and a Happy New Year!

My Dearest Family.

 

   Oh how I love you all so very very much. Words cant even describe how much you all mean to me and how much I just miss you all! Is it weird to think that I am out on my own... the baby Norton is out doing her own thing. Yeah its very very strange to me. SO I got to see you all on Christmas. Yes. That was good! Very overwhelming but very good. I loved being able to see you all.. but it sucked me right in and it was sort of hard to get out of that funk that I was in for a short amount of time. Life is good and I just keep reminding myself that. I feel so loved by so many people and the ward here really takes care of us which is incredible. So this week in a quick review... Christmas.... yeah it doesn't feel like it was Christmas at all... done and done. FINALLY. Then after Christmas we had Bensons Baptism which was super awesome he is in the ward and he's just the cutest little boy and he was so thrilled to be getting baptized.! loved it. Then We had a lesson with a couple named Sam and Andy and lets just say... it didn't go quite as planned and I was pretty shocked about what happened after the lesson. It turned into a nice bible bashing and you could tell the spirit was defiantly not there at all and I just wanted to get out of there. But they want to have us meet with them again which is weird.. not really sure what will happen there. Then the next day I think it was Friday.... no no it was Saturday... we had been walking around for about 4 hours and had finally hit our limit. Me and Sister Fishburn literally didn't know if we could make it through the rest of the day. No one was wanting to talk to us and yeah it was just a rough day... then we finally said... alright lets just sit down for a quick sec and take a break so we did. Then we sat there and finally decided to get up. I felt as if I had no more will power what so ever. We had been on this street 100 times before and walked past this same house that is super hidden and sort of creepy and has a big medal fence around it. I have wanted to go in before but Sister Fishy and I just never have. Then this time was different. There was a man out and he looked right at us and he said hi so we
said HI back and then we proceeded to keep walking. I stopped right in by tracks... look at his house and pointed to his garage and said HEY IS THAT A  SURF BOARD!? ya know just to get the conversation going... he then looked at us and said well yes... such a smooth ice breaker... we then began to talk with him and he said.. wait are you guys Mormons?! we told him yes and he was confused because he didn't know girls could go.. I love when that happens! we told him all about the age change and what not... he is in his 70s and he then told us.. well yeah I was baptized Mormon! abahahah you should have seen our faces.. they were priceless.. SUCH A MIRACLE MOMENT! then he looked at us and said... well are you guys just out and about feeling inspired as to who you should talk to? I told him YES. and we were brought to you. He then said... well that's funny... because I have actually been praying! then the whole world seemed to have stopped for that moment and life just made sense again. FINALLY I thought. he said well tell me what it is that I should do? COME TO CHURCH WE SAID! Ha and he said I could maybe do that... he told us how he believes in everything and how much he loves the book of Mormon but he couldn't find his.. SO I just gave him MINE! YAYA! that was an awesome miracle..

 

SO my hair is brown... yep that's that. I don't know who I am anymore.. so that's fun.

then we did some service for this crazy lady who yelled at me a bunch. oh how I love Washington so much. SO GREEN. ummmm met this old man who has been working on a bug sail boat for over 30 years... that pretty much sums everything up!  I love you all so much and thanks for being such wonderful people. YOU ARE GREAT NORTONS I LOVE YOU!

Love Sister Norton

 

oh and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

all my love

SNOW? Christmas Miracle!

Date: December 23, 2013
Area: Lake Stevens, Washington
Companion: Sister Fishburn

Hello Hello wonderful people that I love so much!

    I don't have that much time to write today but I have SO SO SO MUCH TO SAY! First things first. MOM thank you so much for sending me the BOOK! I was so happy and I thought you would just email me the book or something so that was a pleasant surprise. Thanks!! I loved it and it was wonderful to read it to families this past week. It really brought the spirit!

 

THEN IT SNOWED!! my first Washington snow. and it was GREAT!! for the first couple of minutes and then it turned to complete slush. gross.. its alright though.. we have received way to many carmels and just goodies... its a good thing we are on bikes... if ya know what I mean. I cant wait to see you all on Christmas! thanks for sending me so much love through the emails! I love you all and cant wait to see you so so so soon!
WEDNESDAY at 12:30 my time. GET READY!!

 

We had a great lesson with Elisabeth Ill share with you on Christmas! WAHOOOO!!

 

 

love Sister Norton

 

Tis the Season!

