Tho I should give all I have, it would be a small price to pay to learn to love‏

Pictured: Elder L and I after doing exchanges, with the highest grade of photography employed.















List of every temple I've entered:

https://www.lds.org/church/temples/redlands-california?lang=eng (only in the Open House)

https://www.lds.org/church/temples/oklahoma-city-oklahoma?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/church/temples/boise-idaho?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/church/temples/twin-falls-idaho?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/church/temples/provo-utah?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/church/temples/guatemala-city-guatemala?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/church/temples/san-salvador-el-salvador?lang=eng

So yeah, here we are. First, for all the missionaries: it's really really weird contacting without La Dádiva (He is the Gift).

Thought: To believe that God is a God of Miracles is to believe that whatsoever thing that is good in His eyes is possible. If you want to be baptized in 3 weeks, you can do it. If you don't believe you can be ready without an extensive training period, where is your faith? God works as quickly as we let Him.

Also: Thought is power. To think on oneself is like a power plant being connected to itself. A power plant easily supplies its own needs and using its surplus on itself will only destroy the electrical system of the plant, then unable to produce power whatsoever.

This week was cool. We worked with one of the companionships a ton, doing 1 hour of exchanges, then a day, then we sent the whole district to work there for 2 hours. It was pretty great and we got a lot of progress done there. We found 9 new investigators in just those 2 hours.

Christmas was chill. We ate a ton of Panes con Pollo (chicken sandwiches), some Tres Leches, painted a house, cleaned another, donated some Panes con Pollo, and skyped home. Calling home was really nice, just a general comfort. It's infamous for making people baggy (trunky) but I didn't feel like that.

We have 2 families likely for baptism, one the 17 of January and the other the 14th of February. We've worked with F. A. a ton, and I think they'll finally get baptized (they've been interviewed once but needed more time). F M, we've only visited a little bit, but they've committed to read the Book of Mormon con todo. Also, Hno. E will probably be baptized, but he hasn't set a date. He believes in the Book of Mormon, is good with all the commandments, he just needs to say the word. There are a lot of good people here, and we hope to work super hard with them so that they might achieve EXALTATION. (almost everyone will achieve salvation in the last day so that's really not the goal here)

Saluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu pues (traditional Salvadoreño goodbye :y  )

Elder Newman

I hope it's a very, very lovely year.

Mas Fotos!

This week was pretty chill. I kind of messed up my first District Meeting (which is pretty great since one of the Assistents to the President was there), but I managed to make it somewhat useful. We also had a service activity painting a school Saturday with half the zone. That was pretty cool. A lot of people are busy with Christmas, so we haven't been able to find as many people,.but that's how it goes. The Ward also had it's Christmas activity. We ate well and some investigators came, and that's what's important.

From what I understand, Christmas really isn't anything special in the mission here. I just figure I won't sleep because it's the culture here to do fireworks alllllllllllllllllll night. Also our Zone Conferences are maximo 1, 2 buses away, so like $3 at worst wherever in the mission. I feel like the point of money is pretty easy here. I always have left over money.

The most positive families right now are the familia Ayala, Hermano Edihim, and the familia Monterosa. F. Ayala has been visited by the missionaries hace rato (for quite a bit. Elder Rojas contacted them a year ago in a different area and then they moved here and other Elders contacted them again, including Elder Beecher who was with me in the MTC.). They're not so good for reading the Book of Mormon, but they attend church by their own choice (we don't have to provide transport or bother them or anything), and they're reading the Conference Liahona. They're progressing a lot. Hno. Edihim is super positive, he's been visited for a month I think, but yesterday was the first time he came to church. I feel like the Gospel Principles class' theme of the Final Judgment was actually just what he needed to hear. F. Monterosa we just found, but they're very friendly, investigated the Church in the past, and are quite sincere. So yeah, keep moving forward! I'm getting better at doing street contacts, and we could have 3 baptisms this change.

Always remember to pray! Try to have as few prayers per day, i.e., aim to have one, continuous prayer from dawn til dusk. For those of you with Patriarchal Blessings, remember to live such that you may receive the blessings thereof! And always be making yourself worthy of your (future/current - select one) spouse! Just do all the things in their good and proper order!

