Monday, July 28, 2014

¿Les gustaría un vaso de agua?

Wow, what a week everyone! 

So, we didnt get too much time to work this week, because we had a zone baptismal service on saturday ( the investigators of the 3 wards combined to have one baptismal service). For that baptismal service, the zone leaders wanted us to have a special musical number, and they put me in charge! scary! and so because of that, we had to practice every morning, in addition to all our food visits, meetings at night, and a ward activity we had on thursday. the song turned out great, and  the spirit was definitely present. Also, speaking of choir, we also have our misison choir every sunday and I LOVE it, because its really fun to be able to bear testimony through music. and all this time we have been having choir (a few months), we havent known what it was gonna be for...until yesterday. If i heard correct, the 16th of august is when we will perform a few numbers, because the second counselor of the young men´s general presidency is going to come, along with the area president, Elder Salinas. were so excited! 

Despite all of that time not being able to work and having low numbers, it was a great week. we had a wonderful miracle this week. (this is in response to the title of the email, bytheway). So, Elder Goldsberry and I are just wallking sown this street, and all of a sudden, we see this man who was getting out of his car, we made eye contact, and before we could even say hello, he says "would you guys like a glass of water?" (thats what the title of the email means in english). we, a little hesitant, but accepting, said "sure!" and so he says to us "pasele!", which means "come on in". so we approach his door, and walk in slowly. he just kept saying that, "pasele, pasele" and then he had us sit down. this whole time Elder Goldsberry and I are just like "is this really happening?!". then he gave us some water, and he began to talk to us. His name is Jaime, and he had a very nice home, like were talking united states standards, and so when he started talking to us, he was like "so where are you guys from?" --at this moment, we had walked in to a strangers home, sat down on his nice couches, drank water, and talked to him, all within about 60 seconds. we were so nervous because we wanted to handle this perfect situation that we had been blessed with carefully. but we had opened up and started to talk to him, and before we know it, one of his sons walks in the room! Luis, who is 22 also began to talk with us. he seemed interested in who we are, and then not even a few minutes later, ANOTHER one of his sons walks in and sits down. Ricardo, age 18, starts to talk with us as well. We just couldnt believe what was happening, it just felt like they were literally waiting for us. anyway, he finally asked the golden question "so what do you guys preach?"--long story short, we bore testimony of the restoration of the Gospel, and how Joseph smith restored the church. They believed it, and we had left, then returned a few days leter and had another great lesson about the Book of Mormon. THe dad, jaime, was just saying all the right things, and told us that he would read it because in his search for the right path in his life, he has been confused due to his parents being catholic, and it reminded me of the phrase we see lots of times in the book of mormon, "the vain and foolish traditions of their fathers" probably didnt help him too much growing up. I promised him in the name of Jesus Christ, that the Book of mormon was true, and that every word on every page would bless his family. He promised to read it, as well as his 2 sons. We actually tonight are going to have dinner with them. I am so grateful for this blessing and I love how the lord always fulfills his promises, and answers prayers. This was definitely a miracle, and we are convinced that this family has been prepared to hear the Gospel. 

A few other funny things that have happened that i have neglected to mention: 

1. amulek , a missionary in the book of mormon, was baptized on the fourth of july :) 

2. one of the recent converts, named lupito, who is HILARIOUS, arrived to church late, and as were all sitting in sacrament meeting, he walks in late and just yells, greeting everyone "buen dia a todos!!" which means " good day to you all!" haha it was so awesome. 

3. Elder Goldsberry is the best. we laughed so hard until we cried this week. we were talking, and we had 5 references, and only one of them we were able to contact. so he then is like, "if we only contact one person out of 5 references, then that means it would take ten contacts to get one solid investigator, and if only one out of ten investigators gets baptized, then that means we need 500 references to have a baptism!" you had to be there...we were dying laughing. 

well, I love you all, and as we testified to Jaime, we testify to you all as well, that Jesus Christ has restored His church through the prophet Joseph Smith, and that The Book of Mormon is alwo the word of God, and truly is the most correct book of any book on earth, and I know that We can grow closer to God and strengthen our relationship' with Him when we read , study, ponder it, and treasure up what it says. I pray that we can all follow Jesus Christs example, and always remember him. I love you all and hope you all have a great week! 

love, 

Jason

-- 

**Elder Newman**

Monday, July 21, 2014

This weekend!

We are excited for Natalie's farewell this weekend!

Hey everyone!

