January 13th, 2013

Hello everyone!!

It has been another wonderful week here in tainan. being with sister park is so much fun!! she is seriously so so funny and she makes me laugh all the time. she yells encouraging words to me in korean as we're biking down the street. i don't understand most of it but my korean is improving. sister park is going to be senior companion next movecall and she's really excited. and so ready. i'm really trying to learn how to better help others learn how to take the lead. i'm really grateful for the love in our companionship. i think my companions have been one of the most influential factors of my mission and i'm grateful that Heavenly Father is teaching the power of surrounding myself with good friends. i'm so grateful for each of my companions and they are all doing pretty great. most of them are senior companions now, which makes me feel really old. well, i guess that happens.

we have an amazing progressing investigator named Lu JM. her english is perfect and she's always coming up with funny analogies that actually make SO MUCH SENSE. she told us how the Book of Mormon and the Bible are like overlapping teeth. she makes me laugh so much. she loves the law of chastity and she says that she keeps that pamphlet in her agenda because it is so precious to her. she told us how she has always had that standard in her life and she is so grateful that she has found others that share her same standard. she's been hurt in the past and i'm so grateful that she knows the importance of the commandments. she also hasn't been able to come to church this semester because she has a class every sunday from 9:00 to 12:00am. this past week, we shared with her about the word of wisdom. she loves her tea and coffee. BUT she committed to quit tea this week, and coffee next week! i am so grateful that i have been able to see her faith grow and we have been texting calling her daily to strengthen and encourage her. she is coming to church this sunday and bringing her son, whose name is aurthur and he's adorable
i had a really powerful experience this sunday at sacrament. i really tried to focus on the sacrament every day this past week and, in my prayers, prepare to be cleansed and renew my covenants. as i was in sacrament meeting this week, i could just really feel the sacredness of the ordinance and i felt more focused on the Savior than usual. i'm grateful that Heavenly Father allowed me to have this experience and i want to apply this pattern to every week.

this next week is going to be so great. i love being a part of the Lord's work in whatever way He needs, whether that means finding or teaching or being with the members, or visiting less active sisters. everything thing we do matters because we matter!! i really love the concept of small and simple things- no effort is wasted and we can be the Lord's hand to love and serve His children. i love it. He loves each of us so much and i'm so grateful that i have felt that love from all of you. thank you for your prayers and emails and love. keep the faith

love

sister Newman 

January 6th, 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR! wow- 2013 was really amazing. I'm so grateful that i was able to spend a full year as a missionary. 2013 has been so great and i'm grateful that sister Park is a champion at setting goals and making plans. she is working on chinese and english at the same time and she's a great example to me. i'm still working through the Book of Mormon in Chinese and sometimes i get pretty stuck on the city names and the Nephites preparations for war. i don't use 'breastplate' very often in my everyday vocabulary. haha. but i love this language and i've been able to really see the Lord help me learn a lot these past couple of weeks.

I got the package! thank you so much for the pictures. i passed them out to all the members and investigators and they loved them. i love the earrings and i'm so grateful that i got it last week. thank you so much! dad thank you so much for getting the information about the vietnam branch. i'll tell kathy about it- she was super excited to hear that you're going to be there next week. she says that Hanoi is about 2 hours from her home. we read the Book of Mormon with her last night and it was so special to hear her continue to testify how every time she reads the Book of Mormon, it helps her with a current concern. she says that the HARD part is opening the book and starting to read. once she starts reading she loves it. but starting is the hard part. sounds like me and exercising. she wants to read everyday this week- despite the fact that she is preparing for finals. reading the Book of Mormon daily is what got me through finals. haha i love the power that comes from prayerfully studying the scriptures. 

i had a really cool experience on saturday. i feel like i'm finally learning some things about being a mission.on saturday afternoon, we had a lesson fall through and looking at the back up plan, it just didn't feel right. i had the feeling that we should start biking in the opposite direction, but i wasn't sure where exactly we were headed. I kept praying that Heavenly Father would guide us to know where we needed to go and i kinda felt like Nephi "being led by the spirit, not know beforehand the things which i should do." we kept biking and i had the thought to drop by a woman we tracted into. As we pulled to her home, a woman on a scooter pulled up and started putting flyers in the mailboxes. we offered her our help, which led to us talking about the gospel,  which led to her giving us her number. it was amazing to feel like the spirit was guiding us. i learned to really seek the spirit, to plead for guidance and to follow it. even when i didn't know why. i know that Heavenly Father puts people in our path and we can help them feel His love. 

