March 15, 2010

hey family!

why are the weeks going by so fast? it's already mid March... where's the time going? things went well this past week and i'm looking forward to this Wednesday, when we're having a mission tour, where one of the Area presidency is coming to speak to us. i'll let you all know the things that he shares with us.

about the things to ship, mom - wait for 2 memory cards and a usb flash drive. i'm surprised the 2 memory cards came already, but be sure to wait for the usb flash drive as well. i wouldn't want you to mail a package off and then something else shows up at the house. just

a heads up. thanks so much by the way, those elders will be happy to have those things. i owe you so much! i'm doing fine here right now and i don't need anything, but i'll let you know within the next few

months if anything comes up. thanks again and love you!

this past week was good and we had a good time here in Swedru. The temperature changes will be cause of the rain. that's the only way it ever gets less hot here haha notice i didn't say colder, cause i'm still never experiencing being cold. it's one of those luxuries that you guys get to experience without me for another little while. So don't take it for granted, please haha. the past few days it's felt great luckily cause it's been rainy, so that makes it easier to walk

around in the sun all day. yesterday at church, we had two new investigators come and visit. we'll start teaching them this week hopefully if they're available. we'll be going on splits with the APs tomorrow afternoon, so we'll be sure to make them walk far instead of using a car with air conditioning... spoiled elders haha. anyway we'll see how that goes.

this past week we also visited and taught one young woman named Gloria. she's a friend of ours and a member referral. for some reason she's afraid of the Book of Mormon haha. we've tried explaining to her about it, but it'll take some time with her before she accepts it. she's been to church at least 4 or 5 times now. she needs to give us more time to teach her though. she's always busy with work, making clothes for people here.

congrats again on all the book signings dad, keep it up and maybe you can buy a new car for me when i get home hahaha.... think about it. No i'm just joking, cause i know that'd never happen. anyway, i'm happy to hear about you guys and i'm jealous that you get to skype with emma and jude. i'm glad you get to do that though, with them living in Seattle and all. that's cool they get to go and see chels' parents in PA. i flew over Lake Erie on my way to Ghana and i thought of her

family there haha. that was almost 7 months ago... once again how time flies. transfers are coming again here in less than 3 weeks and we'll see what happens with me and the other elders in Swedru.

the church continues to be true here and every time i get to bear my testimony to someone here in ghana, i realize again just how true it is. there's so much that i've learned here about life, family and doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ. i'm very excited to be

serving here and i'm glad i have the chance to continue to learn more. there's seriously so much to learn about God and His son Jesus Christ. He lives and loves us. Everyone. all the people that insult us here...

haha he still loves them and hopefully i can have that same love for those people. they chose to accept God's plan in the beginning, it's just a matter of reminding them why they're here and what they need to be doing to get back to heaven. it's a wonderful thing.

i love you all and i'll be talking with you soon! keep up all the good work and continue being awesome. thanks for the support and prayers. God bless you all.

- Elder Newbold

March 1, 2010

Hey mom and family!

Dad's not back yet huh? well you'll have to tell me how his work is going with the temples and also his book. It's good to hear from you guys, even though it was only mom who wrote in this past email haha.

This past week was eventful and it was a great experience to hear from Elder Holland. He gave us the opportunity to shake his hand and also the hands of the 3 other general authorities that came with him to speak. He told us, just that little moment he shook our hands, that he interviewed us, as he looked into our eyes for that split second.

