Christmas!!

 Anyone who knows me, knows i make a mean sandwich, and that still applies here in Bolivia, even better with my personalized apron (thanks mom ha)

 Elder Maravilla with his part of my package

At our members house after the lesson

Family pic during our Christmas call 

Merry Christmas everyone!!

I know everyone is busy with family and friends, so this is going to be pretty brief, but I hope you are all having just the best Christmas ever!!!

My first Christmas away from home, not going to lie, it’s a little hard not to see snow, friends, family, and having Christmas music on every corner.. It made me a little homesick, but we had some experiences that I will never forget....

The first, one of our eternal investigators, told us this week when we passed by his house, as he got in his car to go to work, "Elders, I’ve been thinking about my baptism, and I want to do it before the end of the year, but I don’t know what date yet." and then drove away... We were shell shocked, we never expected that to happen... And then later on during the week, he asked us when we could do his interview. Well, it’s this Tuesday, so we will see if we have a baptism this week!!

Here’s the experience I’ll never forget.. We were going to our appointment with a member who agreed to feed us and give us a place to spend Christmas Eve. We were passing the house of a partial member family, the house of an abuela, recent convert, when Elder Maravilla told me that he felt that we needed to visit them. We knocked on their door, and they invited us in to have a quick bite to eat. While we were sitting down eating, one of the aunts who isn’t a member and is quite catholic sat down next to us, and we began to talk doctrine.. We began to teach, using passages from the Bible, and the Book Of Mormon, and slowly, one by one, each of the aunts and uncles began to enter, and take a seat.. The Spirit filled the room as we testified of the Restoration, the need for prophets, and most of all, our Savior, Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost absolutely filled the room, it was absolutely silent as we bore testimony. We were so focused on the questions, needs, and doubts of this non member aunt, that after about 30 minutes of this powerful discussion (literally the most powerful spirit I have felt yet in the mission), we looked up, to see that every single member of this family, was either crying, or on the verge of tears.. I will never forget that night. Because that is what Christmas is about. Christmas, is about Christ.

So even though I didn’t have Christmas music, lights, or my family and friends around me, I had something that made this Christmas one I will never forget. I had the love of my Savior. And I will never forget this Christmas. Ever.

So friends and family, this Christmas, do something to share that love our Savior has for us. Hug your siblings a little tighter, tell your parents you love them one more time, send that kind text to your friends, go serve your neighbors. It can be anything, but share that love with everyone. I know Christmas is almost over, but it’s never too late to share the love of our Savior.

I love you all so much. Merry Christmas.

Con todo mi amor, Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Feliz Cumpleaños, Breaking and Entering, Russian Roullette

 Our Christmas tree, now with lights and ornaments!

 Birthday pictures

Wringing out my tie after yet another huge rainstorm!

Hello Friends and Family!!!!

First off, a huge thank you to the tons of you who wished me a happy birthday!! Thank you so so so so much!! I don’t get a ton of time to write, but thank you so much, and you are all such a blessing in my life! I read every single email, and even if I don’t have time to respond, know that I greatly appreciate all of your wishes!! Birthdays in the mission are kind of weird.. Because we don’t have a ton of time to celebrate, the work is too important to stop for anything!!! With that being said, until about four in the afternoon here, we hadn’t really done anything, because we had been so busy. I was feeling kind of bummed out, when Elder Maravilla told me we were going to the bishops house really quick. We rode over in a taxi, and when we walked in, there was the other Elders that serve close to us, and the Hermanas. They sat me down in a chair for what had to be one of the weirdest birthday traditions of my life.. They began to sing Happy Birthday to me while I was blindfolded. Then, instead of bringing out a cake and candles like the states, they started to absolutely destroy me with flour and eggs and other cake ingredients. After, they took off the blindfold and brought out the real cake! Awesome stuff, I definitely think we need to bring that tradition to the States!!!

So with our area right now, we don’t have a ton of investigators that are progressing right now, with the obstacle of nobody in this country is married, and nobody wants to. Kind of a tough challenge, because we have like four or five families that are super awesome, but have that obstacle of not being married, so they can’t progress until they get married... Rough stuff. But we did have a really funny experience this week!!! One of these couples we were teaching had their door open, and their kid came through and closed the door.... locked.... with the key inside..... So I can definitely say that was the first time I had to help someone break into their own house...

Russian Roullette. Sometimes, the food we receive here isn’t always prepared super well... It’s kind of a Russian roulette with the food we receive. After a service project, we were given some refresco... Well, the bullet hit. It put Elder Maravilla and I out of service for a solid three hours.

