"WOW. What a miracle filled week!" (Sam)

Hello family and friends!

   WOW. What a miracle filled week! 9 NEW INVESTIGATORS this week. Wowowow. The Lord and his mysterious ways! :) We have been working and really been trying to make new goals and continue moving forward and this week the Lord opened one of the windows of heaven above us. I testify of the Reality and God´s love and blessings in our lives. When we work hard and are obedient, blessings come. Sometimes not right away.. for example last transfer was pretty long and we felt that we had very little success and right at the start of this transfer, the Lord blessed us with a bunch of new investigators. DON´T DOUBT THE LORD´S TIMING. Everything he does is for our BENIFIT. Doubting the Lord´s judgement is a fire that can quickly grow out of our control. Trust his judgement and humbly obey.

   Sadly, the Nigerian family I talked about has more or less dropped us... :\ they are very busy and are never home...Its basically that they are not keeping the commitments. :\ So anyways, we´ve received several awesome references lately from some members that are trying really hard to involve their friends in the church. Some names are R and L, several honduran friends of a member named N. Also, L, a bolivian friend of N. We met this awesome spaniard single mother of 4 that is super creyente and is super excited to listen to us. Her name is I.  We have this other investigator named P that is soo smart.. and he over thinks stuff sometime.. so pray for him. Anyways, thats how things are going right now. Things are awesome! We´re just trying to find the right balance between finding a ton of people to always be teaching and focusing enough on each person so that they arrive at the waters of baptism... really tough balance.

   Sooooooo it rained A TON saturday and sunday. A bunch of streets got super super flooded. Like SUPER flooded. haha like 4 or 5 inches above the gutters, all the way across the streets...... if you can imagine what i´m saying. Anyways it was alright, Elder Lyman was super sick that day so we ended up in piso all day anyways. :) He chose a good day to be sick! Hah

   Saturday and sunday were stake conference and it was awesome! Sunday we all got a bus and went out to Granada.. like an 1 and a half drive. The presidency was reorganized and it was absolutely amazing! The new president is this guy from switzerland that has been living here with his family for a while now and he speaks like 5 languages absolutely perfectly. Its kind of rididulous. I have said it before but I will learn more languages when I get home. For some people, math or science or art or whatever just clicks in their head... for me, I have learned here that languages just click! I have been learning a little portuguese and some  kechua (the dialect spoken in ecuador and several other south american countries like bolivia.. yes n and l taught me :)) and although I have no time to apply what I hear and learn, I would love to come home and immediately start to learn another language. Anyways.. whatever the Lord has in store, but those would be my hopes! :)

   Ok, a couple things...

  Adam, you are a boss! I´m still thinking.......... puedes darme una pista?¿?¿?¿ :)

  I got the letter with the photos of you and me, mom. Thanks for sending those, they´re perfect! Also, I got the letters from sister wilson and sister robley! Ahh so awesome! Tell them thank you!

  Do you know anything about Eric Schofield?? I thought about him the other day and was wondering if you fill me in. :) and Kevin Fonseca?? MISSION CALL BABY.

  Can you get Clay's address for me? That would be awesome. Also, Hil´s mission home address?

  How many postcards can I send to Ellery? I´ve sent one but I´m willing to send more... :)

  Papá, do you still have those Málaga references? If not no worries, I just need to know.

   Mamamadre! I have a couple things that I would love for Christmas.  Ties are always awesome. :) I need a good grey and a good brown... I need some other p-day shirts.. thats something that I could buy here. Oh, also, I would love christmas candy. The usual that we have at christmas.. :) like the mint tootsie suckers... AHHHH. I need a sweater.. a dark long sleeve orrrr.. a sweatervest would be cool too. The ones I have that I just didn´t bring would work perfectly. Also, please send 2 of those ´´mirror cubes´´ the rubiks cubes that are all the some color but change size as you turn them.. I have several on my dresser down in my room. I would like to give one to núñez for Christmas and I want one as well. :D Last thing.. ´´Barron´s ´Spanish Vocabulary´ second edition´´ its smaller.. and yellow and red and white. I already have the verbs one but that one would be awesome too!

   Anyways.. sorry thats super scrambled mom... HONESTLY, you know how hard it is for me to make christmas and birthday lists.. I´m not one to expect a ton so don´t feel like you need to send me a botrillion things. :) I am happy as can be! Thank you for always making me so happy. You are the best mom I could ever dream of.

   DAD. HOLE IN ONE. AHHHHHH. And even more important, 10 stinking meetings in ONE DAY. You are my HERO. One day I will be able to compete with you! :D

   Hey one last thing.. Will you update me on Trevor and his girlfriend and also Tanner and his girlfriend...? :)

   Thanks for everything! I love you all! Make a journal. It´s more important than we think!

