MALTBY...Miracles!

Good morning! Waking up on pdays is such a good feeling because I just cant wait to read all the great emails and hear from all of you! Last night we were eating at a members house and I was just in awe about how awesome this family was and how grateful I am for my family and how great you all are! FAMILIES ARE FOREVER:) thank goodness.

I love Washington in the summer. Even though everyone says that Summer doesn't come til after the 4th I still love it. It did rain a couple times this week but that's no surprise.. but for the most part it's been SUPER BEAUITFUL. there are blueberry, and blackberries bushes EVERYWHERE. They are just starting to ripen and they are SOOOO good!

This week was super great!  Sister Loose and I were able to see just a couple miracles spring about in our area. There is so much work to be done here! We are working hard with the members to get them more involved with the missionary work here. We are teaching this less active family and trying to get their son to be baptized who is almost 10 and we had such a cool miracle. Missionaries have met with the family in the past a lot and I guess the Dad has never really talked with them.. towards the end of our lesson he came out and he and I were talking and I told him how much I loved the 4th of JULY.. (which by the way I cannot wait!) he invited us to a family party! what what! hopefully we will be able to go. We have been invited to a lot of things but wont be able to attend ALL of them and we have to be in our apartments by 7pm on the 4th of July:( from what people have said I guess it gets pretty crazy here. Anyways that was pretty great! Then we met with one of our investigators who hasn't been willing to meet with missionaries for the past 6 weeks and we finally were able to have a lesson with her this week and tried putting her on date and she said she can see sometime in the future it happening but she can't put a date on it because that just freaks her out! One thing that I am learning is how to be PATIENT and how I need to let people just use their agency any way they want. It can be quite challenging...  but so worth it! A mission is a beautiful thing.

We also have an investigator who is 16 and I finally met her this week. She's fun... and really wants to be baptized but doesn't want to put a date on anything either.... I think Heavenly Father is really testing my patience with all of his children. In the end I learn and see the love that he has for them and I just cant help but want so badly to help them and bring them into this wonderful gospel that we are apart of! We got her to come to church is Sunday because we were speaking.... which that went really well! I introduced Sister Loose and I as a couple just as new couples do in  wards usually do when they move in and everyone got a good laugh out of that. I was nervous because I didn't think they would.  I spoke to them about what is a missionary and what makes a missionary a missionary... I shared with them about an experience that I had that I can share with you all in about a year!  I was able to relate it to the story of Alma the younger who is super discouraged and bummed about no one wanting to listen to him BUT an angle appears to him and tells him to go to the city of Ammonihah again and he does and he goes in a different direction and there he meets Amulek.. that's Alma 8: 15 I think.. go read it! its a great chapter!

 

I love this area. They are some parts of it that are so spread out and some members own so much property, its completely insane.

Sister Norton, Sister Bonham (she is amazing) Sister Milett

Pray that we can find new investigators! Thanks for all the love and support. Seems like you are all doing amazing and just staying super busy. HAPPY SUMMER. and have an AMAZING FOURTH of JULY! wahoooooo!

 

"I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made; I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tinted visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am lifted up in prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my goal is heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided or delayed, will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table with the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the case of Christ. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. When He returns for His own He will have no problem recognizing me, my banner is clear”.

I love this quote. its gives me the ability to keep going! the work is true.

and the worth of souls is truly GREAT in the sight of God. that I know.

I love my Savior.

xoxxoxo

Love Sister Norton:)

P.S. just to share about how funny S. Loose is... We were sitting up on the stand in sacrament waiting to give our talks and we were both a little nervous.. so we were giving eachother PEP talks and while the first speaker is speaking she said in her talk... "WHAT IS LOVE"... and Sister Loose looks at me and says.. baby don't hurt me.

It was too funny...

anyways.. LOVE YOUUUUU ALLLL!!!!

 

CANADA... ayyeeeee

Sister Norton, Nikki, Kathy & Eric

Goodbye Sister Millet

Sad to say goodbye to the boots...but it had to happen

Sad to say goodbye to Lynnwood and the wonderful ward. leaving an area can be compared to leaving home sweet home... its breaks your little heart. you create relationships and friendships with the most awesome people but also good can come from being put with a new companion and being in a new area.

 

 

 

Drum roll please.........

NEW AREA: Monroe... which is the Maltby ward and I came here on exchanges once, and I guessed that I was coming here so that's fun! it is so much bigger than my last 2 areas which is something that I am learning to get used to . Let me try to explain... my first area was the size of a frozen yogurt shop... then I went to Lynnwood which was the size of grocery store and now I am in Monroe which is the size of COSTCO times a hundred. ITS CRAZY!. So now you all understand. perfect!:) I am no longer on bike which is super sad.. being in car is the weirdest thing. My area is so beautiful and there are a lot of rural areas and in some parts the houses are so spread apart. The greenery is amazing and so breath taking. I came from a district of 3 sets of sisters and 1 set of elders and now I am in a district of just elders and then me and my companion.. very different.

NEW COMPANION: Sister Loose. She's from Canada... ayeeee! so many Canadian boarder patrol quotes that I could throw in right now.. but I won't. She is 20 and has been out for 13 months and I can not even explain to you all what she is like... super hilarious.. and a lot like the one and the only Mariam L Jensen only in a Canadian form. She is great and we get along!