I had a cool experience studying the story of Job. For those who aren’t familiar, Job was an extremely righteous man of the Old Testament, who was wealthy, had a great family, handsome, and with all of that, loved God more than anything. Then, came the trials. He lost everything. His flocks, his family, he became sick, and lost everything. In the midst of his trials, he never lost his faith. He never turned his back on God just because things got hard, he continued to praise him. How many of us can say that we would do the same? Remember to thank God in your days of plenty, and never forget him in your times of trouble!

Thank you again for the Birthday wishes!! I love you all so much! Have a great Christmas!!!!

Love Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Mom’s Questions:
1. It was so nice to meet your landlord on FB. My first Bolivian FB friend. Great pic by the way. Does she also cook for you? Is she endowed and able to do your laundry or are you still doing wash by hand? 

Ok, that’s Iblis. She is the wife of our bishop, and is our pensionista, so she does our lunches everyday. She is endowed, but prefers not to wash our garments, but washes everything else.

2. When did you feel the Spirit most this week? 

When we were teaching the brother of our recent convert hermana Zulma

3. Any fun plans for your birthday? 

Didn’t have a ton of plans, but had a great time getting wrecked by flour and eggs.

4. What are your Christmas plans? 

Not a ton! for Noche buena, we will be eating with one of the members.


Madre, so awesome what you did for those missionaries!!! And what a fun time at the Christmas parties!! So excited to talk to you this week!! Love you Mom!!

Dad, Enjoy your time in London!! Dang Sarah is growing a ton!! Hopefully she keeps growing like brother number two!! Can’t wait to talk with you guys!! Love you Dad!!

Sarah, Good job with those saves!!! Looking good!!! And yes, I did have to memorize the Night before Christmas, it’s definitely a challenge, but I know you can do it!! We do a lot of that here with scriptures! Love you bear!!

Callie! Good job not having any cavities! and way to share your christmas spirit through song!! Love you Callie!!

Emma!! Great job with drill!!!! Good job with your grades too!! Stud in sports, and in the classroom! That’s the Jackson Newman way!! Love you Emma!!

Zulma, Familias pueden ser eternas

  Our Christmas tree!!

 We have grapevines in our house!

 Baptism!!

Hello my dear friends and family!!!

We had a fantastic week this week!! Lots more rain, but full of great moments that make you so happy to be in the service of the Lord!!! The first one was the baptism of Zulma Calderon!!! She is an awesome young daughter of God, and definitely showed her faith in our Heavenly Father in the process of receiving the lessons this week, as we taught her about the Word of Wisdom. We told her about the fact that she couldn’t have coffee or tea, and before we could even invite her to live the Word of Wisdom, or promise the blessing that come from our obedience, she said, "Ok, I won’t have it anymore." Talk about faith!!!

Then, on Saturday, we had her baptism. There’s something truly special as you watch an investigator take those first steps into the font, and then go under, being reborn, spiritually clean.. The feeling is like nothing else... All of the heartache, frustration, miles walked in the rain, doors slammed in your face, people yelling at you in the street... None of it matters. It’s all so, so worth it. All you can think about is that investigator, and you see the joy in their eyes as they come out of the water, and all you can do is sigh, and smile. It’s those feelings that this work is all about!!

We had another cool experience this week, as we searched for some investigators that had been taught by missionaries before, but for some reason or another, had stopped. We were able to set an appointment, and we went to visit them. They had received a picture of the Cochabamba Temple, but had some questions about it. We taught them a little about eternal families, and the covenants that we make in the temple. I received a prompting from the spirit to share the hymn, Familias pueden ser eternas (Families can be Forever). I’ve learned from experience, that when you receive a prompting like that, never ignore it. I pulled out my Hymn book, and Elder Maravilla and I sang the hymn for them. In the middle of the hymn, their three year old son came over and began to sing with us!! We looked up at the mom, and she had tears in her eyes! The Spirit testifies through song, and I’m so happy we had the opportunity to share our testimonies through song with that family!!

We have a lot of investigators that are super awesome, but there’s one thing holding back a fair number of them..... Nobody in this country is married, and everyone is too lazy to do it... So that’s our issue that we are working on tackling with a fair number of our investigators.

Alright, interesting story of the week! We have a new tradition here in Senac. Our Bishop loves basketball. We don’t have tons of time on our Pdays, due to activities and such, so we wake up early on Saturday, and we go play with our bishop, some members, and we are working on inviting some of our investigators to come play!

