Elder Tyler Newbold NY NY North Mission: Week 28

April 20, 2016
Wednesday, Day 190
Day 177 in NY

Pday!!
Laundry was great! We got to the Laundromat and I realized I forgot my towels... Again. So that was awesome! Haha While our load was going we went to get some groceries. So we started walking. We were walking down this road, on the sidewalk, and Elder Moss was on my right. Then all of sudden he disappeared! He turned a quick right into this hole in the wall fresh produce market. For the fastest second I for real, thought my companion, had been abducted. He disappeared so fast. The market was pretty sweet tho. The veggies and fruit were nice and ripe and affordable.

LUNCH:
Then! This member from our YSA ward took us out to lunch at subway! Super awesome! Her name is Lyndi, it was just super cool to be able to talk to someone close to my age again. Being in the YSA ward there's a lot of members, young people. The areas are just so diverse! But I love everyone I'm meeting!

So subway was great! Apparently we get fed a lot here in this ward because everyone has a lot of money and time to give us. I'm so excited to be serving here.

GAMES:
Short and sweet we went to the chapel, which was super dope because we meet in the Temple! It's awesome! We played gator ball and chair soccer. I'll have to explain chair soccer sometime. It's fun to, but gator ball will always be better!

LATE NIGHT:
So this is Elder Moss's last cycle in the mission. Elder Richards and Elder Burton are our roommates and I love them all, we have had such a blast. (Due to previous cycles and companions some missionaries have had it rough, so President has made it a note to us to make this a fun and memorable cycle for the apartment roommates and us as well). So after Pday we came home had our nightly planning and we were just hanging out talking, telling stories, getting to know each other and
we all just kind of got the munchies. We then decided we would go down stairs and pitch in for a pizza. We all jumped up threw some clothes on and prayed at the door, then headed out down stairs. Grabbed a pizza and came back up to the room. We ate and continued to enjoy our night as we talked.
#WeChillin'

April 21, 2016
Thursday, Day 191
Day 178 in NY

I JUST CANT GET ENOUGH:
I am just in love with temples... And I am absolutely in love with the fact that I live just blocks from the temple. Since our apartment doesn't get WIFI we go to the church/temple for WIFI. So today we needed to do weekly planning so we walked down the street about 10 minutes to the Temple and had weekly planning!

BEST LESSON:
We've got this investigator named Joey. He's super legit! Elder Moss was telling me about him before we met with him since this was my first time meeting him. We were going to meet at Johnny's, a member in our ward to have the lesson. Elder Moss was telling me about how; recently he has just been saying that he doesn't really believe a lot of what they've been teaching him previously but that he still wants to be baptized. So that's kind of a minor problem, to have no testimony but want to be baptized anyway. So, we met with him and he talked about a lot of different things. Things he's realized on his own, things he had questions about, and so on. Our plan was to teach him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So due to his talking and explaining and such, we just had to involve the things he was saying, in what we were bearing testimony about according to the gospel and helping him apply it. (Which is what I [we as missionaries] should be doing). I guess I didn't catch on very well until now. But because I was able to listen with my heart along with my ears I was able to develop a real sense of love for this guy I just met, which made teaching him so much easier. It was probably the best lesson I've taught my whole mission. The Spirit was there, we had a member present to help fellowship and answer questions, and we taught so well in unity.

April 22, 2016
Friday, Day 192
Day 179 in NY

MEALS ON WHEELS:
This morning after studies we walked down to this place where we wanted to do some service. It's called meals on wheels. It was pretty cool; we were assigned to take a dolly with 2 bags one with frozen foods and another with warm meals. People in the neighborhood had ordered these meals, so we had to deliver them all to each person on our list. Walking all around the area, going in and out of buildings, and up and down stairs. It was awesome to finally be able to do some service! There's a lot of opportunities here in Manhattan too, so I'm excited to be here serving.

LESSON 2:
Mia, is one of our recent converts. So we reteach the lessons to help recent converts continue to learn and strengthen their testimony. We had planned to teach her at Bryant Park and go over chastity and
the temple. It was such an awesome lesson! I just know these people we teach have been prepared and are truly seeking for truth. They listen so well and have great questions and insight to our teachings. The Spirit has been so strong as well because the people we teach are sincere and have testimonies. Again, Elder Moss and I taught so well together, it just feels so natural with him.

YSA:
In our area, we teach the Young Single Adults, so when we do finding, we keep an eye out for the young people and anyone else we meet we would refer to the other missionaries in our area. We don't have a lot of investigators here in our area, but the ones we have are usually pretty solid, as Elder Moss says. So far it's true. We have 3 investigators that we are working with. And so far they are all progressing it's so awesome!