 

yesterday we attended a meeting at church where I met the bishopric and he said.. "Sister Norton WELCOME to the ward.. you will be speaking NEXT Sunday" everyone started to laugh and he goes... "no I am not kidding... really you are speaking next Sunday" BAH. it will be awesome.

missionary work is hard but rewarding... there is a lot of finding to be done in this are and there are also a lot of less actives that we need to reactivate with children that have not been baptized. We are hoping that we will be able to work with those families. Pray for the work to increase! missionaries need your help more than you think and you probably all have way cool missionaries opportunities each day! That's. the challenge. try to talk to one person this week about the gospel. We as members of the Church need to be willing to share it with everyone. We need to live the gospel. This week I was able to understand the saying "HIS work not mine" and how me... Sister Norton must forget myself and go to work! I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It brings so much happiness.

 Life is hard.... not the gospel. Church is true!:)

love you all!

xoxxo

Sister Norton:)

Earthly Father... Heavenly Father.... TRANSFERS.

HELLLLLO!

  I just found out that I will be getting transferred. GULP. I am a little excited but also very sad to leave this ward and to say goodbye to Sister Millett. Oh and I am not excited to pack.. THE WORST. That's okay though because it will be good wherever I go! I feel like my Mission President will take me off bike which is SUPER SAD, but ya never know I could stay on bike.. CROSS your fingers that I DO I would LOVE THAT! I was able to say goodbye to a couple members yesterday because I had the feeling like I would leave.. I formed some really awesome relationships with them and it was sad to say bye... Brother Goodwin yelled at me and said... "NORRIS YOU ARE NOT LEAVING.. HUMBLE YOURSELF" yeah he's quite the jokester... I will miss this area but I guess its time for me to have a new adventure!

  Father's Day. Happy Father's DAY PAPA D! I love you very much. Church was really great yesterday and it was so neat to see all the little kids get up there and sing to their dads. I couldn't help but think of my dad and how grateful I am for you. I love you lots! but as I was amazed and so full of the love that you have for me I was also amazed at the love that my Father in heaven has for me and how I KNOW that he is so aware of me and the things that I am going through. I know that GOD lives and I know that we all have the potential to become like him. I know that IF we do our part GOD will do his. Our greatest desire in this life she be to align our will with his. it can be quite the challenge if you ask me, but its something that we must work on EACH DAY! We are here on Earth preparing to meet our maker. I love the gospel. ITS SUCH GREAT NEWS.

 This week was SUPER busy and SUPER crazy. It was a good way to end the transfer. We were able to get a lot of work done which felt so nice! it was one of those weeks where as soon as my head it the pillow I was out cold until 6:30 AM. One day we were out biking around and I was trying to look for this house and Sister Millett was ahead of me and randomly this man in a truck who was parked HONKED at me and scared me half to death... he then laughed and drove off... I was maybe just a little bit upset and frustrated.. HOW RUDE I thought... he then came back around and pulled up and said sorry... I looked at this man and started to laugh and told him since he honked at me he now had to listen:) he laughed and we had a lovely chat about our purpose and who we were and he kindly took a pamphlet! The lord does crazy things for his missionaries:)

  

  We were able to find a family this week and it was SO COOL. they are from Egypt and they just moved her about 12 days ago. They are so eager to learn and we had a our first lesson with them on Friday and it went super well.. a little crazy but they had so many great questions and it was cool to see them accept the Book of Mormon and they really wanted to start reading it. sad that I am leaving them.

  I want to end by writing something that I found this week. "the gospel is not weight, its WINGS.. IT CARRIES US". that is the truth. the gospel of Jesus Christ is wonderful. I love it. I know its true. We must be true to our faith and we will be blessed. I love you all so much! thanks for all the tremendous support and love. I love hearing from you:)

This is a picture of a couple in the ward who I love so much.

Brother and Sister Dains. They are wonderful:)

Love Sister Norton!

happpppppp​ppppppyyyy​yyy

Hello!

 

 This week was very different than any of my other weeks of my mission. To say the least.. it was quite the journey and I learned a lot about how I know that Heavenly Father has us placed in certain spots and certain times to talk to people or to learn something from someone else. My comp was sick this past week and was having a hard time, and as I had to watch her struggle I learned about the importance of the atonement and my testimony of Jesus Christ was strengthened. I know that the Savior lives and I know that he died for us and I know that we have the ability to return to live with our Father in Heaven again.
Sister Millett and I had a very overwhelming experience of the spirit and we had it together which can really strengthen a companionship.

 The weather is continuing to be absolutely beautiful and almost a little bit too warm but hey NO COMPLAINTS. The sun sets around 9 here.. SO different but I love it so much. We were able to go to YW's this week with our investigators daughter and we had a blast! We played outdoor games with the young women and young men and then I want to play "down by the banks" so I tried gathering all of them together and you can just picture me being as loud as ever and everyone laughing at me... but when I told them this they all looked at me so strange and said oh we play it like this.. and they had some way different song they do it too. Weird Washington. but it was a funny moment. anyways moving on....

THE GOOD NEWS. our investigators. Hip hip hooray. they are so awesome and progressing so so much. I love to see how much they have changed since I first started to teach them.... they are holding their own family home evening tonight and have invited us over:)

ONE funny story that I do have is how much I love when we are knocking on doors and someone will just let us in and that happened this week. This Indian family said. SISTERS come in! so we did and we were having a good discussion with them and what not and then when I pulled out the Book Of Mormon they all looked shocked and then we had to clear things up again that.. no we do not believe in MORMON. but it was a tender mercy.... I love mostly learning about how so many others have such a strong faith in Christ. Its amazing.

Last night we were able to go to Cottage Meeting at the mission home and we had so much fun. Its one of the most powerful meetings I have ever been to. Hearing recent converts bear there testimony is such a awesome thing.

thanks for all the support and for all the love. I love you all so much.

have a great week all of you wonderful people!

love sister Norton:)