Alright hope you all are enjoying the Christmas season!! Remember the reason for the season, and to share the light of the world this Christmas!! Love you all!! Have a great week!


Con amor, Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Dad, How awesome!! Coach Newman getting back into the game!! That 3-2 magic is awesome!! Glad to hear that the ward christmas party was awesome!! Love you Dad!!

Mom, Glad to hear that you were able to have a good time at the temple!! And the Christmas tree is super awesome!! Looks very good!! Some of our investigators gave us a little tree, so we have a little tree in the house! I will attach a picture. Love you mom!

Sarah, I was sick for a bit when I first got here! Hope you are feeling better! Good work with the games!! Dad has been telling me all about it! Love you Bear!!

Callie, Good luck with your tap dance!!! Hope you had a super fun time at your birthday party!! To answer your question, the Christmas decorations are about the same, there’s just not as many of them. Love you Callie!!

Emma, Transfers definitely happen for a reason, we definitely saw miracles this week!! Holy cow, nice job with drill!!!! Solos??!! Awesome!!! and cool experience with your prayer for confidence, I definitely have offered my fair share of those kind of prayers, and you know as well as I do now that our Heavenly Father answers those prayers!!! Love you sis!


Mom’s Questions:

1. Is it beginning to look like Christmas? How do people decorate and celebrate in Bolivia?

Here, there are a couple houses with decorations, but nothing like the States

2. How is #lighttheworld going this week?

It’s going good!! We have a ton of little business cards, and we give them to everyone.

3. How did you serve your comp this week?

With some sweet assists on the basketball court!! Nah jokes haha, but I shined his shoes this week!

4. What is your living arrangement like? Do you live with just your comp or another pair of missionaries too?

It’s only me and my comp. That’s how it is for the whole mission right now, President prefers it that way.

5. Do you have a favorite Christmas hymn in Spanish?

All of them!! I love Christmas music in spanish :)

Maravilla, Rayos, Milagritos, Iphone Bible

 Pics from first area in Tarija

 Pics from 2nd area in Tarija

 A picture I snapped of some of the lightning!!

 In our pension with one of the kids!

 After a rain storm!!

 Pday visit to a Dinosaur Museum

Ice cream after the museum

Hello everyone!!!

First off, I would like to apologize for how short the email was last week. With transfers we didn’t have a ton of time to write, but I’ll make up for it this week! I am excited to let you all know what’s been happening here this week!!

Elder Maravilla!! So as you all know from my letter last week, I got transferred last week, and I have a new companion now! His name is Elder Maravilla and he is from Nicaragua!! We have a great time together. We hit it off right from the start!! We have talked about everything from families, basketball (yeah, he loves basketball, so huge blessing for me!!), friends, girls, food, but most of all, the work! We work super, super hard, are constantly striving to be diligent to the mission rules, and we have seen some big results from it!

Rayos. Well, rainy season has officially hit Tarija, and it hits hard!!! It has rained like everyday, and usually with some big lightning storms too!! We have had a couple instances of being in the streets when the storm hits, and it resulted in us getting to the house, or wherever we were going completely soaked!!! We also had an awesome experience of being in the middle of a lesson with our investigator we are about to baptize, Zulma. We were teaching her about the Book of Mormon, and we were lucky enough to get inside before the storm hit. Well, the lightning storm was coming our way, and coming fast too. We were about half way through the lesson when a flash of lightning illuminated the room, and right after, a deafening boom of thunder hit and knocked out the power in the house!! We had to finish the lesson by the light of one of the member's smartphones.

Milagritos. So this word means, "Little miracles". We have started doing this idea where we search for the little miracle every day. Sometimes we get so caught up in looking for the big life changing miracles here in the mission that every missionary comes home and tells about, that we miss those little miracles that show the hand of the Lord in his work everyday. Little stuff, like when we are walking away from an investigators house, and then finding them in the street ten minutes later, or when we stop and talk to that family in the street, and turns out they are partial members, and they have two kids that aren’t baptized! Little stuff like that, that just builds your testimony!!!!

Ok, here is the funny story for the week. So we were teaching a guy who has taken the lesson before, but had some doubts, and ended up dropping the previous elders. We returned to his house to try to see if we could help with his doubts, and he let us in! His doubts were about Adam and Eve, and about the Book of Mormon. We started to tackle those doubts when he asked to pause, because he said that he had a perfect translation of the Bible, and he was going to bring it into the room. We were pretty surprised, but said that would be fine. He came back not with a Bible, or even a book, but his smartphone.... and opened up an app..... Oh my gosh, sometimes I hate technology haha..