CON TODO,

Elder Jacob Newman

fotos yeeeeeeeeeeeah, some shots of the Aguas de Ilopango, San Marcos, Elder R, and after our house in Soyapango, Elder R, and a service activity painting a school.

have fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun Christmas was meant to be coooooooooooold

I hope that it might be an absoultely wonderful Christmas back home :>

Soyapanico‏

URGENT: Why is James called Santiago in Spanish

I also forgot my agenda today so I don't remember all the things I wanted to tell you. Also this computer can't accept my flashdrive so I can't send you all my pictures (I have some pics from my old area and of my new house and Elder R, my new companion, from when he was doing stuff)

But yeah, I'm now in Prusia II, in Soyapango. It's another city connected to San Salvador, but it's like 40 minutes from San Marcos. I'm District Leader of 4 companionships, and our Zone has 2 districts in total (the other district has only 2 Latinos but I'm the only gringo in my district. The Zone Leaders are also in my district). It's super urban, has a ton of stores, and 3 different gangs. But the Ward is pretty healthy, with between 170 and 200 assistence, and the people here give us a ridiculous amount of food. Leaving San Marcos and Elder R was a shame, but this is a very good area. Oh, and I almost had sisters in my district, cus the other district is half sisters. In Usulutan, there were 30 missionaries and 0 sisters, and in San Marcos, they were just not that close. Oh, and my old Zone got divided. But yeah, being a District Leader is interesting, and I'm trying hard to put forward the best example.

My companion is Elder R from Peru, and this is his last transfer. He goes home with Joseph I think. But he's great, we're working hard, and I'm super tired. He is not currently trunky. :> I'll probably be here at least 3 months though, since he'll be leaving.

The best pupusas I've had so far are garlic pupusas. Jalapeño is más o menos, and just a note, there is barely any spicy food in El Salvador. Tried them both this week. I want to try the carrot pupusas but haven't found them.

This week we have our Christmas meeting with Presidente Vásquez, so that's exciting.

Even though we have our own chapel, it's like 20 minutes by foot and half of our area is another 20 minutes (mixed bus and foot).

With contacting, we've been doing better in my new area, and it really helps, because other finding methods are less continuous and require more time to prep. In the past, I've primarily had referrals from members, but always fairly low values there.

As far as El Salvador goes, the two real problems are low education levels (it stops in high school usually) and the gangs. The gangs are really paralysing the nation, because it's gotten much worse the last few years, and given that people can't trust in their own security in the majority of the country, tourism, business, etc just doesn't work, and it just stimulates stuff like youth pregnancy, lower education levels, higher crime rates, etc.

Starting with the important things like always:

It's getting close to New Years, so make sure to have the Little Matchstick Girl at the ready.

I don't remember the words to Alouette at all. I love the tune though. I don't even remember if the lyrics are in French or translated. :y

Elder Romero just has a ton of pills but going to the neurologist here isn't a big deal because medicine is kind of weird generally in this country.

I got one of my Christmas packages and I want to open it cus it has ties (and I heard that the other's in the mission office) but you can't open Christmas presents until Christmas :<

Anyway, the most important thing I've heard this week goes as follows:

"charity=consecration"

or something like that because I hear everything in Spanish and that's more or less how it translates (caridad=consagración)

But it's a lovely thought

It feels like everything's harder here than it should be. Especially all the gangs. Apparently, Honduras applied the death penalty to being a gangster, so like all their gangsters moved to El Salvador and that's why everything has gotten really bad here. Here's pretty chill, once and a while we get an impression not to go to tal y tal lugar, but ni modo (such and such a place, but I did so). We've got a few neighborhoods still made of dirt and some champas, generally thin pasajes (passages) for all the housing, but we do have a freeway right though the area. We live in a gated community with guards.

Last PDay we had a Pumpkin Pie as a kind of super late half Thanksgiving, and I've already gotten one of my Christmas packages. As far as teaching goes, it's been pretty slow, with a low number of scheduled visits, but c'est la vie. This week I expect to be much better. There's one pair in particular that's moving along nicely. They've come to Church twice already, the wife is the cousin of a member and has known various members, they're reading the Book of Mormon, and watched the Christmas Devotional last night. The only thing is that they aren't married (people should just get married if they're going to have a family. It's like 400000 times easier.). Journal writing is still A+, and I feel most particularly that it helps me regulate my moods and stay happier more. It's important.

Oh, and we're going to help a member put up Christmas lights tomorrow. Yes.

And transfers are Wednesday. Throwing everything in the air like always.

Gonna have a good weeeeeeeeeeek yesh

Elder Newman

Fotos son aburridas y nunca jamás se las enviaré a Uds. (photos are boring and never ever will send it to you again)

articulations and gestures communicate thoughts and meanings.‏ (Photos!)

Important questions first:

What is inverse sugar? (It's in Swedish Fish)

How does the saying "If wishes were fishes..." end?

Favorite statements:

A living prophet is of greater value than a dead one, e.g., Adam was not given revelation to build the Ark of Noah. (Pres. Benson)

The worth of a human soul is its potential to become like God. (cited by Pres. Monson)

Otherwise, things have just been going along. My goal this week is to develop goal following habits. I know a lot of stuff that I could do better, and I make pretty good goals sometimes, so I guess I just need to apply them better. Also work more by the Spirit.

