New York
Showing posts with label miracles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label miracles. Show all posts
Friday, February 23, 2018
Final email
February 21, 2018
Well this is it. These last 2 weeks have been a wonderful conclusion to my full time service. I had been training a new missionary and have truly enjoyed that privilege. I was afraid this would happen, AND it did... I don’t remember what happened these last 2 weeks, but I know they felt rewarding and that I accomplished what needed to be done. Something I’d love to share is this:
The last few days we had in the cycle before transfers we spent a good amount of time out side, in front of the church, contacting people. We felt, as we were contacting people on the street, to bring them in just through the front doors and stand directly in front of a picture of Christ (the one with him ascending from heaven with the angels around him). Each of the people we brought in stood directly in front of the large painting. As they stood there for a short moment we would ask, “what comes to your mind when you look at this? Or what feelings might you have toward this painting?” I can’t tell you how many people we brought in through the front doors of the church that day. But I can tell you how I felt, how each of them felt. Each response to the questions we asked were all very similar. They would say something like, “It’s very welcoming” “He is welcoming me to heaven” “He wants me to be closer to Him”... etc.
We did this for a couple hours and the feeling that filled my heart and that room in those moments was so precious. I could have continued it all day and I would have loved to. It truly was such a special thing, each person we brought in, we focused on, individually, one by one. As they shared things with us that were personal we testified to them, one by one. We enjoyed this so much and found such great success we continued doing it and planned to do it again each day. I find it hard at the moment to articulate each of these experiences or even remember the fine details of them, but I know for a surety it was through the simple act of testifying of My Savior, Jesus Christ that the spirit was most definitely present and He bore witness of truth as we testified.
My simple invitation to those who read this is: First, take a few minutes and look at this very picture.
Second, look deeper, say to yourself the things you notice, and third, ask your self this; What would I like Jesus Christ to say to me if I stood before Him, with His arms extended outward, inviting me to come to Him and showing forth His hands? What would I like to hear Him say to me?
I’d like to conclude this brief message with my simple testimony, that I Know that the Savior lives. That He is very real! That He cares, even about the very details of our lives. I know that He is so personal and that each of our relationships with him can be personal. I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ I can be healed. I know that, I have experienced it. He desires to come close to you and He will, as you come closer to Him. Take the time to know the Savior, He is waiting for you. This I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Week 95
January 17, 2018
Last pday around 1pm, we went to a member’s home to help him move his old bed out of his apartment. We went over with our roommates; it was one of those heavy-duty hospital like beds with a motor attached to the frame so it was heavy. We carried it out his room and into the elevator, then down to the basement. He flipped on an LDS movie said he’d be right back and took off and came back 15 minutes later with a bucket of Chicken. We had lunch at his place and then we had to head out to finish our pday plans.
January 18, 2018
A day to remember!
We had weekly planning at the apartment and around lunchtime Elder Stokes said we would go out to eat. I was down to go out, and then he said, “Where do you want to go? I got some money as a gift, it’s on me.” We talked about places we could eat; I told him down on Fordham Rd was where some nicer places were, like Chipotle and Applebee’s. He said okay we can walk there and look at places on the way.” We walked for about 25 minutes and pointed out places to each other, nothing really stood out to us that we wanted. Then when we got to Fordham we made our way over to Applebee’s and Chipotle, I was thinking Chipotle and then saw a sign in the window for a deal at Applebee’s, so Elder Stokes said okay Applebee’s it is and quickly walked to the door. I followed in and was going to wait to be seated, but Elder Stokes kept walking and said over here, we can sit here. Not paying too much attention but then following my companion, I was surprised by Ray Smith sitting in the booth where my companion pointed!
I’m so grateful for people who are diligent in serving Heavenly Father’s children. Brother Ray Smith most certainly has blessed my life spiritually and physically. Each time we meet he blesses me with food for the body and food for the soul. I’m uplifted and inspired by his example and inspired questions.
We finished up with our visit and dessert and made our way out one set of doors where we were stopped by one of the workers. Her name was T, she asked what church we were from, we told her, and she got excited and said she was given a copy of the Book of Mormon by a Sister and was given a card but she said she can’t find the card with the church information on it. So we gave her a card and told her about the church and when it starts services. It was a pretty sweet miracle; we were there for a reason other than to surprise me!
Later that evening we met with some members, Brother J took us out for dinner and we had a sweet discussion about his mission! Then we met with Brother and Sister K
January 19, 2018
This morning we had a miracle line conference call, which we listened to on the way to an appointment, to see D. It was Elder Stokes first time meeting with D so it was nice to get to know him a little more. We then began to ask him questions about what he remembered from our first visit, as we tried to review he said he couldn't remember. There’s a very obvious language barrier and it makes it hard for him to remember since he’s still learning English. So we introduced him to the Book of Mormon stories and we read together from the book and he seemed to get the concepts and story much better, but being able to retain what he learns is what will be a little tricky at this point, but he’s just so awesome and willing to learn.
Around 1pm we went to the church and had another Hot Chocolate and chapel tours APF. It was pretty fun like last time! We talked to a lot of people and were able to show them inside the church. Then once they were in the building other missionaries would get them a cup of hot chocolate and offer to show them the chapel. It was pretty effective! We did that for a few hours rotating with different missionaries.
January 20, 2018
This morning we had correlation meeting at the church and then about half way through we got on a conference call with the mission. President Smith informed us of some news from the Prophet, that our mission would be reorganized, that the name of our mission would change to the New York City Mission and the boundaries would be remade and we would combine certain areas with other missions around. These changes would take place after I’m home and just before President Smith and his family leave in July.
While we were out and about today we came across 2 different groups of kids who we challenged to play some basketball with. We were pretty sure the first group wasn’t going to show. But the second group seemed promising. We set the game for Tuesday at 7pm.
January 21, 2018
This Sunday was pretty great! I loved the talks that were given. It was centered on the new ward mission plan, which simply is to encourage members to find opportunities or recognize the opportunities they have throughout the week for “friendship moments” where they don’t necessarily need to share the gospel, but be a friend to someone, an investigator, other members that they usually don’t associate with, etc. our ward doesn’t do too much missionary work, so this is the plan the ward council came up with to help members out.
January 22, 2018
Monday morning we had leadership and district meeting. After lunch the couple appointments we had set fell through. Around 7pm we had FHE at the church it was pretty great. We had a brief message shared by Elder Richards and then a game (we had to match a few questions to certain scripture references), and then we had treats after.
January 23, 2018
Last night we had an appointment planned with D because he wasn’t at church on Sunday. So we planned to go over and see how everything was, he ended up not being home. And forgot to tell us. But we felt while we were in his area to look up someone, who by the name wasn’t familiar, but after getting to the door we realized who Sister P was. She’s a wonderful member, very active, and absolutely loves the missionaries and being involved in the work. We asked if she had any friendship moments since Sunday and she did! She shared with us 2 different experiences where she befriended one of the people Elder and Sister Richards had invited to church and she sat in during a discussion with the Sister’s investigators. It was so awesome! We shared a brief scripture with her and said a prayer for her. It was a very short and simple stop by visit, but we felt lifted by it.