April 23, 2016
Saturday, Day 193
Day 180 in NY

BLESSING:
Yesterday sometime, we received a message from Sister Gardner (senior couple) asking if we would be available to give a sister a blessing. There's a less active member in the hospital in our area that is
pregnant, but with the news the doctors are giving her she's afraid the baby may not make it... This breaks my heart, I love babies, and I love families… After telling her we would be available, we arrived to the hospital in the morning. This poor sweet woman, siting in her hospital bed, with red water eyes, as if she had been crying for a while. When we walked into the room, she began to tell us about her situation with the baby. She then asked about the blessing, wondering how it worked. After explaining it to her, she seemed to be comforted. We explained that, everything has a purpose and if it's of Gods will, as hard as it will be to accept if things don't quite go our way, we need to understand its of God. We also explained that the blessing would work according to the faith of the receiver of the blessing as well as the giver of the blessing. As I finished the blessing, Elder Moss and I knew that the Spirit was there and that she had felt it. She recognized the sense of peace that was there as we ended the blessing. She gave thanks and showed much appreciation through her words and we left her with a smile on her face. Not knowing whether I'll see this woman again or not, I will have her in my prayers.

SAIT:(Sigh-eed)
Sait is a member, he's less active, but he's super legit, he lives in china town so he's far from the church. He's overall just an awesome guy! He's not big into us teaching him, but he likes the visits and what not. So what we did when we saw him today was just like what we did with Joey a few days ago. We just talked, listened, and simply bore testimony on principles of the church. He likes our visits and us. And I guess he's moving out soon so he needs to ready his apartment before he leaves, so we offered to come help him paint. We set a date and I can't wait! There are just more and more service opportunities.

APF: (Area Proselyting Focus)
We went to Washington square and did another APF. We carried the big plywood from the church to Washington square and posted ourselves at a light pole and let people come to us. We had this big piece of plywood that had been painted. It was a map of the world and people would come up and we would let them mark where they where from. We were getting to meet all kind of foreigners and local people from all over the world! (When Australians came over, we talked and my accent would adapt to there's). Lol It was a great activity it gave us the opportunity to talk to a lot of people and teach them a little about family history and that even though people are from all over the world, we are still apart of one big family, Gods family.

CHIPOTLE IS MY LIFE:
One of our members took us out to chipotle! I haven't had chipotle in 6 months lol! It was awesome, his name is Scott. We met with him at the church and we had a quick lesson, then he took us over to chipotle! It was a great day!!

April 24, 2016
Sunday, Day 194
Day 181 in NY

CHURCH:
First day in the YSA ward. I felt closer to home haha, there are a lot of members, and they are all so involved in the ward. In the Bronx there weren't many members, they weren't very involved, and the missionaries did just about everything. (I'm not complaining, I loved my last ward. I’m just helping you all get an idea of the difference). The missionaries said openings and closing prayers, we gave talks, taught classes, gave announcements, and so on. In the YSA ward, they are all young, independent, reliable; they would say the prayers, give talks, teach classes and so on.

Well, making these observations prior to church starting, I spoke to soon. 5 minutes before we started Sacrament, one of the members came to me and asked to give an opening prayer. Haha! I agreed to pray and laughed to myself for thinking I would get away with just sitting in the congregation. It was a great day at church!

$100:
On our way out of the church these 2 members approached us and they talked to us, they said they just sent off a son to Chile for his mission. After talking with them for a while, we made our way down the elevator and out to the front of the building. As we went our separate ways and crossed the crosswalk, we were hit from behind, a big pat on the shoulder from behind me, as I turn around it was the husband of the couple we were just talking to. He ran up to us, slapped $100 in Elder Moss's hand and pushed us forward as he ran back the way he came yelling out to us, buy your selves a nice lunch! Well that was pretty awesome! Haha since it's Sunday we didn't go out to lunch but when we got home we split the money between us and will have lunch later this week. These members out here are so great! Not just because they're all wealthy and feed us, but because they are just so nice and love they missionaries. They are always checking on us.

