Monday, February 23, 2015

Natalie February 23, 2015

Natalie sends her love and greetings to you all.   She spent some time chatting back and forth with her dad while she was online so she didn't get a group letter written.   It was a much needed one on one private time with dad.  She is happy alive and well down in Mexico.   😊

Jason February 23, 2015

 invite, invite, invite

This week was challenging and humbling. a good humbling, for we learned many things in regards to how we can improve and become better missionaries. as a missionary, there are 3 aspects, per say, that make a missionary successful, and it depents on 1). worthiness, 2). opening your mouth, and 3). teaching. This week we are gonna focus in a lot on improving our teaching. the desire is there, fear doesnt exist for us, but i know that even so, we arent perfect. nor will we ever be in this life, for we will be made perfect when we resurrect. 

anyway, it was pretty interesting this week because we didnt get to work very much, due to my toe surgery last monday. we had to stay in all day monday, tuesday, wednesday, and then almost half of the day on thursdays we dont work because we have a weekly planning session.  so we didnt get to work too much this week, BUT nevertheless, we found a few great families and are very excited to get to know them better. there is Edgar and liliana, Maria and Claudio, horacio, and Ramon arela ramon and lizeth. I pray that the Lord may bless us with the opportunity to help them and get them excited to make the baptismal covenant with God. 

I know that the Lord lives and loves us, and that he places us in the hardest of situations so that we can grow the most. i love what it says in Doctrine and Covenants 98:3,

Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.

on how it says that all the problems and afflictions that we have had will work out for our good and benefit. i have definitely sen that in my time in Cuauhtemoc is that the Lord takes us, gives us challenges, and helps us get through them through faith and repentance. 

May the Lord bless you all in everything you do this week, and i hope that we can all continue to be happy all the time! i love you all!!

love, 

Jason 

-- 

*Elder Newman*

Misión

November 2013 - 2015

Alma 26:12

Monday, February 16, 2015

Mexico Chihuahua Mission Can you find Jason?

Miembros y Misioneros(M&M's): http://youtu.be/ptYEkLOefA8

Jason February 16, 2015

mission bucket list: work in progress 

hey everyone!! what a crayzee week!!! haha lots of interesting things happened, and though we didnt really have investigators at church and it was very heartbreaking to see, we continue to press forward with patience in the Lord and are anticipating for this next week.

hmm, lets see....so this email may be a bit random, but here goes:

it snowed this week!!!!!!!! it was so awesome, and can definitely now check that one off the misión bucket list to be able to see some snow! all the missionaries from other parts of mexico, and the few from ecuador who are in our zone were freaking out because it was the frst time in their life that they had ever seen snow.  it was very cold, and rained a lot this week, and one day it was so cols that the rain that started falling turned into snow, and it was awesome! i will send pictures along with this email. :) :) :) misión bucket list: check

another thing that happened was that we found some great families. We are excited to go back and teach some of these new investigators (ramón and his family, Maribel and Javier, Carmen and her family, etc) one in particular was Jared, who is from La Sierra here in the state of chihuahua, and he speaks english! we set an appointment with him, and taught him, and it was interesting how the spirit prompted us to teach right there in the first lesson the Word of WIsdom. he so badly wans to give up cigarrettes and coffee, and so we invited him to let us take those things away from him right then and there, and he let us!! i have always wanted to take someones vices away, and it happened this week! we finished the lesson, left, and threw them away in the garbage, no worries. missión bucket list: check

lets see...there was a third thing...oh, haha, of corse, to have had surgery on the misión. i know its not really a big deal, literally, but i had an ingrown toenail removed today (hence me writing so late), and am gonna be on meds for a few days. the worst pain was the shot they gave me in my toe. my companion said that my face turned red as i White knuckled the arm rests, lol. the laser was cool...didnt feel a thing, of course, but had never had any kind of any surgery with laser treatment before. #missionexperiences... mission bucket list: check

