Week 43: On the Prize

Hello, August!

Both of us forgetting to bring an umbrella and getting absolutely drenched while street contacting.

Today officially marks 10 months!!! That is both exciting and completely terrifying. How is it that I’ve been a missionary for so long that I’ve entered the double digits in months? I have no clue what’s going to happen in my brain when I hit a year.

The Real Deal (pronounced “Ray-all Day-all”; merch from Real Salt Lake, Utah’s Major League Soccer franchise, in a Xela shop)

This week has been hard and wonderful. Cesar is doing well, and so are Gloria and Manuel. When we taught the Restoration this week, Manuel was paying such close attention as we were explaining, and it was very tender, because during our chapel tour, he had been busy taking care of their little boy, Angel, so he wasn’t following as well as Gloria had. Going into that lesson, we were concerned that he wasn’t as interested, but he definitely is!

All of these absolute units at our special zone council (which was super fun)!

The real big deal, though, was the mission tour we had with Elder Brian K. Taylor. Let me just say, his wife, Jill, is an absolute unit. So is Elder Taylor, but seriously. Jill was slaying the game.

Elder and Sister Taylor were basically covering the missionary purpose, which is finding, teaching and baptizing. We focused a lot on finding, which was an interesting shift for me. In the TNM, we were sort of finding machines who needed to be reminded about the teaching and baptizing all the time. But as part of the discussion on finding, they talked about the importance of member referrals, and their thoughts and concepts were super refreshing!

Then, Elder and Sister Taylor invited us to contact 50 members for referrals using what they had taught. Which is a lot of people. And I’m not gonna lie, it was really hard. Especially when Hermana González and I didn't come close to reaching the goal. There were a lot of reasons (us having a lot of lessons that day, nurse responsibilities, not getting the member list, sharing a ward with the APs* and them not telling us which members they’d already contacted until super late in the day), but I ended up feeling absolutely defeated. Because we worked our tails off and reached out to around 80 members, and only 25 of them responded. There are those days when you thrust your sickle in and do everything you possibly can, and it feels like your effort was wasted.

But when I look back on this week, there were literally so many miracles. Setting people on date for baptism, the people we found and talked to, the members who actually answered us and were so grateful to have us talking to them, and the referrals they gave. This week was full of Heavenly Father’s blessings. And they weren’t one specific number of members answering our calls and texts. Because they didn’t have to be.

Doctrine and Covenants 8 says:

8 Therefore, doubt not, for it is the gift of God; and you shall hold it in your hands, and do marvelous works; and no power shall be able to take it away out of your hands, for it is the work of God.

I am still remarkably bad at goal-setting. But I’ve learned a lot about it on the mission. And they have a lot more to do with us working toward who we want to become than the number in question. Because becoming perfected isn’t a quantifiable thing. And if we want to become like Christ, we need to make sure there’s room for Him in His work. Elder and Sister Taylor weren’t asking us to set a goal to talk to 50 members because passing that marker would magically make us worthy of entering the Celestial Kingdom. It was about raising our vision to the possibilities. Things will go imperfectly. They always will. But, if you’re looking for it, you’ll always find Him helping you out, somewhere along the way. Even if it isn’t where you expected.

— Keeping my eyes open,

 Hermana Newton

* assistants to the [mission] president

Week 42: Somebody Told Me

Happy Harry Potter Day!*

That’s right, I might be on a mission in a foreign country thousands of miles away from home, but I would never in my life forget that it’s my boy’s 41st birthday. Don’t worry, though, he’s not the subject of this email.

With our favorite secretaries (who are about to be replaced by old people)

Today is actually going to be pretty crazy, because we’re doing the orientation for the new missionaries. Both the greenies and some more North Americans who are getting shipped in. We’re also welcoming a senior couple, the Carpenters. This unfortunately means that Elder Juarez and Elder Herrera are leaving the office, and I am super sad about it because they’re the best! But it’s OK. As Céline Dion once said, my heart will go on.

RIP to my bestie who always talks to me in English :'( Hope he has fun being a branch president with his gringo!

This week we had some seriously good lessons, including a church tour! We had scheduled with this woman named Gloria, and were ready for her, and then she showed up with her husband, Manuel, and their adorable little boy! What? Straight-up just giving us her family to teach? That’s a pretty all-star move, if you ask me. Anyway, they’re the cutest, and Manuel’s boss is a member, which is the neatest little in.

