Ignore the mess--they're still 19 year old boys, I guess.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
¡Canarias en Utah! and Mate Celestial
¡Doble arcoiris!
Even Bart Simpson supports Peñarol
Mate Celestial
"It is not expained or understood; it is just lived and felt." A Peñarol grafitti that could be partailly applied to the gospel!
Welcome to the Jungle
The bishop here has this fantastic seat that we couldn't resist snapping a foto with b4 lunch.
Zone Activity today! We played volleyball in the morning ( and then played Señales (Signs) (I'll explain it later, but it is a FUN group game)
Well Christian, a dunk is the only acceptable technical foul in my book; the scriptures say that if you got talents, you gotta develop them! I would love to see the vid; bringing back memories! That's a nightmare to hear you got five shots at the doctor! But, you are all set to send you papers! Mom sent me a picture of your scripture thought on PGSeminary Instagram, Christian; couldn't have been better. Truly this is a gospel of love and service, and we can know how we're doing in this Great Gospel depending on how we love and serve 1) The Savior, and 2) everyone around us. One time, a lady told Joseph Smith "I don't believe in your religion, Mr. Smith, but I do thank you for your kindness." His response? "Sister, this is our religion." May we look for more opportunities to serve those around us, and our Savior! Who is the kid in the photo with you? Love you buddy! Keep up the great work in everything!
¡Fa! ¡103%! ¡Muy buen trabajo! ¡Me alegro que estén bien el colegio, Drill, y DanceCo! ¡Haciendo buenas cosas academicamente y con deportes de baile! I know the feeling, the first 6 months are BRUTAL! But then the freedom afterwards is SOO worth it! ¡Dime como te va el Sweater Swing! ¡Te quiero mucho, mi hermana! (Translation: Wow! 103%! Very good work! I'm glad you’re doing so well at school, Drill, and DanceCo! Doing good things academically and with dance sports! I know the feeling, the first 6 months of driving without friends are BRUTAL! But then the freedom afterwards is SOO worth it! Tell me how the Sweater Swing is going! I love you very much, my sister!)
Hey Bear, way to play well in bball even when the game doesn't go your way. You can always control your play and effort for good! They recognize Valentine's Day here (Día de San Valentín) but it´s not huge like in the States; I saw a few signs and that's about it. Hey, nice job with semifinals at ballroom! Did you say hi to Jess Hansen and Natalie Porter? Love you!
Callie! I hope you enjoy the day off from school! Man, I wish I could have heart-shaped cookies and pizza; that sounds so yummy! They celebrate Valentine's here, but not like you guys do! Froyo is so yummy! Tell Emma thank you for taking you and being such a good sister! Love you!
Mom, I always love a good organ! I don't know why, but there's something about this instrument that touches me and gives me chills every time. What you said is so true; Godly sorrow leads us to repentance, and repentance ends with true joy. We have been talking about that in the mish; too many people including ourselves focus entirely on the guilt and struggle of repentance! But when we take time to contemplate the JOY of repentance, of truly shaking yourself free from the weight of guilt and sin and truly becoming clean and forgiven, it is something that is completely worth it! And as we have taken time to teach more about the JOY of repentance, we have had much better responses from the people we teach, and a sweet Spirit has been more present in our charlas.
Well, the bad news first: We have lost Julio César. He wants to get his life and job all worked out before committing to church, and he feels bad about committing and not following up; he wants to be a man of his word. He said that when he's ready to go again, he'll come to us. Man, that was a tough pill to swallow. But when the going gets tough like that, "forget yourself and go to work!" So that's what I tried to do, and we were very blessed as a result! Juan has accepted a fecha bautismal (baptismal date)! And we have also received 5 new investigators! None of them are as on board as Julio was, but they all have potential! One of these is actually the grandson of Beatrís (less active); we recently talked with President Eddy about the importance of working with members, less actives, and recent converts to help strengthen them and receive support and help in the work, and we have seen results in both regards! We had one member give us 7 references! (2 futures, 5 less actives) And the coolest blind man you'll ever meet, José María, is currently preparing to get a temple recommend for baptisms and confirmations for the dead, as well as trying to set up FamilySearch.org! Cool fact about him: not only does he play blind soccer, he also plays something called goalball! If you have not seen it, look up goalball on YouTube and select for the 2012 Paralympics in London. SO COOL!
