It would theoretically be nice to just know where lost things are even if you can't get to them‏

So, we dealt with our first guy with a gun today. We were walking home from the market cus we go every other P-Day and a guy with a shotgun just hails one of the missionaries and is like "I've got a question." Of course, he just wanted to let us know that his son was a member and went to the Temple that morning or was a Temple worker or something, cus I couldn't hear him. I figure he was a security guard for the auto lot he was on cus he had an official looking hat and the cars were expensive ones. So it really was trivial.

 

Anyway, exactly a week ago all my shampoo and body wash stuff disappeared (you know, the one we specifically chose to last a long time, mom), so I've been making do with borrowing just shampoo from Elder Carver for the last week. Thank goodness today was the market cus I was able to pick stuff up, though I just chose the stuff I trusted to not be super weird which means I got a nonideal mix of things. Exciting adventures and all that. The heat scarcely bothers me, though, but the bugs are starting to come out.

 

But yeah, I've set a goal to finish the Libro de Mormon before I leave, so I'm up to 2 Nefi from the past few days. The weekly Temple Trip was good, and Saturday's investigator lesson was incredibly spiritual. Like, it was just a practice lesson with our teacher, but for both Elder Carver and I, the spirit was stronger than all but a few moments in our lives. Reassuring since teaching members acting as investigators can feel a bit farcical.

 

Probably the hardest thing right now is just finding time to relax. There's even more to  be done here than in college, so even P-Days we don't really have time to unwind per se. Spanish isn't too much of a problem, but I'm still limited in vocabulary (especially when spoken to) and some of the accents are ridiculous. El Salvador allegedly has the slowest accent, so that's at least a minor boon. But yeah, just reading the LM, being with nativos, and practicing is bringing me to the point where I can usually get preterite conjugations right the first time impromptu, actually using imperfect subjunctive, stuff like that. I remember all the grammar to some degree thanks to Mrs Bradshaw, but I need to iron out the wrinkles of disuse and fortify my grammar.

 

Oh, and the MTC is almost completely empty right now. All the Nativos and a third of the Nortes left this morning, so it;s just 2 districts of Nortes (approx 14 people) plus the staff who are all prepping for the Rededication. That'll be broadcast all over Central America and I've heard that the President of Guatemala is coming to the Open House in the morning. I'd give it about a 50% chance of it being true. Everything'll be weird that day, and it'll either be great or especially unpleasant for the nortes arriving tomorrow. We'll see if they're in our Branch or the other one, cus if they're in the other one, we're gonna be lonely nortes and never see them. I know I have a friend or two from BYU coming to this MTC either tomorrow or in 2 weeks, so that could be exciting.

 

Anyway, some more stuff probably happened, but I can't remember the past week for the life of me. It seems I've been oddly singled out by my teachers and the MTC President, sometimes just in speaking or sometimes roles. And Elder Carver's been called as Zone Leader, and now that the old one left, that means he's acting.

 

But this is prolly how I'll do things, one big email and mostly just replies for everyone else.

 

Adios,

 

Jacob Newman

First Week Done--Life in the CCM (Missionary Training Center)

He's on the left...new haircut! I think this may be the group he traveled with from LAX

The group of elders that arrived the same day he did...May 14. There was another pic of the sister missionaries taken. Let's see...starting from the sister, count two rows up and two to the right if you can't pick him out :)

His disctrict. He's the 4th one from the left.

(From his first emails home...)
Anyway, things are going. First few days were pretty rough, but Fri afternoon things started picking up. Sundays are the best though/ Also, excuse symbol errors because this keyboard is Spanish but it's programmed as an English keyboard so basically all the symbols are wrong. Currently, there's ~120 nativos (Latin Americans) and 20 nortes (North Americans), and only a few of the other nativo missionaries speak any real English. A few learned in Grade School or travel, though. From what I've heard, that ratio's gonna switch, possibly before I leave, since Americans are going on vacation and nativos back to school. That'll be weird, cus right now the nortes are a bit pampered because they understand how it is to be limited in conversation and everything's just harder for the lot of us. They don't even have an advanced Spanish track, so you're here for 6 weeks or 2 and everyone is in the same class. It's good because I can help the Elderes who don't have any Spanish experience, but it does make it harder to improve my own barring practice with the nativos. Some of them I can understand pretty well, but others not so much, for probably an average of 50% comprehension. They can all understand me, though, so that's bueno. 

Oh, and the CCM is getting rededicated in just over a week I think, so that'll be spiffy. It's kinda weird cus at least the nativos change out every 2 weeks, so they'll be gone soon and we'll have new roommates and all that. Plus, fair warning: until you get acclimated to the CCM, it's extremely unpleasant and stressful. The first few days, everyone is just having difficulty and all, but after that, it does get much better. Especially if you work. I haven't felt particularly hot here, but that seems to not be representative. It also hasn't rained, though it's usually overcast. The CCM is more conservative in culture than the Provo MTC, but that's at least in part because the nativos don't have the same cultural background and need certain conservative customs to keep them from going rogue. E.g., it's specifically emphasized that no stealing or anything of the sort is permissible. Stuff like that. You get used to it pretty quick and they're a bit laxer with the nortes. There's a little truck that comes to the CCM on P-Days and sells missionary stuff, and some of it's cool but it's also rather expensive, unlike everything else.

Oh yeah, we only have one sister from the US in our District cus all the others are on the Native track (one of whom was in my Calculus class @ BYU). But yeah, my Spanish is pretty solid actually, especially since I've had a lot of practice. Just need a bit more comprehension and vocabulary, and then review some of the more advanced tenses. I am wondering if that'll affect anything, but probably not. 

Let's see, we go to the Temple on P-Days and it's otherwise just been chilling today. We've taught one "investigator" four times and that's been going well, especially since Elder Carver and I have been putting a lot of effort into improving our teaching and doing things right even though he started with no Spanish and I'm at least able to manage conversations with most people. It's been pretty good with him, he's a hard worker, well-motivated, all that. He's working really hard on the language too.

So I don't particularly have many emails to put in this mass one so if you know someone who wants it feel free to forward it/have them give me their address otherwise I won't be able to send them anything. 

Elder Newman

there are some choice mountains outside of the city which may or may not be volcanoes‏

This is really just to report that I am here. I do not get how the keyboard works for some of the symbols and as such I am abstaining from contractions and the like.

Anyway, I am here. Got through customs and all that jazz cleanly. We ended up having a group of 9 once we got to LA. I knew one sister from BYU. The other 4 Elders are going to the same mission and all the sisters are going to Guatemala.

But yeah, I am here and all is well. I should have time for more at a later date but that is not now.

Adios,

Elder Newman

The Journey Begins!

Elder Newman was set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday. Today he began his journey to first train for six weeks in Guatemala City. He'll arrive there around 4:30 am Wednesday morning. We are anxiously awaiting his first email :)

Around beginning of July, he'll begin serving in the El Salvador, San Salvador East Mission. He was ready and excited to go!

More info: He emailed us to let us know he arrived the afternoon he got there (nearly 12 hours later). Customs went well, no reports of lost luggage or anything else stressful. There was a group of 9 people going to the CCM by the time they flew out of LAX...5 elders and 4 sisters. He knew one of the sisters from his time at BYU. All the sisters are staying in Guatemala, and all the elders will move on to El Salvador in 6 weeks' time. He likes the view: mountains that could be volcanoes :)