Hermana Rebecca Newmeyer: 1/16/2014

Hey Dad, Family and Friends,

I leave this Monday to MEXICO!!!!! So excited to go and serve the people and get to know them and love them. So much has happened this week its hard to recap everything and figure out what I should write in the hour of writing i have. Well, this last Monday, I went to Las Vegas to the Mexico Consulate to get my visa. It was wonderful the day started out with getting up at 4:00 am and getting to the ride before 4:30. I was the only one going out of my District to go on Monday, everyone else was going on Tuesday and Wednesday. So we went and we had to wait at the airport for a couple of hours before my plane left and there were 8 Elders and 4 Sister's that were in our group and all of them were going to Culiacan as well, besides three of them. It was great! we had so much fun, once we got to the Las Vegas we meet an older gentleman called Elder Greer, he does this everyday all week long, picking up Elder's and Sister's and taking them to the Consulate. We got Del Taco for lunch and then we waited for about 2 hours and then we went to the consulate they took our finger prints and our picture, and we got our visas. We were in and out withing an hour, it was pretty quick. Usually it would take about 2 hours to get the visas. After we had our visas we were taken back to the Airport and we waited for about 4 hours for our plane to leave, i didn't get home till about 10:00 at night. It was a really long day, but it was so much fun and I made friends with everyone, we talked the whole time and i am so excited that they are going to Culiacan with me as well.

The next day my companion and another Hermana went and then on Wednesday the rest of our district went. It has been a crazy week, but i love it! While we were at the airport heading home we were waiting and me and Sister Benally were talking about what we had learned so far while being here at the MTC and it was an amazing experience. The spirit was there and we were so excited to go and be with the people in Mexico.

This week we were playing Basketball and as we were playing the sister's are only allowed to guard each other and i was guarding Hermana Morgan and out of the side the basketball came and hit me square on the side of my face, my glasses flew off and luckily they didn't break. It was great, the elders gave me two free-throw shots and I only made one. But this would be the 5th or 6th time while being here at the MTC that i have been hit with some form of sports ball, Volleyball, basketball, four-square ball. I'm prone to getting hit and having accidents.

It's so much fun hearing from everyone, and getting letter's from Mom and Dad. I will only be able to receive mail through the Missionary Pouch mail which is in the the booklet in the Red Book of Everything that I gave you. I have my Travel plans and I will be leaving this Monday at 6:30 am to the Airport and then my flight leaves at 11:30 to Los Angeles and then I have a layover for 2 hours and then my flight leaves at 2 in LA to Mexico Culiacan and I should get there at 7 in the evening. I'm really excited and I can't wait. I will be calling home around 9 in the morning on Monday and maybe 1:00 right before I leave to Culiacan. I will call Dad's Cell phone and I only get one chance because they give us calling cards and it takes off a lot of time when ever i use it. Hopefully I will be able to talk to you for about an hour or so. And I don't know if I am allowed to call you once I get to Mexico we shall see, i will probably call around 7:30-8pm if I do.

I went to the Temple last "P" day and it was so beautiful and amazing, I loved going. We were able to sit inside for awhile and just think about everything that has been going on and all of the many wonderful experiences that I have had and how grateful I am to be here. Classes are ending and we have In-Field Orientation Tomorrow on main campus, that should be fun we get to eat there and I am pretty excited! Hahaha so get this, Anna you will probably remember him but in 8th grade do you remember JR with red hair and he moved to Utah, well he saw me on Sunday night devotional and he asked if I remembered him and I said sort of but couldn't remember, he said he was in Mr. Duke's Kenpo class with me and Xanadu, I couldn't believe it. He has joined the Army and is on leave of absence for his mission, he is going to Korea i think. But it was amazing I put a picture up with us standing together.

Also, on Tuesday night Devotional we had Elder Bednar come and talk to us. It was great, do you remember about my last email on Christmas where he passed out 200 cell phones, well he received about 1,000 emails and messages with questions for him. And he answered more of them that night about 10 or so and it was great. Sister Bednar answered a few of them as well and she had two companions come up and say why they liked their companion, the one set of Elders had a new missionary and he still had his orange sticker on that meant he was new and all new missionaries come in on Wednesday and it was Tuesday night, so he had it on for about a week, and Elder Bednar gets up after his wife is done and looks down at the Elder and says "Elder your not a dork, take off the dork-sticker, you don't need to be wearing that around." Everyone started laughing and Elder Bednar asked why that was so funny, we just kept on laughing. It was great, the part I loved the most about his talk was when he bore witness of the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon. It was such a powerful and spiritual experience, you knew the moment he said "I witness that The Book of Mormon is true" I wish I could write down word for word what he said and how, but all i can do is testify with him, what little I do know of The Book of Mormon and the confirmation that I have received. I know that this is true, I know that the Lord called Joseph Smith to be a Prophet for this dispensation like prophets of old and I know that I am suppose to be here, loving the people, serving the people to the best of my ability. I know this is true, in 3 Nephi 27:21 it says "verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;" That which ye have seen me do. I will go and do that which the Lord commands, follow his example and do that which he has done. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, my Redeemer, my Brother and that he Died for me. I love Him. I love my family, I love the gospel. And i say these things in the name Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love Always,

Hermana Newmeyer