we attended a wedding on saturday and it was so happy! my recent convert Hou JM from nanzi took a train up and i was able to see her and casper. i love them both so much. i'm so excited for you kelly!! temple weddings are such a blessing and they are so happy. just know i'm going to be crying through your entire wedding. haha i love you

i'm doing really well. i'm grateful for supportive missionaries who are great examples to me. i'm grateful to the Lord for this amazing missionary experience and i'm grateful that missionary work is a life long calling. The chruch is true. President Monson is God's prophet. the Book of Mormon is God's word. 

i love you all so much. i'm praying for you

love 

sister Newman 

December 30th, 2013

LAST P-DAY OF 2013! sister park has been planning what we want to do today all week. haha she's the best and being her companion is so so much fun. i'm so grateful that i get to serve with her. it's been great to have to really focus on those we're working with and what we're doing so that i can help her quickly get to know everyone and the area. she's a champion and we're having a great time

Christmas was FANTASTIC! it was sister Parks first christmas so when i told her that we weren't going to go exercise on wednesday and morning, she didn't understand that that meant we were going to INSTEAD open presents. haha she woke up and started studying untill i was like COME ON! LET"S HAVE CHRISTMAS! it was fun to be with her and just see the simple joys of christmas again. we spent christmas eve with our ward mission leader and his wife, Huang JM, who is getting baptized the end of january. we shared with her about the sacrament and the sabbath day. before we even started teaching, she told us how going to church with her husband and not shopping and not being busy on sunday has blessed her with strength and rest. she loves it. they are such a cute couple. Huang DX told us that he loves her coming to church because he's not alone anymore. AWWW. he was holding her hand and it was just really special. their relationship has really changed over the past couple of months and the Gospel is truly blessing their family. they are coordinating with their son, who is serving a mission in Taibei, to come down and help baptise his mother. sister Huang is truly a tender mercy from the Lord and she is so prepared. I am so grateful that i get to know her and teach her. she basically knows everything already, thanks to the faithfulness and love of her husband and sons. i love families!

in sacrament meeting this wee, the Tainan 2nd ward had 5 couples sustained as ward missionaries! they kept calling out the names for those to be sustained, which includes the bishop, his counselors, the stake president counselor and their wives. I am so excited to start working with these couples. I was really touched by the willingness of these members to accept another calling to serve, despite the fact that they all already have many other callings and responsibilities. this ward and area are amazing! the combined RS/EQ was all about missionary work and it is so great to see all the members reaching out to love and serve our investigators. it seems though, that every time missionary work is discussed in church, we have like 20 people come up to us afterward and invite us to eat with them. haha. i love it. i love these wards

we watched a conference talk with Kathy this week and she was really touched by president Monson. she has since then watched like 5 other conference talks on her own. she's been coming to church every week and just doing really great. we had dinner with her last night and she is just so great. she is praying to recognize God's answers to her prayers, as she is asking to know that Pres. Monson and Joseph Smith are called of God. she's going back to vietnam for a couple weeks in january but we are going to keep in contact with her. there are apparently NO lds branches in vietnam, which i didn't know. we're really praying for her. a less active vietnamese sister, Chen JM, came to church yesterday to get to know kathy! the whole less active family showed up and i'm so grateful that Chen JM has such desire to do missionary work. she hasn't been to church in about a month- it was a miracle.  

i'm doing really great. tainan is the best. sister park is amazing. Heavenly Father loves us. i love you all so much. seeing the family on wednesday was the best christmas present ever. you all are my strength. i love you all. you all look so gewd. we have the best family in the world. i am so grateful for your prayers and love and support. i feel it and i need it :)
all my love

Sister Newman  

December 16th, 2013

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! CONGRATULATIONS TO KELLY!! LIFE IS SO GOOD!

i really am just so happy this week. it's been full of changes and adjusting and miracles.

my new companion is sister park. she is korean and adorable! she came on island with my companion sister hill, so i met her for a minute at the orientation meeting back in july. she is seriously so amazing. she is simultaneously learning english and chinese. so i'm speaking chinese all the time. which is good. she is amazing and i love serving with her. her family in korea has 7 people-both of her older brothers are currently serving missions in korea. she is so humble and says ganxie like 20 million times a day. having sister packard leave was a little hard- she is my dear friend. but i'm really grateful that Heavenly Father has given me this movecall with sister Park. i feel so blessed that i have the opportunity to serve with her during the movecall that i might not originally have had. it's really special to see the ways the Lord is blessing me this movecall. i am so grateful. 

