Week 14: Soul-er Power

Hello, hello, hello!

It snowed this week! Twice! What?!

All is well here in beautiful Columbia! Every day I’m growing more in love with missionary work, and every day I’m dreading having to leave Hermana Petersen at the end of the transfer. But I try not to think about that too much.

It was Hermana Petersen’s birthday! We celebrated with sugar-free treats and miniature sombreros.

This week has truly passed by in a flash. As I’ve spent this P-Day thinking about what I wanted to talk about and share, I couldn’t really think of anything. Hermana Petersen and I were intensely busy, though, which is so awesome! We’re finally starting to see people progressing in our teaching pool. We have high hopes for a few of them. Hopefully by Saturday some of these wonderful souls will be invited to be baptized! There is so much joy in sharing the gospel with people. And even though you get many, many nos, that one yes is always worth it. I can’t even describe the happiness I share with Hermana Petersen when someone accepts any of our invitations.

Hermana Petersen and I have Tech Decks now, following the trend of many other missionaries.

I think back to Monday night, when Hermana Petersen and I had just gotten hung up on/yelled at by a good dozen people. We decided to respond to people on Facebook, and through that, we found JD! We had a super out-of-order lesson with him, where Hermana Petersen gave the most Spirit-led invitation, and right after we ended the call, Hermana Petersen and I jumped out of our chairs and cheered with pure joy. It was the best feeling. Doctrine and Covenants 18 says:

15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

I’ve always viewed the one soul described in these verses as my own. It is so joyous to come unto Christ and the gospel. But the thing is that this message is a gift, and the point of it is that you share it. And that’s why being a missionary is so awesome! It is hard, and it is long. But wow, is my joy so great. 

I made more rolls! Here I am posing with a Literal Perfect One.

I love all you guys who are reading this, and I hope that me expressing my own joy has helped you gain some of your own!

— Find your happy,

Hermana Newton

Week 13: I Don't Wanna Taco ’bout It

Why, hello there!

As of today, I have been set apart as a missionary for three months! That’s a quarter of a year, for all those reading this who I’m sure were wondering. Don’t fret, though. There’s still plenty of time left in this hermana’s mission. And I’m sure happy that that’s the case! Because there’s still so much I want to do and explore. And, as Hermana Likes reminded me last night, you only get this experience once.

Wow, who are these styling youths at the bowling alley? That’s right, it’s Franklin South!

I’m sure you’re wondering what the Franklin South District has been getting up to lately for fun. In more prominent news, we went bowling! I definitely was in the lower rung of bowlers, but I did manage to get two strikes that day. This is my long way of saying I will be pursuing a bowling career instead of continuing my theatre arts major once I come back home.

Gotta love the ZLs outside the gyro shop with us. (ft. Hermana Likes’ hand on my shoulder)

Besides bowling this past week, we had a district council with the zone leaders! Elders Forese and Oilar are the best (and Hermana Petersen and I are totally their favorite companionship). Their insights are always really helpful, and I love how they encourage us to do better, but that I never question how much they care about us. Again, the best.

In ways of the actual work part of missions, Hermana Petersen and I are trying our hardest to find people who are prepared for the gospel. Which is sometimes really fun! On Monday, we talked to a lot of people on the square, who were for some reason all eating ice cream? Like, most of the people we were talking to had bought some from the creamery. I don’t know what caused this, because it wasn’t particularly warm, but treats are fun.

Hermana Petersen and I made the best Sunday dinner ever! She prepared a soup, and I made rolls using a recipe given to me by my great-aunt Linda. Thanks, Linda! They were a success!

Obviously, though, there has to be opposition in all things. Surprisingly, when you bring up a personal topic like religion, people can be very rude. Sometimes, though, you don’t even have to bring up religion for things to get awkward. What do I mean, you ask?