It was amazing to hear that, but we also know that he has the Spirit of discernment to judge if we're worthy and clean to be here in the mission. His message was basically on obedience, and how we can all work towards continuing to be obedient. It's the 5th principle of the Gospel and it's one of the most important, cause if we have Faith, if we Repent, be Baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, but afterwards, not be obedient to the commandments, we won't inherit the Celestial Kingdom. We as missionaries and members of the church, have a duty to set a good example to everyone we're around. He left one quote to us missionaries, probably and specifically for those who aren't being exactly obedient. He said, "Be the missionary that the Church and your families think and expect you to be.... You (missionaries) are probably prayed for just as much as the Prophet". He helped us understand just how serious this work is that we're doing. He truly emphasized how we need to be obedient in these troubling times. After he talked with us about that, he started teaching us doctrine on the Fall of Adam. He was teaching us that even though Adam transgressed and that people nowadays think that it's a major mistake that he did partake of the forbidden fruit... we know the truth. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can experience benefits more than disadvantages, from the effects of the Fall of Adam. Elder Holland showed us, as he drew a diagram on the white board, that the Fall of Adam had to happen. Satan doesn't have a plan, only opposition. We need to follow the plan of our Father in Heaven and stay obedient to the commandments.

He said some other things too, that i can share with you guys another time. It was really a great experience and i'm happy that I could have the opportunity to meet him and hear from him as he told us things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. His testimony is very strong and it's great to feel the Spirit as he was there.

I too will add my testimony to his. The things that i'm teaching every day and the things that he was teaching to us are very true. Each time I bear my testimony whether it be in writing or in words, i once again realize how true the Church is. Jesus Christ truly is at the head, and he is guiding us through a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

Pres Monson receives counsel and revelation for the Church and for anyone who has the ears to listen. When we follow the prophet, we draw closer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We can become more like our Father in Heaven, and I know that when we will be obedient to the commandments of God, we will live with our Heavenly Parents again.

Families are eternal and we can all live together in complete happiness. The Book of Mormon is true, and it can answer any question/problem you have in life. It's pages contain the testimonies of so many great prophets and disciples. I feel so blessed to be a member of the Church and more so to be a missionary for the Lord.

Every day we need to realize our calling as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are so blessed, and the only way we'll really see that is if we take the time to stop, look around, and then thank our God for everything.

I love you guys so much and i'll see you all soon! Time flies. That's the truth. Yesterday i was on the plane and last week we were moving to Utah... wow. Well, all we can do is live every day the best we can and look forward to the coming of our Savior. There's so many signs and it's hard to believe that there are some people who don't believe in the Second Coming. The Church is true... that is all. Once again I love you guys and i'll talk with you all soon.

- Elder Newbold

February 22, 2010

hey family!

this week went by quickly again, just like all the other ones... sadly. but it's gotta happen. we had some good adventures this week and some new investigators. we were blessed to have 3 of our investigators come to church also, so they can gain a testimony about church. things here are going well and i'm happy all of you back home, who got to celebrate gma's birthday. i can't believe she's still so young :) she's healthier than all of us. i wish i could've been there to celebrate it with all you. we had a fun dinner over at a member's house the other day, and got to have some fufu, which is one of the greatest ghana dishes. i can eat a ton of it. when we saw them at church on sunday they said that after we left, their neighbors were asking why they had invited us over to their house. the neighbors went on to say that we were medicine men and did magic hahaha... so the members explained to the neighbors that we didn't sell medicine, but we were missionaries and we preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. so that was one of the adventures this past week.

i did have another humbling experience, one of the many. but me and Elder Rappleye, (the other missionary that came last transfer who's from Layton, UT) the both of us were together cause we went on exchanges that day. we went to a member's house and we were talking with her about her work. she was saying that she's working/ taking a class on computers and that she wasn't getting paid. she'll have to do this class/ workshop for like 7 months without getting any money. we asked her how she'd stay alive and she said she'd manage... which was hard to believe. i wanted to help, but i figured that if i helped her, i'd end up just giving money to everyone and that would be a little much. so i'm not sure what we can do to help her, but hopefully we can think of something for her.

