"anyone reading this preparing for a mission, 3 things ...." (Sam)

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¡Hola! ¡Buenas Días!
   I hope everything is well back in the states. The mission is the best! Its crazy and I love it!

   Things in Málaga are great. Elder Lyman, my comp, and Elder Phillips, Elder Núñez´s comp, are both dying (going home) the 6th of December.. so things are getting pretty weird around here. They want to spend alllll of pday just buying presents and souvenirs (sp) and whatnot.. and back at piso they are completely torn between talking about investigators and talking about their families and friends. Don´t judge them, its harder than you´d think. 2 YEARS WITHOUT YOUR FAMILY... and now they are soo close they and taste it. Its super interesting and almost hard for Núñez and me cuz at points we honestly feel like we´re going home too.... Hah but things are great. We´ve been working hard when we can, even though we´ve been sick lately. Lyman was sick when he got here to Málaga, he got better, then a couple weeks ago he got sick, and then I got sick with something else, and then we both got better and then he got sick with what I was sick with...... :\ kinda chungo.. but we work when we can!

   The Hondurans are doing well, L works in the house of this old man all week and its all they way on the other side of the city. She has fridays off and so we planned to meet in the capilla this past friday.. so we were waiting and waiting.. and finally we called her and it turns out she had been waiting in the house of the man where she works........ so she appologized and felt really bad for not coming. She realized that we had agreed to meet at the chruch for the lesson and she felt really bad.. so anyways, we´re gonna meet with her this friday. Hopfully she comes to the church this time. :)
 The Spanish woman I, is doing soo great! We called her saturday, early in the afternoon to see if we could pass by and visit one more time before sunday and she answered in a kinda hurried/busy voice for like the first 10 seconds of the phone call... and I was like...... uhhhhh.. so.. you can come to church tomorrow or you can´t?.. and she was like, "no no thats what i´m explaining! I was going to have to work sunday morning but I changed it to tonight so that I could come!!"...... and I just about lost it. :) I was so excited! She had changed her schedule at work and was working the saturday night cleaning shift at her work so that she could come with us to church the next day! :) So anyways, she came with two of her daughters and they all loved it! The two girls, 13 and 9, immediately found some friends, I don´t know if they knew them from school or what.... but they loved their classes and everything.. and I, was super attentive in Sacrament and really fit into the relief society. :) WE´RE EXCITED! We´re gonna set some baptismal dates this week!

   The District is the best! AHH I love it! Anyone reading this that is preparing for a mission, THREE THINGS... Book of Mormon. Preach My Gospel. & The District videos. :)
  
   We don´t know yet.... but we think that when Lyman and Phillips go home, Núñez will be transfered and I´ll get a new comp here. WE DON´T KNOW.... We´ll hear this week though. Núñez has one transfer more than I do here in Málaga so I personally think he´ll be leaving the 6th of december... If you want to send him something, you can send it to the mission home and he will get it no matter where he is.
   Ave Jesus santos reín 2,3 D-E
   29640 Fuengirola (Málaga)
   ESPAÑA
   You can still send my mail and packages to my Málaga address. Its pretty sure that I´ll stay.
   I did get your turkey/nerf package!!! We LOVE IT! Best idea ever!! Hahah and we loved your spanish directions! It get here last monday, right after we did emails. I think a lot of mail and stuff gets places on mondays.. just weekend buildup I guess.. but I always tell you I haven´t gotten stuff and then I get it later that day. :) sorry and yes we got it. Its awesome.

   The sd card i´m using is almost full. I deleted a bunch of pictures which opened up some room but whenever you can get that other one back here, that would be great. Thanks! :)

   Thanks for Hil´s and Eric´s info! I can´t believe he´s going to stinking FIJI!! Hah how awesome! I´m totally gonna write him! What an adventure! One thing i´ve realized lately is how different every mission is! We teach the same stuff everywhere but it is soooo much different in each mission. For example, here in Spain, there are constantly, constantly people on the streets. Almost always, with exception of medio dia, between 2 and 5 when everyone goes and eats and naps.. but other than that, from early early to late late they are people, families, ancianos, kids, buses cars, music, fútbol... always. So a lot of what we do, is our street image and talking and finding on the streets and stuff. We are constantly stopping people and talking to them right in the streets. :) Where as in the states, missionaries could walk for hours and get passed by 1000 cars and 8 people... which makes the entire work change. Its just so interesting the experience we have on the mission and I know that each missionary is given and will experience what the Lord has prepared for them. Anyways, kind of interesting.. THE MISH IS THE BEST.

   I´ll think if I want anything for Ty and them to bring.. I can´t think of anything. Plus, I and I know you and they will understand, but if they come they would need to drop it off at the mission office... cuz we aren´t supposed to receive visits from family or friends. Tell them thank you so much!