We also had a really good time calling former investigators in our area book this week. I cannot stress how much I've grown to absolutely love formers. All you have to do is call a number, and 95 percent of the time you schedule another lesson, and it’s great and everyone is happy. I just think they’re so neat.

A little miracle I absolutely loved this week happened a couple of nights ago. We were at home, it was the end of the day, and we still had a good half-hour before it hit 9. We were trying so hard to think of who else we could call, because we’d either had lessons with our progressing people that day or they were busy that night. Hermana Gonzalez asked whom we should call, and then, out of nowhere, Alex popped into my mind.

Alex is someone we had found weeks ago and tried so hard to keep into contact with. We messaged him a lot, but he was pretty spotty about replying, and he never answered our calls. I’m pretty sure we’d called him a solid seven times. So from a logical standpoint, reaching out to Alex again made no sense.

But then Hermana Gonzalez suggested, “Hermano Alex?” We both laughed, but I told her I was thinking the same thing, and so then we called him, and he answered right away. We had a really good lesson with him, and the entire time, as we were sitting there talking to him, I just kept on thinking how much of a miracle it was. It may seem small, but for Alex’s life, this is huge. It was a reminder to me that we can never give up on people and that we should always, always listen to what the Spirit tells us. Even when there’s a little bit of doubt in our minds, or even when we think we’ve already done all we can. 1 Nephi 4 says:

1 Let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands?

2 Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground, and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea.

3 ...wherefore can ye doubt? Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us, even as our fathers.

— Thanks for listening,

 Hermana Newton

* Harry Potter was born July 31, 1980.

3. Sometimes you run into things that aren't in your job description in the mission office.

Week 41: How Ye Ought

Hello to all!

Customary missionary in front of a church sign.

Can you believe it? As of today, I’ve been in Guatemala for an entire month! Which unfortunately means that my lack of time spent in a Spanish-speaking country is becoming less and less of an excuse. Not to worry, though. One month as compared to 20 years is actually 1/240 of my entire life experience.

Parque Central has some good photo ops (also lots of vendors who think I’m basically the Prince of Wales, but I’m just a Pauper)

Such a good week, but such a hard one! We had a lot of emergencies coming in on the medical side of things. There are a plethora of reasons I can’t really go into it, but I’ll leave it at the fifth case of appendicitis the mission has had in the past year, an ingrown toenail, and very mean family members somehow finding the nurse number and calling us.

Because of that, there wasn’t terribly much in the way of proselytizing this week because we simply did not have time! But Cesar is continuing to be an absolute champ whom we most definitely do not deserve. He prayed about the Book of Mormon and said he got a witness that it was true, and that this was Christ’s Church on the Earth today! And he told us that when we were just doing a follow-up call to set up another lesson with him. Seriously, absolutely an absolute unit.

The chapel really just has funky architecture sometimes.

We also had zone conference! It was very different, and very fun! Let me tell you, the stress I felt when Hermana Gonzalez and I had to go up as the nurses and address all of those missionaries in Spanish was palpable. As my stress often is. But we got through it, and we had some killer pupusas for lunch!

We love a zone conference selfie

My spiritual thought comes from something Hermana Gonzalez did this week. At the end of the day, we went to the panadería (Xelapan) to buy some bread and a few other treats. When we left the shop, Hermana Gonzalez just handed her bag of pastries to this woman and her son who were standing outside the shop selling chocolates. It was such a good Christlike example to me. Because Hermana Gonzalez didn’t make a big deal out of it. She didn’t wrestle with the decision of what to do. She just saw a need and gladly gave. No hesitation, no selfishness. Just charity.

There’s a BYU Speech I adore called “Healing Racism Through Jesus Christ” that I feel adds a lot to my understanding of charity. In it, Ryan Gabriel, Brigham Young University assistant professor of sociology, says:

“Do you believe that the main reason economic poverty is higher in some racial and ethnic groups compared to others is because of the notion that economically poorer groups do not value hard work? If so, I humbly invite you to notice where that line of thinking takes you. It might lead you to feel that the poor in these groups are not worthy of service because you perceive that they solely brought their economic condition upon themselves. Will you find joy in that belief? Will it lead you to love your neighbor as yourself? Does that perspective embody the commandment of the Lord that we ‘love one another, as [He has] loved [us]’?”

As King Benjamin said in Mosiah 4:

19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?

20 And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.

21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.

This could make up a whole other email, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ really is about humility. Recognizing the principle of not being better than others, but being truly equal to them, and living it. No one is perfect at it, but Hermana Gonzalez is impressively good at it. I hope to learn from and exemplify that powerful example she has given me.