This week was hard, and i got down on myself a lot, because i dont feel like we have had too much successs lately, but i have learned and continue to learn that I am the one who needs to change and its not about what we desire or the type of success we desire as missionaries, rather the success that the lord Is willing to bless us with, and that when he is ready he will put us in those successful situations when we are ready for them and when he needs us there. i realized that i am the one in the wrong, and that i need to repent and change more, because we really are having success. it may not be baptisms right now or investigators in the chapel, but i have had some of the most memorable lessons that i have ever had here in my misión here in Cuauhtémoc. now, lets check out the photos!! (see other emails :)  thank you all for your suppoet, and know that this Newman is literally becoming a "new man" . Change is required in order for progress and success to come to pass. love you all and have a great week!

love,

Jason 

-- 

*Elder Newman*

Misión

November 2013 - 2015

Alma 26:12

Natalie February 16, 2015

Natalie Love from Cozumel<3 

Well this week flew by! It seems like the time has gone by way too fast! I completed 6 months on the 6th of February!! and 5 months in Mexico, yesterday... WOW. I know what they mean now when they say the time really does go by too fast... Ni modo (oh well) lol 

How is everyone!!? How was Valentine's Day? Sorry I didn't send any greeting last week beforehand but I hope it was fun for everyone! Although of course everyday we should remember to show love towards everyone. Speaking of which, I am trying really hard to develop the attribute of Charity. The scriptures say that if we don't have charity we are nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2,4,5,13. These verses are really short and highly suggest looking them up in the New Testament. I love this topic. I am praying for it because it's not easy to develop. Just think, well at least for me sometimes it's super overwhelming to think that Heavenly Father truly loves EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THE PLANET and all the exact same. Sometimes it just blows my mind. 

So even though Valentine's Day has come and gone I hope this gives you something to think about. Maybe you already pondered it maybe it never even crossed your mind. But that's why I love the scriptures. Siempre, SIEMPRE (Always, ALWAYS) we are going to learn something new from the scriptures, or at the very best we will be reminded of something we had forgotten. 

My challenge this week to you, is to really truly consciously be more charitable this week. Towards EVERYONE. Something my mission President made me think about was this, do we look at people as objects or obstacles or do we look at them as a person with hopes, dreams and wishes just like us..? Try not to honk so much at that person in front of you when there is a green light.. maybe he was distracted texting his family about their upcoming event or maybe he was thinking how to get out of his depression... I have no idea. It could be anything. What I have learned early on in this mission is to remember that everyone has a reason for everything they do. And we need to try and find their need(s) to help them and understand them like the Savior sees them. 

Now as a closing thought, this means we need to think of others more and ourselves less.. If we think, 'why are they judging me, why aren't they helping me?'... well guess what you're doin. You're thinking about YOU. You're still thinking about you. I hope my thoughts make sense and that together we can 'try a little harder, to be a little better'. -President Gordon B. Hinckley ''We Have a Work to Do'' 1997

 I love you all and have a terrific week!

Hermana Newman <3

P.S. For more study about Charity you can study in Preach My Gospel chapter 10 or Moroni 7 in the Book of Mormon :) Hasta Luego

Monday, February 9, 2015

Natalie February 9, 2015

One last contact

Hey everyone!! Well another week has come and gone. Miracles are happening here on our island of Cozumel. I have decided that I'm going to buy a house here for vacations further ahead in the future. As well as the mission says because it's not normal for someone- a missionary to be in the same place for so long. Rumors say that at 6 months is when President takes someone from an area max. But there is a Sister who has been in the same area of Cancun for 8 months so who knows lol 

So with the picture of last week. The miracle of the pelota (ball).. We were walking home and it was about 9:05 pm so it was good time to be home. Unless we are teaching a lesson we are instructed to return home as close to 9:00 as possible but 9:30 is the very latest... So anyway we we rounding the corner when my companion starting kicking a dirty tennis ball (almost spelled durdy haha my English is going bad). With this tennis ball she kicked it hard and it crossed the street and decided she wanted to keep it and wash it so we went after it and in the process I refocused my vision to see a man who was trying to push his car close to the curb. I thought to myself maybe we should help him and then thought no we need to go home but then I was grateful for my companion who had the same thought and asked if I wanted to help him. I nodded my head and felt thankful she had the same feeling. We ran and asked if he wanted help and with great enthusiasm welcomed the help. I was surprised because normally the people refuse our help. I felt filled with the Spirit and energy as we talked and helped him. It turns out that he told us years ago he was going to be baptized himself into the church but for some reason or another that happened, he wasn't. Well he wanted to talk to us and offered us to sit but we told him gladly another day when we had more time so we went home and a few days later went to visit him again and he told us that he had found God through the Jehovah's Witness religion. And that if he wasn't a part of them he would join the church because he is fascinated with the organization but with Jehovah's Witness as well. 