Later in the afternoon we met with E A, he’s so freaking prepared! He understands the Restoration so well! He’s an investigator Elder Patterson and I taught twice but due to his work schedule with the MTA it was near impossible to meet and for him to come to church. So we let him go for a bit and then all of a sudden he was showing up to church on his own every now and then. So we called to meet with him today during his break to catch up and see how he is and what we can do to help him continue learning. We didn’t even ask about the teachings we last taught, but he shared with us an experience he had recently when he invited his mother to our church, she was hesitant because she had heard “things” about our church that weren’t true and E knew they weren’t true, so from memory he taught his mom the Restoration. It was so awesome! He’s so great and we look forward to him continuing his journey in the gospel! We pray his schedule will become more flexible.
That evening at 7 we went to the church and the kids we challenged on Saturday showed up. Elder Stokes and I changed and met them in the gym. We gathered the seven of them together and laid out some rules. (When we approached them on the street that night they were smoking and swearing). We told them, “this is a church so we won’t tolerate foul language, smoking, inappropriate behavior, or trash talking. We are here to have some fun so keep it a clean game. Before we start we are going to share a video with you all about Christ and then we will teach you all how to pray.”
We shared the video and proceeded to teach them to pray, after which we asked who would volunteer to open this game with a prayer. Immediately the oldest one (J who’s 16) threw his hand in the air and said I will. He offered a great prayer!
And we played some ball! We had another one of our guys show up who we invited earlier that morning (A). So we played 5 on 5. We had a lot of fun!
It was a great week! Y’all know better than I when I’ll be home so I’ll see y’all soon!
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
Last pday around 1pm, we went to a member’s home to help him move his old bed out of his apartment. We went over with our roommates; it was one of those heavy-duty hospital like beds with a motor attached to the frame so it was heavy. We carried it out his room and into the elevator, then down to the basement. He flipped on an LDS movie said he’d be right back and took off and came back 15 minutes later with a bucket of Chicken. We had lunch at his place and then we had to head out to finish our pday plans.
January 18, 2018
A day to remember!
We had weekly planning at the apartment and around lunchtime Elder Stokes said we would go out to eat. I was down to go out, and then he said, “Where do you want to go? I got some money as a gift, it’s on me.” We talked about places we could eat; I told him down on Fordham Rd was where some nicer places were, like Chipotle and Applebee’s. He said okay we can walk there and look at places on the way.” We walked for about 25 minutes and pointed out places to each other, nothing really stood out to us that we wanted. Then when we got to Fordham we made our way over to Applebee’s and Chipotle, I was thinking Chipotle and then saw a sign in the window for a deal at Applebee’s, so Elder Stokes said okay Applebee’s it is and quickly walked to the door. I followed in and was going to wait to be seated, but Elder Stokes kept walking and said over here, we can sit here. Not paying too much attention but then following my companion, I was surprised by Ray Smith sitting in the booth where my companion pointed!
They had planned a surprise to meet up with Ray before I head home next month! We sat down and talked and ordered lunch. We continued catching up and in our conversation Ray brought up something I wasn’t expecting to hear... he informed me that a member in New Paltz, R R, had passed away. He was in his home while it caught fire and was able to call 911 but when they got to him he had been unconscious in his stairwell. They believe because of his older age his lungs couldn’t take the fumes he was inhaling.
He was a well-known and wonderful man! He was the first member and person in New Paltz that I met after arriving in the area. I remember parking the car in his driveway, walking up to his front door, and knocking. When he came to the door I introduced myself right away and shook his hand. He expressed to me right there that he knew I was a good and confident man by the way I was quick to introduce myself and the way I shook his hand. He brought even more confidence to myself that day with his comments and I appreciated very much the time we spent together that day. He made us a steak for dinner and we shared a message with him in his front room. There was something about him that reminded me about my Gramps and it may have just been his personality.
Throughout my service in New Paltz Brother R would share with me poems, some of which he wrote on his own. One Sunday, I believe it was my last, he approached me with a poem in his hand, he said read this one. And I did, when I finished with a smile on my face he said, you like that one don’t ya? Keep it, it’s yours.
I truly enjoyed the time spent in New Paltz and getting to know Brother R. It’s nice to know he is now reunited with his wife.
He was a well-known and wonderful man! He was the first member and person in New Paltz that I met after arriving in the area. I remember parking the car in his driveway, walking up to his front door, and knocking. When he came to the door I introduced myself right away and shook his hand. He expressed to me right there that he knew I was a good and confident man by the way I was quick to introduce myself and the way I shook his hand. He brought even more confidence to myself that day with his comments and I appreciated very much the time we spent together that day. He made us a steak for dinner and we shared a message with him in his front room. There was something about him that reminded me about my Gramps and it may have just been his personality.
Throughout my service in New Paltz Brother R would share with me poems, some of which he wrote on his own. One Sunday, I believe it was my last, he approached me with a poem in his hand, he said read this one. And I did, when I finished with a smile on my face he said, you like that one don’t ya? Keep it, it’s yours.
I truly enjoyed the time spent in New Paltz and getting to know Brother R. It’s nice to know he is now reunited with his wife.
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| Brother Smith, Elder Stokes and Elder Newbold |
We continued on with our lunch surprise talking about experiences we’ve had in our service as missionaries. Then Ray asked me the question, “what is one or two take-aways from your service in this last year since you’ve returned, that you could share?”
I thought about it till the end of our meal and while dessert was being served, I was ready to give my response. I said one of my take-aways I feel to share is “having an eternal perspective”. When we can understand our purpose here on earth and the plan our Heavenly Father has for us, individually, I feel we receive a determination to work hard to serve him and his children.
The second thing I shared was “obedience brings forth blessings & miracles” as we are obedient to our Father in Heaven we receive promised blessings. When we choose, because we have a choice, we decide whether we want to accept or deny opportunities to be blessed.
It was a great question that gave me the opportunity to reflect on my life and service in the mission field.
I thought about it till the end of our meal and while dessert was being served, I was ready to give my response. I said one of my take-aways I feel to share is “having an eternal perspective”. When we can understand our purpose here on earth and the plan our Heavenly Father has for us, individually, I feel we receive a determination to work hard to serve him and his children.
The second thing I shared was “obedience brings forth blessings & miracles” as we are obedient to our Father in Heaven we receive promised blessings. When we choose, because we have a choice, we decide whether we want to accept or deny opportunities to be blessed.
It was a great question that gave me the opportunity to reflect on my life and service in the mission field.
I’m so grateful for people who are diligent in serving Heavenly Father’s children. Brother Ray Smith most certainly has blessed my life spiritually and physically. Each time we meet he blesses me with food for the body and food for the soul. I’m uplifted and inspired by his example and inspired questions.
 |
| Talking to the Hostess |
We finished up with our visit and dessert and made our way out one set of doors where we were stopped by one of the workers. Her name was T, she asked what church we were from, we told her, and she got excited and said she was given a copy of the Book of Mormon by a Sister and was given a card but she said she can’t find the card with the church information on it. So we gave her a card and told her about the church and when it starts services. It was a pretty sweet miracle; we were there for a reason other than to surprise me!