We had a lizard in our house this week!!!!!!!!!

more of that in just a second. in regards to the work, all is going here...not perfect, not terrible. just kinda neutral. its just really hard as a missionary sometimes cause somedays you can set 3 baptismal dates, and then later on , when you go to pick them up that sunday, they arent there and you have zero investigators in the chapel. yep...that happened to us this week, but it seems that for every sad moment there is, there are one or more happy ones to counter it. Our area is kind of tough, and the strees are commonly found with absolutely noone, but we arent complaining! Elder Goldsberry and I are still working hard and having a blast while doing so. 

Our Recent Convert, Elayne, is so awesome, and went on a visit with us this last week! and the person we visited was a first time visit, found while looking for former invesigators, which then classified as a new investigator, and she invited us to eat at her house monday night (tonight)!! it was quite the visit. She is progressing so well in the gospel and we are very happy for her. definitely prepared to hear the gospel. in fact, when we had a lesson with her, we reminded her that part of the covenant we make with Heavenly Father when we are baptized is to "take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ". She didnt really understand it at first, and so she asked "what does that mean?" i honestly didnt know how to explain it very well, but the Spirit revealed it to me as I opened my mouth and came up with this analogy. 

We take upon ourselves the name of christ because we are "being born again" (baptism: symbolic of death (going under water), grave (being completely under for a second), and then coming out of the water (resurrection). So its like when we were born to come into the world, when I was "born", I took my "dads name upon me" (newman), and it is now my name as well. when we are "born again", we "take upon ourselves the name of Christ"-to live by his standards and always subject ourselves to his will. I really am learning so much more about the true doctrine of baptism here on the mission and Im so thankful to have the Gift of the Holy Ghost to help me understand it. 

In other news/random comments that i have wanted to share but have forgotten is that I love it when we are in the store getting our groceries and random people come up to us and say "what ward are you from, elders!" so i always love seeing members in places other than their homes or at church. Also,  yes--we caught a lizard!! we were just planning, and elder Goldsberry looks up at the wall, and he makes a stunned face. i looked at what he was looking at and sure enough there was a lizard in our house! we had a blast filming it, trying to get it offf the wall, catching it, and practically wrecking our house in the process. We sweat Beads as we struggled for 15 minutes trying to catch the darn thing, but finally got it. kept it for the night, let it go in the morning. it was a good companion bonding moment, thats for sure. 

Im loving the Mission, and all the spiritual experiences we are having, Elder Goldsberry and I, and although it is NOT easy, it is VERY much worth it. I know that the Lord lives and loves us, and in hearing about one of my best friends, and his situation, I knowthat the atonement of Jesus Christ has the power to heal all wounds. Because of the Atonement, we really can all make it back to the presence of our heavenly Father, all we have to do is let Christ into our lives so he can show us how. and he has shown us, and its called "The Gospel of Jesus Christ." Living that Gospel has helped me in so many ways and I know that it can help all of us. I love you all and have a great week! ¡oh esta todo bien aqui en Chihuahua! :)

love, 

Jason 

-- 

**Elder Newman**

ingrown tonails on the mission....fuchi! ("eww" in spanish)

Photo taken July 14 2014

making french fries!

Photo taken July 15 2014

found a lizard in our house!!!!!!!! ..didnt name him....

Photos taken July 18 2014

mirror shot

Photo taken July 19 2014

Monday, July 14, 2014

So excited!

The Lord Lives!!

Hey everyone! 

what a crazy week!! Sorry if I am writing a bit later than usual, we played soccer with the Young Men of the ward for a few hours...Elders vs Young Men. Love it!! my love for soccer is growing so much here! haha how could it not, being here in mexico? 

random fact, we always see cool cars here and a few days ago we saw an Alfa-romeo! didnt think id see one of those here in mexico, but then again this place is full of surprises.

anyway, we had a lot of ups and downs this week. for the most part, we had some rough days and there really have ben moments where Elder Goldsberry and I struggle to find people to teach. but we know that as long as we do everything we can, the Lords blessings will come into play. So, we didnt have as many contacts this week...

 but we did find a few new investigators, as well as we have 2 baptismal dates set!: Alicia for the 9th, and Another Alicia for the 16th (of august). We also had 2 at church yesterday! woohoo!! We hope to be able to put more this coming week, and in terms of new investigators would be Alejandra, Lety, Emiliano, and Armida. each of them are so special and they each definitely have a unique situation. But, thats the great thing about the Gospel, is that it can apply to everyone in some way; or the gospel has at the least 1 principle that everyone can benefit from in their lives. 

