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

Week 36: A Little Bit Longer

Greetings!

Pix with the the Bowling Green hermanas! Clockwise from left, Aguilera, Newton, Boden, Reddish, Reidhead and Gomez.

All things are well in the city of Bowling Green, Kentucky! The people we teach are amazing, as always. The missionaries we serve with are so hard-working, kind and conscientious. Hermana Aguilera is growing into a spiritual giant.

I love Hermana Gomez so much. We were in Home MTC together.

A lot happened, but I don’t know how to fit everything into stories. Thankfully, there are a lot of pictures for some reason (?), so for the little I write, there will be much more to see. Which is what many people pay much more attention to in weekly emails.

Having Sister Forbush in the apartment was oodles of fun.

Since I’m going to Guatemala next week, I was prepared to be moved down to Nashville tomorrow, since transfers are happening. You know, so that driving down to the airport isn’t a ridiculous juggling of events. But apparently President Weaver doesn’t care about juggling, because I’ll be staying in Bowling Green until I leave the country! Pretty exciting stuff.

Sister Forbush made German pancakes on exchanges! Low-quality photograph, very high-quality food.

But because I thought I was leaving Bowling Green, we had a ton of lessons with the people we were teaching, and for the most part, I was viewing this week as a last hurrah. And full of hurrahs it was! Hermana Aguilera and I found an atheist and got him interested in reading the Book of Mormon. We did a couple of door approaches, and through it, we found true paz. Allow me to explain.

The nightly calls with the district leaders are always fun.

So we were going over to visit Angel, our most progressing person. We had prepared a lesson to set her on date for baptism, and were visiting her with Hermana Boden and Hermana Forbush, who were together on exchanges. When we got there, however, there were no cars, and no Angel! What rotten luck. So we decided to visit formers in the neighborhood, and to walk to a woman named Cynthia’s house. We had actually tried to call her the week before, and she hadn’t responded. So we got to the house, and inside was a guy named Joey. He was definitely not Cynthia. He was very polite, but also very uninterested. So we wished him well and started to make our way back to the car to meet up with the other sisters and eat the brownies that were awaiting us. As we walked, we saw a woman on her porch, sitting with the cutest baby boy. I figured I might as well go for it, so I said, “Your baby is so cute!” Then she responded in Spanish, then I responded in Spanish, and then she went, “Hermanas!” and invited us on her porch. She gave us water and told us that she used to play soccer with the missionaries who served here before she got pregnant with her youngest baby and COVID happened. Her name is Paz, and she invited us in so that I could play some alabanzas with her on the piano. It was surreal, and I’ve never felt more like a missionary.

Paz invited us into her home so I could accompany her on the piano! So cool!

In Mosiah 26, it reads:

24 For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand.

I love so much about this simple verse, but what really stands out to me is that middle phrase: “if they know me they shall come forth.” In stake conference this week, the visiting general authority, Elder Martino, talked a little bit about Spanish vocabulary. In Spanish, there are two ways you can say “to know,” and they are the words saber and conocer. Saber implies an intellectual, detached knowledge, whereas conocer is a more personal, intimate connection. When we look at our relationship with knowing Jesus Christ, would we translate that using saber or conocer? If the answer is the latter, the action described in Mosiah 26 applies to us.

Bowling Green 1B on the prowl for people ready to hear the message of the restored gospel.

I love being a missionary. I am so glad that I decided to come forth to the Tennessee Nashville Mission, even if I wasn’t originally the most excited at the prospect. I am so thankful for the people, and for the love, and for my Savior. And I’m thankful for you, too. And hope that you’ll have a fantastic week.

— Atentamente,

Hermana Newton

Week 35: Too Young to Die

What is up, everybody?

This transfer has flown by ridiculously fast. Can you believe I only have a week left before who knows what will happen? Because I sure can’t!

We found some snacks left in the church freezer for the missionaries.

This week we had interviews with President Weaver. It was such a good conversation, and he really helped me a lot. I am so grateful for him, and I’m really going to miss having him as my mission president. That feels so weird to say. But everyone keeps on talking about how I’m basically dying* in the mission, which is another equally weird concept. I barely hit eight months on Monday, and, as mentioned last email, I had my twentieth birthday!

Fun fact about me and Sister Smith: We literally have the exact same hair color.