¡Canarias en Utah!: Turns out that there is a supermarket in Layton Utah named El Mate, and it sells Canarias Yerba Amarilla and Dulce de Leche! The Canarias is only for the brave of heart (and those who actually have a bombilla straw), but the dulce de leche is a MUST! for all of you! THE BEST! You can literally find the market on Google Maps by typing: El Mate Utah Layton.
Mate Celestial: Absolutely heavenly, and it could easily be yours! (see photos and videos)
Well, that about sums it up; I'm super excited for this, my final guaranteed full week in El Pinar! ¡Vamos arriba! (This is an Uruguayan saying; it has two meanings: "Let's go!" (sports) or "Oh, come on!") ¡Os quiero muchísimo, y que tengáis una semana milagrosa! (Translation: I love you very much, and may you have a miraculous week!)
Con amor,
Elder Newman
Mom’s Questions:
1. What new foods have you made lately?
Well, I hope that rice and eggs counts!
2. Is your next transfer next week? Boy six weeks goes fast!
This is my final full week until transfers! And you're right, it FLEW!
3. How have your prayers been answered this week?
This week, I prayed for more opportunities to serve, and they have definitely come! Helping a lady with her groceries, helping a little kid out of a pit, etc.
4. You mentioned in your last letter that you are working on retention and reactivation a bit. What are some of the things you are doing to achieve this?
We've been trying to visit less actives, share scriptural thoughts, invite them to church, and fellowship them with members. Also, with José María, we are preparing him to have his limited temple recommend interview and also get started on FamilySearch.org! Exciting stuff!
Monday, February 13, 2017
The Vineyard (spiritually and literally) and Blind Soccer
¡La casa de El Pinar!
On divisions with the Zone Leaders, we met a guy that makes his own wine and has an impressive vineyard. And this guy gave us a ton of grapes to carry with us! And they were honestly the best I've ever eaten! ¡CAPO!
Upon seeing this massive pot of spaghetti that I made, E' Christesen asked me, "are you planning on having many kids?"
Service at Gonsales with E' Espinoza. The camera died before I could get more pictures or video, but we built a dog block to prevent their little dog from getting through the wire fence and disturbing the neighbors. I was terrible with the hammer, but the saw and I got along very well :)
¡Hola, mis queridos! ¡Ha sido una otra buena semana al pesar
de algunas personas con las cuales hemos peridido contacto, y la obra es buena
como siempre! ¡Ojalá que todo esté bien con vosotros! (Translation: Hello, my dear ones!
It has been another good week in spite of some people with whom we have lost
contact, and the work is good as always! I hope all is well with you!)
Christian, that is quite some endurance! Winning 98-37 after
3.5 hours of working out! #BEASTMODE Dude, that halftime gathering is literally
the most epic thing I have ever seen in sports; I just laughed out loud. #bondingstatus
Way to dominate in all that you do! So glad that you had such a blast at
Sweethearts; looks like a fun group! Btw, did you ever find out who let off the
stink bomb at the dance? That is certainly an unprecedented event. What did you
guys do for the day date? I heard that you got asked to Sweater Swing before
Sweethearts even took place! Who asked
you? Excited to hear about the lacrosse season; keep me updated! Love you bro!
Emma! That truly is a great object lesson; whatever we do to
others affects the Savior, be it good or bad. Thanks for sharing that with me!
It makes me want to be better as well. Jaja Mamá me contó acerca de tu fiesta y que
¡eráis muy locas! ¡Estoy feliz que la disfrutaras! ¿Con quien la tuviste?
¡Ojalá que estés disfrutando más tiempo para dormir! ¡Te quiero muchísimo!
(Translation: Haha
Mama told me about your party and you were crazy! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Who
did you have it with? I hope you are enjoying more time to sleep! I love you a
lot!)
