Strong in Spirit, Weak in Body; ¡O Poder do Brasil!; y Un Cambio Poderoso de Corazón

 ​Preparing a surprise for my oro

 ​Meet Elder Souza! ¡O Poder do Brasil! Portuguese will be returning shortly...​

 When your boy is a better cook than you are... absolutely no complaints

This photo does not even surface the joy we felt to see this beauty delivered by Elder and Sister Wainkier​ after our old fan broke.

¡Hola a todos! ¡Feliz mes de Marzo! ¡Esta semana ha sido muy rapido, milagroso y divertido con mi nuevo compañero, oro, y hijo Elder Souza! Así que sé que queréis saber acerca de él, os diré. (Translation: Hello everyone! Happy March! This week has been very fast, miraculous and fun with my new partner, gold, and son Elder Souza! So I know you want to know about it, I'll tell you.)

Elder Souza is absolutely fantastic! He is from Recife, Brasil, a fútbol maestro, fromer jui-jitsuist, amazing cook, and one of the most dedicated and faithful Elders I have ever met! He is going to move mountains; I've already learned a ton from him! He has been an incredible example to me of faith, dilligence, and fearlessness, and I feel like I will continue to learn much more from him than I could ever teach him. ¡CAPO! He is also VERY STRONG! (or perhaps I've just gotten weak) We had an arm-wrestle, both sides, and he beat me equally fast, like 2 seconds. Yikes!

Callie, that is a lot of games to watch on Saturday! Hope you had a ton of fun! You should tell Christian thank you and give him a big hug for giving you his unicorn. Such a good big brother! I love you tons!

Holy cow, Bear! 20 points in a basketball game! That is quite the game you had, well done! (applause)

Haha Emma, the humidity photo is absolutely on point. I gotta say, we could all do without humidity, am I right? This week our fan broke and the humid hot was absolutely unbearable; we had all the windows and doors open for a few days during the daytime. Can't wait for the cold to come (did I just say that?) #heatratnomore So glad to hear you had so much fun in Orlando! ¡Te quiero muchísimo, hermana, y estoy muy orgulloso para ti! (Translation: I love you very much, sister, and I am very proud of you!)

Christian, Co-man of the house! When in doubt, pizza; glad to see you learned such a valuable life lesson. Tell Brandon WOOT WOOT on his mission call!  Love you buddy; keep kicking butt, loving life, and prepping for the mish!

Welcome to the Ghirardelli's club Mom! There really is nothing better! Sounds like a busy yet fun week with the perfect amount of spirituality as well: well-balanced! I've recently tried to focus more on the Savior during the sacrament and boy, it has made a difference. This past Fast and Testimony Sunday, I was literally consumed with the Spirit; every single testimony was perfect. The Gospel really is MUCH better than anything the world can offer us. Anything and everything.

Well Pap, first week as a trainer has been amazing, spiritual, hilarious, and challenging all at the same time! But when you have an amazing and dedicated elder like Elder Souza, miracles can happen! He is absolutely fantastic; one thing I learned from him is that just because something didn't work once or twice or even 20 times, doesn't mean it can't. There were times when he would start a contact in a method that I would think, "Oh boy, here we go," and it would end up very well! Big example for me in that regard, and my faith has grown much since he's arrived.

Well, we now have a sibling package: Mikaela joined her big brother Facundo this week in our lesson! We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ; it is wonderful to teach the gospel in such simple yet beautiful terms, and their abuela Beatrís has been a HUGE help in the lessons! The kids have said that once they receive an answer, they'll be baptized! (We didn't put a date because they need permission from their non-member parents first.)

Gabriel is a youth that has attended many churches in his life and has faith in Jesus, even though he has never read the Bible! We taught him The Restoration, gifted him a Book of Mormon, and put a baptismal date for the 25/3/17! When we came for the next charla, he wasn't there, but we set a time with him and his older sister, so we are getting the family involved!

José María has passed his interview for the Aaronic Priesthood! He will be receiving that soon and preparing for a calling, limited temple recommend, Melchezidek Priesthood, and temple marriage! He is happier than I've seen him yet; what joy that this Gospel provides!

I also wanted to share a really cool experience we had this week: it was late at night and we were out contacting along the main street when we saw a young teenage boy sitting alone on a curb on the other side of the street. I felt impressed to cross, and we did so, sat down next to him, and began to talk. At first he would give us short, quiet, and terse answers, and he didn't even make eye contact. I felt impressed to keep talking, even though I had no idea why; I was sure he wanted nothing. We gave him a Restoration pamphlet, and as we briefly explained it, he found the picture of Peter, James and John restoring the priesthood to Joseph Smith. Suddenly, his posture straightened, his eyes lit up, and he pointed to the picture and said "Are those angels?" We said yes and that they were Pedro, Santiago, y Juan, and all of a sudden he turned to us with a big smile on his face and said, "¡Santiago! Como mi nombre." We showed him our phone number on the back (his parents aren't big on religion in their house), and he was drawn to the church schedule, which we explained. We invited him and he said yes without hesitation. And then before we could say anything else, he asked, "Can we pray together?" Thus we did, and as we got up we embraced and he said, "God bless you." (common phrase here, but he REALLY meant it) Miracles come when faith is shown, and I am grateful that I listened to the Spirit and pressed on.

Great first week with my boy, and we're looking forward to a great couple changes together, milagros, y ¡bautismos un ful! ¡Os quiero muchísimo, y que disfrutéis la nieve mientras la tengáis todavía! (Translation: I love you very much, and enjoy the snow while you still have it!)

Con amor,
Elder Newman :)

Mom’s Questions:

1. What is your new companion's name, where is he from and what is he like? 

Elder Souza is from Recife, Brasil, and one of the most faithful, dedicated, and friendly people I have ever met! Also a fantastic cook! Boy, did I ever luck out!

2. Emma wants to know what he did in high school. Also, how good is his Spanish? 

Fútbol only; there's basketball and volleyball in Brazil too, but he focused on football. He can communicate pretty well with the people here; he never learned Spanish before the mish and only stayed 4 weeks in the CCM. But he is doing well, and he is relentless to learn!

3. What's the hardest part about being a trainer? 

When your oro asks you a question and you realize you honestly don't know the answer! Without Preach My Gospel, Missionary Handbook, and The First 12 Weeks, I'm sure I'd have absolutely no clue what I'm doing

4. How are your investigators coming along? Any of them come to church this week? 

We have had some promising news this week! Nobody came to church but a few have promised that they will the following week. :)