Alright, I hope you all have a great week!! Remember to Light the World this Christmas season!!! and one of the best ways we can light the world?? 3rd Nephi 5:13

Love, Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Madre, Fun times in Las Vegas!! Glad you had a good time going and relaxing a bit!! And what a fun activity to go and bring Christmas to the people in the old folks home!! And way to help out those missionaries call home!! Have a great week Mom, Love you!!

Dad, Good work with the 3-2 defense!! Sounds like Sarah is becoming quite the stud on the court!!! Hope your conference went well!! Love you Dad!!

Emma, COTTON EYED JOE KNOWS NO BORDERS hahaa!!! And Infinity War???? AAAAAHHHHH yeah that’s gonna be something you’ll have to tell me about! Love you sister!!

Sarah, Way to go in basketball and in futsal!! Lots of games and lots of success!! keep up the good work!! Love you Bear!!

Callie! How fun to go get Coldstone with Mom! And what did you tell Santa you wanted for christmas??? Love you Callie!!


Mom’s Questions:
1. Are you doing the #lighttheworld campaign in Bolivia? What are you doing for it?

We will be singing carols in the park!!

2. How was church on Sunday?

With elections here, and the possibility of civil unrest, we didn’t have any meetings, and were instructed to stay in the house the whole day.

3. What are three things you learned about Elder Maravilla? Is he a convert or life long member?

1. He loves basketball like almost as much as I do. When I described the concept of March Madness, he almost lost his mind.. 2. He is a life long member, but his parents were converts, and his dad is a mission president! 3. He loves to sing!!

4. What is your area like? As much walking as your first area?

So our area is in what is considered the "rich area" of Tarija. It’s a little tough, but we are still seeing success! And yeah, just as much walking.

5. What is something you’re looking forward to this week?

The baptism of our investigator Zulma Calderon!

Cambios

Hello friends and family!!!

Well, usually, here in our mission, usually after a missionary finishes his training, he stays in his area for one or two transfers more before he heads to his second area. Well, like I said, usually...

On Tuesday we got a call from the AP´s telling us that due to the fact that a lot of missionaries are finishing their mission this transfer, and only two are coming in, and because our ward had four missionaries, they were going to have to close our area to fill in for the vacant spots left from all the missionaries going home.. We were super surprised, and didn’t expect it at all. They then told us that we would both be changing areas this transfer, and that we had to teach the area to the other missionaries in our ward that would be assuming our responsibilities for the ward.

So pretty much the whole week, we were going on splits with the other missionaries, showing them the area, introducing them to our investigators and showing them where all the members live, and where all the points of reference in our area are. It was kind of depressing, because all of our investigators told us how sad they were to see us leave, and that they didn’t want us to go. Super sad, and super hard to say goodbyes to all of the members that we have truly grown to love!!! I’m going to miss them a ton!!

Today was transfers, and I am now in my new ward here in the other side of Tarija! My new companion is Elder Maravilla, and he is a stud!! He only has a little less than 8 months in the mission, and he is a district leader! He is from Nicaragua, likes basketball, and is super, super cool! I am really looking forward to our time together!!

Well, I think thats everything for the week! Thank you all for your prayers, letters, and support! I appreciate you all so much, and hope that you had a great Thanksgiving weekend!!

Con amor, Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Mom, sounds like you have had a busy couple days!! The house looks really good with the Christmas lights up!! Glad you had an awesome thanksgiving!! Love you Mom, thanks for the new music!

Dad, What a beast of a tool box! Now all you need is some sons to help out with those projects!! I have some seen some poverty and conditions I’ll never forget. I’m truly grateful for what I have been blessed with! Love you dad!

Emma, Good to hear that Thor was as good as we hoped for! (Steve Rogers voice) I’ll put it on the list!. Have a great time at Preference!! Love you!!

Sarah, How fun to watch Malli and Sarah play!! Let them know I say hi! Good luck with basketball this week!! Love you sister!

Callie! Glad you had a great Thanksgiving! how fun to have some time off from school!! Love you sis!

Mom’s Questions:

1. Did your investigators come to church this week?

Only one, so the other Elders have some more work to do with them this week

2. Have you heard about transfers this week? I’m assuming you’re staying, but who will be your new companion?

Surprises come in many forms!! Elder Maravilla is my new companion, we serving in Senac 2, in the zone Tabladita

3. What is a new word or phrase you learned this week?

Well a new word I learned was cerrar, to close as in the context of closing an area :(

4. What scriptures have you been studying this week? Or what is a scripture that stood out to you?

Moroni 8:3!!

