¡La nueva zona de La Costa!
We all need a short Elder in our lives. ¡Elder Guali es un CAPO!
Pizza y noche de hogar con Obispo Bo
When you hit an iron pole in the ground without seeing it, and it tears your suit pants and leaves you with a battle wound.
The agenda on top is the new one we received this week. All below are my previous ones. Before vs. after in mission life.
When your washing machine breaks. Now we just use the hose separately and spray all the water in the chamber before closing the door and starting the cycle.
Preparando fideos con tuco (el clásico) para la actividad de zona
Normally a milanesa is a piece of meat covered in a mixture of eggs, milk, flour and bread crumbs, and fried, but the hermanas made some out of zucchini! And it was actually pretty darn good.
Lunch in between the past fútbol and the future Signs game and basketball. Zone activities are sweet!
*In the subject of Jackson’s letter, he says, “Everything Sounds Better in English”. This is in reference to some videos he sent us that he and his companion took where his companion would say something in Spanish and then Jackson would translate it to English. His companion cracked up at every translation.
¡Hola mis queridos seres! ¡Me alegro mucho poder hablar con vosotros de nuevo! Esta semana fue más difícil que muchos que he tenido, pero ¡siempre hay milagros en la obra del Señor! (Translation: Hello my dear beings! Glad to talk to you again! This week was harder than many I've had, but there are always miracles in the work of the Lord!)
When we are busy, we are happy, and we feel fulfillment in our lives! Glad to see the same passing with you. It's the final countdown to having your papers sent! My excitement for you grows each day, and I continually pray for you in your preparations to serve. It is truly service that will bless your life more than anything else. Love you Christian!
Emma, that is quite the temperature change from Florida to Utah! But as y'all are starting to receive warmer weather, it is becoming fresher and cooler here in Uruguay (finally). It's even cold at night! My poor companion is from Recife, Brasil, where the coldest it gets in winter is 20° Celcius! I walk right now quiet in the streets, perfect weather, and he keeps saying how cold it is. I laughed and told him in essence that if he thought this was cold, "¡prepárese!" or, "Buckle up!" ¡Te quiero muchísimo, Emma! (Translation: I love you so much, Emma!)
Bear! Glad to see you making game-saving saves! Just today, in our zone activity, I cost my team the game, after having such a kick-butt game at goalie, by letting in 2 straight goals and going from 9-8 and about to win (10 pts.=victory) to losing 10-9. Also, nice job to win a grinder at the end and finish on a positive note. Hope everything is going well at school, with your new friend, and with Mr. Green. Tell him Elder Newman says hi! Love you!
Callerist! I have been waiting to see Moana for a long time! I promise to watch it with you after the mission! Chicken nuggets and Frosties from Wendy's are... OUTSTANDING. Your lesson on Sunday sounds great. I love repentance, because I know that not only can I right the wrong and be forgiven, but I can also become clean again, cast off the weight of my sin, and feel a joy and happiness beyond description. I love you and miss you more than I can say.
Well, Mom, we all can do tough things and learn in Christ who strengthens us. Keep practicing the organ. I will definitely be using that jump rope; I actually have an exercise tool now! Thanks a bunch!
Well, despite the toughness of this week (fake address being one, Gabriel silently dropping us being another {he saw us out his window and hid}, and learning that Santiago lives in Montevideo and that his friends have not been good influences and have discouraged him from continuing), I still saw the Lord's hand a ton this week, and I will only count the miracles that we saw this week! Facundo and Mikaela have received permission to be baptized by her mom! She personally didn't feel like participating, but I was touched to see her love and respect for her children and giving them agency. I see a baptismal date being placed this week! We also had the son of Ramón, Santiago, come to church yesterday, and he absolutely loved it! He clutched his Book of Mormon as if it were a priceless treasure (and it obviously is), and I see a bright future with him! His older sister Lucía is a little less enthusiastic, or perhaps timid, but we have the Young Women inviting her to mutual this week, so we'll see what happens!
The power of the priesthood is real: Sunday night, everything had fallen through and none of our contacts really wanted anything, and I was spiritually, mentally, and emotionally shot. Suddenly, I had the feeling that we needed to visit Hmo. Pisa - an ex stake president, patriarch, and temple sealer; an 83 year old man that looks in his low 70's and still has MUCH strength, and one of the most spiritual, wise, and kind men I have ever met. We stopped by and conversed for a bit, in which we were enlightened by him, and then I felt prompted to say, "Hermano, vinimos aquí hoy proque yo necesito de usted y mi compañero una bendición de guía y consuelo." (Brother, we came here today because I need, from you and my companion, a blessing of guidance and comfort.) What followed was one of the most powerful manifestations of connectivity with the Holy Ghost and priesthood power that I have ever witnessed, let alone be a recipient of. Throughout the blessing, I felt the frustration, sadness, and exhaustion leave me and be filled with peace, contentment, and energy. I hardly even remembered my past negative feelings. I also gave a blessing for the sick that same day; both ends I felt that power.
