Carnaval and Training

Hello friends and family!!

Well, with the transfer call came some pleasant surprises, one of which was that my Carnaval prison time was not going to be as boring as I thought! Saturday night, I received the news that I would be training a new missionary!

The whole Carnaval weekend we were calling the members of the branch to take us to the bus station to pick up Elder Varona's new companion, Elder Miller, to take me to the bus station on Tuesday night to get on a bus to head to Santa Cruz to pick up my new companion. It was a pretty long trip in a not very comfortable bus, but the important thing was that I arrived safe and sound.

My new companion is Elder Pantano. He is from Bogota Columbia, and he is super cool! He is an extremely talented musician. He taught himself how to play the piano and the guitar, and can play by ear! Hermana Rodriguez told us that she would be calling us soon to do a musical number in the multizone conference! It’s also very easy to see that Elder Pantano took advantage of his time in the MTC, he already has a great ability to express gospel concepts and share testimony. We are just working on refining his teaching ability, but I can tell that VERY soon he will be a great leader in our mission. He is very humble and is constantly looking for opportunities to improve, I can tell we are going to have lots of success together!

One of the cool experiences Elder Pantano and I had together was a great bonding experience. We were called by a member to go and give a priesthood blessing to a family member that was sick in the hospital. We went, and Elder Pantano told me he had never given a blessing before. I explained to him how to do a blessing, and we gave a spiritual blessing. On the bus ride back to our house to do our companionship study, I felt prompted to teach him about blessings a little more. After explaining the blessing, I told him he would be performing his first priesthood blessing that day. He asked me who it would be for, and I passed him a contact card with my full name on it, and told him that it would be for me. He nervously laughed and then said alright! He put his hands on my head, and gave me a divinely inspired blessing of what the Lord needed to say to me.

Before I finish up, I wanted to share a scripture I like from my studies this week. D&C 11:13. It talks about how the Spirit brings joy to our hearts and minds. I love that thought. I was writing back and forth with Sister Cassidy Cutler this Monday, and she said, "The Gospel is truly the good life. Everything we teach only makes us better people." How true that is! The Gospel and the Spirit truly bring joy to our souls!

I hope you all have a great week! Love you all!

Elder Newman

Dad, well, I hope you can meet up with Mom and Emma at the end of the trip! But I hope you have a great conference there in Madrid! Love you tons Dad!

Mom, sounds like you and Emma are having quite the trip! Must be nice to have some one on one time with Emma out there in Amsterdam and London! Love you Mom, enjoy the trip!

Jackson, well done on the lifts, and sounds like you got to have some good times watching Inception and going bowling! Love you dude!!

Emma, wow, those pics from your trip look amazing, looks like you are having a blast!! Love you Emma, have a great trip!

Sarah, have a great time in Vegas in the basketball camp! I bet that was fun to eat at Grandma's house. Love you Bear, have a great week!

Callie, how fun that you got to have a sleepover with Grandma! I bet the cinnamon roll was very yummy. Love you tons, Callie!!

Mom’s Questions:
1. Any news on transfers? Do you have a new comp? 

I do, Elder Pantano.

2. How did Carnival end up going? Were you stir crazy? 

Not too bad due to the fact that we got to go out and pick up companions, so it wasn’t too bad.

3. What is the most effective contacting method is working in Camiri? 

Mostly knocking doors and talking about the Family. We also have our English class

4. What are the members doing to help move the missionary work forward?

We have been visiting members to help Elder Pantano get to know them and asking for referrals, and we've gotten a few!