Buenas!
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| The reunion we all hoped to dream for ❤️ (Editor’s note: This is Luna from Baúl and not the dog that bit Hermana Newton) |
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| This old man was selling these plants in front of the supermarket, and I figured I might as well help him out while I have Guatemalan money to spend |
I know it’s been pointed out time and time again, but endings are really hard. I haven’t ever particularly liked them. It was hard to leave Monticello†, it was hard to leave Granger‡, and it was so hard to leave my first year at Utah State§.
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| A final zone conference selfie |
My mission has made me a bit of an expert in leaving. I had to leave Utah for Tennessee, Tennessee for Kentucky**, and Kentucky for Guatemala. I’ve been in three of my six areas for only one transfer. You’d think at this point I would find it easier, but it still breaks my heart, and I’m still definitely a crier.
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| The power went out for part of the building while we were watching General Conference! But! We English-speakers were in the family history center in the part where the transmission was seamlessly broadcasting |
By and large, it was another beautiful, eventful, happy week. So many fun street contacts, lessons, and noches de hogar happened. I saw the smallest of miracles that reminded me just how well Heavenly Father sees and knows us. And we got to have Zone and General Conference! Everything taught made me so jealous of the people who still get to be missionaries, because there is so much work to do, and it brings so much joy! That’s a truth that deserves to be universally acknowledged.
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| Hermana Gladis is a baker, and she gave us two cupcakes each!!! |
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| If you know, you know 😏 |
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| This is literally the best feeling, I cannot emphasize this enough |
I kept the best scripture for last. Some of the verses are on my missionary plaque hanging in my meetinghouse at home. It’s in Moses 6, and it reads:
32 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good.33 Say unto this people: Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you.34 Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me.
I remember the first time I read these verses, walking around my kitchen at 10 p.m. my freshman year of high school. I was just trying to get half of the chapter finished for seminary, but I stayed up later than I planned and read the other 34 verses that make up this chapter. Because I just couldn’t get enough.
This experience formed so much of my love for the scriptures, but it also founded something equally important within me. It was the message of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and what it means to me. It has never been about approval, or brownie points, or social pressure. It has always been about me wanting more than anything else to serve the Lord God who made me. His Spirit was upon me almost six years ago in what started out as a hasty scripture study, and it’s upon me now. He has justified my words, and even if they haven’t changed the physical world around me, they have changed my nature. He has been so patient, and so selfless, and so loving, to abide with me all of this time. I’ll continue walking with him, for as long as that road goes. And that feeling doesn’t have to leave. John 17:3 says:
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
* The title of this week’s email comes from a hymn in the Spanish-language edition of the Latter-day Saint hymnal.
† Monticello Academy, where Hermana Newton attended grades 1–8.
‡ Granger High School.
§ Hermana Newton unexpectedly had to finish her first year of college at home because of the coronavirus pandemic.
** Because of travel restrictions associated with the pandemic, Hermana Newton began her mission on temporary reassignment to the Tennessee Nashville Mission, which includes parts of Kentucky. She was in Columbia, Tenn., for about six months and in Bowling Green, Ky., for seven weeks.
§§ Hermana Newton will speak in our worship service on April 24, and we’ll have a little open house the evening before. Please contact her mother if you would like details and/or a Zoom link. Thanks for your support of Hermana Newton!
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