Dear Family and Friends,
This has been another very wet, dreary, cloudy week here in California and I have been loving every second of it. Before I go on though, I have a few responses to write.
1. OK, before I forget to ask, I have one question for you! What are all these boxes of books that keep coming???? I think we have gotten 7 or 8 so far. Did you buy the books or did someone give them to you?
Those books are ones that I have collected throughout my mission, mostly during the time I've been here in Pasadena. The library here has a book sale every month and we help them set it up and they give us free books in return. There are also a few that I have purchased along with some other things that people have given me throughout my mission. I decided that it would be easiest to just ship them home ahead of time. You can just put the boxes somewhere in my closet that's out of the way.
2. Also, you didn’t say anything about what I said in my last letter about you not working when you come home. What are your thoughts on that?
My thoughts are this: I would like to do something with my time... and get paid at least minimum wage to feed my near empty bank account (just because I don't want to spend all of my time playing video games doesn't mean that I don't plan on buying a couple new ones after I get home). I also want to make a little extra money to put aside in some investments. Still, I am not decided on the issue and probably won't make one until after I get home.
This week has been pretty good for me, but it has also been a little tough for me as well. As it gets closer to my coming home, I have felt a little bit of the pressure of how I am going to adjust to such a big change. Still it has been a really good week. We were able to have another lesson with Carlos this week which went really well, and we have gotten back in contact with the Ambrose family. We have not had much else happen this week. Well, I have to write my letter to President Pike before I run out of time. Until next week.
Love,
Elder Norton
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
A Really Neat Experience
Dear Family and Friends,
It has been another dreary, rainy week here in California, and I have been loving it. Well, first off, I'll answer a few questions.
1. Any progress with Carlos?? Or Brother Ambrose and his family??
We have not had much progress with either of them. We have not been able have a lesson with Carlos at all or even talk to his mom to set up an appointment, and the Ambrose family has been super busy with school and other stuff, but we are still trying to work with both of them.
Are you liking your new apartment?
Very much so. It's been a huge upgrade in environment to us.
Dad, I think that the schedule you have planned for me looks fine. You can go ahead and register for me and we can make changes later if we have to. I also am fine with living in Wyview. That was where I wanted to live in the first place anyways.
As for things that have happened this week, not much has happened. We've mostly been trying to set up appointments and contact referrals. I also had a really neat experience. It was another encounter with someone I had taught in Glendale. It was an excommunicated sister that we had been asked to teach there. She wanted to get back into the church, but she had some issues that were preventing her from doing so, and then I left the area so I didn't hear any more about her. Well, during one of the conference sessions, I saw a woman that looked very familliar sitting in front of us. I thought that I knew her from somewhere, but she looked like someone from my last area named Sister Valorie, so I thought that I was just mistaking her for that person. Well yesterday we had stake conference and she was there again and this time she recognized me and told me who she was. Apparantly she had moved to the Pasadena area and that she is getting prepared to be re-baptized and that her fiance is investigating the church and is also planning to get baptized. The funny thing was that after I realized who she was, I remembered that when I first met Sister Valorie, I had thought to myself that she looked like this same sister that I ran into again. It was really nice to see her and it was amazing to see how different she looked. There was a light around her that wasn't there before, kind of like with Adrian. It really was another blessing from the Lord. Well, I am out of time again, but I can't wait for next week. Hopefully I will have more to tell you all.
Love,
Elder Norton
It has been another dreary, rainy week here in California, and I have been loving it. Well, first off, I'll answer a few questions.
1. Any progress with Carlos?? Or Brother Ambrose and his family??
We have not had much progress with either of them. We have not been able have a lesson with Carlos at all or even talk to his mom to set up an appointment, and the Ambrose family has been super busy with school and other stuff, but we are still trying to work with both of them.
Are you liking your new apartment?
Very much so. It's been a huge upgrade in environment to us.
Dad, I think that the schedule you have planned for me looks fine. You can go ahead and register for me and we can make changes later if we have to. I also am fine with living in Wyview. That was where I wanted to live in the first place anyways.