Date: December 16, 2013
Area: Lake Stevens, Washington
Companion: Sister Fishburn

Hello beautiful Norton family! first things first.. I AM SO SO GRATEFUL FOR THE PACKAGE!! THANKS FOR ALL THE LOVE!!

   If I could I would write novels to you all..... but sadly I just can't but just know if I could I would... there is so much too say but I am going to try to hurry and write this so I can write everyone back!

Oh what a week it has been. Missionary work is crazy and I am really starting to wonder when it will all start to hit me that I am actually on a mission.. it was funny just the other day fishy and I were riding our bikes down this big hill and what not and she just turned to me and said..."hahahaha WE ARE ON MISSIONS!!!" it was so funny and we were just laughing and laughing. The area I am in is ummm wonderful and hard but I love it! I am in the Cavalero ward and the area like I have said has so many hills. On to the next thing... We had a wonderful relief society thing on Tuesday night and I felt like I was back home in good ol Utah... the women in the ward are great and there was about 8 babies there... CRAZY!! all I want to do is just hold one... but I cant.. hahahah oh well! Then we sang wonderful Christmas music and I just love this time of season.. it is so weird without snow.... SO WEIRD! it doesn't feel like Christmas at all... which makes me and fishy not as homesick so that's good! SO lets see... Brother Krick.. aka GRANDPA he actually told me to call him that and I about started to cry because I truly feel like he is my grandpa... he fed us Omelets on Wednesday night and It was so much fun and we just chatted and chatted and he kept feeding us and feeding us and but the end I swear I couldn't eat anymore... and finally he gave us the BIGGEST piece of PUMPKIN pie and I just looked at it and about threw up.. but thankfully I almost ate all of it... and then his wife looked at me and said.... "sister Norton, are you okay" "YOU DONT HAVE TO EAT ALL OF IT" ahahahahah it was so funny! then I just stopped... oh good times on the mission... then we shared with them about our Christmas traditions and talked about what Christ has done for us in our lives... SO AWESOME!! Then I went on exchanges with our STLs and lets just say it was alright... I mean I was in car for that and it was so weird! and it made me realize how grateful I am for the worlds best trainer and I'm so glad we get along... blessed.. so so blessed.

   ARLIGNTON NATIVITY!! the worlds coolest thing. Oh my gosh... So Elisabeth is our wonderful investigator... and we had met with her on Tuesday and we always have super awesome lessons with her and she is so open with us and I love it... and more than anything I always learn something from her... and so we wanted to ask her to be baptized in that lesson and we were talking with her and committed her to read the book of Mormon and to pray and know that it is true and she said she would then we asked her to come to church and she was iffy and said a couple things and wasn't so sure... then her phone rang and she got up real fast and we had the chance to talk really fast and we both looked at each other and we just knew that it wasn't right for us to ask her to be baptized... THE SPIRIT tells you great things.... then we invited her to A nativity festival.. well the Ewing's did.. the Ewing's are a SUPER awesome family in our ward... and I wouldn't be surprised if Brother Ewing is actually reading this on my little blog thing... HEY well anyways they invited her and got her to come! and we went with her, and at the nativity festival  they have a room that is just full of pictures of Christ and it is so powerful! and she just absolutely loved it and we loved it and it was so awesome.. they had so many nativities set up and it was so cool I love the church!! so that was great and then that night we had lamb... oh yummm and then we talked about the lamb of God with the family... hahah kind of awkward but super cool

this is one of my favorite quotes that I just found this week...

"The savior knew life from every side and every angle, both above and below. He who was the greatest made himself the least the Heavenly Shepherd became the Lamb."

I love that!! It is in the Ensign called... "come let us adore him"

anyways.. next thing is next...Saturday we had a ton of meetings which is so fun!!

 

then SUNDAY!!! yayayayaayy the best day of the mission so far.. me and Sister Fishburn were standing there welcoming people and then all of the sudden Fishy turned to me and said.... UM... is that Elisabeth!? holy smokes! SHE came to church!! she came to church! we both just started to cry and I loved the feeling that overcame me. She walked in with her 8 year old daughter and the ward just welcomed her in and it went so well.. umm slash that.. it went perfect! we didn't have to do anything because the ward was awesome with her! then ummmmm we went with her to gospel doctrine and ummmm what was the topic.. BAPTISM! how perfect was that. the lord truly does know perfectly the way things need to go and it was so important for us to listen to the spirit while we were teaching her. i know the church is true! its wonderful! She stayed for all 3 hours and then that night she came to our Stake Christmas concert which was super awesome.. i love all the wonderful Christmas music!

family. you are all too great!

romans 13:12

hastening the lords game plan... pretty neat talk;)

i love you all so much!!

love your dearest sister Norton!

