Hello. ..hola...kuiraba--it's all the same right?

hello everyone!! 

man this week was insane. i am learning a new language, happy birthday, mom!, we had a baptism, and the church flooded. 

lets start with number 1. we all know that the indigenous people who live in the united states are known as native american indians, right? they have their own tribes, culture, language, etc. well, here in mevico, its quite similar. here in chihuahua,m especially, the natives are known as tarahumadas, and they have their own language and culture too. the main dialect they speak is called raramuri, and the president has asked us to start taking classes. whaaaaat!!?! haha its pretty hard, but i just hope i will at least be able to use my notes when speaking to someone because i have no idea how i will ever be able to memorize it. but how sweet is that right! i want you guys to look up the terms tarahumada and raramuri on wikipedia cause its really cool and you can all see what its all about. yay! 

happy birthday, mom! 49! way to go :) 

our dearest investigator tere (short for teresa) got baptized this saturday, and it was so amazing to see her take this big step in her life. everytime she prays she tears up, and when she got in the font and the prayer was said, she started to tremble too. the spirit literally just filled her up all the time and we are thankful to have had the opportunity to teach her. she truly is converted and knows who her savior is, and that through his infinite love, we can all make it back to live with our heavenly father someday. love it! 

also, the church flooded. i think someone left the valve in the kitchen sink open, only to find that there was no water that came through (typical, seeing as how we have had water off and on due to construction for like 3 months)...anyway, but something must have happened where the water started in the middle of the night and sure enough, the whole hallway and a few rooms were covered with water!! it was crazy, and it took like 12 missionaries and 45 min to clean it up. 

well, i will send pictures, but know that this last week was great, and we are continuing to find more and more new investigators, of whom we hope to be able to help reach the goal of baptism, and more importantly, the temple! thank you all for your support and never forget that we have a heavenly father who lives and loves us, as well as a savior and redeemer, named jesus christ. 

till next time! 

Jason 

-- 

**Elder Newman**

Photo taken March 8, 2014

E Womack, Tere, E Newman

Photo taken March 7, 2014

My district

Photo taken March 7, 2014

The church flooded!! 

Photo taken March 4, 2014

Max and i after doing service at a members house 

March 3, 2014

I love it here! 

My campanion makes me laugh so much! we have a great time together and are loving serving with all our hearts and putting our trust in the lord. the main thing on our minds is Hermana Maria Teresa Cisneros (we call her "tere"). she is getting baptized this saturday! we are so excited for her and will definitely send pictures. Ever since we met her, I have been saying that she is my favorite and now she is getting baptized! if you can, pray for her that she will be able to abstain from coffee this week before her baptism. the work is going great with our other investigators too! 

For example, we were just walking along one of the main roads in our area, when all of a sudden, this guy comes up to us, and in perfect english he says "hey, are you the church guys?" and we were so confused at what to say, only because we didnt know wether to respond in english or spanish haha. but it was great we were like "yes!" and he said that his name was Pedro, and that he is looking for a church to go to but isnt sure which one to go to because theres so many. HALLELUJAH!! haha we got talking to him and he, for lack of better terminology, was just a super cool guy. flat out. we got his address and everything and he didnt come to church with us like we invited, but its ok cause were gonna go visit him today ortomorrow and see if we cant place a fecha with him haha (Baptismal date).

Church yesterday was so good! we had 5 investigators come with us and it was sweet to see them smiling and embraced by members. Erasmo, our most recent and diligent investigator, who has a baptismal date for the 22nd (yay!) loved it and we are excited to be teaching him too. he is awesome, he is a paramedic/firefighter/security guy at soriana, the local grocery store, and probably has other training that we dont know about. we love him and has recieved his answer to the truthfulness of the book of mormon, as well as i know we all can. 

this week may be a bit shorter than usual, but its because i want time to send you all pictures of how its going out here in chihuahua! so i will finish here, but as always, know that I love you all, and that the Lord is Hastening his work like never before, and if we heed to his counsel and live the gospel as we have been instructed to, we will be able to joyfully recieve the blessings and mansions that our Heavenly Father has promised us in the Celestial Kingdom. Hasta Luego! 

Jason 

-- 

**Elder Newman**

Photo taken February 8, 2014

technically a baptism, just that they moved to another family. but the familia Silva and the original missionaries that taught them

Photo taken January 27, 2014

me stirring the laundry haha...its to mix the soap around 

Photo taken January 24, 2014

me eating quesadillas with jalapeño inside! 

Photo taken February 18, 2014

us with la familia Reyes (the wife, clara is taking the picture)

the latest one :)

New Zone Picture

we did just have exchanges last week though, so its a bit different now...im still in the same area though! 

-- 

(right) Elder Newman, (left) Elder Womack

yeah...its pretty hot here.

