Hello!!

How are you all doing? Hope you guys are doing well. . It has been a fantastic week and it seems like it was yesterday that I had just written you. Days are weeks and weeks are days. Never understood that phrase until I became a missionary and it is so true.

Monday we had our P day and then later in the night we taught our investigator "Jose". He is progressing very well

After class we sang God be with you till we meet again with the elders who would be leaving for Guatemala and then we said most of our goodbyes.  Our district only has 7 now and then the other district that came in the same day as us only has 6 now. There are only 3 in our two districts that are not going to Antofagasta, they are going to Costa Rica, but the rest of the 10 of us between the two districts are going to Antofagasta. I love the elders that are coming to our mission and I can't wait to serve by their sides (if I ever get to).

Tuesday night we had a fireside with Lyn G. Robins of the Seventy and he talked about how to better recognize the spirit and to receive more revelation as a missionary. It was a great talk.

Wednesday we taught in the TRC. It's great to teach in the TRC because we teach members and it is not as stressful. It is great to just be able to talk with them about gospel principles and then ask questions and look for ways on how the principle we are teaching can bring them closer unto the Savior. I saw Mrs. Jolley's (choir teacher) son at the TRC. He was just volunteering and he actually is heading back out on his mission because he had to come home to get a surgery done but is heading back out. It was good to talk to him and receive some encouragement.

On Thursday we taught Jose again and focused on the word of wisdom and why it’s important. It was great and it is an amazing experience to teach with the spirit. It’s so cool when you are teaching someone and then your companion says the exact words that were going to come out of your mouth. You know that you have the spirit when things like that happen. It was a great experience.

That night we talked with a Chilean from Santiago who is going to serve in SLC. It was great to talk to him and get more information about Chile. He loves his country and it was getting us all excited to hear more about the new home we are going to have. I cannot wait to get there.

On Friday we practiced door approaches with a substitute teacher. It was great practice and the elders in my room have taken it to heart and we try to practice door approaches and street contacting daily. It was great. I also got a package from Ashley for my birthday so that was nice.

The companionship between Elder Van Pelt and I strengthens every day. What really grew this past week was our companionship study. Every minute of time is precious in the MTC and it is easy to become distracted and not focused but we must put in our full effort and more when we are on the Lord's errand.

Saturday we taught Jose again and set his baptismal date. It was great. We had weekly planning and during that we usually create new companionship and personal goals. I love planning because it is somewhere that I can measure my progress and look for areas where I need to grow. It is a time to analyze the work we have put in and determine what we could have done better and then set new goals for the next week. Planning is what brings success as a missionary. Without a plan we can literally plan to fail.

All of the mission presidents got here on Saturday so that has made things really busy. It is awesome though because there have been so many general authorities here. Elder Packard's (who is going to our mission but in the other district) parents are here and they are going to be the mission presidents in Boston. I told them to look out for Elder Drew Bloomfield and Elder Brian Collins. They were really nice and great people. I also saw the Deere’s so that was good to see them. I saw Megan Jackson’s parents but they didn't see me. Hopefully I will see all these people again so I can get pictures with them. Saturday night while the missionaries got to meet their new presidents we got to watch "The other side of Heaven" it was awesome! It was really fun to watch the movie and to see what hard work and dedication to the Lord can bring.

Sunday was probably one of the best day's I've had since being a missionary. It was powerful. Sunday morning the district leaders got released and then they called new ones. Elder Dixon took over and he will do a great job. Sunday morning we had some final meetings and then I trained him on how to do his service. We had a combined priesthood meeting with the whole MTC and a branch president spoke. He did a wonderful job and talked about the importance of coming unto the savior and what we can change and do to better represent him. Later we had our Sacrament meeting which was also combined. It was pretty large and they had like 24 elders passing the sacrament.