 

I'm on a Mission?

Date: December 09, 2013
Area: Lake Stevens, Washington
Companion: Sister Fishburn

Mi Familia!!

 

  There is the Spanish for the day... How is everyone doing? I love you all and think about you and just think about how awesome you are and how grateful I am for all of you. YOU guys are rock stars and I just love ya. When are you going to Forgotten Carols? oh how I will miss that... but the good news is that one of the sisters I live with loves the Forgotten Carols so we always sing it together.. its awesome... but she's never seen it before.. sad! I love it so much and hope you all have a blast without me!

 Where oh where do I even begin... so this week lets just say was super hard and challenging and just pretty rough but the good news is that it ended awesome and there were many great miracles that happened! I can truly see gods hand in my life. SO we are just sorta having a hard time finding people to teach and what not so that has been a struggle... and our investigators haven't really been keeping commitments and they have been canceling on us which is always a bummer. Then on Tuesday this week Sister Fishburn and I were really excited because we had a lesson with Jen Carols and he's awesome and I know or at least I think I have talked a little bit about him and his sister Jessica.. so anyways long story short is that about a hour before we were going over to teach a lesson to him we got a long text from Jessica and she told us a lot of things but she said that she didn't want us teaching her and her brother anymore and that we were not to go over there... sad... me and Fishburn were completely devastated because they were doing so great and then out of no where they just don't want it anymore.. but I KNOW that this isn't the end for them they may just need a little bit of time. Then we had a very long next day and we just went form house to house trying to find people and what not and no one really likes us and that is always fun and I understand that it is very cold in Utah and there is a ton of snow.. but just know that I feel your pain.. maybe a little too much.. because it is freezing in Washington.. its just a very different cold and my body is not used to the wet cold.. and umm I'm out in it all day on a bike.. life is wonderful! Our zone leaders actually texted us one day and said yeah today is a little colder than all other days so maybe you should wear some hand warmers... hahaha. oh alight..

 

  It is funny though because a lot of the people here are saying there hands are getting very dry and what not and I just cant help but laugh because I don't use any lotion.. I don't need it!

 Moving on.... so  on Thursday we thought we would go one last time to Elisabeth's house to try to say hi to her and invite her to the Ward Christmas party that we were having on Friday.. she is an investigator and we haven't been able to get a hold of her for a while or meet with her... but this was a miracle!! she opened the door and said... "HI SISTERS!! I'm very busy now, but I would love to talk so please come back in 15 minutes."! YAYAYAAY!! we left and we were both smiling form ear to ear and we were so excited... so we went back and had the best visit and she had so many questions that were just so awesome about prophets and temples and then she finally opened up about certain things and it was just so cool to see and then I invited her to come to the Christmas party and she accepted and it was WONDERFUL!

 Ward Christmas Party... hahahah the ward I am in sorta reminds me a little bit about our ward and they have had 13 babies within the past year... crazy stuff.. anyways the Christmas party was awesome and we got our investigator and her daughter to come.. wahoooo!! and we sat with a less active who we are teaching and he came which was great as well. and he is just like Grandpa Johnson.... seriously.... it's awesome and I just love him so much! I actually met him my first day out in the field and he asked me for my first name and I was a stupid and I told him! so then at the Christmas party he called me by Alexa cause he remembered and it was the weirdest thing in the world to hear my first name! I got mad at him and he just laughed... and him and I just joke around... oh how he is just like a grandpa to me.  He is feeding us this Wednesday and we are teaching him.. yay!!!