-Elder Samuel Parker Norton

ps. ¡la ´THeta´ aqui en eTHpaña eTH lo mejor! ¡Que no THe burlen de la THeta!! :)

"When it comes to doctrine, I am learning principle by principle" (Sam)

Hello english speaking world!

   My english continually declines as I try to learn more spanish. And it doesn´t help that I´m living with english speakers and spanish speakers. Elder núñez basically doesn´t understand when we speak english cuz we talk so fast so we constantly changing between english and spanish. Haha its fun. I love the language though. I LOVE it. I will learn more languages when I get home.

  

 How are the states? We passed by this member's house about a week ago to pick up some food they made for us and they basically pulled is into their piso and sat us down on their couch and turn the news on...... we were like.. ´´Hermana, no podemos mira---......´´  basically all over the world, the USA news is as important as their own country´s. That´s one thing I was very very surprised about in the mission, is that what the USA does, effects EVERYONE. Everyone here in spain talks about obama and Romney and the elections and the wars we´re in and the hurricane that hit  Nueva York etc.... And I don´t even think its cuz we´re americans ... its just what the whole world talks about. The USA effects the entire world. So anyways, I would love an update on everything. We saw five minutes of spanish news (which was frankly hard to understand) and then we´ve heard 1000 stories being passed around about how many people died... and where.. and how etc. So I´d love a report.. Also, a report on what exactly happened in the middle east. We just keep hearing story after story and we don´t know whats true. ALSO... :) an update on the elections. One member told us like a week ago and Obama had already won....... and we were like.....uhhhhhmm, no. The elections don´t end till november..  its kinda funny. :)

   ANYWAYS... Things are great in Málaga! Lots of people. Lots of rain. Lots of wind. In fact, the weather took a huge turn recently. It was suuper hot in my last area but ever since I came here to Málaga the weather has cooled down to perfect temperatures for tracting and working. Recently, there as been a lot of rain and flooding though ( not in our piso... we live on the 13th floor so no worries :)). In other parts of Málaga and in cities nearby.. but yes mom, I have been using my coat quite a bit and its keepin me nice and cozy.

   Papá, to answer some of your questions... The mission is great. Really. Harder than I thought it would be. More rewarding than I thought it would be. And, I am learning more doctine, and overall church information than I ever thought I would. The language is fantastic. Just yesterday, my comp walked down the hall to use the restroom and I grabbed the cell phone to call a couple members... I finished up two or three phone calls, set down the phone, and then IT HIM ME. I looked back at the phone and basically yelped for joy. I had just finished three complete phone call conversations with people that don´t speak a lick of english... and I didn´t even have to think twice. :) Kinda fun moment. This transfer has been dedicated to vocabulary. I have lists on every single page of my agenda of words that I heard that day that I didn´t know. Every night after daily planning, I pull out my flash cards and I write the words I heard that day. You would be proud to see the words. :) Desamparar. Gusano. Lustrar. Colilla. Charco. Guiñar. And thats just the start! I love it! When it comes to doctrine, I am learning principle by principle, line upon line, precept upon precept. As I submit my will and my studies to the lord, he continually teaches me doctrine and gives me understanding. I know that if I keep looking and studying, the mysteries of the lord will be revealed to me. Thank you for your guidance and support. You always provide me with awesome nuggets of info. Here in the downtown city, yes, there is  poverty. Spain has a very high unemployment rate.  If you want to help, What I would prefer you did with the money  is give it as offerings to the church. There are many members, including some in Huércal-Overa, that are in dire need but don´t lose the sight of the importance of the gospel. Their priority was to be baptized. They never asked for any money from us despite the fact that they really needed it.. but now, as  members, they can receive help from the church through las ofrendas, the offerings we give. That´s where I would prefer the money went. :) THANK YOU TO ANYONE READING THIS!

   Okay, mamá... thank you so much for you words! I will continue writing even if the stuff might not be that important to others, just cuz I know its important to the fam. I feel like we are an extremely close family and even my dumb jokes and poor grammer can be enjoyed by you guys. and mom, I loved your little routine. Haha so great!

   I actually haven´t thought one second about Christmas stuff............ BUT I will start thinking. The packages you have sent all come quickly. I got the one with the piano music last monday after we got home from emailing. SO AWESOMMMME! Thank you! I´ll decide and let you know next week. Thanks.

  

   Anyways, YA ESTÁ. 2 quick favors....