So, Hermana Petersen and I have been trying our hardest to have a variety of finding methods. We’ll go to parks, the square, do phone and Facebook tracting. And one day, we set off for the restaurant La Superior. It's one of the most happening spots for Latinos in Columbia, so we went there for our lunch break (and to contact), and let me tell you: I do not recall feeling more awkward. Basically, the restaurant was packed, so we came in, two white girls in business clothes surrounded by construction workers on break. They seemed very confused as to why we were there, to the point that I was sort of confused, too. Every time I looked up from my burrito, someone was staring at me in obvious confusion. We talked to people, but … wow, was it uncomfortable.

Basically, that experience has caused me to think a lot about a verse in Deuteronomy 14:

2 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Even though it’s hard sometimes, the Lord asks us to be weirdos. He asks us to walk around a wall and scream so that we’ll reach our promised land. He asks us to build a boat in the middle of the desert with no tools or experience. He asks us to be a pair of white girls with gringa accents sharing His gospel in a grocery/panaderia/restaurant.

Being different can be isolating, but it also offers an unprecedented freedom. When you allow yourself to live in a way that makes Heavenly Father (and, by extension, you) happy, there’s so much peace to feel from it.

Hermana Petersen made this smoothie bowl that looked like a Pokeball, and she didn’t even do it on purpose?

I hope you can all find that solace this week and beyond, and that you’ll continue having an awesome 2021!

— Keep being weirdos,

Hermana Newton

Week 12: Dance Dance Resolution

Happy New Year!

I don’t know how it feels for y’all, but I cannot believe that it’s 2021. Maybe that’s a universal sentiment, but I also know that missions feel like this timeless vacuum. At least, that’s what mine has felt like.

Me trumpeting in the new year

Anyway, on to whatever I got up to! For those of you who don’t have a perfect memory of these weeklies (as in these email updates), several weeks ago I mentioned creating a music group with Hermana Likes called Lil Men. I also joked that we would have a single coming out shortly. Apparently I shouldn’t do that, because the TNM* put together a music video of missionaries singing Lauren Daigle’s song “Light of the World” that includes the two of us! Give it a good ol’ watch and keep an eye out for the final shot recorded by yours truly.

Hermana Petersen and I enjoying some cheese and grape juice like high-society women

New Year’s Eve was so much fun! There was no karaoke à la “High School Musical,” but we did have noisemakers, 2021 tiaras, and some killer cheese dip, thanks to one of our members, Sister Woodmansee! And we had an indoor snowball fight with these fake snowballs that another member, Sister Reeves, bought us. All in all, a pretty good holiday!

3/4 of the Columbia crew celebrating!

Transfers happened, but our district basically stayed the same. Apparently things changed up a lot when I got here, so we weren’t due for any major shake-ups. But we did have to say goodbye to Elder French. #gonebutnotforgotten. (We’ll see him at zone conference.) But this means I’ve been here a transfer.† Crazy!

Hermana Petersen and I really put our shoulder to the wheel this week. We’ve been finding and teaching like crazy. And I have some good news because of it!

We’ve been teaching this incredibly nice old man named Howard, and as soon as we met him, we could tell that he was super prepared to hear our message. But we hadn’t been able to contact him this weekend because of the telephone lines being down across Tennessee.‡ We were finally able to have our second lesson on Tuesday, which was about the Plan of Salvation. But halfway through it, we shifted into explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we got to invite Howard to be baptized, and he accepted! I can’t even begin to describe how joyful that moment was. My chest felt like it was on fire (in a good way)! It turns out that Howard doesn’t live in our area, so we sent him over to another companionship to see him through, but I’m so grateful we got to invite him to the message of the restored gospel!

Something great about the new year? We’ve got a new standard work to study for “Come, Follow Me.” And this year it’s Doctrine and Covenants! I am extremely excited, in large part due to my “Saints” reading, but also because all of the scriptures are awesome.

In the spirit of D&C, I figured I’d share a scripture from it. It’s found in Section 64:

33 Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

Not every day of missionary work is as obviously joyful as the day we invited Howard to be baptized. When I think back to it, we still had to face a lot of rejection, even an hour before we had our lesson with him. Most days in the vineyard, you aren’t harvesting. Sometimes the small things feel like they’re worthless. But I assure you, they aren’t. One might say that they’re the start of something new.

