Week 33

Thanks for the Skype. I don’t have a lot of time to email, just Happy Mother’s Day! I love you! Have a great week!

Elder Newman

Week 32

How was all of you’s week? Mine was pretty good. We met with our investigator (Bram) and invited him to be baptized, and he said yes! So we are now working closely with him to prepare him for baptism.

We did a lot of finding this week and still heaps of service. Our methods of finding are usually getting on trains and sitting down next to people and talking with them when they can’t walk away. So we are kinda forcing them to talk with us. We haven’t found anyone really solid yet, but all we need to do is keep opening our mouths and talking to everyone and the lord will do the rest as long as we do our part.

Also one of my flat mates was studying to be a civil engineer as well, so I find it really cool that I get to talk with him and get some advice. There are a lot of civil engineers over here, so I kind of use my knowledge with that to help find people because it’s a lot easier to talk to people when you have common ground. Also the Polynesians and the Asians, if you greet them in their native tongue, they love talking with you. That’s just something I have learned.

I have had a great week this week. I hope you all did as well. My invitation to you all is to be a missionary and to share the gospel with at least one person this week. They don’t have to accept it, because everyone has their agency, but we need to do our part as members to hasten the work of Salvation and help this gospel move forward. I know that as you do so that you will see the blessings in your lives and it will bring you joy.

I love you all!
Love, Elder Newman

study time...

Week 31

Not a lot happened this week, it flew by way fast. We did a lot of finding. And one crazy story that I think is crazy is one of our investigators (Bram) wanted to go finding with us. So we let him come along on Saturday, and he wanted to try and place a Book of Mormon. He tried like 6 times, and he had a lot of fun doing it, so he wants to go with us again next time he can. I just thought it was crazy because an investigator is more interested in missionary work than a lot of the members. Haha.

Yesterday was ANZAC day which is basically Veterans day and Memorial day back home. it honors the people who fought for Australia. Other than that nothing exciting happened this week. I love you all. Have a great week.

Love Elder Newman

Week 30

This week wasn't very busy, but Sam got baptized on Saturday, which was great. He is a lot happier now, and he loves reading the Book of Mormon.

Yesterday was transfer day, and me and Elder Ledbetter stayed in Hurstville. We were helping people get moved to their new flats, so yesterday was a busy day.

Other than that, the only thing big that happened was Sam’s baptism. Elder Ledbetter conducted the meeting, and I gave a talk on baptism, and Bishop did the baptism and confirmation.

We visited Sam last night, and he was telling us that he was talking to a man about the Book of Mormon, and he tried to give him one. So he is already doing missionary work! He is an awesome guy.

I hope you all have an awesome week.

Love, Elder Newman.

Elder Li, Elder Ledbetter, Sam, and Elder Newman

Week 29

Well this week was a blast! We had heaps of teaching appointments and a ton of people feeding us, so I can’t complain. I'm gaining a little weight which is a good thing.

Sam is doing great. He came to conference and then we taught him after. He was impressed. He said that he learned a lot and he got answers to questions he didn’t even know he had. He loved the talk about fathers and families. He is ready to be baptized! Like I said last week, he has changed so much.

We just planned his baptism out yesterday. I think it is going to be great. The ward and his wife are really showing him support, which is great. He has two excellent men that are helping him make that step towards Christ and I can’t wait until this Saturday when he is the man!

We were able to watch conference this weekend, and it was great. I really loved the priesthood session. I got heaps out of that, and my questions were answered. I can’t wait until I get to read their talks and study them.

We had a busy week, a lot of preparation for Sam and getting things set up. Also this week we had a goal to beat the sister missionaries in total lessons for the week. We pushed really hard and were able to get 27 lessons done this week. It was tough, but we were able to do it.

This week has been the best week for me so far. I have felt like a successful missionary fulfilling our purpose, which is inviting others to come unto Christ. I hope you all have a great week. I sure am going to have one.

Love, Elder Newman

Week 28

This week was a good week. It started out a little rough with our investigator. He went through some more hard situations. I’m just so happy with how much this guy loves his family.

This week started off rough, but ended great. We were able to teach him two lessons yesterday and they were really good. He was really into learning as much as he could. He can’t wait to be baptized. He has already gotten names for when he does Baptisms for the dead. I have been so blessed to be a part of his conversion.

He and his wife were taught before she was baptized, but he was having nothing to do with it. He hated the church. And then his heart was softened, and that’s when we came in. At first he was kinda not ready to learn, and then he started to be interested in what we had to say. He is now doing all he can to learn. We are meeting with him every day, and I have seen his testimony grow in just the short time that I have been here. When we first started teaching him, he was very angry with the world. Last night he was so happy, he was even joking around with us and smiling. I cannot even begin to describe what I felt for him. I love the change that he has made in his life, and I am so happy for him and his family.

I am here to tell everyone that the gospel does change people for the better. I am so glad that I was able to be a tool in the Lord’s hands to reach out and help our investigator. There is nothing that can compare with watching someone come closer to Jesus Christ.

That was what I wanted to share this week. I hope you all have a great week.

Love Elder Newman

Week 27

Well this week started out just being a normal week, then we got to Saturday and at 10:30 am we got a call saying that Elder Brown needs to pack his bags because he is getting transferred out to Bathurst over in Orange Zone. Four hours later, he was gone. I was put in a trio with Elder Ledbetter and Elder Li.

Then Sunday night we got a pretty scary call from our investigator, and we tried to call him back. He didn't answer, so we drove to his house; and he wasn't there so we decided to come back in the morning as soon as we could. So we got there in the morning and he talked with us for a bit, and he started to cry when he was telling us how nothing is going to stop him from being baptized.

This guy has been through a lot. He has pushed through some huge trials that have been placed in his life by the adversary. He is strong, and I’m excited that I get to be a part of his conversion. It’s been a tough road, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get easier anytime soon. But he is a fighter, and I have faith in him. This was the biggest part of my week.

I hope you all are doing well. Have a great week!

Love, Elder Newman.

We got some sunnies from a excommunicated member.

The newspaper is about a guy in our ward. He is the man. He is a big rugby star who will not play on Sundays. He's an awesome guy!

Elder Li is on the left, Elder Ledbetter is in the middle.