Since then we haven't been able to visit him but that experience has taught me many things. One that there really are so many good people in the world even though they aren't a part of the church. That's why were are here to simply add to the truths that they have already learned. This experience reminded me of that concept and that the Light of Christ truly is inside each and everyone of us, we just need to find it in others so we can help them. I also learned that it really is always there is someone left before the night is over that you can help, change, or with whom you need to talk to. Yesterday that happened to me too. It was about 8:45 and we were getting ready to leave an investigators house I was praying that we could contact one more person and Heavenly Father put her brother in her house for us to contact and chat with. It really is the little differences and small happenings that make all the difference. I really do testify that as long as our desires are right and true, Heavenly Father will and does answer our prayers. I am so grateful for my Savior and close this testimony in His name, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

P.S. Did you know that Amen signifies firm and true? It also means, yes it is or can be that it is. Fun fact in case you didn't know!

Love from Cozumel,

Hermana  Newman

Jason February 9, 2015

$400 peso pedicure

hey everyone!!

so, im sure you are all dying to know what i mean by the title. its just that an Elder and I had to go to the foot doctor, because i have an ingrown toenail and he had another issue. When we went, and it came my turn, he just looked at my feet, started to put some liquids and stuff on them, and in examining my toe, we werent able to actually cut some off cause he wasnt the doctor for that and so i basically just got a "foot check up", but nothing was really done. just a foot massage/pedicure, of the which cost 400 pesos, so there ya go. more follow up-later.

How is everyone??! aw, it was so awesome, yesterday Isabel, Karen, and Elizabeth came to church!!!!! we are so excited for them and happy for them, as they are on date to be baptized for the 7th of march. they are probably our principal investigators right now, but we also found some new ones this week, such as Maribel, Cecilia and her kids, and yesenia. so many great things are happening in our área!

also, i am really happy because my companion is learning more, but also because the hermanas in my district have confidence in me and we are able to work together to have success. i am, however, always so thankful to Heavenly Father and Jesús Chriast for blessing us with success, because remember, ALL success in our lives that we have is thanks to the Holy Ghost and the Blessings that we recieve from our Heavenly Father/Jesús Christ. also, just like ammon and his brethren, much suffering and trials are required before we are able to succeed or accomplish that which the Lord has commanded of us. Its so brillinant, really, how the Lord has designed it: We are here in our lives, we recieve a trial, we turn to God for help, he lifts the burden, but not completely, we suffer and battle so that we learn, and when it is done, we gain testimony and experience. now, that repeatedly over the course of a lifetime, is what helps us become the Sons and Daughters that our Heavenly Father wants us to become. I Love the Lord!!

I hope we can all find joy in the fact that when we recieve trials this week, that we can enjoy them and delight in the fact that the Savior even considers us worth the time and trouble to correct. I love you all, and have a great week!

love,

jason 

-- 

*Elder Newman*

Misión

November 2013 - 2015

Monday, February 2, 2015

Natalie February 2, 2015

I'm cold!!!!... not really

Hey everyone!!! Hope everyone had a great week! So I'm officially a Cozumelanian because it's been a little 'cold' or chilly lately haha. Since we're on an island there is a little more wind here and my body has adjusted (to a 'weak' one) because I got sick and when the climate changes rapidly from hot one day to breezy and windy the next people start to get sick. Just a common cold but I've had a little bit of a cough too. Don't get me wrong it's not that bad it could be worse I just think it's funny haha 

Well how has everyone been? We have been doing great! There are so many miracles from the Lord I can't even believe it. There are too many to describe but one is my companion. She has adjusted well and she knows she is here for a reason and can really make a difference. Her personality is coming out and she is just a doll, a real sweetheart. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to exercise my leadership skills and take charge when necessary. I don't like making decisions a whole lot, I like to go with the flow unless I have an opinion I will then say it so when we need to make decisions I'm learning best how to decide what is right and how our decisions can both help my companion and I grow. 

