March 25th, 2013

another beautiful week in TAIWAN!! it's been so great. working in tanzi is really special and we have amazing people put in our path. we've been working with many less actives and we're trying to focus our attention more and bring them back. the song 'dear to the heart of the shepherd' keeps coming to mind. we have one family whose parents are both members but the children aren't. the Chen family got baptized in another ward but the members here know and love them. their kids are 11, 9, and 5. they are adorable. Chen jiemei is so wonderful. i love meeting with her and sharing God's love. the other day, as we were planning, we had the thought that we should share a particular talk from conference. we had it all ready but when we got there, she was at the hospital with her daughter (who had a cold). we knew that God wanted her to have that talk so we photocopied it and left it in her mailbox. i am so grateful that God led us there and prompted us to share that message with her- even though we didn't get to meet with her. I love seeing the Lords hand in the work- especially when things don't go the way we think they should.

we found a less active couple this week that are deaf. we communicate by writing- thank goodness my companion is taiwanese. it is so amazing to share scriptures with them and realize that scriptures have so much more power than anything we could ever say. they teach so simply the doctrine of the plan of salvation. the husband, huang dixiong, had questions about resurrection, judgement and eternal life. i am so grateful for a wonderful companion who knows the scriptures so well. we're hoping to get the ward more involved in reactivating this couple and another deaf couple we have in our ward. the Lord does not forget or lose His children. we might, but God never does. i have been learning so much about His profound love for each of us personally. He always knows exactly how we feel and the best way to comfort us. i have felt His love and support through prayer this week. 

we're working with the ward to increase our ward attendance. the bishop noticed that recently the sacrament attendance has been lower. i've been thinking about how important each individual is- in a family or a ward. every soul is so precious in the eyes of God and they all need to be in the safety of the church. this gospel is so simple and the church is so wonderful and i'm so grateful to be a missionary.

in the scriptures this week, i was reading about the battles in alma and about the success of the nephites. when they poured out their hearts to God for help, He helped them. and then they poured out their hearts in gratitude. this week, we have been really seeking and praying for guidance in our lessons. chen JM is an amazing teacher- i love her so much. we are seeking to know the real needs of our investigators and it's amazing what the spirit prompts us to share and say. as i read these scriptures, i realized that i've been lacking in the second step: thanking God for His help. mom you are a really great example of this to me. kelly you are too! i love that you're keeping a gratitude journal. focusing on our blessings is so powerful! as i have sought to be more specific in my prayers about the things i am grateful for, i have been more able to see that everything comes from God. He loves and blesses us so much. i have also been able to better discern when something isn't from God- like feelings of doubt or fear or loneliness. gratitude is powerful

i love you all so much and i'm so grateful for you. mom- i sent you a birthday present but it just got sent back to me. the address is wrong. which makes me think that the letters i sent luke and carli will get sent back to me too. haha. i sent it back out with the full address. sorry for the delay in your birthday. haha. i love you all so much. i feel the strength of your prayers and i pray for you every day

keep the faith

yours,

 Sister Newman

March 18, 2013

This week has truly been a week of miracles. my companion, sister Chen, is amazing and it is such a blessing to be working with her. she has such faith and diligence. she talks with everyone! and i have seen so many miracles come because of that. she also has a great respect for her calling. she is ALWAYS a missionary. we've been reading the last last page of PMG everyday during companionship study and working to do all of those things listed. i have seen a huge difference made due to some little changes in our missionary work. i know that by small and simple things, great things are brought to pass. i love the quote from president Monson that says "decisions determine destiny'. sister chen is a great example of making small righteous decisions and i feel so blessed to watch the miracles that follow :)

one of the young men in our ward brought and female friend to church yesterday and we were able to sit down and start teaching her. she is 17 years old but seems so mature for her age. she told us about how she sees how happy Christians are and how happy praying makes them and she wants that. i am so grateful to be teaching her! she's getting baptised in april and i'm so excited. teaching with sister Chen is really great- she focuses so much on our relationship with God and helping people see the connection between our message and their lives. i love it!