Later we had our temple walk and then everyone started to get in line for the fireside because everyone was thinking we were going to have a general authority speak to us. There have been many general authorities here and it is cool, you can literally feel their presence it is hard to describe. Here are some that have been here in the last few days: President Monson, Elder Holland, Elder Bednar, Elder Oaks, Elder Perry, Elder Ballard, Elder Christofferson and I believe a few more. While waiting for the fireside I was saw Elder Peachey and talked to him for a while. That was great and then we went to the fireside. One of the District Presidents and his wife spoke about revelation. It was great. Try to find a Mormon message that James E. Faust did with talking about the voices we can listen to but we need to listen to the spirit. It was amazing. After that we watched a talk that Elder Bednar gave to the missionaries in the MTC on Christmas this last year (2011). I remember Elder Chris Nielson talking about it in his letters. Wow it was unbelievable.  The spirit was so strong. He talked about the Character of Christ and how we are to become truly converted. Do whatever you can to find this talk and study it. Look it up on YouTube, Google it, whatever you need to do to find it and study that talk and apply its teachings. If we are converted we will never fall away from the church. We may know the church is true but are we true to the church? It was amazing and it has helped me to analyze my life and what I need to do to be a better representative of Jesus Christ. I must study his life so I can better represent him. My actions must be the way he would act, my thoughts must be what he would think and my desires have to be what he would. I have such a long way to go but we have a lifetime to accomplish the task. Line upon line, day upon day and precept upon precept. Day by Day and with the Lord's help every step of the way we can become what he wants us to become. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ because it makes every part of this plan possible. Without it we would fail.

I love you all so much! I hope you are doing well. Has there been a fire in Utah it’s been pretty smoky? Also we have had to speak Spanish 24/7 because I and a few other elders lost a wager that the thunder would win the series so we have to speak Spanish for the whole week! Its great practice though. Be converted to Christ and press forward with steadfastness in him! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Newman

Hello Family!

Happy Fathers day yesterday! I hope you all had a great day. I love and miss you hope you are all doing so well. How was the cabin? Were you able to get the railing up? Ha-ha hopefully the boys caught some fish. I'd love to see some pictures if you got any. I hope you guys are doing well. That is sad about sister hamnett but she is in a better place now.

Thank you so much for the package it was amazing! We have so much food and I absolutely love it! Mmmm it’s so nice. Ha-ha we took pictures and videos so I should be sending my SD card soon. I'll try and get those pictures home soon. Don’t worry I am taking plenty of pictures.

Wow this week has been such a wonderful week.  On Tuesday one of the elders in our district decided to go home. It was Elder Griffin and he has Celiac disease I think it is called. Anyways he can only eat special foods and he was having trouble finding foods to eat here. We all encouraged him to stay and stick it out but he chose to stay home. That was hard for his companion Elder Robertson but I think for the other missionaries in the district it strengthen their resolve of why there were there to serve the Lord. It was a challenge for the individual but I believe it helped our district come closer; we have made wonderful progress as a district and in my own companionship. I have learned so much about how to specifically teach by the spirit. It is amazing and it is hard to describe the joy that comes when you teach with the spirit and you see the investigator progress towards the Savior. The language has been increasing and especially as we have strived to follow our language study plans. I have been memorizing a lot and made some very good strides this week.

Tomorrow we are losing two more elders in our district because they are going down to the Guatemala MTC. I am really going to miss them. It's only been 3 weeks and I feel like I know these elders so well already. I am really going to miss Elder Jorgensen. That kid is a stud ha-ha he is really funny too. Elder Vaughan I won’t miss as much but its okay hahaha :) He reminds of the kid off of polar express. You know the one I’m talking about. Ha-ha. So our district will shrink down to 7 with 3 companionships. That will be okay thought because we will all have more time to teach and more individual time with the teacher. Friday and Saturday were some amazing days. Ha-ha it was a very odd birthday, practically the whole day I forgot it was my birthday until one of the elders in our zone would tell me. I got letters and packages from everyone in the family so thank you so much! I am so blessed to have so much support behind me.

On Friday I probably had one of the best basketball games I’ve ever played in my life. Ha-ha let’s just say it was a lucky day eh?

Saturday was probably the best day of the week. I and Elder Van Pelt have been working with one of our ''investigators'' who is from Argentina and doesn't believe in God. Our very first lesson with him was very challenging and we didn’t know where to continue. But we prepared for Saturday and prayed that we would have the spirit tell us where to go as we taught. (Hermano Hallsted is our investigator but he acts as a different person). We taught the lesson and the spirit was so strong and it was the best discussion and meeting we had ever had. Hermano Hallsted was so excited for us and then he taught us for about a half hour just me and Elder VP about how to continue to ask inspired questions, and then the person will feel the power of God witnessing to them that our message us true. It was powerful and we were so excited because we can feel our abilities increasing through the Lord.