I know we can both be better as we all can try a little harder but one thing I can sure testify of is that when you truly ask in faith, with the Spirit in mind, He will guide you. We cannot doubt if it is the Spirit or not, as we learn from the scriptures if it is something good, it comes from Christ and from the Spirit. If it is not something good, it doesn't come from the Spirit. It's as simple as that. 

No baptisms yet but that's okay. I'm trying to not let that get to me. I know that there is other work right now for me to do. The key is to just keep moving forward, if we at all stop we move backwards. Something that I really liked, that one of the sisters told me is that as we teach we learn, and as we learn, we teach. I love this! I hope we can apply this into our lives and try a little hard to be a little better always!

Much love, 

Hermana Newman

Jason February 2, 2015

Happy birthday to my companion, Elder Johnson, as he turns 19 today!! way to go, buddy!

last week, i ran out of time and didnt get to writing a group email, so this week i am gonna take care of it first. we had a great week this week! lots of new things are happening in our área, and we are finding some great people. on Saturday, we found a girl named Karina. she is 18 years old and is what we missionaries call "un investigador de oro" (a Golden investigator). She accepted the message of the Restoration of the Gospel yesterday, and has a baptismal date for the 7th of march, though if she keeps it up with the desire she showed us yesterday, she can probably get baptized the 28th of february. we are stoked to be able to teach her.

we often do divisions/exchanges here, and it could be anywhere from a few hours to 2 days or so. this week, i remember that we did exchanges, and Elder Gallup and I (one of the the zone leaders) went out and we got 17 contacts within 2 hours. it was a crazy experience! we decided that for every person that passed us that we didnt open our mouths to talk to, we were to do 10 pushups right there in the Street. we didnt do any though because...well, we talked to everyone! lots of following up to do on that one...

this week, we did our best to focus in on doing all that we could to help the investigators get to church, but yet again none of the ones we are teaching came. It breaks your heart, but its interesting and comforting to know that The Lord hears and answers all of our prayers. Sunday after sunday, we have struggled with this, but the Lord always seems to provide a way. so much that we ended up having 2 investigators and invited 6 people from the streets in church, and its always good to have our faith tested, that way when the difficulty comes, we will really be able to see if the faith we have is unshakeable or not. "I love the Lord--in him my soul delight" (see 2 nephi 4)

i have officially decided that the temple is the thing that i miss the most about home. if you have a temple recommend, please go to the temple. Having a recommend (and being worthy of it) and not going to the temple is like God telling you that you are allowed to enter his kingdom, and you refuse to enter because "you dont have time". i think ive decided thats the first thing im gonna do leaving the airport, haha.

not a ton of new things happened this week, but one thing that is new is that Elder Johnson and I have come up with this plan on how we can both become more converted to the Lord and the misión that he has sent us on in 4 weeks. It consists of some stricter rules and guidelines, but i know that it is gonna bless the both of us. To help ELder Johnson learn spanish even better, we go out and contact but we Split up. we are still within sight and sound of one another, but its cool cause it forces him to speak to the person and that way i dont do more talking than him. haha and before i forget, i just have to mention that a few nights ago, my companion Heard the alarm go off at 6 am, and he for some reason quickly threw the covers off of him, only to end up throwing himself off the top bunk and landing on the ground on his shoulder, hitting his head on the heater (while it was turned off) so i think for me, that was the best alarm i couldve woken up to was the noise he made because i definitely woke up smiling and laughing!

well, i hope you have a great week, everyone, and ill try to do better on writing down/remembering more experiences, and sharing them so that i can spice up my emails a bit better. well, until next time! love you all!!!!!!!!!

love,

Jason



-- 

*Elder Newman*

Misión

November 2013 - 2015

Alma 26:12