speaking chinese 24-7 is so great! i luanjiang a lot but i feel like i am improving. sister chen is really patient and it's really fun to have to act things out sometimes. we're reading from the three column book of mormon together and it's just great. ive been thinking this week that sister chen is a lot like the missionary in PMG where Gordon B Hinkley talks about the sign painter. she is so humble and just seems to 'get it'. i love working with her. i feel so blessed by the companions i've had. it's hard sometimes, but i am so grateful for all that i am learning. i'm probably going to be going senior companion soon (not because i've done anything particularly well, it's just about that time...) and i'm so grateful for all that i have learned from each of my companions. i just feel so blessed.

i got the chance to travel down to gaoxiong this week to train the mission for english teaching. it was super fun!! gaoxiong is beautiful and i feel grateful to have had the chance to do training. we taught about using the new textbook as a resource. the best part was the GIANT mango bing we ate for dinner. it was huge. i'll try to get a picture.

well, we are preparing for General Conference!! i am so excited. we're working with the young women and the primary to help the youth in our ward have a spiritual experience. we hope that this can, in turn, help families in general have a good experience. I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE. mom- thanks for always making that weekend special and for setting an example of diligent learning and changing. i feel so grateful for our guided leaders and i cant wait. we're decorating notebooks with the young women and talking to them about coming prepared with questions, seeking revelation. we're also copying a bunch of activities from the Liahona for the primary and putting together a little packet for them. the leaders are really excited about this and we're hoping to keep working well with them. Tanzi has an amazing ward- just like every area- and this place is really so special. i love our little area. mom- did you find it on the map? dad- tell mom all about it- you know what its like ;) the talks in sacrament meeting were all focused on general conference as well and i felt like that was a confirmation that what we're doing to help our ward is going in the right direction

i got a letter and some pictures from wang ayi today. i am overwhelmed by her faith and love for the scriptures. i am so grateful for our friendship with her. oh man, life is so good. being a missionary is so wonderful and everyday is just amazing.

i really felt Gods love for me this week as He helped me overcome some challenges and change my attitude. i know that God hears and answers our prayers. as we diligently seek and knock, we will come to know and feel. when it seems like things are going really wrong, i know that God will help us feel peace and give us hope. that comes from Him because He loves us. in the scriptures this week, i was amazed by how clearly the Book of Mormon teaches the amazing plan of salvation. it too brings peace and hope. i feel my testimony deepening and my desire to learn more increasing.

i am so grateful for all of your support and love. oh man- my family is seriously the best. i'm praying for you all in your callings and other responsibilities. i truly feel the power of your love and prayers and support. this Gospel is so wonderful. Christ lives. and because He lives, we can be happy together NOW and for ETERNITY (sorry luke, you are stuck with me for that long :).

i love you all

prepare for conference. you will receive revelation

love

sister Newman

March 11, 2013

mom started her last email with "mondays are coming faster and faster" and i feel the same way. this has been an amazing week and a hard week. sister giraud-carrier left today and will be on a plane home tomorrow. she was such a great companion and is such a great person. i love her and we had an amazing move call together. my new companion is a taiwanese sister named sister chen!! i am so excited and speaking only chinese. oh boy. it's humbling to be put with a native. but she is great and patient and just a wonderful missionary. i am excited to be working with her. this move call is only 3 weeks long because of all the missionaries coming on island. chinese speaking missionaries are only in the mtc for 9 weeks!1 holy cow. we're expecting 24 new missionaries (including 10 new sisters!!) at the end of the month. i have no idea what is going to happen :) this work is so great.

happy birthday to luke and to dave! i love you both so much. i hope you have wonderful days full of delicious asia food. the food here in taiwan is so great. i love it.

last night, we had FHE at a member's home with some investigators and another member family. we had originally thought we would do the share and kindof ti gong everything. but then the host offered to prepare the treat. and the other family said "why don't we teach" and all us missionaries had to do was the game (UNO-thanks for those cards mom). it was great!! and the father of the family shared about the priesthood. it was so great! i love family home evening. i love this gospel and i also love the church. the programs and auxillaries are so amazing. i love seeing the church progress in taiwan. there are now second generation members who are preparing to serve missions. my new comp sister chen is a convert and i am just amazed at the strength of the members here.