   Quick question... Are the sacramento kings now the LA Kings?? I saw a jersey the other day............... just wondering!
   Also, this awesome Ecuadorian family came up to us one Sunday and asked if we could come do FHE every Monday.. cuz they needed ´´help´´. :) Awesome Ecuadorians. So we´ve been going over there for 3 or 4 weeks now and they´re doing so well. I finally figured out what Hilary´s area was called and she was like ´´I lived there!´´ So anyways, she told me to tell you and HERMANA NORTON that she lived in the Imbabura Estaca in the Quinchuqui rama of the Otavalo Barrio. Something like that. She said her mother or sister is named R. I don´t know if Hil´s by there but the lady here is named N and J is her husband.

   Anyways, I gotta go! I love you all. I hope your Thanksgiving was great and I hope you ate as much as I did! :) We had a big zone specialized trainging that day and we ATE GOOD! :)
-Elder Norton
click here to watch "The District"

Indefatigable!

sing to the tune of "Pioneer Children Sang as they Walked"

Las misioneras sing as they walk and walk and walk and walk...

Las misioneras sing as they walk and walk and walk and walk...

They teach the Gospel, work and pray...

Sundays are just like every other day...

Week after week, they sing as they walk and walk and walk and walk ....

And walk

Thank you to every missionary tirelessly serving and spreading the Gospel! 

You make our world a better place!

joanna

"Remember that water doesn´t boil until it reaches 100´ Celsius"(Sam)

Every door will be knocked!

Hello family and friends!
   I feel like my emails are getting lamer and lamer every time I write. I don´t feel bad if you (friend or family member) have no desire to read these....... :) Just send me a written letter and I will have something specific and fun to write to you. I promise!

   Anyways, things are great. We have found several new investigators and several less actives that we have been visiting and helping come back to church. Biiiig big bummer yesterday though.. none of the three less active families or investigators that we are working with came to church..................... Bummmer. That and a lot of other things that i´m learning and seeing here in the mish make me think a lot about the will of the Lord. I won´t be able to explain all of my thoughts... but I´m going to try. ..... One of the biggest surprises for me as a missionary.. and I hate to burst the bubble of many still at home but I have a point I want to make....... Just as putting on a white shirt every Sunday and highlighting the scriptures you hear in church doesn´t necessarily make you a faithful member, putting on a name tag and walking around in the street for 10 hours a day doesn´t necessarily make you a faithful missionary. Faith. Faithfulness. BEING Faithful comes from something much deeper. Much... more fundamental. OBEDIENCE and being submissive to The WILL of the Father. There is a BIG difference between doing something because everyone is doing it or because everyone tells you its right, and doing something because you have counseled with Heavenly Father and you know it's HIS will.
   I am seeing others ...... lose focus on the work. Lose desire to work, to find, to help, to serve. I am making it sound worse than it is.. but right now, I am seeing a very clear line between doing something because the Lord wants it to happen, and doing something for Any other reason. please OBEY MORE. We have so, so, so many opportunities for blessings. So many opportunities to show our Father that we trust him and will, until the end of our days on this earth. Let's show him that we have power over the natural man. We have power over Satan and that we are going to use the very agency he tried to take away from us, to follow Christ and be obedient to the Father.

   Anyways.. I rant sometimes. Just ponder that. Remember that water doesn´t boil until it reaches 100´ Celsius. Likewise, we are not being obedient until we are 100% obedient. Never miss a prompting ... and do what Jesus would do.

Watch this and pay attention to the will of the Lord and the will of the Father
click here

ADMO. Doctrina y Convenios 115:5............ levántate y brilla, para que tu luz sea un estandarte a las naciones. Te Quiero! También... The next time you send a letter, will you make photocopies of George Winston´s ´´Sandman´´ piano song from that george winston book we have? I think its in there. I think. THANKS KID.

   The work here is great. Really quick cuz I´m out of time... This one new investigator that we found is from Brazil and lives with 4 other Brazilians. One of which is his wife. THEY´RE ACTUALLY MARRIED. YESSS. We´ve met with him twice and he told us his wife wanted to meet with us too. We challenged him to be baptized and he said... of course of course! If I know, of course I would be baptized!... and then when we asked if we could read a specific part to read in the BOM he told us he wanted to read it all....... so we´ll see how that goes. :) His name is P. and we´re excited.

   That's basically the update. Lots of other little things here and there.. lots and lots of people yelling who knows what at you through the.... timbre... I don´t know how to say that in English.. its like the doorbell but there's a speaker so you can talk back and forth. Every apartment is like that... so anyways, just a couple days ago we were knocking doors and we hit the timbre of this one lady and she more or less hung up on us yelling and then went and advised her neighbor right before we hit the timbre of that one... so she answered us yelling and spitting out profanities....... :D hahaahhaah soo funny.. We just walked away saying under our breath... YA VEREIS......... :P (you'll see)

   Hey! I got that little package! Thank you! So fun to get little packages now and then.

   Anyways, that's all for now. I love you all! Push a little harder! If it wasn´t hard, it wouldn´t be worth it!
-Elder Norton

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