find me here...

hi everyone.  it's been a while.  i'm still alive, although i wasn't too sure about it for a few weeks there.  i'm back writing on my other blog now.  it's things of much less importance, but i'm trying to make it the same.  that's the biggest challenge i'm finding right now.  when i left malaysia, i was like this ----------- and then it was like this____________and now it's more like this..............(see what i did there?  it's a little bit higher).  but the outlook is on the up.  i'm finding things to make everything feel right again.  trying to not be a stranger in my own life.

tamat lah

Surprise!  I just couldn't miss writing about this awesome week we've had. 

We’re in Bintulu now and there's nothing else to do in this town for pday, so email it is!  I think I’m kind of in a twilight zone right now.  It all started setting in on Monday.  I cried a lot.  I think the part that's killing me is just leaving our investigators and the members here.  I’m so scared I’ll never see some of them again.  On Monday we were teaching the plan of salvation to Acha's family, the part that's not yet baptized and I just started crying when we were talking about the spirit world.  They weren't sure if relationships from this life would be remembered in the next, like we wouldn't recognize each other.  I bawled like a baby as I told them that's the one thing that's bringing me comfort when I think about the possibility of never seeing them again, I know that we will meet again after this life and that we'll still be brothers and sisters.  I mean it too.  I trust in that. 

I saw the last baptism of my mission last Friday.  Jong, Shoony, and Josie were baptized that night and it was flawless.  But first, contrast it to the baptism the night before to see just how smooth it ran.  Thursday night was Chris, Amanda, Shalinna, and Kapi's baptism.  We got the water heater going two hours before, right on time, then started filling the font on time...but the stupid part was we left to early to notice that the electric plug or whatever you call it wasn't closing.  So the font wasn't filled.  And it wouldn't fill because the water just kept going down the drain that wouldn't close.  So we got crafty and made our own plug out of plastic and a rock.  Success.  Then the problem was no one was on time.  But I guess that worked well with the whole empty font situation.  The baptism had to be pushed back about 45 minutes, and we were fretting the whole time, watching the water level slowly rise.  It doesn't sound to stressful I guess, but it was.  So Friday night we were smart early on and got the plastic stopper in on time.  The font was full on time.  The baptismal candidates were on time.  They bore beautiful and doctrinally sound testimonies.  The spirit was strong lah.  It was the perfect baptism to end on for sure.  Plus, that day I was buying an apom for dinner from a street cart we always pass.  The lady that sells them has been contacted by countless missionaries and is usually pretty cold towards us.  This day she started talking to us.  She told us that she's friends with sister Acha, and she wants to come to church.  What?!  So we're going to visit her next week…or I guess Sister Parker and her new companion will.  I keep forgetting that I won't be at the appointments we’re scheduling now.  Weird.

Yesterday was one of those days where the Lord just takes apart your plans and puts them back together the way He wants them.  We went for an appointment with Emma and she wasn't home, but her housemate was and we ended up talking to her for a while and got her as a new investigator.  That opened up a big chunk in our schedule because we were in the outer limit of our area, so it seemed out of the way and our next appointment was going to be close by, but we felt like we should go back to Tabuan Dayak, the area near the church where we are basically every day.  We got to the church and didn't really know what we were doing, so we started going around to confirm some appointments for later in the evening.  On the way, we remembered Endaya and Nika, two less-active members we met almost two weeks ago, and went over to see them.  Only Endaya was home but she invited us in and while talking we found out that only her husband was a member, she hasn't been baptized yet, even though she wanted to a few years ago before they moved back to their village.  So we invited her to start learning again and to be baptized and she said yes!  It was awesome, she was so excited!

 

Then we went to our appointment with Suzilin.  We were nervous that she doesn't understand the need to be baptized again, but before we could even teach restoration again, she told us she needs to be baptized the right way and put herself on date! 

Ok I’m out of time, sorry!  What a great way to leave my mission! I love you all!  See you soon!

Sister Norton
HFI

Sunset in the jungle ... perfect picture to end with ♥

it's official

... almost.  This will be her last email to us.  She has zone conference next week and the following Tuesday ... well, we've received her flight itinerary and in exactly two weeks we will be standing at the bottom of "that" elevator at the Salt Lake airport!  I get so excited ... I get all teary eyed.  Really.  What an incredible experience it has been for Mikelle.  Lots and lots of good stuff ... really good stuff!  Heck, great stuff! Incredible stuff!  And I can't wait to hear all about it!  


