Elder R: Se va. Yo: Me quedo‏...

...By which I mean "Elder R served a great mission and that Elder Ri... is going to be great by which I mean already is great," so that's what's up.

With Elder R gone, I began to think a lot about time, and how scarce a resource it really is. This doesn't last forever; time must be used in the best possible way to help out the most people possible. However, we shouldn't value time over people - something else that I learned last night. So yeah... who can be sad when one's doing the work of Salvation? It's fantastic! I love it! 

Yesterday, we had stake conference. And it was super powerful - the presiding authority, Elder Montoya, shared a story of when he saved his son from falling, then pulled that into the Atonement when the Savior cried, "Abba, Father!" then shared what James E. Talmage wrote about the physical cause of the Savior's death - a broken heart. Later, the choir, which was fantastic and accompanied by a violinist, sand "Abide with me, 'tis eventide." I threw the tears back, but they were threatening to come out because I felt the Spirit incredibly strongly. The closing prayer was fantastic as well. It was just an all around good day.

My newest companion is Elder Riveros, a Peruano. Meaning, he's from Peru. He can play the piano like a boss; we also have a lot in common. I'm super excited to work with him... and improve my Spanish accent with him as well. :D

Well, I've got a lot of other people to write, so this is going to have to be it. Sorry! Also, about dropbox, I already have a profile but I haven't asked President about it yet. Also, mail rarely makes it out here, so it'll be a while before I get all the packages. I'll prolly get them all at once.}

Well, be thankful for things and eat an extra pound of mashed potatoes for me! ...They're so uncommon out here... *sadface*

Thanks again for all your support, time, and e'mails!

11/11/13

We're going to see a baptism this week! A great brother with a lot of faith is going to be baptized this Friday. It's been a pretty long journey for him, but he's super excited about it. All we've got to do is make sure Satan doesn't have his way with him and he'll be cleansed from his sins in no time flat.

Also, we get to have a special Zone conference with Elder de Hoyos on Thursday, so I'm really excited for that. I'm gonna learn tons.

Well, that's it for this week. Thanks, everyone, for your support and prayers!

11/4/13

So Elder Ross and I are walking down the street at night to talk with one of our super chosen investigators. We walk past a dark driveway, and this insane chihuahua runs out at me, all yappin' and barking and whatnot. I'm just thinking, "Oh, great. Ignore it, and if it tries to attack me more, I'll-"

My thoughts are interrupted by four more Chihuahuas bolting out to the support of their zergling I mean chihuahua friend. At this point, I'm thinking, "OH NO WHY THIS IS BAD" and I pull off my backpack, swing it around, and start dancing-running around so the chihuahuas don't get their possibly rabid teeth on my heels. Swinging, running-dancing, and shouting, I eventually drive off the enemy player's zerg rush I mean attack and Elder Ross and I laugh on the way home.

Next time it happens, I'm shouting "COME AT ME, BRO!"

(I asked him about his first Day of the Dead holiday...) My Día de los Muertos was... quite unlike any of Dad´s, I imagine. Why? Simple - it was JUST LIKE HALLOWEEN. Just trick'or'treating lasted for... two? Three days? Yeah... so it wasn't really all that different for me. Maybe in the smaller pueblos it's a little more insane or interesting or something like that. So... yeah. Not much happened in regards to that.

In other things, however, a lot did happen this week! We had a zone conference, and President asked me to share what Elder Ross and I have been doing to find new people to teach, and as a result, the Bishop, who was also present, found out about it (drawing to get people to ask us"what's up?"). Then, during a very powerful testimony meeting, the Bishop bore his about the work of salvation, and shared about how he felt about Elder Ross leaving so soon and about my drawing ability. Soon after, everyone asked me about my drawings, and I gladly shared my own little gospel art library, composed of Christ coming to the Americas, Moses crossing the Red Sea, Mary in Front of the Empty Tomb, the Liahona, and the Armor of God.

10/28/13

The primary program was yesterday. It was really good, because it talked about the restoration, plan of salvation, the gospel, and it had some nice music. We managed to bring 5 people to church for the second time, and they're all fantastic. They want everything, and none of them want to miss church anymore.

And then while we were waiting for a family to bring us food, I was playing the piano.

And then the girl with the book in her hands (cropped out) takes her turn and completely destroys me at playing the thing. I mean, it doesn't take much, since I've never really focused on doing it over the past... what, 9, 10 years? ...I still like the photo, however.

But then other things happened.

By which I mean we've finally did the Fall Back thing down here in Southern Southern California - I mean Mexico (because really, sometimes I'm walking around and I feel like I'm back in SoCal) - so last night, at 8:00, it felt like we should've been heading back to the house but we still had an hour left. That was tiring.

And then that same morning, I'd woken up at 4:30, thinking it was 5:30, telling myself, "Yeah, I've got another hour of sleep. Thank goodness for time change." Then the alarm clock goes of at 5:30, us thinking it's 6:30 because the cell phone doesn't automatically change time. I go check the clock, thinking, "Hey, why don't I feel so rejuvinated like I thought I should?" Turns out, we still have another hour of sleep. I prove it to Elder Ross, and then we both fall asleep for another hour.

Ah, it was so nice.

Something that I'm looking forward to is when I finish the Book of Mormon - I'm about halfway through again, but what I wanted to do next time, is take a green pen and bracket in every reference to the Lord and count it up. Sometimes I want to start doing it right now, but I think it'd be more rewarding to do it later. So yeah, I'm excited for that.

The people in Atlaco are really nice. It was actually cold enough here some nights that I put on my jacket and gloves, and one night I slept with my hoodie. So that was a lot of fun. As for the surrounding pueblos, we usually travel to at least one each day. The furthest we've had to ride in bus so far is one hour, and that's the furthest pueblo we actually have work in out here. There are others that are further, but there's not even so much as a reference for anyone over there. So that's interesting.

FROM

Elder Newman, that crazy guy down south or up north depending on where you are