Being on exchanges with Sister Smith was such a good birthday present. She and Sister Forbush gave me a fantastic card, along with a “#1 Dad” stuffed dog. What can I say? I’m paternal. We had an amazing finding experience and some awesome contact with a part-member family. We also got to talk to a member who’s the fellowshipper for one of the people we’re teaching, Coe. The icing on the cake was when Sister Haver and her adorable daughters stopped by while we were at the park and gave me a gift! There’s additional icing, which includes all of the letters that arrived to me by mail (thank you SOOOO MUCH I loved them!), surprising one of the people we’re teaching in the drive-thru where he works, and calling my family. I know that I had gotten to talk with them the day before, but it is so fun to talk to the people you love most on your birthday.

Me getting my special birthday gift from Sister Haver! Thank you so much (:

Hermana Aguilera and I had one of the best comp studies of all time on Monday! And because of it, we made a resolution to have the most powerful, spiritual, epic comp studies this entire week. We’ve come up with all of these different goals and focuses that I’m really excited about. I’ll sure be missing her when I head down to Guatemala.

I’m still not exactly sure what the Guatemala situation is. I thought I’d find some details from a Guatemala reassigned missionaries group on Facebook, but, to my utter dismay, there isn’t one. President Weaver asked me what I knew in terms of travel plans, and I told him my portal said that I started on June 24th, but didn’t provide anything else. President Weaver then told me that last he heard, I would be flying out on the 17th. Suffice it to say that the travel process is very confusing, and I am trying so hard not to stress, which goes so against my natural way of being.

Our zone has been reading the book of John together this transfer. It’s basically been New Testament Book Club. Which is what a Bible study is in general. This week, I was reading from chapter 10, and I absolutely loved these verses:

11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

…

17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

In a lesson we had yesterday, we asked the member present on the lesson to share his testimony about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and Hermana Aguilera and I were also able to share our own. But I would love to testify of it here, too.

There is so much power in choice. The fact that Jesus actively decided the entire time to suffer and die for us is mind-blowing to me. It is insane for me to think about how Christ made the choice to have everything that happened to him happen. And the reason that he did it was purely for love. I am so grateful for that, and the only way I can begin to give thanks is by sharing that with other people. Thank you for letting me share that with you today.

— All my love,

Hermana Newton

* Missionary lingo for completing missionary service.

Week 34: The Edge of (Being a) Teen

This is the last day my angst can be socially acceptable.

I got to hold a hamster owned by one of the people we’re teaching! When I took off my mask to take the photo, the kids said that I looked like “the girl from the movie.” Very specific, I know. They showed me the DVD case, and they were talking about Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz”!

That’s right! Tomorrow, I will have officially been alive for two decades. That’s a whole score, for those of you who aren’t aware. I have been sitting with anticipation since Saturday afternoon to open my birthday package, but I have withheld, and tomorrow, I’ll finally be able to crack open that bad boy, along with other events. I won’t spoil all of the surprises I have in store for my festivities, but tomorrow, I’ll be on exchanges with Sister Smith! I’m sure that’s going to be one hoot and a holler.

A birthday letter?! How exciting!

As always, what a fun week this has been! So much has happened. Probably too much. But I’ll cover as much as I can for the viewers at home.

First of all, I really love my district so much. Elder Gambill and Elder Yanez are the funnest district leaders. Definitely in my top five out of the four that I’ve had. They’re so kind and thoughtful, and so is everybody else in our district. It’s such an amazing gift to know all of those missionaries!

Hermana Aguilera taking a picture of me taking a picture of Hermana Aguilera

Also, I got to sing in church! The elders’ ward had asked Elder Yanez to do a special musical number because he’s a phenomenal pianist, but he didn’t want to brave through it alone, so he asked if one of us hermanas would be willing to sing with him, and of course I volunteered because (spoiler alert) I love to sing!

Anyway, we performed “I Will Walk with Jesus,” which is such a sweet song. It’s a little newer, so some of the older kids on this list may not know it, but trust me, it is so good. And it was so fun to sing! Shout out to Sister Haver, a member of the 2nd Ward who’s related to one of my mom’s friends, Ronna Park! We were able to say quick hellos after sacrament meeting, and she said hi from my mom! Which was so fun.

Getting Dairy Queen to celebrate Hermana Reddish’s nine months!

We also got to meet with Caleb, whom the sisters who were previously in BG1B were teaching, but he had been up in Alaska bear hunting, so we hadn’t been able to meet with him. But let me tell you: I am meant to be here for Caleb. He has some really good questions, and a lot of them can be addressed by just becoming a member of the Saints book club. Which he now is.

