Natalie October 27, 2014

Week 7

Hi everyone! So to be honest last week I was having a really hard time. I am really not sure how to describe what I was feeling other than the powers of Satan very strong. I don't like the adversity. It was really difficult for some reason to remember that satan has no power of me. I am so greatful I recieved a blessing from President and I have decided to just keep moving foreward and remember to have faith. Truly I am feeling much better.

 I read a talk that Hermana Andersen suggested from April General Conference entitled, If Ye Lack Wisdom. It was really good and I especially liked the scripture he shared from Alma 32 about not casting out the seed by your unbelief and letting it grow. I love that chapter of Alma yet I forgot about that part. I have been remembering to simply trust and have that faith. I was also very grateful that I was able to teach this to an investigator. She has doubts about the Book of Mormon and I shared this with her and a scripture my mom shared with me in Alma 17:10and 11 that says we need to be patient in our afflictions. 

The blessing I received from my mission President was so powerful and very strong. He gave me a task. I am so excited for my task because it is to read the Book of Mormon out loud and in Spanish! I don't know how I'm going to do it but I feel like I can. Something else I was thinking of from the first blessing he gave me, which was my first week here, he mentioned that for me, Cozumel would be my personal sacred grove. I thought that the meaning was just a nice, peaceful quiet place but after talking with him and Hermana Kirkham on Tuesday I realized that it had another meaning. And I was so grateful that the blessing said after I read the Book of Mormon out loud in Spanish, I will have developed a testimony so strong of the Book of Mormon that could never be shaken. I am so excited for this time in which to accomplish that and this past week I have been realizing what they mean when they say the teacher is really the learner because I am learning so much as I am trying to teach this people. 

Fun facts about this week was that I ate chicken feet. I ate a chicken's foot! And it was actually pretty good, kinda fatty but alright lol I wish I had a picture but my companion took it on her camera. Here I have included a picture of our "generation".. The missionaries that came the same time I did and their trainers. We are moving along here in Cozumel and I can't wait to see what lies ahead this next transfer (cambio). The message for this week I want to testify of is TENGAN FE! Have Faith. I know we will constantly be working on this every day and I now know just how important it is to read in the scriptures EVERY SINGLE DAY. We need to be exercising faith and that is one of the most important ways. Much love,

Hermana Newman

 

Jason October 27, 2014

Wow, what a crazy week!

we had a blast this week getting excited for saturday, which was our birthday and a baptism we had. more about that in just a sec. First, just want to testify to all of you that We have a Father in Heaven who lives and loves us, and is always watching over us, giving us countless blessings and miracles and what not. We saw a lot happen this last week, and I feel that it was our best week yet in the whole campanionship...

...and not the last, because we did NOT have transfers! 6 more weeks in Camargo and w/ Elder Perez! woohoo! apparently, only one missionary in our whole zone had transfers, Elder Woods, who is in our district. what can i say, it has just been so busy here in the mission life. we have been working with various investigatorsw, who are progressing, and though its hard to come to church sometimes, we continue to feel a powerful love for these people. Mario and Karen both have baptismal dates for this month, and we hope to put one with pedro, another one of our younger investigators. 

Ok, our birthday was the best!!!!! we are just constantly blown away at the fact that this very well could be the only birthday in our entire lives that was spent with someone who has the same birthday as us, and who has the same age! (elder Perez and I), and who wouldve thought that it would be here in the mission, and that let alone us 2 would be companions! coincedence or revelation? ... it was a great day, as we had ward council in the morning, and went home after. before we went home though, we first went to the gas station to buy milk because we ran out, and it turns out our credit cards were declined, and we didnt have cash. we thought "oh, thats weird", so we just went back home....only to have Hermano Del Real (a member) knock on our door to give us a cake, and each a birthday card, and whaddaya know? a little liter jug of milk :) haha MIRACLE! it was pretty great. after that we went to teach Marlene, and we still love her, even though she still hasnt made it to church :( its all good. then we went to the chapel to filll up the font for Felix. He had been so excited all week for his baptism. anyway, we then went to eat with Hermana Solis, our favorite Member, and we had tacos de Carne Asada (steak tacos) - YUM! after, we took pictures and had our cake. i was SO full afterward! we then had a few lessons, and at 6 had the baptism for felix. it was so fun teaching him, he is such a hoot! even got to see his mom come , who is a less active member, at the baptism and the confirmation! and afterwards, we went to a members house and had a fiesta/siesta type setting, with chicken and tortillas. It was a great day, and the weekend ended with the phonecall from the district leader saying we would NOT be having transfers. so we are very happy :) 

the Lord continues to bless us and protect us as we are safe here in ourt little city, and in those times where we feel we are alone, we know we have you all to support us, as well as eachother, ELder Perez and I. We love you all and are continuing to Serve the Lord with all our Heart, Might, Mind, and Strength. have a great week, everyone!