5. What was Thursday like for you, since they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Bolivia?

It’s was just a normal day, we didn’t do anything special.

Zone

 Elder Newman and Elder Timana

 Service activity!

 The food we bought during our intercambio

 Teaching some discussions to a puppy we found in the street​​​​

 Tour of the Apartment

Hello Friends and Family!!

We had a great week! Always ups and downs here in the vineyard of the Lord, but we saw some miracles this week!! Can’t wait to tell you all a little about it!!

First off, we had kind of a bummer experience with our golden investigator, Rosio. Her parents are split up, and she lives one year with her Dad, and the next with her Mom. Her Mom, who she will be living with next year, wants nothing to do with us. And because her Dad doesnt want anymore conflict, he won’t give us permission either. Kind of a bummer, but we pressed on anyways. We went contacting for a bit, when we saw a woman carrying a huge bag of supplies. We went and helped her carry her stuff to her house, and we passed a couple people as we helped her, and just said hello, and kept on carrying her supplies. Well, we finished helping her, and headed back the way we came. Elder Timana had the feeling to stop and knock a door, and it was one of the people we passed along our path of service! He invited us in and was super interested in what we had to say!! His name is Clever, and he officially has a baptismal date for the 16th of December! We are going to work super hard with him. Amazing what God blesses us with as we serve His children!!!

We also had Intercambios (exchanges) this week, and Elder Lopez came to our area! He is our district leader, and he is one of the most humble down to earth people I have ever met! We had a great Intercambio, teaching a great lesson to our progressing investigator Karen Ochoa, finding some good people to teach, and singing and eating a ton!! It was a great intercambio, and I learned a lot from him!!

Alright, now time for the funny story of the week. We have an investigator named Marcelo, who is the brother of a recent convert. He loves the Bible and church, but the problem is, he loves his alcohol more.... And when he drinks, he gets a little too friendly. Like, before I came here, he kissed Elder Timana and his previous companion on the cheek after drinking a little too much.. We passed by to visit him and his sister (the recent convert), and Elder Timana asked me as he was coming to greet us if I could tell if he was drunk. Before I could answer, he ran up and yelled, "Hermanos!!!" and gave us both a big hug. We turned to each other as he walked away and both just nodded our heads, and passed into the house. So that’s our funny story for the week! Marcelo, when drunk is a tad bit overfriendly!

Well, I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving week! Eat some extra turkey, and play extra hard in that turkey bowl for me, because Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated here in Bolivia! Have a great week! Love you all!

Con mucho Amor, Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Dad, Man, I love the movie Wonder Woman. And what a great quote. and with great application to missionary work too!! Glad you had a great week, with some fun shooting too! Love you Dad!!

Mom, What a busy week!! I loved both those talks, and I am looking forward to getting my  Liahona and reading the conference talks again!!  Love you Mom!!

Emma!! Wow, super busy week!!! and congratulations on the ACT!! I knew you would crush it, and look at that, first try and you already beat your brother! Well, one of them. And more people talking about Bolivia?? In what context haha??  Keep up the great and hard work! And by the way, figured you would appreciate this, I bought a harmonica today, I’ll be jamming to Piano Man (in my head of course, because I’m obedient) in no time! Love you sister!

Sarah!! your basketball shoes are looking fresh!!!! How did you play in your basketball tourney? And how fun to go to The Lion King and to see your friend!! have a great week Sarah!! Love you sister!

Callie!  Glad you had a good birthday celebration! Have a great Thanksgiving feast with your class!!! Love you sister!!

Mom’s Questions:

1. Will you let me know when you get your Christmas package?

I definitely will! Nothing so far, but I’ll let you know when it gets here!

2. How are your investigators?

Doing great! Just working on that main obstacle, getting them to church on Sunday!

3. What did you learn in Jesus the Christ this week? I want to start reading it as well.

I actually finished it for the second time yesterday! Amazing insights on the character  of Christ and the Apostles. Each has a distinct personality, just like you or me. Amazing book.

4. When teaching investigators what teaching methods or tools have you found to be the most helpful?

Using the scriptures, and using visual examples like pictures or demonstrations that involve the investigators.

5. How’s the weather? Have you put the sweaters away yet?

Yes, but rainy season is about to hit, so the raincoat has been used a bit more!