Week 72: Boomerang!

You’re not gonna believe this.

We’re the smallest zone in the mission, but obviously the most powerful.

This has been one of the craziest weeks of my entire mission. Which is saying a lot, because I’ve seen my fair share of appendicitis cases and had to move to a foreign country, but transfers sort of always feel like that.

We loved hanging out with the elders in Chiquilajá who were also waiting for their trainees!

Let me call you back to Wednesday morning. We arrived at the chapel dark and early at the hour of 5 a.m. We then proceeded to wait until 5:40 for the bus to get to us so we could load everything, and by 6 we were finally on our way to Xela!

At the transfer meeting, they announced the trainers! Which included yours truly. I was not surprised, but when they announced my area I sure was. And that area is …

Our whole district was already at the training meeting!

EL PRADO IN XELA!!!

When President Roden sent me to Huehue, he basically said that I had a lot more of the mission to experience and he didn’t want me “stuck in Xela.” So I thought he would never send me back. I cannot emphasize how far my jaw dropped from underneath my mask. Prado is literally a bordering area with Baúl. I'm in my old district again with Hermana Noyola! It is such a party. The first time I saw Hermana Noyola in person again, I cried because I was so happy. But now it’s becoming normal and I’m not as much of an emotional wreck.

The gang’s all here.

Our companions didn’t fly in until Friday afternoon, and we didn’t get to meet them until Saturday morning, so for half of the week I was in a trio in Prado with two other trainers—Hermana Hid and Hermana Aragon! Those ladies are such a vibe. We got to do a service project with my new-old district, contact some people, and order food from Uber Eats again! The joys of modern living.

Our most prized possession.

My trainee is Hermana Nelson! She is the cutest cinnamon roll on the planet, and I will literally protect her at all costs. She’s from Brigham City, which means she is my one and only Utah companion! And seriously, I cannot emphasize how pure she is.

Psalm 29 says:

11 The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.

I wasn’t necessarily nervous about training. I’ve been asking to do it for the last two transfers. But I have felt the Lord give me and my companion strength, and I have felt the peace that I’m promised bless me. Even when I won’t have all the answers, God will.

We love helping people move. Just call us the Elders Quorum 😎 

It is such a miracle to be a missionary. Even when you don’t get a crazy amount of contacts, or find a family of 20, or have any other sensational, storytelling situation happen. Every day, you get to become a little more like the person Heavenly Father has been able to see this entire time. And that’s completely true, wherever you are.

—From Home,

Hermana Newton

Week 71: One and Done

Happy Last P-Day of the Transfer!

A picture Elder Lemus finally remembered to send me from the Christmas zone conference that I just think is pretty neat

What? That isn’t a holiday? My bad. But today really is the last P-Day of the transfer, and boy, do I have some news.

Oh Huehue Central/Calvario, how I have loved thee

But on to talking about the week! In a word, it was hard. I have to be honest, it is not a good idea to put a missionary in quarantine in her penultimate transfer. Her motivation drops drastically, whether she likes it or not. But, if anything, that meant that zone conference could not have come at a more perfect time for me. I felt like every single training was made to remind me of my purpose and the true joy that comes from sharing the gospel! Seriously, this zone conference was so special. And even though I’m not the Perfect Missionary™️ after attending, all I want to do is implement everything I’ve learned now, and in this next transfer and area.

I’m happy to report that the zone from time to time knows how to behave like normal missionaries

Wait, did I just say next area? As in, a new one?

That’s right, ladies! (Sorry if gents and otherwise felt left out by that.) Hermana Herrera is staying here in Cerrito/Viña, and I'm being shipped off to Who-Knows-Where?, Guatemala. There was so little suspense with transfers as the mission nurse, and now that I'm on the warehouse floor, I cannot emphasize the stress! But we’re packing these suitcases one more time. Faith is such a remarkable thing, because I really should be more freaked out than I am, knowing me, but I feel incredibly at peace.

Elder Ruano is literally my fave, what will I do without his baby face? :'(

2 Corinthians 5 says:

6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

What an absolute diamond to hide in those parentheses!!! But it’s true. My confidence—or, more accurately, my assurance—does not come by any measure from things I can see. It’s because I believe in God, and I trust in His plan for me. Even when it seems like more than I can manage. Especially then. After all, how do we know which path we’ll follow if we never get the opportunity to do so?

—TTFN (Ta-ta for now),

Hermana Newton

Week 70: What Is Love?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s so important to have bonding time. You can learn about church (and sometimes family) history by reading Saints Volume 2: No Unhallowed Hand—no matter the language!

I know, how romantic. A missionary is writing you on día de cariño. I’m sure it’s everything you hoped it would be and more.

Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I figured I would give my email a little theme. I’m sure most of you out there have heard the song “L-O-V-E.” Maybe I sang it to you while delivering a Valentine at Granger High. Well, I’m going to do the same thing, but with very different words.

L is for lunches that only serve chicken

That’s right! For a straight week, we were given chicken in sauce! I don’t know if I’ve explained that that’s basically every other typical dish in Guatemala, but it is, and so that’s what we got.

