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