Sarah, I see you with the missionary work! Great job standing up for your beliefs and
striving to make a friend out of it! Love and friendship bring true power to missionary
work; it's much easier when we see the person we are trying to invite to the
Savior as our brother or sister rather than some person who is not a member.
That's helped me a lot here in Uruguay! Another beatdwon in Bantam! Nice work!
And way to establish yourselves as La Roca verdadera! (The true Rock) Love you!
Callie, Oh. my. Gosh. I LOVE Hot Pockets! SO YUMMY! I hope
you enjoy your 7-11 Slurpie and also have fun with Valentine's Day in your
class! Oreo shakes are absolutely AMAZING! I would eat the whole thing in 5
minutes! I absolutely love the boat show, and Ski Nautique is THE BEST! I hope you have so much fun with Gabby, Brock,
and Talia! Sleepovers at Grandma's are always the BEST! I love you Callie!
Mom, service is the expression of love just as words are the
expression of thoughts; I love that! I have had much opportunity to bear
testimony about how we are happiest when we are serving. Challenge accepted!
Pap, I agree completely; our ward has always been there for
us and for each other by way of service and love. Honestly, the ward here in El
Pinar reminds me a lot of the Grovecreek 5th Ward at home; very strong, very
organized, and very loving. And very animated to participate in the work! They
are truly a strength to us here. Yes, I would love to see a picture of the
mission board! And also my plaque, because I have not seen it!
Well, we have had a bit of trouble this week finding many of
our investigators, but we did have some great lessons with the ones we were
able to find! Juan is a new investigator from this week that we contacted a
while back and finally found on Thursday. He has not thought much about God in
his life but is open to learn. We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and it
seemed to answer his questions about life before and after this existence here
on Earth. He was very open to listen and seemed to accept it well, and we are
excited to continue teaching him! Next in our plans is to teach the
Restoration, gift him a BoM, and invite to be baptized and start his journey
towards the Celestial Kingdom!
I also was able to teach Julio Cesar the Restoration this
Friday with Elder Espinoza (divisions)! It went very well; Julio already has a
very strong understanding about how to receive answers and how the Holy Ghost
works, so we are very excited to see how his answer comes! Turns out that he
has had a Book of Mormon for a while and had forgotten about it, but he
considers it a valuable treasure and is excited to start reading! We actually
almost lost him this week, but that meeting gave us a prime opportunity to bear
testimony and re-animate him. He had not come to church yesterday, and we had
been heading to a charla on his same street, accompanied by a member. We run
into him on the way, and the reunion started out joyously, then, with a hint of
despair in his voice, he expressed to us how he didn't feel he could come to
church because he needed a job and to get his life in order, and he felt bad
about not having best dress to be able to attend, and he asked us not to waste
our time on him. Immediately I felt the Spirit place Matthew 6:33 and Jacob
2:18 into my head in reference to putting the Kingdom of God first, and I
shared the concept with him and bore my testimony about how when we put God and
His Kingdom first, our entire life falls into place. We also talked about his
job situation and decided that we would try to bring a member to the next
charla that could help him out, but primarily promised that as he put the Lord
first, his life would start to improve. Elder Christesen and Santiago (member)
bore powerful testimonies as well, and we set another charla and re-invited him
to come to church, which he accepted whole-heartedly. The power of testimony is
real!
In addition, we have had the chance to work with
reactivation and retention this week! Beatrís is a member who has been less
active for many years, and has had desires to come back. She lost her Book of
Mormon, se we gifted her a new one and have read and taught about obedience to
God's commandments. 1 Nephi 3:7 and 17:3 illustrate this perfectly; we are
promised two vital things when we strive to comply with God's commandments: 1)
He will not leave us in the dark. He placed these commandments because He loves
us and knows that they will be for our eternal good, and thus He will help us
and prepare us a way to obey the commandment if we show our willingness and
faith. 2) Upon obeying a certain commandments, there are promised blessings
attached that we WILL receive (D&C 82:10 and 130:20-21). So, we may
sacrifice a little or even a lot to obey the commandments, but we will be compensated
and MUCH more for doing so! We invited
her to church to obey the commandment of the Sabbath Day, and she accepted...