Christmas time is so special as a missionary. we watched the christmas devotional and it's special to see people, who previously had no idea why we celebrate christmas, understand what this time of the year is all about. we're getting ready for the christmas activity next saturday and i love working with the ward. the two wards are doing the activity together this year and that's really special. they have asked the missionaries to do a little skit during the activity and talk about mission work. i'm so grateful for the elders and members here. it's been really fun. we also had the opportunity to talk about Christmas and traditions at our english class. all the missionaries shared a family tradition and how it brings us closer to Christ. it was really powerful. we also talked about WHY we have a star, a chirstmas tree, give gifts, set up lights. it was really interesting and fun to help people understand. i hope that now, when they see the decorations and everything, they can remember Christ and the story of Christmas.

we went and visited a less active family this week- she is vietnamese and they have 2 little boys. they come to church occasionally and want to come more frequently so that they can prepare to go to the temple. we went over to their home and taught the story of Christmas with pictures. the two kids were a little crazy but Chen JM, thier mother, was listening really intently. teaching her is really special and her eyes just glow. she started telling us how the gospel and coming to church has really changed her family. she said her children are more well behaved and she was so proud. i love families

i am so grateful for the power of the Atonement. when we are serving others and praying for them and seeking the spirit, we are changed. i am so grateful that we can really change. sometimes the change is really slow. i was really impatient and bossy and judgemental at the beginning of my mission. am i'm still changing. but i have seen a difference in myself. i know it is because of Christ. i know that He makes our weaknesses strengths and i feel so grateful for His atonement. this is a really special Christmas because my eyes have been open to how Christ's birth and life have changed me. 

i love you all so much and i'm so excited to talk to you next wednesday. i'm praying for everyone's finals. blake kenzie kelly rob davis luke and carli. i love you all. mom and dad i love you. thank you so much for your prayers and love and emails!! they are the best. our famil is the BEST. hands down. and dad makes a stellar santa. 

all my love and prayers

sister newman 

December 2nd, 2013

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND MERRY DECEMBER! it got really COLD this week- it was like a switch flipped on thursday and we're staying bundled up :) had to unpack all the scarves and coats. it's been so great to have it start to feel like the holiday season. the christmas decorations are set up at the chapel and sister packard and i were so happy!! this week has been one of so many miracles and i'm always so amazed at the tender mercies of the Lord in my life.

we had the chance on saturday to attend a wedding. sister packard was the first missionary to contact and teach this couple in nantou. they decided to get married! so the wedding was at 10:30 and their baptism was at 1:30! it was so perfect. we traveled up to my first area!! that was where the wedding was being held. it was so amazing to go back and see everyone from the beginning of my mission. i love that area and those members so much. the members in taiwan are so special! i am so grateful for worthy priesthood holders all over this little country that are guiding their families and the church. the brother that got baptized- brother Hong- is going to be an amazing leader in the church. it was exciting to be a part of the wedding and baptism. the bride's sister has been a member for a long time and she was so happy. families are most important. i am so grateful that our family has the gospel and has not had to search for it. i am so grateful to be sealed to all of you.

THANKSGIVING was so great! we visited a less active sister in the morning with another sister in the ward. we talked about Christ's love for all of us and the spirit was so strong. the active sister- sister Lee- was able to teach most of the lesson and it was so powerful. i love the way that our wards are reaching out to all of the investigators and less active sisters. Sister Lee then took us out to lunch at a really nice resturaunt and then we went with her to visit a sister in the hospital. for dinner that night, we went to the bishop's house. as we were walking in there was an older taiwanese couple that were from california. we started chtting with them and the bishop invited them to dinner with us! i really love member missionary work. it so simple and brave haha. dinner was really special and the bishop's wife had prepared so much for us. as we went around the table saying what we were grateful for, the spirit was so strong. the nonmember couple had many questions about us missionaries and what brought us out on missions. it was really special. i'm so grateful for the members in our wards. we went to our ward correlator's house that night and taught his wife. that was so special. it was so special to watch him answer her questions and teach with so much love. they were both glowing. she has the desire to get baptized and i'm so excited to continue teaching her

