another wonderful week.....

First things first!!! if you haven't watched this video you need to watch it NOW.

http://www.mormon.org/easter?cid=HP_FR_3-27-2015_dMIS_fMRMN_xLIDyL1-A_

WOW! I am pretty sure that my companion and I were counting down the days so that we would finally be able to watch it! It was absolutely amazing and we are so excited that we get to watch it with so many of our investigators and have them feel the spirit and Easter. CAN you believe that it is almost Easter. I feel like it was just Easter and now it is here again. Crazy how time flies.

Quick updates: Masae Paul got baptized this week:) (pictured attached) p.s. they are marshalese, so that is probably why i look like an extra giant in this picture;)  It was so neat though. Just before her baptism we had such a neat lesson with her and she talked about how ready and nervous and excited that she was to change her life:) He brother was able to baptize her and we were able to have her Niece Miako get baptized as well. You could say it was a wonderful Saturday, especially because then later that night we got to go to the women's conference which i love so much. I love feeling the sisterhood!:)

The following Sunday was her confirmation and long behold the Bonhams came! WHAT! It was so neat to see them walk into the ward that i was serving in. They will sometimes go to confirmations to be present and it was so great that he was able to be apart of her confirmation:) Then We had the opportunity to speak to the youth all about missions. It was a fun little Q&A and it allowed me to do a lot of reflecting on the past 16 months of my life. I still am in awe with the fact that i am a missionary. There are those moments where it hits me. I have really been able to strengthen the testimony that i already had. I know that it was there before my mission but i do know that i have changed. I love the trials and hard times that i have had to go through because then i am able to really and truly come to know my savior Jesus Christ and what he really did for me. Also i have a better understanding of how the greatest gift that God gave us was our agency, and the best gift that we can give him is our agency in return. We do that through baptism. We truly need to me able to align our will with his.

I do LOVE love love love you all very much. I am so excited to be able to listen to conference this upcoming week. How lucky we truly are to know that we have a prophet on the earth who will not lead us astray!

I have also been able to really improve on my studies in the scriptures this past week. I love love love them and i want to always improve, but i notice the better my prayers are and my studies the better my whole day goes!

okay. have a wonderful week!

Love Sister Norton

funny story.. we texted our 70 year old investigator this week to remind her to read and pray and she texted us back..

THANK YOU MOM. hahah I thought someone would think that was funny.

So blessed to be here... Elder Oaks :)

This week was just amazing. Seriously. I couldn't feel more blessed. I know that the Lord is so aware of us and knows exactly what we need no matter what we are going through. We had been counting down the days to go see Elder Oaks since we found out a couple weeks ago. It was a special conference for investigators, recent converts and returning members. In order for us to go we needed to bring an investigator, we were able to bring 5 of ours! It was so awesome, and one of our investigators had the opportunity to actually meet Elder Oaks. It is such a neat experience to be in the same room as an Apostle of the Lord. I love the silence that fills the room when they walk in. He said a lot of great things and I wanted to sum up some of his talk and go through maybe just one of his points..

 - He stated.. "The Lord does not make a promise to those who do not make a commitment" 

Now, he began by talking about why is it that some people will read the book of Mormon and not receive an answer. Which is something that I have wondered for a very long time. I know that I have my own personal testimony and it is something that I can share with others but I cannot force a testimony upon them. A lot of the time we have individuals that will sincerely pray to know and have faith but will never receive an answer, and the reason is because, "The Lord does not make a promise to those who do not make a commitment."

 AH HA! revelation. That is so true! This is how we receive guidance to all the questions that we have. We have to go to the Lord in faith and then here is the hard part that some people tend to miss... we have to be willing to ACT on the answer that we receive no matter the amount of change that WILL occur. He told us that if we really want an answer to a question and we will promise that we will be willing to change, we have to understand that it will cause us to change.. but to be totally and completely transformed to a better us. I believe that is what the gospel does to us, when we are using the Atonement and acting then we become who are Father in Heaven intends us to become:) 

He then went on to talk about how there is always opposition in good things.. which is true.

I could really go on and on but for lack of time I will not.

 Then at the close of the meeting he walked through the aisle to just say hi and talk to as many people as he could. It was such a sight to see him do that. You could just feel the sincere love that he had for everyone. wow. amazing experience:) 

then I was reminded of the moment when I was with Erik, Erika, and Natasha at a homecoming and Elder Oaks was there, and then Erik made sure that we talked with him. I am grateful that he did
that because it gave us an opportunity... well it gave Erik the opportunity to ask him as MANY questions that he wanted to. Oh that was fun!:) 

updates: Masae Paul(pictured attached) She is preparing for her baptism this Saturday:) Super exciting. She always makes up fun food

Randi Johnson who we have been meeting with for a while now is now working towards her own baptism date, she said.. "Now sisters, is may 2nd to close to may day for my baptism" it was just too funny I had to giggle. She is so great! 

Kennedy Keo: who is from Cambodia, wow! his understanding of everything is just getting better and better, it is amazing! 

I love this work and I have a strong testimony of it all. I know for myself that serving a mission has been one of the neatest experiences, and I have become more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know my purpose and I love that. I've said it once and I will say it a again. A mission is fulfilling! 

LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU ALL! 

Love, Sister Norton:)

the happiness continues!

I love it here.

 I just love it here. I really can't complain about anything. I am serving in a great ward, i have a great companion, a great area so many great people to work with and i just love the feeling i get after a long day. I feel so fulfilled and i love that the most. I know my purpose and i know what i am supposed to be doing. I love Washington:)  It's almost freaking my out how happy i am, but i am just going with it.

