Photos from Hermana Norton!

May I introduce you to Las Tres Hermanas!

Hermana Giles and Hermana Ellis

in the classroom...

at the Provo temple ...

at the Provo temple again ...

Hilary loves her companions so much! I'm so grateful they have each other!

And please tell me how the cat is doing! I don't like him very much, but I'm concerned about his welfare! (Hilary's 2nd Email)

Whats not to like?

I LOVE YOU ALL. I want to hear from you more. Please please Dear Elder me. Adam, please email me! How is school? How's baseball? I heard about your homerun; I wish I could have been there! Write me and tell me how things are going and what the latest is with Korrah.

Dad, did you get my letter? I love you and hope to hear from you soon. My Espanol scriptures are the size of normal scriptures. Could you send the list of take-off scriptures in Espanol? That would be so helpful. I've already used it quite a bit and everyone in my district is muy jealous. Not in a bad way... Just like, "Oh that's waaay cool." Also, Abby wants a copy of it too. But currently she's in the UK so we'll worry about getting that to her later.

Mom and everyone,

Thanks again and again for your packages. I feel the love. Dear Elder me every day. Just tell me the funny things that happen. Tell me how you're feeling. Tell me what you're up to. Tell me what you learned in your personal scripture study. ETC. Literally, one of my comps (No, we're still in the trio, she was just sick the other day so we had to switch off going to different meetings, etc.) get's 3 or more Dear Elders a day. Her mom has written her every day she's been here. That's a little much, but I do want to hear from you more!

I have a few items of business I need to take care of before I talk about the week.

1. Please Dear Elder me ASAP and tell me how much money is in my account. I can't check and have no idea how much I have and if its in checking or savings. Please just move things around if necessary.

2.  Some people have written me but provided me with incorrect addresses or no addresses at all. :( I want to have addresses to write friends and family.... please tell people to send their addresses!

3.  Please forward Sam's emails to me. I haven't gotten any since I came here and I'm anxious to hear how he's doing.

5. On my blog I posted a quote about work. It was last year I think. It's pretty long and very redundant... But that's the point. It's really good. Can you find it for me and send it to me?

Mitch, I love you and miss you so much. Write me more. I'm glad you like Gotye (you're such a scenester), PERO I hate Gotye. Okay, hate is harsh...

Okay, back to the real email. I'm so glad Mother's Day went well. I love you and wish we could have talked. But I'm glad you got to talk to Sam! Have you been getting my letters and cards? I've been sending quite a few.

The food is okay here. I'm not so picky. This morning we went to the temple and did sealings (never done that before; so cool) and then ate breakfast there after. It was REAL food and SO NICE. We were very happy. We wake up at 6:30, generally earlier, and are in bed with the lights out at 10:30. All throughout the day, we're studying and studying and studying. I'm taking my vitamins, thank you :)  JAJAJAJAJAJAJA (so glad you used that Mom :))

I've taken a few photos. I'll send you the SD card. I just bought a new one, so tomorrow or Monday I'm going to send you a package with some stuff and I'll include the SD card with the pictures. I wish I could include captions.

Mom, I'm sorry things are slowing down for you. I feel like you're Elizabeth once her BFF gets married and moves away and her sisters are all traveling and Mr. Wickham is gone. She says, "The view from my window is rather grey." I hope you get to work at the temple. That would be so AWESOME. It would absolutely put some color in your life. And please tell me how the cat is doing! I don't like him very much, but I'm concerned about his welfare!

We've had Elder Christofferson and Elder L. Tom Perry come speak to us. Really really neat. Things are going well. I have thirty seconds left! Ahhhh. The Spanish is really coming for me and I love my comps and district. I'll write a letter. Things are going really well with our new investigator.

Okay, SORRY THIS IS SO SCATTERED> PLEASE DEAR ELDER> I LOVE YOU>

Hermana Norton

Hilary's 1st Email

                               Hola!

  The day has finally come when I am able to write you. HOORAH. It's Thursday May 10. I mean, I've been at the MTC for eight days! Wow. Okay, thanks for your packages and emails! I feel so loved. I love you so much and miss you greatly. Okay, let me start from the beginning.

  The first day at the MTC is sort of like a movie. There is an orange sticker on your tag that you have to wear your first day which causes everyone on MTC campus to say, "Welcome Sisters!" in their new language. I felt like I was Zach Efron on a Disney Channel movie or something. Everyone was walking passed me and smiling and greeting me (and everyone else that was new). But Disney is a good analogy. The MTC is the happiest place on earth. No, I'm being completely serious. Okay, I'll get to that stuff later. So on my first day I had soup all over my dress and in a workshop I introduced myself as Elder Norton... It was a humbling day. (And that was not the last time I've introduced myself as an Elder. I don't know what my problem is.)