Later that evening we met with some members, Brother J took us out for dinner and we had a sweet discussion about his mission! Then we met with Brother and Sister K
January 19, 2018
This morning we had a miracle line conference call, which we listened to on the way to an appointment, to see D. It was Elder Stokes first time meeting with D so it was nice to get to know him a little more. We then began to ask him questions about what he remembered from our first visit, as we tried to review he said he couldn't remember. There’s a very obvious language barrier and it makes it hard for him to remember since he’s still learning English. So we introduced him to the Book of Mormon stories and we read together from the book and he seemed to get the concepts and story much better, but being able to retain what he learns is what will be a little tricky at this point, but he’s just so awesome and willing to learn.
Around 1pm we went to the church and had another Hot Chocolate and chapel tours APF. It was pretty fun like last time! We talked to a lot of people and were able to show them inside the church. Then once they were in the building other missionaries would get them a cup of hot chocolate and offer to show them the chapel. It was pretty effective! We did that for a few hours rotating with different missionaries.
January 20, 2018
This morning we had correlation meeting at the church and then about half way through we got on a conference call with the mission. President Smith informed us of some news from the Prophet, that our mission would be reorganized, that the name of our mission would change to the New York City Mission and the boundaries would be remade and we would combine certain areas with other missions around. These changes would take place after I’m home and just before President Smith and his family leave in July.
While we were out and about today we came across 2 different groups of kids who we challenged to play some basketball with. We were pretty sure the first group wasn’t going to show. But the second group seemed promising. We set the game for Tuesday at 7pm.
January 21, 2018
This Sunday was pretty great! I loved the talks that were given. It was centered on the new ward mission plan, which simply is to encourage members to find opportunities or recognize the opportunities they have throughout the week for “friendship moments” where they don’t necessarily need to share the gospel, but be a friend to someone, an investigator, other members that they usually don’t associate with, etc. our ward doesn’t do too much missionary work, so this is the plan the ward council came up with to help members out.
January 22, 2018
Monday morning we had leadership and district meeting. After lunch the couple appointments we had set fell through. Around 7pm we had FHE at the church it was pretty great. We had a brief message shared by Elder Richards and then a game (we had to match a few questions to certain scripture references), and then we had treats after.
January 23, 2018
Last night we had an appointment planned with D because he wasn’t at church on Sunday. So we planned to go over and see how everything was, he ended up not being home. And forgot to tell us. But we felt while we were in his area to look up someone, who by the name wasn’t familiar, but after getting to the door we realized who Sister P was. She’s a wonderful member, very active, and absolutely loves the missionaries and being involved in the work. We asked if she had any friendship moments since Sunday and she did! She shared with us 2 different experiences where she befriended one of the people Elder and Sister Richards had invited to church and she sat in during a discussion with the Sister’s investigators. It was so awesome! We shared a brief scripture with her and said a prayer for her. It was a very short and simple stop by visit, but we felt lifted by it.
Later in the afternoon we met with E A, he’s so freaking prepared! He understands the Restoration so well! He’s an investigator Elder Patterson and I taught twice but due to his work schedule with the MTA it was near impossible to meet and for him to come to church. So we let him go for a bit and then all of a sudden he was showing up to church on his own every now and then. So we called to meet with him today during his break to catch up and see how he is and what we can do to help him continue learning. We didn’t even ask about the teachings we last taught, but he shared with us an experience he had recently when he invited his mother to our church, she was hesitant because she had heard “things” about our church that weren’t true and E knew they weren’t true, so from memory he taught his mom the Restoration. It was so awesome! He’s so great and we look forward to him continuing his journey in the gospel! We pray his schedule will become more flexible.
That evening at 7 we went to the church and the kids we challenged on Saturday showed up. Elder Stokes and I changed and met them in the gym. We gathered the seven of them together and laid out some rules. (When we approached them on the street that night they were smoking and swearing). We told them, “this is a church so we won’t tolerate foul language, smoking, inappropriate behavior, or trash talking. We are here to have some fun so keep it a clean game. Before we start we are going to share a video with you all about Christ and then we will teach you all how to pray.”
We shared the video and proceeded to teach them to pray, after which we asked who would volunteer to open this game with a prayer. Immediately the oldest one (J who’s 16) threw his hand in the air and said I will. He offered a great prayer!
And we played some ball! We had another one of our guys show up who we invited earlier that morning (A). So we played 5 on 5. We had a lot of fun!
It was a great week! Y’all know better than I when I’ll be home so I’ll see y’all soon!
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
Friday, January 19, 2018
Week 94
This week was pretty great! We’ve had some great experiences and have been working on helping the ward and future missionaries by recreating a list of all the members with simple and helpful information. For example, we have over 800 members in our area. Not all of them are still living or currently living here, contact info has been changed... etc. so we’ve been reaching out to members and trying to find them all to make it clear where people are and how we can continue to help them each make it to church or have their records moved to their local church.
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
We visited Brother C just to share a brief message and get to know him a little more. We shared a video of the Last Supper and talked about the sacrament and focused on why it’s important to each of us. It was great to hear his response in making it clear that it’s personal and is similar but different for everyone. We had a great visit with him. He’s been returning to activity recently so it’s been great to have him around at church more.
After meeting with Brother C we decided to go to another place in our area close by to look up some members and make contact with them. We felt to look up this guy named M, he lived in one of the apartments underground behind the building so it took a little bit to find it. We then gave him a call, while I was on the phone with him and trying to communicate with M (who speaks mostly Spanish) my companion met this young lady opening the gate to where we needed access to get to find M’s door. While he was talking to her he was able to find that she was interested in coming to church and they exchanged information. Meanwhile I was still trying to let M know we were coming by to visit. On the phone he said he wasn’t home, but we tried to knock his door anyway. He opened the door and he was home! He invited us in and we did our best together to speak with him. We sat on his couch and Elder Stokes offered a simple sweet prayer in the little Spanish he knew. We then shared a video in Spanish and testified of it. We invited him to allow the Spanish missionaries to stop by, he agreed and set a time for them to come tomorrow.
Thursday, January 11, 2018
We’ve been meeting with a young converts younger brother. A, he’s 14 and has shared with us his interest in being baptized. He’s young and doesn’t understand much of the commitment of baptism but we’ve been working with him to learn. We had a great little discussion on the Book of Mormon and it’s importance. We left him with a little assignment to read the introduction. We then scheduled another time to come back and talk about it. He also said he would come to church on Sunday.
Later that evening we visited a man named N, he is from Africa and was interested in receiving a Bible. I had called him some time earlier in the day or even yesterday and set the appointment. Soon before we arrived at his apartment I realized I didn’t pack a Bible with me. So we got to his door, he invited us in. We talked about what inspired him to order a Bible, he shared with us why and we then talked about the Book of Mormon. We gave him a copy and told him we would come back and deliver a Bible. We ended up teaching him the whole Restoration very briefly and setting a return appointment. We will see how he feels about the Book of Mormon and find whether he has real intent to continue learning.
Friday , January 12, 2018
Today was a special day and one to remember. We had the opportunity to watch at the chapel the funeral of President Thomas S. Monson. It was really neat! The speakers were great and I just loved hearing about their experiences serving with President Monson and testifying of how Christ leads His church.
After the funeral we stuck around waiting for a guy named C. He is one of our recent Bible & Book of Mormon referrals. We met at the church in a classroom, we opened up with a prayer and then we asked some questions to get to know him and find out why he felt to request the scriptures. He then spent the next half hour sharing with us his life story. Which was just, wow. It was so personal and he said he had never opened up to anyone about his life. We testified to him of the love his father in Heaven has for him and scheduled another day to meet and he committed to come to church on Sunday.
