Hello everybody back home!

   The mission´s great. Another transfer just ended yesterday although it feels like I started a week ago. President Deere called to fill us in on whats going on in this area. Elder Blanch is all packed up and pumped to see his family. He´s made soooo many people cry here. They love him in this area! They tried to plan a surprise goodbye party through me and he kinda figured out..... D:.. haha go figure.. we´re together 24/7... but we pretended like he didn´t know and it turned out suuuper good! They were all really excited. You´ll see all the pictures on the camera card I send home (still haven´t sent it yet WOW. SORRY. Its at the TOP TOP of my to do list) from my NEW CAMERA. I bought a new camera and went a little bit up to get a good quality one. I´m really pleased. Thanks for chipping in. I actually have desires to take pictures now cuz they turn out well. :) We´ll be able to enjoy them for the rest of forever.

   Real quick. My international drivers thing expires the 21st of april. If you could get another that would be awesome. Whenever you can.

   Mom, don´t worry about the surgery. :) Instead of counting down the days till you´re better, use this time as a hard core study of the Book of Mormon or Spanish. That will help you keep your mind off of getting better. Set an awesome goal and then IMMERSE yourself in trying to achieve it. How lucky you are to have 6 weeks to accomplish an awesome goal! That´s what peolpe wish for! :)

   I´m out of time. I love you! Thank you for the quote mom!


Oh... :) I'm training again and I was called as District Leader. :) I´m really excited to serve! BYE!
-Elder Norton
 
Thursday March 28, 2013 will be the one year mark or "The Middle" of Elder Norton's full-time mission in Malaga Spain. During that one year he has lived in 7 places: Provo Utah Mission Training Center, Madrid Spain Mission Training Center, Huercal-Overa Spain, Malaga Spain, Alcoy Spain, Sevilla Spain, and Aljarafe Spain.
Keep up the good work, Sammy!

Always in the Middle

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

By many world calendars, July marks the middle of the year. While the beginnings and endings of things are celebrated and remembered, the middle of things often goes unnoticed.
Beginnings are times for making resolutions, for creating plans, for bursts of energy. Endings are times for winding down and may involve feelings of completion or loss. But with the proper outlook, considering ourselves as in the middle of things can help us not only to understand life a little better but also to live it a little more meaningfully.

The Middle of Missionary Work

When I speak to our young missionaries, I often tell them they are in the middle of their missions. Whether they just arrived the day before or are to depart for home the day after, I ask them to think of themselves as always being in the middle.
New missionaries may feel they are too inexperienced to be effective, and so they delay speaking or acting with confidence and boldness. Seasoned missionaries who are close to completing their missions may feel sad their missions are coming to a close, or they may slow down as they contemplate what they will do after their missions.
Whatever the circumstances and wherever they serve, the truth is that the Lord’s missionaries are daily sowing countless seeds of good tidings. Thinking of themselves as always being in the middle of their missions will embolden and energize these faithful representatives of the Lord. As it is with full-time missionaries, so it is with all of us.

We Are Always in the Middle

This change in perspective is more than a simple trick of the mind. There is a sublime truth behind the idea that we are always in the middle. If we look at our location on a map, we are tempted to say we are at a beginning. But if we look more closely, wherever we are is simply in the middle of a larger place.
As it is with space, so it is with time. We may feel we are at the beginning or end of our lives, but when we look at where we are against the backdrop of eternity—when we realize that our spirit has existed for time beyond our capacity to measure and, because of the perfect sacrifice and Atonement of Jesus Christ, that our soul will exist for an eternity to come—we can recognize that we are truly in the middle.
Recently I felt impressed to redo the headstone on my parents’ grave. Time had not been kind to the grave site, and I felt that a new headstone would be more fitting for their exemplary lives. When I looked at the birth dates and death dates on the headstone connected by the usual insignificant little dash, this small symbol of a lifespan suddenly filled my mind and heart with an abundance of rich memories. Each of these treasured memories reflects a moment in the middle of my parents’ lives and in the middle of my life.
Whatever our age, whatever our location, when things occur in our lives, we are always in the middle. What’s more, we will forever be in the middle.

The Hope of Being in the Middle

Yes, there will be moments of beginnings and moments of endings throughout our lives, but these are only markers along the way of the great middle of our eternal lives. Whether we are at the beginning or the end, whether we are young or old, the Lord can use us for His purposes if we simply set aside whatever thoughts limit our ability to serve and allow His will to shape our lives.
The Psalmist says, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we [should] rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). Amulek reminds us that “this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors” (Alma 34:32; emphasis added). And a poet muses, “Forever—is composed of Nows.”1

Being always in the middle means that the game is never over, hope is never lost, defeat is never final. For no matter where we are or what our circumstances, an eternity of beginnings and an eternity of endings stretch out before us.

We are always in the middle.