Multizona

Hello Friends and Family!

Well, this week we had multizone conference with Presidente Rodriguez in his final multizone conference of his mission. This June we will be having the transition to President Stanford. President finishes up June 29th, so only 2 weeks before I finish up.

Conference weeks for us here in Zona Gran Chaco are exhausting! It's a week full of travel, which means lots of sleepless nights. It also usually eats up almost the entire week, so I don't really have lots to talk about this week. But I will share some of the things I learned in the conference!

President talked to us about change. Change is something that we all face in life. Sometimes its something we choose, and sometimes it just kind of sneaks up on us. Change can be for good or for bad, sometimes we hope and pray for it, and other times we absolutely dread it. President Rodriguez asked us to think of synonyms for the word change. The answers were pretty broad, "Something new", "raise up", but President chose to analyze a certain aspect of change that is absolutely essential in the Plan of Salvation, "Progress". In order to truly progress in life, we must learn how to accept and adapt to changes. If we can truly use the trials and changes that life throws at us, we will become more like our Savior.

During the conference, we always do a small division in which we separate into our respective zones, and receive training from our Zone Leaders. They talked to us about Sacrifice. Each of the missionaries in our zone made sacrifices to come to the mission, and each of us has things that we are still holding back. Whether that be distractions, fears, obedience, or any other thing that may inhibit us from giving our full potential to the Lord. Elder Florence and Elder Benitez gave each of us an image of Christ in Gethsemane with the print, "Not my will, but thine be done." They invited each of us to pray and ponder for a moment and to write on the back of the picture what we were going to sacrifice to the Lord this transfer. I felt the Spirit so strongly during their training.

This is the last week of the transfer. Next week, I will begin my final transfer of my mission. I wrote on the back of my image of Gethsemane, "I will give everything I have to the Lord these final six weeks of my mission. He gave everything for me, and now I must do the same."

With transfer calls coming this Saturday, we will see if I receive my wish to finish my mission here in Camiri, or if the Lord will be sending me to a different place to finish. Regardless of where or with whom, I just pray that I can have the strength and energy to continue giving everything I have to the Lord these last few weeks. We will see what happens, but I feel content. Content with staying, and content leaving the area in the hands of Elder Pántano. He is finishing his training this week, which means it is almost certain that we will be separated this weekend. He has progressed so much in our time together, and has been a fantastic companion and friend to me. I feel so proud of him, he is going to have an amazing mission.

Something I really liked in my studies this week.

Luke 12:32. I love the tenderness implied by the Savior's usage of "Little Flock". He is our Shepherd and loves each and every single one of us so much.

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

Love, Elder Newman

Dad, I can imagine that you are ready to be home and have a moment to breath and relax. Lots of travel lately!!! Those Seminary Graduation pictures were awesome! Love you Dad, get some rest.

Mom, what a fun filled week! Last real week of school, that's crazy! That's so awesome that Breanna got married! The pictures look so good, the family looks great! Thanks for sending all those pictures! Love you Mom!

Jackson, wow, lots of rain! Same here in Camiri. Endgame again huh? How many times have you seen that movie now? Sounds like a good mix of a great spiritual and fun week! Love you dude!!

Emma, looks like you had a killer time at Morp!! You already know that we will go and get some ax throwing in here in a couple weeks!  How fun that you got to go and help out at Breanna's wedding. Those were some great pictures from Seminary Graduation! Love you Sis!!

Sarah, Mom told me that you played awesome at state cup! Well done, good luck in your tryouts!! Have a great week in your choir concerts! Love you tons Bear!!

Callie, wow, look at you learning lots of languages! I'm glad that you enjoyed primary today and the "Senior thing", sounds like you really enjoyed the brownies! Love you Callie!!!

Mom’s Questions:

1. Any news on your investigators? 

Well, One of our newer investigators (Valeria) received an answer that she should be baptized! Now we just gotta get her to come to church. Oscar Peña came to church for the first time this past week, so that was super exciting!

2. When are transfers? Aren’t they coming up soon? 

This Saturday we get the call.

3. What was your favorite message you shared with someone this week? 

During the conference, I shared the Plan of Salvation with each of the taxi drivers that took us around, and that was really uplifting for me.

4. Have you been able to play any basketball lately? 

Yes, we play almost every  Monday, mostly because we can't round up enough people to play soccer