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Today we had correlation for the first time in about a month since our ward mission leader had been gone in Utah for the holidays.
Early that afternoon we went to Bishop Ferguson’s and visited with him for a bit. We wanted to speak with him about his goals this New Year for the ward and how we can help him to achieve them. It was a pretty great meeting as helped us make a plan to know where we should focus.
Later in the evening one of the members, Frank brought us dinner at the church, a box of pizza for each of us. It was very nice of him!
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Elder stokes gave a talk today, his topic was focused toward general conference and the importance of reviewing the messages given. We are led by a prophet today and how important it is that we not only read the scriptures of old (because they were written for our day) but how important it is that we listen to the current prophet today and what they have to teach us. We should most definitely be viewing conference both times a year but also in between, be reviewing and studying them.
Later that evening we met with a man named S, he was a referral from the sisters in Manhattan. They met him while they were meeting with one of their investigators. Right after a lesson S walked into the room and they met him and talked to him. He’s recently become sober and is working on changing more in his life to follow God. He told the sisters he would love to meet with us. So we met with him that evening and he told us his story about he was and what led him to make changes in his life.
We introduced the Book of Mormon and taught him a little bit about it. We were running short on time and set an appointment to come back next Sunday.
I find it so amazing how people we don’t know are so comfortable telling us their lives to the very details without us even asking them too because they recognize us as Christ’s representatives.
Monday, January 15, 2018
After district meeting we went on a split with Zone leaders and Elder Murset and I met M & M. They are members who haven’t been to church in some time. We talked a bit and got to know them. We asked what they remember about their baptism. They both said they were baptized at 16 and 14 (they are now 31 and 29) and they were very nervous, but excited. They said in the moment they were baptized they recognized the spirit strongly. We asked them if they had felt that way recently? One of them made a face and said naa it’s been a while. While the other one said yea, whenever I feel down and I open up the scriptures or pray, I feel the spirit. It was a nice experience and they enjoyed being with us, as did we with them.
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
We had a great experience this evening!
We had just stepped out of an appointment when I answered the phone to a call from President Smith last night. After ending the conversation with him, I felt great about the decision I made to just wait and hear from my family later about Josh’s mission call and was determined to find a miracle. Very soon after my call with President, Elder Stokes and I found ourselves on a train ride to deliver a Bible; while on the train we met a man named R, he actually started the conversation. “You both are getting off at Kingsbridge right?” We replied saying “actually we are going to deliver a Bible to someone, but we do have a church over on Kingsbridge.” He said “yea I know, I had a friend drag me there a few times in the past to play basketball and stuff, I’ve never gone there for the right reasons though, just to play basketball and goof around with some friends. But hey, take down my number so we can get together another time, maybe sit down and talk more about what the church is like, I’m interested in learning.”
I just love that! Had I made a different decision on the phone that night, Elder Stokes and I would have missed that opportunity.
Grateful for these wonderful experiences that I’m having here in NY and pray that I may “Never slow down and Never stop”.
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
We visited Brother C just to share a brief message and get to know him a little more. We shared a video of the Last Supper and talked about the sacrament and focused on why it’s important to each of us. It was great to hear his response in making it clear that it’s personal and is similar but different for everyone. We had a great visit with him. He’s been returning to activity recently so it’s been great to have him around at church more.
After meeting with Brother C we decided to go to another place in our area close by to look up some members and make contact with them. We felt to look up this guy named M, he lived in one of the apartments underground behind the building so it took a little bit to find it. We then gave him a call, while I was on the phone with him and trying to communicate with M (who speaks mostly Spanish) my companion met this young lady opening the gate to where we needed access to get to find M’s door. While he was talking to her he was able to find that she was interested in coming to church and they exchanged information. Meanwhile I was still trying to let M know we were coming by to visit. On the phone he said he wasn’t home, but we tried to knock his door anyway. He opened the door and he was home! He invited us in and we did our best together to speak with him. We sat on his couch and Elder Stokes offered a simple sweet prayer in the little Spanish he knew. We then shared a video in Spanish and testified of it. We invited him to allow the Spanish missionaries to stop by, he agreed and set a time for them to come tomorrow.
Thursday, January 11, 2018
We’ve been meeting with a young converts younger brother. A, he’s 14 and has shared with us his interest in being baptized. He’s young and doesn’t understand much of the commitment of baptism but we’ve been working with him to learn. We had a great little discussion on the Book of Mormon and it’s importance. We left him with a little assignment to read the introduction. We then scheduled another time to come back and talk about it. He also said he would come to church on Sunday.
Later that evening we visited a man named N, he is from Africa and was interested in receiving a Bible. I had called him some time earlier in the day or even yesterday and set the appointment. Soon before we arrived at his apartment I realized I didn’t pack a Bible with me. So we got to his door, he invited us in. We talked about what inspired him to order a Bible, he shared with us why and we then talked about the Book of Mormon. We gave him a copy and told him we would come back and deliver a Bible. We ended up teaching him the whole Restoration very briefly and setting a return appointment. We will see how he feels about the Book of Mormon and find whether he has real intent to continue learning.
Friday , January 12, 2018
Today was a special day and one to remember. We had the opportunity to watch at the chapel the funeral of President Thomas S. Monson. It was really neat! The speakers were great and I just loved hearing about their experiences serving with President Monson and testifying of how Christ leads His church.
After the funeral we stuck around waiting for a guy named C. He is one of our recent Bible & Book of Mormon referrals. We met at the church in a classroom, we opened up with a prayer and then we asked some questions to get to know him and find out why he felt to request the scriptures. He then spent the next half hour sharing with us his life story. Which was just, wow. It was so personal and he said he had never opened up to anyone about his life. We testified to him of the love his father in Heaven has for him and scheduled another day to meet and he committed to come to church on Sunday.
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Today we had correlation for the first time in about a month since our ward mission leader had been gone in Utah for the holidays.
Early that afternoon we went to Bishop Ferguson’s and visited with him for a bit. We wanted to speak with him about his goals this New Year for the ward and how we can help him to achieve them. It was a pretty great meeting as helped us make a plan to know where we should focus.
Later in the evening one of the members, Frank brought us dinner at the church, a box of pizza for each of us. It was very nice of him!
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Elder stokes gave a talk today, his topic was focused toward general conference and the importance of reviewing the messages given. We are led by a prophet today and how important it is that we not only read the scriptures of old (because they were written for our day) but how important it is that we listen to the current prophet today and what they have to teach us. We should most definitely be viewing conference both times a year but also in between, be reviewing and studying them.
Later that evening we met with a man named S, he was a referral from the sisters in Manhattan. They met him while they were meeting with one of their investigators. Right after a lesson S walked into the room and they met him and talked to him. He’s recently become sober and is working on changing more in his life to follow God. He told the sisters he would love to meet with us. So we met with him that evening and he told us his story about he was and what led him to make changes in his life.
We introduced the Book of Mormon and taught him a little bit about it. We were running short on time and set an appointment to come back next Sunday.
I find it so amazing how people we don’t know are so comfortable telling us their lives to the very details without us even asking them too because they recognize us as Christ’s representatives.
