July 15, 2013


Family,

I am sure that you are having a great time at trek! I am also sure
that you will have sore bodies ha ha. The weeks just go way to fast.
Ha ha it seems like a day and then i am here writing you again. It is
amazing to me how fast the time has gone. Elder Smith (my trainer)
called me today from the airport from the assistants phone to say
goodbye to me. It was pretty weird. I am pretty sure that he will come
by the house, also Elder Pope has said that he will come by the house
to say hi to you.

This past week was great. We saw some wonderful blessings and some
miracles. We had the elders from Tocopilla up with us that last
weekend. Tocopilla is a little town between anto and iquique, but they
correspond to our zone. So they came up for the BBQ that we had last
weekend and came for district meetings and stuff. They left on Tuesday
afternoon after our district meetings. One of the Elders is from
Logan. He had a girlfriend that i went to school with, he met her at
Utah state. His name is Elder Cazier. He is a big kid and is a great
missionary.

Sebastain and Alicia and their family stopped progressing. It is
really sad when you work so much with people and they have felt the
spirit and know and recognize that everything is true, but because of
personal things going on they don't accept it or  think don't have time
for it. We were kinda bummed about them, but that is how it is being a
missionary.

We have been working a lot with the ward member list. We had almost
passed by every house looking to see if people still lived there to
see if we could find a less active family or something like that. 

The other day we were working with the list and then we knock a house and
then a teenager comes out and says that his mom isn't there but we can
come by tomorrow. So then we come back that next day and then we meet
the mom. We start to talk with her and she says that she is a member
of the church. But has been inactive for quite some time. She says
that she has 3 kids that need to be baptize and that she really needs
help. She begins to talk about how her husband and son have
depression. She said that is has been so hard for her to have to
support both her husband and her son. She has been really struggling,
and her son has been really struggling and hasn't really left his room
for a few weeks and is really down and he isn't going to school right
now. She was really emotional. But she said that the missionaries
always come when she needs help and when she needs it the most.

I think that we will be just the people to be able to help this family.
I am so grateful for the purposes of the Lord and that he sends his
prepared servants in the precise time to help those in need. We weren't
able to meet with them, because the husband is a little difficult, and
she told us to come by another time. But we were really happy that we
were able to find some new people, and to be able to come to help
someone who was really in need.

The other day Elder Silvester called me from Arica. It was really good
to talk to him. He called and wanted to say sorry if he ever made
things difficult in Antofagasta when we were together, but he also
wanted to thank me for all of the things that he learned from me and
that i helped him progress as a missionary. Ha ha he told me if he ever
is faced with a situation and doesn't know what to do, he says to
himself "what would elder Newman do?" He is doing well, and i I was so
happy to hear from him. All of the prayers and efforts and fasts payed
off. He is doing really well in Arica. I am so grateful for the help
of the Lord in each and every aspect.

We have received some references from the members of the ward, and
things are starting to pick up momentum here in the ward. We have a
great assistant at our English class, and we also received 1
reference from it. This week we have interviews with President Dalton.
So i am real excited to be able to get to know him better.

I love being here in Calama, Chile. I love this work so much. There is
nothing in this world that brings us such joy, as we have charity,
forget about ourselves, and lose ourselves in this great cause. I hope
that each of us can look beyond our own needs, our own challenges and
look out to those who need a helping hand, and make a difference in
their lives. I testify that the Savior lives, and that he will guide
us by the hand to those who we can help. As we give our hearts to him,
he will help us, guide us, and refine us little by little until we
become who we need to become.

love,

Elder Newman