"he has decided to leave everything behind and be baptized" (Sam)

Hello!

This was a great week. Not fantastic numbers but the work we did was more important than the numbers we could have "achieved".

We organized and had this awesome JAS (jovenes adultos solteros- young single adults) activity on tuesday with ping pong, desserts, and UNO that turned out well and helped fellowship a couple new members and investigators. We are working with a girl named P. who´s parents are less active from something that happened like years ago but she was never baptized. She has a lot of friends in the church, including the bishops daughter and we´ve been getting to know her a lot more. The three companionships here in Jerez have been working really well together. P technically lives in the Hermanas area but we agreed that a companionship of elders would probably be better for her right now. This saturday and sunday were our stake conferences and P attended both saturday night and sunday morning! :P We set up a Noche de Hogar with her and a really solid family in the ward that she´s good friends with. We´re pumped!

We set a baptismal date with an "eternigator" that is finally going to get baptized! His name is J. J. and couldn´t be baptized before for a long list of weird little things and obstacles. Due to a series of events that have gone down the month or two, everything has "cleared up" so to speak and he has decided to leave everything behind and be baptized. We´re working closely with the bishop because he has obviously known J. J. a lot longer than we have.. but Bishop agreed to letting us set and baptismal date with him for the 15th of February!.. the weekend before Elder Crandall will leave! QUÉ BENDICIÓN. I´ll keep you updated!

Hey I love you all! Thanks for your support and prayers. We need them.

!Hasta la otra semana!

ADIOS

Élder Norton

* Wondering what "Noche de Hogar" is? 

Here in the U.S. we call it "Family Home Evening" or "FHE"

It's a night we set aside weekly (typically Mondays) to spend quality time with our family.

What makes family home evening successful?

• Start and end with prayer. This invites the Spirit, increases love, and teaches your family how to pray.
• Learn from the scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets to help your family live the gospel.
• Add music, such as hymns and Primary songs, to create an atmosphere of love, peace, and joy. 
• Make it fun by playing games, acting out scripture stories, and making treats. Keep the atmosphere light and loving.
• Be consistent. Monday nights are set aside by the Church for family home evening. If that doesn’t work, find a night that does.
• Add variety. Help a neighbor in need, hold a lesson at the park, or go for a walk as a family.

"We cannot afford to neglect this heaven-inspired program. 

It can bring spiritual growth to each member of the family, helping him or her to 

withstand the temptations which are everywhere. 

The lessons learned in the home are those that last the longest.” 

resident Thomas S. Monson

"The Lord is aware of all the details" (Hilary)

"Rescue of the Lost Lamb" by Minerva Teichert

Hi everyone! I love you all very much! I absolutely love hearing from you all every Monday. It is so exciting and it makes me so happy! Monday morning I sit on my bed (after having printed the emails) reading everyones emails smiling and laughing and my companion does the same.

Okay, I think a lot of my emails from last week arrived much later then I sent them. Like, I finished emailing Monday around 5:30 and they didn't show up for some people until like Tuesday... I don't know what that is all about, but just clearing things up so there aren't any questions about obedience. 

This week went really well. It was exciting and difficult starting over in a new sector. My companion was much less familiar with the area that we thought she was. But we have learned a lot about the sector geographically and are working hard to pick up the pace. A couple things we have been doing to work more effectively are 1. Planning Noches de Hogar (Family Home Evenings) with members and having them invite others, whether they are members, converts, less-actives, or investigators. It is helping us to get to know more people and helping them to build closer and stronger relationships here in the ward. It is a great tool. 2. We are also going through the carpeta and planning visits with all the recent converts. I have a strong testimony that when we feel the blessings of the Atonement and the Gospel in our lives, we want to share them with others. Converts are always a great source for references. This ward has been doing a great job of involving them, as well. The majority have callings and assignments, which is something I have always suggested in other wards. I remember studying a message by President Packer when he spoke about helping less-actives return to the church. We need to put more confidence in converts and less-actives than we do. There are a few families of less-actives we are also trying to help out. Thursday in the District Meeting we talked about how we have been called with the objective of "Invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo..." (invite people to come to Christ) and that does not exclude those who already are members.

