderful man! Also on Sunday, I found a pianist that is out of this world! We´re talking Caleb Lyons organ status; its just entrancing to hear!

We had the opportunity this week to give one of our roomates a blessing. His companion had never given a heling blessing before, but he was in tune with the Spirit and delivered a profund blessing post-sealing (I had the opportunity to annoint). The power of the priest hood is real, and I am so grateful to have the privilege and trust to hold God´s power.

Wellup, I´m out of time again, but it is wonderful as always to speak with you all! If you have questions, send them in; I´d love to answer! ¡Hasta luego!

Mom's Questions:

1. How is your foot doing? It's been four weeks since Dr. Faux told you to keep it in the boot for four more weeks. So technically, you can take the boot off and see how it feels. Remember no sports or running as long as you're in the MTC. And hold onto the boot during your mission in case you need it later on.                      No pain to report! And sweet! I thought I had to get it off on Tuesday!

2. So cool that you are the new CCM choir director! How many missionaries are in the choir? Do you pick the music or are you told what to prepare?           I am given music to direct. And around 200! 150 Elders too!

3. How often will you get to go to the temple while you're in Mexico? Did you get to do any endowments for the names you took with you for temple work?        I´ve already gone twice, don´t know if I´ll be able to go again; you only go 2 or 3 times here. I just found the cards today so I haven´t done any yet.

4. Did you get your donuts for you and your district and the letters this week? I went back to the first delivery service I used. I hope they arrived ok on Tuesday.              YUP! And the district loved it

5. Any word on travel details to Uruguay yet?         Nope. I´ll get those week 5 or 6

Dad's Questions:

1. Foot feeling good?    good as ever!

2. Getting good exercise in? I know it is tough with the boot.      Yup! There´s a machine that allows me to work legs without putting pressure on foot, so that´s good. But with the lack of running and crazy exercise, I have put on a little fluff weight xD stated doing situps each night. Oh yeah, I benched 265 the other day! New record!

                                                       District 14A! (Minus Elder Ogborn)​

                              Elder Stockton Hunsaker! (who is now in the field in Viña del Mar, Chile!)​

                         Roommates: Elder Folkman on my right (tall blonde) and Elder Barfuss on the left​

                       For those who go to LP and for Pap, I have found Elder Nathan Bennett! We've 
                                                   actually played some Speed together!​

                                               For the Spud Buds: ¡ELDER GUBLER está aquí!​

                                                                        My room​

                                                                    Our laundry room​

                                            Our house´s MTC calender complete with "birthdays"​

                             Gordon B. Hinckley gym. Here are some of the foosball and ping pong tables

Gordon B. Hinckley gym. Fun fact: this MTC used to be a Méxicano LDS high school, so this is 
                                                    where their ball   team played!

                               La capilla (chapel) in GBH. This is where our and devotionals are. 
                                                       Sooo gorgeous in my opinion​

                                      Mi casa. The farthest away from all the important buildings xD​

                                                                   Outside of GBH​

           La tienda (store) They have everything here! Snacks, drinks, shirts, gospel books, garments, etc.​

                                                                          Post office​

                      The weightlifting gym. Not very big but still very rewarding and stress-relieving to use!​

                                                                             Weights

      The TALL (Technology Applied Language Learning) Lab. This is where we practice pronunciation of Spanish​

Festivals, Handshakes and Choirs. Oh my!

Hey hey hey everybody! Crazy to think I´m almost halfway through the MTC experience! It feels like I´ve been here for 3 days! Sorry about the pics not coming through, the computers down here are not stellar. Oh well, life is grand! Also, more and more Spanish will be popping up in each of my emails, so if you don´t know what a word is from now on, feel free to Google Translate it!

Christian, after reading the letters I got, it´s no surprise you´re a captain; you are a natural yet caring leader. I seriously did a fist pump when I heard about the story of you stopping by the young player´s party. Perfect job. Just remember if anything to lead your team by example first, words second. And I heard that your first game is today! WOOOT! It seems like yesterday I was padding up to play ball! Don´t even stress; just take a deep breath, relax, and go out and make plays like we all know you do. You´ll crush it.

