We're Not In Kansas (Chuy) Anymore, Money Trees, and Run-In With The Law (kind of)

 ​El Pinar is in La Costa, close to Montevideo​

 My district boyzz were great enough to make me a Chuy shirt. <3 ¡Viva Chuy!​

 ​I will miss these Chuy sunsets​.

 Guilherme literally just gifted me a Spanish Quad! (I was going to repay him but he refused. Capazo) And I gift him... a tie. How terrible I am? But in all seriousness, I am going to miss this kid; however, he will be a stellar missionary. Coming your way to the Provo MTC February.

 ​Our first lunch from a member in El Pinar. They are so generous :)​

​E' Christesen and I in Tres Cruces​

¡Hola querida familia y queridos amigos! ¡Me alegre muchísimo hablar con vosotros de nuevo al fin de mi primera semana en El Pinar! ¡WHITEWASH! ¡Ha sido muy bueno y difícil a la vez! Pero ¡creo que este cambio será BUENÍSIMO! (Translation: Hello dear family and dear friends! I am very happy to talk to you again at the end of my first week in El Pinar! WHITEWASH! It has been very good and difficult at the same time! But I think this change will be GOOD!)

Christian, great job in basketball as always! Yes indeed; this will be interesting in a whitewash of a gigantic area, but so far it has been good! I will greatly appreciate your prayers and support. So glad you got to enjoy stake conference too, and in person; our stake conference for 33 in Chuy was over Skype and it was a STRUGGLE! Technology is both a blessing and a curse. Congrats on admission to the U baby!!! And a scholarship too! Way to go, buddy; hard work in school opens great doors for the future! Brother Fugal is awesome; you are going to have a fantastic time in that seminary class. Soak every teaching in and strive to be even more in tune with the Spirit, and you will be spiritually fed in rich abundance. Love you buddy!

Emma, ¡ojalá que regrese tu voz! xD ¿Estoy feliz que tuvieras un buen "Amazing Race" y competación con tu equipo! ¡Buena suerte en Region! Yo tengo mucho fe que tendréis mucho éxito, y ¡oraré para ti y tu equipo para que tengáis éxito! (Translation: I hope your voice will come back!  I am happy that you had a good "Amazing Race" and competed with your drill team! Good luck in Region! I have great faith that you will be very successful, and I will pray for you and your team to be successful!) Absolutely, never take time for granted, because it absolutely flies. In 2 weeks I will be 1/4 done with my mission; I can hardly believe that. The State Math Competition will be so amazing for you! The test is brutal, but afterwards you get to roam the BYU Campus with your friends! My first year I watched the BYU Symphony practice in a concert hall and bought some fantastic strawberry flavored Lemon Heads, and the second year I got my Uruguay shirt. You'll have a blast! ¡Te amo!

Bear, nice job playing tough against the big guys! Age is not the definitive factor of success, but heart and effort are, and it looks like you guys had that! Way to go! Wow, what a whooping in basketball! And you made your free throw! Nice job, make sure to work on them and keep them strong; that was my glaring weakness, and it cost me, because I was ALWAYS fouled a ton. If your free throws are automatic and on the money, they will be more hesitant to foul you. Good luck with the wax museum! Love you!

Callerist! I'm so happy you had fun coaching Christian’s team with Dad! Encouragement and cheering are always better ways to help your team than yelling!  That's okay, I've spilled a few ingredients cooking here in Uruguay; it happens to us all. Man, I need to make some chocolate chip cookies soon... And man, I miss the snow! Enjoy it all you can, Callie, because there is no snow here even in the winter, and it's even colder here too! I love you!

Mom, I feel you on the sickness; ever since coming to El Pinar my allergies have flared up; I have a runny nose and am sneezing more than usual. So glad to hear about all the great stuff going on at home with school and sports and snow; the magical time of Pleasant Grove winter. Haha I would love to see the dance with Christian; last year was epic.  The ward here has been very good to me, and Hermano Sanchez was actually the member with the idea to befriend you and send the pic. That does not surprise me with Brother Argyle becoming a stake patriarch; he is a spiritual giant, and that will be a powerful voice giving powerful blessings. Love you, I continue praying for you and the family constantly. And Happy 22nd Anniversary! I had a voice recording prepared for you and Dad and everything, but it's not working, so I just want to say thank you so much for everything you and Dad have done for me. Thank you for bringing me into the world and providing me with the gospel from early on; I don't know where I would be without you guys. Glad to see you enjoyed so fully your anniversary

1000 yards!! That is some crazy shooting, Pap! I can't wait to see how accurate you guys are; that is some big distance. You're getting to Bart's level! Good luck with the sales conference, and Happy 22nd Anniversary!

Well, this has been a crazy yet amazing week in this WHITEWASH! Since my voice recordings are not working for some reason, I'll try to quickly cram everything right here. Some differences between El Pinar and Chuy: Chuy is a small town, El Pinar GIGANTIC! Chuy was expensive in comparison with the US; El Pinar is RIDICULOUSLY expensive! The people in El Pinar are more closed off and likely to reject you than Chuy, but also more likely to accept; more open and honest. Portuñol (Portuguese and SPanish) in Chuy; pure Spanish here as well as "vos" (even more informal way of saying tú). So VERY different, but I'm adjusting well! It has been great with Elder Christesen; we are a very good team!  We have been trying to contact the investigators that the old Elders left us, with limited success (one charla set, two people dropping us, and haven´t found the others), but the ward members and ward mission leader (Nicolas) are very involved in missionary work, so that will help us a TON! 