As for things that have happened this week, not much has happened. We've mostly been trying to set up appointments and contact referrals. I also had a really neat experience. It was another encounter with someone I had taught in Glendale. It was an excommunicated sister that we had been asked to teach there. She wanted to get back into the church, but she had some issues that were preventing her from doing so, and then I left the area so I didn't hear any more about her. Well, during one of the conference sessions, I saw a woman that looked very familliar sitting in front of us. I thought that I knew her from somewhere, but she looked like someone from my last area named Sister Valorie, so I thought that I was just mistaking her for that person. Well yesterday we had stake conference and she was there again and this time she recognized me and told me who she was. Apparantly she had moved to the Pasadena area and that she is getting prepared to be re-baptized and that her fiance is investigating the church and is also planning to get baptized. The funny thing was that after I realized who she was, I remembered that when I first met Sister Valorie, I had thought to myself that she looked like this same sister that I ran into again. It was really nice to see her and it was amazing to see how different she looked. There was a light around her that wasn't there before, kind of like with Adrian. It really was another blessing from the Lord. Well, I am out of time again, but I can't wait for next week. Hopefully I will have more to tell you all.
Love,
Elder Norton
Monday, October 4, 2010
Hello From Wet and Rainy Southern California
Dear family and friends,
Things have been very wet and dreary here in California the last week. We have had a couple of thunder storms and today it has been raining all day with no sign of the usual California sunshine. I guess this is just one way I am being prepared for coming home. Thank you mom and dad for your letters and e-mails. I needed the support and advice, but most importantly the sound of your voice through your letters/e-mails.
Anyways, congratulations to Jace on his first assignment. I had a feeling that you were going to be learning that other language (I can't remember what its called, nor how to spell it if I could). Congratulations to Kinzie as well for doing so well in school. I am so proud of you. Keep up the good work so you can get that iPad. I think that it's cool that dad got an iPad as well. Alot of people here have one so I have gotten to see it myself, and I think that it looks pretty cool. I would like to get one myself after I get home, but I heard that they are going to come out with a new version of it sometime at the beginning of next year, so just in case you were thinking of getting one for me mom and dad, I think that it would be better to wait and save your money. I'm sorry to hear that your football team hasn't been doing so well this year Jack. Just keep doing your best and make sure that you always have the desire to improve yourself even when you do win. That way, when I get to see you play next year, I can watch you win all of your games. And before I forget mom, you are 100% correct on the information about the chapel location and meeting times. Just make sure that it is the Foothill building in Arcadia, because there are two buildings in our mission that are on foothill: one in Arcadia and one somewhere else (La Cresenta I think).
Well, things have still been a little slow here. We were not able to meet with Carlos at all this week or with Brother Ambrose and his family. Things have been very busy with all of them, and we think that Carlos' mom is trying to avoid us for the moment (apparently she goes through these cycles). We did, however, have a lesson with a man named Andy and his friend Tom. They had come to church about a month ago as part of an agreement with some other elders to go to each other's church one time. When they came to church, it just so happened that the lesson in gospel principles class was on the priesthood and they said that they were interested in talking with us more about that. We finally had that appointment with them this week, and it went very well. They don't agree with everything that we believe, but they are very friendly and are opening to at least learning. Andy is graduate from a religious university here in Pasadena called Fuller Theological Seminary and we had mentioned to him that the people that come from that school have been very friendly and open to us unlike most of the other religious universities that I have encountered on my mission, and he told us that he might have an idea about getting us in touch with some of the school officials there to have do a presentation or some other thing to teach the gospel there, so we are very excited about that. Other than that, not much else has happened here, other than helping a new family move in on Friday. We were just finishing up weekly planing when we got a call from one of the counselors in the elders quorum presidency asking us to help them move the family in. Then he told us where there new apartment was and it happened to be just down the street from us. we could even see our apartment complex from their bedroom window. They are a really cool family and they are very missionary minded, so we are excited for them to be in the ward.
Oh, I just remembered something really cool that happened on Tuesday. Alright, so we were at the church that night to do an activity with two of the new ward missionaries in our ward, and while we were waiting we saw all of these youth coming into the church and found out that they were doing a huge tri-stake mutual activity that night. We went outside to get out of the crowd and the noise in the foyer, when three girls that looked familiar went inside, and then I realised that they were the daughters of a less active family that we had been teaching in Glendale (these girls in particular had been real thorns in my side). I was suprised to see them at a church activity, let alone at our building, and they were suprised that I was still a missionary. They thought that I was done a long time ago. I was also suprised at how well they took it seeing me there. I was so persistant with them that I thought that for sure they would be annoyed to see me again, but they actually looked a little happy. Then as I went to go back outside, I heard someone at the door call out my name, and I looked up and saw one of my old investigators named Adrian from that same ward in Glendale. He had finally been baptized a few months ago and he had also been someone that I worked very hard with to help him learn the gospel. We were both so happy to see each other and he kept on saying how much of an influence I had been to him in his conversion. All I had really done was be his friend and talked with him about anime and video games (see mom and dad, I wasn't completely wasting my time with those things). It was so cool to see the change that the gospel has broght into his life. I can't wait until I can see him again at my farewell. Well I have to go now, so until next week.
