Restarting, Service to Service.

Hello Friends and Family!

Well, this was an interesting week!

Every once in a while, I have seen that in each area I've been in, we go through what a I call a restart phase. Pretty much it's when the people that we are currently visiting lose their interest, stop keeping commitments, or move and are unable to keep moving forward, and it usually turns into lots of finding as we show up to appointments where nobody is home. We were blessed for our diligence because it allowed us to find several families that seem to have lots of potential to continue progressing. We are going to continue teaching and finding all that we can to see miracles!

In our District Meeting (I don't know if I mentioned this last week, but once again I am serving as District Leader) we talked about the Atonement. We talked about the Atonement, the Resurrection, and the balance between Mercy and Justice. As I studied the scriptures to give out some assignments to the Elders of our district, I felt deep gratitude for the Savior and His atonement. How lost I would be if it weren't for the Savior, and for the Sacrifice that He freely made for me, and for each and every single one of us!! It was extremely touching as the normally reserved and timid Elder Miller choked up as he spoke of his love and appreciation for the Savior. What a blessing it is to be a missionary of the restored Church.

Last Sunday our Elder's quorum president Walter Guzman (who I admire deeply!) asked us to visit a recent convert and minister to him, and invite him to church. Well, we found the recent convert while he was working. We helped him to unload his truck, and talked to him for a moment, we let him know how much we love him, and invited him to church this Sunday (and he came).  We were near the home of Walter Guzman later that day, and I felt impressed to visit him and let him know that we were able to complete with that which he had asked of us. We went, and spoke with him, and he expressed his gratitude for our help. He then said, "Elders, I need your help in something else. I have been unable to do my family history work for two weeks because my internet hasn't been working. Can you help me?" We smiled and said yes. We helped him get his internet up and running, and he joyfully sent to work again on his Family History work. I felt grateful for the opportunity to serve our Elder's Quorum President, and for following the impressions of the spirit which carried us from one service to another.

A couple of scriptures that I liked from my personal study.

Jacob 2:8, The pleasing word of God healeth the wounded soul
Mosiah 26:24, If we know the Savior, we will go forth.
Luke 24:5-7, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

Love you all so much! Have a great week!!!

Elder Newman

Dad, wow, that's so awesome that Ammon Bliss is heading off to the mission field! I'm so proud of his decision to serve! What a fun opportunity to go to Wisconsin and Chicago with Steve. Love you Dad!

Mom, what a fun week with 45 high school girls in the basement! Grovecreek hikes, Jazz games, and celebrating Easter. What a great week! Love you Mom!

Callie, what a fun Easter! And how fun to go to Penney's Birthday party and stay up late! We mostly just proselyted all day, but church was super awesome with great talks. Love you Callie!!

Emma, sounds like a baller week with AP reviews, Prom, Drill sleepovers, and Easter! Good luck on the test! It was a pretty normal day on Easter, but church was really edifying! Love you too sis!!

Bear, nicely done on the 4 by 4 race, and on keeper training! Good job on the scrimmage in basketball against the boys team, well done on the defense! Love you Bear!!!

Jackson, ITS RAINING SIDEWAYS!!!!! Nice job on the ted talk and New Testament project, I fasted for you, so glad to see that the Lord helped you! That's so awesome that Elder Sidwell is home! What a blessing to hear his talk, let him know I say Hi!! Love you Bro!!!

Mom's Questions:

1. How was Easter? Were you able to spend the day with any members? 

Not really, it was a normal day of proselyting.

2. How did you serve your companion this week? 

I have been taking time in the night time to help him find answers to his doctrinal questions in the scriptures. I don't want to just simply answer the questions, I want to help him find his own answers.

3. Any funny stories to share? 

This week not really, maybe for this coming week.

4. With two transfers left, what is your number one goal you would like to accomplish before you finish your mission?

Well, my goal is to marry and baptized a family. Its something I've never done because all the families that I have baptized were already married. I would like to achieve that before finishing. Also, in general, it's to keep the same rhythm and pace and not slow down in these last weeks.