Emma! So you went rappelling! Way to go! It always stops my heart every time I step up to the ledge, but its always epic once you´re going down. Glad you enjoyed it! And when I heard about the dating panel of Christian and Shae, I literally thought, "Perfect." Don´t stress, you´ll have some great dates. ...as well as some to laugh about with your friends. ;) And don´t even stress about high school; just like my first week at the MTC was slow and everything has flown since then, it will be the exact same with high school. Cherish it. I never thought high school would end and... well, here I am!

Sarah, no worries, everyone has bad games. I had a few when I played too. It´s what you do next after a loss or two that defines how great you are. Even the greatest of pros have had terrible games. Peyton Manning once threw 5 INT´s in a game. But he bounced back and is now a 2x Super Bowl Champion. And I also heard how you were an example to your fellow goalies. Chin up, you´re doing great, my friend.

Callie! How was your sleepover!? I wish I had my own Cheerio Bracelet to eat right now! But I have had a bowl of Choco Krispies de Melvin with each meal, so I guess that´s the same ;)

I now have two maestros and two new investigadores! Hermano Tapia: my morning teacher who is so sweet, humble, and fun to be around. He has been my teacher the whole experience and is just THE BEST! He is also now my investigator, Carlos, a Catholic with such a sweet heart. Hermano Hernandez: the Hermano Lindon I spoke of in my last email, and now my evening teacher. He speaks at the speed of light (around 8 words per second) and is super sarcastic, but has a good heart. He is now Cesar, an Evangelist investigator who prays aloud when the misioneros offer a prayer and talks so much and gets me and Elder Cheney waay off topic. And I thought Lindon was hard! But we are still doing our best to understand his needs.

My district just continues to be so so, so amazing. Everyone is just so delightful and hilarious to be around. I actually now have a distinct handsake with every single Elder and Hermana in our district! Hermano Tapia said it looked like secret combinations. It was pretty funny. xD And we all love to sing, so it has made that awesome. Funny story: Elder Cheney and I were singing Misty Mountains one day and I did the Peter Hollens descant in the first verse the last 4 lines. (If you don´t know what I´m talking about, look up Peter Hollens Misty Mountains. Legendary) and we even did it a few keys higher which made it harder for me. Hermana Garff turned and said, "Holy cow! Are you a tenor?" I told her I was actaully a bass II and did a teensy demo, and she looked stunned and said "you sing tenor better than most tenors I know". xD

In personal study this week, I finally finished Jesus The Christ by James E. Talmage. Quite possibly the most enlightening and best books I have ever read. Highly recommended as well as Our Search For Happiness by M. Russell Ballard. Amazing! Yesterday I got to study in what we call "The Grove," a group of really shady trees between the classroom buildings and our church building. That was incredible. It was so peaceful and quiet, allowing the Spirit to resonate strongly.

There was one night that we were approaching our casa (my casa is literally the farthest it could be from everything important like the gym, comedor {cafeteria} clase, etc.) and there was this festival thingy going on in the city up the mountain that we were against. And even thought it was quite far away, it sounded like it was right outside the CCM wall! There were a few songs that sounded like Latino versions of Cha Cha Slide or Let Me Clear My Throat, but most of them were as stereotypically Mexican as possible, like what you would here in Rancherito´s. So oddly enough, I was reminded of home all the way in la Ciudad de México.

Sunday this week was amazing as usual. We watched the Jeffrey R. Holland 2009 MTC address "The Divine Companionship" speaking of the Holy Ghost as the senior companion in every missionary companionship of two actually three. Highly recommended. We also watched the John Tanner story for those of you who have seen it in PG Seminary! Touching as always; this man gave up everything he had (which was a LLLOOOOT!) in consecration to the Church. We could all follow his example in serving others.

