Monday, June 30, 2014

New Companion!!

Hey everyone! 

so, last wek we had transfers and i stayed here in our area, and recieved a new companion. His name is....ELDER GOLDSBERRY! haha it was so perfect because i was so nervous about who id get, and really there was no need, because The Lord blessed me with a friend. Elder Goldsberry and I were in our last zone together, and then just barely he came to our zone here in another part of the city, where we were in the same district. and now, we are companions-what a blessing. we both are so excited for this cycle. 

not too much new, mainly just that Elder Goldsberry is my new companion, but also a heads up that this saturday we will have a baptism. Elayne has come to church 3 weeks in a row, but we have taught her all the lessons and she is so ready. we are so proud of her and I am way excited! 

the mission is going great. im learning so many lessons, and i feel that spiritually, i really have been growing. I know this letter is gonna be super short, but i have to do a bunch of other stuff like send photos to the offices and what not. but know that I love you all and that I am really excited for this next cycle, because of my new companion. May god bless all of you in your endeavors this week, and know that i am so grateful for all of you and your words. stay strong and keep on keepin´ on! 

always, 

Elder Newman

Jason 

-- 

**Elder Newman**

Elder Goldsberry, Elder Newman, Elder Ruiz (Zone leader) -- 

Photo taken June 29. 2014

I fixed our ghetto fan...we hope to get new ones soon

Photo taken June 29, 2014

Went to KFC again

Photo taken June 27. 2014

1.MUNDIAL! (world cup!) - go USA! 2. Land of the free, home of the brave :)

Photo Taken June 26, 2014

Division del Norte Statue (i took this while riding the bus!)

Photo taken June 23, 2014

The zone (had changes recently so ill be sending a new zone pic next week)

Photo taken June 23, 2014

The cathedral in downtown Chihuahua

Photo taken June 23, 2014

MUNDIAL! (world cup!) we felt like soccer players in our new jerseys

Photos taken June 23 ,2014

Monday, June 23, 2014

Hey everyone!

Hope everyone had a Good week!

this week was another good one here in Chihuahua...cloudy, and it rained every night...but it was good. alot of good things are happening in our area, and it is really cool to see people change everyday, and come closer to Christ. 

Tomorrow we will have transfers and Elder Loveless and I are convinced/just have this gut feeling that I will become District leader here (and maybe train), while E.L.L will go to another area, maybe to the offices. we will see what happens, but im pretty nervous if i do become District Leader, cause I only have 3 weeks in the area...

...but thats ok, because faith is whats important! So we are excited to keep on working and to see where the Lord will take us next. actually, its with faith, and when its centered in Jesus Christ, in how we can become better disciples of him and follow him better. Having Faith means Having trust in God, and thats something that I learned this last week. 

Really, the biggest newa is our investigator, Eleyne. She has been to church twice, is progresing very well, and i remember in a lesson about the Plan of Salvation with her, when we asked her if she had ever heard of the terms "resurecction, celestial kingdom, judgement, spirit world", etc, she said yes and ended up teaching US parts of the lesson! haha we were like "wow, howd you know all that?!" she told us that she had actually studied the Plan of salvation pamphlet and read the scriptures. we were amazed. She has a baptismal date for the 5th of july. cant wait :?

Also, another investigator, Elisa, is supposed to be baptized this saturday, but due to satan and his pesky tricks, we will be passing by everyday to help her get there. no worries, she is just nervous. but we hope to see her make that specuial commitment with God and be baptized. 

well...i know this weeks email doesnt seem too exciting, but know that I love you all, I LOVE being a missionary, nad I love the Savior Jesus Christ and what he did for me. for ALL of us. 

 sincerely, 

Jason 

Elder Newman


-- 

**Elder Newman**

Other pictures of our house

Photos taken June 17, 2014

it rained a TON last week! 

Photos taken June 17, 2014

E. Hoopes, E. Ruiz, E. Loveless, and E. Newman

Photo taken june 18, 2014

One of the members has a turtle! 

Photo taken June 21, 2014

E. Loveless and E. Newman to the rescue!

Photo taken June 10, 2014

Monday, June 16, 2014

Spaghetti and bananas.....What a combination!

