"they returned to church and it was exactly what they needed in these difficult times ( no surprise there, really). " (Hilary)

Listo, ¿cómo están? Happy Monday! 
It is a raining here right now, which is typicle for Quito. The mornings are super hot and sunny and then the afternoons are dark and foggy and rainy. The other Sunday basically all the members stayed after church because we literally couldn't leave in the rainstorm.

Thanks for writing, everyone! I love you all and pray for you daily and it is so good to know that you are all doing so well. Being far away helps me gain a greater perspective on my family and friend relationships and I am so grateful for everyone I know. I am grateful for your support and your prayers. Thanks to everyone for everything.

G was baptized Saturday. It was so great. She was so happy and crying. Friday and Saturday we went to another sector to help some hermanas that are struggling. The assistants asked us to go work in their sector with a couple other companionships of hermanas. It was about a two hour drive from our sector and we made it back an hour before our baptism. We had informed our mission leader that we wouldn't be able to fill the font so he said he would. Well, we got there at the same time and poor G got there early and had to wait a while. There is always opposition the day of the baptism. Anyway, as she was waiting, she was trying to pay her tithing and a couple members were like, "Tomorrow, hermanita." It was cute. She was so prepared. I am so grateful that we received the prompting to contact her. I really care about her.

The family from Spain is doing so well. This ward we are working in is super great and the family received a warm welcome last Sunday. Tuesday we visited them and asked how it went Sunday and they both teared up and couldn't really speak. Then the hermana said, "Phenomenal. (sp?)" It was cool because they had gone inactive in Spain and moved here about three months ago. We found them contacting and they returned and it was exactly what they needed in these difficult times (no surprise there, really). 

Y is another investigator we have been working with. He is progressing slowly and steadily. Hermana Ellis and I contacted him. Anyway, he is really enjoying studying the Book of Mormon. Every time we visit him he has passed the chapter to a journal and highlighted the parts he likes and written down his questions.

Yesterday was another great Sunday. We had a few investigators attend church and they had positive experiences. We have been working hard throughout the week and it feels great. The only thing that doesn't feel great is that the time is passing so quickly. I have learned so much in this past year and I could never have imagined what experiences the mission brings.

Okay, so glad you got the package. Thanks for your help! I got Dad's package today with the Asea (as well as other gifts). THANK YOU SO MUCH, DAD. I appreciate your help. I love you and love hearing from you.

Cool to hear about everyone with their mission calls and everything! I love it! Tell Stacie I say congrats and good luck! And tell Allie Howe and Kassie the same!

Adam, congrats on your basketball and baseball successes! I love hearing about it. The other day we had perfect sunny/breezy weather and I remembered sitting at the ball park watching my little brothers play baseball. I love those memories.

Tell Jonny and Bradin hi and congrats! The bummer is that I am missing so many weddings! I think Caitlin gets married in May! I have been thinking about going to visit Mitch and his family after I get home and visiting Caitlin in the same trip (she and her husband and moving to NY).

Mom, how is your ankle/leg?

I got a letter from Abby today! I love her and love hearing about her in the mission! Also, Kenz and Cam have been writing me which is so great. I have the greatest friends.

Well, I have a few more minutes online. Write me if you think of something else!

Love you!

Hermana Norton

"I have definitely found myself grateful for 'the furnaces of affliction.' " (Hilary)

Samuel Norton - Mr Viking 2011

Happy Monday everyone!

How is everyone doing? How was your St. Patrick's Day? Sometimes I feel like that might be the most worthless holiday, and then I remember that two years ago my little brother was crowned Mr. Viking on St. Patrick's Day and I remember it was good for something. Speaking of Sam, I got a letter from him this week! Super cool to hear from him. He is such a fun person. I am glad his mission experience is going so well for him. Mine is also going well. I really know I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Well, this week, I am getting over my problems. I have been prescribed a whole bunch of things, so I should be healthy and happy soon enough. I don't know if I mentioned in my last letter, but Hermana Ellis is sick as well. She has been having a really hard time lately and the nurses today figured out the cause of her problems. The medications they gave her have been making her really off. We weren't really able to work a whole lot this week. As for those we are teaching, we have quite a few investigators who are doing well, though not one attended the stake conference this Sunday. That was a bummer because I was counting on the idea that Heavenly Father would provide the help we needed this week considering that we weren't able to get out and do as much as we would have liked. But, He has something else in mind. I am determined that this week we will be 100% worthy for Heavenly Father's help in getting our investigators to church. In all honesty, Sundays are different on the mission.