AND CAME! Not only that, but she brought
her older sister Nancy with her who is also less active and wants to continue
learning, so we will be meeting with her as well!
Blind Soccer: We also met a recent convert named José María.
He is 36 years old, blind, and the coolest man I have ever met! He was baptized
in September and, despite having not come for a few weeks, has a very strong
conviction and testimony of the gospel. He says that he knows he's in error
with not attending and is dedicated to change! He works in service with others
in providing homes for the homeless and courses for learning pretty much
anything, he has the Scriptures in CD format, loves music and MoTab, and
installed his own air conditioning system! But wait, THERE'S MORE! He plays blind
soccer as well! (No typo here) And he plays Mortal Kombat on the PlayStation!
He plays against his visually able brother and friends and absolutely schools
them! ¡CAPO! Not only that, he is very humble! He said that his house was to be
pretty much ours, and he lent us an umbrella and flashlight to make it home dry
in the dark and to fight off dogs! So excited to continue meeting with and
teaching this new friend of mine!
The Vineyard: You will see in the pics, but we met a man
with a VERY impressive vineyard!
¡Ojalá que tengáis una semana increíble! ¡Os querio
muchísimo, y amo este Evangelio perfecto! ¡Estoy a las órdenes para siempre!
(Translation: I
hope you have an amazing week! I loved you very much, and I love this perfect
Gospel! I am at your service forever!)
Con amor,
Elder Newman
Mom’s Questions:
1. How close are you to Montevideo? On the map, it looks very
close. How many miles from the mission home or how long does it take to travel
there by bus?
About an hour by bus to the mission home. Very close! So the
good news is: no more 6 hour bus rides! :) The bad news: no more reimbursables
2. You mentioned how big your area is now. Are you still
traveling by foot? Or doing more buses?
Still by foot
3. Did you get your Valentine’s package? Probably not, but
let me know when you do get it.
Not yet, but I will let you know for sure
4. How are you and Elder Christesen getting along? What do
you two like to do in your down time? Do you spend much time with other
missionaries in your district?
We are getting along very well! We work well together and
have also had a bunch of laughs; he's just straight up fantastic. We like to
listen to Elder Richard G. Scott talks in Spanish, and drink mate together. The
other areas in our district live more than 30 minutes away, so we only see each
other every Tuesday in district meeting or zone conference.
5. Have you tried empanadas in Uruguay? Dad and I stopped by
the Argentinian restaurant last night and grabbed a half dozen for dinner. So
yummy!
No, but I have heard about them!
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Soy Un Viejito, Some Reverse Contacts, and It's Raining Sideways! (pt. 2)
Our new "Cyber" (aka the Secretary's office). The best computer I've used in the mission, and completely free!
Waiting for our interview w/ Pres with the Zone Leaders. ¡Que capos!
The sublime perfection of Uruguayan sunsets
When a member is fantastic and gets you a whole chicken
Food stage of zone activity. ¡La Costa,la mejor!
¡Hola mi querida familia y queridos amigos! ¡Literalmente he
estado más allá que animado para compartiros mi semana! ¡Tuvimos milagros en
plentitud! ¡Aun yo puedo decir que mara mí, ha sido la semana mejor de mi
misión! (Queda bien por lograr 6 meses esta semana) (Translation: Hello my dear family
and dear friends! I've literally been beyond excited to share my week! We had
miracles in abundance! Even I can say that for me, ithas been the best week of
my mission! It's good to hit 6 months this week)
Hey Christian! You will have to tell me how the Super Bowl
went! The Falcons!? That is quite the surprise! But oh well, as long as they
beat the Pats, I'm all good. Dude, you are going to love Comedy Sportz; it is
absolutely fantastic. Let me know if they roast Canada again. Who are you going
with? And I am confident that you will enjoy Tucanos although our pineapple is
better than yours. Interesting fact: Here in Uruguay, a barbeque is called an
"asado" or "churrasco", and the latter is also a name for
steak in place of bistec! I'm so excited to see how lacrosse goes this year; I
know for a fact you will continue to wreck kids, and it would be sweet to see
you get a coast-to-coast too. I'm not surprised about the radio voice incident;
you have a very deep and mature voice. I was literally telling Elder Christesen
this week about your spot-on Patrick Warburton impressions. Love you buddy!