"Walk Faster, Teach Slower, Pray Harder."

Hello Friends and Family!!!

Well, I'll go ahead and start out my subject line. Last week, my dad put a phrase that I absolutely loved right at the end of his weekly letter to me. "Walk Faster, Teach Slower, Pray Harder". It really stood out to me, and I took it as a personal challenge to get out and really put forth an additional effort in each of these three aspects. I've seen that as we walk with a purpose and get to our citas right on time or even a little early, we have been blessed with more opportunities of service and teaching. We have been flying around the area, and it shows as we get back to the house each night super tired. Poor Elder Pántano is doing his very best to keep up, and he gets back to the house each night absolutely wiped out.

As I have tried to focus on the people and slow down the teaching to their needs, we have seen many people understand more deeply and profoundly our message. Its been a blessing. "Pray harder" has shown to be a great blessing as well as I tried to break the repetition that I sometimes fall into in my personal prayers. I truly feel grateful with my Father in Heaven for the blessing of being a missionary in this great Latter-Day work!!

We had a blessing of having the baptism of Alex Polanco.  We coordinated with our Primary President, who happens to be our pensionista, and we made the baptism part of the Primary Activity, so we had almost all of the kids of the Primary in the baptismal service. Kevin Abasto, the returned missionary who gave us the referral, performed the ordinance, and it was a really special moment for the two of them. I had the blessing of confirming Alex a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What an amazing weekend for us and the Polanco family.

Something I really liked from my personal study is found in 2 Nephi 25:13, "..My heart doth magnify His Holy name." This Easter season, I have been focusing my studies on Christ's life and doctrine, and I feel like Nephi, my heart also magnifies the Holy Name of our Lord. I feel so grateful for the Savior and His Atonement.

I hope you all have a great week! Keep the faith!

Elder Newman.

Mom, what an exciting week full of mission calls! The mission call season is so exciting, I remember two years back the excitement of opening up the mission call and seeing all of my peers open theirs. What an exciting time! How fun to go and visit SUU with Emma as well, sounds like a really fun week! Love you Mom!!

Dad, wow, Sarah is awesome huh.  Enjoy the trips coming up! Love you so much Dad. It was so good to talk to you on Monday for your birthday. I hope you had a great birthday!

Jackson, nice job on the projects!! That's super cool that Dylan will probably be in our ward! Keep up the good work on the exams! Love you man!!

Emma, wow, first drill tryout in four years where you won't be taking part, that's wild!! That's fun that you got to go with Mom to visit SUU. Pray lots, and the Lord will help you to know where you need to go to school.) Love you Emma! Enjoy these last few weeks of school!

Bear, I'm sure it was tough getting back to school after spring break, but I'm sure you will get right back into the groove of things. Nicely done in your soccer games! Love you Sarah!!!

Callie, how fun that you got to see Brother Chun! He was my seminary teacher, he is super super cool!! That's awesome that you got to celebrate Dad's birthday at home with him.) Love you sooo much, Callie!!

Mom’s Questions:

1. How was the baptism?? 

It was super awesome, Ill be sure to attach some pictures.

2. Did you meet any new people this week and what were they like? 

We met some good people this week, very receptive to the Restoration.

3. When did you laugh this week? 

We had a good laugh as we flew around the area and got some funny looks from the College students as we hustled through the crowd to a visit.

4. What are you teaching your investigators right now?

Lots of them are learning about the importance of the Book of Mormon.

Instruidos del Alto

Hello Friends and Family!!

Wow, what a fantastic week in the service of the Lord. We were truly edified with our multi-zone Conference with President Rodriguez, and with the General conference this weekend. It was kind of a challenge not being in the area a whole lot, but we were blessed with some tender mercies and spiritual experiences.