Things that are going better this week: consistent journal writing (it is a commandment), contacting a little bit. Otherwise same old. My goal for the week is to set 1 daily goal to improve on, then continue it for the rest of the week and así voy mejorando (so I'm getting better).

Speaking of Spanglish, sometimes it's really fun being the only English speaker. A member asked me to sing Teach Me to Walk in the Light in English (she asked in Spanish), but I only remembered the opening and closing lines to the hymn, so I sung the main body about how I'm the only one who's aware that I'm not singing the lyrics correctly. But that's just shenanigans.

Oh, and Friday we just spent the whole day in buses because my companion went to the neurologist for migraines. And one of my shirts got a small puncture because bus chairs here are ghetto and have stuff sticking out and they decided to be rude. Saturday, the part of my watch that holds the strap broke. Then Sunday, one of my two long sleeve shirts got a massive tear in the sleeve because it caught on a parked truck that also had a thing just jutting out for the sake of it. Fortunately, our laundry lady said she knows someone that might be able to clean them up well. Fingers crossed. (but really, after 7 months without incident, 2 shirts in a weekend). We passed by the Mission Office while going to the neurologist and picked up 2 packages, particularly my birthday package. Chivo (literally translates "kid." Probably like saying "dude" here).

We'll see how everything goes this week! Hoping it'll be something different! 

Exchanges still haven't happened. I most of all hope to lift my faith. It feels like things are a bit overstressed here and we don't end up working super quality, so I really want to fulfill my goals. I'm pretty rubbish at changing my lifestyle to meet them, so I don't know. Work more on having the Spirit and all that. Though I'm doing pretty well with respect to my journal writing.

Oh, and I have my BDay package and the envelope filled with stuff from the Liahona. Thanks a lot :>

Hope your week goes very spiffingly.

Adiós (siempre se me olvida que adiós tenga acento), y dele con todo (Goodbye ( I always forget goodbye has accent) , and give all)

Elder Newman

photos:

1. my companion likes plastic animals and stuff like that. If we're still together for Christmas, I'm going to buy him Monopoly.

2. parked trucks are rude.

3. my companion messing with my camera.

I want a Pumpkin Pie but I am denied it‏

This past week hasn't been to particularly eventful, as I am given to say. Lots of appointments fell through but a lot also turned out well, no investigators came to Church but like 40 less actives came so that's pretty great, given that our chapel is right there.

We have a few contacts that are quite promising. We hope to meet a bunch this week and met one last night (follow up visit this evening about BAPTISM yeah), and yeah. Oh, and S M was baptized of course but I already sent that email :>

Our new building is awesome and entirely better than taking a 30 minute bus ride.

Going to work hard and remember things to write in the email home! YEAH!

All in all, it's been quite tranquilo (tranquil). Normal missionary stuff I guess. We have a visit to the Temple in December planned for investigators (just to tour the grounds and teach a bit about the Temple) and I think we have exchanges tomorrow. Probably. Quizas (maybe). We were supposed to have them twice last week but since one of the companions in Santo Tomas has only been there 1-2 weeks due to emergencies (Elder Wikan was sent home due to health problems), he isn't confident in the area.

I'll take pics of drawings one day because I'm still doing it but I'm too lazy.

Adios,

Elder Jacob Newman

Regina Spektor and Les Mis play in my head once in a while but I can't remember the lyrics except for Eet which is pretty appropriate if you ask me.‏

Things are going along. We're already almost halfway through this transfer which is super weird, 

The Open House went pretty fantastic Friday and more or less Saturday. There were some organization problems, but Friday was quite sublime, and Saturday had some success. The important thing is that there are more than a few referrals from members waiting to be filled and now that it's so close, it'll be way easier for everyone to attend. The Dedicación fue buena (the Dedication was good).

We're trying to build our relationships with quite a few investigators. We had some good talks with individual members of the Familia Lemuz, and 2 are close to accepting a baptismal date and we talked with one who had almost never talked with us. A Familia Lino we reeeeeeeeally hope to find and work with them this week. The father has read the Book of Mormon, has a testimony, and would be baptized in an instant, but they're not married (why is this a thing El Salvador being married is pretty good) and the wife doesn't have a testimony. They've been visited by the missionaries off and on for a very long time. Then Familia Perez Cañas has a lot of potential too, but we haven't found them in a while. Same with Ricardo Martinez. He's always busy as a mechanic but he's sincerely interested. Stupid gentile world.

Bagged liquids continue to be a bad idea but I continue having to use them.

Adios Elder Newman