I have been studying a lot extra lately and I everyday feel more and more grateful for the 

scriptures and the teachings of our church leaders. Yesterday I began a fast 

(a 40 day fast - see page 324 of the 'Norton Wisdom Book') 

and I am working on purifying myself and putting Heavenly Father 

and His work in first place. 

This morning in my personal study I was impressed by Enos's example. In verse 26 he explains how devoted he has been to the work and the gospel. He says he has declared it all his days, and "rejoiced in it above that of the world." I love that statement, and have seen the changes and conversion that the gospel and missionary work are bringing to my life. I hope to come out of all this more like the person God needs me to be. I have definitely found myself grateful for "the furnaces of affliction."

Well, Hermana Ellis and I are good. We have been going to see a doctor in Quito a couple times lately and the other day we were caught in a huge rain storm. It was hilarious. About twenty minutes of trying to get a taxi in the pouring rain. I will send pictures. Another funny story. There is an hermana here who has a washing machine so every once in a while we drop off our clothes and she throws them in the washer and then she hangs them up to dry and we go by the next day to pick them up. This week, when we went to pick  them up, there was a small problem. She and her husband were cooking beans, got distracted, burned the beans, and now their whole house smells like smoke. Well, so does our clothing. We have washed it a couple times since and cannot get the smell out. Our apartment smells like we are smokers. It is hilarious.

We won't know in which mission we will end up until the beginning of July. They will give us our transfers and depending on where we go, that will be our mission. I imagine we will be training a lot. The line is drawn right after my first sector, Santa Ana. Technically we are in Quito North right now.

Beauty and the Beast - Hilary's favorite childhood movie

Well as we have been sick, we have found some ways to entertain ourselves. We have read like hundreds of pages of the Book of Mormon, as well as made each other word searches, played Battleship in our notebooks, and resorted to the movie quote game. It is important that I mention that she guessed my first quote immediately ("If she doesn't eat with me, she doesn't eat at all!"). Hermana Ellis is the greatest. I am really grateful to have her as my companion!

Will someone please send me the Tyler Norton family's address? As well, Rachel Miller's and Lisa and Justin Allen's? Thank you :)

Mom, I hope your ankle surgery goes well. I will continue to pray for you. Please be good to your body. Don't push yourself too hard. It is against the Word of Wisdom.

Dad, the scripture you shared has always been one of my favorites. (D&C 78:18)

Kenz has been writing me a bit lately. Apparently they had a bridal shower for Caitlin the other day! I am so happy she is getting married. I want the best for all those girls. I love each one of them. Also, Jesslyn wrote me! I loved hearing from her. She is the best! It is so nice to know that others are willing to take a couple minutes to see how I am doing.

Well, that is all for now. I love you all! Choose the right and keep pressing forward.

Hermana Norton

* Hilary mentioned the "Norton Book of Wisdom".... It's a 500 + page book that her dad compiled full of the very best quotes, stories, poems, and life counsel.  He spent countless hours gathering, studying, and editing as well as adding stories from our own ancestors.  It is a real treasure ... a priceless gift from a dad to his children.  The "40 day fast" story is about a challenge from a mission president to his missionaries. It is not a typical fast (no food or drink for 24 hours) but rather a call for change. The following is a short excerpt: 

"I invite you to fast this Sunday, to ask the Lord what things you should stop doing and what things you should start doing. I invite you to write a list and take that list with you to your morning and evening prayers. I invite you to envision the temptations in the morning while on your knees and to commit and ask for help before you actually go out and face them. In the evenings I invite you to report in, give thanks and ask forgiveness. I invite you to engage in the process of changing your own desires." 

