06/25/12

This week we finally had our investigator Lauren come to church for the first time. Man I give her props though because she is getting a lot of anti-Mormon stuff. Her own father threatened to kick her out of her house. Which is ridiculous! How could anyone be so against something that causes people to improve? She wasn’t even currently attending any church anyway. Satan has done a terrible job of making sense. Some people just act so childish.

 Other than that we started a new scripture study class on Thursday evenings and it has been going pretty well thus far. We have had investigators and recent converts come and it has been awesome each time. So... yeah that’s some good news!

This week for P-day we went to forest falls and went hiking. It was great and then we went to this burger place after and I had this huge burger! mmmm. kay well I don’t know what else to talk about so.

Love you have a great week!
Love, Elder McNew

 This is what Elder McNew looks like each week when he sends out his email.  

Meeting Miguel

06/17

This week has been so great! We got a new investigator, his name is Miguel Juarez. Oh man, he is so golden! His wife is also interested in coming to church for pretty much like the first time ever. They have a little girl that is 2 and they are going to be a great addition to our church. As you could probably guess they are Latino. Miguel’s father is from Argentina and his wife's family is Mexican I’m pretty sure.

We found him in the park, just down the street from our house. We were venturing up to the farther part of our area up a huge hill and before we decided to stop at the park drink some water, talk to a few people and head up the hill. Well, I and my companion were at separate ends of the park talking to different people and I had just talked to some Christian ladies that weren’t super interested, but we were nice to each other and everything went well. I was about to ride away on my bike when I saw Miguel on the grass I almost rode away, but then I remembered that we should just talk to everyone. I mean the worst he can do is tell me to go away or that he is not interested so I dropped my bike walked up to him and we had a nice little chat. He said that he was interested. I shared a brief message and got his information to contact him later.

Then after a few days we got in contact with him. We taught him 3 lessons in 2 days, gave him and his wife B.O.M.'s and then found a perfect fellow shipper for him. Alex Lehnhof, he is married just got sealed, has 2 kids and served his mission in Argentina :) Ha it’s so awesome :) this will be a great conversion I can tell already :) So as you can see just from a few days out of our week that it was a good one :)

I’m doing great. I think the lesson that you could learn is that even missionaries are scared to talk to people sometimes. I was a bit hesitant, but I listened to that still small voice and opened my mouth. I know that as we follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit that even though the things may seem uncomfortable, or out of our comfort zone, that the outcome is always to help you out and the Lord will never let you down. Even when we can’t see the consequences instantly, the blessings will come.

In the words of Jeffrey R. Holland "Some blessings come soon, some blessings come late, and some blessings don’t come until heaven. But either way, there are good things to come" :) that may be paraphrased just slightly. Aright well I think that is enough for now.

 Love your lil Bro, Elder McNew

Serving the Cub Scouts

06/11

Hey how are you? I am well this week! Everything is going smoothly; the ward is getting more involved. Our numbers are a bit higher.

 We got a new investigator this week as well! Her name is Cheyenne. We have also been doing a lot of service and stuff this week.

The coolest was probably this Saturday when we went and helped some cub scouts with a day camp thing. There were 4 missionaries, 2 of us manned a station building bird houses, and 2 of us helped the kids make leather book marks :) It was awesome! I had the chance to make a book mark and then me and Elder Larsen made one together and it ended up turning out really nice.

Oh and also this week we had 5 non-members at church. I don’t know what happened but I know something is paying off. Oh I also forgot to tell you that this week was transfer week and I and Kava are staying here! I can’t believe it’s been 6 weeks already since I got here. It seems like it’s only been like 2 weeks.

Unfortunately one of my favorite fellow missionaries Elder Chambers is going home. But after I guess he is going to go to BYU so I’ll end up seeing him there. Well, I know that my thoughts are random but that’s about all for this week. If you have any questions please ask :)

 Love, Elder McNew

My Testimony

06/04

This week went well. Our investigator Lauren chose her baptismal date for her birthday, which isn’t until September 25th. However, I would rather her wait until she’s ready than get baptized and go less active. Unfortunately that happens to a lot of people and the consequences for people who already received that gospel and strayed away may be different for others who never found it. Obviously I’m not the judge and that could go deep fast so we won’t go there.

Anyway so this morning I woke up and got my hair cut from Kava and then the other missionaries came to get us and we went and played disc golf :) it was pretty sick! We had a lot of fun and then we took the other missionaries car and changed grabbed our phone and are now emailing. Ha, the people in this area are pretty awesome.

At church on Sunday we had a lesson with the relief society on how to do the ward mission process. It went pretty smoothly! I also took the opportunity to bear my testimony in sacrament, mainly because my companion decided to go up, but it was really good. I felt the spirit really strong on Sunday in sacrament. It was a good fast and testimony meeting. A lot of times I have a hard time paying attention and stuff on fast Sunday, because if I do fast then I don’t take my medication, but this Sunday went really smoothly and I didn’t have any issues and I definitely know that it was a blessing from the Lord :) My testimony is definitely stronger now.