Emma, I am so sorry to hear that you guys got jipped once
again at State. It reminds me of one of the things I definitely DON'T miss
about high school sports: Politics. But oh well. Mom told me about how
beautiful you girls danced and I know in my heart that you girls deserved gold.
And there will be much greater things in life than sports. I've come to realize
that very dearly. But hey! You do have the best student section of all time and
great friends in the Bingham drill team and especially your own! These
friendships and bonds you make all throughout sports will last much longer than
the euphoria of a big trophy. Just know that I'm proud of you and the girls and
that y'all are gold in my heart. Make sure they know that E' Newman sends his
proudest, biggest Viking Spirit all the way from Uruguay! Man, Get Out Games
would NOT be good for me; I'm not good with that kind of pressure and anxiety! ¡Te
quiero muchísimo y estoy para ti! (Translation: I love you very much and I am here for you.)
Bear! Great job with the wax musuem! I remember that it was
exhausting for me as well, but we got to do it with people we loved, and that
always helps. Holy shmokes! 24-3; that is a beatdown! I'm excited to see what
the rest of the season holds; you have a very loaded team! 6 months in! I would
honestly love to do some temple sessions with you when I come home! The temple
has a peace and joy that can be found nowhere else in the entire world. Love
you!
Callie! I was very sad to see 4th place for Emma as well,
but if they did their best (which I believe they did), they are winners no
matter what the judges say! Guess what? I LOVE SAUSAGES TOO! That's my favorite
breakfast meat! Even more than bacon! Hahaha I don't even know what sound a
kangaroo makes either! But you are a very good jumper, so I'm sure you did
great! I love you!
Holy cow, Mom, you actually did it! You cleaned my room! I
honestly wasn't sure if you had already done it or were going to make it or if
I should ask... but it looks very good! High five!
¡Hola, Pap! Solar power! That's some pretty exciting stuff!
Glad to hear about all the great stuff going on as bishop. The Primary is
always fun if not chaotic! Also incredible to see the work moving along and
growing so well. The Lord really is watching over us! Just have a few requests:
Could you send me the dates of my mission interviews with you and President
Gleason, and the date of my endowment? I have a spot in my journal that I would
love to fill with those. Love you!
This week has seen a grand increase in the work, as we have
got 8 nuevos and 2 with baptismal date!
Julio Cesar (remember him?) has a baptismal date for the 4th of March! We had
L3: the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him, and it went perfectly! It fit his
needs perfectly on wanting to know how to change his life and endure to the end
without sin and in Christ! He still has not come to church yet, but I am
positive that he will be ready this week.
We also were going to set a baptismal date with an awesome
youth named Santiago, but couldn't because he will be travelling all this
month! But he does now have a BoM and an entire month to read, so we are
excited to see what will happen!
Some Reverse Contacts (they came to us):
1) On Wednesday, we were called over by some fellow
Christians after doing a street contact; they were very impressed with how we
tried our hardest to spread the joyous word of Christ; one even commented on
how we went out in 2's like the Bible says! We set a charla with one of them,
Elías, to hand him a Book of Mormon and explain its purpose; it turned into a
very full charla of him asking deep, inspired questions concerning his life and
the Gospel, and us following the Spirit more than ever to provide the responses
he needed. We ended up covering parts of the first three lessons and the entire
third! He says that he wants to turn his life around so that one day he could
share his experiences like we do and bring people to Christ; future missionary!