   My companions are great. Yes, I'm in a trio. Sister Giles is from South Jordan and Sister Ellis is from Kearns. They're both hilarious and we get along so well. Sister Ellis and I were talking about how concerned we are about being in different companionships; the standard has been set high.

I've seen many friends here at the MTC.  I've seen a picture of Sam Miller on his mission and also, there's a giant picture of Parker Wilson knocking a door. Crazy! I've seen a LOT of my friends from BYU that work here. I saw David Doxey. He's such a good guy. I saw Sister Howe and Sister Wilson. The MTC is just such a happy place. You don't realize how good life can get until you get to do things like this.

   My Spanish teacher's name is Hermano Loaiza. He is fantastic. He's a really sweet BYU student who is a native Spanish speaker. He's a really good guy and I'm so grateful for him every day. The spirit is felt very strongly in his classes and I'm so glad to know the MTC hires people who are pure and who care about the important work. Everyone here is fantastic.

   Yes, class is 100% Espanol. It's so great though. I feel pretty comfortable with the language. I mean, it's VERY challenging, but I know I have help. On our second day, we taught our first investigator, Martin. We met with him five times and now we're moving on to a new investigator. Things were hard with Martin. We committed him to baptism, but I just felt like there was so much more that needed to be accomplished that we just COULDN'T because of the language barrier. We've had a couple workshops where we've had the opportunities to teach in English and I love it. I love bearing my testimony and promising others blessings I know Heavenly Father wants to give them. BUT. Until I learn more Spanish, I can't do that. HA. I mean, I can, with the Spirit. But it's just very very hard. Our first few lessons with Martin were terrible. We decided what to say beforehand and went in and just read it straight to/AT him. Saturday night we hit rock bottom. We were all really frustrated. Sunday was a good break and after fasting and studying and listening to many great mission conference and fireside talks, I felt a lot more prepared to teach the gospel. I realized (D&C 84:85) that what we needed to do was just depend on the spirit. If we did what we needed to to understand the doctrine and have the companionship of the spirit, he would carry the message. And he did! Basically I had a really great conversation with Martin and was able to answer some questions he had and I felt like he was really beginning to understand. Anyway, overall it was a really good learning experience. I look forward to female investigators who I feel like I might be able to connect with better. Most importantly I look forward to understanding the Spanish language better so I am a more functional instrument through which He can share his messages.

   Elder Clinger is great. He's a really good kid. So is Elder Christiansen. Both are in my district, which is literally the greatest. My first letter was from Lucky, I've also heard from Paul Park and Mitch and Abby :) I love everyone. I hope everyone is doing well.  I'm so glad to hear about Adam's games! And about the gifted program. YOU ROCK.  I can't call on Mother's Day, but I will call when I'm traveling, which is May 22.  I'll be sending some things back soon. Thanks for all the food! I'm not so hungry though; I'M JUST HUNGRY TO HEAR YOUR WORDS! SO WRITE ME :)

LOVE YOU

MTC Day for Hilary!

"You have NO IDEA how much we're going to miss you!"

Is it just me or does she have kind of a "deer caught in the headlights" look about her?

Please Stay Tuned ...

Just got back from the Provo Mission Training Center. I have so much to share ... Hilary's farewell photos, Hilary's MTC drop off, Sam's newest letter, etc ... but I'm just not up for it today. Even the pink tulips are feeling blue. Check back tomorrow, please.
I did update the sidebar with both new addresses, though, in case anyone wants to write! Thanks

Backstage Pass to the Provo MTC

 Just wanted to share a few of the photos Sam sent home chronicling his time at the Provo Missionary Training Center

Will someone explain how he did this?

Elder Sam Norton & Elder Chad Peters

I Spy ... 10 elders, 4 bunkbeds, 2 bottles of Febreze

the District

A big THANK YOU to all the dedicated people that serve at the Mission Training Center!

Provo MTC Week 3 - Sam's Email

Como como como como como como como! = I eat like i eat how i eat as i eat.

You think manderine chinese is hard???????? PSHHHH! :) just kidding.

Hello!

I love you! I have been receiving more "dear elders" and letters and stuff! Its awesome! Have not heard from clay or kevin though...........O.o

Anywhoo, no prob. :) as long as clay writes me when he gets his call WHICH I THINK WAS YESTERDAY and as along a kevin writes me at least once about climbing V11s and stuff before he leaves for brazil!

