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!

Multizona, Come and see, Blessings

Hello Friends and Family!!!

We had a good week this week, things picked back up with Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) finished, so I am excited to tell you all a little about what happened this week!!

So this week, we had our multi zone conference, and stake conference!!  Lots of time spent in the stake center, but an awesome experience to receive instruction from our mission president and from our stake leadership! We learned some great things that we are looking forward to applying in our teaching and contact with members! One thing in particular is the importance of using the scriptures in our lessons. The word of the Lord is super powerful, and can explain doctrines and testify of truth better than we ever can! So remember to value your scriptures and to seek inspiration every day!

One cool thing from my personal study this week! I have restarted Jesus the Christ, and to those who havent read it, I highly recommend it. It’s amazing!! One thing really cool I got from my study this week was how Christ invited those who doubted him. He simply invited them to, "come and see". Really, that’s exactly what we do as missionaries. We teach and testify of Christ, and to those who doubt, and want to know more, "come and see".

We had an amazing experience of the power of priesthood blessings. One of our investigators when we passed by to share a message, was super sick. She could barely even talk, and was really, really tired. We had given her grandson a blessing in the past, and we asked her if she would like us to do the same, and she said she would love that. We entered, and gave her a blessing of health, and then left her to rest.. We returned the next day and we were extremely suprised to find her almost completely healthy!! She was talking completely normal, and was doing much better! We saw a miracle this week, I know that through the priesthood, she was healed of her sickness..

I want to take a quick moment and say thank you to all of you who make an effort to write me and keep me updated with your emails! I love receiving your emails, and even though my time is limited and I can’t always respond to everyone, I read every single one and and am grateful for your continued support and prayers!

Con Mucho Amor, Elder Christian Duvall Newman.

Callie, I am glad you had a great birthday, and you are seven without having to ask Dad!!! I am super good in my mission, and yes, I’m being nice to my companion. Love you sister, hope you enjoyed Natalie’s farewell!!

Sarah, I hope you had a great tournament, and I am glad you are studying hard! Keep it up! Love you!

Emma, We actually have a new record on how far Samue (the dog)l followed us! He followed us for 11 blocks!! Have a great time at Sadies! And also, youll be glad to know (and so would Nick Miller from New Girl) that Cotton-Eyed Joe knows no borders. I heard it in a taxi this week!!! Have a great week! Love You!!

Mom, I have heard that talk and it’s awesome!! And I am glad you had a great experience in the temple, enjoy it! I miss the temple!!!! Love you Mom!

Dad, Glad to hear that the new Thor was good!! I heard a tiny bit about it from a guy in my pension, and 30.5 mph? that is pretty speedy! Love you Dad!

Mom’s Questions:

1. We’ve been hearing that there are some world wide changes coming to missionary work, like all missionary companionships getting a smart phone to help further the work along. Have you heard anything in Bolivia about these changes and the timeline for when and if your mission may be implementing this?    

I havent heard anything about that, but I doubt we will be getting smart phones here anytime soon.

2. How is Rosio? Did she get permission from her dad to be baptized?

Rosio is super good, she loves the lessons, and we will be talking to her dad this wednesday. Unfortunately she could not come to the Stake Conference, so we will be moving her date.

3. Did the work pick back up this week with the Dia De los Muertos over?

Yes it did, thank goodness :)

4. What is something new that you learned about Elder Timana this week?  

Elder Timana loves to do fake contact approaches to the dogs in the street, super funny haha.

Halloween, References, Patience

Hello Friends and Family!!!

Hope you all had a great Halloween, and a great week! We didn’t have a ton happen this week, but I’ll update you all on what did happen!

So with the holiday, Bolivians don’t really celebrate Halloween. But Dia De los Muertos (Day of the Dead), on November 2nd, is absolutely huge...everyone goes to cemetaries and just eats, sings, and stays there the whole night. Well, there isn’t a cemetary in our area, and everyone, including members, went to the cemetary that’s super far from our area. So we had a pretty slow couple days!

We have a couple of new references, one that is super good, and another that has potential! We received a reference from a recent convert. Her name is Rosio and she is super awesome!! We have taught her almost all of the lessons this week, and we have a baptismal date set for the 25th of November. She is super excited and willing to learn, just two things we are waiting on. She needs to come to church these next two weeks, and also, she is only 16 years old, so we have to get permission from her dad before we can baptize her.

Our funny story for the week. So we haven’t had running water after about 7:30 at night for like the past six weeks. I think we figured out why. So our Landlord kind of has a drinking problem. And we heard him and a another woman from our apartment yelling at each other. Apparently he has been cutting the water early, and using the money to buy more alcohol. The police showed up, took him to the station. And when he returned, we have had water at night!! All it took was a run in with the police to get us our running water back!

I have been doing something a little different with my personal study lately. I have been studying one of the attributes of Christ, using the Topical Guide. I pick three scriptures, and then find the principles inside each one. I then do a summary about the things I learned using the scriptures. I had a great study about patience, which is something I need to work on!! Remember that we are all striving to be better, and to be patient in your eternal progression!!

Love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Mom, So there isn’t a ton of Christmas stuff here, so I’ll try to find you a nativity set, but we may have to wait till next year for that, maybe when I’m in Santa Cruz. Good to hear of the visit from Matias and Paula! JCWs is the place!!! You saw a lot of people there, a lot of people that mean a ton to me!! Love you Mom!!

