Week 83 - Church History/Miracles

For some reason this week I don't know what to talk about. The only thing that I can think of was our mission conference with the church historian, Elder Snow and another guy, I forgot his name. But we were able to hear from them and their spouses and got to learn a lot. What I liked most about the meeting was the question and answer section where we got to ask questions about the history of the church. That was really great because there are all these little facts about the Prophet Joseph Smith’s life that not a lot of people know about. It was good to hear from some of our leaders about the stories and  the cool miracles that took place in our history as a church.

Other than that not a whole lot happened, but we did see some success one of our investigators, Werner and his son Bruno. They are the best, they love coming to church! We went to their house to invite them to come to church, and when we got there they were already ready to go and were going to catch a bus to get there. But we said we would get them a ride. They are an excellent example of being proactive, and I am not talking about the face wash.

They have made me look back to before my mission, how some days I didn't want to go to church. I felt that it was a burden. These guys are an excellent example of how we should act about church. They love coming and being in the environment. They notice everything, and they are very sensitive to the spirit and don't know how to describe it. But that then gives us missionaries the opportunity to testify and to teach a gospel principle.

Those were the two biggest things that have happened this week, and that might be the reason why I can’t think of what else to write. I love you all and hope that you have had as good of a week as I had, and an even better week coming!

Love, Elder Newman

Elder Olsen and I at the mission conference.

 I thought that you would enjoy a picture of our toilet.

 

Week 82

This week was a great week, it being the week of Easter. Every Christian was open for a talk about Easter and the significance of it. I believe that people are good at heart and they want to help other people, but because pride gets in the way they turn away to act cool. This week I saw both sides: one where someone didn't give into peer pressure and the other where they did give into it.

The first one was, we were at the train station handing out the Easter pass-along cards and talking to people, and I walked up to this group and was talking to them and they were kinda shut off to me. But I kept talking, explaining Easter and what I do as a missionary, and I asked everyone if they wanted to learn more. All of them said no except one. She accepted a pass-along card, but I couldn't get her number, but she accepted the card.

Another one was, we were visiting some potentials in the ghetto, and this gang of 13 or 14 year olds blocked the road off and were trying to get into the car when we tried to get around it, haha. They weren't very big, but there was a lot of them. This isn't the first time that missionaries have had trouble with them, but it’s all peer pressure, trying to be cool living in the hood. But yeah, that was a fun experience.

Also this week we had Zone Conference which was a lot of fun. We got to see President and Sister Back, and they gave really excellent trainings, one being consecrated missionaries. I believe that we have heaps more of those today than we had a year ago. There is a lot more power in a consecrated missionary in the way that he talks and the way that he acts and the way that he teaches and testifies. There is greater power in two consecrated missionaries than there is in 100 average missionaries. Why would you want to be average in anything that you do? We are trying to save souls here.

That was my week. It was a good one! Talk to yous next week!

Love,
Elder Newman

I got to meet up with the Shoobridge family for a short time, and it made my whole day!

 

 
Our ward had a picnic and an Easter egg hunt for the kids.

Week 81 - General Conference

Saturday morning started off pretty good with the story of the fire fighters and their respect for our meeting houses and our religion. It’s a good example for how we should respect others, everyone around us, whether of our faith or not. He also talked about how the atonement fixes everything, and that is something that we are sharing with everyone at the moment with the new Easter video that is out on Mormon.org. It talks about the Prince of Peace and the enabling power of the atonement of Jesus Christ is what gives him the ability to help us overcome sin and death, to give peace to all that will repent and believe on his name and follow him and that is when we receive peace. Russell M. Nelson talked about how we can draw in the power of Jesus Christ, and I was really inspired from that talk. 

The Saturday afternoon session was special because I saw heaps of people from home singing in the choir. Great job everyone! I also liked how Jeffrey R. Holland talked about singing next to a perfect singer (Jesus Christ), and as we try to match his pitch we become better. I also have a question for you all: Are we freezing for hours to save five minutes of work? -Gary B Sabin. I was also really inspired by Valeri V. Cordon's talk on preserving our languages.

Then on the Sunday morning session, Joy D. Jones, I had a lot of notes on her. She had a lot of good quotes, but I liked how she talked about creating a sin-resistant generation. There were a lot of talks that talked about the rising generation and how we need to prepare them. This was not all that I have learned. I definitely want to watch it all again and try to get more notes. But I took to heart that we have all been warned by the watchmen, and it’s now our responsibility to act. We are warned all the time by the Spirit and by representatives. We just need to do our part now and apply what we have learned into our lives. I know that as we do so we will be on our way to becoming like the Savior, and we will be gaining more peace in our lives. And that's my short testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

My week was great. I’m still trying to get to know the area and the people in it, but I will get there soon.

I love you all and have a great week!

Love,
Elder Newman

Bowling on pday...

District photo...

I need a haircut...

Week 80 - Life Down Under

[It has been] quite a slow week knowing that everyone back home is able to watch general conference this week; and then I have to wait another week to even hear it. I hope that you all learned something from it and that you all took questions to it.