  Then on Saturday we had a lesson planned to teach this crazy couple that I had never met and we sat down to plan what we should talk with them about and we were so lost and didn't know what it was that they needed... so we decided to pray again and right after we did we got a text from them and they canceled... crazy how the Lord works... just wait because then we were out and about and went to this house and they let us in and we taught them!! it was awesome and I was so scared but I recited the first vision and I don't even know how I did it but I did and it was great... they are very smart about the bible and they don't see a need for the book of Mormon so we talked to them a little bit about that and it was just super cool... Fishburn had been trying to meet with them for over a month and then we finally did!! BLESSINGS!!!!!

one awkward thing did happen... at the end Andy said well sisters can we pray for you and then you can pray for us?! we said yes and then he said a pray and just ended and I didn't know that I was supposed to say my pray right then and there and so we were just sitting there with our eyes closed and I giggled and said.. OH IS IT MY TURN? haha the I prayed... super awkward but it was funny! then that night we went to Christmas in the park and it was fun and what not then this older couple who loves the missionaries had us over and the wife never stops talking.. no joke... so seriously during dinner I just lost it and I could stop laughing and it was bad I almost spit up my water... ya know like one of the moments where you just can not control it.. so bad!!

 

so sorry this is so crazy.. but in conclusion I want you to know that I know the church is true.. I know that the gospel is all about change.. and that is what makes it so awesome and I can feel my saviors love all the time and I love watching people change and better yet I love seeing the changes that I am making.

the challenge for the week for you all.. read 2 Nephi 25.. CHRIST! and when you are doing your scripture study see how many different names Christ has.. its great!

 

 I love this work!

Love Sister Norton!

The gospel changes lives....mine included

Hi! So I have decided that I LOVE P-day's ....but I HATE them. Maybe it's a missionary thing, but that is how I feel. Don't get me wrong. I love emailing and hearing about everything but it's also stressful. I'm sure I will get used to it. I mean it still is weird to me that I am on a mission. I know I already sent my email, but right now Sister Wright and I are just chillin and writing letters. There are so many things that happen in a day that I wish I could share with you...but there's just too much to say.

I just want to say how grateful I am to be a Norton. How lucky I feel to be able to wake up each morning at 6:30am and put on a name tag that not only has my name on it but more importantly has Christ's name on it.

I know the gospel changes lives! I love that it is all about change. It is one of the hardest things, to change, but it is also the most rewarding. I think one of the hardest things that I have had to realize is that everyone has a choice and is given agency. I just have to keep going and I can NEVER give up.

It's also weird to think that life goes on without me. I hope you all aren't having to much fun!

One night I was talking to my companion and we started saying how lucky we feel and how wonderful it is to really be set apart from the world. I love it! I know that God lives!

Thank you for all the love and support

Love- Sister Norton

Happy December!

Hello Hello!

  Where oh where do I even begin. Well let's just said that I had a total of 3 Thanksgiving dinners and oh yeah know just 7 pieces of pies!! Do you understand... 7. and 5 of them were pumpkin! Members just give us way to much food and feed us too much. You would be so so so surprised at how much I eat when I am at a members house.. I eat everything even when I hate it. The spirit is always with me and then I just take a swig of water and it is all good. I think I am good with Turkey for now. Thanksgiving was weird.. but good! We ate at a members house who only had 1 kid so it was super quite which was weird! Then we just relaxed the rest of the day because it was our pday and we had to be in by 6 so we just partied inside and what not so that was fun.

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING/Elder Bednar

Date: November 28, 2013
Area: Lake Stevens, Washington
Companion: Sister Fishburn

Happy Thanksgiving from Sister Norton & Sister Wright

Hello Hello Norton Posey what is up!? HOW are the orange rolls? I was telling my companion how it is such a big deal in our family and what not. Dad!! I LOVED YOUR EMAIL thanks so much for it. Well I LOVEEE everyones email. They are such wonderful blessings and they make me HAPPY FOR DAYS! I only have about 30 more minutes and I want to be able to reply to everyones email and so Im going to try to hurry and make this one straight to the point.

 

I am so grateful for everything in my life. Literally everything. It's insane. I love my life and I mean even though everyone slams the door on me and says they aren't interested I am learning that when I stay positive everything works out. I feel so blessed to have a companion that is just like me but is also just like Erika, Tash, and Kenz all put into one. Its werid and I love it.

 

ELDER BEDNAR

 

Hmmmmmm okay well I am not really sure where I can start so ill just start. He's awesome. also I hate but I love how you guys know everything about my mission. If that makes sense? I was so excited to surprise you and tell YOU about BEDNAR but uhhhhh you already knew. Lame!!!

anyways.

