Intercambios, Bautismos, and Soaking Wet Confirmations

Hello Friends and Family!!!

Well, I spent like half the week outside of my actual area. We were doing exchanges with the District Leaders of the zone and I got to work with Elder Saavedra and Elder Beazer. Both are great Elders, we had a good time! With Elder Saavedra we were kind of all over the place getting baptismal interviews, English class, and lessons covered, but we got everything done which was a blessing, and were even able to find a couple of new people to teach in the process. With Elder Beazer we had a more traditional/normal day. We taught lots of lessons and found lots of new people. It was lots of fun to work with him, we are from the same MTC district, so we reflected a lot on the good times from the MTC nearly two years ago. All in all lots of good things happening here in the zone!

Well, we had the baptisms of Rodrigo Veliz and Guadalupe Medina. It was a great baptismal service, great to see the progress and fruits of our labors this weekend. One of the missionaries who had previously taught Guadalupe was able to baptize her, and I baptized Guadalupe's little brother Angelo. Elder Farnsworth baptized Rodrigo. What a great service, lots of members came out to support too. They were all so happy after the baptism, it lit up my day to see their smiles, it was a very fulfilling moment. I am so happy to be here in Suarez!

The next day, we had their confirmations. We looked outside right after getting ready, and it was raining SUPER hard. The streets had filled up with nasty black water, and we just looked at each other and said, "We need to make sure that Rodrigo and the Medina Family make to church okay before going to pick up the investigators." We grabbed our rain jackets, umbrellas, and all of the courage we could muster up, and headed out. They were all getting ready to go anyways, but we left them with our umbrellas so they could get to church semi dry. We then ran over to the investigator's house, and went to church. We didn't get there dry to say the least. We were soaked!!! We sat down near the back of the chapel to try not to attract much attention, and then Bishop called us to the front to help with the confirmations of Rodrigo, Guadalupe, and Angelo. With water dripping all over the place, we went up and did as Bishop asked. Lots of people asked if we owned umbrellas after. All we could do was laugh. Gotta love the mission!!

Well, really great week, only a few more left. We are going to take advantage of these last couple of the transfer. Love you all tons!

Love, Elder Newman

Dad, it was so good to talk to you yesterday!! That's a great moment of Kenz wrecking on the slalom ski. I need a video! Love you Dad!!

Mom, sounds like a great girls camp!! I really liked the pics of the Yuba trip. Looks like a fun trip!! Love you Mom!

Jackson, THE CHEESY CHEDDARBURGARS ARE BACK! OH BOY THAT MAKES ME SO HAPPY!! Sounds like a great week, Jackson. That's crazy that Maika is headed out! Love you dude!!

Callie, that's so fun that you got to spend the week at Grandma's! That's so good that you got to see Mom and Dad and everyone. I'm looking forward to giving you a hug soon! Love you Callie!!

Emma, girls camp, surprise birthday parties, and Yuba Lake sounds like a fun week!! Looking forward to seeing your Infinity War scene remakes when I get caught up! Love you!

Sarah, looks like you had a great girls camp! Nice job on 9 square, we are definitely going to have to play when I get back! Love you, Bear!!


Mom’s Questions:

1. How were the baptisms yesterday? 

Very good!! Leonardo was the only one that was not baptized, he had some problems with his aunt, we had to postpone his date.

2. You mentioned there are 20 elders in your zone. Are there no sister missionaries in the zone? How many missionaries are in your district and what are they like? 

Its the only zone of 100% elders in the mission. We have a district of 8 elders, and they are awesome!

3. How many members attend your ward? How many less actives are there? Do you help with reactivation? 

We have lots of people in the ward. We don't help lots with reactivation unless there are nonmembers present. But we try to help whenever we can!

4. Since you are coming home soon, what is the first food you want to eat when you get home? 

I want white chicken enchiladas. Please.