There are a lot of fun signs like this around Tennessee!

I’m so grateful to be a missionary, and I’m so grateful to have so many people supporting me through this effort. I hope that 2021 will bring forth that which is great.

— Auld Lang Syne!

Hermana Newton

 

* Tennessee Nashville Mission

† Missionaries serve in a given area for six weeks at a time. They might be transferred to another area at the end of the six weeks; hence, each six-week segment is called a transfer. It is typical for a missionary to remain in the same area for several transfers.

‡ AT&T’s internet and phone service in three states was disabled for several days after a Christmas morning explosion in Nashville.

Week 11: Mary Christmas!

¡Feliz Navidad a todos!

Christmas is here!!! I can hardly believe it. It seems like only yesterday I was dressing up for Halloween in my home MTC, and now look at me! Cradled by the hills of Tennessee. Because of Christmas, President Weaver moved our P-Day to today, which meant I had two more days before getting to email you guys. Which were jam-packed with experiences and stories and basically everything under the sun. It was truly an extravaganza, but I’ll try to be as brief as possible.

We took a picture outside the temple right before zone conference. The sun was rising as we drove up to it, and the way the light shone was breathtaking. Sorry the picture isn’t better!

First things first: On the 17th, we had a special Christmas zone conference which featured not one, but two musical guests, who were …

Wait for it …

Nathan Pacheco and DAVID ARCHULETA!

I haven’t been out on the field for a transfer yet, and I’m already getting so spoiled. It’s ridiculous.

Now that we’ve got that huge deal out of the way, let’s move on to the rest of the bajillion things that happened that I’ll manage to remember mentioning.

Here we are with President Weaver after he spoke on Sunday!

On Sunday, we had a special sacrament meeting because 1) it had a ton of musical numbers, and 2) President Weaver spoke! I love that man. I ended up doing a last-minute performance of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” with some members that featured Hermana Petersen on the violin. It was super fun!

This last week, Hermana Petersen and I actually found four new people to teach! We contact a lot, but even when people are polite and seem to have a lot of potential, it’s hard to progress them in wanting to learn more, but now we’re finally getting them to stay! It’s super exciting! But what’s crazy is when we started setting our goals for this week, we decided that we needed to set a goal to find seven people. We didn’t know how that was going to happen, since we had just barely managed four, but that was the goal we were prompted to set. And lo and behold, miracles have happened!

Columbia is called Muletown, so here I am with one of them!

On Monday, we were praying before daily planning. It was my turn to offer the prayer, and as I did, I asked for help finding people (which we always do), but suddenly I heard myself asking for us to find a new person who spoke Spanish that day. The Spirit was definitely leading me when I asked for that. That day, Hermana Petersen felt prompted to go to the square, and while we were there we found someone who spoke Spanish! It was insane.

Tuesday, we were totally blessed by members. People kept coming over to bring us food and gifts, and when Hermana Petersen and I were driving back home, we joked about how they couldn’t possibly provide more. Well, we pulled in right next to some members who were dropping off homemade grape juice to us! Truly blessed.

The Columbia Hermanas posing with the best gingerbread house ever.

On Wednesday, Hermana Petersen and I were trying to figure out what to do for contacting. We had been planning to go to the square with the STLs*, but they were actually out of town that day, and we were a little intimidated to do it alone. We decided to pray about what we should do, and after we did, we looked up at each other, and we both knew we had to go, even though we weren’t all that excited about it. But get this: We ended up contacting five Spanish speakers that day! We handed out three copies of the Book of Mormon. And we managed to get four new people. Over half our weekly goal! In one day! The power of prayer is so real.

Who is a missionary without a picture in front of a street sign? “I am Lord Voldemort,” anyone?

There are so many other moments of joy, and countless hands of the Lord I’ve experienced these last few days. But I really want to make it clear how thankful I am for the Savior. This morning, in personal study, I read about Christ’s birth, and I just loved the account of Simeon meeting the baby Jesus in Luke 2:

25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus...