Which brings to mind, Mikelle's sacrament meeting report will be at our ward, the Forest Bend Ward, at 7784 South 2000 East (Highland Drive), on Sunday, August 12th at 9:00 a.m. Come early to get a good seat :)  And please stop by our home for some chit chat and a bite to eat afterwards (7674 S Caballero Drive) ... she'll be so excited to see you!  

And can I just say one thing about my incredible husband for just a minute here please?  During both Dax and Mikelle's missions he has sent them the most incredible letters and weekly emails.  Seriously. I think my husband should write a book of letters for parents who would like a little help in that area.  He always seems to say just the right thing or share just the perfect experience or scripture that they needed to hear at that particular time while serving the Lord ... to lift them up and keep them going.  Everyone of them (well, ok, almost every one of them) has been just what they needed at that time. I am so grateful for such a wonderfully inspired husband who has always honored his priesthood and been an incredible example to our children and to me.  

I will share with you the ending to all of his letters and emails because I think it is so sweet and perfect ~  

"Remember to report for work every morning on your knees and ask Heavenly Father what He would have you do.  Then listen real close and the miracles will start!"   -- 

Thank you for your prayers for all of our incredible missionaries out there serving the Lord around the world.  

Please continue :)

xoxo ~ Chris 

bye bye cinta

So this is it.  The last email you get from Malaysia.  Next week we have no pday because it's zone conference and then my next pday after that will be in the land of endless pdays....I’m tripping out just a little bit, yes.

First, I’m an awful daughter and didn't say it last week, but HAPPY 30TH ANNIVERSARY, MOMMY AND DADDY!!  I promise I didn't forget it, I just didn't process that when I emailed about it this week, it would already be too late.  One week at a time is how my brain is working these days.  

Things are amazing with the work right now, of course just in time for me to leave it soon.  Chris, Amanda, Shalinna, and Kapi are getting baptized on Thursday night and then Jong, Shoony, and Josie on Friday night.  Jong put her friend on date to be baptized for us basically.  Acha's husband has also started learning with everyone else at the house and asked to be baptized with the next batch on 1 September.  Richmond cut his hair to a decent length. All the seminary and institute aged ones came to class this past week. Kapeli just got married and his new wife who doesn't have a religion yet wants to begin following Christ and be baptized with him and the rest of the family.  Josie's fiancé is also coming to church and wants to be baptized with the group on 1 September.  Chris helped us teach his cousins, dang the kid needs to go on a mission!!  Pretty much things just couldn't be any better.

We had Women's Conference for Relief Society last weekend and they were talking about which kinds of rice were healthiest; I caught myself practically taking notes then realized I’m going back to a life where I don't really eat rice....that threw me for a loop.   

The elders keep asking me how "dead" I am and remarking at how surprised they are that I seem to be very much alive still.  Of course lah, I’m not wasting my time at the end of the best year and a half of my life. I’m trying to tie-up loose ends and figure out what it is that I’ve really learned here, that's a goal I made at the beginning of the mission, learn something from every companion, every area. Here, it's been a lesson about how good for us our struggles are meant to be.  I’ve always known that blessings come from God, but I’m learning more that trials do too. They're hand-picked for us, pretty much like a personal trainer handing you a 20lb weight once the 10lb isn't enough anymore.  I’ve learned a lot from Nephi who probably had a little bit of whining cross his mind while his brothers were moaning, but had the self-control to keep it in and show his faith.  I’ve been moaning and trying to bide my time, get through the hard stuff, but missing my lesson.  I like how Brigham Young put it:

"There is not a single condition of life or one hour's experience but what is beneficial to all those who make it their study and aim to improve upon the experience they gain."  

I hope to do that always.  Not just now, but with every challenge that pops up once I get home too.  

I am excited to see you all when I get home!  I love you so much and am so grateful for the support you've given me over the past year and a half. Thank you!

See you soon!

Sayang Daripada,

Sister Norton

HFI

So much to be grateful for in Kuching!

Thank you.  Good night.

awak tak datang ke rumah saya? apa hal??

Malaysian kids have such attitude.