I'm sorry I don't know the name of the mission president so that I could credit him for coming up with that amazing challenge.  I'm looking forward to hearing back from Hermana Norton about her

"40 day fast" experience!                                                                          

joanna norton

"I think it is important that they recognize that we are a happy people. We have the full truth; they should be able to tell." (Hilary)

Hi fam

Hope you are all doing so well! We have had an eventful week.

I am still pretty sick. Monday, the mission nurse told me I had parasites. She gave me a few medications but nothing helped. It was really debilitating our ability to get out and work. So Thursday I went to a doctor in Quito and he did a few tests. I have a stomach infection and ... anemia! They said the normal iron level is between 25 - 200 and mine is .7 ... So the nurses complimented me on my work performance while living almost completely without iron in my blood. (I told Hermana Ellis I don't really know what it even means to be low on iron anyway and she told me it means that if Ironman were to come to Ecuador he would have no power over me.) Haha. Anyway, iron pills are expensive here. Is there any way you could get some sent out here to me? That would be deeply appreciated.

So how is everyone? Did you enjoy Italy, Dad? Please keep me updated on how Adam's baseball tournament goes! I would like to hear from him... Looking good without the braces, big guy! Tell Trevor and Heather I say congrats! I wish I could have been there. I hope she is just as great as Trev.  Dad, were you able to play in that golf tournament in Italy? Where do you go next? Or do you have a little break?

Dad, thank you so much for the thoughtful email. I really appreciated all you said. It is so true and although I don't look back on it fondly, I know it was good for me to have that experience to learn from. I might not have been the most tolerant, patient daughter of God before my mission, and I am aware of that and I am trying to improve. It is true what you said about us being our own agents. Alma 41:7-8 I really like because they teach us that we are our own judges. It is all up to us. WE decide if we choose eternal life or eternal misery. It is simple. I hope I am living worthy of eternal life.

Mom, I love hearing about your Spanish. And don't worry, it will come, you will get a hang of it. And please tell Jake Lee (if you see him again) to write me. He is such a good kid.

I received an email from K today. A and C had both written me about how she got sick and came home :(

I hope she is doing okay. I just mailed her a letter. But I am going to include something really sweet that she wrote to me in her email.

"Hilary, Thank you for your confidence in the Lord. Thank you for showing me what it is like to have true faith in Him. I'm really having to learn where my faith stands, and as I look back, I could tell where you stood."

The sweetest comment ever. I know I made mistakes in my past and I wish I could erase them. As I read what she said, I felt grateful and unworthy all at once. "And remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved" (2 Nephi 10:24) We got the good end of the deal, didn't we?

 Well, I hope you are all doing well. Hermana Ellis and I are really enjoying the work right now. I love working with her. We are always laughing and having fun and I think it is important because people need to recognize that we are a happy people. We have the full truth; they should be able to tell.  Today we went to a really nice mall, and I found a million things I loved but I didn't buy one thing. I am looking forward to doing a little shopping when I get home instead of here. If any of you ever feels tempted to spend money on me right now, write me a thoughtful letter, put the money in a jar, and we will spend it together when I get home. Thank you :)

We have a few people who are progressing toward baptism. P, R and a few others. They are so great and working through some trials but doing what they should to come out on top. We are also teaching a lot of other people who are interested. We will see if they are willing to act. Our mission has set some goals and is making a few sacrifices and exercising much faith to be able to see miracles in this month. Our district leader and his companion are doing so so well. I am so happy for them. I pray for their investigators every night. They have about 12 at church yesterday (which just doesn't happen regularly in this mission).

General Conference is coming up! Who's pumped?!

Well, thanks for writing. I love you all. Keep me updated in your lives. 

Hermana Norton

CLICK HERE if you're curious about GENERAL CONFERENCE

"Fisher's of Men" (Hilary)

Okay, I will begin by responding to a few things mentioned in the letters I received today.

 

Dad - ALL week I was thinking about how badly I wished I had been able to respond and share some thoughts on the Doctrine of Christ. I am sure the talk went so well though. If you have a copy, please please share! I have learned a lot from the copies of the talks you have given.