How is everyone!? everything is great down here in Chihuahua. bytheway, just in case i didnt mention, a i am still in the same area, and b that area is in the capital city of Chihuahua. my mission covers about 3/4 of the state of Chihuahua, but also i am in the actual city of chihuahua right now. anyway, things are great! as you can read in the subject of the email, its so hot here now! about once a week well have an overcast day or a windy day, but generally the sun is out and there isnt a single cloud in the sky. 

in regards to the work, our area and ward is seriously the best. i wish i could work here my whole mission. E. Womack and I found about 9 new investigators, a few of which are families, and we are so excited to be working with them. we have a baptismal date for Hermana Tere (Maria Teresa) for the 8th, and then one for our newest investigator, Erazmo, who we only found last thursday. speaking of, i loved yesterday so much. ok well i guess to start, he came to church and it was fun to see him take in all the info he learned, but then for the second hour for gospel principles, the teacher didnt come to class, and so E. Womack and I had to teach the class! aaah nervous! but it was alright. we taught about the Holy Ghost, and how his sacred funcion is to not only testify of truth, but to testify that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. and to that, I add my testimony as well, and i have recieved a conformation of it over and over again while being ou there in the mission field. 

oh, ok so get this, remember how in my last email I wrote about us performing as missionaries, singing and playing instruments, and how it might become a regular thing? well, our mission president asked us if we would MAKE A CD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aaaah i am so stoked and so we will be going to the city of Cuauhtemoc again soon to do so. i cant believe how big this is getting and am so excited to be able to share our talents together and make a cd for the mission, as well as send a copy home to our families. 

well, i know this weeks wasnt that long, but i want more time to send more pictures so although this week was short and sweet, know that I love you all and God be with you till we meet again! soon...

Till next week! , 

Jason 

-- 

**Elder Newman**

Hola

Week 12 - Drums anyone?

Oh man, this week was sweet.

From monday to sunday evening, $ other missionaries and I traveled to another city, Cuauhtemoc (coo-aww-tem-awk) to participate in something that we never thought we would get to do as missionaries. The Zone there was having an activity where they were able to rent an auditorium for 3 days for free, and in this 3 day event would include music and a movie, from about 6 t0 9 for anyone who wanted to come, absolutely free. the music part? well thats where we came in. we all knew how to sing well, and of the 5 of us, 4 of us could play instruments. There was a piano for Hermana Smith, who is like a demi god at the piano, Hermana Jones brought her violin, Elder Mendoza is amazing at the acoustic guitar, and  through a lot of help from members and Elder Tovar, the Zone leader of Cuauhtemoc who worked so hard to put this al together, we were able to find me my specialty...a drum set. 

it was huge...we were able to get on the radio station to announce it and talk about the church for 15 min or so ( i didnt do that one personally), and we were able to be on TV as the local news station filmed us singing and displaying a little sneak peek of what this event would be like. all the members who owned shops or businesses had the posters advertising it on the windows of theeir shops and such, and we even heard from Elder Tovar that the Governor of Chihuahua wants us to do it in other places in the state of Chihuahua. for that reason, we already have plans to do it again in a few weeks and then i think again after that. 

I mean, i never thought this would happen, and although it was only for 4 of the 11 songs we played, i got to play the DRUMS!!!!! it was an awesome experience! not just the drums part, but the entire week in general! i also became a lot closer to all the missionaries that i spent time with, and the best part of this whole thing was the spirit that we got to feel and how we helped about 450-500 people feel it too, and for 3 days in a row! 

This is impossible to forget. i mean it was just too cool. however, by all means i am ready to get back to work though here in our area. 

happy valentines day to all, and know that I love you all and am glad to have you all in my life! 

Jason

-- 

**Elder Newman**

Week 11 We had a baptism....sort of.....Animo! ( excitement)

hey everyone, this bites., i accidentally hit the delete button halfway through typing the general email, so im not sure what to do haha...i guess ill just start over. 

we are doing great! there is a facebook page for the mission if you are interested, just search mision mexico chihuahua. i should be in a few pics. also for those who dont know,
jasonnatalienewman.blogspot.com is the site for my sister and i as missionaries. she just got her call to mexico cancun! i am so stoked for her...check it out! 

some fun experiences: Elder womack had to eat about 3 punds of rice at one house, and speaking of food we have eaten tacos practically every day at the moembers homes for like a week straight. definitely learn how to endure to the end during the meal visits!  this may even have been the same day that we accidentally wore the exact same thing without even realizing it. we also had a crazy wind/dust storm here, and we had to at some points cover our faces with one hand and cover our mouths with our ties in the other hand. it made me wonder when they are gonna open up the Iraq baghdad mission or the Afghanistan jnhdiasuert689w34ptvw mission :P  

this saturday, we had a zone baptism, meaning all the baptisms from each companionship in the zone got baptized together. there were about 9 in total, and 3 of them were originally our baptisms, but because they moved to another are, they went to the other missionaries. haha but its all good, because im so happy for them and i loved being able to teach them. also, we have been instructed to invite everyone we talk to to be baptized within the 1st time contacting them! youd think it would be scary, but really the spirit just takes over and we have actually had 3 people say yes to it. so im confident we will continue to see miracles and tender mercies in our area. 

