Why are we so happy???

Rough housing with the kids

 Visit from an area authority

 Coke makes Elder Newman happy

Elder Newman is no longer the tallest missionary in his mission. He loves playing volleyball with his new friend. And can't wait to see what kind of basketball player he is.

Hello friends and family!!!

Holy cow, what a week!!! I’ve got lots to tell you all about, so I’m just going to hop right into it!!

First off, we had the opportunity to watch the broadcast from the First Presidency, announcing President Nelson as the new President of the church, and his counselors. Wow. Those men are inspiring. I absolutely loved listening to them in their devotional, and after in their interview with the press. The way they confronted the problems and questions facing the church right now was amazing, always talking about how we are children of God, and that we should never forget that fact. And one of the things that I absolutely loved was this phrase from President Nelson, "Keep on the covenant path. If you have left, we beg you, come back." President Nelson, we love and sustain you here in Bolivia!!!!

We also had our Multizona conference, which was awesome!! We had the opportunity to listen to one of the members of our area presidency come and talk to us about the power of being FULL TIME missionaries, and of using the members to our advantage to find investigators. We set to work right after the conference, and visited one of the less active references we received from a member. She was so happy to see us. And on top of that, she asked us, "Elders, I have a 10 year old daughter, and she hasn’t been baptized. Will you come on Saturday to start giving her the lessons?" Talk about a miracle for our obedience!!!!

Saturday was one of the best days I’ve had in my mission so far. And the thing is, it started off terrible. In the morning, nobody listened to us, we got doors slammed in our face, and it was crazy hot. The first few hours of the afternoon weren’t much better, with a crazy dude telling us that we were literally Jesus Christ. And when we told him, “No no no, we aren’t Jesus, but we are his representatives here on the earth today”, he told us that we were denying Christ. Yeah, it started of kind of odd. But we pressed forward with faith that we would have success. And let me tell you, it came. We found a family (Familia Barrientos) that we have been trying to get a hold of since I arrived to the area, so about two months. They let us in, and one of the first questions out of the mom´s mouth was, "How are you two always so happy? Its raining, you walk everywhere, Im sure you are tired, but you two always have a huge smile on your faces. How?" Holy cow was it a privilege to explain to them how the church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes us so happy. We then had the chance to visit the family Silvestre, (the family that’s actually married, which is still a miracle), and invite them to come to Church. As we were leaving, the Dad, yelled to us, "Elders, can you pray for my Son???" We entered, and gave a blessing of health to his son. The thing was, we have never talked about blessings or priesthood or anything like that with them. But he knew. He knew that we had something different. And all five members of their family came to church the next day!

A quote I loved from Elder D. Todd Christofferson this week.

"Jesus taught his followers to do as he did: To welcome everyone but to also teach about sin, since love demands teaching people about what can hurt them."

I would love to hear each of your responses to this question for when we visit the Familia Barrientos again. "Why does the church make you happy?"


Love you all tons!! Have a great week!!

Con amor, Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Mom, What a week for the coed! Lots of homework, but always good to dive into the scriptures!! How cool to do 30 sealings this week, and to visit Sister Brady! My goodness I love her tons, send my love her way! I’ll definitely be praying this week! Love you mom!!

Dad, Looks like the dad dance was a success!! Look at the 5th ward repping with you, Jim, and Alan all in the mix there!!! Sounds like a fun week, here’s to another good one!!! Love you dad!!

 Emma, Good luck in your competitions!! State is going to be here before you know it, go at it with all you got, work hard, and enjoy it! Love you sister!

Sarah, Sounds like a good tournament, with a little bit of crazy!! Keep working hard, and remember, you are 10000 times better at soccer than me, haha! Love you Bear!!

Callie, How fun you get to go to a birthday party!! Valentine’s Day is so soon! How fun! I actually have no idea what they do to celebrate here, I’ll have to ask! Love you Callie!!


Mom’s Questions:
1. I heard that there is a protest going on in Bolivia right now because of concerns about the current president. Have you seen any of that in Tarija? 

A little bit. They have been doing some strikes, but nothing violent. It’s basically they just close the roads and everyone takes a vacation day. Pretty much about as mellow as it gets when it comes to protests.

2. What do the members think of the announcement of the new prophet and 1st presidency? 

They loved the broadcast!!

3. Eat anything good this week? Have you been able to use any of the recipes in the book I sent you for Christmas? 

Actually, since we haven’t gotten reimbursed for some of the purchases we made for the house, so we are eating pretty cheap right now. So, no not yet, haha

4. What is your favorite scripture you read this week? 

Reading in 3rd nephi about the coming of Christ here in the Americas!