 I'm just going to tell you what we told us and what not. he's awesome and we talked a lot about how its very important to take notes that you are inspired to take. and how you do not convert other people. the spirit does.

well here are just some key points

-open your mouth! it will be filled

-my favorite... TEACHING IS NOT TALKING, IT IS OBSERVING LEARNING AND LISTENING

-conclusion not an explanation= revelation

- after you were baptized you gave up your agency.... uhhh ITS NOT ABOUT YOU! (yikes)

-take them to the next level

-God is the creator

-we learned that It is important to be still and slow down and let the holy ghost teach you

-we've never been in control.. control is an illusion of the natural man.. dad will probably love that

I mean I know that I love that!

babahahahah then he talked about marriage. and it was funny he told us that.....

"a marriage is not something you find or fall into.. YOU CREATE IT!! so Tash and Erika... I hope that's what you are doing.. (insert smearky face)

you create a happy marriage you don't find it.

 

oh there was just so much. we learned about the conduit. and yeah some pretty deep stuff that was super awesome!

 

family. I love you so much and I think about you everyday. Elder Bednar told us that it is okay to think back about home as long as you come back to your mission. and that's exactly what I do and it makes things great!

HAPPPY THANKSGIVING!  I am grateful for the gospel and I can truly see that It really does bless families!

 

love Sister Norton:)

Lake Stevens!

Hello hello!!!

 

SO today is sadly not a real p-day because its
Thanksgiving on Thursday so that is when we will be celebrating P-day! but I have one short hour on the computer today so be sure to send my love to everyone that I don't get the chance to reply back to and tell them that I will get to them on Thursday.. I just don't have much time and I want to try to share a lot with you. I wish you guys could be flies on the wall. anyways let me share as much as I can in 30 minutes

 

OFF THE PLANE!!! we got off the plane and all I could think of was how gorgeous everything was. Really though when people say its GREEN they really mean it its GREEN!!! oh and can I say it's freezing, its so cold and I m not used to this kind of cold so its sort crazy but I love it. We drove about a hour from Seattle to our mission home where we all sat around and they told us we could actually take a nap in the church and that is exactly what I did. I fell right asleep on the floor. right by sister wright, we were there all day waiting for our companions. SO after 5 or 6 hours we finally were assigned our TRAINERS. I saw sister Cromar and we chatted and it made me feel so awesome. I love her. Then they brought all the new missionaries in the chapel had us sit on one side and had all the trainers sit on another, then sister wright and I almost started to cry because we realized that we would no longer be able to see each other every day. Bummer.. so after everyone received their new trainer is was down to me sister Goode, and then sister Cromer and another trainer... I was thinking to myself holy smokes Sister Cromer may be my trainer.. but sadly she was not.. sorry for the let down. anyway I received my trainer and her name is Sister Fishburn and she is so awesome. I love her so much! then She told my right when I met her.."oh yeah we live in a "mansion" and we 4 pack it with two other sisters.... drum roll please.. SISTER WRIGHT and Sister Ma'ake, I live with sister wright. its the best!!!!  I love it oh and guess what family. Me. I am on a bike in the winter.. I ride a bike all day long and its great! I love it. You would be surprised I'm not even kidding. Its crazy

Day 2 and the first day in the field we tracked and I was so nervous but the first door we knocked on the lady told us we were wasting our money and her time.. I wanted to cry and Sister Fishburn looked at me and laughed. It was way funny. She's the best I love her. She teaches me so much and is so patient with me. I feel so lucky. then that night we went to go meet one of our investigators who's name is Elisabeth Kole and she is reading in the book of Mormon and we taught her a little bit about the ATONEMENT. she's really smart and seems eager to learn more, she is very poor and we want her to come to church but she may not be a big fan of that. So after that we went to the ward and visited families in the ward.. this ward is super awesome and is all about helping the missionaries out. I HOPE you guys are doing that. We live in a duplex and I love it. I am so spoiled as a missionary. I am sure Tash and Erika are just shaking their heads.

oh well. Everett is so different. SO GREEN and its crazy how no one as a front lawn dad would go crazy. there are very poor areas in my area and then very rich areas. sort of crazy. Then Thursday I met another one of our investigators he's a young boy whose name is Jencarols Feliciano he's 13 and is very interested he loves Joseph Smith and its awesome! we are actually teaching him tonight and I am way excited. and he came to church yesterday! yay!! then Friday... hmmmmm lets see we had a new missionary training all day and it was uhhhh okay. that's all I'm going to say it took forever to be done with. moving on. we visited a bunch of less actives that night. There are so many people in the ward that LOVE the sisters and we love it. We are fed every night by a member and its crazy awesome. I love visiting with people and sharing short simple messages with them. like hey listen up god loves you and has a plan for you BAM

 

Saturday.... sooooooooo guess what!! DRUMMMM ROLLLLL PLEASEEEEEE.