Monday, January 15, 2018
After district meeting we went on a split with Zone leaders and Elder Murset and I met M & M. They are members who haven’t been to church in some time. We talked a bit and got to know them. We asked what they remember about their baptism. They both said they were baptized at 16 and 14 (they are now 31 and 29) and they were very nervous, but excited. They said in the moment they were baptized they recognized the spirit strongly. We asked them if they had felt that way recently? One of them made a face and said naa it’s been a while. While the other one said yea, whenever I feel down and I open up the scriptures or pray, I feel the spirit. It was a nice experience and they enjoyed being with us, as did we with them.
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
We had a great experience this evening!
We had just stepped out of an appointment when I answered the phone to a call from President Smith last night. After ending the conversation with him, I felt great about the decision I made to just wait and hear from my family later about Josh’s mission call and was determined to find a miracle. Very soon after my call with President, Elder Stokes and I found ourselves on a train ride to deliver a Bible; while on the train we met a man named R, he actually started the conversation. “You both are getting off at Kingsbridge right?” We replied saying “actually we are going to deliver a Bible to someone, but we do have a church over on Kingsbridge.” He said “yea I know, I had a friend drag me there a few times in the past to play basketball and stuff, I’ve never gone there for the right reasons though, just to play basketball and goof around with some friends. But hey, take down my number so we can get together another time, maybe sit down and talk more about what the church is like, I’m interested in learning.”
I just love that! Had I made a different decision on the phone that night, Elder Stokes and I would have missed that opportunity.
Grateful for these wonderful experiences that I’m having here in NY and pray that I may “Never slow down and Never stop”.
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Week 93
Well I’ve got to be honest, the closer I get to coming home the less motivation there is in me to write home... I love you all dearly and am so grateful for the letters, emails, and support. I appreciate ALL who have sent me packages and letters during the holidays. As much as I would love to reach out to you individually, with the time I’m limited to it may not happen while here in NY. So I thank you all and I truly appreciate your support and kindness!
With that being said, it’s been a wonderful week! They all have been and I know they all will continue to be wonderful, I’m doing my absolute best each day and we see the success and miracles from our obedience. I do apologize in advance, I do not plan on writing too much today.
A lot has happened this week just as you’ve seen in the last handful of weeks but I’ll just write about a couple highlights.
Last Wednesday night we experienced a wonderful miracle. We had been doing some look ups around the area by our church. When leaving a building Elder Stokes said, “Who’s H W”? I explained that he’s a member we’ve been trying to get in touch with since Elder Davis came to the area and prior to our efforts Elder Richards had been trying since early April of 2017. We hadn’t had any success trying to find him, but we decided to try anyway. We got to his building and stood outside, we waited for someone to let us in. In the past we’ve usually waited for about 2 minutes or so until someone either walked in or out and we could then get in. So we waited and maybe it was just over 2 minutes but before we decided to leave I said “we will give it another 30 seconds” (I don’t know why I said that, but I did) Elder Stokes actually started to count aloud, “30, 29, 28, 27 ... 10...” then he stopped at 10... in the moment we weren’t sure why, but looking back we felt that we were both stopped in time, we didn’t leave, we stopped counting, we just waited. And what might actually have been a couple minutes later, felt like 10 seconds. But all of a sudden, someone came waking up the street and into this building, without hesitation we followed in behind. We knocked Hubert’s door and found very quickly that he was home! He opened the door and said, “come in” as if he was expecting us. We walked into his living room and sat on the couch. He sat with us and we had just the best time with him. We learned so much about him. He got so excited to talk about when he served a mission in Manchester England. He went to find his mission photo album. He sat between us on the couch and just went through and talked about nearly every photo. It was so cool to watch his excitement about his experiences.
We’ve had a handful of meetings this week. On Friday last week we had MLC and met as the mission leadership. We met in the Scarsdale chapel and discussed the needs of our zones and what we could do to help the missionaries and the areas we are serving.
Saturday morning we went to the church for the baptism of B. He’s a guy our roommates have been working with for about 8 weeks. He is so awesome!
Sunday was great! Other than the fact that our chapel was 25°! The heater in the chapel broke but everywhere else it was working.
Monday was great as well! We had district meeting in the morning and then Elder Clark and I went on a split and went up to Scarsdale for our “What’s Next Meeting”. As we sat around the living room of the mission home President leaned over to me and asked if I would conduct this meeting. He left and came back a few minutes later. In that time I picked someone to play the piano, a hymn to sing, and a prayer to be given and I conducted the meeting. It was pretty sweet! Not too many people came with questions to ask. So it wasn’t as focused in too many different topics but the first thing that was brought up was dating. Missionaries asked questions about dating. We came prepared by studying a talk called Meeting the Challenges of Today’s World and we focused on the future events of our lives; dating, career, schooling, marriage, finances, etc. it was pretty cool to be able to hear from President and Sister Smith about their experiences and what council we received from them as we discussed these nearing events in our lives.
After the meeting I went to the garage of the mission home to get my shoes, when I came back in President asked if I would conduct Zone Conference tomorrow.
Tuesday we had Zone Conference! It was a pretty great meeting and I can’t believe it was my last one. It was special to me, I felt more involved and willing to participate than usual. I wanted to make it a great one.
In the beginning I stood and welcomed the missionaries, recognized President Smith who was presiding in the meeting and Sister Smith’s presence. I informed everyone of the first few items of the agenda for this meeting and we went about it. It was such a great meeting, the Spirit was very recognizable and a lot was learned. Elder Stokes and I were asked on the spot by Elder Chaz, Davis and Elder Aurich to participate in doing a role-play with them during the conference. It was a pretty good role-play for having no preparation. I feel like this conference proved to me my growth since serving as a full time missionary. It was definitely a meeting I will remember.
We’ve been so blessed this week and I’ve recognized through practicing this and doing my best, “ALL blessings are predicated off of obedience.” As we strive our best to be obedient and as we are obedient, we are blessed. That’s inspired me to be obedient and continually strive to be more obedient.
I’m truly grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Grateful for the wonderful privilege it has been to serve in the Lord’s Vineyard. My time is coming quickly to an end as a full time missionary, so I will be doing ALL that I can to be my best.
Hope this was enough for you all to make it to next week! Ha ha love you all!
With that being said, it’s been a wonderful week! They all have been and I know they all will continue to be wonderful, I’m doing my absolute best each day and we see the success and miracles from our obedience. I do apologize in advance, I do not plan on writing too much today.
A lot has happened this week just as you’ve seen in the last handful of weeks but I’ll just write about a couple highlights.