Hey everyone! 

So, just to explain, in regards to the subject of the email, haha so we were eating at this one hermanas house, and i swear she looked for everything and anything to feed us with, she made so much food! but its not uncommon for a family to serve spaghetti here. Its not the same though...thin of it as spaghetti-os, but with spaghetti noodles. thats what it tastes like. Anyway, she asked us shes like "would you like a banana with it?" and we just thought she was kidding or something, but she was serious and so were like "ok!" and let me tell ya, its actually pretty good! Call me crazy, but youve got to try it! 

So it has been cloudy the last few days, and it has even rained a little bit! what a blessing, seeing as how its so hot almost everyday. 

So, being part of this mission choir, we had an awesome opportunity: we all were invited to the Mission presidents house to have Carne Asada! (a BBQ). there are about 20 of us in this choir. oh man, it was so amazing the feeling we got when we walked into his house. I almost felt like i walked into the temple, the spirit was so strong. and he had carpet!-which NOONE has here in Mexico. Anyway, we had a great time and as strange as it may sound, we all had a great spiritual experience as we ate with the President. He is so awesome and I am so glad to have him as my leader here. 

Eleyne, Elisa, Ruth, and Alicia - four of our investigators, who all felt like miracles this last week. We were able to have a day where we taught all 4 of them in the same day, and Each one is unique and special in their own way. Ruth is really special, for she has a desire to really listen to the missionaries and to hear us. Its because some of her family members are members but she just never wanted to listen to the missionaries. but now, two kids later, as a mom she wants the best for her kids and wants to have God in her life again. I cant wait to work with her and to see the spirit work with her. 

there are so many changes going on! its kind of hard, but i know when we put our trust in Christ and Heavenly Father, everything works out. But yeah, my first week in the new area, the ward split, and we got a new ward. the next week, we got an addition to our area and moved into a new house. now, starting next week, our area will be divided and we will get 2 more missionaries. aaah! we were pretty stressed out about it, and still kind of dont know which half of the area we are going to keep, but i realized that you know, it really doesnt matter. what matters is that we just work and do the Lords will wherever he sends us, and I know when we do that, and are obedient to his commandments, He blesses us abundantly. but were not in it for the blessings-were in it for the well being of the investigators! 

This area has taught me a lot, and it continues to humble me and help me to realize even more that really nothing is about me here. Its all about the Savior, and what he wants me to do. I hope everyone has a good week and that everyone recieves the help they need!  I love you all!! 

sincerely, 

Elder Newman 

Jason :)

-- 

**Elder Newman**

Friday, June 13, 2014

Natalie's farewell

Natalie's farewell has been confirmed for the 27th of July at 12 p.m.

Seeing as how the 3rd of August is a fascinating it will be the week before.

Still scheduled to enter the MTC on Wednesday the 6th of August.

Monday, June 9, 2014

42 Celsius and climbing!

first off, so the pictures i sent to everyone are of the place called the deportiva. i think i may have explained a bit of it last email, but yeah its a humongous park thats so green! makes me happy when we walk in it. Also, the members here are great! we have a fair share of little old ladies in our ward who are so cute, and who always enjoy our visits. my favorite one, Hermana Acuña, has been bedridden for a while, but she is a great example to me of enduring to the end. she always says that when dhe does go to the other side, she hopes to convert everyone and be a great missionary. haha shes adorable...i know she will be though. 

we changed houses again and got more area. its because the other missionaries got sent somewhere else, so we inherited half of their area, and we moved in to their house. we are excited though to keep working and doing our best. It has been a little hard because we didnt have too many investigators, and literally all of our plans fell through everyday, but the Lord has been working with us and we know that it is His time, not ours. We have been striving to work with Faith, Patience, and diligence - 3 very important principles - burned into our minds, and sure enough this week the Lord lead us to one sister who speaks perfect english and has been prepared to hear us. We dont have a baptismal date for her yet, Ruth, but we hope to put one soon. I know that out here, its not our will, and really if we juat do what we know how to do, whoich is work, and we do it with faith and diligence, that eventually we will find more investigators and will be able to teach more people, thus fulfilling our purpose. We learned this past week that there is a big difference between what we think is success and what God knows is success. This email will be a bit shorter but i know that either way, we are having a blast and we continue to do our best. I hope everyone is doing well and i wish everyone the best of luck this next week! 