The CCM Choir was sooo much fun! We got to sing "Calma Mi Alma (Be Still My Soul)" in the live broadcast to the other MTC´s around the world! And since the other director is leaving to the field soon, I have been chosen as the new director! I am slightly terrified but at the same time beyond excited! We will be singing "Oración de un niño (A Child´s Prayer) this coming Tuesday, and I am beyond excited!

I am trying to send the pics again, but if the captions are off, I apologize; once again, these computers are not fantastic.

Welp! I'm out of time again, but I love you all soo much and thank you for the many great emails I received! So heart warming! Can´t wait to talk with yall again! ¡Hasta luego!

Mom's Questions:

1.  How's your money situation in the MTC? Were you able to exchange to Mexican  currency or do they accept American currency?      Yup! And the exchange rate here is pretty crazy; about 9 pesos for 1 US Dollar!

2.  How's laundry going? Are you remembering to wash your whites separately from your darks?       Very well! And yes I am

3.  Are you keeping your room and belongings tidy? You don't want your companions and other missionaries sharing your room to resent you. :)            Of course Mom

4.  What was your favorite food of the week?             Carne asada or Costco Pizza

5.  Did you get your package this week? I used a different online delivery service and I was wondering if it went any better? Were the cookies fresh? Did you get the letters?           Yes I did! However, I got the rootbeer and cookies 3-4 days apart. But all is well!

Dad's Questions:

1. Favorite moment?   Honestly can´t answer that. Everything is just so awesome!
2. Are you allowed to send emails back and forth while you are on line? Mom said that a number of the Moms that she talks to does this with their missionaries. If you aren't supposed to do that, no problem. (Remember that we don't know most of the things that you are told to do or not do!)   I have no clue. Don´t think so
3. Foot?      The area in question is not hurting, but my 1st meditarsel has been pretty sore lately. Will keep you updated.
4. Have you been able to sing Called to Serve yet with the whole MTC?      YUP! Beyond awesome!
5. Best food/worst food?           Carne asada/ tamales
   
   
                                          Los Uruguayos flying first class to LA!
   
                                          Los Uruguayos! Bonded immediately
   
                                       Elder Cheney, my companion. Isn't he grand?
   
                                          Gardens at the temple in Mexico City
   
   
                                           Lego hand thingies??
   
                             Conju"game"tion! A language study game. Pretty intense                                                 The next pictures are of Pleasant Grove boys at the Mexico CCM
   
   
                                                       Elder Lee
   
   
                                         Elder Hatfield is in the house! #WriteInMalc
   
                                                    Elder Anderson got here this week!
   
                                                   Elder Coon
   
   
                                               Elder King
   
   
                                              El templo hoy
   
   
   
   
                                         Elder Ogborn loves nature
   
   
                                        ¡Las hermanas! in Elder Newman's district
   
   
                                           ¡Viva México!
   

                                                   Visitors Center at templo

10 Days Later We Got a Letter!

Here's Elder Newman's first real email home after ten long days of waiting. The first night when he got to the MTC, he sent us an email saying, "I'm here at the MTC. And my p-day is Friday." We were a little concerned he wasn't going to give us much information in his next email so we asked him some questions which he does answer at the bottom of his email.

The pictures he sent didn't come through. So hopefully next week he'll have it figured out!

Hey hey hey! It´s finally P-day! Sorry it took so long; I didn´t know that by Friday they didn´t mean last Friday. Oh well! Sooooo good to talk with y'all; I have SOO much to share! And I will send pictures in another email, so stay tuned!

The first few days for me at the MTC seemed to hit me like a freight train! There was so much to do each day in so little time, and we had to prepare to teach an investigator on our second full day (Thursday)! And the first time we taught Lindon (actually a teacher named Hermano Hernandez that just started to be our evening teacher), it was soo rough and raw, for our Spanish was soo bad and he did not make it easy; he acted about as disengaged as possible and gave extremely short, vague answers. xD There were soo many times we paused for almost a minute trying to find the word to say; but when we testified, the Spirit truly was there. The next day, we were able to do much better, and even answer a question he had that completely caught us off guard. Each time we have taught him, our Spanish has gotten better, the Spirit has been there stronger, and he has acted more and more engaged and interested. We even got him to commit to be baptized! On our own we are nothing, but with the Spirit, we can achieve and work miracles. Now we will begin with two new investigators.