We happened to be in a lesson with Caleb on Monday when, as we were finishing up, we got a call from President Weaver. Caleb was kind enough to let us answer. I was very confused as to what President Weaver could possibly be calling for, because I legit had no clue. But then he asked to specifically speak to me, and it turns out that they’re starting to process my visa application for Guatemala!!! I don’t know when I’m leaving or anything, but for now, it sounds like I’m going to be making it. I am just so grateful and excited and in awe of this amazing blessing. Talk about a birthday present.

Riding up to district council, as per usual

For district council this week, Hermana Aguilera and I got to do part of the training. As part of it, we shared the story of Naaman, found in 2 Kings 5. Naaman is a captain for the Syrian army. He’s pretty highly regarded, but he has contracted leprosy, which, at this time, is an uncurable disease. So he goes to the prophet Elisha to heal him:

10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

I love this story, and in part, I think it’s because I’m very much Naaman. Both of us had an expectation of how the Lord would treat us. I expected to go to Guatemala, and Naaman expected for a prophet to come out of his house and grandiosely heal him. But that’s not what we received.

Expectations are really hard to combat. We’re always trying to anticipate what comes next and to make things go our way. But if things had gone my way, I never would have served with the missionaries here. I never would have had the experiences I wrote about this week in my weekly email, or any of my weeklies. I never would have gotten to meet the amazing people of Tennessee and Kentucky, who have changed my life in a very real way.

I am so grateful for my mission, and I am so grateful for the journey ahead. That, above all, is the best birthday present I could ever ask for.

— Still 19,

Hermana Newton

Week 33: Seeing Clearly

Good afternoon!

What’s this? A scenic view of Kentucky as we drive along? Groundbreaking.

There are so many trains in Bowling Green, and they seem to be loudest right when we need to be going to bed.

Can you believe we’re already halfway through this first transfer in Bowling Green? But I was only referring to myself, so I guess this was a use of the royal we.

Happy to report that all the hermanas I live with are all so beautiful and lovely!

Anyway, May is drawing to a close, and summer is here! It’s been in the high 80s and low 90s all week. I can’t believe how fast time is moving. My most avid readers will remember back when I had barely made it through a transfer, and now I’ve been a missionary for almost eight months. Truly astounding, and truly so much more to learn.

Hermana Aguilera and me after giving our talks!

I feel like I say this every time, but seriously: So much happened this week. Hermana Aguilera and I hosted one of the live events, We Believe Live, for the page, because Hermana Reddish needed to get mouth surgery. I went to Buffalo Wild Wings for the first time in my life and learned that sports bar trivia is astonishingly easy. I gave my first talk as an official missionary, and it was really fun! But you’d think you would have much more time to work on a talk than you actually do. Apparently missionary work is very busy.

Franklin South reunion with Elder Myers!

Zone conference was this week! And it was truly one of the best times of my life. Hardcore fans might remember Elders French, Nelson and Myers. Well, they were all this zone conference, along with my beloved Hermana Petersen! It was so exciting and happy. I’ve also felt so blessed that even though I’ve been put into a completely new zone and basically flung across to the other side of the mission, I still had so many friends to say hi to and show my love!

Look at me and Hermana Petersen!

Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis came to speak for this conference, and I think that the word powerful is still an understatement. Elder Aidukaitis has a spirit that completely dominates. I sincerely believe he’s one of the most Christlike people I’ve ever had the pleasure to be in the same room as. I learned so much about how to become the missionary that I want to be, and the entire experience made me so excited to improve! I felt encouraged to do and be better in every aspect of missionary work, instead of hopelessly writhing around at my lack of ability, which sometimes happens when I’m trying to take advice to heart.

A typical day in missionary life.

There were so many things that I needed to hear from this zone conference, but one of my favorites was found in a thought that stems from this verse in Ether 12:

6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

“Dispute not because ye see not.” As a missionary, you have to work all the time. Especially on yourself. And sometimes the fruits of our labors aren’t evident right away. As I try to improve the way I teach, serve, and love, it isn’t automatically clear. But that doesn't mean it’s not there.

Life is so much about trust. In God, in other people, and in yourself. I’m growing in that, and as I do, my mission and my life get better. And it can do the same for you, too.

— Always and forever,

Hermana Newton

Week 32: Cross My Heart

Hello to all!

This week’s definitely one for the books! First off, it’s Hermana Aguilera’s birthday! She's a whole 22 years of age! Those of you who still have access to Taylor Swift songs, please listen to her title of the same name and enjoy by way of celebration. Additionally, this means that my birthday is in two weeks (and one day). Any suggestions as to how to commemorate my last days of true teenagedom? Is the idea to share the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? If so, the Bowling Green sisters are on the case! But on to what we actually did.

