Pictures of the house in Toledo
Met up with Elder Manzaneras at a multi-zone conference this week
Hello my peoples! So great to be talking with y'all once
again; this has been a solid week! We lost a little proselyting time because 1)
we had a multi-zone conference in Carrasco Thursday and a new District Leader
Training on Friday, and 2) Elder Mereles was down with the flu. But the time
that we did have, we were able to see great things happening!
Hey dude, I'm so glad you had such an epic trip to Powell with
your friends and the fam; the pics are epic haha. I heard about the crazy
incident with Isaiah; glad to hear he's okay. So proud of you being able to
receive the Melchezidek Priesthood; such a marvelous opportunity to be able to
access God's very power to bless the lives of others. Love you Christian, and I
can't wait to hear how goes the endowment!
Emma! So glad you were able to enjoy Lake Powell even if it
was for a short time because of drill. Haha the intense workouts remind me of
good ol' wrestling days. I will need a
video of the hip hop routine! ¡Trataré de continuar de tener fe! (Faith) ;) ¡Te
quiero hermana! (I
will try to continue to have faith! (Faith);) I love you sister!)
Bear, I honestly don't even know why I didn't go to Clear
Creek when I was your age! HEY! YOU SLALOMED! AND SURFED! ON YOUR OWN! WOOOT!!!
That's my sister right there! And you're right, I'll be sure to give some good
lessons on these when I get back. Love you sis!
Callerist! I heard you got into the water more! SO SO PROUD
OF YOU! Did you know that I used to be
scared of the water too? Just ask Dad. Love you sooo much!
Mom, so glad to see all the great stuff happening at Powell!
I sure missed being there but trust you all had a blast. And hey, worth it to
sacrifice one trip of many I'll have in my life, to bring true happiness (the
Gospel) to my brothers and sisters across the world. You're right; time has now
being going at double or triple the rate, and it was flying before! 2 changes
and I'll already be at halfway! Thanks for the family history dates; I'll be
sure to use them when we have our family history activity soon in the ward.
Love you Mom!
Crazy how the time flies, huh? I was just thinking: our next
Google call will be from 3 different locations, and Christian will be
experiencing the miracles and joys of the mish! Love you so much Pap; let me
know if there's anything I can do for you.
Victor is amazing: even though he's been going through some
tough trials and couldn't attend church due to sickness, he has been constantly
praying, reading the BoM, and strengthening his faith. He has the determined
desire to be baptized! Raúl wants to be baptized as well, but with a
hospitalized brother, and without job, he's been very worried for the future,
which is understandable. He wants to go to church after the members provided
him a job, and we had to explain that the miracles come AFTER faith and works.
But he has committed to come to church this coming Sunday! We also found an
amazing young mother, Nele, who accepted easily the Plan of Salvation, promised
to read and pray about the BoM, and accepted a baptismal date for July 1st! She
wasn't able to attend church this week, but we have great faith and hope that
she will progress as she reads and prays.
It has been an amazing opportunity to serve as district
leader; I have a district of all great Elders, including the Zone Leaders and
the Asisstants to the Pres! #opaa! They are all hard workers with great hearts,
and I already feel a deep love for them even though we haven't yet had a
district meeting (we will tomorrow). The people who are called to lead are
there to serve, love, and learn, just as much as they are called to lead and
teach, maybe even more. That has been the case with me, and I feel so blessed
to serve and learn from these great men.
A Importancia do Livro de Mórmon: In our multi-zone
conference, we took a moment to think of if we had never had the Book of Mormon
in our lives. Erase everything we know thanks to the Book of Mormon. What do we
lose? I thought of: clarity in all scriptures, the why of Christ being
baptized, the Plan of Salvationa and eternal families, prophets and revelation,
happiness. In short, for me, EVERYTHING! I absolutely love the Book of Mormon
and its powerful testimony of Christ; it has over 4000 references to Him, over
100 different titles for Him are mentioned, and His holy name is mentioned once
every 2.8 verses. We learned new ways to help people read the Book and gain a
testimony of it, including using personal examples from our lives from every
scripture we read. In fact, the Book of Mormon is the only book that Jesus
himself has personally testified to be true (D&C 17:6).
I Hate Buses Now: In order to get to our conference and
training this week, we had to take: 1) a bus of 40 minutes, 46 pesos ($1.64),
and crammed like sardines, all standing, and then 2) another bus of 30 minutes,
33 pesos ($1.18) and even more crammed. That just to get there, and then vice
versa to return. And this two days in a row. The result: 2.5 hours of total travel,
all standing, 316 pesos ($11.29), and feeling sick like a dog. Officially
decided that I will never take bus travel after my mission.
La Pierna de Cañon: We were in a branch missionary activity
this Friday, playing fútbol and getting to know some non-members. I had been
playing goalie (0 goals allowed) and trying a little of field play (not so
stellar). One time I went for a ball in the air to stop the advance of the
other team, and I connected! ...so hard that I kicked the brand new ball over
the fence. They have been teasing me for that ever since.
Love you all; looking forward to a miraculous week to come!
¡Os quiero muchísimo! ¡Que tengáis una semana increíble de verano (mientras que
yo sufra de frío ;) xD)! ¡Vamo arriba! (I love you very much! Have an incredible week of summer (as
long as I suffer from cold)! Let's go upward!)
Con amor,
Elder Newman :)
Mom’s Questions:
1. How are things going with Elder Mereles? How long has he
been in the mission? How long has he been in Toledo? What interests do you
share with him? Is he a convert or a lifelong member? Is his family supportive?
Very good; I have learned a lot from him, and him from me,
and we are finding our groove of unity in our teaching. He's from my group and
has only 3 weeks less because he was less time in the CTM. He will complete 6
months in Toledo at the end of this change and is already anxious to move on! We
both like doing exercises in the morning and love to order pizza. Our
personalities are quite different, but we know that we have the same goals, so
we are able to get along despite our differences! He was baptized at 8 years
old but truly learned about and understood the gospel at 17; he considers
himself a convert. His family is very supportive; almost all are members (dad
no).
2. How is the weather? Is it different than being on the
coast like you were in El Pinar and Chuy?
It is SOOO COLD HERE! There is neblina (fog) almost every
morning and night, and we are constantly freezing! However, we have a gas
heater AND a fireplace in our house, so that surely helps!
3. How is Toledo different than El Pinar? Is the geographical
area the same size? Still walking a lot or do you take buses more?
Normally we walk everywhere, but need to take a bus to get
to an area called 33 every now and then. We divide every odd day to go to Benso
and every even day for the rest of Toledo. It's pretty sizeable!
4. What ended up happening with the two Sofias? Were you able
to get them book of Mormons and a second charla?
Sofia L. wasn't in the charla, and Sofia B. was sick when we
visited her, but we were able to get her a BOM! Planning to visit her and teach
her and her mom the Restoration. :)
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