 

Elder Bednar came to the Everett Washington mission. yep. he spoke to us for oh I don't know 3 hours. 3 hours!! it was like a question answer type of thing but not. if that even makes sense. We talked about how important it is to turn out , and to really ACT in faith. and go DO!! and he said just a bunch of cool stuff, he said its okay if you once in a while think about home but be able to come back to your mission. which I am begging to see happen to me. sadly but surely. I am starting to forget. its weird. but its good and I know that I am making the changes that I need to. I mean don't get me wrong I miss YOU ALL so much but I know what I am doing is the right thing at the right time. um I am trying to not go off on tangents so anyways. Elder Bednar. yeah hes awesome. he told us ITS NOT ABOUT YOU AND IT NEVER WILL BE ABOUT YOU!!!! more to come on Thursday. on thanksgiving!!! I think I will get an hour to write on Thursday. We usually get 2 hours but its different this week. I have so many pictures to send and I will try to eventually. I just still cant believe I am on a mission. Its weird. I just cant believe it. I have 18 months to learn so much! its freaky. The Book Of Mormon is true. its incredible. I know Joseph Smith was a true prophet. I Taught my very first lesson on Saturday to a 35 year old black man whose name is Ron and I was so scared but we talked about the Restoration and he took it very well. He seems very interested and we will be meeting with him again. This is not in any good order my bad . umm Sunday was fun.. I walked into church and me and Sister Fishburn realized I was on the program to speak. bahahahah we laughed and I spoke in church and had no idea. It went well though, she's an amazing trainer. We are so excited for thanksgiving!! it will be fun. don't have too much fun without me family. know that I love you so much and I love our father in heaven!!!

 

D&C 31: 5-8 I read this and cried so many happy tears!!

 

love Sister Norton!!

I'm Here!!!

Date: November 19, 2013
Area: Lake Stevens, Washington
Companion: ?

  NORTONS!!

MOM, DAD, FAMILY!! Hello, Hello

I'm here in Everett! First things first. It's absolutely FREEZING!!! Brrrrr
But it's so beautiful so green and just so different from Salt Lake. It hasn't hit me that I'm a missionary and that I'm actually here in Everett. It's so so crazy. Keep me in your prayers, you are always in mine. I'm sort of freaking out. I've been up since 3:30AM. It was so good to talk to some of you in the phone. Tash and Kenz I tried calling but you didn't answer DANG!
The good news is Christmas is soon and I'll be able to call then, but who is the sneaky person that gave Brian my number? huh? I hung up the phone and then it rang and I was expecting it to be Tash and Kenz. I never thought he would have called. It was crazy and so good though to hear from him. Our conversation was quick. I could barley understand him but I told him to visit you all... hopefully he stays in touch with us cool Norton.

I'm so excited, but nervous. Sister Wright and I keep saying uhh we're MISSIONARIES!! can we do this? I sure hope so family, don't change to much, and let me know about some of the new inside jokes. I LOVE you all so much, like it's crazy how much I love you all. I'm so grateful for everything you did for me, you're amazing! Also, we've been in the mission home all day long. Meetings and blah blah but we did actually get comforters and pillows, laid down on the floor and we all fell asleep for a couple of hours. The lights were on, we were on a hard wood floor but we all passed out. I'm sad to say goodbye to the sisters in my district, mainly Sister Wright. It's funny because we keep hearing how fast it goes, but I hope it's true!

sort of just hit me 18 whole months that seems like Forever! Here it goes though GOD SPEED. The church is true. God loves everyone.

Can someone do a blog for me?

Love all

P.S tell the 7th ward primary Thanks
P.S.S I would love some pictures! in cute frames, and pics of me and friends, family, Bri guy :)

I LOVE YOU!

can't wait to talk to you on Christmas. It will be the best

umm... put my new address up somewhere!

TELL EVERYONE TO WRITE ME!!

Arrival of Washington Everett Missionaries

Parents and friends of missionaries arriving in the Washington Everett Mission today:

We joyfully received eight Spanish-speaking Sisters, seven English-speaking Sisters, and one valiant English-speaking Elder today.  It has been a busy day!  They have been fed and given a little training and had a short interview with me as Mission president.  They were assigned their first companions here in Washington early this evening and are now in transit to their apartments.  They should all be in their areas this evening and planning their proselyting day for tomorrow.  Tomorrow they will be doing the work of full-time missionaries!

