Wednesday, August 1, 2012

"She doesn't let us come over cuz she says her dog will eat us" (Sam)

Hello!
     OK, family - looks like your spanish is coming along well!! :) I really hope there is a lot of spanish going on in the house! We´re gonna come home and only speak spanish........ so................... :) or maybe we´ll do some ayunos de inglés! ( Fasts of English )
   
     Ok, I´m gonna answer your questions and explain the photos...
The week was great! Hard, kinda long, but super good. That's what missionary work is... hard long work that is all worth it. Our teaching, Elder Jones and me, we teach very fluidly together. There are times where lessons come out very flat... or we leave and we both feel that the lesson was very poor, but I have found that those lessons only happen when the investigator really doesn´t want to hear. Its interesting.. because it is very clear when people want what we have and when they don't.. and it shows in how much they learn and how well the lesson goes. Salvation is a personal thing. It is not something that someone can give you, force you to have, or that you can get with little to no work. We do our best as missionaries, claro, we´re not perfect teachers, but we try to have the Spirit with us at all times... there are people that accept it, and there are people that straight up reject it. Its sad but it happens. We just have to keep working! Show them our love for them and Gods love for them, and pray a whole stinking lot! :)
   
     Travels: we walk everywhere.. cuz we´re just in our little town. When we do travel for meetings and zone conferences, we travel by bus.. every once and a while train.. but mostly long bus rides. :) Church meetings are sooo awesome! So personal cuz we´re just in our little church building with like 30 people, all really close.  We sang a duet this last Sunday and it was awesome. Gran eres tu - How great thou art. Two weeks before is when I spoke, topic was la obra missional or the missionary work. EASIEST TOPIC. I did it without notes..... :O :)  Hah my first talk that I gave here was my second Sunday here and I did it with a bunch of notes so this one I wanted to do without notes. It went well. I'm sure I said a couple things wrong but it felt so much better just coming out of my mind and heart rather than from what I read with my eyes straight to my mouth. I love Spanish. I love it. Its hard. Its honestly a roller coaster. Some days I feel that I understand every word, every phrase every everything, and that I can say anything that comes to my mind, and then some days, like Sunday night, we were talking with this lady, and I was explaining something that I've explained many times before and when I finished she looked up at me and was like.. "I'm sorry, I'm not really understanding you........."  :/  hahah kind of a speed bump but what I do know is that I'm learning something everyday. Little by little, I will master this language! :) 
      Elder Jones is doing great. He is 16 months in so he's still got a while. We check our emails in a store called a locutorio.. or a little electronics store with places to use phones and computers with internet. It cost one euro an hour. Not bad at all. We do have a phone. Its kinda pricy to call and text so we don't use it a ton but its kinda nice to get ahold of people with. We eat with members about 4 ish times a week. Sometimes more. Its fun! Our Rama is tiny but we eat with members a lot. We buy groceries at this popular grocery store really close to our house and we carry our bags and milk and water all the way back to our piso. :)

     Ok, don't have much time ...  I'll explain some pictures I sent:  The dog, BIG DOG, is this investigator's dog. She doesn't let us come over cuz she says her dog will eat us... or in her words.. "will give us scars" Hah so..... We teach her in her friends house. :) The amazing tree.... is just an amazing tree. I'm going to plant one in our back yard when I get home. The fish..... they just have those sitting out in the grocery store. THEY'RE CRAZY. Anyway, I have to go now but I wrote you guys a super great letter that's going in the mail today. Also, hope you got my package, let me know.

I love you guys! Hope all is well! Keep me updated on everything! I love the emails!
-Elder Norton

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