"Glory to God"

 Elder Lewis and Elder Newman

Hello friends and Family!!

Hope you all had a great week!! It was kind of a long week for me, but we still had some good successes! We'll get right to it!

So, with Elder Lewis still getting recovered from his surgery, we haven’t been able to get out and work nearly as much as I would have like to. I’ve been really appreciative of him putting in as effort as much as he could this week. We have gotten out to a couple of appointments with some of our progressing investigators which was really good!

We had a really good cita with the Familia Alvarado, we taught them about the Plan of Salvation, and they understood it really well. When we finished up, we asked if they had any questions. They asked us about what happened to the people who weren’t baptized, if they would be able to return to the presence of God and Jesus Christ in the Celestial Kingdom. We smiled, and explained that though God is a just being and holds us accountable for our actions, but that He is also perfectly merciful to those who don’t have the chance to accept the Gospel and be baptized during their earthly life. We talked about how the Lord ministered in the Spirit World and that the people there are receiving the Gospel, and that here in holy places called Temples we have the opportunity to perform baptisms for them. We asked them if they had family members that had died without the opportunity to receive the Gospel, to which they responded that their Mom had recently passed away. We testified that she is receiving the Gospel right now, and that after Isabel is baptized, she will be able to go to the Temple and be baptized for her mother. She smiled and simply said, "Gloria a Dios", or, "Glory to God".

I feel so grateful for the opportunity that I have to testify of God's great plan that He has for each and every one of us! There are so many people that dont have the knowledge of what God has prepared for us, and seeing that light in their eyes, how their countenance just changes when they recognize these truths that they learned in the pre-mortal life and are now remembering again. I love being a missionary!!!!!

We are going to keep doing what we can this week, I hope Elder Lewis starts to feel better so we can get out and work a little bit more this week. As he has been resting, I’ve had lots of down time to study the scriptures and Jesus the Christ. Here are some of my favorites from this week!! :)

Hebrews 5:8-9
1 John 5:5
and Ephesians 5:8

Go give them a look!

Love you all tons! Have a great week!!!

Love Elder Newman

Dad, wow! That’s awesome that Jenna is heading out to the mission field! She’s going to be an excellent missionary! What an awesome list of things you are grateful for. :) Love you tons dad!!

Mom, that’s so awesome that you got to spend some time with the girls at the football game and celebrate Callie's birthday eating some Sonic. ;) Love you Mom, have a great week!!

Jackson, have a great blind date dude, and have an excellent week my dude! That’s a really cool perspective that you heard! I’ll be sure to look that up in my studies this week! Love you Jackson!!

Emma, That makes me so happy that you were able to go to the game and spend some time with your team! Enjoy seminary with Brother Siebert, that will be super awesome!! Love you Emma!!

Sarah, lots of practices!! That's awesome! 2 and a half hours of soccer is a lot!! Love you Sarah, have a great week!

Callie! Hope you had a great Birthday, sounds like some cool presents!! Good luck in your primary program!! Love you Callie!!

Mom’s Questions:
1. You said you are on the outskirts of Santa Cruz. How far are you from the mission offices?

 about 30 minutes.

2. Is your comp starting to feel better? Are you able to go out and find investigators? 

We were able to go and teach some of the set appointments, but not alot more.

3. What is your comp’s personality like? Is he reserved, funny, or what? 

Really funny and outgoing, we get along really well.

4. Do you have a pensionista in your new area? Does she cook and do laundry? Or are you still washing clothes by hand? 

She just cooks for us, but there is another member that washes my clothes, so bless up, Im not washing my clothes by hand right now.

5. What is your apartment like? 

Its big, and no AC, so it gets really hot in there, haha.

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:)

Opening another area!!!

 Saying goodbye to Tarija again!

 Last week's pday hike

Hello friends and family!!

Going to be a quick email, due to the fact that I have been transferred yet again! But I just wanted to start out by saying a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM TODAY, and also to my BROTHER JACKSON tomorrow! I hope you have great birthdays today and tomorrow!!

