Texas is calling and I must go ~

hello hello hello senors y hermanas!

No I have not been reassigned to speak Spanish. Yes I am still practicing both Mandarin and Spanish every day just in case. You can never be too sure in the foreign land of Houston ~ watch out pres guthrie!! with all the changes of this week I wouldnt be surprised!!

just like every good season premiere this week changed everything you thought you knew real quick! haha new schedule new branch new TRC investigators and 6 new teachers! 

firsts: quick lil shoutout to my friends starting their first weeks of school!! very weird not being there but i'm praying for all of you!! go cougs (and aggies and utes and wolverines and etc). 

One of my goals for this week is to memorize the living christ! I'm about halfway through and it's the first time i've really studied it! if you've never read it, read it today! it is scripture and so full of power. 

fitness: well saturday right after i emailed, sister johnson and I went to our district kickball tournament and were not 15 minutes into the first game when disaster struck. I'd only been up to bat once when elder jorgensen, the walking meme that I told you about last week, landed a beautiful shot into right field. it turned out to be a homer, and we all cheered him back to base. he got a little too cocky with his victory dabs and wasn't looking and shot right into a pothole right next to the plate. he was still dabbing as he went down. long story short he sprained his ankle and has been in a boot for almost a week now! he's been a good sport but so true - humble yourself or the Lord will humble you !

food: hahahahaha the biggest news on the MTC campus this week was the menu. why you ask? well every monday a food place caters dinner and our elders literally made us say a prayer in our hearts that it would be chik fil a. I think they were joking but I also think they were dead serious and held their own fast. anyways, we roll up to the cafeteria and the line is the longest we've ever seen, and they were positive their prayers had been heard. I lacked faith until I saw two elders walking out with chicken sammies!! I have never seen the elders in such celestial joy. 

I blew the pants off my district by eating some fish the other day. other than that still vegan, I baffle the elders with plates of cauliflower and spinach. also they should call this place the MTCereal. haha

funny: I don't know what got into our district this week but we all of the sudden are obsessed with arm wrestling hahaha we do it all the time and are weirdly competitive ??? The elders will lay flat on their stomachs on the sidewalk with their elbows up and just go head to head for like 15 minutes. at dinner we'll push all the trays aside and battle across the tables. we pray for and love them. 

friends: so many new friends! sis j and I made a goal to meet 3 new companionships by dinnertime! we also got 48 new missionaries in our branch and two new roommates! they're going to north carolina and are precious. we already have them weirded out with our nightly pushup and squat routine haha.

our district was chosen to host this past wednesday! brought back some seriously bittersweet memories. i helped 3 sisters and a set of twin elders haul their 50 lb suitcases up several flights of stairs and get their nametags and keys and such.  crazy to think that was me two weeks ago!! I feel like a completely different person. so so touching to see the sacrifice all of these missionaries are making - leaving everything to serve their God. happy are we happy are we!!!!!!

faith: I've learned that if you want to improve any other aspect of your life, improve your personal study. it will bless you in every way and bring the spirit into each day. I'm learning to value personal study as the most important part of my day - if the Lord doesn't teach me first there is no way I will be able to teach others. I bore my testimony on sunday on something my mom always says, that you are most like the 5 people you spend your time with. I said that I really hope that is true because I have spent more time with my Heavenly Father over the past 2 weeks than I ever have in my life. time on your knees is time with God, where He can change your heart and will. something cool that came to me this week is that repentance is really any change we make to come closer to Jesus and Heavenly Father. so, the changes that the church is making with ministering and moving away from "LDS" and "mormon" is like repentance! it's the church getting ready for the Savior to come again. 

for you!: 

song: Peace, Be Still - afterglow

Master the Tempest is Raging - nate noble

talk: drawing the power of jesus christ into our lives - President Nelson

study topic: Humility (not weakness, but recognizing gratefully our dependence on the lord :-))

well the next time you'll hear from me i'll be deep south in the land of bbq and bucky's!!! thank you all for your sweet emails and sweet prayers, I know they bless me every day. I love this mission and I love you all. I love God most though!! 

all my love, Sister Newman