Anyways, everything's going well here! My companion and i have received our Visas for Spain and our travel plans as well. We leave the Provo MTC this Tuesday morning at like 6 am to go the SLC airport. We will fly to Atlanta Georgia, have a twoish hour lay over and then fly straight to MADRID ESPAÑIA! We´re pumped out of our minds!

As for some questions that have been asked...

The investigator that we were working with, Jorge, was not an actual investigator. I guess i wasn´t really clear about that in my last email cuz everyone is like oooooooo tell us about your investigator!! :) haha he is one of our Spanish teachers actually.. Hermano McCord. The first week, a different teacher was teacher our classes and we would only meet with ''Jorge" for lessons. We had four total lessons with him and then he became one of our two teachers. This week, we have two investigators, Jose Luis and Luis Guerra. Jose Luis is Hermano Mccord and Luis Guerra is our other teacher Hermano Frost. its not as exciting as everyone probably thought it was... :) cuz they are just returned missionaries helping the newbies learn... pero, its still hard, because they choose investigators from their past mission experiences and portray that person. Jorge, our first missionary, was studying philosophy(?) when we were teaching him so he had tons of questions and we had a really hard time helping him feel things. Not to mention trying to understand and answer his questions... he had a thousand. Our two new investigators both have divorced families... which makes talking about families very touchy. one bounces from church to church really trying to find the truth but is also very knowledgeable and has lots of questions which are hard to understand and explain the answers cuz everything is in Spanish. The other, doesn't really talk... never really asks questions and is extremely hard to read. so we try to help him and understand what he desires to hear and needs to hear but hes really hard to read. We need the spirit hard core cuz investigators are not easy to work with and understand. Anyways, thats our investigators.. we only have like 2 or 3 more lessons with each since we're leaving soon so we'll see.

Thank you thank you thank you for the packages and the letters and the notes!! They are awesome. THE COOKIES.... AHHHHHH sooo good! we picked that package up and took it back to our room. right when i started opening it I was like..... I smell..... something. I smell my moms cookies. O.O :) We were really happy. They are great.

I cant remember what I've told you already but I got my shoes. i got the ties you sent and the package that Mitch sent with the ties and stuff. :) Awesome. annnnd and I think I have receive everything you've sent. I ask for something in the e-mail, it comes a couple days later. :) you rock. But really. You rock.

Couple things...

Hermano Toone, Mitch's mission buddy, teaches here. i don't know if he has said anything to Mitch and if Mitch has said anything but I see him like daily. He's awesome! Also, please post my Madrid MTC address on my FB and ask people to post their addresses of where they will be living next semester so I can write them when they don't write me. :) And then maybe print them off and send them to me in a letter or something. I've been trying to think of anything else I might need. I feel super good. When I get to the Spain MTC I may ask for a thing or two but I won't need anything between now and then.Thanks for everything again. If you want or need to send anything else to me here, I'd do it today... tomorrow early at the latest. Any later and I don't think it will be here before I leave. LOVE YOU AGAIN!

-Elder Norton

ps. my madrid mtc address is
Elder Samuel Norton

     4A Planta

     Calle Del Templo No. 2

     Madrid 28030

     Spain

Happy Easter!

Easter 1995

I love looking at old photos of my kids. Some of the memories are so clear I can almost hear their voices. It's like watching one of your favorite movies, hitting pause, but knowing exactly how the scene plays out. Mitch was 9, Hilary was 4 and Sam had just turned 2 a couple of months before this indoor egg hunt. Apparently not everyone wanted to stop to have their picture taken.

This is Elder Sam Norton's second Sunday at the Provo MTC. Last week was General Conference and this week is a special Easter Program with several General Authorities in attendance. Elder Norton and his companion, Elder Chad Peters, have joined the MTC choir and will be singing in the program.

This year, with the recent passing of our dear father / grandfather, Easter holds even more significance. Follow the link to view "He is Risen"                          Joanna

Sam's Provo MTC Address

Sam's Provo MTC address:

Elder Samuel Norton
MTC Mailbox 233
SPA-MAL 0417
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Also, if you want to Dear Elder Sam, use his mailbox number 233.

Provo MTC Week 2 - Sam's Email

Easter Sunday program choir practice?