They are an impressive group and we are delighted to have them.  We will see them again on Friday for additional training and once again on Saturday when we will be having a conference with a visiting General Authority. I'm sure they'€™ll have something to say about that when they email you on Monday.

 

President Bonham

Washington Everett Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

1st and only Pday at the MTC

Hello Hello Norton Family!!

 

       Today is the wonderful day of P-day and I am loving it. So i have absolutely no idea where I can even begin. It seems to me like all the days are mixing up and I honestly cant keep them straight anymore. Yikes. My mind feels like it is going 100 hundred miles an hour mostly because there are so many mind blowing moments that I have experienced. The SPIRIT is such a wonderful thing and I love love love serving the lord! 

Okay lets do this Y'allllll

      Day one in the MTC. Complete and total blurrrrrr. I was doing way to many things at once and to be quite honest i cant really remember it. I felt like I was literally in a boot camp and EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE had the BIGGEST smile on their face. We learned about how missionaries are set apart from the world which is so true and I love that feeling. I mean guess what fam. I don't really miss my phone all that much or as much as I thought that I would. By the way this is crappy cause i really gotta hurry oh so fast! We talked about how when you are a missionary it may seem like ETERNITY but it really does go by so fast. SAY what. I has already been a WEEK. I leave for EVERETT WASHINGTON on Tuesday at 3:30 am. Yes that's right you heard me. 3:30. WHO ever wants me to call them around 5 in the morning Dear Elder me your phone number and i can see what i can do. Okay?! i am going to be all over the place so yaaaa deal with it. DING!! "the Most important of the lords work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home. Man i just love you guys and i really cant thank you enough for being so awesome and supporting me on my mission. SO THANKS!!! we watched a fireside by Elder Holland and he talked about how you have to let god change you and YOU must be YOUR first  convert before you can convert anyone else. TRUE THAT! MY heart is so full. I have been learning so so much and it hurts but in a good way. I fell like i honestly knew nothing about the gospel . I mean I still don't but its coming. POWER IN THE PAUSE I LOVE IT . I have 2 companions and they are kind of different but i mean i love them so much we are seriously like a little family. The elders in my district are sort of goofy but i love them as well. One elder actually went home today because of his depression and me and my companions balled our eyes out. And it was very hard for my companions because they both suffer from depression. But Keep Elder Layton in your prayers. Missionary work ain't easy but it really is so rewarding and i love Jesus Christ and everything he did for you and for me! Can you feel how much he loves us. He loves us way to much its ridiculous. true learning means to change. I have to change in order to learn. I AM SISTER NORTON. i ain't Alexa. slash sometimes i miss my name. SO on Sunday we had music and the spoken word and it honored Veterans and of course all i could think of was Grandpa and i love him so much and i know that he is doing alright and that he is watching over me. I could honestly feel it. And hear him saying to me... "Alexa BE TOUGH you can do this" i love him. and i know that i will see him again. tears literally filled my eyes and my companions didn't know what to do with me except hug me. I just felt the spirit so strongly in that very moment. 

LIFE IS GOOD though. and day by day it is getting better. I play dynamite at gym and i love it!!! oh and some random elder got his wisdom teeth out and it was the funniest thing ever. P.S the food is killing me. Sister Wright is in my Zone and we wish we were companions. We get along so well and all we do together is just laugh. Its the best thing in the world! THANKS FOR JUST EVERYTHING. the package made me grin from ear to ear. Literally my district was so confused. i am going to try to send some pictures. so hopefully that works. there is so much to say and just so little time. SORRY!! 

CHURCH IS TRUE. LIVE IT AND LOVE IT FAM!! Keep me in your prayers please and thank you!!!
also turn out when you would usually turn in. It helps me and i know it will help our family. I love you guys

SISTER NORTON!!!!!!

The day after the MTC drop off

 

AHHHHHHHHHHHH
 I have no idea what your email even is!!!

holy smokes. I am in the MTC and I literally have 2 minutes to write you an email.

so life is good I guess! MY day is planned out to the T. every single minute is not wasted.

I have 2 companions. Sister Glancy and Sister Wilkins. they're cute. we get along and its good.

I cant believe I am a missionary! still hasn't hit me. gotta goooo!!!