 I just want to conclude by bearing my testimony: I know that God is our Father in Heaven, who loves us, each and every one of his children. He watches over and encourages us. I know that he truly wants us to succeed and gives us so many chances to. Through his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, we can find relief from the burden that comes from sin and mistakes that we all make in life. The Atonement that Jesus Christ performed also makes it easier for us to bear burdens that come from the weakness we all have because of the mortal state that we are in, such as to comfort us when we are sad, or to strengthen us when we are weak from illness and pain, and also when we are put in situations that test our patience. If we go to the Savior Jesus Christ and God our Father when we are in need, they are there waiting and willing to comfort us. I know that Jesus Christ’s primitive church, the same church that he set up when he was here on the earth, has been restored to the earth again today through the prophet Joseph Smith. His church was set forth once again, just as it was in times before, after being in a state of apostasy. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that through it we can come to know our Father in heaven, to understand him more and to grow closer to him as well as his son Jesus Christ. I also know that through that same book we can come to know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. I know that by the Holy Spirit that comes when you read these words you can also know for yourself that these things are true. It is by that same Spirit that I came to know that these things are true for me. And many others have done the same. I leave my witness with you and do so in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

 I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week :),

Love Elder Justin McNew

Released from District Leader

5/29

This week was pretty good! :)

What’s up!? I love serving here in Yucaipa again. On Sunday we went to some of my recent converts home, Mike and Heather and Silviano was there too and we had dinner there :) It was awesome, and then after dinner we roasted some marshmallows and I helped Mike put this BBQ grill together that was in like 100 pieces lol. It was cool and fun to exercise my mechanic skills again :)

Also, this week I’m going to help this kid that just got home from his mission install a sound system in his Mustang!

So yeah the work his is doing well. We have our investigator that I think I mentioned before (Lauren). We had another lesson with her and this time we brought a girl her same age group along for the lesson and they just clicked! SO I think she will be getting baptized here pretty soon! :) No rush though, right?

These past few weeks with Elder Kava have gone by so fast! But it has been a great time for growth. I’m pretty sure both of us have had some great learning experiences and we help each other become better! Earlier this week Kava and I were talking and I told him that as long as we have experiences that seem uncomfortable or as long as we are still pushing our limits, we will constantly be growing. But the moment we stop pushing or feeling comfortable, we become idle. So, that is my goal, to keep pushing for these last 6 months. It seems crazy but I can totally feel it coming.

Also I have some news. This morning I was notified that I am no longer District Leader. It’s crazy, but they forgot to tell us at the beginning of the transfer that the districts were being changed, so I have been serving as district leader here for 4 weeks. But, I guess a year as district leader is enough :) To be honest, I feel relieved. I was kind of surprised, but at the same time I’m totally cool. So hopefully now I can focus more effort on my companionship and we can tear it up with the time that we have together.

 Aright well. I think that’s about all for now.

 Love you!

 Love, Elder McNew (Justin)

May 21, 2012

05/21

Hey what’s up y'all? How is everyone? Sounds like you are all doing pretty well after reading all of your mail! :) As I’m sure you all expect I am still doing super well! I am finally really comfortable here. I love California and when we went to multi-zone conferences this week I discovered that Yucaipa is one of the highest baptizing zones in the entire mission. It is very likely that I will spend the rest of my mission here, if not then I will spend I suppose a short amount of time in my next area!

Dang it seems like everything has gone by so fast. But as for the increase of knowledge it’s like I have been here for a lot longer! I love it so much! Here’s a cool story… So, last week we talked to this girl that was outside of her house washing her car. As we talked with her (I guess she talked with the missionaries previously, but nothing really happened) we set up an appointment with her at the church on a Wednesday night. This is the second time I have met someone at the church to have a lesson there and the spirit is so much stronger it seems. Anyway, so we set up this appointment right and she was like, Oh and I’ll probably bring my friend along too! :) YES! That’s exactly what we want to here!

So we had a lesson with her and because it was two young women, we had to have a team up. So, we had one of the priests in the ward come and it was really awesome! The lesson went really well and the spirit that was felt was amazing! We committed them to be baptized when they know that the Book of Mormon is true! No date yet... but give us some time, it was still just the first lesson. I know that the Lord is blessing me and my companion because we have been striving to do our best and to just keep a positive attitude about everything. We work hard and have some fun too!

 In the home share I currently have, there are four sons. Two are at home, one is on a mission, and another is a returned missionary. The son on a mission is Garth. The returned missionary is named Bryce and there are two kids in high school. Their names are Shane (junior) and Wyatt (senior). Wyatt went on a team up with us when we taught the girls last week. Their names are Lauren and Jessica. Recently, Wyatt has been teaching me a few things on the guitar lately. It’s awesome. I still suck, but my skills are improving!

 Also we were helping this lady throw some stuff out. She moved and left all this stuff in her driveway and we told her whatever the other church didn’t take we would donate it to the DI. So, we went and loaded all the crap into the zone leaders truck (it’s a Chevy Colorado), and we ended up taking like 3 trips to the DI which is just down the road. Then, while we were throwing the stuff out, we were kind of checking out all the stuff that was there and I scored 3 SLR film cameras! :) I tinkered with them when I had some spare time and got all 3 of them to work! Ha yeah, so I loaded up some film.  My favorite, one and took a ton of pictures at the combined with Redlands zone activity today. It was tight, like unto a dish lol :) jk but it was pretty fun! 

 So yeah, I’m doing pretty well and the work IS PROGRESSING so well! :) Hopefully we will have some great news for you next week too! Please pray for our investigators Lauren, Jessica, John, Cindy and Staisha. The last two are struggling, they kind of dropped us but hopefully there is still time!

 K Love you all! Have a great week! Love, E. McNew

New Companion

05/07

Hey what’s up?

 Hello and good afternoon, I am doing great! Back here in Yucaipa is awesome! I’m serving in the Yucaipa 4th ward, which is just to the east of the ward I was in before. My new companion Elder Kava is awesome! He is Tongan and part Mexican, and he is way chill and he likes to work hard!

This week was okay because we are still getting used to the area. We talked to 209 people and taught 14 lessons. That’s not bad. We will be doing much better this next week though! :) I’m stoked because my companion is ready and so willing to do work and to be obedient. I am excited about that! :)

 Love you!

Have a great week and so will I.

 Love, Elder McNew