I also know the Lord is blessing me because I have Elder Goldsberry as my companion. We had a talk yesterday and Im so grateful that he was able to open up and we both just felt the spirit so strong. Im grateful for our companionship and I hope we get to stay together until christmas! 

well....not too long this week, but know that all is well and SUPER HOT her in Chihuahua. The Lord lives and loves each and every one of us, as well as our Heavenly Father. I love you all and hope everyone has a great week!! 

always, 

¡Jason! 

-- 

**Elder Newman**

us and a recent convert, hermano lupito (not our RC). reminds us of Albert einstein :)

Photo taken July 13th 2014

poor elder goldsberry...hurt his toe.

Photo taken july 14th 2014

some best friends in the mission (L to R: E.womack, my dad :), Me, E. Goldsberry, E. Hoopes)

Photo taken July 13th 2014

Lovin soccer!

Photo taken July 14th 2014

 at carls jr, with a 96 peso meal ($8) and a sunburnt face

Photo taken july 14th 2014

me on a cool bridge in our area

Photo taken July 10th 2014

Us and La Familia Cardona (sad they moved :( )

Photo taken in July 8th 2014

Monday, July 7, 2014

Happy fourth of July!!

Woohoo the fourth! God Bless America :) Elder Goldsberry and I listened to the Star Spangled Banner practially all morning! haha cant believe its july already! 

So, I haventy mentioned too much about it before, but the world cup has been crazy here! Even though Mexico lost, as well as the us (darn!), its still a big thing here to see everyone wearing the jerseys and such...haha one lady even came to church wearing the mexico away jersey...just shook our heads at that one. but yep, the world cup fever is still contagious here. 

Also, i think i mentioned before that there is a mission Choir here, and I sing tenor in it. we have had it for a few months now, and we practice every sunday. Its nice getting those spiritual songs stuck in my head on the Lords day. anyway, well Elder Norris, another tenor in it, who is one of my best friends out here because he went to orem high with me, got transferrs to Cuauhtemoc! (another city), and so he is not in the choir anymore. He had a solo, but everyone is like "oh just have Elder Newman Sing it" and so i now have 2 solos in that song (well, a duo w Elder Womack :) , and a trio). also, i get to direct 2 songs! man, i really hope we get to perform or something...word on the street is that an apostle is gonna come...

Also, our mission president had told the leadership, who then told us, that He had had a dream. in this dream of his, He was visited by the Lord, and was given instruction on something that the Lord wanted him to do. He said that he had been told By the lord that another stake would be formed here in Chihuahua, and that He would have 2 months to do it. WHAAT!? oh man, we love Presidente Chavez! so, fyi we are working hrder than ever to get going on hastening the work here in Chihuahua. 

Elayne got baptized! oh, it was a wonderful time. She was definitely prepared to hear us, because everything just went so smoothly in teaching her. we had our lessons at the same time everyday for 3 weeks, and she was baptized on saturday. We are so happy for her! She is a great convert with a really powerful testimony. its because one lesson, we were reviewing the baptismal interview questions, and she apparently had a doubt with Joseph Smith really being a prophet. so, nervous, yet calm, we immediately helped her undertand this topic, and turned to the scriptures. ah, this experience was so awesome! ok, so lets see...so we opened to 2 nephi 3 in the book of mormon, and read with herhow Lehi teaching his son Joseph about 2 other Josephs: Joseph sold into egypt, and Joseph smith. It says that Joseph who was sold into egypt had a prophecy that in the last days, the lord would call a prophet, AND HIS NAME SHALL BE THE SAME AS MINE (totally referring to Joseph Smith.) She could hardly finish reading this verse aloud for us, because the spirit literally in that moment confirmed it to her that yes, Joseph smith IS God's chosen prophet, and that what we were saying to her was true. Neither Elder Goldsberry nor I have seen this in our missions, but we now have a testimony that one verse of scripture really can make all the difference! 

We Love the Lord, and we serve him. There are hard times, yes, een for missionaries too, but its like President Uchtdorf said in his talk "You can do it now": our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward. 

i love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Jason 

**Elder Newman**

1. Happy fourth!! decorated my agenda for the day :) 2. fun with fruit roll-ups from my companions package 3. us with Sister Acuña...she is so sweet! i think she is my favorite old lady in the ward, actually 4. Elayne's baptism! Elayne Chavez Talamantes 5. E. Goldsberry, Elayne, E. Loveless (now in offices but we started the teaching), and E. Newman

Photo taken July 5th 2014

Here are some pics of one of our favorite snacks here in mexico...they are called "nitos". they are these donut bars, filled with chocolate on the inside, but the reason they are our favorite is because of the prize. Due to the world cup, there are stickers on the inside of each country in the world cup (32), and Elder Goldsberry and i are teying to collect them all :)

Photos taken July 7th 2014