This past week, we had multizone conference, and we were having some great instructions from our mission leadership! We talked about commitments, and the importance of helping our investigators understand doctrine, being clear in our invitations, and promising blessings. And after, President told us that we not only had to invite, but also prepare the way for the people to teach to complete with their commitments. We then did lots of practice demonstrations, in which Elder Archer and I were selected to teach President Rodriguez and his wife the law of Chastity and invite them to be married, and help them find ways to get married and be baptized. It was definitely interesting to teach that in front of a conference of over 50 missionaries, but definitely a story I won’t be forgetting any time soon!! We also had a musical number, where Elder Archer, Elder Jorgensen, myself and Hermana Murdock and Hermana Eyestone did a rendition of "Savior, Redeemer of my soul", which went really well!!

I spent the last half of the week pretty sick, so that was kind of a bummer, with two days unable to leave the house, but thank goodness by Saturday and Sunday I was healthy and able to work! :)

Well, I received the notice that I will be opening another area here in Santa Cruz!! A new ward was created in Zona Abundancia, and I will be one of the first missionaries to set foot in this ward! I’m really excited, we'll see what the Lord has prepared for us!

All the best! Have a great Halloween and keep the faith!!!

Elder Newman

Dad, busy week, BUT that’s super awesome that the PG boys got the W!!!! And way to go for Bart's team! He is a great coach! Love you dad!!!

Mom, wow, what a fun week! Sounds like it was really busy, but a fun uplifting week! Thank you for sharing your studies of the scriptures Mom, I hope you have had a great Birthday! Love you mom!!

Jackson, thank you for your rendition of the game, almost feels like I was there! Sounds like some fun dates as well! Love you Jackson, have a great birthday tomorrow!!

Sarah, Show these suckaz how to play this game!!!! Nice job in your game, and in almost getting a yellow card ;) Love you Bear!!

Callie, That’s so exciting that your birthday is in a week and that you will be eight!! Nachos and water at the football game? excellent choice:) Love you Callie!!

Emma, Maynester!! Umm, thats wild that you are sleep talking, I’ve defs had comps that sleep talk before haha. Enjoy the Newfoundlands!! Love you Emma!!

Mom’s Questions:

1. Is it transfer week? Will you be losing anyone in your district? 


Yeah, myself :)


2. How are the Velasco family doing? Still progressing? 


They are still doing awesome! They were traveling, but should get back soon


3. How are you and your companion similar and different? 


I’m tall, he was short, but we both get along great and love laughing tons!


4. How many investigators do you have right now? 


Right now like 12 (in 4 de Julio) and 0 in Cortez (my new area), We'll be working really hard this transfer!!

General Conference part 2.

Hello friends and family!!

Well, it’s been a great week, with the opportunity to listen to our Prophet, President Nelson, twice during the week. Hence the subject line, Conference part 2 haha. We had the blessing of listening to a great devotional for the missionaries in Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia, where President Nelson opened up to 3rd Nephi, and just blew all of our minds. I have been studying my notes from that devotional for the past three days. We then had a devotional from President Nelson talking to the members here in Bolivia, which was super awesome as well! He was using a translator, and then half way through, just finished his message in Spanish! We have the coolest Prophet ever!

This past week has been full of funny experiences. This past Tuesday, we were walking past a street, and there was like ten dogs sleeping on the sidewalk. I looked at the eleventh dog that was awake, and said, "Be chill", right when it started barking at me, waking up its 10 little (not so little) friends, and chased me down the street. I was kind of having fun with it, swinging my bag at them so they wouldn’t bite me, and I was just kind of laughing until a giant black dog like the size of a shetland pony came in, and literally startled the crap out of me. Good times.

One of the goals I set when I completed a year in the mission was to be bold in every situation that I come across. This past week, we were doing a practice baptismal interview with Nelson Castro. He has lots of faith, but doesn’t understand very well the concept of the Great Apostasy, and that we are the ONLY true church. I remembered that goal I set, and we were direct and bold in testifying of the Restoration and of Joseph Smith, and that this is the only true church. He seemed to understand much better afterwards, so it pays to be bold in all that we do!!