2) We were heading down a street Saturday night, and a guy
named Angel crosses the street to talk to us! He told us in English that he had
lived in the States for 30 years and New York for 10 (definitely had the
accent), asked us if "this nice building here" was ours, and asked
for the times of Church Services! He says that he wants to fill an emptiness in
his life and that he has not found it in any other religion, but that he can
see in our eyes and feel in his heart that we are for real! He had actually seen
us 3 times earlier that day! He says that he wants to become friends with us
and also that one day, he wants to share his experiences too!
Soy Un Viejito (Translation: I am an old man):
1) 6 months down!
2) We were in a charla with the non-member family of a less
active father (who wasn't there) and the daughter asked how old I was. I asked
her to guess, and she put: 30! (knife to the heart) I told her that I was 19,
and she immediately blushed deep red, dropped her face into her arms, and
laughed embarrassedly. And ironically,
that is not the oldest I've received here: one guy gave me 34 years old! #ouch
It's Raining Sideways! (pt. 2):
You will see in the last two videos, but we were onslaught
by a TERRIFIC rain/windstorm yesterday that took out part of our fence and
back-patio roof! That's what happens when you live by the ocean! The bright
side: the humidity makes for some incredible sunsets, as you will see in the
photos.
Well, I love you all much, and the Lord has truly been with
us in this miraculous week! Just know that you are always in my prayers! ¡Os quiero
muchísimo! y ¡que tengáis una semana mágica! ¡Ciao! (Translation: I love you so much
!, and have a magical week! Ciao!)
Con amor,
Elder Newman
Mom’s Questions:
1. What blessings have you felt from following the new
counsel regarding mission rule changes this week?
As we have scheduled charlas and planned for our
investigators according to their needs, we have been able to fulfill them much
more, and the fruits of our labors have been increased dramatically!
2. What new things did you learn about Elder Christesen this
week?
He has Dear John-ed his girlfriend 3 times in and out of the
mission, and she has not gotten the hint (he gave me permission to say that. I
always knew he played baseball and was good at it, but turns out that he played
soccer and club soccer as well when he lived in California and that he was
constantly getting letters from college coaches without knowing about it. He
said that his dad, watching him play baseball his senior year, said, "You
know, you should've stuck with soccer; I'm still getting letters from coaches
asking you to play for them." Great timing!
3. How have you served Elder Christesen this week?
I cooked him fried alfajors this week and shared my Amish
Bread. That was tough.
4. How often do you see the other missionaries in your
district?
Once a week, and that in district meeting, zone conference,
or multi-zone conference. Oh, speaking of the final point: we now have
mulit-zone conferences and interviews with President Eddy once every change!
Exciting! We do it with Este and Maroñas, which means I get to see my trainer
often. (He's in his 2nd change in Maroñas)
5. Callie has a question for you: What did you do today for
P-day? Which reminds me, have you done any sightseeing or fishing in El Pinar?
What is your p-day schedule like there?
Today, we had a zone activity! We got together and played
some fútbol (I got wasted) and basketball (I led my team to victory. Assists
and buckets galore. Word, Christian), had mini tacos, and played some
Get-To-Know-You games! We have not gone fishing because I forgot my pole in
Chuy (grr) and am waiting for an opportunity to get it from Elder Estouco. But
we did go running last P-Day to the beach!
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
IDK English Anymore, Dang Quesadillas, and ¡GRANDMA NEWMAN'S AMISH BREAD!
Dang Quesadillas
Life is grand when you have french toast, grander when you're the one who made it!
Spaghetti round 2!! E' Christesen was really happy
Zona La Costa
Christmas Stocking from the Newmans including...
GRANDMA NEWMAN'S AMISH BREAD!!!!!
Anchors aweigh!
When a member has a missionary son that served in Provo and has visited our dear Mt. Timp Temple! REALLY weird to see here in Uruguay, but fantastic a la vez!
¡Hola, mi querida familia y queridos amigos! ¡Me alegre
muchísimo para hablar con vosotros sobre la vida de un misionero Uruguayo! Esta
semana ha sido un poquito duro, pero también ¡hemos tenidos muchas experencias
dulces! (Translation: Hello, my dear family and dear friends! I was very happy to
talk with you about the life of a missionary Uruguayan! This week has been a
little hard, but we have also taken many sweet EXPERIENCES!)
