Well That Was Fun

Small towns that we visit frequently: 2, really. Acambay and Santiago Acutzilapan. They're both about 40 minutes away from Atlacomulco, and there are other pueblos that we visit on occasion. Well, Santiago Acutzilapan we don't visit that much, really. We spend most of our time in Atlaco and Acambay. 

Typical day:

6:30 wake up, do exercise, chower, make breakfast.

8:00 Personal study. Right now, I spend half an hour reading Preach my Gospel and the other half hour reading the Book of Mormon.

9:00 Companioniship study. We study things that we feel we can improve on as a companionship, share what we learned, and read the missionary manual. We also plan lessons and important things.

10:00 Language study. I help my companion learn English while I try to find something new about Spanish. Kinda hard.

10:30 Out to work. We typically don't have any appointments in the morning, so this is when we go look for where people live, draw in the downtown, and get other necessary tasks done.

2:00 is when we eat for an hour. Lately it's been caldo de pollo. Getting kinda tired of it, but that's okay.

Then it's the afternoon, when we typically have all our appointments and all the visits that are fixed.

During the whole day, whenever we're on buses and taxis going from one place to another, we try to contact the driver or the passengers to try and get some more investigators. During the day, we visit everyone, from members to less active members to investigators.

9:00 we go home, plan, and get ready for bed, and by

10:30, I like to be in bed, trying to sleep.

And that's my day!

Also, I might be able to play the vioplin today, if we've got time (I sure hope so).

Anyways, Acambay is doing... okay. The family home evenings are helping, but the people's Catholic roots go suuuuuper deep. When the members first moved to Acambay, in fact, the people there caused a lot of problems for them just for not being Catholic. Pretty scary stuff, in fact, but it's calmed down quite a bit - the Lord blessed them a ton with their agriculture, and now the people go to them to buy some things. One family grows tomatoes there, something all the locals had said was impossible. They got a little bit of respect for that. So yeah, I'm thinking it may be a couple months.

Anyways, in regards to things out here, we've got a baptism planned for the same day when we've got a special Christmas conference and my BIRTHDAY! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D His name's Mario; he's about 80 or something like that. He loves everything about the Church, and he's trying to get his family members to join in on the fun, too!

I've got less than a week left of being a teenager! ...FINALLY. Man, that was tough, but hey, on to the next level, right? How much harder can level 20 be than level 19? Or 13? (Watch me eat my words - also, for those who don't know, I complete on the 20th)(Lol spanish)

But now I don't have time I just wanted to share the good news and now I bid y'all farewell

Farewell

Elder Newman

Dec. 9, 2013

Interesting thing... I'm starting to feel the "cold" of México. And I don't like that, because up in Idaho, y'all would be wearing shorts in this weather, as the members give it hard to me for not putting on a cold-weather coat and I'm like "THIS ISN'T COLD C'MON PEOPLE!" and then I'm like, "Fine, I'll put on my coat BUT ONLY SO YOU'LL STOP PLANCHING (bugging) ME." So then I started putting on my light coat and now the members are saying I need to cover my mouth so the cold air doesn't do me any damage.

NAH BRO. IF I CAN'T SEE MY BREATH, I DON'T NEED TO THINK ABOUT PUTTING ON ANYTHING LIKE THAT. *le sigh*

Anyways, in other news, I got two packages last week! The one with the Ensign and the Christmas package. And I loved them both! Continue to love, in fact. The gummy worms, however, didn't even last an hour and I'm striving to save the Reese's for Christmas. Let's see how long I hold up. Also, I absolutely love the CD. It sounds amazing, and I can't wait to make those Peanut Butter Cookies.

I saw the Christmas Devotional - how beautiful it was! I loved the parts where Elder Nelson was surrounded by the children and they were singing. An investigator we had there, named Mario, was enchanted by the broadcast as well. I love all the people we're working with out here in Atlaco - they're all so kind and loving, and they all have a strong testimony. Mario's going to get baptized soon, and he's already planning on bringing all his family to church as well.

We're beginning to see a lot of work in a pueblo called Acambay, so I'm happy for that. Elder Riveros and I have a goal of seeing a Branch put in over there, but in order to do that, we need to break the false tradition of nobody ever beeing baptized in that Pueblo - all the members over there were baptized in other parts of the country  - or the United States. But that's okay - we've got everything set up to see the growth of the Lord's kingdom over there, and we're setting up even more!

Thanks for all your support, love, and care! Enjoy that magical white powder for me! I miss the stuff!

Merry Christmas!

Interesting Week‏

On Friday night, I was feeling really sick - couldn't get to sleep, nor any kind of rest, and my stomach was killing me. I asked my companion for a priesthood blessing. During the blessing, my stomach started twisting and turning, and I knew I was going to throw up. I thought to myself, "Do I try to wait for the blessing to end or do I just interrupt it?" I think about it for three seconds, then I realize that either I'm going to have to interrupt it or I'm going to spew all over my companion. Deciding to take the less messy route, I shout "HURRY UP HURRY UP HURRY UP!" reach for the bucket....(some content removed--a little too much information!). That was the start of a long night.

The next day, I finally get to sleep then wake up (after having thrown up a second time...), and we head over to the Doctor's office (after several attempts to call her). She gives me a shot right above the hip, and then demands that I stay in the house all day. I then learn a very important lesson: sleeping is very important when sick, and doing work is key to happiness. It's like the local soccer coach told his team on Friday: No work is needed for temporary pleasure, whereas for longlasting joy, we need to work for it.

And kicking and breaking glass feels awesome. Long story. We had permission. (They got locked out of their apartment, and after getting permission from the landlord, kicked the glass window in.)

Also, the Book of Mormon has such beautiful language in it! That's one thing I've learned recently. As Elder Riveros said, sometimes it looks and sounds a little bit like poetry. So true.  I'm just going to share two scriptures with you now, that I think display just how beautiful the language in the Book of Mormon is. I'm only going to type one of them, however. First is 2 Nephi 25:26. Second is Alma 30:44: "...All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which do move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." I just LOVE that verse!

Also, doc says I might have a wearing away of cartilage in my knees, which would explain why they've been hurting for the past X months. I wanted to get a more detailed analysis though, just to make sure that's what's going on. Who knows, though.

With a burning in the stomach from disease and a burning in the heart from testimony,

Elder Newman

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