We had some wonderful devotionals this week. They were very powerful. On Tuesday it was from Per G. Malm of the Seventy. He gave wonderful counsel and it was similar to PLOW. He talked about the Lord is in control and we must be bold giving 100%. Yesterday we had the opportunity of hearing from Sheri Dew. Wow she is an amazing woman. She talked about how we need to always live life with an eternal perspective rather than the right here and now. She said to do this we need to 1. Continue Receiving and 2. Continue remembering. We need to work on receiving spiritual gifts because the Lord is waiting to give them to us, however we must work to obtain them. She also said to continue remembering by continuing to have spiritual experiences and continue to receive spiritual gifts. It made me think of a quote, I can’t remember who said it, it might of been president Kimball, but he said the most important word in the Book of Mormon could be remember. I know and understand that because it is when we forget God, our covenants, the commandments, the experiences we have had, when we do not follow him and then make incorrect decisions. It was wonderful counsel and she gave many other wonderful things to remember.

I am so grateful for this Gospel and the happiness that it brings me! I love this work and the opportunity I have to be a servant of the Lord. There are times I feel overwhelmed because I have so far to go but I know as a take it step by step and in the Strength of the Lord Jesus Christ we can do all things! I love you family! Keep up the good work. Thanks for your prayers and support.

Elder Newman

JUNE15th 2012

HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY ELDER ZACH NEWMAN!!!!!!!!  WE LOVE YOU!

Hello Family!

 

First of all happy birthday to carter! I saw grandpa Huntington again this morning at the temple! That was good to see him again. How is everything at home? Thank you so much for the cake, and bag of stuff i needed!! We were on our temple walk and one of the elders in our district said "Elder Newman who brought the cake on your desk?" I was so confused and was wondering who would have put a cake on my desk in our classroom. How did you guys get it down here? Ha ha it was a wonderful surprise and it was awesome to get that stuff. We shared the cake last night and all of the elders were absolutely loving it.

Wow where to begin, the week just goes by so fast! I have learned so many great things this week. On Tuesday we taught our investigator again and committed him to read and pray about the book of Mormon. Later in the week we learned how to make are lessons more simple and direct so we aren't hit with so many questions. It is amazing how fast we are able to learn through the spirit. There will be times when we are teaching that words will come to my mind that I learned in high school but couldn't remember. The spirit is so strong in this place.

On Tuesday night we had fireside and Elder Marlin K. Jensen spoke to us. He gave a great talk and spoke to us.  He gave one great quote that stuck out to me from President Eyering that talks about the importance of sharing the gospel "Everyone will one day know what we know, and they will know that we knew it." We must open our mouths everywhere we are and share the truth with those who need it. We must get past our fear of what they may think, and tell them what they need to know.

On Wednesday we had our first cleaning opportunity and me and Elder Van Pelt cleaned windows. We cleaned SOOOOO many windows but it was great! It was good for him cause he could get in the tall places (not that im short... i mean... he's 6'10). We also taught our investigator on Wednesday and we are working on increasing our teaching skills. Through the end of the week we taught our investigator and then on Friday we actually met the real guy. His name is Ammon Hallsted, he graduated in Nate's class and his family lives in Cedar Hills. I actually graduated with his little brother Brenton Hallsted and Hermano hallsted served his mission in Argentina. He is now the other one of our two teachers and he is absolutely awesome! He is a wonderful teacher who has already taught me so much. I have learned so much about how to recognize the spirit while teaching in many different aspects, and also how to fine tune our lessons for each person we teach. It has been awesome.

This week I also created a language study plan that has almost every minute of study planned out so we can all be more effective. My Spanish is increasing every single day and it feels good! There are so many kids from Lone Peak here its crazy. The elders in my zone and district always ask how i know so many of these people and i just tell them they all went to my school! Its hard for them to imagine that my school was 90 percent LDS.

 

Sunday we had meetings and just other stuff! I had to play the piano for priesthood meeting so that was good to work off some of the cobwebs on my fingers. I had to practice for a few minutes before to be ready. They want me to help them play as much as I can so I need to start practicing more when i get some time.

Our district and zone are so close I love these guys. Our roommates are pretty funny, Elder Van Pelt has warmed up a lot more in the last week. Elder Jorgensen is from Idaho, he played football and is a way buff. The rest of the boys are so goofy but they make me laugh! One of my favorite elders is Elder Congleton. He's a convert to the church from Laguna Beach. He was the number 5 surfer in world for the amateur division and he was asked to go pro but he decided to go to school and then on a mission. He is awesome and is fun to joke around with. He gave me a sweet shirt last night that he had from one of his competitions. It was really nice of him. His dad sent him the same shirt twice so he gave one to me. It was nice of him and I needed another shirt.

