9/19/2011

Hey Dad!

Yeah, I was sad I didn't get to talk to you, and then I got a letter from everyone else that night except you. I guess you did email though haha. I don't even know where to start. I am serving in the New Castle area, which is actually the only area in my mission in Pennsylvania. Pretty much they sent me as far east as they could. There is a little branch that covers quite a large area, and most of the members are less actives. There is a lot of work to do, and I'm excited. 

Now for your questions.
How is Ohio?

 

I haven't spent a lot of time in Ohio, there are a few people we meet with who do live in Ohio, but we have to drive an hour to get there.

 Where did you end up at?

 

New Castle, a small little town on the west end of Pennsylvania. Kinda weird to think I'm serving in the same state as you.
How was Kirtland? Awesome, there is no other way to describe it. I was able to sit in the room where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ manifested themselves at least four recorded times. I took some pictures of the temple, and then the whole group got one in front of the Newell K. Whitney store. Next week I'll try to figure out how to send all the pictures I've taken. In the School of the Prophets President (who is a great man by the way) had us commit to the Lord what kind of missionary I will be.

 How was your flight?

About how you described it to me. I actually had two flights. The first one was fine, I was even able to read a little bit. Then we started descending into Detroit, but I made it to ground ok, a little queasy but ok. Then we had to run the length of the airport to make our next flight. They were loading up as I got there. This plane was a lot smaller, I couldn't stand up straight. The A/C was out, so that was fun. The flight was only about half an hour though, the plane didn't even level out. Sadly I wasn't able to get a good look at the lake, but it was huge. 

What did you end up doing with your huge bag?

I just had them check the one anyway. I could have put some in a cardboard box but decided it wasn't worth it. I had to pay 115, but thats not too bad, I barely fit under the mark to pay 150.
 

How is your companion and where is he from?

Elder P is from Lehi, Utah. It's a little funny, my "father" is from Lehi, while I'm from Nephi. Haha. ok, but yeah he is really cool. He has only been out for three months. He just finished this new 12 week program for new missionaries that makes you ready to train at the end. We have fun, he's a great guy. Someday I'll send pictures. There is even one of my "lineage" that goes back to my great grandpa.

How is your mission president?

President Sorenson is great. He is definitely taller than I expected. His heart is completely in the work, and he knows what he expects from his missionaries. He is strict but at the same time can be a lot of fun and has a great sense of humor.

How has your first week been?

The week has been great. Unfortunately I'm almost out of time so I can't write any stories, but I will next week. I haven't even had time to write them down at all. It's been fun and a challenge. I love it. We found a couple new investigators and visited lots of less actives. There is a great guy in the ward who helps out a lot. and Guess what his name is? Uncle Dale. ok i've only heard a few people call him that, and he really is related to most of the people here, but he's great, he's probably met with us every day so far and has brought over lots of food and always has a story to share.

Well I'm out of time. I love you so much. I wasn't able to write Mom back, so tell her I love her too. gotta go

Elder NEwey

9/13/11

The phone rang this morning at about 6:40. We have been getting a lot of fax machine calls lately, even one at midnight last night, and debated answering it. Jacob did, IT WAS TANNER! We quickly abandoned scripture study this morning. He's doing great. Had a 7:30 am flight this morning to Cleveland. He had to wake up at 3 this morning. Ugh. Hopefully he can catch up some sleep soon. He sounded great, very happy, anxious to be out there. His whole district is going with him to Cleveland, so same companion till he gets there anyway. He has a GREAT big suitcase, thanks Rob, so had to pay $115 in overweight charges. Oh well, guess we will figure something else out for the way home. Very, very happy mommy today.

Last week in MTC

Hello again! This is the last time I will be writing from the MTC. I got my travel papers last Thursday, and I take off EARLY Tuesday morning. I'm supposed to be at the travel office at 4:00. Everybody kept telling me that after the first Sunday the time flies by. They were right, I can't believe I have less than a week here. The best way to describe it is the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. My time has been great though, I've really enjoyed my classes and especially teaching the "investigators." Each time I meet with one I can't wait to get out in the field and really get to know the people of Cleveland. Even in these role plays I can see the difference, and feel the excitement as the investigator starts to understand and feel the Spirit. Purely amazing. The Spirit is constantly present, and there have been so many things to strengthen my testimony, yet not one single, great event. Just from simple things like the talks in mission conference or testimony in sacrament.