this past week i also did surgery on my face... hahaha. i had like a really big underground pimple that was bothering me, so i decided to do something about it. so after i had hacked up my face, i had a pretty big mark on my forehead haha. i just laughed about it and one of our investigators asked who had hit me... i told her that no one hit me, but that i was trying to become an indian, cause the mark was basically in the middle of my forehead. so i had fun with it. well i'm happy to hear that everyone is doing well back home. dad's staying busy with work, mom's helping out with my 2nd mother across the street ;) nick is doing great i'm sure, keeping up with school and maybe even building a snowman outside like a good little boy. i miss the snow more than anything right now haha, hard to picture it when i'm here sweating in 90 degree weather. man the sun's hot here... but i gotta live with it for quite a little while more. the people here are great and it's fun to have an american in the apartment with me, who's from the same state and city... what are the chances. so we have quite a good time.

tell dan hi as well and let him know that he's being a good big brother, making sure i follow the rules haha. tell him to email me too, that slacker.

ok well i hope everything continues as normal and things keep going well for the family. God bless everyone for your prayers and obedience. you're all great examples to me, here in Ghana. i can't believe i've already been gone 6 months from you guys. i've had some crazy and great experiences here and i can't wait to get back and share them with you all. i love you guys so much and i'll talk with you soon!

- elder newbold

p.s. - i've only received one package, the one with the mp3 player, thanks! transfer news is tmrw, and also we see Elder Holland too. i'm looking forward to it!

February 1, 2010

hello again,

details for life here ... well, it's hot, dusty and humid. i have to have a fan on me anywhere i go, if possible. as for what i eat. it ranges from fried rice to oranges to plantane to stew and spaghetti. i make a certain bean stew with tuna fish, and i make enough of it to last me about 2 weeks. that's only if i eat it like once a day. i evenly ration everything out. there's some other ghanaian dishes that i'll have every once in a while as well. so i'm beginning to gain more weight. dan said he's lost like 5 pounds, so i might be catching up to him... i doubt it though haha. 

the shower each morning is nice and cold, so i have to get used to it every time i try to get in. my bedroom it barely big enough to have two beds in it, so there's about no walking space. my bed had a net over it so that the mosquitoes don't eat me. luckily i've been safe and haven't had malaria. i'm hoping it stays that way too :).

most of the roads here are dirt, but there are some paved. those that are paved are not paved very well so there'll be holes in the roads, basically everywhere, which makes it difficult for the little taxis to drive around. the roads are not wide at all either, so i really hope that i won't have to ever drive here. it wouldn't be easy.

as for the baptism yesterday, it went okay. it was supposed to start at 9am, but there was a misunderstanding and so the branch president thought it was at 10. so we were calling him and he finally came at about 9:45. but it still turned out well. we had two sisters that were for our branch and then 6 others for another village. that village had to come cause they didn't have running water to fill their font.

alright, well i'll talk with you soon and i love you tons!
- elder newbold

January 25, 2010

hello there family!

oh it is good to hear from you guys every monday. thanks so much for always writing to me and taking that little bit of time out of your sunday evening.

lets see, this week was pretty normal, but still great. we did finally get one of our investigators to come to church. but we had to go and pick her up from her apartment. she lives pretty far away and she told us she would've been to shy to just come on her own. she's an SDA and so she usually is attending church on saturdays, but we convinced her to come and see how our meetings go. she said she had a good time and that she'll ask us some questions, when we meet with her next. so i was very grateful to have to come. her name is Beatrice and i think she's around 22-23. something like that. hopefully she can continue to progress and she'll finally realize that the sabbath day is in fact now on sunday. it's not easy for her to see that, but with the Holy Ghost touching her heart, i know that she'll be converted. it's only a matter of time now.

we have our baptism this coming saturday, i know i've said that for the past two weeks, but it's final now. we've got more candidates as well now. so i think besides those original three sisters, there will be added another sister and a young boy. so far, those are the people who will be baptized this saturday.

every day is a new experience, and things are still going well for us. the language is slowly coming along, and i know that if i continue to work at it and try to communicate with people speaking twi, that things will work out and i'll be able to speak it a lot better.

at first, when my last companion left, i began to lose the weight that i lost, cause i wasn't eating as much. but i've learned to cook a few things and now i'm gaining the poundage back :) so it's only a matter of time before i'll have that weight back, haha.

