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