on friday during weekly planning, we had some of our investigators that we were considering not meeting with right now. some of them weren't really progressing. as we prayed about the names, we got the feeling that we should continue meeting with one of the sisters. we called and she was willing to set up a time. when we met with her, we just talked about baptism and the blessings of reading scriptures, praying, and coming to church. she said she wants to come to churhc next week and set a baptism date for the end of the month. i am so grateful for the spirit and i'm so grateful for the opportunity to continue to teach her. sunday was amazing- we had so many investigators and less active sisters attend. as they all came in, the ward was so welcoming and i didnt even feel like i had to worry about them feeling loved. one of the less active sisters invited her friend, who we met at church. it was really special and a wonderful way to end the week.2 less active sisters even bore their testimony. sacrament meeting was really special.

being sister packard's companion is a really special experience. Heavenly Father knew i needed her strength and humility. we are best friends and it makes all the difference. no matter what happens during the day, we still love each other :) it just feels really great to know i have her support. i have really learned the power of prarying for those around you and feeling their prayers for you. she helps be a better person and lifts me when i'm feeling down. we each can impact those around us more than we realize.

i love you all so much! you are all my heroes and i'm grateful for your prayers and letters and encouragement. it is needed and appreciated. i love you all so much.

-sister Newman

November 17th, 2013

THIS WEEK. this week. i can't even begin to count all the blessings that we have had. so many miracles. i am so grateful for the spirit in our work. with the spirit, we can know what is best to be doing and what Heavenly Father wants us to do to bless His children. HE is in the details of our lives and i love seeing that.

we were able to participate in a funeral this week. our ward mission leader's father passed away. he was a member of the church and the funeral went very well. the music leader called us a couple days before and asked us to sing in the choir. i am so grateful for the chances we are given to serve. sister packard, who is amazing, played the piano for the whole ceremony. after the funeral, the sisters in the ward asked if we could come sing with them at the bedside of a sick father. i am so grateful that we have so many opportunities to serve! i am so grateful for the example of our ward members. they love one another and us so much! i just feel it so much. the day after the funeral, our ward mission leader's wife, who is not a member, came to church! he was beaming and i hope she felt the spirit.   

i have really felt the power of listening this week. i have found on my mission that teaching is a lot about listening. it is something that i am still working on but as i have tried to listen to those we are visiting and really tried to listen to the spirit we have seen many miracles. i feel like i miss out on so much by focusing on what I should say next or what scripture i should share. this week as i have listened and tried to turn our lessons over to the Spirit, i have felt real power in our lessons.we visited Chen JM, a less active sister, who is dealing with depression. we were talking to her about the light of Christ and how He can bless us. at the beginning of the lesson, we asked her when she had recently felt God's love for her. she didn't really have any experiences to share with us- she was just feeling really alone and burdened. as we continued talking with her about the love Christ has for her, i felt prompted to share a scripture that sister Packard had included in our lesson plan. as we shared that scripture  she was really touched by what it said about Christ being our light in the wilderness and preparing the way (1Nephi 17:13). she just sat there staring at the words and pondering their meaning. i could really see the spirit softening her heart. as we continued to talk, she told us about some blessings that she has noticed and seen recently. sister packard pointed out to her how THOSE ways are how God has shown His love for her. the spirit was so strong and we all felt so loved. i am so grateful that Heavenly Father sends His spirit as we seek and as we ask. I have learned so much in our teaching appointments this week- the blessings that i am receiving are more than what i am giving.  

i have been thinking a lot about opening my mouth to share the gospel. i'm still nervous sometimes! i love talking with people but then transitioning to testifying about the restoration is hard. i was really praying about it and we practiced it in the morning. i was praying all day for Heavenly Father to help me know what to say to people. that night, as we were biking to an appointment, i started talking with the woman next to me. i awkwardly started testifying of prophets and praying for her to feel the spirit. the woman was willing to pull over and write down her number! she is christian but she wants to learn more. the next person i contacted was a collage student and she had attended a christian school. she wants to learn more about Christ!! Heavenly Father answers our prayers. as we go to the edge and try to do hard things, He proves the way and the miracles. i love the spirit. with the spirit, we can know what to say. Heavenly Father wants to bless His children and He does it through us. all of us!!

i am so grateful for all your examples. i love you all so much. thank you for your prayers and your love. i feel it and i have really felt support this week. because of your prayers, i have seen so many blessings. i love you. 

all my love

sister Newman 

November 11th, 2013

HAPPY 11/11!!! this week has been so great! being with sister packard in Tainan is so fun and we are loving the work. i feel like i have been made very aware this week that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. i love it! i feel like i have been able to see HIS hand in the work- as things and plans dont go the way WE planned, they go better!!

