Sep. 30, 2014

Aaaand... well, last week was relatively uneventful, sadly. I want investigators, but we've been having some hard times finding them. We did find some Saturday and Sunday night, but because of our Zone Conference yesterday, we weren't able to really get to our appointments. Therefore, we're going to be looking to recover them and gain more, because this week it's "2 for 1" as my Zone Leader said - we have the opportunity to get an investigator to have 2 church attendances on Saturday and Sunday because of General Conference.

Anyway, that's good that Andrew's left arm was broken (His little brother had a bike accident the week before). I don't know how I could live if I break my right arm - although I suppose I could finally have a reason to be ambidextrous. I also crashed on my bike on Saturday - there was a small gap between some grates in the road, and I was super deep in thought. Before I know it, I'm flying forward as my bike tire gets wedged into the gap, completely stopping the bike but not me. I was just fine - just a little sore in the right arm and scraped up. That makes three crashes.

I've been getting some strong hints that I'll be leaving Maravatio next change. I don't want to go, but that's how I feel it's going to happen. So, I've got to get the area very well prepared - my companion needs to know the area, we need to have plenty of investigators, and so forth. Everything needs to be ready for the time I go. And if I stay, then it's all good - I can continue working as normal.

And we're going to baptize this week, so I'm really happy about that. I didn't write yesterday because we had a Zone Conference in a city two hours away from here and we didn't get back until 7:00 yesterday. So... yes.

I also crashed on my bike.

BAPTISM SOON

I'M REALLY EXCITED

AND GENERAL CONFERENCE

EVERYONE WATCH THAT

And so ends this email.

Elder Newman

Sep. 22, 2014

My new companion is Elder G, from Utah. He's a big guy, and he's got some troubles with Spanish and keeping up with me on my bike, but aside from that, he's a good guy. Training's a WHOLE LOT HARDER THAN I THOUGHT. But that's because I pretty much have to carry the area by myself, lead the district correctly, and make sure that my companion still feels well. I'm just super glad that he doesn't complain (he got some cramps last week... :P) He's willing to work hard and to learn, and I've been learning a lot better recently, surprisingly enough. It took me a few days to get used to this kind of responsibility - but I've got it now.

But yeah... I didn't adjust to having a brand-new new companion as fast as I would have liked, so not much happened in the area. On the positive side, however, I did manage to break my all time record of contacts. 42 contacts in a single week! To make it even better, all of those happened from Wednesday to Sunday. On Saturday, I fought to get 10 - that was a task. But now I know I can do it again, so I SHALL!

I was in the city la Noche Mexicana (Mexican Independence Day, Sep. 16), and WOW that was a long night. I forgot my earplugs here in Maravatio, so I had to sleep to the sound of fireworks, music, and shouting. So... that was interesting.

Also, I'm now very nearly Mexican. I'm forgetting English, my accent is getting better, I eat a lot of tortillas, y nopal es lo mejor (and cactus is the best). Puse mucho en mis tacos de chuleta con fréjoles (¿se supone que se escribe con la "e" y no con la "i"?) y también salsa de mole. Fue muy rico. Sé que me falta mucho aún, pero allí voy. ("I put a lot on my tacos cutlet with beans (is it supposed to be spelled with the "e" and not the "i "? ) And mole sauce. It was very rich. I know a lot yet, but there I go." Thank you, Google Translate! I think...)

Love you all, and we'll see you all later!

Elder Newman

Sep. 15, 2014

EVERYTHING IS ABOUT TO GO REALLY WELL OUT HERE IN MARAVATIO - we brought about 4 people to church, 3 for the first time and one for the second time. I was incredibly happy for that.

Anyways, as for changes, I stayed in Maravatio, like Presidente Whitehead said I would. But, to make things interesting, I'M TRAINING!  I like training. Well, I'd better like it. I'm going to find out who tomorrow. I'm super excited for this. Nervous, but if the Lord trusts me, I trust me. It'll be an adventure, seeing as I've never done this before and the new Elder's American, so who knows how much Spanish he's got. But either way, I'm excited to meet him tomorrow. I'll send a pic when I can (prolly next week).

AAAAAAND... well, G and D are still doing well. It really helps that D's daughter and grandchildren are members that are almost 100% active (like.... 99.9999999999999% active), and for G, I hope we can get some of her family members baptized so that she can have a little more support. Also, the spacebar doesn't work quite as well as I'd like. BUT OH WELL. Things are well, we're progressing, and things are going well!

In Maravatio, there's a railway that passes right through the middle of town. I have to have crossed and walked along that thing more than 100 times now. It's also very, very loud, so whenever it passes, the entire town knows. Well, almost the whole town.

Well, that's about it for right now. And some music is just straight out strange. I'm glad that it's not all over the place and that it doesn't really distract me.

Love you all, and thanks for your support!

Elder Newman

Sep. 8, 2014

G and D are doing just fantastic! D's just a springy, hard working older man, and G just loves participating in the Church. I hope she gets a calling soon - it'll help her out a ton. New investigators... not so much, although we did find a sister that lived in Twin Falls for quite some time. Her youngest son was born there; they've been here in México again for about the same amount of time as I have. It was really fun. Only problem is that I barely remember anything about Idaho, except that we live in Meridian and that's right next to Boise and other small, insignificant details. Like sarsaparilla.

So... in other news about other things... it's the last week of the change, so that'll interesting. We're almost positive about who's staying and who's going, which is nice, but we have no idea who'll be coming. I hope that one of the sisters in the district gets another sister that has more experience - they've had a tough time - and I hope to either get an ex-zone Leader (doubtful), ex-District Leader (also doubtful), or somebody like that. Someone with experience - although training would be amazing, too. But who knows - all I know is that odds are very likely that I'm staying, so that's good enough for me.

Aaaand... well, it was a tough and a tiring week without much progress, with the exception of G and D being confirmed. That made me really happy.

Well, that's about it for everything now. Although I have realized that I have changed A TON over the course of the mission and that I've changed A LOT during my 2.5 months out here in Maravatio. I love it so much. And I don't want to go home at all - but that's coming, whether I like it or not.

I try not to think of such things. I'd rather think about baptizing families.

And no photos because I barely took any.

And CHAP is still in use! (My program to analyze the phone calls of the missionaries here)

Elder Newman

Building by Destruction‏

I love strange titles like that

Anyways, back to the (way more) important stuff:

I tore down a wall last week:

It was for Domingo, who got baptized yesterday, with Griselda and someone else who was baptized by the sister missionaries:

​Things are going really well here in Maravatio. The Church is growing - we had 80 people in Church yesterday. Last week there were only 65 people there. Now I just need to find a massive family to baptize and then I will be a happy man.

Well, I am a happy man already. But then I'll be a lot happier. And they will be too. So, if you know and families down here in Maravatio that I could visit... tell me so I can help them please.

It's incredibly important.

Also I had a dream last night too...I think we were in the house of President Whitehead getting ready to go back home. You (Mom) and Dad were there because that's how it's going to happen. Aaand... I was sad because I didn't want to go :( "I don't want to go!" 

Thanks for all your support, everyone!

Elder Newman