We have had to memorize various scriptures en Español, including our Missionary Objective, the Baptismal Invitation, the First Vision, Moroni 10:4-5, Mark 9:23, and D&C 6:36. It has been soo hard for me, but with hard work and the help of the SPirit, I´ve been able to do it, and quickly to the amazement of my fellow peers. Elder Cheney and I seem to be possible the most respected companionship in the district, which is incredible, because they're all rockstars. In fact, Elder Cheney and I even once made Hermana Masina cry with a scenario we were practicing on how to help someone accept the baptismal invitation after rejecting it. The Spirit and the gift of tongues are very powerful.

Gym time has been such a blast! The first day we did foosball with 10 pushups or 30 situps for allowing a goal and 50 pushups/100 situps for losing! So much fun! Then the second day we started our tradition of playing Speed (don´t worry, I have someone rebound and I never run) and I actually won the last game that day! I have been averaging top 4 in our district each time and iced a few people in ridiculous ways, but its always fun no matter what happens. Yesterday we got some work in in the weight room (which is tiny, BTW) and decided to switch off each day on lifting and Speed. It really helps me focus throughout the day!

Our district is sooo close together; we are quite possibly one of the funniest, goofiest districts here, but when it´s time to buckle down and feel the Spirit, we feel it in abundance. It´s incredible to read the scriptures in Spanish together and bear testimony together in Spanish. When you understand something in Spanish, you understand it better than in English and feel the Spirit stronger, in my experience here. When we read 3rd Nephi 17 together, we almost cried; I might never have felt the Spirit so strongly. I recommend you guys read it slowly and try to imagine the scene potently. The love of Jesus Christ is so sweet, so tender, and so incredibly powerful.
I would exhort you guys to read two books if you can; Our Search for Happiness (M. Russell Ballard) and Jesus the Christ (James E. Talmage). I finished Our Search this week and it is one of the most amazing books I´ve ever read; so simply written, and totally more of a conversation then a lecture. When combined with the Holy Scriptures, this book will help you feel the Spirit and understand the gospel unbelievably well. Jesus the Christ is not for the faint of heart; the language used in that book is so sophisticated that you have to buckle your mental seat belt and pull it out to lock into position. However, if you are prepared, it will truly enlighten you in inconceivable ways. I´m only 1/5 through the book and my mind has already been blown countless times.
Sundays here are nothing short of incredible. We have sacrament, district, and priesthood meetings in the morning, and they are truly special. I actually got to bless the sacrament this past week, and it was weird going from having it memorized in English to reading it in Doctrina y Convenios en Español. Then in the evenings, you have a lot of personal study time and interviews with the branch president. (We haves three districts in our branch; we are 14A) You often have two videos/devotionals, and its always incredible. Imagine the strongest Spirit you´ve ever felt; you feel that all day here each Sunday. In addition, I have now joined the MTC Choir, so that will be fun!

Funny experiences:
°Lindon once tried to use Google Translate to tell us he went to a disco (because once again, I had no clue what he was talking about) and he accidentally got the word ''joint.'' Me and Elder Cheney panicked before he realized he made a mistake. xD

°One day while prepping for Lindon, this guy came in asking where Hermana Garff was. Then he asked to see our planners. When I showed him, he said ''this won't do'', and committed us to learn 30 new words each day and report to our companion and the Lord each night, and that we would be able to be fluent in Spanish in 5 weeks. Turns out he was Elder Castañanzas (or something like that) of the 70!

Well, I´m out of time, but I love y'all so much and can´t wait to tell you more next week!