 

on saturday night we had made plans to go visit a less active sister (Zheng JM) who lives a little ways away from the church. we had tried to call her all day but could not get a hold of her. we said a prayer to know how to most effectively use our time that evening. we were calling phones, setting up some lessons, when a different less active sister (Qiu JM) called us and invited us to come to her home, meet her daughter and eat some homemade bing. Qiu JM miraculously came back to church last month after 20 years of being less active. so OFF WE GO! it was great! the daughter is so special and we were able to talk with her a little about her hopes for the future and how Christ can help us overcome all things. we had visited Qiu JM early in the week and just before we left, she had told us how badly she wanted to help her children come to church. i felt so much love from her for her children. i see in her true conversion- she knows that the gospel is what she needs and she is doing those things to come back. and now she wants to share it! i love being with mothers and seeing the love they have for their children. as we were leaving her home on saturday, we were debating whether or not to go visit the Zheng family. the elders suddenly called us and told us that there was a meeting with us and the leaders in our ward to update addresses and phone numbers on the ward list. so OFF WE GO! as we pull into the chapel, THERE IS ZHENG JM! she came with her family to practice for the primary program in sacrament meeting. i am so grateful that Heavenly Father guided us and that we didn't bike all the way to her home to find that she was not there.

Another way the Lord has guided us this week was on sunday. on wednesday, we made cookies for some members of our ward. there a many families that have recently experienced either a death or sickness in the family. we planned to drop off the cookies and a note and give some people cookies on sunday. we had some time on sunday and we were thinking about planning in time to go drop off cookies at Xie JM. it didn't really feel right, so we just planned to give her some at church. she didn't show up at church so when we went back to the apartment for lunch, we brought the cookies up and put them in the fridge. on our way out the door to our next appointment, i just had the little thought to bring the cookies just in case. we biked over to the hospital where we go singing every sunday for an hour. as we were biking away from the hospital, i see Xie JM on her scooter riding right next to us! we stop and pull over to the side. she started crying as she told us she was JUST at the hospital visiting her father who has cancer. His condition is worsening and she had just been praying on her scooter that Heavenly Father would comfort her. then she saw us. we gave her some cookies and said a prayer with her on the side of the road. i felt Heavenly Father's love for her so strongly and i know that all three of us were strengthened in our testimonies that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. He knows His children and lets us serve one another. there is no better feeling than being on the Lord's errand. Just go about doing good and you will bless lives!! that's the purpose of this life- to prepare ourselves and others to meet God. we can help Heavenly Father's children feel His love as we pray for opportunities to serve. i love it!!

i love the unity that sister Packard and i are having. there have been so many moments or lessons that as we talk about them afterwards, that we say that what the other person said was exactly what we were thinking about saying! does that make any sense? i am just really grateful for the spirit that is in our lessons. we had one lesson with a sister named miki- shes a collage student. i had had a rough day the day before and in my prayers that night, just really talked with Heavenly Father about my concerns and thoughts. i went to bed feeling so peaceful and so grateful for the power of prayer. in our lesson with Miki the next day, she asked us HOW we receive answers to our prayers. how do we REALLY KNOW? i was able to share that experience from the night before with her and testify that He hears and answers prayers. i am so grateful for the challenges or problems that i go through that are able to help others. Heavenly Father is always aware of us and is always preparing us. as we turn to Him we are then able to turn out and bless others. that lesson with Miki was really special as sister packard continued to bear testimony of prayer and Christ's love for us. it wasn't what we planned, but the feelings of the spirit was so strong. Miki agreed to come to church and FHE on sunday and she came. shes praying for more direction in her life and i'm so excited to see her progress. she so adorable. i am so grateful for the spirit and for an amazing companion who is so in tune. sister Packard is really helping me grow. i love her

i love you all so much. i am so grateful for our eternal family and i'm praying for you. you are my heroes.

love

sister Newman