Mud and Mosquitos

 Last pics from Tarija

Hello Friends and Family!!!

Before I get into the update of this week, I wanted to take a quick second and wish a very Happy Birthday to my little sister Callie!!!! This Thursday, she turns eight years old, I cant believe how much she has grown, and I’m very excited to hear about her baptism here in a couple weeks!:)

Well, while Elder Lewis (my new companion) was recovering from his operation, he was with the Office elders for the week, and I was working a mini missionary named Hermano Olortegui. He is preparing to serve a mission, so he was very excited to have the chance to get out and work and serve as a missionary :). We worked really hard this week, finding lots of new people to teach, and teaching and preaching and working like missionaries do.

One of the families that we found this past week really got me excited! They are the Familia Alvarado, their names are Isabel, Nathan, Gisel, and Jorlyn. We found them on Wednesday, and the very next day, they accepted a baptismal date!! They told us, "Don’t worry Elder, we want to be baptized!" I don’t think there is anything better in the world for a missionary than those very words!! They even came to church on Sunday!

This past week, I finished the Book of Mormon again :) Everytime I finish, my testimony is strengthened of the divinity of that sacred book. I know it to be the word of God, and that as we apply its principles, doctrines and commandments, we will be blessed, and we will have the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and all the blessings the Father has prepared for us.

Have a great week everyone! Love you all, keep the faith!!!!

Love, Elder Christian Newman

Dad, That’s so awesome that the PG is headed to the Semis!! and super awesome that Barts team won the superbowl again! Love you Dad, have a great week!!

Mom, well, now that you have your candy all finished up, you guys can get back to normal haha! What a great study mom, I’ve just started studying Jesus the Christ again, so I’ll be sure to share my studies with you:) Love you Mom!!

Jackson, I hope you had a great week man! Hope your midterms and homework/college life are going well!! Love you brother!!

Emma, Sounds like there were some pretty awesome Halloween costumes!! That’s awesome that you have someone to quote vines with, and that you got to go spend some time with Mom and Sarah and Callie! Love you Sis!!

Sarah, what an awesome costume!!! That’s so cool that they got the fog machine and went all out! Love you Sarah, nice job in your games!!

Callie, Nice job on the trick or treating!! I loved seeing your costume! Good luck in your Primary program, and happy birthday this coming week!! Love you Sis!!

Mom’s Questions:
1. Tell us three things about your new companion? Is his health improved from the kidney stones? 

He is still getting better, we are going to work and do what we can, but he still recuperating. He is from Gilbert Arizona, and is the second youngest in his family:)

2. What is the ward like? How many members? How was your first Sunday and church meetings?

there are about 100 members, its a very new ward, but it’s looking like they are very suppòrtive!

3. How are you going about finding investigators in this new area? 

Mostly knocking doors, but we are going to offer an English class soon here:)

4. What is city you live in like? Is it Santa Cruz or a smaller city outside of Santa Cruz? 

We live on the very outskirts of Santa Cruz:)