28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

The joy that Simeon experiences here gives me so much hope. What a gift to physically see the Son of God, to hold your Redeemer and to know who he is. But even if I haven’t physically seen Christ, he has been with me throughout this week of miracles, throughout my mission, and throughout my life. I hope your eyes can see your salvation, too.

— Merry Christmas,

Hermana Newton

* Sister Training Leaders

Week 10: I'll Be Not-Murdered for Christmas

Nine days ’til Christmas!!!

I’m sure many of you out there are in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. And I am too. But it turns out that Christmastime is different as a missionary. Who knew, right?

Hermana Petersen and I tried hard to take a cute comp picture haha

Hermana Petersen is really good about member work, so we’ve been calling inactive members. We’ve also driven out to their houses so that we (from a safe distance) can give them Light the World calendars and just see how they’re doing. This week, we drove up to Mt. Pleasant, which is just outside Columbia and in our area. It’s a cute place, unless you stray a bit too far. What do I mean, you ask? Well, I’m glad to answer. Hermana Petersen and I were hitting up these members’ houses, leaving calendars. Mt. Pleasant (and a lot of Tennessee in general) is pretty spread out, and it goes from civilization to … not … extremely fast. So Hermana Petersen and I were going to one member home, on the outskirts of town. The numbers on the houses weren’t clear, and we were basically driving on backroads. We were going along, then realized we’d passed the house, but the road was so narrow that we couldn’t just turn around. So we went a little farther down, and we suddenly saw this house that straight-up belongs in a horror movie, and then it was just trees and spookily lit woods. Luckily, no one got murdered that night, but something has happened there.

The other hermanas insist that it's prettier in the other seasons, but I love Tennessee right now!

We’ve been teaching a lot of member lessons in general this December, which has been super fun! The members in the Columbia ward are so amazing, and their testimonies shine so brightly over phone and Zoom calls. It’s absolutely insane. I love getting the opportunity to love them.

Here’s the whole district! Back row, left to right: Elder Nelson, Elder French, Elder Parkin, Elder Myers. Front, left to right: Hermana Harris, Hermana Newton (who’s she), Hermana Likes, Hermana Petersen (you already know!).

Love was a big theme at our district council this week. We were discussing how missionary work changing with the pandemic has been a blessing, and Elder Parkin (our amazing district leader) talked about how important it is to love the people as a missionary. He had us read from John 15, which says:

17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Elder Parkin had originally been serving in Malaysia and was reassigned to Tennessee. The adjustment was initially really hard for him, but you can just tell that he loves the people he’s serving. That’s true for everyone in our district.

Columbia’s city hall, which has been made world-famous by the “Hannah Montana” movie.

It’s true that you need to love the people, but I think when we say that, it’s sometimes not understood what that group is. Loving the people is loving the born-again Christian who yells at you on the phone and tells you that he won’t read “Joe Smith’s new Bible.” It’s loving the cashier at Kroger and the widow in your ward. Love goes to every single member of your district and to your companion. It’s praying for all of those people, and everyone else in Tennessee, every night.

Elder Myers brought this sign to our little photo shoot. Apparently we were supposed to bring “Christmas.”

In Mosiah 2, King Benjamin teaches his people:

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

I think I’m finally starting to understand that.

— Just happy to be here,

Hermana Newton

Week 9: Lil Men

Happy Wednesday!

A lot of milestones have happened and are happening this week! I’ve officially been serving for two months, and tomorrow will mark halfway through the transfer. I’m already 25% of the way through training! Ack!

Hermana Petersen being the cutest while I’m just happy to be there.

I know I am still so very green, but I’ve gotten a real appreciation and understanding for missionary work this past week, now that I’m (mostly) over the shock of being in the field. It’s easier to just soak in everything that’s going on and focus on enjoying this part of life. Hermana Petersen has made the focus of the week “Embrace,” and while it’s mostly a joke, I’ve really enjoyed that idea of being happy in the moment. It reminds me of Elder Uchtdorf’s “Three Sisters” talk from the October 2017 General Women’s session of conference. It’s so important to appreciate the life you have right now, and not wish for something better.