BAPTISMAL INTERVIEW:
I forgot to mention! But my first day as a district leader in this area I received a phone call from a Sister in the district asking if I would be able to do an interview for baptism. We scheduled to do it Sunday (today) after my ward and before theres. So, Elder Moss and I just got out of church and went home. About an hour later we needed to make our way back to the church so I could conduct the interview. (To be honest, I was so nervous! And I didn't know why!) I felt no different after getting off the phone with Sister Standage when she asked if I could give the interview, but right before I gave the interview I felt nervous. Well, we got to the church and I was perfectly fine. The Sisters realized they didn’t have a baptismal record with them, so Elder Moss and I hurried back home grabbed one and came back and it was great! The sisters’ investigators name was Po, she is so prepared, and the interview went great. It was such a cool experience, nothing like it! Being able to give a person permission to receive their way to salvation, there's nothing like it. I am so happy and excited to be serving here in NY, in Manhattan, in the YSA ward, as a DL (District Leader)

MISSION DINNERS:
So, what I realized today was that people sign up on a calendar to feed us. Each Sunday we are supposed to bring the Meal Calendar if we want to get fed. Well I didn’t know about it till today and... Elder Moss forgot it at home lol! But beside that, we talked to a member, David, our ward mission leader and he said he was sorry he forgot he signed up for this Sunday. He said we could still come over tonight and have dinner. He said he doesn't know what kind of food he has at home, but he will check, and we could just eat whatever he has. So we went over at 6:30 and he let us in. When we got to his place, he laughed and said I hope you like it. He had made Taquitos and peas! Elder Moss and I laughed with him and said it was great. David said, "It's like I'm on a mission again, cooking these kinds of meals." It was too funny, then he brought out some chips and salsa and a bowl of carrots. And we began our feast!

April 25, 2016
Monday, Day 195
Day 182 in NY

DISTRICT MEETING:
Gave my first district meeting today! Oh man, everyone seemed to like it and think it was good. But I hope I can get to know the district more so I can be more of myself as I give trainings and teachings to everyone. I don't really know anyone in the district so it's hard for me to be fun and give teachings to people I don't know. So hopefully I get to know everyone more before we have next district meeting! But it went well, I think it was all right, everyone said it was good and I shouldn't worry about it. But I just want to do my best so everyone looks forward to it. It was great! We talked about goals and accountability and it was great!

LUNCH:
We left the church after district meeting and Elder Richards, Elder Burton, Elder Moss, and I went to Chick fil a!!! Whoop whoop! So with the money we were blessed with yesterday after church we went and bought lunch. Chick fil a out here is fake, but it's awesome! Lol By fake I mean that they don't say "my pleasure". But this one we went to was great because as you stand in a LONG line, the workers come to each person in line and take their orders on iPads and by the time you get to the front of the line, you get sent to a register and they have your food ready for you! It's super fast and awesome! Not too long after eating lunch we all got hungry again and went to another chick fil a out here and this one had a much smaller line, the workers actually did say "my pleasure" and it was 2 stories. So we grabbed our food and went up stairs to eat!

Manhattan is awesome! It is its own experience!

April 26, 2016
Tuesday, Day 196
Day 183 in NY

SPLIT:
Since Elder Moss has only 5 weeks left. There are meetings he has to attend prior to going home. So he, along with all the other missionaries going home this cycle go to this meeting called "what's next" basically President Smith goes over the goals and plans that these missionaries have after they get home. Schooling, jobs, marriage, and so on. Elder Moss said he really enjoyed it, so I'm happy for him! But while Elder Moss went to this meeting I went on a split to Inwood with Elder Shaffer. It was great we went home to his apartment had studies and planned for lessons. Our first and only planned lesson of the day fell through so we went and looked up 2 people and taught them. So it was a successful day. Time well used during Elder Moss's meeting. For lunch, Elder Shaffer and I went to this bodega and got Philly-cheese steak sandwiches! And those were awesome!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
I think I've come to the conclusion that I wouldn't necessarily WANT to live in NY. But if I did I would know how to enjoy it. There's just so much to do around here. Each part of NY has its differences as does any other state or place in the world. But the experiences on a mission I guess make everything so much more fun and memorable. I’m having the time of my life here, serving the Lord and making the best of it. He has blessed me so much, with comfort, peace, an abundance of the world’s experiences and opportunities, with people I love, with the ability to love, with amazing companions, with opportunities of service, and so many other things that I just dream of the day I kneel before my Savior and bathe his feet in my tears as I weep with gratitude for all that he's done for me.

I love you all. I love my Savior. And I pray that you all find joy in this life, as that is our purpose here. Make the most of what you have and love, love everyone. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have
here in NY to serve a mission. I'm not even at the end of my mission, but I know that I would never regret the decisions I've made in my life to get me where I am today, the sacrifices and atonement that our Savior made are real, they are so real! NEVER diminish the thought of the atonement’s existence. It's for us, it's for us all, and we can use it! We can be forgiven; we can rid the feeling of guilt, and pain by the atonement. Plead with Heavenly Father for forgiveness, be sincere, and repent. You will never know its power till you've experienced it.

Enjoy your week! Till next time!

Patience. Love. Faith

Much love,
Elder Newbold