Not a full week since last Wednesday, but a good week!  We switched pday to today so we could go to the Sarawak Cultural Village with a visiting senior couple from Hong Kong.  It was way cool.  There were traditional houses for all the different tribes that you could walk through, and then a show showcasing all their native dances and all that.  I felt pretty cool knowing which dance belonged to who because I’ve got friends in the church here who can dance them.  Towards the end of the show, this guy comes out on the stage in traditional warrior clothes (basically a loin cloth with a pelt on his back and a peacock feather on his head) and does his dance and blows a dart gun and all that.  He was looking around the audience from the stage and I got a little nervous noticing that he kept looking at me.  Sure enough, he jumps off the stage and comes over to get me to go up on the stage with him.  So...I went up of course.  Then he had me try to use the dart gun also, missed the first time, dang.  So then he lead me across the stage by my hand....you can just imagine how loud the 10 elders watching were at that point.  So uncomfortable!  I have definitely been a missionary for a while.  It was hilarious.  I’ll try to send a picture and get the video from one of the elders.  Anyway, I hit the target in the end!  Hey, remember how I’m on a mission?  No hand-holding business yah. 

We taught Eva’s parents for the first time together this past week. She was just baptized with Acha's family, and her mom was learning, but her dad hadn't really been open yet.  Well he's open now…and wants to get baptized with his wife on 1 September.

Jong and Shony are still doing awesome.  They came to a branch activity on Friday night (bowling) and Jong was even teaching another one of our investigators in Sunday School yesterday.  And Shony?  Went from 20 sticks to ZERO in two days.  HE DID IT!!  So the baptism is still on for next week.  He was so proud of himself.  

Chris quit smoking too!  And all of the second crew from Acha's family is still on for their baptism next week also.  

We started the recent convert lessons with Acha and her family and Acha told us she wants to let every one know about the church, she wants to serve a mission with her husband later too…and so does Chris!  Not too late, he's just barely 19.  Best.

We had some cool experiences being led by the spirit this week.  We had an unexpected opening in our schedule one day and our back up plans were to visit a few less-active members in the neighbourhood where we were working that day.  We wanted to go see Valerie and then take her with us to go see Sylvia.  So, we went to Valerie's house and it turned out Sylvia was already there pretty much waiting for us.  Then, we were walking to a member's house for dinner last night but we were early so we were taking our time and seeing if there were any people to talk to along the way.  We passed some shacks on the side of the road and some guys who seemed a little less-than-sober started calling out to us.  Now don't worry, usually I am much smarter than this, but I turned to Sister Parker and told her we should go talk to them and see who lived in this group of shacks.  Bad-a-bing!  A family who's already members but haven't been to church in over four years!  They haven't been to the new church building literally just down the street from them, so we invited them and they said they'd come!  No one knew they were there because they lived in a different part of town when they were baptized and then moved without transferring their records. So...now we can at least do all we can to make them feel welcome in Stampin Branch.  Plus one of the girls is recently married and her husband isn't a member yet.  Love the potential there. Then one more:  the spirit led someone straight to us.  Mida walked into church yesterday, thinking it was an Anglican church (herself being anglican).  We explained what it actually was and she decided to stay for the service.  Turns out she knows Acha who was just baptized, they used to be best friends but haven't seen each other since she moved to KL almost 20 years ago!  So, now she wants to know more about the church and we're meeting her on Thursday. Crazy how the Lord keeps track of us.

I hope you all have a great week, I love you!

Tiga minggu lagi,

Sister Norton

HFI

jangan merokok!

It's our week of helping people quit smoking apparently.  Sony started with a pack a day (20 sticks he says...) and yesterday only smoked 5!  We called this morning to tell him not to smoke and he hadn't had one yet and it was already 11!  Then we got an sms an hour later saying he still hadn't smoked one!  He was so excited about it.  He and Jong are doing great, they're going to make it for the 28th :)  Then Chris, one of the members of Acha's family (her nephew-getting baptized on the 28th also) was smoking 5-10 a day and when I called him about an hour ago (4 in the afternoon) he hadn't smoked any!  Anyone else want to quit smoking???  We’re glad to help :)

Other members of Acha's family are still doing great, still excited for their baptism.  It’s just the word of wisdom push week so it's a hurdle for a few of them, but I know they can do it.  Chris, Amanda, and Shalinna were all working on Sundays so they've missed the past few weeks of church and we told them they should try to find different jobs that don't work on Sunday.  They quit their jobs! Without even having a new one yet!  I was kind of shocked when Chris told me that...asked him why he quit, and he said, "Sister, you told me to quit so I could come to church if I want to get baptized, so I quit!"  I was floored.  I think they're doing ok on their faith if they could take that step.  I’ll be praying that they can find other work now that they've done what they need to to keep the sabbath day holy. Your prayers are welcome as well.