Dad, Bummer to hear about the boys, but hopefully Bingham wrecks Herriman in the semis!!! Have a great week, and good luck with all the football blurays!! Love you dad!

Emma, Kilt looks almost as good on you as it did on me! How cool of your team!!!! You guys are stars on the floor and off! Love you sister!

Sarah, Nice costume!!! Melbourne huh?? That’s where Elder Wolford is!! Good luck with Bantam!! Love you lots!

Callie, Good job trick or treating with the millions of candies!! And happy birthday this Wednesday!! Have a great seventh birthday!! love you!!

Mom’s Questions:

1. What ways have your found to serve people in Tarija?

Through our English class, and helping them with their odd jobs in the street.

2. What is your favorite thing that happened this week?

Probably the Churasco we had on wednesday

3. You mentioned that people say you speak with a Peruvian accent. How is the Peruvian accent different than a Bolivian accent?

It’s just some of the words I use that I have picked up from Elder Timana

4. The waterfall pics were beautiful. How far did you travel to get to your hike?

About 2 or three miles.

Intercambios, Clase de Ingles, Our Search for Happiness

 District Baptism

 P-Day District Hike to a Waterfall

Hello Friends and Family!!

Before we get started with this week's letter and update, I want to give a HUGE BIRTHDAY SHOUTOUT to two of the most important people in my life, My beautiful Mother (October 29th), and Elder Jackson Newman (October 30th)!! I hope you both had an amazing day, and everyone (and I mean everyone who receives this email) send your love their way, because they deserve it!!

Ok, now for the update on this week!! We had Intercambios this week! Which wouldn’t be anything special to report, except this time, I stayed in our area, and our District Leader's companion came to our area. His brand new companion, from Columbia, Elder Roa. I was directing the area for a day! It was super fun, and kind of a fun experience, because when I got here, I didn’t know the area at all... And I was still struggling in the language.. But I was able to do everything I needed to do, find our investigators houses, talk with everyone, all that kind of stuff!! So it was a great experience to see just how far I have come from when I first got here!!

Clase de Ingles: So we have started something kind of cool here in our ward. We have an English class every Wednesday! The members are super interested in learning English, and having someone who speaks both English, and (enough) Spanish, presents a good opportunity to learn! And also they bring friends, so a great opportunity to meet people to teach the gospel too!! I have absolutely loved teaching English for the members.

Ok, I really love the opportunity to study the gospel here in the mission! This week, I finished the whole missionary library, and wow, those books are amazing! I highly suggest everyone reads the book, Our Search For Happiness, By M. Russell Ballard. He explains our faith to people, with the intent of helping them to understand why we do the things we do. There is a part of the book, right at the end that absolutely struck me. When Elder Ballard was a mission president, he had the opportunity to be a guest on a radio show. The Host asked him, "What is the difference between your faith and other Christian faiths?" Elder Ballard answered him,  "Let me answer that with another question, if Moses were on the Earth today, would you be interested in what he had to say?"  The Host answered him, "Of course, everyone would be interested!" Elder Ballard then responded, "That’s our message to the world. That we have a prophet who holds the same authority and receives revelation just as Moses did."

Remember, just how amazing it is, that we have apostles and prophets that truly receive revelation for us.. Remember to listen close to their words, they are truly inspired.

Well, friends and family, that’s all for this week, but thank you all for your prayers, and thank you for your thoughtful emails every week!! I love you all dearly, and hope you all have a great week!!

Con amor, Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Callie! Glad you had a great trip, and great job kneeboarding!!! Love you tons!!

Emma, oh Mr. Newman, he is absolutely hilarious!!! He was a bright spot all throughout my senior year! Way to Go PG!!! Awesome for them to get the football win! I definitely know how those Kearns players feel, on every side of the state playoffs, there is huge joy on one side, and absolute heartbreak on the other.. Keep up the great work! Love you Sister!

Sarah, Keep up the good work in soccer! Grandpa Newman was very impressed with you! Exciting news with Bantam! Keep me posted on your basketball highlights! Love you bear!!

Madre, Hope you had a great birthday, and glad you had a great trip!!! Can’t wait to do a trip like that with all of us again! You’ll be able to do one with Jackson before you know it!! Love you Mom!!

Dad, A tower fell??? dang!! And wow!! What a play!! I know that football play like the back of my hand! We ran that a ton in practice last year!!! Love you Dad!!

Mom’s Questions:

1. What song did you and Elder Lopez sing for Paula’s baptism?

We sang “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”

2. Were you able to upload your Disney music onto your mp3 player?

yes and i have been loving it!!

3. What are some different habits or traditions of the Bolivian people?

So here in Bolivia, specifically in Tarija, there is a word that you say after every single meal, when a person is leaving the table. They say, gracias a todos, and everyone at the table says, probecho!

4. Have you tried using your cards in Bolivia? Just wondering if everything is working ok because I haven’t seen any transactions on them yet.

Haven’t needed to use them yet. Might go pull out some money just to make sure they are working

5. What is your favorite hymn in Spanish? Is it different than your favorite hymn in English and why?

Ok, I love the hymns in Spanish, but there’s nothing like the hymns in English, there’s just a special spirit to them! But my Favorite in Spanish right now is, Màs cerca Dios de ti (Nearer my God to Thee)