Hermanas Likes and Harris got Christmas decorations for us! They’re so fun, and we’re happy to get into the Christmas spirit.

Also: I’m part of a rap group now? Hermana Likes’ initials are LIL, and for those of you who don’t know, mine are MEN. Therefore, our ultimate duo is Lil Men, and we will be coming out with a spiritual single shortly!

We moved to recording our phone tracting on Google Sheets, but here’s all of the paper Hermana Petersen has used.

Something that has defined my week is reading Saints during my free time. They’re these narrative histories that my mom is working on with the Church History Department, and I just finished Volume One! They are the best, and they especially contextualize the Doctrine and Covenants for me. This week,  I was reminded heavily of Section 84. It has this especially poignant verse:

 79 Behold, I send you out to prove the world, and the laborer is worthy of his hire.

I have *so many* sticky notes to help me focus on what matters, and this one is a favorite.

I love this scripture so much. It was one of many that encouraged me to serve a mission, so it’s extra special to run into it while I’m here, doing what it asks. I’ve always struggled with feeling like I’m enough, and I remember reading this and being assured that no matter my doubts, Heavenly Father would support me, wherever I was sent. And the same is true for each and every one of you beautiful people!

Even though I’m a servant of the Lord, I’m known to be Extra now and again.

Bonus spiritual goodness: Elder Uchtdorf’s talk “He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home” from April 2016!

— I love you,

Hermana Newton

Week 8: Christmastime Is Here! 🎄

Hello, everyone!

I can’t believe that I've landed on another P-Day*! Time does not make sense when you’re on a mission. All and no time has passed. I can feel myself learning and changing so much, and I haven’t even been out in the field two weeks yet! My two-month anniversary is on Monday, though. I’m sure the next 16 months are going to flash before my eyes.

I didn’t think the weather would be eventful here, but it snowed!!! Just in time for December.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I loved making my #GiveThanks posts and pondering all the things I had to be grateful for, and hearing other people find gratitude within their lives was so special. I hope all of us will continue having that spirit of gladness, because it was such a beautiful, warm feeling to experience.

 

We also got fed by the Rosses, who are a wonderful family in the Columbia ward. I felt very welcomed by them, and that moment was probably my favorite one in my first week in Tennessee. It was the real beginning of me feeling Christlike love for the people that I’m serving!

Because of the fast-approaching winter on Monday, we made hot chocolate and watched “The Christ Child” while I fixed a tear on one of my skirts.

And just as soon as Thanksgiving was over, we missionaries got to start focusing on the Light the World initiative! It is so great to be part of such a joyful work after 2020 has been so hard for people. Offering hope to everyone is so important.

The best part of Tennessee (besides our wonderful members of course haha) is still the sunsets. I took this while we were filling up the gas tank on Thanksgiving.

Light is one of my favorite concepts discussed in the scriptures. Light is central to the story of the brother of Jared and his people, the Jaredites, in The Book of Mormon. The Jaredites had been commanded to cross the ocean to arrive in a new land. They prepared these boats for their journey, but the brother of Jared realized that they wouldn’t have a source of light in these barges. So he asked the Lord what to do, and the Lord told him to come up with a solution. In turn, the brother of Jared provided stones that the Lord touched and gave light to. In Ether 6, it says:

3 And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness.

 

We’re often asked what the light is in our lives. And people will say things like service, love, and the Gospel. Which are all good things! But when I think of light, I think of part of the Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 5:

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

 

Isn’t Hermana Petersen gorgeous? So lucky to have her as my trainer.

Everyone, we are the light! When we allow ourselves to be touched by God, that light cannot be hid! As this Christmas season begins, I hope you’ll all keep that in mind, and know that your brightness makes a difference to someone.

— Keep being lights!

Hermana Newton

 

* Preparation day is the one day a week designated for non-missionary tasks such as laundry and errands.