Last Wednesday night we experienced a wonderful miracle. We had been doing some look ups around the area by our church. When leaving a building Elder Stokes said, “Who’s H W”? I explained that he’s a member we’ve been trying to get in touch with since Elder Davis came to the area and prior to our efforts Elder Richards had been trying since early April of 2017. We hadn’t had any success trying to find him, but we decided to try anyway. We got to his building and stood outside, we waited for someone to let us in. In the past we’ve usually waited for about 2 minutes or so until someone either walked in or out and we could then get in. So we waited and maybe it was just over 2 minutes but before we decided to leave I said “we will give it another 30 seconds” (I don’t know why I said that, but I did) Elder Stokes actually started to count aloud, “30, 29, 28, 27 ... 10...” then he stopped at 10... in the moment we weren’t sure why, but looking back we felt that we were both stopped in time, we didn’t leave, we stopped counting, we just waited. And what might actually have been a couple minutes later, felt like 10 seconds. But all of a sudden, someone came waking up the street and into this building, without hesitation we followed in behind. We knocked Hubert’s door and found very quickly that he was home! He opened the door and said, “come in” as if he was expecting us. We walked into his living room and sat on the couch. He sat with us and we had just the best time with him. We learned so much about him. He got so excited to talk about when he served a mission in Manchester England. He went to find his mission photo album. He sat between us on the couch and just went through and talked about nearly every photo. It was so cool to watch his excitement about his experiences.
We’ve had a handful of meetings this week. On Friday last week we had MLC and met as the mission leadership. We met in the Scarsdale chapel and discussed the needs of our zones and what we could do to help the missionaries and the areas we are serving.
Saturday morning we went to the church for the baptism of B. He’s a guy our roommates have been working with for about 8 weeks. He is so awesome!
Sunday was great! Other than the fact that our chapel was 25°! The heater in the chapel broke but everywhere else it was working.
Monday was great as well! We had district meeting in the morning and then Elder Clark and I went on a split and went up to Scarsdale for our “What’s Next Meeting”. As we sat around the living room of the mission home President leaned over to me and asked if I would conduct this meeting. He left and came back a few minutes later. In that time I picked someone to play the piano, a hymn to sing, and a prayer to be given and I conducted the meeting. It was pretty sweet! Not too many people came with questions to ask. So it wasn’t as focused in too many different topics but the first thing that was brought up was dating. Missionaries asked questions about dating. We came prepared by studying a talk called Meeting the Challenges of Today’s World and we focused on the future events of our lives; dating, career, schooling, marriage, finances, etc. it was pretty cool to be able to hear from President and Sister Smith about their experiences and what council we received from them as we discussed these nearing events in our lives.
After the meeting I went to the garage of the mission home to get my shoes, when I came back in President asked if I would conduct Zone Conference tomorrow.
Tuesday we had Zone Conference! It was a pretty great meeting and I can’t believe it was my last one. It was special to me, I felt more involved and willing to participate than usual. I wanted to make it a great one.
In the beginning I stood and welcomed the missionaries, recognized President Smith who was presiding in the meeting and Sister Smith’s presence. I informed everyone of the first few items of the agenda for this meeting and we went about it. It was such a great meeting, the Spirit was very recognizable and a lot was learned. Elder Stokes and I were asked on the spot by Elder Chaz, Davis and Elder Aurich to participate in doing a role-play with them during the conference. It was a pretty good role-play for having no preparation. I feel like this conference proved to me my growth since serving as a full time missionary. It was definitely a meeting I will remember.
We’ve been so blessed this week and I’ve recognized through practicing this and doing my best, “ALL blessings are predicated off of obedience.” As we strive our best to be obedient and as we are obedient, we are blessed. That’s inspired me to be obedient and continually strive to be more obedient.
I’m truly grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Grateful for the wonderful privilege it has been to serve in the Lord’s Vineyard. My time is coming quickly to an end as a full time missionary, so I will be doing ALL that I can to be my best.
Hope this was enough for you all to make it to next week! Ha ha love you all!
Patience.
Love. Faith
Much
love,
Elder
Newbold
Friday, December 29, 2017
Week 91
This week was pretty special! We had an awesome time together!
On December 22nd we had an APF to “Light The Bronx”. Elder and Sister Richards made a lot of hot chocolate for us. We had hot chocolate in big orange Gatorade coolers and we brought them out to the front of the church doors where we had signs that said “Free Hot Chocolate”.
We had a TV playing the Light The World video in the front as well and we were outside finding people to bring in. We found a few awesome people. One of the guys we found was D, he was just walking past the church and almost didn’t come in but he did and he got some hot chocolate and we gave him a chapel tour! It was awesome, while we stood in front of the baptismal font he said, “it’s funny, my mom was just talking to me about getting baptized the other day and now here I am”. He was a pretty cool guy.
We also met this guy named T, he was walking by the church and noticed us and said “you guys took me on my first camping trip!” He stopped and we went into the church, he explained that when he was living in Georgia His friends who are members of the church took him on a camping trip with the scouts to North Carolina. Then later on when he was 13 he was baptized with his grandma and his brother since his move to New York with his mom. He hasn’t been around to church since he’s been in New York. But he said when he comes back from being upstate for the holidays he will start coming back to church now that he knows where we are. Throughout the time we were there we ended up finding a lot of people who were interested and we gave out a lot of copies of the Book of Mormon that we had wrapped up under a Christmas tree in the foyer. It was pretty awesome!
Later that evening I had my interview with President, which was pretty special.
December 23rd we had another APF. We went to Fordham plaza and set up a couple large tables and did free gift-wrapping for people. Today it was pouring rain all morning and we were afraid it wouldn’t be dry enough to gift-wrap. But we all prayed for the weather to be well enough to do it and while we set up the rain lightened up till it stopped soon after we started. We had a hand full of missionaries wrapping gifts while others were making contact with those in line. It was really special. We talked to a lot of people and so many are just so sweet and nice this time of year. I handed out a few copies of the Book of Mormon while people waited in line. The copies were also gift-wrapped and we gave them as gifts and explained what they were. When we finished and packed up the rain started again.
Our last stop for the night was Bishop’s. We just stopped in and planned to ask him about his plans and goals for the ward. But when we got there we met bishop’s stepson, N, who isn’t a member. We introduced ourselves and spoke with him for most of our visit. He expressed an interest and even a bit interest to be baptized and join a church one-day. We introduced him to the Book of Mormon and gave him a copy to read for himself. He accepted it and said he would read it.
December 24th was a very special day for Elder Davis and I. This morning we went to meet with one of our investigators, M, just to ride with him to church since he didn’t know how to get there.
When we got to his house his mom P was just walking in and we invited her to come to church with us. She wanted to but she was hesitant because she had just got home and wasn’t ready for the day. After a few minutes of standing around she decided she would come. (Now P is a character, but she is such a sweet and wonderful lady.) We had quite the conversation with her on the way to the church.
We also had 4 other investigators come to church! We had 6 total and it was awesome! The chapel was full! Before each of them left we spoke to them about how they enjoyed the service, they individually told us they loved it and would be back next week! We pray that they will remember this experience and come back often!
In the evening of Christmas Eve we had a little Family Home Evening event opened up to single people who would be alone on Christmas. We had dinner and sang songs together and then did a Christmas nativity. Elder Davis and I were shepherds. It was a pretty great Christmas Eve.