For starters, Camiri has had TONS of rain lately, resulting in some mudslides and lots of rivers in the streets. On Tuesday, we had to cross several of those rivers and climb a mountain in the middle of the torrential downpour to get to a pair of appointments. Well, upon arriving to our destination, neither one of the appointments were there. We began to contact the neighboring houses, and the VERY FIRST house we knocked, a 15 year old young man opened the door to see a pair of VERY wet missionaries smiling back at him offering to share a message of Jesus Christ with him. He kindly let us in, and his older brother came in too, and we shared the Restoration of the Gospel with them, and they were super receptive! They accepted a Book of Mormon and the invitation to read and pray. Funny how God sometimes makes us climb a mountain in a rainstorm before receiving a tender mercy, but the tender mercy certainly came!

We had another cita that same day with Yolanda Vargas, the non member sister of the Familia Ichuro. We taught her about the Restoration as well, and she made a great question to us, "How can I know that Joseph saw God?" I smiled, told her that she could know in the same way that I came to know, She could pray, ask God, and that He would respond to her, and she could know with all certainty, because God wouldn't lie to her. The look on her face made it apparent that she was a tad skeptical of my answer. I laughed and told her, "We could be here all night. I could show you prophecies in the Bible that talk about Joseph, and prove the Book of Mormon to you rationally, geographically, historically, and we could compare the teachings of the 2 books for a lifetime. However, none of that will matter. You won't accept that answer or reasoning for yourself, until you receive a witness from God of the truthfulness of these things." She then smiled, and said, "You are very right, I wouldn't accept those things for myself until I receive an answer for myself." She accepted the invitation to read as well.

We had a long week of travel with multi-zone conference, traveling all night on Wednesday, being in conference all day Thursday, and then traveling again that same night to come back to Camiri, but it was so good to hear from President Rodriguez, and to see my former companion Elder Maravilla give his final testimony as he finishes up this transfer.

General Conference was so so uplifting for me. I couldn't believe that this was my final conference here in the mission. It ha strengthened my testimony of living Prophets and Apostles. GOD SPEAKS TODAY!

Well, I hope that you all received God's voice for each and every one of you during conference! I love you all, and I hope you have a great week!!

Love, Elder Newman

Dad, First things first. HAPPY 47TH BIRTHDAY TODAY DAD!!!!!! I hope your day has been awesome! I am glad you are feeling better, Love you so much!!!

Mom, what a funny driver, hahahaha. Sounds like you had a great week! That's awesome that there is some one who can rebind my scriptures! That makes me happy. :)  Love you so much Mom!!

Jackson, wow, sounds like a great week! That's so cool that Elder Zimmerman is in your Spanish class!! Love you man, good luck with your finals!!!

Emma, looks like you had a great trip!! Conference was amazing for me, I absolutely loved it! Love you Emma!!!

Sarah, Look at you reloading bullets!! That's super cool! Way to take care of Dad this week! Good luck with school this week! Love you Bear!

Callie, I loved Elder Gong's talk too! That was a very funny way to start the talk, haha. That's so fun that you got to take Reese on a walk after conference! Love you Callie!!

Mom’s Questions:

1. What were your favorite talks in conference?

I loved Elder Bednar's talk and President Eyring's talk from Priesthood session

2. I know you have a very small district, but how many missionaries are in your zone and how often do you see them? 

We have 16 missionaries in the zone, and we see them once a transfer for conference, haha.

3. Is Alex still on track for baptism on Saturday? 

YES he is :)

4. What other investigators do you have right now? 

We have Yolanda, Paola Gutierrez, Efrain Lazarte, and several others :)

Blessings, Sprint to the finish!

Hello friends and family!!

We started a fantastic week here in the work of the Lord this past Monday when we had the opportunity to go and give a priesthood blessing to Sandra Polanco (Alex's mom) and her new born baby daughter. It is always a privilege to go and give priesthood blessings. It was a very special experience to be able to be there with that valiant mother, and to bless her and her baby daughter with strength and health as they recover.