Hey buddy! That does sound like a fantastic sacrament
meeting! Tell Eli that I love him and am so stoked for him to join the army!
Dude, I cannot even express how excited I am for you and your progress towards
the mission. Time is flying, and before you know it, you'll be out doing the
work like myself! It would be sweet if you could join me in Uruguay and I could
train you, but I know that the Lord knows best where you will be the most
needed. Can't wait for the call and the video!
I also want to see the videos of Jake, Isaiah, and Lucas; great young
men that are going to do some serious work in the field! Dude, I'm so freaking proud of you; you will
be in the best place possible for this time of your life, and you will receive
blessings that you cannot even imagine. Love you Christian!
Emma! Way to sweep Region! (I called it, btw) I am also
calling a State Victory; you girls will do great no matter what the judges say.
State Week! Reminds me of playoff games for football or the wrestling state
championship; what excitement! My comp broke a wooden chair. He didn't even do
anything. He had been sitting in it for ever and all of a sudden it snapped and
he went to the ground. He's only 130 lbs. I'm 205. You could say I was sweating
bullets for the rest of the time. ¡Te quiero muchísimo!, y ¡que tengáis una
buena compiteción en Estado! (Translation: I love you very much !, and that you have a good competition
in state!)
Bear da Bear! Nice victory in futsal, and sweet revenge!
#muahahahaha You can control the outcome of the game despite what the refs do.
Nice offense AND defense in bantam this week, as well as going for 3 loose
balls! There may be girls bigger, faster, or more experienced, but you can beat
them with your heart and effort, which is EXACTLY what you're doing right now.
Great work! I'm excited to see the wax museum speech; I'm sure it's gonna be
fantastic. Love you!
Callie, I'm so sorry the scary movie made you sad. I hate
scary movies too. But how great that Mom was able to make you feel better. And
how lucky that you got a Kit Kat Candy Bar! Wow! You need to talk with Mrs.
McCoy about Europe and she to which countries she went, and then tell her where
I went. I LOVE Europe! I love you Callie!
Mom, glad to hear you've recovered; being sick is NEVER any
fun. Makes me remember my post-Christmas episode. So excited for the Valentine
package! YOU HAD AN ALFAJOR!? YES. THIS IS AMAZING. I wasn´t kidding when I
said they were good! Now step two: fried alfajors! Not kidding, if an alfajor
is a level 7 or a level 8, a fried alfajor is a level 20! INCREDIBLE! I'm so
excited for Christian and all his friends working on their papers. Huge step in
their lives! Tell Josh congratulations on his call and that Elder Newman says
good luck! Thanks for the songs you have sent thus far; I've really enjoyed
them! Crazy to think that I compete 6 months this Thursday. It seems like
yesterday that I left the Mexico MTC and got shipped out to Chuy; time flies!
Love you Mom!
Pap, so awesome to hear about the Bear's style of play.
Perfect. Reminds me of that one incident out at Wasatch (or wherever it is)
when I levelled the kid. Maybe you could send me some videos of her going to
town? So awesome to hear about all the youth preparing themselves to serve;
what a magnificent time of year! Hope you enjoyed your first (I think?)
alfajor, fantastic! I have finally found out what you were talking about with
Coco de Leche; mate celestial! I am so excited to try it! ...in the winter
(because hot milk doesn't go well with hot, humid sun). Love you Dad.
Well, the contacting experience here has had some bright
days and some dark times. Especially yesterday: there were very few people
home, most of the people home wanted nothing, and the people that took a
folleto took it reluctantly. And not a single charla. I'm not gonna lie, it was
pretty tough for me to stay positive, and one of the hardest, longest days I've
had on the mission. But I know as I strive to do better in staying positive and
bearing these trials with patience, the Lord will bless me with growth in the
moment and success in the future.