WHAT an amazing week! I think i have mentioned this before but we are working with a family who is from the Marshall Islands. They are so much fun. It is so funny, because when i walk into their apartment i feel like i am in a completely different culture. They are so accepting of the teachings of the church, and that is always a good sign, but my companion and i really wanted to make sure that they had their own testimonies of the things we were teaching. One of the women we are teaching name is Masae Paul and we had the most amazing lesson with her, after we had taught the plan of salvation to her she looked up at us and said... "sisters... now i understand and know where i came from" Its those little tiny moments that make everything so worth it.

The next amazing miracle this week was meeting with Kennedy. HE is from Cambodia and is doing so well:) He is starting to change so much and open up so much with us. I love that as well, i love seeing the change the gospel brings into others lives. He came to a baptism this Saturday and after the baptism ended he looked at us and said "OHHHHHHH IMPORTANT" We had a lesson with him and he is progressing towards baptism:) The tender mercies are truly all over this area. As we diligently serve and give ALL that we can the lord pours out his spirit to prepare the hearts and minds of these people... just as we did in the Book Of Mormon.. Alma 16:15-17. i love those couple of verses.

We also were able to have interviews with President Bonham this week. I love that man. HE is a very inspired mission president and was able to give me a lot of wonderful counsel and just told me everything that i needed to hear.

i do love this gospel. i love this church and i love learning and growing!

LOVE YOUU ALLL!!

Things are great here!:) We are going to the devotional this Saturday with Elder Oaks with some of our investigators and then Elder Cardon:)

more to come next week:)

Love Sister Norton

p.s.
sometimes we ride our bikes over the freeway and its just a blast

P-Day.... Deception pass!!!

Deception Pass is a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island, in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Washington. It connects Skagit Bay, part of Puget Sound, with the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

So so so HAPPY!!

GOODMORNING!:)

I am just so so so happy to be a missionary this morning:) Sometimes i don't know how i am so happy because i will be SOOOOOOO tired but it just happens i am so happy to be serving in Everett and to be on a mission!:) Ahh. I love the mission spirit, i love learning and growing and becoming more and more converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

There are so many things on my mind that i would love to share and as always i wish i could share them all. 

First things first. It is the Gospel. the GOOD NEWS that makes me so happy and by seeing the effects that it has made in others lives. To have a "front row" seat it an opportunity and a privilege. The other day we were at a training for the new missionaries and as i sat there listening to President Bonham a wave a emotion overcame me and i knew at that moment that i wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here, and it is at those moments that i cannot deny the love that my Father in Heaven has for me, and i know that i am able to feel his love through the power and gift of the Holy Ghost. Last night we were able to go to a fireside if we were able to bring investigators with us. We were able to go and to my surprise it was at a ward that i had previously served in. I was able to see so many of the ward members that i grew to love so much and i was also able to see a family that i was able to teach a little bit. This man bore his testimony on his experience and why he decided to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. WOW. It was such a neat experience to be able to hear his testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon. The gospel had truly changed this mans life as well as his family. He is now happily married and i can see the light that he has. HE is GLOWING. That is what the gospel can do for us., and i know that The Book of Mormon can and will change lives IF we read it. That is something i know. As i read from it i cannot deny that it is inspired scripture written for us, and because i know it is true i believe that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

I love this gospel and i know its true!:) 

In a couple weeks the state of Washington is going to be so blessed! Elder Oaks will be coming and we are going to be able to go to a special conference with one of our investigators! We are so excited

:) more to come on that later. 

i love you all so much. 

thank you for all the support and for being awesome!

love, Sister Norton:) 

some of my favorite people:)

CHANGE

WOW... What a week:)

the end.

hahahahahahahahaha okay just kidding, i will tell you all briefly what is going on.

Last Monday and Tuesday I think are pretty much a blurr, so let me just get to the fun part.

TRANSFERS.

Transfers go a lot differently when you come into the mission or when you are called to be a trainer. It truly felt like an out of body experience, and it almost didn't seem real. You usually arrive to transfers and receive the name of your new companion and then you are off to your area to go to work:) but with training you wait and you wait for President Bonham to interview all the new missionaries and to see who should train who. you then go into the chapel where the trainers sit on one side of the chapel and the trainees sit on the other. I couldn't believe that i wasn't the new missionary. It felt like yesterday that i was the one being trained. As we all patiently wait there President Bonham will say the new of one of the new missionaries and will tell them their area and their first companion:) then you meet in the middle and HUG

Sister Dalley is my new companion:) She is from Logandale Nevada and is simply amazing. We get along so well and we have had such an amazing week together. I am sure that she came pre-trained. We are getting moved into our new place which has been a lot of fun. I am still serving in the same area i just had to pack up and leave my place because they closed down 15 apartments in our mission. A lot of missionaries went home and not a lot came out. We need more missionaries:)

Change. That is something that i really wanted to talk about. I could go on and on about all the amazing little experiences that we have had this week ranging from investigators coming to church, helping others understand the truthfulness of this gospel and so on, but the thing that has really stuck with me this week is the person that i have become this past year. They say the mission changes you. and they are right. The mission does change you IF you let it. It sounds so cheesy but i really don't know where i would be if I wouldn't have made the decision to serve a mission, and to leave at the time that i did. I have a strong testimony of the Heavenly Fathers plan for me and for his children and I have faith and I know that when we put our trust in him things will always work out. The gospel of Jesus Christ is all about change and that is  all part of the plan. We are to become what the Lord wants us to become. I know that through the small and simple things we can achieve TRUE happiness. I love being a missionary. It is THE most fulfilling thing that i have ever done in my entire life. It takes hard work and dedication and i love that. I am so grateful for this opportunity to be with Sister Dalley,. She has already taught me so much and I love that. I know that we can always grow no matter where we are in life.

I love you all!:)

GOD SPEED!

Love Sister Norton