Hello dearest family and friends,
I will have you know I have transferred to the furthest area in our mission.  Baliwag...AND I LOVE IT!!!!!  Oh it is so beautiful here.  Going to some of the places is like being in a fairytale with Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett.  It is so beautiful, and you would know just how beautiful if I had a card reader and could put pictures on but I don't so you will just have to wait yet again.  I am so sorry.
   And before I go any further I must say before I forget that this morning I was reading in Alma 61 and 62 where Pahoran answers Moroni's epistle and then when the fighting is finished and they have Zarahemla back and they have met up with Lehi and Teancum with all the Lamanites surrounded in the land of Moroni.  I just have to point out that Teancum was an excellent man.  A good person and an amazing friend, but he let his anger get the best of him and he was killed because of it.  And Moroni went home after the war and was able to be with his family again, because he didn't let his anger control him.  That is why I like Captain Moroni better than Teancum.  (And I hope the person I wrote this to knows I wrote it for them and that when I read it this morning I yelled in horror, "TEANCUM!  NOOO!!!!"  I truly was devastated.  No matter how many times I read it I am affected.)
   Now I need to give a shout out to my Sister, Kristina, she is 20 today. Congratulations Kristina!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 
    Now I will tell you about this week.  As I said before, I now live in Baliwag and I have a new companion.(we were totally late to transfers because the DL had the jeepnee go the long way so I didn't know who my companion was until the end.)  Her name is Sister De la Cruz and she is so CUTE!!!  I love her and her personality already.  She is so fun to be around and it has been very easy to open up to her.  In fact I have already cried in front of her on several occasions and laughed too.  And here is the real shocker, she actually knows how much I love to sing...not only sing but sing hymns...really loud.  And she asks me to sing!  Loud!  A LOT!!!  It is weird, but I love it.  We are the only two in our apartment so I only have to worry about bothering the neighbors and they don't seem to mind.  Hey, even if they started yelling at me it wouldn't bother me because I would have no idea what they were saying.  I would probably just smile and wave saying, "Magandang umaga po!" 
   She is just fun and she loves the gospel.  She goes home in April so she has plenty of time.  We are very excited to be a companionship and we are obedient.  We did weekly planning on Friday for the first time.  It took FIVE hours!  Oh my word!  But it was so good.  It was what was needed and we are going to have a great week because of it and we are going to have an excellent companionship because of it.
   Sunday was District Conference.  It was so cool to get to hear from our leaders and President and Sister Sperry.  I love them so much!  I just wanted to share a few of my notes with everyone because they were all really good talks.
   First off, are we professors or are we disciples?  Meaning, do we just profess to be members devout and strong, but when trial and heartache come our foundation is not strong and we fall away.  Or are we disciples through and through?  No matter what happens we will devote our whole selves to Him for His purposes. 
   Next, "holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting that other person to die.  Anger only hurts you."
   SOS
Saving       Service            Save
Of             Obedience       Our 
Souls        Sacrifice          Souls
   Through our obedient sacrifice of service we are blessing others and Heavenly Father can then bless us in return.  And through having this as our lifestyle we can be saved through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Current                               You can know you are choosing the right
Temple                            when you are worthy to hold a current temple         
Recommend                                             recommend

And one quote that kept coming to my mind was one given by Elder Jeffery R Holland and I hope you all pay special attention to this because I think if people would remember this they wouldn't complain nearly as much and they would stay on the right path more easily.  He said, "  ...Why should it be easy for us when it wasn't easy for Him?  The road to salvation goes through Gethsemane."  No one ever said it would be easy, but they said it would sure be worth it.

   Those are the things I learned from the conference and what I learned from Sister De la Cruz this morning was this quote from President Joseph Fielding Smith.
                  "...No member of this church can stand in the presence of God who has not seriously and carefully read the Book of Mormon."
   That is true.  So are you going to take up the challenge and read carefully the Book of Mormon?  The Book that holds everything together?  Are you going to find out if it is true for yourself and be able to stand in the presence of God!?  Or are you going to trample upon Him by putting things of little importance on your priority list?  It is up to you.

  I love you all very much.  Life is difficult, but ALL challenges are for our good.  We just have to figure out what we are supposed to learn from them.  You are all in my prayers.  You are all special children of our Heavenly Father and he is calling to you, beckoning you to come to Him, "Come back.  Come up.  Come in. Come home.  Come unto me."  I promise you He loves you and that it is not too late to change.  Have a great week!  Smile GREAT BIG!!!

Sister Brittany Nichole Newman