also, dont know if i mentioned before, but our mission has a FACEBOOK page! itsfacebook.com/misionmexicochihuahua1316 thanks everyone!

with love :) , 

Elder Newman 

Jason 

-- 

**Elder Newman**

1. football stadium 2. cant believe there are som many trees... 3. racquetball courts! 4. basketball court 5. soccer field 6. most beautiful park ive ever seen --  **Elder Newman**

Photos taken on June 2nd 2014

Monday, June 2, 2014

New ward/ area/ companion!!

Wow what an exciting time!! 

So, last wednesday night, Elder womack and i got home from a lesson and the assistants called. last thing we expected...but they called and told E. Womack that he was going to go to be ZONE LEADER in another zone!! so then i thought i would stay, but it turns out that I was going to have transfers too! AAAH! haha we were excited yet sad at the same time because we were on our way to completing 6 months together, and all of a sudden we had transfers. but hey, life goes on and if there arent changes, there is no progress. So, we packed our things and we went to the offices the next morning. 

My new area is called Lagos 2 (lagos means lakes in spanish), and the ward is called the Lagos ward. Its more in the center of the city of chihuahua, and it is a LOT nicer--meaning alot of people here are chorcho (that means rich here in mexico haha). I will definitely take more pics of the area and send them. 

its kinda hard though, because they got rid of the lagos ward right when i got there, and so half the people went to the Del Norte ward, and the other half to the rio sacramento ward (including us). so My comp and i have to both learn a new ward, and im already trying to learn the area. 

My new companion...aah, elder Loveless. he is so awesome! he is from saratoga springs and has about 9 months in the mission. he has been here in this area for 2 months and so its possible that he might change in 3 weeks (when the cycle ends), leaving me a very short time to learn the area. but i will do my best. 

My favorite thing about the area so far is the Deportiva (sports park). i like to think of it as the central park of chihuahua (like in NYC), because it is HUGE!! i want to find out how big it is, but elder  says its like 6 football fields. i didnt know so much green and trees existed her in this heat of mexico. 

ugh, and speaking of heat, it is starting to be the summer here, which means anywhere from 90 to 105 degrees daily (the highest ive heard people say is 115 degrees) ! holy cow, haha its hot but hey i love it and cant wait. I am very sad to leave my old ward and area and zone, but i know that they will all be fine and that they are doing well. at least im in the same stake! haha. 

we have a few investigators in our area, namly Elisa, Brillanda, and Oscar. We hope to place a baptismal date for elisa tonight for the 14th, and we had a sweet lesson on the restoration of the gospel with brillanda in the deportiva park last saturday. the work here is a little bit of a slower pace, and Elder loveless told me that almost everytime we contact someone in our area, they live somewhere else, as well as this area doesnt baptize very much. well...im looking to change that! haha not change the will of the lord, of course, but i hope that we can see miracles come in the not too distant future. 

welll, my friends, that is the biggest announcement is that i am in a new area, my new comp is Elder Loveless, and I know it will be hard at first but i will put my trust in the lord, and with Patience, faith, and diligence (Alma Chapter 32, more towards the end), i will be able to be a stronger instrument in the lords hands. 

I love you all and thank you al for your support! have a great week! 

Elder Newman

Jason 

-- 

**Elder Newman**

Love me some futbol with the zone :)

Photo taken May 26, 2014

One with her mom, blanca

Photo taken May 24,2014

Elder womack, Ilse, Elder Newman

Photo taken May 24, 2014

Its a very city like ares. ..cool bridge in our area.

Photo taken May 30, 2014

my new ward/chapel--ward Rio Sacramento -- 

Photo taken May 31, 2014

There's a KFC in my new area

Photo taken May 30, 2014

The two sides of my new house

Photos taken May 30, 2014

Elder Loveless and Jason

Photo taken June 2 2014