Jason 

-- 

**Elder Newman**

Natalie October 20, 2014

Natalie sends her love.  She has been loving her hammock.  Its the bed she sleeps in.  Weather has been hot, hot, hot.   Lots of humidity too.  Until next week. 

Jason October 20, 2014

Slow and steady wins the race!

Hello everyone! 

Esta bien suave lo que estamos viendo aqui en camarg--haha whoops! hows everyone doing!? this week was slow, but im keeping my head up and all is well! it is still SO hot here in Camargo, but interestingly enough, for the first time in a while it rained here really hard last night. 

so first off, we got sick this week, and wether it was a stomach infection or just bad pains, we got sick and had to stay inside a few days. so we didnt work a whole ton this week, but we know that the Lord is hastening the work in Camargo in HIS own due time...

...because of the Investigators that we DO have!today, if i may, share a little bit about Felix and Mario. 

FELIX is 9 and he is going to be baptized this saturday. we are very excited and know that the only one who can prepare the way for him is the Lord, as well as the one who will be preparing the things that need to happen in order so that we may have the baptismal service. he is such a hoot, and we saw many blessings this week in how we were able to teach him 2 of the lessons. short and sweet, of course, cause his attention span isnt very big..But we love him anyways. Yesterday, we had a great object lesson with him that shows how he can be made clean from sin if he is baptized. he loved it and is very excited. 

MARIO is progressing very well. he amazes us every time we see him and teach him. It just amazes me how people can change, with the gospel as part of their lives, as he is giving up coffee and smoking rather quickly. He is the husband (we married them) of Our recent convert Delfina, and diego (also recent convert) and his sister marisa are their grandkids that live with them. (they were the ones we were walking to church with on sunday.) ANYWAY, so we taught him a lesson on the woord of wisdom last week, and he accepted to give up those substances that have been weighing him down and we also planned our next lesson for the next day. when we returned the next day, we asked him what he ate for breakfast and he didnt drink coffee! we were so proud of him, and in teaching him about fasting and tithing and fast offerings, he said to us "ok, so starting monday...no, TODAY, im gonna fast" and HE DID!!! we can tell he really wants to get baptized and have what his family now has. 

the lord Prepares us in so many ways. this week, though we got sick, we learned more patience, and really just counted the blesing s that we do have. 1 corinthians 10:13: i know that the Lord will never give us a challenge that is too big, and that with whatever challenge or trial that we do have, he will prepare a way for us to bear it (1 nephi 3:7), and prepares us for it. 

Have a great week everyone, and know that I love you all!! ¡que tenga un buen tarde!

Jason 

-- 

**Elder Newman**

Natalie

All my mosquito bites !!!!! Itchy!

Natalie October 13, 2014

Wow it has been so crazy here! Hermana Andersen and I have been working Hard. We felt a little discouraged after conference weekend because we felt like all of our effort wer all for nothing :/ Hardly any of our investigators came. I think one less active member came or two investiagtors but that was it. And we told so many people, wrote so many reminders and made the initiative to put the post its on ther fridge and yet, the people who said they would definitely come and who we really thought was going to never did. but oh well thats how it goes. So this week we had 2 investigators come to church!! We have been w3orking with a family of 2 investigators and their baby girl. The father Omar and the daughter Suemy (9) went to church! Hermana Elide, the mother, said that she would LOVE to come but can't because of her job. She works every Sunday. Well she didn't get to come but we asked if she wanted to be baptizedbut before I could even finish the question she said yes shaking her head as if saying, of course! I was so happy! The only porblem is to be baptized they want the investigator to attend church at least 5 times and she saidwanting to look for a new job anyway. the hours are long for how little she gets. And the other problem is that they aren't married. So she would have to wait for that to happen too. Sooo I don't know when that would happen when they are going to get baptized but we're working with them and I think we want to ask him again because he, the father Omar, has really been progressing. He has finally prayed and really felt the spirit. We have the same difficulty with 2 other investigators.. they aren't married but we working on it!! Anyway just a little of what we're doing! I have to go.. good luck this week! Bye!