Last thing: This past week, we had started working with Nicolas; his friend Hermana Cela had referred him to us and asked that we present the charlas as if he were a new investigator, point zero. Today we came for L2 (Plan of Salvation), and Hermana Cela came to us and warned us that he had had a tough life and done many terrible things in his life, that he had not shown the desire to change, that his face of humility that he had shown us was a disguise, and that it might be a waste of time to teach him because we as missionaries are here to baptize. We shared that a reactivation is pretty much a baptism for us; it's a soul saved, just like baptism, so we entered her house (where Nicolas stays due to the poverty of his own house and because they are great friends), and presented the Plan, and Hermana Cela shared a fantastic 1:00 video about priorities, important things, and trivial things in our lives. (if you want to look it up, it presents a jar, pingpong balls, pebbles, and sand as object lessons, and it’s fantastic). We were able to talk about how when we put God first in our life, everything else fits perfectly, but when we put other things first, there's not enough space for the important things. As we were talking about this, we noticed that Nicolas has begun to cry, tears rolling down his face. I could see that the weight of his errors had finally come crashing down on him and that he felt immense guilt and sorrow for everything he had done. I felt the impression to stop, and Hermana Cela asked us, to which Nicolas confirmed, to give a blessing of guidance and comfort. We agreed, and I had the privilege to be voice. I have given blessings of comfort and guidance before, as well as for the sick, but today was surreal, incredible, heavenly. I felt the Spirit fill every fiber in my body, and not only did I never lack words; words of blessing and promise came out of my mouth that were not my own. I can't even begin to describe the Spirit, power, and love that filled that room. As we closed the blessing and arose, he embraced us with a sincerity and gratitude that we had not seen before, and left feeling extremely elevated from such an experience.
How incredible. One day, I am able to give a blessing for a sick brother; that same day, I come to a fellow priesthood holder to ask and receive a blessing of comfort and guidance; the very next day, I am on the other end giving one. My beloved friends and family, I testify with all the fervor of my soul that the priesthood and power of God are real, here on the Earth today, and active among the children of men. In two days I have felt that power three times from both ends, and I feel indescribably blessed to be able to be a benefactor and vessel of that priesthood power. I know that the priesthood works miracles, for I saw them happen right before me and felt that undeniable Spirit fill us with power. Priesthood holders, always strive to be worthy and in tune with the Spirit so that when these opportunities come, you may be an instrument in the Lord's hands to bless the lives of your spiritual siblings. And to all, never be afraid to ask a blessing, for it is an opportunity to receive love, service, and miracles from the hands of others. In the sacred name of the source of priesthood power, even the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
El Pájaro y la Montaña (The Sparrow and the Mountain): Elder Souza has used an analogy in Family Home Evenings and a Recent Convert charla to describe the immensity of the importance and power of 1) the family, and 2)the priesthood. Imagine if a little sparrow were to make regular trips to the top of Mt. Timpanogos, and sharpen his beak there. Every time he does so, the mountain diminishes a little. How many trips, and how many generations of sparrows, would it take to completely erase the mountain from existence? Now you have an idea of the immensity of the importance and power of the family and the priesthood.
When a Non-Member Understands: see Question 4 from my Mom
Well, I'm out of time, but I love you all so very much and hope you have an amazing week! ¡Yo
siento que milagros van a pasar esta semana! ¡Que Dios os bendiga! (Translation: I feel miracles are going to happen this week! God bless you!)
Con amor,
Elder Newman
Mom’s Questions:
1. Did you ever get your Valentine's package?
YUP! This week! And I wanted to say thank you so much! I've already downed all the Peachy-O's and Hershey's and am excited to use the marinade in ¡ASADO! :)
2. In what way have you learned from your companion this week?
I have learned to always push forward despite the challenges that come with the work, and I neede to learn that this week, because this was a tough one.
3. What goals did you set for yourself and your companionship this week? And how did you work toward meeting them?
This week, we have set the goals of sharing the contact load, having Elder Souza direct L1: Restoration, and look for opportunities to serve. Elder Souza has done magnificently on both the first 2, and we have had countless opportunities to serve!
4. Did anything funny happen this week?
On Wednesday, we had received a bunch of futures for that day only to find that 90% of them were fake addresses (didn't exist or they weren't there). We passed by a Uruguayan woman who had not been able to help us earlier but had wished us luck, and she said, "Did you find them?" We said no, and she sighed, and proceeded to drop some mad cane: "I can't stand these Uruguayans! If they're not interested, they should say, 'Not interested,' instead of making you poor boys walk outside all day in the hot sun! What disrespect!" We were honestly shocked and blurted out, "¡Fa!, ¡gracias hermana! Lo apreciamos mucho," (Translation: "Fa !, thanks sister! We appreciate it a lot”) and thought inside, "Amen! Hallelujah!"