The investigators are doing well. The Hermanas' investigators were slowly progressing so we are doing what we can to help them and find new people as well. D is a young girl whose mother and sisters are less-actives. The whole family attended church yesterday and really enjoyed it. Another investigator that attended church yesterday is a reference we received this week. His girlfriend is a member and they are planning to get married. She has been a good support and helped by bearing her testimony. We have talked about the temple and they have that as a future goal.

This week we did divisions with Sister Marca and Sister Galdame. It went well, although we weren't able to spend the whole day with them. We accomplished goals and helped to encourage them and today when we saw them in the offices they looked like they are doing great. I absolutely love that part of this assignment and I have really felt grateful for all I get to do here.

One thing I have loved to do as a missionary is help others recognize their divine potential.

I have really felt Heavenly Father's love for me 

and I think one of the primary ways I can fulfill my assignment and objective 

is start out by helping others understand their divine potential.

Okay, a couple little things.

I am feeling a little better. I have gotten to the point where I can work, it is just uncomfortably. So, I will just do all I can and keep praying. I thank you all for your help! I loved reading about cute Adam. He is incredible. I really miss him a lot.  Fun to hear about Amanda! I love her! Hope they are all doing well!

OK, there was something else, but I can't think of it. Love you all! Thanks for everything!

Hermana Norton

"... a list of a few goals for 2013 and a few bad habits I can repent of then bury so I don't continue in my stupid sins." (Hilary)

Hilary & Sam on New Year's Eve 1999 - I love Hilary's handmade crown!

Good morning family! Hope you are all doing well! It is so fun to hear from you and I loved being able to talk Tuesday. It was so nice. I felt a little selfish afterward; we only talked about me. I am sorry and I hope you know that I am concerned with your well-being and pray for you all every day!

Something cool about Ibarra is that the Latins understand a lot more than the indigenous people. I don't mean that offensively, it's just that the indigenous people spend all day working in the fields, while the Latins have the opportunities to study and all that. Anyway, I have really enjoyed working with these people. I really love this message and I love sharing it.

Sundays are probably the hardest, longest, most stressful days of the week. Which is a bummer, but at the same time, I feel like I am really fighting to earn my salvation, so it kind of feels good too. Anyway, you won't be surprised if I come home with a head full of grey hairs and a couple ulcers.

We continue working with the M. family, and this week, Hermana Davila and I feel like we have been able to solve the issue that we had been working with. The other night, Hermana Davila invited them all to share their testimonies about the changes they've seen since they were introduced to the church. It was a really inspired invitation she made because I think it was the first time they were able to have such a spiritual moment and share their gratitude and love for each other. Hermano F. M. began to cry as he shared his gratitude for the help that the missionaries had offered him and his children. I was really able to recognize the desire of a parent that their children can have a better life. It gave us a glimpse of the intentions of his heart. It was a really cool experience.

I personally have been studying a lot about the conversion recently. (I have been studying a lot of the talks from this past conference and also a lot of the things that Dad put in the Norton Wisdom book.) I am grateful for the mission and all that I have learned here because I believe that beforehand I had a testimony but here my testimony is growing to become a conversion. I pray to be forgiven of my weaknesses and improve myself every day. It really is so beautiful that we can be forgiven and change. I love our Heavenly Father and His Son, our Savior.

I was reading yesterday about the Anti - Nephi - Lehies people and I love their conversion story. They are so humble and they understand so well. I love that they are so converted that they say that they don't want to dirty their swords again after being forgiven (it reminded of what Elder Holland said in his talk: "Then why are we here on this same shore, by these same nets, having this same conversation?" Sometimes we keep committing the same sin - why do we do that?) I put together a list of a few goals I have for the 2013 and a few bad habits I can repent of and then bury so I don't continue in my stupid sins. I want to invite you all to do the same! Let's thank our great God that permits us to change and forgives and continues to love us after all we have done.

I love you all. Choose the right.

Hermana Norton

P.S. Are you guys having Family Home Evening? I think I didn't think it was very important before the mission, but if the Prophet wants us to do it, we absolutely have to do it. I don't want a Monday night to keep us from exaltacion.

P.S.S. If you get the chance, can someone send me the talk that talks about the "tactics" of Satan or whatever? There are like four Ds or something. I would like it in English and in Spanish. Thank you!

H-

Want to read or listen to Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk that Hermana Norton referenced? One of THE best talks EVER! 
click HERE for the link