Hermana Newman

Jason October 13, 2014

Its always sunny here in camargo!

Hello friends!

we had another calm week here in Camargo. We are having many successes, and also many challenges, but through it all, the Lord is providing, as he always does, and we are loving being able to participate in His work! We are teaching various families, and have the possibility of a few baptisms this month and next month! it is pretty hard here, because we are the only 2 missionaries out here and we walk all day. But nevertheless, we are enjoying our missions and working always, finding new ways to find new investigators, etc. In fact, yesterday we again went to the plaza and were able to contact a few people (ill send pictures). Its always fun to put up a display, and be proud of who and what we represent. 

this weeks letter is going to be a bit short, because we are having lots of successes, but things are a little slow cause yesterday we had 0 iinvestigators at church. baptismal dates fell, but we are NOT giving up! so there will be more adventures next week. 

If anything, the main thing that happened this week that was my favorite was how Elder Perez helped me on one particular day, where i was feeling down, and lets just say he has such a big heart and always helps me through the hard times. He said a few things to me that really stuck out, like "take control of your mission", and shared the scripture joshua 1:5, 9.  I probably wouldnt survive out here if it wasnt for him. He is helping me to become more humble and I love him. 

all is well out here in Camargo. I am really having great experiences, and if all seems like its going bad, i know that I have Elder Perez out here with me, as well as the Lord. I love you all and am forevermore grateful for your support. have a great week everyone, and know that we all, as Heavenly Fathers children, are so loved!! 

love, 

Jason 

-- 

**Elder Newman**

Natalie October 6, 2014

Two months today!!

Wow today marks two months since I've already been a missionary. Crazy how time flies. So for this short letter I wanted to just share a few things about Mexico!

The first is that never do you say hola or hello first it's always Buenas tardes or Buenas Dias or buenas noches depending on the day. Thought that was interesting!

We watched conference this weekend all in Spanish! :( really hard to understand but I got a few good thoughts and Tuesday we are going to print off some talks!

Other random thoughts:

-it takes us 45 minutes to walk to the church... never have had to experience that before

 

-The hammock took some getting used to but it really helps when it's hot and you don't sleep in it the long way like you would think it's the other way so weird lol

-There are taxis here! It costs 25 pesos which is really about 2.50 in American dollars but the pesos thing still throws me off haha just today I saw a tv in the store for 7,500 which is like 750 american dollars haha

-We have tortillas with every lunch meal 

-I have spoken to so many people!!! 92 the first week, 71, then 74 and that's just who we say the name of the church to.

-Oh and this week in our house we had two huge cockroaches. yay! (gross)

Haha sorry again I have to log off but I hope you all have fun!

Love all around,

Hermana Newman

Jason October 6 ,2014

¡amo La Conferencia General!

hello everyone! sorry if its a little short this week!

this week was probably one of the fastest weeks that went by. we didnt work in our area too too much this week, because we had to go to another city 2 days in a row, but we still were able to find 4 new investigators, and had a great experience at conference. For general conference, it was different, because here in camargo, being the only white kid for miles, i joined in with my latin american brothers and sisters and listened to it in spanish. It was different, but truth is still truth, and it doesnt matter in what language we recieve it. My favorite talk was by Quentin L. Cook in the priesthood session. he spoke on making our daily choices be the kind that will help us achieve our future goals. It helped me alot, and I am continuing to be edified everyday by the messages we recieved from conference, My companion, and the everyday experiences we have here in our little city. 

Everything continues the same: work, work, and more work! it Is crazy to think that in a week, I will have 11 months, almost a year, and in 19 days, i will be 20. Life is changing speedily, and I know that the Gospel is something that has been helping me to adjust with all these changes. Being here on the mission, i think the biggest leson ive learned so far is the magnitude and importance of the Plan of Salvation. My eyes have realy been opened up to the eternal perspective, meaning that this life isnt everything, for we truly lived with God before coming here to earth, and the time here on earth is so short in comparison to an eternity. may we all continue to live in such a way that will allow us to become the person that God has intended for us to become! 

I love you all, and pray for you always, 

Jason 

-- 

**Elder Newman**