We had a nuevo with this old military vet in his 50's; our first contact he was drunk and saying I don't even know what and emotionally unstable, and I was honestly terrified for our charla the next day! But the next charla went wonderful; he was much more composed, even though he went off on 2 or 3 random rants, and L2: Plan of Salvation was perfect to his needs: he's had a tough life and lost much of his family. But we are planning on the Restoration, gifting a BoM, and setting a baptismal date the next charla, becuase he accepted L2 very well, he believes in and loves God, and has a love for the scriptures; he read the Bible front-to-back in 2 DAYS! I have a feeling he is going to FEAST on the Book of Mormon! E' Christesen has been generous enough to give me opportunities to take the lead on lessons and contacts, so I feel that I will really grow this change!

Money Trees: El Pinar is more rich than Chuy on average but still not spectacular. However, there is this road branching off from the main Ruta that goes through a forest of some sorts (lots of trees here), and it leads into a LOADED area! Tons of really nice 2-story brick houses with very nice lawns, stunning patios, and a lot with expensive fences and camera doorbell systems. It's like a whole different universe! We found it looking for the bishop's house because he happens to live there. CRAZY!

Run-in with the Law: Normally you are supposed to use computers in Cyber Cafes for P-Day, but because the one in our area is so ridiculously far away and really expensive with slow computers, the ward secretary gave us permission and the keys to use the church computer. However, when we entered the church, the security alarm went off, so we had to call the secretary (Hmo Sanchez) and get the security code. We then had to accept a phone call from the police to tell them that all was well, and they asked us for "la palabra clave" (key word), which we had not received. With my heart beating at a million miles an hour, I asked for and received, to my surprise, extra time to obtain the key word, but Hmo. Sanchez didn't respond at first. Talk about nerve-wracking. Finally, we got the key word and calmed the storm, but I was positive we were going to be arrested for a bit!

Last thing! Uruguay is famous for its abundance of delicious meat, but the first few months I have been disappointed; there hasn't been much, and it's been subpar. However, I finally found out why; they export all the good stuff to other countries like those in Europe (especially Spain), and the United States (especially in New Jersey and New York where there are actually a lot of Uruguayans). As a result, we get the 2nd and 3rd class meat here, and you can only find the good stuff in a seaport/restaurant in Montevideo that is actually in the other mission (dang it!) and is crazy expensive. So bad news for me, but good news for all you lovely people in Europe or the East Coast! Ask to see in restaurants if there is Uruguayan meat; you might pay a little bit more, but you'll thank me later!

Well, lots of stuff this week, but it has been a good one so far in El Pinar! ¡Os quiero al infinito y más allá! ¡Que tengáis un buen semana!, y ¡Que Dios os bendiga en todo que hagáis! ¡Ciao! (Translation: I love you to infinity and beyond! May you have a good week! May God bless you in everything you do! Ciao!)

Con amor,
Elder Newman

Mom's Questions:

1. You mentioned in your recordings that you were pretty sure you were getting transferred. What made you feel this way? 

I had been for 3 changes, or over 4 months, in Chuy, and it's average to spend only 2 changes (3 months) in one area. If I were to be called to district leader or to train, more likely that I would stay, but Elder Estouco received the call to train again, and Elder Saeteros is still training Elder Anampa, so there was really only one outcome.

2. I noticed you aren't using your shoulder bag and are using a backpack. Do the missionaries in Uruguay mostly like the backpack and why? 

Yes, because it is easier and more comfortable to walk with, and you can carry more stuff with a backpack tight to your back and shoulders with less pain.

3. Tell us about Elder Christesen. Where is he from? How long has he been out and where has he served and who has he served with? What is he like? 

He is from Sandy, Utah and played baseball at Brighton High. He will complete one year at the end of this change; he´s served in ¡Chuy! with Elder Drennen (trainer) and Elder Fonseca, and in Paso de los Toros with Elders Belnap (son), Alvarez, and Burgess. He is wonderful; every word he speaks is filled with the Spirit. He is my district leader (3rd time I've been comps with a DL) and has great feedback for me. ¡Capo!

4. What is your house/apartment like? Do you live with any other elders? 

It is smaller than Chuy but very comfortable, there's a bigger back yard and an asado pit (oh yeah), and despite an ant problem, very clean. We are the only two living in that house.

5. What is the ward/members like in El Pinar? 

Absolutely incredible. Reminds me of many wards back home in Utah; very strong, they are very friendly, and so humble.

6. We are planning missionary month for YM/YW in March and are trying to help prepare the kids for missions. What is something you wish you would have known/learned before you left on your mission? 

I wish I would have familiarized myself more with Preach My Gospel, because it is absolutely fundamental here. Also, the most important thing is to love the people no matter how they are, because then you are less likely to judge, and you will have the Spirit more and be more able to discern their needs and help them. Dedicate yourself to prayer, to fasting; whatever you need, in order to obtain this love for the people. If you do this, your experience will be much richer spiritually and more successful than you can even imagine.