December 25th Merry Christmas!! How crazy is it that it’s already come and gone! I sure did have an amazing day! We left the apartment that morning after studies and within the first 30 minutes the Spirit led us to a nearby park where we met M. M is a single man from Mexico, he was sitting in 25° weather on a bench, in an empty park, alone. He said he had no plans for Christmas because he had no family. After a minute of speaking to him and bearing testimony to him of the love Heavenly Father has for him and that we are all family we shared with him the Christmas video, Light The World. We then introduced the Book of Mormon and gave him a gift-wrapped copy in Spanish. We exchanged contact information and wished him well on Christmas. We sent his contact information to the Spanish Elders and we walked away. We ended up by a restroom and saw a man brushing his teeth. We went inside and began talking to him. His name was A. While talking to him he told us that he had met with some missionaries before and attended church in Florida, years ago. We invited him to join us this coming Sunday, he said he would love to. We got his number and shortly after left the bathroom. Leaving the bathroom and heading towards the east side of the park to go back to the main road we turned around and looked back to find M reading the Book of Mormon, he looked up and saw us walking away, in his hand he lifted up the gold wrapping paper that previously covered the Book of Mormon and waved it in the air to us.
I don’t believe in coincidences, the Lord for a surety led us to that park and there we were able to bless the lives of those two men who were alone on Christmas Day. It was a special day.
After our park miracles, we went to meet with J to go to the nursing home where his mom was. We had with us President Smith and his family, Sister Muti and Sister Ståhle. We went to his mother’s room and wheeled her to the lunchroom where some others were gathered and we sang some Christmas songs together.
Later that evening we spent some time calling home and talking to our wonderful families! It was so great to see and talk to them!
When we came back in that night we got a phone call from the Spanish Elders, they said they called M and he answered. They said he told them that he began reading the Book of Mormon and loved it, it helped him keep his mind off of drinking alcohol which was awesome, because he has been sober for 3 months now and has tried quitting. They set an appointment to meet with him the next day.
We truly have been so blessed this Christmas with all that we’ve done and have seen. Miracles have NOT ceased. The Savior Lives and He Loves us. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It is divine and it is scripture. It testifies of the Savior Jesus Christ and is proof of His earthly ministers while here in the Americas. I invite all to give heed to the scriptures and the special witnesses of Him who lives.
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
On December 22nd we had an APF to “Light The Bronx”. Elder and Sister Richards made a lot of hot chocolate for us. We had hot chocolate in big orange Gatorade coolers and we brought them out to the front of the church doors where we had signs that said “Free Hot Chocolate”.
We had a TV playing the Light The World video in the front as well and we were outside finding people to bring in. We found a few awesome people. One of the guys we found was D, he was just walking past the church and almost didn’t come in but he did and he got some hot chocolate and we gave him a chapel tour! It was awesome, while we stood in front of the baptismal font he said, “it’s funny, my mom was just talking to me about getting baptized the other day and now here I am”. He was a pretty cool guy.
We also met this guy named T, he was walking by the church and noticed us and said “you guys took me on my first camping trip!” He stopped and we went into the church, he explained that when he was living in Georgia His friends who are members of the church took him on a camping trip with the scouts to North Carolina. Then later on when he was 13 he was baptized with his grandma and his brother since his move to New York with his mom. He hasn’t been around to church since he’s been in New York. But he said when he comes back from being upstate for the holidays he will start coming back to church now that he knows where we are. Throughout the time we were there we ended up finding a lot of people who were interested and we gave out a lot of copies of the Book of Mormon that we had wrapped up under a Christmas tree in the foyer. It was pretty awesome!
Later that evening I had my interview with President, which was pretty special.
December 23rd we had another APF. We went to Fordham plaza and set up a couple large tables and did free gift-wrapping for people. Today it was pouring rain all morning and we were afraid it wouldn’t be dry enough to gift-wrap. But we all prayed for the weather to be well enough to do it and while we set up the rain lightened up till it stopped soon after we started. We had a hand full of missionaries wrapping gifts while others were making contact with those in line. It was really special. We talked to a lot of people and so many are just so sweet and nice this time of year. I handed out a few copies of the Book of Mormon while people waited in line. The copies were also gift-wrapped and we gave them as gifts and explained what they were. When we finished and packed up the rain started again.
December 24th was a very special day for Elder Davis and I. This morning we went to meet with one of our investigators, M, just to ride with him to church since he didn’t know how to get there.
When we got to his house his mom P was just walking in and we invited her to come to church with us. She wanted to but she was hesitant because she had just got home and wasn’t ready for the day. After a few minutes of standing around she decided she would come. (Now P is a character, but she is such a sweet and wonderful lady.) We had quite the conversation with her on the way to the church.
We also had 4 other investigators come to church! We had 6 total and it was awesome! The chapel was full! Before each of them left we spoke to them about how they enjoyed the service, they individually told us they loved it and would be back next week! We pray that they will remember this experience and come back often!
In the evening of Christmas Eve we had a little Family Home Evening event opened up to single people who would be alone on Christmas. We had dinner and sang songs together and then did a Christmas nativity. Elder Davis and I were shepherds. It was a pretty great Christmas Eve.
December 25th Merry Christmas!! How crazy is it that it’s already come and gone! I sure did have an amazing day! We left the apartment that morning after studies and within the first 30 minutes the Spirit led us to a nearby park where we met M. M is a single man from Mexico, he was sitting in 25° weather on a bench, in an empty park, alone. He said he had no plans for Christmas because he had no family. After a minute of speaking to him and bearing testimony to him of the love Heavenly Father has for him and that we are all family we shared with him the Christmas video, Light The World. We then introduced the Book of Mormon and gave him a gift-wrapped copy in Spanish. We exchanged contact information and wished him well on Christmas. We sent his contact information to the Spanish Elders and we walked away. We ended up by a restroom and saw a man brushing his teeth. We went inside and began talking to him. His name was A. While talking to him he told us that he had met with some missionaries before and attended church in Florida, years ago. We invited him to join us this coming Sunday, he said he would love to. We got his number and shortly after left the bathroom. Leaving the bathroom and heading towards the east side of the park to go back to the main road we turned around and looked back to find M reading the Book of Mormon, he looked up and saw us walking away, in his hand he lifted up the gold wrapping paper that previously covered the Book of Mormon and waved it in the air to us.
I don’t believe in coincidences, the Lord for a surety led us to that park and there we were able to bless the lives of those two men who were alone on Christmas Day. It was a special day.
After our park miracles, we went to meet with J to go to the nursing home where his mom was. We had with us President Smith and his family, Sister Muti and Sister Ståhle. We went to his mother’s room and wheeled her to the lunchroom where some others were gathered and we sang some Christmas songs together.
When we came back in that night we got a phone call from the Spanish Elders, they said they called M and he answered. They said he told them that he began reading the Book of Mormon and loved it, it helped him keep his mind off of drinking alcohol which was awesome, because he has been sober for 3 months now and has tried quitting. They set an appointment to meet with him the next day.
We truly have been so blessed this Christmas with all that we’ve done and have seen. Miracles have NOT ceased. The Savior Lives and He Loves us. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It is divine and it is scripture. It testifies of the Savior Jesus Christ and is proof of His earthly ministers while here in the Americas. I invite all to give heed to the scriptures and the special witnesses of Him who lives.
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Week 89
This week was another one for the books, pretty full of miracles. We see so many great things each day. It also started snowing this week!