Con amor,
Elder Newman

Here are some questions that were asked:

Mom's questions:

1. What is your companion's name?       Elder Andrew Cheney
2. Where is he from?      Orem! He went to Timp High
3. Is he also going to Uruguay? If not, where is he going?        Yes, he is.
4. What is he like?          Soo awesome. Even though i speak a littler bit better Spanish than he does, he understands what other people are saying 500x better, so we compliment each other perfectly. He also sang in Chamber Choir, so we bonded well in that regard
5. How many missionaries are in your district?       12 (including me and Elder Cheney) 10 elders, 2 hermanas
6. What are their names and what are they like?          Elder Nadauld - Looks like Coleman Edwards and is soo funny yet spiritual. Zone leader. Elder Denham - other zone leader, baller, bears great testimony. Elder Knudsen - loves sports, great down-to-earth guy. Most frequent champion of Speed. Elder Cocheran - really quiet, but truly spiritual, and really funny when he does talk. Elder Ogborn - literally one of the funniest dudes I have ever met. We call him El Salvaje (the Savage); however, truly in tune with the Spirit. Elder Martin - true baller, little more quiet but totally real. Elder Adams - District leader. Such a happy, funny, upbeat guy with awesome Spanish. Loves to give abrazos (hugs). Elder Truman - Played offensive guard in high school as the only Mormon on the team; from Vegas. Such a funny guy; he does this voice when he brings you mail notices (because the district leaders have to do that) that could become famous in cartoons; its epic. Hermana Masina - cousin of Osa Masina who played soccer at Murray High (for you, Mom) ;). She is so funny and happy all the time. Hermana Garff - such a humble and hardworking girl who never gives up on her Spanish. Loves choir and singing alto, and unreal pianist.
7. Are you sleeping and eating well?         Yes and YES.
8. What is the food like at the MTC?          All sorts of varieties. Every Tuesday we get Costco Pizza (life made) and we get stuff throughout the week like steak, carne asada, pollo, and all sorts of stuff. And I always get a bowl of Melvin´s Chocolate Krispies for each meal
9.            What is your daily schedule like? wake up at 6:30, study on own at 7, breakfast at 7:45, gym from 8:25-9:15 (our district lifts weights or plays speed depending on the day), class from 9.45-12.45, lunch at 12:45, personal study from 1.30-2.30, language study 2.30-3.15, companionship study/teaching investigator 3.15-6.15, cena (dinner) 6.15, study from 7.00-8.00, TALL language lab from 8.00-9.00, planning from 9.00-9.30, and bed at 10.30. Except now we´ll be teaching investigators in the morning and evening
10.          How many missionaries are there at the MTC? under 800. will surpass 800 soon

Dad's questions:
1. Are you happy?      Happiest I´ve ever been
2. How is the foot doing?      Very well. No complaints
3. What PG boys have you seen?     Elders Jordan Kirby, Will Livingston, Kegan Coon, Ben Anderson (arrived this week), Josh Lee, Stockton Hunsaker, Kegan Coon, Jaxon King, etc.
4. Did you get the packages that we sent? (donuts, letters and breakfast stuff)     Yup! However, I didn´t get the first one until Monday, so everything was a little old xD donuts were still good, however! The packages are awesome, thanks! and i did get the letter!
5. Your brother  just followed in your footsteps. We found out this morning that he was made a captain!!       Congrats dude!!!! Nobody better for the job in my mind. Who are the others? Also, you know the Sky Bison from Sky View (tall receiver)? He´s here at the MTC, Elder Mortenson. And another Sky View kid (cross country) is in my casa room.

The Airport - Aug. 2, 2016

The trip to the airport came very early in the morning. We had to be there at 4:00 am. 

 We were able to meet a couple of the missionaries that were also called to Jackson's mission.

Grateful for Grandparents and Gabby for coming so early to see Jackson off.

All checked in, so we started our family pictures. 

Three generations of missionary service. 

Then we said our goodbyes. 

Last hug for these two for three years. 

"Game on" - the last words Jackson said to his dad before going through security.