This week we have been making good progress with a potential family. They are Chinese and are going through some struggles. What an opportunity to testify about how much God loves us, and how much he knows and cares about every individual on earth, and how we are all sons and daughters of our father in heaven. The mom loves us coming over. She feeds us every time. Haha. She feeds us more than the members. Her son is 19 years old, loves hunting and backpacking, and cars, so we have a little bit in common. We just need to inspire him to love Jesus Christ just as much. They are always so nice to us when we come over. They are a great family that would benefit heaps from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We also had a Baptism this week. His name is Jackson. It was such a great experience for him, as well as for his mom and sister. That is another great family that is on fire with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That was a week in the Life Down Under. Have a great week!
Elder Newman

Week 79

That was quick! I am already back on the computer emailing home. This week went by pretty fast. We have been crazy busy getting to know the ward and running around to help with the ward activities.

This ward has got their act together. Everyone knows what their job is and what needs to be done, and as far as I can tell, nobody is slacking. This month’s activity is called “Pursuit of Perfection.” Just for this month they are trying to accomplish that in their temple attendance, church attendance, rescue night, and home/visiting teaching. It’s a great program that was set up by the ward council. But it is tough for us missionaries to get around and encourage everyone to accomplish their goal. That has been our week.

But in our free time/tracting time we do a couple hours of finding every day, and Sunday morning we had someone threaten us, and also someone call himself the anti-Christ. Haha. But we were talking with him, and he says he doesn't believe in God but he used to have conversations with him every day. And then he said that now he doesn't believe that He is there because God hasn't shown himself to him. He seemed normal, but maybe all the lights weren't on upstairs. But we were able to testify and ask questions like, maybe God is trying to communicate with you through us. He said, you are probably right, but I want him to come down and show himself to me. Haha. In the Book of Mormon there is an example of this guy, I think his name was Korihor, asking for a sign, haha, and how did that turn out?

There is evidences all around us that shows us that there is a God. This life isn't chance. This didn't just happen. It was all a part of God’s Plan, and I testify of that in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

I love you all have a great week.

Elder Newman

 My companion, Elder Chen from Taiwan.

Week 78

Well it was transfer week, and guess what… I got transferred. I was a little cut that I got the shaft and was told to leave. I love the ward, and I loved my companion. It was great serving there. I had a great relationship with the members, but the Lord now needs me in this area.

I got transferred to Ingleburn 1st ward. It’s an English speaking ward with a lot of Polynesians again. They are the best! My companion is Elder Chen. He is from Taiwan and speaks Mandarin. He is a great guy and has been in this area for 1 transfer, so I will be able to learn from him.

Yesterday we had transfers, and after I got all my stuff to the flat we hit the ground running and went and visited a potential investigator who was a referral given by a member. He was a minister for another church. He was "wanting to learn about our church." We get there, and turns out they already know about our church. They are very learned. We tried our best and left them with a Book of Mormon and our Testimony. Then we went to FHE to a part member’s home where Jackson, a ten year old kid, is wanting to be baptized in April. So we are looking forward to that.

Also in my last area, Omare's Baptismal date is now on April 15th. But I will let you know what happens with that.

This new area has a couple investigators. Right now I am just trying to learn the area and build a relationship with the ward.

I love you all and have a great week!
Elder Newman

Saying goodbye to all my Villawood friends...

Naki

 Part of the Suesue family

 The missionaries in Villawood Ward 

 The two with me and Elder Olsen are the Kafusi boys

 left to right top row (Epati, Fenninuti , Elder Olsen, Kafusi, Elder Newman) bottom row is (Salesi Kafusi )

 The Das Family

 President Amone [and lots of women;)]

 Sister Espinosa

 Benson and his fiance, Kafoa

 Suesue family

 Bishop Fennituti's family (Bishop is standing by me in an orange shirt)

 Two missionaries that you don't know yet is Elder Olsen and Elder Faaifoaso 

Elder Olsen, Elder Newman, Elder Bagshaw (also got transferred), and Elder Davis

 I got to see Elder Stott [former companion down in Merimbula] at transfers!

Week 77

Well this week was great. We didn’t get a whole lot of teaching done either, but we did get heaps of stuff done and heaps of finding. First off we had a baptismal date set for the 18th of March so we were preparing for that. But we had to move it back to the 25th. He is still getting baptized, and he has great fellowship.

Also we had a flat inspection, and they weren't too happy with the damage that had been done in the flat for the past 4 years. So we had to clean everything up and prepare everything for the contractor to come in and fix the damages. And we have had a great week of helping the Ward council catch the missionary fire! That’s basically all this week, and next week is transfers, so I will be emailing on Tuesday.

Oh yeah, I also almost forgot a miracle that we had this week that shows that God does answer prayers. We were tracting before an appointment, and our pen had broken. We didn’t have the car or any other spare pens, and we needed one, so we prayed that we would be able to find one before our appointment. So we finish tracting and start heading to our appointment the whole time looking for a pen, and we walked for like 15 minutes and get to the driveway, and boom... we find a pen in the driveway! How cool is that? God is real. He answers prayers. It was something small, like we could have asked anyone for a pen and they would have given us one; but the Lord answered our specific prayer, and we found a miracle pen. That was us this week. I hope you enjoyed that story.

I love you all, and have a great week!
Elder Newman

My old companion, Elder Cook, and I.

A member brought us dinner one night, and it was heaps of food!