This was before our lesson with Liam, the coolest guy ever, whom we have to pass off because he lives in the other mission, but it’s OK.

First off, I love the people! They are seriously the best! The missionaries, the members, the people we’re teaching. It’s been awesome. We got to attend the baptism of the youngest kid in a member family that was so tender. Their daughter who’s 15 gave a talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost that was super powerful. Shoutout to Moira. Also, the opportunity to attend a baptism is one of the sweetest experiences to have ever, especially as a missionary.

The Primary children decorated copies of the Book of Mormon for us and wrote their testimonies inside. It’s so tender.

Our friends have been progressing so well! I’m excited about Angel and Liz in particular, who are two of the sweetest women on the planet! They have such awesome member friends in the ward who are starting to strengthen their involvement in the gospel, and I’m so happy just seeing them progress and become happier with what they’re learning.

A couple of cuties on a walk

Even though this week has been beautiful, there are hard parts to it. We’ve been rejected, frustrated, and grown physically, spiritually and emotionally tired. It’s part of missionary work. Something that was especially difficult is that we had to cancel the baptism for someone we were teaching because they aren’t ready for various reasons. They had chosen this Saturday before Hermana Aguilera and I even came to Bowling Green. It’s definitely not fun to see someone's actions not align with their desires. But the day we put this person off date, someone who was previously taught reached out to us. He’s been having a hard time, but he told us that he opened his Book of Mormon and turned to this scripture in Helaman 3:

28 Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God.

He then wrote:

“I’m glad Heavenly Father reminded me the gate of heaven is open. 

It isn’t closed. 

His blessing, grace, peace are open to me. Not closed.”

It reminded me of a scripture in Alma 37 that I really love:

17 For he will fulfil all his promises which he shall make unto you, for he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers.

Heavenly Father loves us. I say that to people all the time. But it’s real. It’s eternal. It’s personal. And it applies to you.

— I promise,

Hermana Newton

Week 31: So Much to Do, So Much to See

Hey now!

Here’s my greenie the day I got her! Hermana Aguilera is from Fresno, California. She’s a native speaker and is so pure and bubbly and lovely (:

I’m coming to you, for the first time in the history of these weekly emails, from the city of Bowling Green, Kentucky! It’s such a happening town that we have at least two of everything, as well as one precious Target. What a blessing to live near a typical middle-class department store. I will surely cherish it during the months I am here.

Bowling Green is radically different from Columbia, and I absolutely love it here. I miss many things from the equivalent of my hometown during my mission, but I’m also happy to see and experience new things. If anything, BG reminds me a lot more of West Valley than Columbia. It’s not really famous for anything*, but the people are kind and amazing, and by and large, I feel extremely loved.

New quad! L-R: Hermana Reddish, yours truly, Hermana Aguilera, Hermana Reidhead

The process of starting the work here has been an equal extreme in terms of stress. For those of you who aren’t caught up! I am whitewashing in this area, which means that my companion and I are both new to the area. And I’m training her, which is a lot of responsibility that intimidates me way too much if I think about it too hard. Oh, and I forgot to get the SIM card for the area, which meant we had to rely on the other companionship if we wanted to call anybody, and then Hermana Aguilera’s Facebook wasn’t working on her phone, so in a word, the first week has been hard.

Goodbye to Franklin South and some of my favorite people ever.

I think what I’ve been learning this week is that I really have to give everything to Heavenly Father. Which is something I’ve learned and relearned the entirety of the seven months I’ve been doing this. 

In Alma 17, the sons of Mosiah and other Nephites are about to start missions serving among the Lamanites, who are their generations-old enemies. Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of anxiety for them in this moment. They’re unsure about their future, whether their message will be accepted, whether they’ll be safe and well. Not much is certain as they begin their journey. But it goes on to say:

10 And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted.

…

12 And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, and also those who were with them, took courage to go forth unto the Lamanites to declare unto them the word of God.

I think if my experience in adulthood has taught me anything, it is that there is a lot to have fear over. But that gives us the opportunity to have courage. And I hope that all of us will be able to be brave going forward, whatever challenges we're facing. Because, dear reader, I know that you have it in you.

A fan favorite, Cathy Newton, cheering all of us on!

— You’re an All-Star,

Hermana Newton

* To be fair, Bowling Green is the home of the National Corvette Museum.