That's about it.  I guess I only have a few more times to email kamu orang. I’ll try to get something good in one of these times.  I love you!  I hope you're having a nice time in that dry heat.  I had to wring out my hair after walking in the monsoon today.  

Sayangi,

Sister Norton

HFI!

Beautiful sunset in Kuching! 

selamat hari merdeka amerika!

I need to go find root beer or something to celebrate 4th of July today.  Go watch some fireworks for me.

So it sounds like you're having a bit of a drought there in Utah?  We are too!  In fact, some of the kampungs ran out of water last week and they had to bring around trucks full of water for people to come fill up buckets. We helped Acha's family get their water.  We were all running around like mad with everyone else in the kampung.  I think they were shocked to see the orang putih in line at the water truck with a bucket also.

Acha & co. (round one) were baptized last Friday and confirmed on Sunday!  It was a loooong baptism with eight people, but so good! We’re continuing to teach about 7 others in the family, hopefully getting them baptized at the end of this month.  So things are good. The most amazing thing to see was the confirmation.  One of the daughters is a bit of a rebel to say the least, but a complete physical change came over her when she was confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  It was a privilege to witness it.  I love that I get that chance to see the progress in people as they come closer to the Saviour.

Jong is doing awesome also, we met with her husband, Sony (Shony?  Shonny?  not sure) for a full lesson last week and he wants to be baptized with her at the end of this month.  We invited him to say the prayer at the end of the lesson and he said he didn't know how, to which Jong responded by smacking him and saying, "I already taught you how!"  hah they're such a cute couple.  Still in their 20's and all flirtatious with each other…you can tell they have a good friendship.  Anyway, when we taught about the Book of Mormon, Jong shared her testimony of how she feels when she reads the book.  It was out of this world amazing! 

I love you all!  Happy Fourth of July!  

Dengan Kasih, 

Sister Norton

HFI!

Acha & family!  Happy Day!

farewell president and sister clark

So we get a new mission president this next week.  It’s really weird to think about.  We’re so lucky though, President Clark's last Sunday in the mission was spent in kuching.  What can I say…we're a big deal.

I’m really sorry I feel like I’m probably going to keep disappointing with my emails....I’m just tired, mommy.  I don't have too many words left to explain all of this :)

Sister Parker had another bad crash on the bike last night and we were in the hospital till pretty late.  That’s 4x in 3 months of bike riding for her.  I’ve been on the bike for 8 months now and never fallen or had anything happen.  I’m grateful.  I seem to have better luck “knock on wood”.

Acha's family is set for their baptism on Friday of this week.  We had to get two different people to baptize them all because eight might make one man too tired.  I love them so much and am so excited to see their faces as they come out of the waters of baptism.

We had a really sad lesson with Asen.  Something happened, maybe he heard some anti-stuff, he wouldn't say, but basically we had our last lesson with him last week.  He said he doesn't want to be baptized or follow Christ, he wants to continue following his family in praying to Buddha.  It was heart breaking.  Hopefully he'll get another chance sometime in the future and his heart will be able to open again.

There was a big party at the church to send off the Clark’s, lots of traditional dancing and eating :)  I love the iban and bidayuh cultures. Then we had an awesome Sunday for church.  It was district conference with President Clark, and we had more investigators at church than I’ve had in my whole mission. It was an awesome experience for each of them.  

Jung is really shining right now.  SHE invited her husband to be baptized with her...beat us to the punch.  He wants to.  They both loved church on Sunday and recognized that it was different than any other church they've ever been to.  We taught her about the Sabbath day and she quit her job because they wouldn't give her Sundays off to go to church.  It’s no wonder she's feeling the change the gospel is bringing to her, sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven :)

We started teaching the second half of Acha's family this past week also.  We watched the video Finding Faith in Christ and it was awesome to see a full room of people, sitting and gaining a better understanding of who Christ is.  The next day, while we were teaching Jung, I heard a really familiar movie playing from one of the other rooms (she lives in a longhouse, so there are other rooms with other families that just have doors from the outside), and then I realized it was Kapi watching FFIC again.  He lives right next to her and had been at Acha's the night before watching the movie with us.  It was pretty funny trying to figure out how I knew that song coming from the other room....oh duh...it's a church movie I’ve seen over a fifty times in the past year.