One of the really sweet opportunities we had this week was on our way to go toward the top of our area. We were waiting for a bus at a stop near our apartment when a woman came to the stop as well. We had a few minutes before the bus came so while we stood waiting so we began talking to her. She’s lived in NY her whole life, grew up in Washington Heights in Manhattan. Moved to The Bronx later on and served as a Police Officer in the area she grew up for 25 years. She appreciated her job and has enjoyed her life so far. She said she wasn’t religious but that she was spiritual. The question we asked her was “what do you do each day to strengthen your spirituality?” She stopped and thought about it for a minute. She wasn’t exactly sure how to respond, but she threw out that she does pray often and that helps. Prayer is something Elder Davis and I have experienced personally and that’s something we had in common with her so we taught simple doctrine, that God is our Eternal Father and prayer is a 2-way communication with Him. We testified of prayer and continued to ask inspired questions. We then introduced the Book of Mormon and gave her a copy, she was very appreciative toward our offer and she took the copy and said she would definitely begin reading it. It was a pretty powerful experience for the 3 of us.
Also this week we met with P again! In this visit we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. He agreed with the principles we taught and we invited him to be baptized on January 13th. He was excited about that and accepted it. At the end of what turned out to be a short but powerful lesson we invited him to pray. He then prayed and in his prayer he said “I ask you Father to bless these brothers of mine to be able to visit me daily so I may learn of you.” it was a pretty sweet and sincere prayer.
We visited Brother M this week as well and had a sweet experience, come to find the next day. In our visit we talked about the Book of Mormon, he got a little off subject but he wanted to test our ability to relate the gospel to an episode of Godzilla. In the episode they talked about how great the destruction made by Godzilla and so they needed to destroy him. They led Godzilla to a volcano to have him destroyed. After Godzilla fell into the volcano, they spoke of how great an influence he made and what a lesson was learned by many. We related this experience to Jesus Christ and his influence. We said something along the lines of Jesus Christ has made the greatest influence in History, though he is no longer on earth his influence made a lasting impression in the word that will last through eternity. As we directed the conversation back to the Book of Mormon we continued discussing some of our experiences that we’ve had by reading the Book of Mormon daily.
Before leaving I offered a prayer. Beforehand I asked if there was anything we could pray for specifically. He said just his mom who was still in a nursing home waiting on a list for surgery for her colon cancer.
The next day we received a text from him saying his mother had been approved to move into surgery. It was a miracle!
We also were receiving a good amount of referrals. We were making contact with them all and delivering their requested items. We met this one referral named R. He requested a Bible soon after having a heart attack. He felt it was a sign from God to get his life together again. We brought the Bible and talked about it as well as the Book of Mormon and left him a copy as well. He said he was just trying to get back into the scriptures so he asked to have some time to read, but that we could stay in contact.
Another referral we received was M; we met with him last week for the first time. We brought his Bible but the text was too small to read. We taught the Restoration and told him we would be back next Sunday with a Large Print Bible and Book of Mormon. So in this visit we had both books. He was so excited; it was like an early Christmas gift. He ripped open the plastic wrap around it and just loved it! We taught the Plan of Salvation and invited him to church. He said he would love to come but just had surgery on his back recently, so the cold hurt his back. He said pray for good conditions next week and I’ll come.
Last night we met this referral named A. He is super interested. He came as a Bible Referral. He comes from a Muslim background so he’s trying to secretly learn about Christianity because his family will disown him... but he just doesn’t believe in the religion he was raised in. We met with him last night and it was just so cool. He had all these questions and just so badly wants to be a Christian. He was asking about church and baptism and all these things. We loved his desire and excitement. We told him that we could meet often to prepare him to move forward in learning of Christ and His church. We will see him at church Sunday!
It was a pretty great week! Lots of fun and success!!
Obedience brings forth blessings, exact obedience brings forth miracles.
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
 |
| The first snow of the winter for 2017 |
One of the really sweet opportunities we had this week was on our way to go toward the top of our area. We were waiting for a bus at a stop near our apartment when a woman came to the stop as well. We had a few minutes before the bus came so while we stood waiting so we began talking to her. She’s lived in NY her whole life, grew up in Washington Heights in Manhattan. Moved to The Bronx later on and served as a Police Officer in the area she grew up for 25 years. She appreciated her job and has enjoyed her life so far. She said she wasn’t religious but that she was spiritual. The question we asked her was “what do you do each day to strengthen your spirituality?” She stopped and thought about it for a minute. She wasn’t exactly sure how to respond, but she threw out that she does pray often and that helps. Prayer is something Elder Davis and I have experienced personally and that’s something we had in common with her so we taught simple doctrine, that God is our Eternal Father and prayer is a 2-way communication with Him. We testified of prayer and continued to ask inspired questions. We then introduced the Book of Mormon and gave her a copy, she was very appreciative toward our offer and she took the copy and said she would definitely begin reading it. It was a pretty powerful experience for the 3 of us.
Also this week we met with P again! In this visit we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. He agreed with the principles we taught and we invited him to be baptized on January 13th. He was excited about that and accepted it. At the end of what turned out to be a short but powerful lesson we invited him to pray. He then prayed and in his prayer he said “I ask you Father to bless these brothers of mine to be able to visit me daily so I may learn of you.” it was a pretty sweet and sincere prayer.
We visited Brother M this week as well and had a sweet experience, come to find the next day. In our visit we talked about the Book of Mormon, he got a little off subject but he wanted to test our ability to relate the gospel to an episode of Godzilla. In the episode they talked about how great the destruction made by Godzilla and so they needed to destroy him. They led Godzilla to a volcano to have him destroyed. After Godzilla fell into the volcano, they spoke of how great an influence he made and what a lesson was learned by many. We related this experience to Jesus Christ and his influence. We said something along the lines of Jesus Christ has made the greatest influence in History, though he is no longer on earth his influence made a lasting impression in the word that will last through eternity. As we directed the conversation back to the Book of Mormon we continued discussing some of our experiences that we’ve had by reading the Book of Mormon daily.
Before leaving I offered a prayer. Beforehand I asked if there was anything we could pray for specifically. He said just his mom who was still in a nursing home waiting on a list for surgery for her colon cancer.
The next day we received a text from him saying his mother had been approved to move into surgery. It was a miracle!
We also were receiving a good amount of referrals. We were making contact with them all and delivering their requested items. We met this one referral named R. He requested a Bible soon after having a heart attack. He felt it was a sign from God to get his life together again. We brought the Bible and talked about it as well as the Book of Mormon and left him a copy as well. He said he was just trying to get back into the scriptures so he asked to have some time to read, but that we could stay in contact.
Another referral we received was M; we met with him last week for the first time. We brought his Bible but the text was too small to read. We taught the Restoration and told him we would be back next Sunday with a Large Print Bible and Book of Mormon. So in this visit we had both books. He was so excited; it was like an early Christmas gift. He ripped open the plastic wrap around it and just loved it! We taught the Plan of Salvation and invited him to church. He said he would love to come but just had surgery on his back recently, so the cold hurt his back. He said pray for good conditions next week and I’ll come.
Last night we met this referral named A. He is super interested. He came as a Bible Referral. He comes from a Muslim background so he’s trying to secretly learn about Christianity because his family will disown him... but he just doesn’t believe in the religion he was raised in. We met with him last night and it was just so cool. He had all these questions and just so badly wants to be a Christian. He was asking about church and baptism and all these things. We loved his desire and excitement. We told him that we could meet often to prepare him to move forward in learning of Christ and His church. We will see him at church Sunday!
It was a pretty great week! Lots of fun and success!!
Obedience brings forth blessings, exact obedience brings forth miracles.
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
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