¬Cambios¬‏

So, there were certain changes this week, among them:

1. Compañero- Elder C went to Ilopango (about an hour to the south), and Elder V came. He´s from Las Esmeraldas, Ecuador. He has 9 months in the mission, and has almost always worked in the Apopa Stake.

2. In the next 6 weeks I am going to read the Book of Mormon! I felt like my diligence and faith were un poco bajito (a little short),  so to jumpstart myself, I decided that I needed a very heavy dose of diligence and scripture study. It requires about 16 pages a day, but I'm currently ahead of schedule I think.

3. Pretty much everybody I worked with in Soyapango is getting baptized :> :> :> I haven't gotten the verification, but they should send me photos. The Familia M should've been married and baptized, plus E, and a few other people I worked with. :> It would've been nice to have been there, but given that our area has been having difficulties, we needed to work more here.

4. This happened 2 weeks ago, but Elder P (my trainee) and Elder C (my MTC companion) went home due to health reasons. :< Elder P should return in January after a treatment, but I don't know about Elder C. At least my trainee's trainee is still in the mission, Elder R. And another missionary who I trained for a week :y

So, the brother of an investigator lives in the States and works for a company that develops turbines for Lockheed Martin and other aviation companies associated with the government. He had some photos and some prints of F22s and F35s and stuff. Aerospace engineering. :>

So, someone finally came to Church! He's the investigator mentioned above. His son was baptized a few years ago and is a Teacher, but he'd always had Word of Wisdom problems so he's never been baptized or gone to any church really. He wants to get baptized, but he doesn't have a lot of confidence in the decision yet. We hope the rest of his family can get the ánimos (spirits) going to do the same.

And I found a love for the Manuals about the teachings of the Prophets. I've read a ton of the manuals about Pres. Benson and Joseph Fielding Smith. I almost wish I could be an Apostle just to share company, testimony, and spirit with such men. But I will work wherever and however I'm called. Magnifying a calling it is fulfilling completely, as the Lord would want it, that is, with love.

Vaya, I think I wrote bastante bastante (quite quite) so I'll leave it at that. There's always tomorrow!

Elder Newman

We are moving forward at a constant rate of 1 second per second‏

Spiritual lessons for the week:

1- On humility- thinking on how humility is not thinking less of yourself, but rather less about yourself, and also on the phrase that the Lord Himself uttered- Only God is good, I have found a very good check on comparing myself, other people, a check for pride in general. Just remind yourself whenever some form of pride comes to mind, Only God is good (or if you feel like you're on the bad end) Only Satan is evil. We're in-the-middle creatures trying to work out which one we'll be, but for the moment, only God is good.

Just remember that you still have to choose good things :>

2- Matthew 11:28-30. If you don't take on the yoke, you have to carry the whole weight of the world. But if you put on the Gospel yoke of covenants, repentance, and joy, you are yoked with the Lord, and He will do the hard lifting. You need to commit yourself to the Lord or you can't receive His power.

3- A quote from Elder Scott- Everyone has their own problems and nobody wants to hear about yours. So set it all aside and smile :>

4- Repentance is awesome. Just find little things to do and little ways to put more importance in your relationship with God. I'm, for example, making sure to do my nightly prayers earlier so that I'm more conscious when I offer them.

Also 2 Nephi 25:23-26 is very good.

I gave my first English class on Friday! Good fun. A street contact showed up, even though he didn't want lessons when we contacted him in the street. We talked a lot about differences in the culture of English and Spanish. I also destroyed my voice since I talked a lot and have a sore throat. Still not recovered. Should try to sing less. Can't hit the high notes whatsoever.

Still living with the Zone Leaders. Changes are this week! I made a really cool drawing for my next agenda but I can't upload the photo.

Elder Jacob Newman

Michel Campos is like my favorite Salvadoreño‏

There are other favorite Salvadoreños, but Michel Campos was the Bishop in my Ward a long time ago, but he just has an incredible sense of the Gospel and when we can teach with him, he is always so in tune with the Spirit so that he teaches exactly what the people need to be happy. His commitments, his doctrinal testimony, bien bien bueno. I love talking about the Gospel with him.

This week was cool because we decided to clean the area book. There is a metric ton of old referrals, and we contacted 40 last week and we still have who knows how many to go. It feels really good going practically house to house and finding people to help (and weird, bitter people who hate us con todo (with everything). They're so weird. Like, there are these people all over the world who have nothing better to do than bother us when we come to their door, or even their neighbor's door :y. They don't even make me angry. It's just like "Why?" and "Ok you can be like that I guess."). But the area is getting better and my companionship is much stronger with Elder Campbell.

I especially remembered that the Scriptures aren't an ancient record at all, rather they are different stories about my life and the different people in it. The Lord wrote them about everyone. I feel a very renewed love for all things good right now.

Also cool divisions with our District Leader in their area. Lots of Spirit. Felt very refreshing.

But yeah, ya se acabó el tiempo entonces (and then it ran out of time)

saluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuú pues.

Elder Newman

1 year is muy poquiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiito‏

Well, there isn't much time to say things, but:

1. I was set apart as a missionary 1 year ago on Mother's Day

2. We went to the Temple and Elder Paiz was there (first time going together, even though we should've gone twice as a companionship=

3. Stake Conference!

4. Going to be much better missionaries this week!

5. Skype call successful!

You people are so very important!