So yeah, things are good.  Everything keeps going.  We inherited a second branch this weekend, the newly formed Kuching International Branch.  Basically it's for all English and Chinese speaking members in all of Kuching.  So.....where's my Chinese???  I forgot how to speak it again.

I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!

Sayangi,

Sister Norton

HFI

bangkai bernyawa

So I got my flight plans home.  I cried.  So let's not talk about ok? :)

It’s been a long week with lots of good, busy days, and a few days when everything cancelled and I felt like I was back in Penang or Singapore or something.  Yesterday was the worst.  ALL appointments fell through and an investigator called and dropped us over the phone.  (Plus I was just tired.  I’ve been so tired lately.  Constantly.  I couldn't figure out why, and then I realized it might just be the whole "oh I’ve been on a mission for almost 16 months.  Maybe that's why" deal.)  But, law of compensation....we got a new investigator at the end of the night without even doing anything.  He just walked up to us and said he wants to learn and be baptized.  So not so much a rugi afterall.

Jung is still doing awesome.  She’s coming to church this week.

We had a lesson on the plan of salvation at Acha's house and almost 20 people were there in the room, sitting and listening.  It was awesome.  It’s been cool to see the changes in that family and to see that other members of the family notice it too.  That’s the reason we continue to get more members of the family just coming up to us and saying they want to learn too and be baptized also now.  It’s amazing how the light of the gospel literally shines and brings others in like that.  Seven of them will be getting baptized next weekend.  Then another group in July.  Asen is having problems getting work off to come to church, so we've had to push his date to July also.

I’m sorry i don't have time to share the other cool experiences we've had this week.  Ok…ok maybe have time for one.  So we were faith finding and planning on going to another neighbourhood, but then I felt like we should pray and start before we got there, and find on the way too.  So we prayed and told Heavenly Father our plans.  We turned down the street and started talking to this lady.  She wasn't budging but as we kept getting to know her, she invited us inside.  We were looking at pictures on her book shelf and what do you know, a Book of Mormon was sitting by her bible.  She didn't remember where she got it, but she reads from it occasionally.  We shared a verse with her and she liked it!  So we're headed back at the end of the week to explain more about the book :)  Miracles all around.
I love you all and hope you're doing well.  Cheers!

Sister Norton

HFI

 Sister Norton & Sister Lor with Acha's kids.

Kuching missionaries :)

 She finally received her Mandarin tag!

Personality + ... the Primary will LOVE this bunch!

another one bites the dust

My companion died on Monday.  One of them at least.  It was so weird to be at the airport seeing her off because I was realizing it will be me soon.  Sister Parker was so sad to see her go and I was just like, "see you in a few months!"  So it wasn't that big of a deal I guess.  Sister Parker and I had an area cleanse :)   We went through our apartment and area books and figured out a lot of stuff that missionaries have just been pushing off for the next companionship for years.  We both like organization I think.  So it's working well and we've got a good platform now.  I plan on dying strong :)

They had a big party at the church for Sister Lor on Saturday.  Man they love sister missionaries here.  It was so good because Acha and her whole family came and they got some good fellowshipping time with the members, and they're following the word of wisdom now!  We stopped by their place last night to follow-up and Acha came out to the door and said, "sister, I’m following the word of wisdom.  I want to go to the temple.  We need to pay our tithing right?"  So good lah!!   There are 7 of them for sure getting baptized on June 30th and another 4-6 of them set for the end of July.  What an amazing family.  I know that this has been a crucial time for them.  Acha's son-in-law passed away last week and at a time when they could be shutting everything out, they're opening their hearts to the gospel and letting it heal the pain they're feeling.  Her daughter who just became a widow told us she wants to be baptized and then said that her husband was never baptized, is there a way for people who have already passed on to be baptized also?  Wow!  It was amazing to be able to provide restored gospel truths about ordinances for the dead in a time when it was needed.  We had a funeral basically at their house on Monday night and the branch presidency came along to conduct it.  It was a really amazing experience for everyone that was there I think, even the ones who aren't open to learning yet.

Asen was supposed to get baptized this weekend but he's having to work overtime so it's been pushed to the 30th also, with Acha's family…but he's still doing great.