The temple is getting repairs done and it’s a cool visual metaphor, as we learned in October General Conference

O is for on the outside (inside)

I spent a lot of my week having to distance from Hermana Herrera so as not to get COVID. Fortunately, this is not the one-room Baúl apartment, and there’s actually a balcony, if you’ve noticed in my pictures. It’s pretty spacious, and it even has the pila. So I tanned, washed dishes, and read a lot of Saints. I was not able to finish Volume 2: No Unhallowed Hand, because...

How I looked the day everyone was like, “You look … different!!?”

V is for vaccination vacations

In the middle of our quarantining, I got a call from Hermana Roden. I’m so used to talking to Hermana Roden still that I forgot that this should feel like a strange occurrence. But she asked me if I was still asymptomatic, and I told her yes, and so she had us go to the testing center (as in COVID testing, not college exams) so that I could add a negative COVID test to my collection, and off I went to Xela to get vaxed! I say “vacation” ironically because the bus trip from Huehue to Xela is rough, but I did see so many friends! And even more important, I was in my city.

E is for Ether 12

Oh, look, the spiritual thought. Who would have guessed?

Anyway, I feel like everyone is pretty familiar with this section of scripture. It reads:

26 … Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Obviously, this section is an encouraging one. I’ve even shared it before in my weekly! Our faults and imperfections can be used for our gain if we trust in the Lord, and that’s a powerful message! But something that stood out to me the latest time I read this section is that God really will show us our weakness. It’s not a hidden mystery, and it’s not a deeply buried secret. It’s out in the open. We’ll be vulnerable and exposed in the process.

I have often said that I do not like doing things I'm not good at. Examples include dancing, math equations, board games, and paintball. I think a lot of us share that feeling. We like to feel like we know what we’re doing. And more important, we like to avoid feeling like we don’t. But my mission has helped me realize how little I know about literally everything! I am so inexperienced and incomplete! All of us are. But more than that, we are incredible! I am so grateful for my weaknesses. I wouldn’t be the person I am without them. And if they weren’t there, what would be the point of growing?

I feel like my other stuffed animal doesn’t get as much attention as Bibble. Underrated star.

LOVE is …

People say this all the time, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ really is love. It connects people. It binds them. It knits their hearts together, and you can feel it from home-cooked meals delivered to your door, to books filled to the brim with carefully curated words and knowledge, to blessings of health and modern medicine, to falling short and being pulled back up, again and again. I love Guatemala, and I love my mission, and I love all of you. I hope you know that. And I hope you know that God loves you, too.

—¡Les quiero!,

Hermana Newton

Week 69: Sweet ‘Sicks’teen

My companion has COVID.

District and Sister Training Leaders with one of our llama friends. (All photos this week are from preparation day last week, when we were able to do things out in the world.)

I also hit 16 months today, but I figured I’d get the most interesting part out of the way.

This is the restaurant where I got a piece of churrasco that was so fatty and so impossible to chew that everyone laughed at me. I was accused of having weak teeth 😒

Now, I’m sure if you have average reading comprehension, you might have caught on to the way I phrased the first sentence of this email. “But Hermana Mary Newton,” you might be asking, “what about you?”

Only real “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” fans will understand

Thank you so much for directing the conversation to being about me! To answer your question, my test came back as negative. And for the time being, I don’t have any symptoms. #PfizerGang But Hermana Herrera and I are still quarantining and social distancing and all that jazz. She keeps the door to the room open, and then I sleep on a mattress a safe 10 feet away where we’re still able to see each other. Most of my days are now spent on the balcony reading Saints while Hermana Herrera rests. I’ve gotten to Part 3 of Volume One, The Standard of Truth! Please send support so that I’ll be able to finish No Unhallowed Hand during this time as well.

When we got to the Llama Place™ (I have no idea what it’s actually called) and the llamas were late to the party.

I’m also sure you’re wondering how my companion got COVID and I didn’t. I’m asking the same question! I think my vaccine really did pull through, but as a word of advice, if you’re going to feed the missionaries, and then start experiencing flulike symptoms … don’t feed the missionaries.

What is being on a mission if not going to a lookout point where you can see the entire department where you’re serving?

Highlights of the week included: 

☆ “Call Me Maybe” playing on the bus on the way to the llamas

☆ Every lunch this week being a chicken dish

☆ One guy giving us his number without us asking for it

☆ Singing Adele’s “Hello” to the district

☆ The APs showing up out of nowhere (never thought I’d be excited to see the APs)

My love for my district leaders continues. Elder Ruano might be my favorite? Definitely top three.

During my personal study, I was reading this section in Alma 33 that really struck me:

19 Behold, he [Jesus Christ] was spoken of by Moses; yea, and behold a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live.

20 But few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts …  there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them.

21 O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?

Something I’ve learned on my mission is that we complicate things a lot. I do especially. But if we know what we’re supposed to do, which is center our lives in Christ, then we should do it. And if we believe, He will heal us. All we have to do is look up.

—Llámame (tal vez),

Hermana Newton