 

MITCH - I LOVE all the pictures you sent. I love your little family so much! And CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You are having a lot of success in your work and I am sure it is because of your obedience to the Lord. I am so impressed and I want you to know how much I look up to you. Thanks for being such a great example. I loved the quote you sent. I was responding to a letter Nate Hardman sent me the other day and mentioned that. He said how much he loved exhausting himself in the work. I love it too! It feels so good to get home and be so tired. Here in the mission I realized it is okay to be tired, and especially when we have put our all into something of such great value.

 

Mom - I am so glad you found that article. It is nice to hear that it was such a relief for you. I know it was an answer from God (just like you said, a little tender mercy). Mosiah 24 talks about how God sends us little tender mercies so that later we will testify of him. He comforts us and in return, we act according to His will and commandments and share our testimonies. Tell Benton and Brayden I say HI! I don't know if Sam was better friends with Brayden or if I was... But tell him I say hey and congratulations on the most well spent two years of his life.

 

Well, I loved the scripture and quote you shared, Mom. The other day I read Jacob 4:10. It is a really good scripture! And I have been listening a lot to the talks by President Eyring that Dad sent me. He talks a lot about repentance and mentions that HUMILITY is a FRUIT of repentance and also a PROTECTION against future sin. I really love that because I have been working a lot lately on being more humble. I think I already mentioned that, but I realized it has SO MUCH to do with our happiness and the happiness of those around us. I remember being taught in seminary how basically every sin can be traced back to pride or selfishness. When you think about, it's true. It is probably why the leaders of our church are the leaders of our church. They are able to live clean lives because they are always thinking about the well being of others. Well, that reason and about a hundred others. I have so much respect for them. I have just fallen in love with the Word here on the mission. Whenever we get the Liahona it is like the happiest day of the week. I carry it around like it is my most prized possession, second only to my scriptures, of course.

 

This past weekend, President Ghent and Sister Ghent spent here in I. He had a few meetings and did some interviews for temple recommends, so she spent the day with us. It was fun because she helped us a bit and afterward gave us some feedback. It was nice to have another perspective (and it was also nice to not have to walk so much, because she drove us around. WOO). Sunday they attended our branch. It was cool to hear the message he shared. I respect President Ghent a lot. This Friday we have interviews and I am really looking forward to them.

 

Earlier today, more than once, Hermana Davila and I were mistaken for workers in a few stores where we passed by. Hilarious and made me remember JESSLYN. Is she home yet?¿

The other day I sent a whole BUNCH of letters! To the family and for you, Mom, to distribute, and to about eight people whose addresses I don't have. Please let me know when you get them!

 

ADAM. I LOVE YOU. I DON'T HEAR FROM YOU ENOUGH. I MISS YOU, KID.

 

Sam, take good care of those Ecuadorians!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They're really important to me! (Aunque no los conozco, un Ecuatoriano es un Ecuatoriano es un Ecuatoriano y amo a cada uno de ellos.) WRITE ME.

 

Well. I have about ten minutes left, but all I wanted to write about I don't remember. I will bring my journal next week so I can remember everything. I love you guys. Choose the right.

 

H.

 

P.S. I am learning how to cook!

P.S.S. I am losing weight! 

P.S.S.S. Baptism this Saturday!

 

"Bajio and Costo Vida ... I MISS YOU!" (Sam)

Is this like a "pinky promise" ?

Good morning!

   Mama, you´re right, the week's over and a new one's starting! Gotta constantly be involved and thinking or else an entire week can pass by without you doing anything! The weeks FLY BY in the mission... its scary! In exactly one week I hit TEN MONTHS. Wooow.

   Things are great! I think I have said that every single week of my mission.... :) but its cuz its true. Couldn´t be in a better place doing a better thing! We. Have. The Truth. Why would one want to be somewhere else? This gospel and this message bring something different to the lives of the people. It fills the holes that they didn´t know they had. I´m happy, and ´´things are great!´´ :D

   WOW. Dad, I can feel the power of your talk through the letters on a computer screen. I can't even imagine what it would´ve been like in the building... hearing it. Thanks for sharing! I absolutely love love love that chapter. I think I have left that exact chapter (2 nefi 31) with investigators to read more than I have with any other chapter. First off cuz its a great chapter, second off cuz it talks about baptism :) and what they have to do to get there.