Sam has never been one to take pictures. Over the years, as he has gone on various adventures (Scout camp, Lake Powell, EFY, Choir tour, etc.) I have urged him to take a camera along and get photos of all the places he goes and people he meets. It's never happened. I have sent my camera along and it has come back unused. I have sent disposable cameras with him that have come home unopened. But I have not given up. I sent with him a new little Nikon with instructions to "please document your mission in photos." Nothing yet, but it's only been a week. So, to keep the blog interesting I am posting past photos that ..... if you use your imagination ..... will go with his letter.                Joanna

"You can be the senior comp, since you have gray hair"

"Elders, are those drinks caffeinated?"

Hola a todos!

Hello everyone! Good to hear from you. Everything is going great here. My district and I are all learning so much and stretching ourselves a lot. Its great. The MTC is like a great big iron. It just forces all the kinks and wrinkles out of everyone. :) Whether you want it to straighten you out or not, it does. My district and I have really been feeling that lately. We were all so different but we continually have realization after realization about things we are doing that we probably shouldn't do and about things that we are doing that we could be doing better so we are all becoming perfectly pressed shirts, ready for the real mission field. :D
Dad, happy birthday! Did you get my letter?? I think I sent it on the 2nd so I hope you got it. Thanks again for the info.. GO ROMNEY!!! WOOOOO! And Jimmer sounds like a total rollercoster! Haha I bet his coach just loves it. Thanks to both you and mom for pointers on leadership. I love getting others points of view. They can only help right??!! I really wanted to be a leader that didn't attempt to stand above those around him as an attempt to show... dominance or whatever so I've been trying to lead by positive friendship if that makes sense.. I just have to walk the line of being their friend as well as following all the rules. Still working on it but everything is going great.

Mama, my week thus far has been great. We taught our "investigator" 4 times, all of which were in 100% spanish and about 30 min lessons each. Suuper hard but we're learning a lot. PLUS... he has zero religion and he is currently studying philosify(?).... which makes it a billion times harder... haha but its alright. We got him to feel the spirit/peace(he said) and pray and he has been reading sections of the book of mormon. He is very very touchy about commitments and he also has had tons of questions... a lot of which we haven't ever really understood so its been tough but we're pressing on. I'll keep you posted on Jorge. :) An average day is... wake up at 6:20 and wait in 20 mins of shower lines... :) get to our classroom by 7. personal study till 7:30. breakfast till 8:15. back to class till 11ish. then this spanish computer program for an hourish. lunch at 12. back to class for personal study and language study then our teachers come in and speak Spanish to (at) us for like an hour or two. then dinner. then back to the classroom for more Spanish and prepping for lessons for Jorge in Spanish... then... we go to the dorms, plan out the next day and zonk out. Haha 4 or 5 days a week we get 50 mins of gym time and we have devotionals Tuesdays and Sundays but other than that, the days are basically.... wake up, study, breakfast, study/class, lunch, study/class, dinner, study/class, sleep. OTRA VES! My district is doing great! I explained a lot about it before. That's basically the downlow. We're doing well. I'm really excited about singing in the choir. We've practiced a couple times and its great. I'll let you know how the Easter Sunday program goes. Nothing on our visas yet. But we (my comp and I) got papers about a meeting Friday with the consul from Spain. I think it will be about our visas cuz Other missionaries have  had those meetings too and they are good things. I'll let you know. :) Your mish slang is coming along QUITE well! The MTC culture here is super funny. I've been here over a week now and so we got to see a bunch of new missionaries yesterday so we got the say WELCOME TO THE MTC a bajillion times. Kinda fun. :) I did get your picture in my suit case. Love it. Thank you. Its on my desk right now. Adam, SOO SICK. Way to go on hitting two stinking doubles. My comp and I are beyond impressed. :) Keep me updated. BTW, I'm teaching my comp the rubik's cube. :) Thought you'd appreciate that. Oh, and I still remember that game that you were playing catcher and you bare handed that throw from the outfield to try to throw a kid out at third..... I think I kinda died inside. you're sick. Know that your brother knows you have potential. Reach it in all you do. Don't get complacent. Hil........? :) Love you even though I didn't get stuff from you...... Hahaha I know you're hecka busy. Honestly, use dearelder. I would love to get dear elders and I think they're free so I you only have a spare second.. get on dearelder.com and send me a quick message. its fast, free, i'll get it that day, and I WILL write you a letter back! :) That goes for maaa friends too! DEAR ELDERS PLEEEZE

Anyways.  Love you all!  Good to hear from you.  Thanks again!!!  :) 

Love you all!

                     Elder Norton

Sam's First Email!!!

                                                         Sat.  March 31, 2012                                                          

Hola mi familia y me amigos!

Everything is going great! It's weird... thinking about how I am the missionary in this impenetrable(?) MTC bubble. Very little comes in and very little goes out. We were actually honked at by a car today and I thought they were mad but then I realized that they were honking at us cuz WE'RE MISSIONARIES. Coool.

