"we peeled off the wings and shell, fried them and ate them with salt." (Hilary)

Dear everyone,

Mom, I imagine you are in your piano lessons or in the temple by this point. Dad, probably working. Mitch, also working. Sam, probably in una cita. And Adam, probably studying or learning something new. Sorry I didn't write yesterday. I hope Monday went well for you all. I love you more than I can say.

Yesterday we had a training meeting that we weren't told about until Saturday, so sorry I couldn't give you all a heads up. It was with Elder Waddell, a seventy, who learned his Spanish in Spain serving his mission in Barcelona and then later returning to be a mission president. I got a glimpse of what Sam's accent will be like. He began by talking about the organithathion de la Iglesia and lo que tenemos que hather para mejorar and stuff like that. No, but really, it was super powerful and exactly what I needed. I am going to include some of what I learned...
Entonthes...

Our calling as missionaries is to recoger (D&C 29:7) those who are chosen, or, those who will listen to the voice of the Lord.

Exito en la mision es lograr su capacidad.

Saber + hacer = exalta. Saber + no hacer = condena

L has really had a huge change from the first day we met him, when he didn't believe in God. We taught him about tithing the other day and it was the first lesson that he didn't accept. But when we saw him Sunday, he said he had been thinking about it and would strive to pay his tithing. Previously (before we met him) he had problems with the Word of Wisdom and we have been contacting him daily to help him to keep from falling. He explained to us how Saturday and Sunday God helped to keep him from drinking. He had been doing his part, and when it got tough, Heavenly Father kept His end of the promise as well. We have another investigator that is searching for the truth like Joseph Smith. Her name is N. The other day she fasted. I have really learned a lot from how hard she is working to come to the truth and we are trying to do what we can to help her along the way. M is doing so well. Her baptism reactivated her husband's whole family. JM is doing okay. His daughter really wants to be baptized but isn't getting the support she needs.  We are working really hard with her.

Okay, as for this week on the food update,Tuesday we had Cathso (escarabajo [beatles]). Eeeaaaaaarly in the morning, the Otavaleños hike up to the mountains and gather the white beatles and then we peeled off the wings and the shell parts and fried them and ate them with salt. I have some videos I am going to see if I can send somehow. Exciting experience!

Okay, please let Caitlin know that I love her, got her email, and I am responding tonight. And that I miss her. And that she is one of my best friends ever. And that I say hi to CJ and thanks for taking good care of her. It was fun to hear from her. I love receiving email and letters because it is so much easier to see how great our lives are from the outside.

Mom, don't worry about the flash drives. It will work. And although the first time on the mission I heard Christmas, it did make me homesick, now I am singing Christmas hymns all the time. So don't worry. I love you, Mom and Dad.

My red shoes are 6.5 and they fit perfectly. I hope the new ones you bought are okay. And the make-up is the Bare Essentials powder.

Okay, tell Bryce and Mel that I say congratulations. Yesterday Hermana Ghent told me that I have a "missionary family." It is so true. I love that we are all on different ends of this work. And I love the quote that Brother Berry shared. It is so true.

Okay, wait, Trevor is engaged?¿ I need to conocerla! Where is she from? Please tell Trev to send me a letter and picture.
 Grathias.

Okay, Sam. I literally was laughing out loud when I read the first line of your letter. I tried to explain it to my companion, but realized it wasn't that funny. Just funny for me because I could see your face and hear your voice when I read it. I hope the work is going well for you. I love you and pray for you every day (and really you're getting double the blessings because you fall into two circles of the venn diagram ["Please bless my family.", "Please bless the missionaries serving at this time."]). I laughed when I read about the woman who was "active" in the wrong church. A while ago we contacted a woman and helped her and her sick daughter by explaining that she can receive a priesthood blessing. Now she is attending her old church, although she understands that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the church that has the authority to offer this blessing. Somewhere there is a disconnect that I don't understand. Ha. Oh, and Kati's car was a PT Cruiser.

Yesterday, the closing song for the meeting was "La Luz de la Verdad." Yesterday's training meeting was with about half of the mission and I have never heard a group of people singing so loudly. It was so powerful.

Also, I saw Sam Harris yesterday!!!! She got to the mission like seven weeks ago and sent me a note and I wrote her back and a couple people have mentioned that she says hi, but it was so good to be able to see her! I love her and we feel like a little piece of home is here with us in Ecuador. I hope someday we can be companions.

Saturday was a baptism of some elders in our zone. We brought L and the elders knew he had been struggling with the idea of paying his tithing. They are so great. Our zone leader gave a talk and it was literally exactly what this investigator needed. These kids are great. I have a lot of respect for them.

Mom, please tell everyone that wrote me in October that I say thank you for the letters and advice. I don't have lots of time to respond, and I now have a list of 31 people to respond to. But let them know that I AM grateful.

Okay, I love you all. Live according to what you know. Live in harmony with your understanding, as PMG says. Be what God wants and needs you to be.