Everything is going great! I hope you are all doing well. I miss and love you! I know that these things are true and there is nothing which can bring me as much joy as this gospel!

 

Elder Newman

June 4, 2012

Hello Family!!

How are you all doing? Wow what a crazy first few days it has been here in the MTC. It has been great to learn and grow in our ability to teach through the spirit. It is sometimes frustrating because we know what we want to say but we are held back because we cannot express and share the language with our inabilities in the language. Thank you so much for the package! It completely made my day and the cookies were so delicious! Everyone in my district and zone absolutely loved them! I have about 5 left and am going to hold them close. They are so good.

WOW what an adventure I had here the first few days in the MTC. Right after you dropped me off and I went inside to this room and I got my nametag and it felt good to put it on. Then I went to my residence and then to my classroom. I met my teacher who is Hermano Sanchez. He was born in El Salvador but went to high school in Los Angeles. He served a mission in Salt Lake City. He is really nice and a pretty funny guy.

I then met my companion who is Elder Van Pelt. Yep totally caught me off guard when I saw his name tag, it took me straight to best two years. Elder VP is 6ft 10 inches tall. He dwarfs me and now I look like a little boy whenever I stand by him. He went to Timpanogos high school and played basketball of course. He Red shirted up at Weber state this last year.  The other Elders in my room are Elder Dixon and Elder Russell. Elder Dixon is from Centerville Utah and went to Utah last year on scholarship. He´s a way nice kid and it fun to joke around with, same with Elder Russell they are both good guys. Elder Russell is from Plano Texas but his family moved to Farmington last year. He was on a swimming scholarship at BYU and lived in Helaman dorms. It’s funny to talk about people we all know together especially with kids in my district and zone. There are some funny connections we are making.

The first night here I barely slept but my sleeping is gradually getting better. The Spanish is coming pretty well so far and it is getting better every single day. We learned how to pray and bear our testimonies and now I am starting to remember more of the stuff I learned in high school with senora Swartz. I am starting to feel confident that I can do this, sometimes we get discouraged but we just have to trust in the Lord. I can’t imagine how Chris, Alec, and Kyle felt trying to learn those crazy languages. I bore my testimony on Sunday in Spanish and it was great. I am really starting to get back the Spanish that I worked on for 3 years at Lone Peak. I love this place more and more every day I am here

Our Branch Presidency is so great! Thursday we had workshops and worked on the language for most of the day, and then we met with the two counselors in the branch presidency. They had us bear our testimonies and explain why we decided to serve a mission. Then we were interviewed by one of the two and then I was pulled aside and was told I was called by the spirit to be a district leader! So now I have a lot of responsibilities and life has gotten quite busy here in the MTC! Brother and Sister Jones are the parents of Jennifer Hendricks, it’s cool to see all the connections there are in the MTC

On Friday we taught our first investigator named Sergio. He is from Argentina and it actually went pretty well. There was no silence in our whole 30 min lesson and we were able to communicate what we wanted to tell him, the spirit was strong in that room and we were able to pray with him. Much of our personal and companionship study time is spent on how we can progress this "investigator".

Sundays have so far been my favorite day in the MTC. Yesterday was an amazing day full of wonderful things. I had training yesterday morning and a branch council mtg. it was great and I met my branch president. He is from highland Utah and we talked about where we lived. He asked me if I knew Les Robinson and I responded yes and that I was very good friends with his grandson Dax, he knew dax and it was funny to talk about that. He then asked if I knew Rachael Pitts and then I just started laughing. He lives just down the street from the Pitts and I told him that I dated her before I came on my mission and he told me I was very lucky because she is an awesome girl. Ha-ha it was hilarious so many crazy connections! We had a Mission conference and it was amazing. The MTC president talked about the importance of names and then I reflected about our own Newman name and the good things it has done. It was wonderful. Look at Proverbs 22:1. I saw gpa Huntington this morning at the temple! It was awesome! I'm down to one min familia I love you and miss you so much! I love this work that I am able to be a part of and I know that it is true! I will talk to you in a week! Encourage people to send through Dear Elder.com we get it Mon through Friday at 5! Love you! Thanks for the letters!

Elder Newman