—Thanks for all you give,

 Hermana Newton

Week 40: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Hermana

¡Buenas!

Feeling blue … in a happy way (:

I’ve come to learn that “buenas” is for when you very well could say a whole phrase, but find yourself too lazy to do so. Which means that I absolutely love saying it.

We’ve been having a lovely time here in Calvario! Finding, teaching. … Hopefully we’ll get to the baptizing part soon enough. But today, I’d like to examine this week through the lens of art.

I love anything to do with creating, if you couldn’t tell from how lovingly I craft each weekly letter, and I’m grateful for all the talents I’ve been given in the arts! Acting, singing, writing, and—specifically these last seven days—drawing.

I do not know why I look so angry in this picture where I’m looking at Elder Juarez as I’m drawing him. I promise we’re actually just good friends.

It all started on Sunday during our member lunch with la familia De Leon (who are some of the best people on the planet, btw). I sat there with a napkin and a marker that happened to be around and sketched the lovely Hermana Gonzalez. I showed it to her when I finished, and she loved it! So did everyone else at the table. They requested that I draw Elder Rivera as well, and I obliged. They were all super kind as they complimented the drawing.

The finished portrait of Elder Juarez (I just can’t get the nose right)

A little later on in the week, we were setting up our lunch with the Relief Society president, Hermana Norma. While we talked, I could feel that she seemed a little off-beat, so I decided to do what I could. Hermana Gonzalez and I wrote her a card, and then I drew her (with a little halo!) to show our appreciation for all she does for us. When we got there, Hermana Norma’s daughter Sharon actually helped us, and told us that her mother was feeling a little sick (she’s just gotten the vaccine), and so she was resting. Later that day, Hermana Norma thanked us for the card, and the next time we talked to her, she just seemed so much happier!

Then, on Wednesday, while we were with the other office missionaries for a meeting, I did caricatures for everyone! Elder Escobar was sad because I had drawn everyone else, and his expression when I started drawing him was so tender! Everyone else also enjoyed my versions of them, and I loved showing my love for them!

The best album cover of the mission so far.

The next afternoon, we had lunch with la familia Castillo. The kids all really liked drawing, and Hermana Gonzalez happily told them that I drew people while she sketched a cute lil flower. So I drew one of the kids, Izan. To make things even better, he drew me!  And yesterday, at the end of our English class, which Hermana Castillo was attending, Izan came in and gave me a more complete drawing of me! (He forgot the body the first time.)

Who knew about the heavily prevalent Korean influence in Quetzaltenango? Surely not me!

I’ve learned a few lessons through this experience. One, that the gifts we have really can be used for the work. And yes, that’s all of them. It can strengthen and uplift everyone, and in turn make them more willing to do the same! And kindness heals. It truly helps people not only want to become better, but to actually do it. It’s also helped me truly look around myself and recognize the beauty of what I’m living in.

A verse in Alma 30 talks a little bit about this:

44 ... The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

God created everything. The trees in our courtyard, the goats being guided through the streets, the mountains that hold Xela in a warm embrace. But the thing he loves most, and the thing that is most miraculous, is us. The Supreme Creation of the Supreme Creator. That’s part of the reason I love drawing them so much—as well as being able to put a smile on their faces. Both on paper and on themselves.

— All my love!,

Hermana Newton

Week 39: Living on a Prayer

WE’RE HALFWAY THERE!

There are so many signs here!

That’s right, everybody! I have been a missionary for nine months. Can you believe it? Those are nine months that many on this list have endured receiving weekly emails from me. If you’re still around and reading, congratulations are definitely in order.

Xela is to Quetzaltenango as Muletown is to Columbia

A thing about missionary work that I recently discovered is the months you gain feel a lot more like years lived. Like, sure, I've been a missionary for nine months, but I feel more like a 9-year-old than like someone with *experience* and *wisdom*, if that makes any sense. And so by the end of this, when I’ve reached those 18 months, I’m still going to have a lifetime of learning and growing. To be fair, though, a 9-year-old has more of a grasp on how to do things than a newborn baby does. So I suppose I have earned some credit for getting this point.

Name a better duo. I’ll wait.

Week 2 in Xela is already finished, and I’m more than a little shocked by that fact. The first few days in a new place always seem to go by painstakingly slow. Everything is so foreign (no pun intended), and as you adjust, it’s a lot to take in. Wait, lunch is when we eat the most? Everyone drives like they’re on Rainbow Road in Mario Kart? I am Dorothy in Munchkinland? But now that I’m semi-used to the chapina* way of life, it looks like we’re actually on a bullet train, and boy, does it have places to go!