I love the mission, and i know that it is truly shaping me in to the missionary...into the man i want and need to become. stay tuned for next week! 

**Elder Newman**

New Look

New look and content . You can even subscribe to receive an email with new content.  Check it out !

Natalie is getting me some pictures to
add for her. 

Call opened :)

Mexico Cancun mission.   Reports June 25, 2014
 
She is so excited. 

Stayed tuned for changes to the blog layout.

Natalie's Open Mission Call Event

This is event update that Natalie posted in Facebook. 

Call has arrived

Yesterday we waited for the mail person to deliver.   Brandon had instructions to check for it before he left for work.   He found the mail person and got the mail before they got to the mailbox.  No call :(  he gave the news to Josh and Josh let Natalie know.   She had previously switched with someone to get her second job covered but now was free to work. 
She got home from work around 10:30 PM and felt the need to check the mail box anyway.   Ta daaaa.  There it was.  Yea she has it.  Now she needs to try and get work covered so she can have her opening party.  
Stay tuned......

Still Waiting .....

Natalie just checked the mail box.....nothing :(    Hopefully tomorrow.  :)

team supreme :)

Fortune Cookie

had chinese food and this is the fortune i got. this was after the super hard sunday we had too with 0 investigators at the church

Week 10 - Testigos de Jehova :/ (Jehovas Witnesses)

Hola mis amigos!

this week was the best!!! so many different things happened, and the best part was how we had 4 investigators at church yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

anyway, i dont remember what happened on every single day, but i do have some experiences from some days that were particularly worth mentioning. 

Wednesday: 

All the missionaries in our zone and another zone went to the main stake center, the one right next to the mission office, for a big event with a member of the area presidency, Elder DeOllos (no idea how to spell that). It was a big thing for us...we all had to shine our shoes and get haircuts and what not. we talked a lot about how this missionary work is impossible to fulfill only with full time missionaries, but how rather the other half is with members, and how we need to work together to prepare the world for the 2nd coming of the Savior. I always love the meetings with the Mission President, because he always gets his turn to speak and oh man he is so cool and powerful in speaking that i get chills every time. 

Thursday:

i felt like i was dying. i dont know what it was but i got the flu so so bad for thursday night. my body was weak, i had no appetite, i could feel my heart beating in my brain...not good. and it was weird to because yes i took tons of meds, but the next morning i was fine enough to have the divisions. 

Friday:

We had divisions/exchanges with two other elders in our district, Elders Hernandez and Gallup. Elder Hernandez came here to my area so that meant I had to go to his area and be with Elder Gallup. It wasnt my favorite thing...at all really, because the area was so desolate at some parts, and then other parts it was mexican suburbia:just lines and lines of houses! also it was difficult cause i had to carry my big heavy bag with all my clothes and such almost the whole time because we started the divisions at around 12:30 and then didnt go back to the house till like 5. it just made me really appreciate my area, but nevertheless we had an intersesting evxperience together....(continued on sat.)

Saturday: 

This morning during our Companionship study at the house, i saw a family start to come to our door outside. elder Gallup looked and he yelled "TESTIGOS!!!!!" haha it was funny and i was so nervous yet pumped at the same time. we opened the door and im just smiling bigger than ever because it was just an awkward situation and funny cause e gallup was making me laugh. anyway, we were respectful, of course, but it was kind of an oxymoron: we, the missionaries, got our door knocked on, and had other "missionaries" come teach us! haha we talked in total for about 15 min and i finally get what they believe now, and in the most respectful way i can say, it just doesnt make sense. lets just say i am grateful for modern revelation, for the book of mormon, and oh man for the Doctrine and covenants, i LOVE the doctrine and covenants. 

we switched back companions and What do I come back to? :the potential of about 15 people coming to church, and 2 new families! I love elder womack...he is just the greatest. 

Sunday:

yesterday was my favorite. I was just lit up all day, because we had 4 investigators come, a less active, and 3 little girls who were part of the families we brought. aaah it was literally a heavenly day. we are so excited to teach all of them, and im happy they felt the spirit. I will tell more about them next week. 

also, later last night we went to visit an investigator who has a big desire to really know what the doctrine of christ is. We are teaching him and last night, Elder womack and I placed a baptismal date with him for the 8th of march. we are just hoping and praying that he will be able to attend church cause that is the only hard thing for him, because of his work schedule. but the spirit was so powerful and we just left the house with smiles and confidence. it was awesome! 

well, until next week my friends...take care and miss you all! 

Love, 

Jason

 

-- 

**Elder Newman**

Call has been issued.

Natalie received a text from her Bishop.   He looked at her status and it says that a call was issued on the 31st.  So she will get her letter next week. 
Yea!