Jose Luis Velasco has been one of the biggest miracles I have seen here in this area. He has been reading everything, loves talking to us, and this past week, he and his whole family not only accepted a baptismal date, but also attended church with us this Sunday! He has been super awesome, the only bummer, he is traveling these next two weeks, so he won’t be able to meet with us for a bit, but he is super awesome and I’m looking forward to meeting with him again soon!!

Well, I hope you all had a great week! Love you all, keep the faith, and follow the Prophet!

Con amor, Elder Newman

Mom, Thats crazy that Denver is married and Trent is home! That’s awesome that Oliver got to come over for a birthday dinner, and awesome that the Utes trounced USC! Love you Mom!!

Dad, that’s cool that you got to do the ring ceremony for Denver's wedding! Hope you had a great week dad!! Love you!!

Sarah, Woohoo for fall break! Way to ball out at the football game, and that you got to hang out with Tess a bunch! Love You Bear!!

Jackson, Sounds like a fun week! Missionary get together, dates, devotionals, and football games! Im pumped that the Utes wrecked USC!! Love you Jackson!!

Mom’s Questions:
1. How is Jose Luis doing? What other potential investigators do you have right now? 

Jose Luis is awesome! Nelson is doing pretty well also!

2. What ways did conference motivate you? Do you have any personal goals from listening to any of the talks? 

Accepting the will of the Lord, and making the Sacrament more of a priority.

3. Is it starting to heat up? It is getting chilly here! 

It’s getting really hot here. It occasionally rains, but when it’s not raining, it is really hot!!

4. What made you laugh this week or made you genuinely happy? 

My study of the scriptures made me very happy. Elder archer also always makes me laugh!

Intercambios, and a little Miracle.

Hey Friends and Family!!

Well, this was certainly a good week in the work of the Lord. We have been seeing lots of progress this week, with lots of good moments!!

We had intercambios with the other elders in 4 de Julio, which also happen to be the zone leaders!! I got to go to the area of the other elders, with Elder Yzquierdo from Santiago Chile. He is 26 years old, and is in his last transfer in the mission. It was great to be with him learning how he works and teaches, and see his example in his study and planning sessions. I learned lots from him, he is really wise and tons of knowledge of the scriptures. Really edifying, and fun to hear his Chilean accent with all of my friends serving in Chile and to hear what they listen to during the day and listen to some of the customs from his country.

We had a cool experience this past weekend of being able to go and perform the confirmation for a woman that I knew in one of my old wards. We got to go and sing at the baptismal service, and then I had the blessing of confirming her a member of the Church. It was a huge blessing for me to be present in that special moment for her and her family.

During the exchange, Elder Mortensen and my companion Elder Archer found a man named Jose Luis Velasco. This past Saturday we had the chance to go and visit him for the second time. He was there, had read the pamphlet, and had lots of questions. He was super awesome, and invited us to come again on Sunday. When we arrived, he told us that he had looked up Joseph Smith on the internet to try to learn more about him. I kind of cringed, thinking that he was going to tell us he had read articles that talked about Polygamy, but thank goodness that wasn’t the case! He had watched the entire movie of the Restoration, which made giving him and explaining to him the Book of Mormon really easy!! It was truly a little miracle, as we have praying pretty hard for some people to teach!!

Hope you all have a great week!! Love you all tons!!

Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Mom, Thats crazy that the bishopric got reorganized! I’m sure Brother Cahoon will do a great job as the new 2nd Counselor!! That’s cool that dad talked to Coach Nixon and Kevin! They are super awesome!! Thanks for sending the package, we'll see if it gets here, but I sure hope so! Love you Mom!!!

Dad, what a game. Sounds like PG will be good to go for a good state run! I got Adam's group email. He will be an excellent missionary!! Love you Dad!!

Jackson, well, weeks like that come and go. Luckily like Nephi, we have been blessed with goodly parents! Mom truly is an elect lady. Love you tons Jackson!!

Sarah, that’s awesome!! Well done in bantam tryouts, and cool that you met Coach Nixon! We bought a Basketball last week, so it’s been fun to get out and play a little in the mornings. Good luck in your game! Love you!!

Emma, I can agree, I’m not much for haunted houses or scary stuff in general. Sounds like you put Ginger to work getting to practice late, but better late than never! Love you sis, have a great week!!