We had a companionship exchange this week with our district leader, Elder Varona. Elder Patano had the opportunity to go and work with Elder Varona for the day, and Elder Miller came to Camiri with me. We had a great time working together for the day, and we had some powerful moments in the lessons together. The next day, as I was getting ready for the day, we received a call from the mission offices. I answered, and one of the secretaries, Hermana Bullock, asked for me, and I was then informed that she was buying my flight to go home, and that she needed to verify my information. Wow, talk about the news that I did NOT want to hear. I can't believe that I am in the last few months of my mission, and that it is all coming to a close. Time to sprint to the finish!

This Sunday was amazing. We had several investigators come to church, listened to some inspiring messages about the Book of Mormon, and enjoyed the special spirit of the Sabbath Day. At the very end of Sunday School, I turned around after the closing prayer to a very pleasant surprise. I saw Angel Zuñiga (my ward mission leader in Villamontes), Elina Maraz (my pensionista in Villamontes) and the Familia Copaja Tejerina (my converts from Villamontes). They had made the two hour drive to Camiri to come and see me! I can't even describe how happy that made me. It was so good to be able to catch up with them, see how they were doing, and reminisce the good times we had out there. What a blessing to be able to see them. Elder Teixera, a general authority who came to visit our mission a couple months back, said that the friendships and bonds we create during our missions are a pearl that we will treasure our whole life, and I couldn't agree more.

To demonstrate my excitement for our multi-zone conference and the General Conference, Id like to relate something that happened yesterday. We were talking with a family of recent converts, inviting them to the General Conference this weekend, and Tatiana (the 11 year old daughter) asked us what General Conference was. I responded by saying, "It's when we listen to the Prophet and the 12 Apostles talk to the whole church.". Tatiana's reaction accurately showed the excitement that we all should have about General Conference. She replied, "ALL 12 APOSTLES AND THE PROPHET ARE GOING TO TALK TO US????????? I WILL BE THERE!!!!!!" I laughed and then thought to myself, "Finally! Someone who gets why I'm so excited for Conference this week! We are literally going to listen to God's chosen servants the week. We should be excited!"

Well, I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us all this weekend! Love you all, I hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Dad, well, I hope this sinus surgery goes better than the last one! Stay down and get some rest, as hard as that may be for you. Love you Dad, I'll be sure to tell you about the family we find this week in your birthday call.

Mom, what a full week! Sounds like you guys had a good time with Emma's drill banquet, Sarah's games, and all sorts of fun. I hope you have a great week in California with Emma! Love you Mom!!

Jackson, dude, that's awesome that you got to see Neal, Colton, Camden, and Nate! Good luck on your tests this week, and enjoy the Conference!! Love you Bro!!

Emma, bro, that sounds like a super sweet spirit bowl theme! Those were some awesome pics of the drill banquet, and how fun that you got to go up to Utah State with Jackson. Love you Emma, have a good week in Cali!

Sarah, well done in your games!! Enjoy your spring break and sleeping in! Have a great week with Callie and Dad! Love you Bear!!

Callie, sounds like a fun time playing with Reese and Hinckley, and a super yummy dinner! Way to be super reverent in Primary! Enjoy Spring break! Love you Callie!


Mom’s Questions: 

1. Have you lost weight since being in Bolivia? Elina Maraz Gareca shared a picture of you on FB messenger and you look skinny. It may be an older picture because wasn’t she from Villamontes?? 

Nope, that was a picture from yesterday! I honestly haven't weighed myself in a long time, but I think I am losing weight, hahaha.

2. You said it is the rainy season now. How often does it rain? Is it cooling off too?

This week was a little more sunny, but before it was raining everyday, and thank goodness that things are cooling off a little bit!

3. How are lessons with Alex coming along?

Super well! He came to church this week as well! He is reading the Book of Mormon and everything. He is super excited for his baptism.

4. What are you most excited about for general conference this weekend? 

I am super excited to receive the will of the Lord for us. Just like we read in D&C, it doesn't matter if it is directly from the Lord, or by the voice of His servants, it is the same.