Thank you thank you for the letters, packages, and e-mails I have been getting. They're much appreciated. Let me just say this. We have 30 minutes on the computers for e-mailing only once a week and its sorta hard to read several different e-mails (all from family for those reading) and then answer to all cuz I can't really jump back and forth to read and reread the questions and whatnot. If you would like to write something to me for me to get in the middle of the week, send me a message through dearelder.com cuz those are printed everyday and we get them just after dinner. I won't be able to answer till p-days but it will make it easier for me cuz I'll get it earlier and have it in paper form. When you do e-mails, please consolidate to one. Muchas Gracias.

As for questions.....

MTC is awesome. It really is. We eat a TON. haha a lot of missionaries gain weight cuz it is 100 percent all you can eat for every meal and there are quite a few choices for each meal. My district and I have been talking about how much food/trash/wasted food/.....YEAH this place must go through every day. CRAZY. For conference, everyone at the mtc (i think) packed into one room and if I were to try to compare it to our churches gym I would say it was 15 times as big. YEAH. PACKED. So imagine how much food that is. But anyways, food is good. I'm liking it and eating a lot and eating good foods too. (promised I would!) My comp is Elder Chad Peters. Really awesome guy. We have several things in common... aka volleyball... annnd.. I dunno.. other stuff thats not like specific things but we get along well which is good. Haha he likes his caffine ... he brought a huge pack of drinks called like Ole' ? :) anywhoooo. We're good. My teachers are awesome too. Hermano Goodman, Hermano Frost, y Hermano.... can't remember the other one. I think the last one was kind of training.. so I don't think he'll be in with us as much which is a bummer cuz he explained stuff the best/we could understand him the best cuz OH YEAH... EVERYTHING IS IN ESPANIOL. Anyways.. :) We're all learning super quick cuz its requiring more of us so esta bien. BTW, my teachers do not use the spain accent because only me and my comp are going to spain. the other 8 guys in my district are going stateside. one to new mexico, the rest to north carolina, raleigh(?).

Which leads me to my next topic... my SICK district. Love my elders. Elders sanches, knott, chaffer(?), rich, bush, gonzales, goodwin, y eskelsen. Love them all and I think the companionships are about as perfect as they could be. I know the lords hand played a part in the companionships. Oh, kinda cool sidenote, we met with our branch presidency yesterday...? not sure.. everything is just a blurrr.... but we each told our story kinda and about ourselves and then had interviews and I was asked to be our district leader. Sweet! and they also announced senior comps. exciting.

David archuleta is not in my district but we have stuff scheduled at the same time so we see him a lot. A few elders in  my district were like...... i´m totally gonna blow him off if we are next to each other... I don´t want him to think he´s like special... :) which honestly does have some truth to it cuz he is just another elder but I went and said "Hi" to him once and shook his hand. He was super humble about it too so that's good. kinda weird to see him so often and so.. up close though. :)

REAL QUICK... I'm super out of time...

Hilary, Pres. Hollands talk was by far my fav. Tanner will appreciate that. :) Dad, I love the "news" you sent. Keep it coming. Mom, I disagree wholeheartedly with all those people that told me that language preparation before your mission doesn't really do much for you cuz you learn so fast... You asked me if I feel like it did help and IT DID SO MUCH. Almost all the guys in the district turn to me now with questions. :) its fun.. oh and plus, we already gave a 25ish minute lesson in espaniol... :/ hard but I freaking carried the team!! :) So Hilary, do as much, even if its just a little, studying as you can before you and and ADAM, MAH MAN! Keep going baby! You could have this whole language down by the time I get home. JUST DON'T STOP TRYING. Life lesson as well too........ :)

Adam, thanks for the e-mail with that text from Tanner. In next package, por favor send me any of those ties you don't want. We all wear ugly ties on Fridays so I need some ugly ones. :) SRY EYE JUSS BRAHHT PURTY ONEZ!

BTW, I was not in the mtc choir that sang the second session... we saw Archuleta but we've only been here like... 4 days so i don't know how he's already practiced enough to sing with them... anyways, I'm gonna start practicing with them asap. Also, I got your package. THANK YOU.

SO YOU KNOW... I feel your love. I feel your prayers. I appreciate the much needed assistance. KNOW that I am thinking about each of you as well. I was watching priesthood and one of the later speakers said something about "mom, dad, brothers, sisters" and I thought of each of you individually. I love you. Thank you for the support. Godspeed.

-Elder Norton