Love,
Elder Norton
Things have been very wet and dreary here in California the last week. We have had a couple of thunder storms and today it has been raining all day with no sign of the usual California sunshine. I guess this is just one way I am being prepared for coming home. Thank you mom and dad for your letters and e-mails. I needed the support and advice, but most importantly the sound of your voice through your letters/e-mails.
Anyways, congratulations to Jace on his first assignment. I had a feeling that you were going to be learning that other language (I can't remember what its called, nor how to spell it if I could). Congratulations to Kinzie as well for doing so well in school. I am so proud of you. Keep up the good work so you can get that iPad. I think that it's cool that dad got an iPad as well. Alot of people here have one so I have gotten to see it myself, and I think that it looks pretty cool. I would like to get one myself after I get home, but I heard that they are going to come out with a new version of it sometime at the beginning of next year, so just in case you were thinking of getting one for me mom and dad, I think that it would be better to wait and save your money. I'm sorry to hear that your football team hasn't been doing so well this year Jack. Just keep doing your best and make sure that you always have the desire to improve yourself even when you do win. That way, when I get to see you play next year, I can watch you win all of your games. And before I forget mom, you are 100% correct on the information about the chapel location and meeting times. Just make sure that it is the Foothill building in Arcadia, because there are two buildings in our mission that are on foothill: one in Arcadia and one somewhere else (La Cresenta I think).
Well, things have still been a little slow here. We were not able to meet with Carlos at all this week or with Brother Ambrose and his family. Things have been very busy with all of them, and we think that Carlos' mom is trying to avoid us for the moment (apparently she goes through these cycles). We did, however, have a lesson with a man named Andy and his friend Tom. They had come to church about a month ago as part of an agreement with some other elders to go to each other's church one time. When they came to church, it just so happened that the lesson in gospel principles class was on the priesthood and they said that they were interested in talking with us more about that. We finally had that appointment with them this week, and it went very well. They don't agree with everything that we believe, but they are very friendly and are opening to at least learning. Andy is graduate from a religious university here in Pasadena called Fuller Theological Seminary and we had mentioned to him that the people that come from that school have been very friendly and open to us unlike most of the other religious universities that I have encountered on my mission, and he told us that he might have an idea about getting us in touch with some of the school officials there to have do a presentation or some other thing to teach the gospel there, so we are very excited about that. Other than that, not much else has happened here, other than helping a new family move in on Friday. We were just finishing up weekly planing when we got a call from one of the counselors in the elders quorum presidency asking us to help them move the family in. Then he told us where there new apartment was and it happened to be just down the street from us. we could even see our apartment complex from their bedroom window. They are a really cool family and they are very missionary minded, so we are excited for them to be in the ward.
Oh, I just remembered something really cool that happened on Tuesday. Alright, so we were at the church that night to do an activity with two of the new ward missionaries in our ward, and while we were waiting we saw all of these youth coming into the church and found out that they were doing a huge tri-stake mutual activity that night. We went outside to get out of the crowd and the noise in the foyer, when three girls that looked familiar went inside, and then I realised that they were the daughters of a less active family that we had been teaching in Glendale (these girls in particular had been real thorns in my side). I was suprised to see them at a church activity, let alone at our building, and they were suprised that I was still a missionary. They thought that I was done a long time ago. I was also suprised at how well they took it seeing me there. I was so persistant with them that I thought that for sure they would be annoyed to see me again, but they actually looked a little happy. Then as I went to go back outside, I heard someone at the door call out my name, and I looked up and saw one of my old investigators named Adrian from that same ward in Glendale. He had finally been baptized a few months ago and he had also been someone that I worked very hard with to help him learn the gospel. We were both so happy to see each other and he kept on saying how much of an influence I had been to him in his conversion. All I had really done was be his friend and talked with him about anime and video games (see mom and dad, I wasn't completely wasting my time with those things). It was so cool to see the change that the gospel has broght into his life. I can't wait until I can see him again at my farewell. Well I have to go now, so until next week.
Love,
Elder Norton
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