Proverbs, chapters 1-9

Doctrine and Covenants 88:125

Lamentations 3: 23-41 (especially, 27, 39-40)

Adiós

Elder Oldman ;> (what Elder Paiz always said :y )

Life Happens‏

Notes from this week:

First, I saw Latino Shia Lebouf. He lives in Apopa Ward.

Second, I just remembered something I had read in a Liahona a while ago about the 2 versions of Satan's plan. We really don't know that much about his plan, but we generally assume that he wanted to make us robots. But another possibility that Satan would've just had everyone saved while they remained in sin, robbing us of agency by removing the consequences of actions. That seems more like Satan to me- letting everyone run amok without consequence.

But yeah,

BAPTISM!

He's J. R. He used to be an alcoholic, but since we came here, he's been resisting the temptation. President came to the service, plus the Sisters who worked with him before received permission to come.

Some pictures of families in Soyapango and us and the Zone Leaders in Apopa

YEAH

there isn't much time to do anything really

Elder Newman

¬Keep moving forward¬‏

This week was cool but I don't have too much time to tell you about it because there is no time.

Selections from the Multizone by Elder Alonso:

Once, he went to the hospital and they told him that he had depression. He replied and said "How can I be depressed? The Church is true, the Book of Mormon is the word of God, Joseph Smith was a prophet, Thomas S Monson is a living prophet today, and Christ lives. Why would I be depressed?"

So the point is, he's not depressed. He decided not to.

Also I'm reflecting a lot on the deadness of the law. Obeying the commandments, being dipped in water, all this stuff, in and of itself, just makes us happier, but has no eternal significance. The law has life in Christ, when we love Him, and draw nearer to Him by our obedience. The scriptural commentaries on Mosaic law apply to the Higher Law as well. Sealings are not effective because we follow the rules, but because Christ has mercy on us and binds us if we do what He asks. He is always the agent of our salvation, whereas we do nothing that truly saves us. Rather, He asks us to do certain things and then He blesses us with His power. It makes sense, I promise, in my mind.

Also, I was curious if any one had had strong experiences with living the commandments.

The Book of Mormon is so full of the Spirit.

I drew a football player to help a kid with his physics homework and they gave us homemade chocolate in return.

Cool life.

Elder Newman

I've been having trouble sleeping but it's a cold giving me mischief. It should pass, and now I sleep in a bed, in contrast to the mattress on the floor that I was sleeping on.

La Refinería 1‏ (Oh, and they robbed us on a trip to the temple!??)

SOOOOOOO Changes happened and a great many things changed.

Elder Paiz and Elder Maldonado continue in Soyapango, Elder Paiz is training.

I have left Soyapango after 4 months for Apopa (20 minutes to the north). It's a bit more suburban here, cus Soyapango was way more densely packed. I'm in Barrio Refinería (the Refinery, though I have yet to see a Refinery in the Ward). The Stake Center is right in the middle of our area, plus a shopping center, so that's pretty luxurious.

My new companion is Elder Campbell from Orem, Utah. He has 7 months in the mission and spent them all in good old Usulután (but he was in the other Branch). Allegedly, District Usulután is going to become a Stake. Chivo, chivo.

It's a bit extra weird since we're half-opening the area. There haven't been Elders in the Ward for 12 or so years, only Sisters. The area belonged to the Training Leaders of the Sisters, but they were sent out to San Miguel (since they're moving more Sisters out East). This has had certain consequences:

1. Neither I nor my companion knew anything about the Ward

2. We don't have a house, since the old house is still occupied by the other companionship of Sisters

3. Everyone is in shock because we are not female

Right now we live in a different Ward with the Zone Leaders, about 10 minutes in bus or 20 by foot from our area. It's extra special because they're a trio right now, so we're 5 to a rather small house.

The good thing is that the area is very healthy. Good converts, various progressing investigators, yeah. The members help a ton here, so we know where most everyone lives. I suppose the biggest challenge'll be keeping it as good as when the Sisters were here. But I feel good about the change and hope to become a much better missionary. Something I'm doing again is making a chart out of graphing paper to track how well I'm doing in all the day to day stuff, like exercise, reading the Book of Mormon, language study, etc. It's super helpful to see where I need to try harder  (you just need to check it more than daily to do what you haven't done).

It's been a very tired but good week. I've been having trouble sleeping. Once every 3-5 weeks, I just wake up in the middle of the night with extremely strong leg pain, and that happened Thursday. So I got some pills from the Mission Nurse and the last two days I just had nightmares. But I'm not feeling as tired right now, at least.

OH it's raining a bit here now. But we sleep with the door open, my companion with a fan, and I never use more than sheets. Once in a while in San Marcos I wanted a blanket, but not enough to get one. We wear suits to Church, baptisms, and the Temple. OH and they robbed Elder Paiz and I a trip to the Temple. If we baptize twice in a month, we go. We baptized twice in March but cancelled our trip last minute and now that changes have come, it prolly won't happen. Rude. :y

Oh, and I spent last Tuesday closing contracts in 2 houses and moving a ton of furniture by hand. That was a bit pesado (heavy).

If I find an adapter, I'll send photos, cus something happend to my old one.

A ver (We will see).

Bueno, echen fuego esta semana! Vivan por el Espíritu! (Well, throw fire this week ! Walk in the Spirit!)

Hijos de luz! (Children of light!)

Adiós,

Elder Newman