1-Dad, remember the people you met when you came to...... Italy I think it was for asea... You said you met some people from Málaga... and you got their info. I heard it and thought.. well I probably won´t be in the Málaga area for a while so it can wait.... but then they transfered me here. haha so i´d love to go by their place and see them. A couple other possible baptisms because of ASEA. :) 

2-Elder Núñez wants to see the dollar coin, the 50c coin and a 2 dollar bill. I don´t know how hard they are to get but if you could get your hands on some you should send em out this way. He´d flip. He wants to move to the states after his mish and marry a blonde girl. :)

Welp, thats all folks. Till next time!

Love you!

-Elder Norton

Happy Monday from ESPAÑA! (Sam)

Happy Monday from ESPAÑA!

   Wow. Things could not be better! So much going on in the mission its crazy! I think I may have mentioned it last week but I can´t remember so I´m gonna say it again. The transfer ended yesterday and this transfer Elder Núñez and I are getting new comps.......!!!!!!! Wow! Its crazy! We´re both staying in our area and we´re both getting new comps! We´re gonna have four elders in our piso. I´M PUMPED. My new comp is named Elder Lyman and he gets here tomorrow so I still don´t know him. We haven´t completely decided what we are going to do but we´re thinking about splitting the area exactly in two and then just going to work... then again, Elder Lyman and I may end up working in a pueblo just outside of Málaga thats called Torre Molinos.. ooorrrrr we may just not split anything and just work together in one big area. We haven´t decided yet and I don´t think we will until we´re with the newbies that are coming. We´ll see!

   We haven´t talked or visited Mx since last week............. and he didn´t come to chruch....... :( but he told us in the middle of the week that he was sick so we´re thinking thats why. No worries. That guy read all of 1st Nephi after the first visit that we had with him and by the third he was done with 2nd Nephi.... . Its only a matter of time ..... :D. He lives a ways away and its kinda hard for us to visit him cuz we don´t have a car.. thats another reason my comp and I might just travel out there every day.. We´ll see. Do., R, and M are awesome!! They had a poor experience in church and then didn´t end up coming this week but they are progressing and learning and growing soo much. They have kids and were worried that their kids were going to be making too much noise in church and then when they got there, they sat in the back and all the other little kids and the whole ward was making more noise than they expected (just cuz its a ward full of mormons.. sorry.. we have a lot of kids..) and they couldn´t hear much of anything... :\ but they were super cool about it. E. Núñez and I knew they hadn´t really enjoyed church so we were going to just let the topic settle and not talk about it but basically right when we got there they opened the conversation up and were like.. hey! we´re gonna be honest.. we didn't really enjoy church.... there was too much noise! Haha... We´ll see. I have seen that people come to a point where the gospel begins to fill wholes and challenges in their lives.. so much so that there is little to nothing that can take them away from it. They see and feel and come to know the necessity of it in their lives and it only becomes a matter of time before they choose baptism. Not to say that Elder Núñez and I are going to let up, just saying that they are doing well, seeing the importance, learning, and keeping their commitments. The baptismal fechas for Mx, Do, R, and M are all for the 13th of Oct and everything's looking good. 

   Mom, to answer your questions... Everyone is safe and well in the mission. It rained for a day and half where we are and...... not anymore. :) Yeah there´s been some flooding in Spain but nothing for us. P-day was great. We (Elders Núñez, triana, geest, bailey, jones, pallas, forrest, neira, and I) went on a hike with a girl in one of the Málaga wards thats thinking about a mission. Kinda cool. I was telling her about Hil.. and how she didn´t know if she was gonna serve and that she´s out there baptizing the world right now.. :) We came back to Málaga and found M in the street and started talking. All is well. The ward(s) are are awesome! We´re serving in the 2nd ward but the 1st ward attends our building as well and so we meet both wards. A lot of the members that pertenecen............. are in our boundries... go to the other ward.... I don´t know why..  but we´re trying to get it all figured out.. We eat at our bishops house every other saturday. He's awesome. He loves music and he asked me to help him put this song that he made up onto sheet music. Service hours! :) We´ll see how that goes! Tell Sister Erekson thanks again. REALLY, she´s awesome. The youth here are awesome! Most/basically all are from barrio 1 buts its ok. I play piano in Priesthood and I am growing to love the piano more and more. I took it for granted at home. I love to just sit down and play now. btw, next package, I would love a copy of ´´waterfall´´ and ´´all of me´´ from the jon schmit book. Thanks. We don´t teach lessons during church hours like we did in HO.. I kinda liked that cuz we could teach to our investigators needs.. but no problem. Anyways.. thats all for now. I have letters for the fam that I haven´t sent yet. THE MISH IS CRAZY. Sorry. Ask people to write me! :D Thats all from me! 

Love you all!  BYE.
-Elder Norton