God has ever more ready‏

We found a ton of fantastic people this week, including a reference from Pres. Vásquez! It's an hermana named F, who works in the Temple's cafeteria! We found the inactive granddaughter and her husband of some super powerful members, and wow! A lot of people are also committed to come to Conference and are showing a lot of interest.

The only downside is that I have transfers this Wednesday, which means I will not see the 5 or so people probable for baptism be baptized, but we'll just have to catch up in the Celestial Kingdom! The blessings of hard work aren't diminished just because you're not present to see the fruits! But I loved this area and I guess I now get to learn to love a ton of new people and a new area!

But E and P got baptized! Everything went perfect, which is perfect because E had a commitment from 3 months ago for yesterday and almost didn't come to be confirmed, but she has her faith where it needs to be. We got them giant sheets of paper and invited all the members to write a message to them on it, and I drew something chiquito for the both of them. The grandma of P has decided to be an active member of the Church again! She'd been inactive for something like 10-20 years. Elder R and I sung a special piece for the service.

This week was kind of weird since we got lost in San Salvador Monday, trapped in Quezaltepeque due to transportation problems Wednesday, and we went to San Salvador again Friday and had a significant hiccup in the Mission Office, but it was a great week in all respects.

Memorizing scriptures is a really good way to integrate the doctrine they teach into your life. I've been focusing on making time to do so, and I've now memorized Moroni 7:45-48 and DyC 121:41-46. They bring a lot of strength and improve your memory. 1 or 2 verses a day adds up really fast.

I also spoke yesterday in Sacrament Meeting, about the premortal love in our families and how we can remember and increase that love (charity) in this life so that we might be restored to eternal families in the next life, since we will all be restored to a more glorious form of what we now have. If there is no eternity, no eternal love in us, then we will simply not exist in the next life. Si no tenéis caridad, no sois nada.

Charity is one of the most important themes we could possible practice or study. Also Leviticus 26 is a cool exposition on the universal effect of obedience and disobedience.

Nos veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemos for this week!

Elder Newman

Jehová proveerá‏

This week was good! God provides!
(I love the history of the Akedah (the binding of Isaac), since there is a very Christian prophecy in the declaration that God would provide a lamb. Also considering yourself as Isaac- God provided a Lamb in the precise moment that he was to be destroyed to fulfill the justice of God. If you want to know how it feels to be saved from the Fall, remember Isaac and how it would feel to be sacrificed by your father and accept it for your meekness before God.)

E and Pa are almost certain to be baptized! They're really marvelous and have come a long way. Also, an old investigator that the Ward had taught named F came back to Church yesterday! He's practically a member- he had received a testimony by prayer and study, knows the whole Ward, everything, but because he made some bad decisions, he went away from the Church. He realized how much he had lost and repented and came back! We're preparing him to be baptized for the 17! Another investigator we found is super positive! Her daughter was excommunicated from the Jehovah's Witness and because she didn't want to break contact with her daughter, she went inactive in that organization. She actually talked to us in the street and really wants to find the truth. She's named O. Another is named C, who is a young woman who's really enthusiastic to study the Gospel and came to Church the first time we invited her! Her family has had hard times and she's never found a church she's been entirely comfortable in.

Today I got 2 ingrown toenails out! And the person who the Mission works with does it 500 times better! I have 0 days of rest and can wear my shoes the whole time! Yeah! And it was way cheaper than last time! I also bought a watch since mine broke forever ago! Yay! And 1.5 weeks less in the transfer!

It's been kind of rainy.

It's raining right now. That's pretty early.

Also: I don't know what you people look like now. It's been 2 years for most of you. So, if you want and happen to have a photo already attached to your reply to this email, you have my permission to send it to me. :>

Edifiquen SIÓN

Elder Newman

°wow°‏

I love fall I miss it so much :<

Last week went pretty quick.

We found various new families, very positive some of them. Pres. Vásquez in a Zone Conference taught a new first lesson method and has established that we should always sing in all the lessons (since Pres. Nelson said that we should bring music into the homes of our investigators). It's really cool reading the Himnal Prologue where it talks about singing to invite the Spirit and inspire repentance with investigators. It's fuerte. It's a lesson bien focused on obedience and baptism. We even leave them all 6 pamphlets from the 1st lesson with the Book of Mormon so that they have everything in their hands necessary to be baptized and understand that theirs is the burden of sacrifice unto redemption.

Our Ward might be changed to another Stake (due to transportation difficulties). The big question for me is based on the fact that the other Stake belongs to the San Salvador Oeste Mission. We'll see what it means for Elder Newman!