So yeah, I've been learning lots. My teachers are really emphasizing teaching by the Spirit and getting to know the investigator. One of my teachers is a Brother Scott Ellsworth from Carey, Idaho. Small world huh? The progress here is amazing, not just in myself, but in my whole district. It's crazy what a few goals can do. The schedule keeps me pretty busy, usually I head to the classroom around 7:00 and don't return to the residence hall until 21:30 or so. The whole 5:30 running thing didn't last long, someone had to stay in the room, so I decided I could sleep in a little. We've been doing a lot of pull ups though at night before bed. Usually I spend gym playing soccer, which is a little harder in converse, especially when the grass is wet. It is so much fun though.

Thanks for the package, all the extra food has helped a lot! Oh, and my district thinks you need to send more cookies next time, haha. It was a great surprise, along with all the other letters. It's nice to have something at the end of the night to read. Elder Allen has the same schedule as me, so I see him everywhere, we even went through the same session at the temple this morning. I was glad to see him around.

Glad to hear you guys are getting settled. I guess the Lakewood house hasn't sold yet then? Man, barbeque sounds good. How is school so far for everyone? Are classes starting to go OK?

Well, I have to go, I love you guys!

Elder Newey

8/31/11

Here's his letter as far as I could decipher...almost need a Urim and Thummim. Names are probably wrong, but my best guesses. Enjoy!

Hey!

So I don't know where to start, so much has happened, and it sounds like things are going well down there.

First off, I'm having a lot of fun. The hardest part is trying to remind my elders to tone it down a little. There are no major problems, at least everyone gets along great. I love those elders, they are so willing to learn and go out and serve.

As far as what I do, I mentioned in my email I spend a lot of time in the classroom between studying, learning, teaching and having meetings. I have two teachers right now, Brother Ang and Brother Ellsworth. The first day I didn't have a teacher show up, one was in Singapore visiting family and the other is doing study abroad in Jordan. So Brother Marlowe and Brother Stay covered for a few days. But now things are starting to get settled. My district jokes that we are the forgotten district. We showed up to take care of a service assignment and once again nobody was there. Eventually I found the brother who was supposed to be in charge so it worked out.

Just got done with starting my laundry, it's a mad house in there, hopefully everything turns out. I'm still getting used to the whole prep day thing, and making the most of this precious time. Today has definitely been good though, to just step back and get myself sorted out.

The schedule hasn't been too hard to get used to. It helps that we are all trying to follow it. I've been waking up at 5:30 to go running with some of the elders, and it actually wasn't too hard. And yet I still have a hard time falling asleep. It's ok though, I don't feel tired much. Gym is also a great time. I finally went and found soccer the other night. The problem was most of the elders there had been playing together for at least a month.They wore me out pretty quick. Usually I just play 4-square.

One cool thing that is new is these investigators. Apparently the church hires people, (members, nonmembers) real people, to come and let the missionaries practice. I've done this twice now. I show up to the building, find the room, knock on the door, and start talking. The investigators don't break character, if it is a character. I teach two ladies, one a nonmember one a less active. So far I think Elder Romrell and I have done a pretty good job of inviting the spirit.

On top of these investigators, each of my teachers has taken on the character of one of their own investigators. It's interesting, one of my teachers has been home three months, so there we sit at the opposite ends of the spectrum. It is such a good thing they put us through that first, I learned a lot.
What is amazing to me is how well the spirit works. The second day, Bro. Marlowe had us teach him. Now, we had talked very briefly, and he pretty much left it all up to us, he didn't break character until after the closing prayer. But we did it. I feel that had it been a real investigator, they would have understood. Purely amazing.

That's not all either. Every once in a while I meet with other elders in my zone and we role playwith each other. I have done a lot of teaching, which is good, it makes me feel a lot more comfortable.

Within my zone, there are several missionaries, who are using American Sign Language, which has been really cool to watch. For the devotional the other night, two of the sisters did a musical number, both signing while one sang. It was great. I've tried to pick up on some of the language, but it's crazy. My zone leaders are actually three elders who all use sign language.

Elder Nielsen took off yesterday. I was a little sad to see him go, but I'm glad he gets to finally enter the field. We were able to get a picture before he took off, I'll try to send it sometime. It was so nice to see him around all the time and ask him questions, and just plain bugging him.

Yeah, that's about all that's going on here. The work is definitely going forth. I really appreciate all the letters.

Elder Newey

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