Look at all of those houses that are most definitely not in our area (Calvario is a pretty small neighborhood)

I am still learning how to street contact en español, but I am amazed by how kind Heavenly Father is, because as I keep a prayer in my heart and open my mouth, I’m amazed at the people we cross paths with. We’re especially excited about this one person we approached on Thursday. We’ve only had one lesson so far, but he's been super promising! Like, baptism kind of promising. So make sure to keep Cesar in your own prayers! I know he’s in mine.

There is nothing like a pupusa after English class with the Calvario squad.

I’ve been able to grow a lot, both in the nine months of my mission and in these first weeks in Xela. And I find myself going back to these verses in Alma 26:

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things. …

15 … yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.

I will never have sufficient words to describe how incredibly imperfect I am. Everything about me, and any person on this planet, is flawed. It’s insane. But what is even more striking to me is the fact that it doesn’t matter. Heavenly Father still has a great and marvelous work, and “if ye have a desire to serve, ye are called to [it].”

I have been overwhelmed by my weakness a couple of times here. Not knowing how to wash laundry by hand, being shocked to discover that mayo comes in a bag, and especially not understanding half of the things that people are saying to me. But the thing that’s important isn’t having a washing machine, or American food brands, or that people get to know how funny my joke would be in English. It’s that they feel loved by their Savior. And He will help people know it, regardless of how broken my Spanish is. I hope that what I’ve written today has shown you that He loves you, too. And so do I.

If you know, you know. (Matthew 5:14)

— We’ll make it (I swear),

Hermana Newton

* A colloquial name for Guatemalans.

Week 38: What Kind of a Week Has It Been?, Pt. 2

¡Buenas tardes!

I’m so glad I get to be near the House of the Lord, even if it is in Phase 2–B.

Even if it’s not the afternoon, I always end up accidentally saying “buenas tardes” when it’s supposed to be “buenos días” or “buenas noches,” so it’s fine. Except for yesterday, when I had finally gotten used to saying “buenos días” to everybody, but it was 12:05. The struggles of salutations.

Whatever time it is, hello everybody! It’s been a while, and a lot has happened. Far too much for me to cover in one email, but I’ll try to get the especially good snippets.

First day with Hermana Gonzalez (also our first P-day haha)

If you haven’t been paying attention for the past few weeks, I’m in a foreign country now! My companion is beautiful, Spanish is beautiful, and Guatemala is beautiful. Those are the things that are most important to cover, but I guess I’ll elaborate on a few things.

The plane ride to a foreign country is surprisingly stressful. My carry-on was filled to the brim with my heaviest items, namely my Spanish copies of Saints and all of my notebooks and studying materials. I probably didn’t need to bring Santos, but I needed the comfort in these times of constant change.

So I got to the airport, and my flight from Nashville to Houston actually got delayed. Luckily, I was originally supposed to have a gigantic layover in Houston, so I ended up being just in time. A nice little milagro in my travels.

Rolling with the Rodens!

It was crazy being with all of the American missionaries. We all talked about our different reassignments and the rules and structure each of them had. While it was interesting to talk about, it made me extremely nervous to face adjusting to an entirely new mission. Luckily, President and Sister Roden make this an incredibly easy task. They are so kind, so hardworking, so amazing. It was such a privilege to be able to stay the night in the mission home and to get to know them.

When I was in my first interview with President Roden, he told me that he wanted me to serve as a nurse with Hermana Gonzalez. Suffice it to say I was a bit confused, seeing as I’m a theater arts major with no experience in medicine, but I accepted the calling. Seeing Hermana Gonzalez’s face when I explained that I was but a simple artist was absolutely priceless. She’s studying dentistry back home, so she knows quite a bit more than I do.

It’s not the Parthenon in Nashville, but Roman is still all Greek to me. With another new missionary, Hermana Woodbrooks, and the STLs*, Hermana Franco and Hermana Villatoro.

My real role, however, is that I speak English. Now that American missionaries are starting to come in, President Roden wanted to provide a line of communication that allowed all missionaries to be able to explain their problems in their native language. In this past week, as I’ve talked to my fellow North Americans, I’ve seen how real the relief is when you’re able to say exactly how you’re feeling.

Since I’m an office missionary, that means that 1) my P-days are on Saturdays (I miss Wednesdays, but it’s OK), and 2) I’m serving in Xela!† Before leaving, I was really mentally preparing myself for being in basically the jungle, but we actually have a pretty nice living situation. Not as nice as the Bowling Green apartment, but I don’t think many missionaries live in as nice of a place as the Bowling Green apartment.