There's now a Papa John's in Apopa. We're moving up in the world.

Our plumbing got fixed.

Tomorrow is Central America's Independence Day (even though they're different countries, they have the same Independence Day).

I drew the Plan of Salvation on some posters and put it in the windows of our house. Maybe someone'll read it and get interested :>

Hno. Ascencio is the best- he's a convert of 14 months, who is over 70 years old and is with us sometimes from 12.30 to 9 at night almost every day. He's a powerhouse. He never complains about walking and we always tell him to drink more water.

And a bat woke us up last night since it was banging into the walls repeatedly until we opened a door to let it out. Stupid. This month, I've found 2 dead bats. FACT: Dogs and bats are the 2 species that carry rabies in El Salvador. Stupid bats. But I guess I still like them.

Elder Newman

The Plan of Salvation, the house, my Haz lo Justo ring has gone from silver and green to gold and silver. 

Presenting: Jacob Newman´s THE WEEK‏

This week was principally running around. Our area continues to not decide between being rural and urban, and we live in one corner of our area 15 minutes away from the main block of dense neighborhoods, which in turn is about 15 minutes away from various other blocks. So we walk :>

We spent most of the week just getting to know new families (less active and investigator) and working with those who are progressing. The members are helping a ton and we seem to have more confidence with them now.

We moved into our house! It's the most American house I've lived in. It has wood. We have a large garage open to our patio. We have fancy lights and it has two floors, and given that it's a cement building, the bottom floor remains cool even during the hottest hours of the day! QUÉ PODER. The house hadn't been used for 5 years so we're still cleaning a bit and the plumbing isn't actually operable (we have to provide the toilet with water from the shower). We live right next to a school so we always get to hear el himno nacional de EL SALVADOR during studies. And a lightning bolt struck like our neighbor's house or something the other night during planning because huela it was close. But my favorite part of the new house is that I can sleep in jeans :> Jeans are the most comfortable for sleeping. (All my other houses were way too hot).

Emma de García and Patricia are almost sure to be baptized on the 26th. They're super. Emma is the young wife of a member who was activated recently and she really wants God's help to have a good marriage and family. She's felt the Spirit, has begun to live the Word of Wisdom, todito. She just has problems finding time to read the Book of Mormon, given she has a 6 month old baby, but she even attends the marriage classes in the chapel.

Patricia is a niña and everyone in the family but her aunt is inactive, but she is echando ganas (really motivated) to learn the Gospel, live it, and be baptized.

One cool experience we had was while we were walking down the road, a guy in a truck stopped by us. It was Walter, a guy we had taught once, our first Sunday in the area. He apologized for not being in home and said he was going to quit his job and focus on the little shop they have in his house so that he could focus more on God (during the brief lesson we had, I mentioned 2 or 3 times why the Sabbath Day is important). It's incredible when people want to talk to you, rather than suffer you to talk to them.

We also found some old investigators that my old companion, Elder E, had taught. They didn't end up coming, but they really like the Church and accepted the church and baptismal invite. We set the baptismal goal for the 10 of October (my birthday :>). When we found them, we taught 4, but the whole family is composed of some 14 people.

Let's hope throughout the world for an experience as found in Helaman 5!

Work hard, live the Gospel, enjoy the journey! Don't do what you enjoy, rather enjoy what you do.

And a good quote from the Liahona of this month, which I recommend to you all (esp. the articles on family): "The Atonement allows us to learn from our experiences without being condemned by them."

Elder Newman

wow I actually wrote a lot this week. and my camera memory got ruined in the last cyber we used so quedamos pendientes con respecto a fotos.

Sing Hymns‏

So this week was quite spiffy.

Monday- Interviews with President! Felt a bit more confident going out, but we ending up not having PDay. C'est la vie.
Tuesday- Bishop introduced us to more less active members! Surprise, one of them never got baptized! I think they'll come back to Church. We just need to give them un empujoncito.
Wednesday- We went to the Temple! It was my 2nd favorite session of all time. I just feel an incredible love for Adam and Eve. They're magnificent. We spent the afternoon in more baptismal interviews for Quezaltepeque. All came out well.
Thursday- Met some new people! Final choir practice!
Friday- President Russell M. Nelson of the 12, Elder Ochoa and Elder Alonso of the 70 gave a marvelous conference. Moreso, we sang Que Firmes Cimientos (How Firm a Foundation) after the opening prayer and it was so incredible. It came out magnificently (after the conference, we sung Cual rocío que destila (As Heaven´s Dew Distilling) to the tune of Guard Him, Joseph). It was very well received. Everyone got to shake his hand, and it was amazing to meet someone who has such an intimate and close relationship with Christ. One of the key instructions we received is that, en sí, half of our daily plans should be lessons to less active members, because they are beyond important.
Saturday- A few 2nd lessons
Sunday- We gave a part of the 3rd hour to encourage members to invite everyone. We talked about why and how it's best just to be quick and direct in the invitations, with a brief testimony.
Monday- today

We still don't live in our area but tomorrow sí.

