Hello Family! 

Hope that you are all doing very well! I can't believe that I am almost 5 months into my mission! Crazy how fast time has gone! My 2nd transfer in the field is finished and I am now starting my third. I am staying in Iquique. I am staying here with Elder Tymczyszyn.   I am happy to stay here and enjoy this wonderful sector.  It really is a great place to be and I love it here. There are many people here who are waiting to receive the gospel. 

The baptism on Saturday was great. It started an hour late because of some problems.  I baptized Leninka and everything went really well. It was great to get pictures of her and Mary together and to see the change that has occurred in them over the last 2 months. It is really incredible to see how much happiness the gospel brings to people and how the savior can change our nature. 

This week we really saw the blessings of the priesthood unfold. We were blessed with many opportunities this to use the priesthood. What a great experience it was. Wednesday we were teaching Leninka about the restoration. Mary was also there and their friend Graciela. They have a friend who lives on the floor above us who joined us for the lesson. They are so excited every time that we come and can hardly wait until we arrive to teach and be with them.  We watched the restoration and then towards the end I had directed the focus towards the friend Graciela. I helped her recognize the spirit and then committed her to pray and know for herself. Mary had been sick with a fever and was not feeling very good at all and then as we were leaving I felt impressed to ask Mary if she wanted a blessing. She said please and so then we gave a blessing to her to that she could be healed. Then Graciela asked if we could give a blessing to her son who had also been very sick. So we then gave him a blessing. The next day when we saw them and Mary was healed and felt amazing and the son by the end of the night was completely healed. It was so cool. We were also blessed this week to have 2 other opportunities to bless children of less actives who asked for blessing. Both of those 2 kids were healed as well. It was awesome. I know the priesthood of God is real. I testify that miracles happen everyday. 

This week I had some wonderful food. Mmmm it was soooo good. One day a part member family took us to a Chinese restaurant! It was great! Wasn't quite shanghai express from Marlton NJ but it was great! So good to have a mix of food from the usual down here. Also we ate with a member family one day and the fixed us a Venezuelan dish. It was also very tasty. The best part was fried bananas. So have you ever seen the bananas that are huge?  Well they cut those into long slices and then they fried it. Mmmm it was goood. It was like Tucanos a bit when they fry the bananas but in strips. As far as meals we have been trying to eat with members everyday of the week so that we can spend time with them. Lots of rice, sometimes chicken, and on occasion beans. Look up Churassco you'll see the classic Chilean meat.

I keep forgetting to tell you this, but there is a hermana in our zone from Paraguay. When she first came here I asked if she knew an elder Newman. She said she did some years ago. She is 31 years old and was a doctor, but she said she knew an elder Newman in Paraguay. So it might have been Tyler. Her name is Hermana Nuñez. Ask Tyler if he remembers this family. 

We have been working with some new investigators that we found this week. We are trying to make November a big month. It seems like looking at the front of everything the months have so much potential with baptisms and then things fall through, investigators don't progress and then we only end up with 1 or 2 baptisms. I am trying to figure out how we can become closer and keep these investigators we have worked so hard to find. 

Time passes so fast out here. I know that the church is true. We see miracles every week and the spirit guides us frequently throughout the day. I know that we have a living prophet on the earth today who holds and exercises priesthood keys. We just need to remember that God has a plan for each of us. And as we strive to do our best, to keep the commandments, to study and pray and do what we need to do, he will put us where we need to be, when we need to be there. Have a great week family! I love and miss you all!

Elder Newman