Callie, that’s so awesome that you saw Lucas!! Cool that the tooth fairy got you hooked up with some money!! Love you Callie!!!


Mom’s Questions:

1. Any new investigators this week? 

Jose Luis was new, and some others as well!

2. What is the ward like? Are there any members who are helpful with missionary work and referrals?

We have had lots of members come and offer their help this week! We are going to put them to work this week

3. What is Elder Archer’s favorite food? Color? Music? Etc. How many brothers/sisters? Where does he fit in? 

Elder Archer loves all music. He knows like all the stuff that I listened to before, and he is the second of five, just like me!

Believe, Love, Do.

Hello friends and family!! 

Well, I’ve got lots to say this week, so I’m just going to get right to it!!!

So it seemed like those couple of days before the General Conference, we had lots of people who were against the idea of living modern day Prophets. We had a guy named Marco on Tuesday tell us that God didn’t speak today, and that all was revealed in the Bible. The Holy Ghost brought to my mind a talk that Elder Tovar shared with me months ago, and I felt impressed to ask him the same questions used in the talk.

 I asked him if he believed that God spoke today, and he responded, "like literally? no, I don’t think so..". I responded to that by saying, "Ok, so if God doesn’t communicate today, I think there are 4 possibilities why. The first, is that God has lost his ability to do so, and doesn’t talk to us anymore.." Marco responded, "No, God is all powerful..." I said, "Ok, so God is all powerful, if he wants to he can. The second option is that he doesn’t love us anymore, and that’s why he doesn’t speak to us anymore." Marco told me, "No, I know that God loves me.." I smiled and then said, "So if God loves us, and is all powerful, maybe he doesn’t communicate with us because we as human beings, mortals, don’t need his guidance anymore. I think that due to the evil that we are seeing today, there has never been a time where we have needed the guidance of a loving Heavenly Father. " Marco told me, "You are right..."

I finished by saying, "So if God loves us, is all powerful, and we need his guidance to overcome the trials and evils of this world, that brings us to the last option. God DOES SPEAK today. But a man needs to have faith to hear his voice..." The spirit testified of this powerful truth, and Elder Archer showed him in Ephesians 2:20 where the Lord specifies Prophets as part of the organization of the church. The Lord speaks today!!!!!

We have a great Investigator named Nelson Castro! He has been listening to us for about two weeks now, and has accepted a baptismal date and has been reading the Book of Mormon. He told us something that just made us so so happy. He said, "it’s easy to tell that the bible is the word of God, right when you start reading you know it’s not a normal book. It’s the same when I read the Book of Mormon." You couldn’t take the smiles off mine and Elder Archer's faces after that. And even better when he came to conference with us on Sunday!!!


Conference... wow, where do I even start??? What an amazing experience to receive the revelation that the Lord had ready for us this past weekend. Each talk was just what I needed. I am so proud to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and to put the name of the Savior on my chest everyday as I represent him and his church today.

Scriptures from my studies this week!!

Psalms 27:1, The Lord is my light and salvation.

Mosiah 4:10, If you believe these things, see that ye do them.

I hope you all had a fantastic conference weekend! Remember to make the changes necessary, and APPLY the words of the Lord's servants. Love you all so much, have a great week!!!!!

Love, Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Dad, what a cool letter!!! Sounds like an interesting week of football, and a good week at work!! It’s going to be exciting to put into play the new revelations we have received this weekend!! Love you Dad!!

Mom, what a busy week with soccer, football games, choir concerts, and Conference. Thank you for sharing your studies. Christ's sacrifice really is everything!!! Love you Mom!!

Jackson, crazy week, and GO UTES!! That’s an awesome win!! Nice job on your midterms, good luck with the rest of them!! Love you Jackson!!!


Emma, thanks. Thanks for sending your whole email in code, appreciated that a lot. Thats crazy that you are starting military!! Drill season is coming up!!! Love you Emma!!!

Sarah, that is a long drive up to Logan for the soccer game! But good job! Thats crazy that it’s getting cold out there, because it’s pretty hot here!! Love you Sarah!!!

Callie, good job in your basketball game!! How fun that you got to go up to Uncle Jake’s for the party! Love you tons Callie!!