God is the best. For those who truly love Him, He will send a 2nd Comforter, that is, occasional visits and care from the Lord Himself.

Elder Newman

Fotos:
  1- La Familia V, from my last area in Refinería. I forgot to send the photo.

  2- A photo of the photo that the Ward sent me :>

  3- The Mission Choir of San Salvador Este más poderoso

  4- Housemates: Elder M, Elder R (my companion), myself, and Elder R

Villa Mariona‏

Changes were this week! But surprise, I'm still in the same Zone! Also surprise, I'm opening an area again! That means I've opened 1/4 of the Zone (2 out of 8 areas)!

I'm now in an area called Villa Mariona. It was closed for a few months, but we've been able to communicate well with the Bishop and Ward Missionaries. We think we have a house but we haven't moved in yet.

But this last week was crazy as will the current.

Elder Pérez was sick up until changes, but we got to do some good lessons on the way. I left some letters to some people and left a last lesson for as many as I could.

Day of changes Bishop just took us to different houses of members to get to know them. The area is kind of ridiculously organized (almost no useful bus routes, various rivers with a small number of bridges, lots of hills, etc). And we crossed a really dangerous bridge for no reason because there is an alternate route that takes like 2 minutes more. :<

Thursday! Finding people! We went with an elderly member who pretty much just wants to go with the missionaries all the time and likes to walk. But we found a great investigator named E de G, who is this brothers granddaughter (Hno. A) and is married to an active member. They have a 6 year old son. It's pretty great.

Friday! Choir practice! We're learning also As Heaven's Dew Distilling or whatever it's called in English to the tune "Guard Him, Joseph." One lesson with Emma, then we spent 3 hours doing baptismal interviews in Quezaltepeque. A member in Quezaltepeque was going to drive us home, since Quezalte is 40 minutes from home, but he took a pill and when he told us that he couldn't, the last bus had already left. So we slept with the Elders in Quezalte. ... and we had the keys to the house so the Elders in whose house we live slept with the other Elders in their District.

And yeah, Saturday and Sunday was finding more people.

This week: Today- Interviews with President. Tuesday- Final Choir

Practice Wednesday or Thursday- Temple Trip Friday- Elder Nelson comes to give a Multi Mission Conference, and somewhere during all this are 3 more baptismal interviews in Quezalte and moving to our new house in our area. Buena vida. :>

And I've completed approximately 2/3 of my mission :< math has betrayed me

but yeah that's how it's goind down here. Enjoy everything up there! or wherever you are relative to me! Echen fuego!

Elder Newman

que lástima pero adiós‏ (What a Shame, But Goodbye)

Fotos: Elder P wins over the camera, I can´t flip pancakes, pictures of El Salvador.

This week was starting to pick up, though we're still not at 100%. The Choir practices are progessing, Elder P is going to train, and that means I have changes. These are the last 2 days in the area- I've never lasted more than 4 months in an area (and it's the 2nd time in a row that I've had changes because my companion was going to train). I was seriously expecting to actually stick with my companion for once jaja.

We visited some parts of our area that we're not very familiar with. There's a town called Nejapa (where they have the Fireball Festival), but it´s pretty far from town and en sí, during these expeditions, we were unsuccessful in finding investigators to teach. The area just past the Río Tomayate is a bit more promising though since there are so many members, less actives, and it's fairly safe. We're also getting more cooperation from the Ward. It's a bit of a shame that I won't be hear to see everything develop, but I feel like the nuevito will inherit fairly decent work.

Elder P got pretty sick yesterday. He had a 104 degree fever yesterday, but by the afternoon it got down to 100, and we left a little bit in the night and found a family of 7. We hope that they progress!

Also, sad news: Hno. Jesús died 2 weeks ago. After his confirmation, he couldn't even attend Church due to failure in the knees and his family kind of just ignored him all the time, so he just layed in a hammock all the time. I hope that he can progress much more now.

Elder Newman