Who knew that murals had gone global?

Our area is Calvario, and let me tell you, it is tiny! So much so that Facebook finding doesn’t work, so we actually do a lot of street contacting. I like street contacting, but it is incredibly intimidating in another language. I continue to trust in God and try my best, though. And he’s blessed me immensely with Hermana Gonzalez. Seriously. She is an absolute unit of a missionary.

Bonus photos of the temple.

In my personal study the other day, I was looking at Moroni 10. It’s the last chapter in the Book of Mormon, which of course means that it absolutely slaps. As missionaries, we quote verses 3-5 all the time, because it contains the promise of how you’ll be able to know if the Book of Mormon is really the word of God, but this time around, what followed just after caught my eye:

6 And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.

There is a lot that is hard about being a missionary. Sore feet, sunburns, rejection. But there is so much good in it, too. For me, all of the blessings that have come from this week and my entire missionary service point to this idea that what I am doing acknowledges the reality of my Savior. And through all the change I’m experiencing, that will always stay the same.

—Adios (that’s the same no matter the time of day),

Hermana Newton

* Sister Training Leaders.

† Xelajú, or Xela for short, is Quetzaltenango’s Mayan name.

Week 37: A Whole New Kind of Country, Pt. 2

Howdy!

Wearing one of Hermana Jones’ yellow dresses (she loves and is yellow)

This is the last time I feel like I’m actually able to start my weekly in a customary Southern fashion, so I figured I would. If I seem sad, now you know why.

I’m so glad I got to talk to my family on Father’s Day! I love them so much ❤ 

So many amazing miracles have happened in this one week that I am beyond grateful for. The people I’ve had the privilege of meeting, the lessons that I’ve (been) taught, and the companions I’ve had. Both teaching as a missionary, and living in this not-so-little apartment.

When you need to see if anyone has a bigger pan, you have to use something for scale.

I am admittedly very tired from a long day of packing and stressing over being able to ship myself off to a foreign country, so I’m afraid I don’t quite have it in me to describe in grandiose detail the many escapades we went on. A quick rundown of events, though:

1. Becoming instant kindred spirits with Hermana Jones (it’s so unfair we only got a week together; she has forever changed me)

This is at the Greatest Relief Society Activity of All Time

2. The Relief Society activity that had the most delicious cupcakes in the universe. Angel was fellowshipped so well there!

3. Talking to four Steves at one apartment complex while trying to find a member.

4. Being able to do the training for a spiritual and powerful district council.

5. Performing all of “High School Musical” from memory for the quad in a five-part installment.

6. Finding an entire family and their chickens.

7. Going back to their house to make sure we recorded the address correctly, then finding three women, one of them being a Spanish-speaking mom with three kids.

8. Someone we’re teaching inviting us to play soccer with her little daughters and “unos amigos,” only to get there and have her show up with practically a barrio.

9. Explaining all of season one of “Downton Abbey.”

10. Hermana Reidhead becoming everyone’s hairstylist.

From left to right: Half of Hermana Aguilera’s face (I am so sorry, mija!), Hermana Radford, Hermana Jones, yours truly, Hermana Reidhead

I got to bear my testimony on Sunday night as a way to say goodbye to the mission, and it was such a powerful experience. I love the TNM so much, and I’ll never be able to express how much I’ve learned in its entirety. I read from D&C 80. I made some edits to make it about me (as I do with many things):

1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant [Mary Newton]: Go ye, go ye into the world and preach the gospel to every creature that cometh under the sound of your voice.

2 And inasmuch as you desire a companion, I will give unto you my servant[s] [Ashley Volk, Dantzel Petersen, Savannah Stevenson, Paola Aguilera, and Kylee Jones].

3 Wherefore, go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss.

4 Therefore, declare the things which ye have heard, and verily believe, and know to be true.

5 Behold, this is the will of him who hath called you, your Redeemer, even Jesus Christ. Amen.

There are so many beautiful promises and pearls of wisdom in this passage of scripture. Each verse pricks my heart. I just want to say that I know that Jesus Christ himself has been who called me. I don’t know why, but he did. And I was in Columbia, and I was in Bowling Green, and now I’m going who-knows-where in Guatemala. But I am so honored, and so humbled, and I can’t wait to see what joy it brings me. 

— Bon voyage (that’s not Spanish!),

Hermana Newton