i'm happy to hear nick survived getting his braces on. that'll be a really fun time for him.... seriously though.... haha. i'm sry nick you had to get braces but you'll get used to it, i'm sure. actually i really have no idea if you'll get used to them, but i'll keep you in my prayers. hopefully things go well and you'll only have to wear them for a year. i remember jeff lake in california had his on for like 3 yrs... i just laughed at him and told him i felt bad. so good luck with eating food and brushing your teeth. love ya.

ok well, it's always good to hear whats happening back home. tell James and Marlene congrats and also let them know that when they meet a couple named the Rappleye's, tell them that i'm serving here in Swedru with their son. He's the elder that just came to our apartment this passed transfer. his parents are there in the D.R. as well, but i think they'll be close to the same place. so they'll be meeting them.

i hope all is well with everyone and i send my love to Brad and Chels, their kids, also Katie and Dan and Nick and MOM and DAD and Izzy Fizzigan. tell the rest of the fam hi for me when you get the chance and also the ward members. i'm happy to hear about everyone. God bless you all and i'll talk with you soon! Love you tons.

- Elder Newbold

More from January 18th

it's raining right now as i'm at the cafe, and i'm listening to someone else's computer playing some song that Akon sings. you wanted details so i'll give you details. homes here range from blues to yellows, from brick to mud. i take the public transportation, meaning taxi, to church and back each sunday, and then on fridays for PEC meetings. sometimes if we are going to visit an investigator who lives pretty far away, we'll also take a taxi, but other than that, we do live in our area and we usually just walk everywhere. the cars here are always old and battered, but that's what the people drive around for their jobs so what can they do. the sun's basically always cooking me when i'm under it, walking, so i try my best to stay under shops or roofs when we're teaching people. but sometimes i don't always get that chance.
- elder newbold

January 18, 2010

hello again my family and friends,

i'm happy to have the opportunity to write to you, and i hope some of my experiences and writings will help you understand how things are going here for me. another week has come and gone, and now we start another. things continue to be successful, and we're planning on having the baptism this saturday. if all goes according to plan, we'll have 3 sisters getting baptized. we receive more referrals each time we go to church and things get busier, but it's well worth the time and effort.

we had kind of an unusual experience this morning. i was woken up at 4:00 a.m. this morning by our district leader. he's also from layton and has been on his mission for 16 months. but anyway, he woke us all up cause he received a call from the zone leaders, that there were supposedly threats or signs of an earthquake that was about to happen. so, me trying to stay as calm as possible, just waking up too, i got some money and a few other things and we got ready to go and stand outside to await this planned earthquake. but as time went on and we wondered if it was actually true, we received a call saying the threats were false. we had stood outside for about an hour, waiting for something to happen. luckily we were safe. the reason why we would go outside, is because we're in a 2-story building that probably would've collapsed, and it being made of cement, that wouldn't be good. so, apparently, our whole mission also evacuated their apartments. so things are back to normal now, but i guess there had been a false prophet who had made a prophesy of the earthquake to happen this morning and some people believed him. that was my crazy experience very early this morning, haha.

the past few days, my companion's sort of been feeling under the weather, but i'm sure he'll be feeling better soon. i've been seriously blessed here, with good health and i have only the Lord and all of your prayers to thank. i try to do my best to eat things that look clean and only drink the clean water, so i've been pretty fine and havent gotten sick. i'm still awaiting the day that i get malaria or typhoid, but who knows, maybe i'll get lucky and won't have to ever experience what it's like... haha that would be nice. i can only hope and pray though.

thanks for all you do for me and i'm excited for the mormon tab music to come to me. that'll be so nice to hear haha. you guys are awesome. i feel privileged to be a part of the Newbold family and to have grown up in the gospel. everyday i realize how blessed i am to have grown up in our family and in the USA. God is truly gracious and loving to me. i'm glad to hear things are going well back home. tell the family hi for me and i'll talk to you all very soon! love you all so much!

- elder newbold