Hermana Norton

"I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." (Hilary) and photos

Dear everyone,

Hope all is well! Hope you are loving this October. What is it like in Utah right now? Otavalo is super... well a lot like Utah. The afternoons are hot and sunny, and the nights and mornings are suuuper chilly and rainy. I love it here. An average day in the zone Imbabura would be... Get out of bed at 6:30 and "exercise" (which may include running, yoga, conditioning, or, if we are feeling particularly tired, sitting on the floor and stretching for thirty minutes). By about 7 am we are actually awake, showering, making breakfast, all that. From 8-10 we have our personal and companionship studies and if we don't have to leave, we study the language. Lunch is with a member and generally consists of rice, chicken, vegetables, rice, maybe beans, always soup, rice, juice... and rice. And aside from all that, we are walking around (or riding a bus) to each and every corner and pueblo here in Imbabura, Ecuador, sharing, serving, teaching, contacting, and bringing sheep back to the fold. Like I mentioned, our area is very large and we are currently visiting a lot of people that live far, far from the city. I have never had a strong stomach, so the bus rides can get a little unpleasant. I remember the other day feeling like I was on a 25 minute long Indiana Jones ride after eating chicken feet (you hold it like a popsicle and chew off the ... whatever you would call the stuff that is on the bone/tendon) for lunch. It was super lovely. Good thing I am doing the greatest thing ever or else this might get hard.

Okay, to answer some questions/respond to some statements. Mitch, don't feel bad. Just write. You may not think that what happens is super interesting, but I promise it is. I love reading about your baby girl's grain-of-rice-sized toenails. Promise. (It sounds like sarcasm, but it isn't.) Dad, how was Germany? I hope you are still traveling when I get back so I can join you... :) I look forward to daddy-daughter time when I get back. And thanks for always writing. I know your schedule is super exhausting, but I don't think you know how much it means to me to hear from you. Mom, I got the package from LaVella (tell her thank you so much) and I love it all. I love the clothes and although before I said I don't need more clothes, I had been wanting a sweater and skirt just like the ones you sent. And I have been reading the pumpkin books nightly (homesick?! Of course not...). I love you so much and I am so blessed to have you as my mom. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.

J P is not the other little boy named J that had a baptismal date. J P's mother is a member and his father is not. J and C (that nicknamed me Princess) are children of F. She has five children and is a single mom. F's children are amazing and really, really want to do what is right. F is great, but is holding her children back because she won't change. It is so sad to see. We had to stop visiting them because we were spending a lot of time with them and not getting anywhere. Her kids love her so much and want to be baptized as a family, and won't be baptized without her. We have had a few talks with her where we've said (CASUALLY PARAPHRASING) "Listen, you need to do your part... You realize all your children need you to make this decision. etc etc"  Nothing is working. She has been working with missionaries since October of 2010. She has had previous baptisms that she did not show up to. It is super super sad to talk about or think about or see. Like I said a while ago, I have really been able to get a glimpse of what our Heavenly Father might be feeling. I want so badly for them to accept this and move forward I often find myself crying over them. We have seen F and her kids a few times since we stopped visiting them and it is the hardest thing for me. The other day we found J and his twin sister walking home from school and talked to them for a few minutes. He told me his family is now receiving visits from members of the Catholic church and they're attending there. That was a really tough day. 
It is a good thing we do this work in pairs because I know I wouldn't be able to do this alone - see Ecclesiastes 4

9  ^aTwo are better than one; because they have a good ^breward for their labour.

 10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

Hermana Marca does a great job of lifting me up when I am falling and I try to do that for her in return. I found a quote that I like that explains what has helped when I am really down.

"The Holy Ghost satisfies and fills up every longing of the human heart, and fills up every vacuum. When I am filled with that spirit, my soul is satisfied." Eliza R. Snow

Hermanas Marca and Norton and 4 elders attending an Otavalo Festival

I really love the Book of Mormon more than I can explain and my gratitude for it and the prophets who wrote it grows every day. The Book of Mormon and the teachings of modern-day prophets bring me the comfort I desperately need when things get tough in the mission. The other day I found a scripture that I love that helped me put into perspective my trials. 1 Nephi 20: 10 For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of ^aaffliction.
Heavenly Father is perfecting me bit by bit. It is sometimes painful (I mean, that's why they call it a refiner's fire, right?) but I just have to keep remembering that He knows me and He has a purpose in all this and if I am going to be His representative, I need to be better. He is bettering me in these trials.

Okay, today Hermana Marca and I were studying patience and reading in Mosiah and Alma. We stopped as we read Alma 26:1 and 2 

... behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed ... that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?

 2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?

and listed all the blessings that we have seen and felt and received (rather than focusing on what hasn't been working out). It was really a great exercise to focus on all that we have been given here in the mission. I am so eternally grateful for what I have been able to experience. I am so grateful for this opportunity and privilege and the conversion it has brought me. "I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."

Something else I am so grateful for is THE INCREDIBLE BIRTHDAY GIFT that is the daily letters from all the incredible people in my life. I will never forget it. I am working on replying, but it is going to be a process. Hermana Marca says she wants to do the same with her children on their missions... And of course I plan to do it with mine.

Okay, this email has no direction, purpose or organization and I apologize. It feels more like a relaxed conversation with the family. As I am looking back on it, I sound like a huge downer! But just know that I LOVE what I am doing and I am gaining a stronger testimony of Christ's atonement every day.

Oh, forgot to mention, Fernando (their most recent baptism) was recently called as a counselor in the Sunday School presidency and blessed the sacrament yesterday! I felt like a proud mom yesterday in that moment.

I LOVE YOU ALL. Be good. Read your scriptures and pray every day. AND DON'T MISS A SINGLE SUNDAY. Do your part and everything will work out for your good. Blessed be the name of our God.

H. Norton