   Tell Braydon DeChristifano hey! Tell him to write me or something. I´d love to get in contact with him!

   Well things are going well. We´re working with lots of people right now. Thats one thing I've learned here in the mission is that we need to talk with lots of people about this message.. We need to learn to share the message well, but in a short powerful lesson and  then allow the people to use their albedrio........ agency(hah! english...) and make their decision. Its been hard for me in my mission when people reject us or the message.. cuz I just want it so bad for the people.. but I´ve realized that I need to use more of my time searching and teaching rather than getting bugged over the people that reject it. There are sooo many poeple that are waiting.. even here in Alcoy. Tons of people! We need to be able to teach with power and really discern and work with those that will accept and move forward. Its sad that people don´t receive the blessings ... but it makes me that much more happy when others do!

   We´re teaching two awesome families right now. One from Colombia and one from Ecuador. The colombian family has two pit bulls. :) The dad gets home late late from work and doesn´t want to listen. Its sad... PRAY FOR HIM! The others are all listening and learning. They are reading but struggling with prayer and church attendance. We´re working on it but pray and help us! :)

   The Ecuadorian family that we´re teaching is sooo awesome! HERMANA NORTON! QUE SUERTE TIENES! ECUADOR ES UNA MINA DE ORO! ¡¡SIGUE BAUTIZANDO!! We knocked their door one day and the mom was like.. ummm ok come by another day... like lots of people tell us just to make us leave.. haha and then she was like... but first you have to meet my daughter! And she ran and woke her 17 year old daughter up and presented her to us.  :)  So we passed by several days later and to our surprise the mom and the daughter were there waiting there for us so we went in. The dad sees us and goes into the other room, not wanting anything to to with us.... :\... So we asked them to invite him in and they said he wasn't interested :( . But anyways, so we taught the wife and daughter and they had a thousand questions! The mom was like.. "aaand how do they get young people like you to go out and do this every day??" and we were like "actually.. we chose to be here.." and she flipped. We invited them to this activity we were going to have at the church and they came and played the games and everything.. and then yesterday, we were going to go pick them up in the morning and we were running a little late and we turn the corner of their street and they are already walking towards us to go to the church! :O wowow. The mom´s name is B and the daughter is J. There´s another little brother and I don´t know the dad´s name. We´re trying to involve everyone so that they can be baptized all together.. we´ll see!

   There's this lady in our ward that is from Mexico and she is amazing!! She served a mission in mexico and after her mission she met a Spanish member on a church chat or something.. so they were married in the Mexico temple but live here now. The husband is extremely smart... extremely smart. He is a chess teacher and champion like a billion times over (they have trophies all over their apartment). He knows all the doctrine and actually told us he was talking to one of his friends about the church and Book of Mormon but he doesn´t come to church. Yesterday after chruch and a couple meetings we had, we went over to Rosy´s (la mejicana) and she made us mexican food! I like spanish food but it was reeeally nice to eat some good ol mexican food again. :)

-------------Bajios and Costa Vida! I miss you!!!---------------- :)

   I finally got my letters that arrived in Málaga when I left. I got one from you mom, the Christmas card, loved it! I got one from Nate Crosland. :) The kids a crack up! I love him so much. I got a Christmas card from the Jaccards.. Coolest family! and one from the Lewis couple. So supportive!

   Anyways, thats all I got today! 

BTW.... M´S SISTER GOT BAPTIZED.

   I love you all! Don´t stop believing. You can´t see your heart, but you know its there cuz you can feel it. I can´t see my father in heaven... but I know he´s there cuz I can feel him. He loves me and he loves you. Talk to him a little longer and a little more intimately tonight. He´d appreciate that.

¡Hasta la próxima!

-Élder Norton