i read a talk this week ( i think it is called- He is the Way). it talked about how Christ is the only way. some of us may think that the expectation to be like Him is too high. usually, the harder the endeavor, the fewer people achieve it. but with Christ that is not the case. we can become like Him because He is helping us. we have the spirit and the power of the Atonement. we are able because He is able and He loves us. the Atonement is amazing and there is always an opportunity to change and be better. life is hard but the gospel is simple. get on the path and stay on the path that leads to eternal life. the talk is beautiful and really hit me this week.

i've been praying about the training that sister burrows and i have been asked to do for a big english-teacher meeting. i was feeling really anxious about it on Wednesday during personal time and as i sat and prayed about it, i had an idea. Heavenly Father blessed me with direction and peace. He helped me think of the format our training should take. i am so grateful for the power of prayer and inspiration. we were also heading out the door the other day and i was praying that one of our investigators would get in contact with us so that we could arrange where to meet. the phone started ringing RIGHT THEN! and we ended the prayer and saw that it was her. God answers prayers and He loves us. i am so grateful to be a missionary.

i am so grateful for our family. i hope the wedding prep is going well. i cant believe how fast time goes by. move calls are seriously flying by and i am just trying to keep doing what Christ needs me to do. 

i love you all so much and i'm grateful for your support. i will send pictures next week :) i am so proud of all of you. thank you for your support and for your examples. keep praying and keep reading

keep the faith

yours

Sister Newman

March 4th, 2013

hello everyone! it has been an amazing week- it always is. i feel like every week is so different and incomparable. thank you so much for the package!! it was so great! i loved the little picture of all of you and it's now on my wall. i might start showing everyone that one when i talk about my family. this week, we have been in a threesome with the sister whose companion went home for her father's funeral. it has been interesting because this sister is still in training and my companion is about to go home and i felt very much in the middle. it was great to think about how far i have come and to also look up to sister GC to think about how far i still have to go. i was studying my patriarchal blessing the other day during personal study and thinking about God's eternal plan for each of us. i pulled out my setting apart blessing as well and started comparing the two blessings. i was amazed at how similar they are! i love knowing that we are children of God with a divine nature and eternal blessings. our circumstances might change (the DO change) but the blessings and the promises never do. God loves us and is seeking to guide us on our personal journeys. 

we met an amazing lady this week- her name is Chu JM. she met with us and we talked about prayer and scripture study and as we testified of God's love, she was touched by the spirit. she is now praying and accepted a baptismal date for the end of the month. i am so excited to help her continue to progress and grow in faith. i love feeling the spirit and helping others feel it as well. i was watching sister burrows teach (she was my other companion for the week) and despite the language barrier, she brought the spirit. we should never be afraid to open our mouths about the gospel. it might be hard and a little uncomfortable, but God is always there. as we exercise faith, He will bless us with His spirit.

this week, as we have been covering two areas, we had to take a bus UP A MOUNTAIN to visit an investigator. i'm glad we didn't have to bike because i would have died. on the way back down the mountain, it was dark and we were sitting in the back of the bus, shivering. and the bus was going SO FAST!! it was so funny. no one else was on so we were just bouncing around in the back as the driver CAREENED down the mountain. i seriously felt like i was on the night bus from harry potter. it was so funny. 

mom- i love your idea of the MTC. thank you for your example of diligent study. and thanks to everyone for the notes in the package!! it was great to hear from you all. i have started a new topic of study in personal time. i've really been thinking a lot about the basics of the gospel and how to strengthen the foundation of my testimony. as i was thinking about it, i started thinking about president taylor in bountiful and his focus of PRO. i pulled out my pro ring and i'm wearing it everyday. i love how the gospel is so simple. Pray. read. obey. im studying general conference talks about it. those simple things will keep us on the path. sincere prayer. diligent studying. exact obedience. i love it

sister GC goes home next week and i am really going to miss her. she is an amazing missionary and person. it really has been such a special time being her companion. she has taught me so much about the power of faith and has helped me become a better person. she's great.

thank you again so much for the package. i am grateful for your love. i am so grateful that we have an eternal family. all the problems and worries about this life become manageable when i think about God's eternal blessings and love for us. we are His children and He will never leave us. we are promised eternal happiness through Jesus Christ. He is the way. i love you all so much.

all my love

sister Newman