But let us talk happy things! On to miracles: I had a
contact in English! You read that right: we contacted a youth named Juaquim,
and he started speaking English to us! Turns out that he had learned from
YouTube and TV shows, and so I tested himself and myself by making a
Restoration contact and setting a charla all in English! And boy, let me tell
you: I STRUGGLED! The gift of tongues has been so prevalent that it is now
easier for me to pray and to preach the gospel in Spanish than English! And Juaquim
has been fantastic; we had an incredible L1 with him and set a baptismal date
for the 25th of February! He didn't come to church and couldn't have another
charla, but he lamented the fact that he couldn't come when we visited and said
that he really wanted to! He will be out of town this coming week, so we have
invited him to attend church wherever he is at, and we will have another charla
with him not this week, but the next. Woot!
We met this guy named Julio Cesar contacting, and he poured
out his entire heart and soul to us. He has had a rough life and acknowledges
that he's made a mess of his life, and that he wants to change. He set the
charla and he asked when church was! We have not seen him since, but we have
faith that we will find him. And we are planning on talking L3: The Gospel of
Jesus Christ and setting a baptismal date with him! Truly exciting to see
someone who is humble enough to admit they've messed up and ask help to change.
Recently we had a charla with Laura and tried to quickly
teach L1 because she said she had very little time. That was quickly derailed
and we abandoned the lesson plan, because she poured out her entire soul to us;
she has had a very hard, sad, trial-filled life and is impatient with God for a
lack of answers or comfort. I was able to share an experience about an answered
prayer I had had, and the Spirit was SO present; I nearly choked on my words
and almost cried as I expressed God's love with her, taught about the Spirit's
role in bringing us answers, and begged her to not give up because of delay,
because the answer would come. We have started praying personally for her as
well, and will be stopping by this week to see how's she's doing.
The ward here has continued to be just incredible; these are
wonderful people with a love for missionary work. Rare are the days in which we
are not fed, we recently had a Family Home Evening with the Ward Mission
Leader's family and their non-member friend, and we have a meeting coming up
this Thursday with the WML and all the Ward Missionaries. So vital and amazing
to have this great support!
Well, that's about all; thank you so much for all of your
support and prayers; they truly keep me going strong even through tough times!
¡Os quiero y os amo muchísimo! ¡Que Dios os bendiga con sus bendiciones más
ricas!, y ¡que tengáis una buena semana! ¡Ciao! (Translation: I love you and love
you very much! May God bless you with His richest blessings !, and that you
have a good week! Ciao!)
Con amor,
Elder Newman :)
Mom´s Questions:
1. We heard there was a new missionary training last Wednesday.
Did you receive that training? Does that change anything for the missionaries
in Uruguay?
Yes, and some big changes have occurred! For the
missionaries all around the world, we now have a much more flexible schedule;
the purpose is that we can use our agency and make a better transition to
post-mission life. Normally you'd have something like: wake up and exercise at
6:30, breakfast at 7, personal study at 8, etc. Now, we have to do breakfast,
exercise, personal study, and planning (this is different because it was
usually at the end of the day) between 6:30 and 10, but it doesn't matter the
exact hour. Same with the rest of the day. Also, P-Day's are now 2 hours
longer!!! We also now report less key
indicators each week, only focusing on the ones that are truly "key":
baptisms and confirmations, investigators with baptismal date, investigators
that attended sacrament meeting, and new investigators. Less about numbers, and
more about fulfilling our purpose as missionaries. Love it!
2. What are Elder Christesen’s interests? What is his family
like back home?
He is big into baseball and soccer, and that's about all
he's giving me ;)
3. How have you seen miracles this week?
There have been a few people that have wanted to change
their lives, including Julio Cesar, and it's amazing and miraculous to see this
kind of humility here in Uruguay.
4. What is your house/apartment like in El Pinar?
We have the main room/kitchen, our bedroom, our study room
(which ironically hs the refrigerator), and a bigger backyard. For 4 people it
would be stuffed, but it is very comfortable with 2.
5. How big is your district? How many missionaries?
El Pinar (us), Parque De Plata A, and Carrasco A (Hma's) So
3 areas, 6 missionares, and two of them are travelling sisters!
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