Mom’s Questions:

1. Did you have any investigators attend conference with you? 

Just Nelson, but he loved it!!

2. What was your favorite talk/message/impressions from conference? 

Elder Uchtdorf's talk and President Eyring's talk really touched me, but all of them were so so good. It went way to fast. Looking forward to the conference Ensign.

3. How is Maicol Saldaña doing? Have you been able to teach him more this week?

He is doing well! he reads everything, and just needs to attend church,

4. How did you serve Elder Archer this week? 

We made Pancakes for weekly planning, so it was kind of a mutual service lol.

CONFERENCE HERE WE COME!!!

 P-Day bowling

Hello friends and family!!

Well, it’s been a great week, full of more interesting people and great spiritual experiences!

This past week, the sisters of my district called us and asked us a favor. They had some investigators that were getting ready for marriage, and leaving some addictions in preparation for baptism. They had offered the possibility of a priesthood blessing, and they really wanted one! They called around all their ward looking for members to come and give the blessing, and nobody could. They asked us if we could come and give the blessing. With permission, we went and met them. They were super awesome, and we took a moment and got to know them, and explained what a priesthood blessing was and how it worked. We then put our hands upon their heads, and gave them blessings of comfort, to help them take the step of marriage, and to overcome the addictions holding them back. There was such a sweet spirit after. The Hermano expressed a feeling of peace and joy, and the hermana couldn’t hold back her tears. We gave them our testimonies, and then we left. As we left, the Hermano walked us to the door, and he told us that he had no doubts, he wanted to be baptized. What a great moment!!

We have a great young investigator. His name is Maicol Saldaña, and he is awesome! We invited him to be baptized, and he accepted! He has been reading all the pamphlets and the Book of Mormon that we gave him. I love seeing his desire to keep learning more and more. It’s definitely been nice to sit down and teach a little bit more, but we are still knocking lots and lots of doors, getting to know Tarija's finest and strangest people haha.

I had the chance to do a baptismal interview for one of the investigators from my district, and its always so dang fun to do the baptismal interviews. To see the testimony and change in a person getting ready to enter the waters of baptism is always a very spiritually uplifting experience. Attending the service and participating in the musical number that the missionaries put together was also very uplifting!

Super excited for my third General Conference this weekend!!! I always get so so excited for conference, I hope you guys do too. I’m so excited to hear the words of living prophets and apostles this weekend. I love the blessing we have these latter days of hearing the word of God through his prophets, and receiving his loving guidance.

Scriptures from my study this week!!

D&C 30:11

D&C 64:33

Love you all so much, have a great week and keep the faith!!!

Con Amor, Elder Christian Duvall Newman

Dad, doesn’t surprise me one bit that Adam killed his farewell talk. He is an awesome kid who is going to be a stellar missionary!! Sounds like a great trip!! Love you Dad!!!


Mom, thanks for sharing your studies!! Sounds like a great RM panel!! And a great Lake Powell trip, Lake Powell when I get back. Love you mom!!!

Jackson, LETS GO VIKINGS!!!!! That’s an awesome W!! and haven’t lost a step on mario kart haha. Love you bro!!!

Emma, thank you for keeping these weekly letters interesting, hahaha. Sounds like a stressful and fun filled week! Love you Emma!!

 Sarah, well done in the games this week. That’s crazy that the boys beat them 56-0, thats a beatdown... Love you bear!!

Callie, nice job on the article of faith!! Woohoo new cousins!!! Good job in your game!! Good luck in your basketball game!!! Love you Callie!!


Mom’s Questions:

1. Where did Elder Archer go to high school and what was he involved in? 

He went to Jordan High, he ran track :)

2. What is your ward/branch like? How many members come to church? 

Usually about 80 members, its a ward :)

3. Do you have a pensionista to do your laundry again? Or are you still doing it by hand? 

Still by hand, but I'm just used to it by now haha

4. Do you have any investigators yet? 

Thankfully yes :)

5. How close in proximity to your previous areas in Tarija are you? 

Pretty close to them both! Tarija isn’t very big so you can get almost anywhere in a 10 minute taxi ride.