We have another investigator who has been flying kind of low on the radar, Jung.  Maybe I’ve spoken of her before, I can’t remember.  Anyway, we had a neat lesson with her yesterday when we talked more about Christ and His life.  She understands things extremely well, which isn't always the case with a lot of people here.  So it looks like she's really progressing towards her July baptism also. 

Our other awesome family right now, Rojous and co.  We're frustrated I guess.  They’re potential kingdom builders and such a close-knit family and we can feel the spirit so strong while teaching them.  Rojous and his sister are getting it I think, but the dad still doesn't see the need to search for authority, and we're having a hard time helping him open his mind.

Have I mentioned anything about the fear of dogs that I've developed over the past year or so?  They're terrifying.  I had three try to attack me while we were biking yesterday.  I lost my nametag in one of the scrambles to get away :(

And I think that's about it.  I’m reading in proverbs right now and am learning a lot about how much controlling your words affects your ability to follow the Lord and His commands.  Just thought I’d mention that :)  I love you all and hope you have a great week!

… Oh, and before I go I want to remind you all that Sunday is Father's Day!  And I have the best dad in the world!  HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADDY!!!  I’m sorry I’m not there to cook or do something for you this Sunday and I’m sorry even more that I didn't know what I could send for Father's Day.  But I do want to thank you for the constant example you set for me with your love and reverence for the Lord, your honesty and charity for others, your sense of humour and positive attitude for life...the list goes on.  Values you've taught me my whole life have become so meaningful to me during this time on my mission.  Thank you so much for that.  I love you to pieces, forever, and too much!!  

Sister Norton

HFI

 Sister Norton, Sister Lor & Sister Parker - 1st day together!

 Brand new meeting house in Kutching.

The saints there have waited a long time for this!

A BEAUTIFUL new day in Kuching.

 An orchid growing wild!

 Yes ... this is the way you buy your chickens!

Just a "little" rain ...

bye bye cinta!

You know that picture of the river on my blog?  Flying into Kuching looks just like that!  I’m SO not in the west anymore!  

TODAY is my sister’s birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SISTER!! I love you :)

And speaking of sisters…so one of the little boys in Acha's family can't say sister like the rest of the kids, so when we're leaving the house and they're all shouting, "Bye sister!" you hear a little voice yelling, "bye bye cinta!"  which means love in bahasa.  It kills me it's so cute.  So yes, I am Cinta Norton to him. 

MS was baptized in Penang last week!!  And his mom came to church the next day and for the baptism!  So awesome!  The work goes on.

Our Gawai houses visited count is now over 12...I think that equates to about 3 kg gained.  Sick. 

Asen is getting baptized next week!  And he brought a friend to church on Sunday.  Because his date was moved up, we had to speed up the lessons and get Word of Wisdom in time last weekend...thankfully he has no problems with it and things are still looking good for the 16th :)

We met an incredible family yesterday.  Last week we were faith finding at Waterfront and there was a boy about our age sitting in front of one of the shoppings carving some masks and stuff.  Rojous.  We talked to him and asked if we could come visit this week.  When we got there yesterday, they had prepared food for us and the whole family sat down in the living room and turned off the tv, then they pulled out a Book of Mormon!!  I think they think it's just a different version of the Bible.  One of the sisters is almost half way through with it.  We had an awesome lesson about what the book really was and where it came from and invited them to be baptized.  Rojous and Mollin (the sister) said yes and the others nodded their heads, but the dad didn't get it and said no need because he can't be baptized twice (he's already baptized into the RC church) and told us that his family will follow him.  He was so nice though, just doesn’t understand yet.  They're coming to church this Sunday and we're meeting with all of them again next week.  We felt so good about it when we walked into their house, so I'm still hopeful that it will go somewhere.

My companion is dying on Monday!  I can't believe it. Other than that all is good...except I’m missing Sister Song and Penang food and Jenny. I love it here though...I feel so comfortable! I love Ibans! The branch is about the same size as Penang’s, but the members help SO much, like a real branch!  And we have a beautiful new chapel that was just dedicated last month.  It’s like a church in the U.S.!  There’s so much work here too, we teach all day.  We just walk through the kampung and the people know us as “the sisters” and you can just walk from “house” to “house.”  I say “house” because they’re more like huts.  It’s crazy.  Some houses don’t even have electricity.  You sit on the wood/dirt floor around one light bulb (sometimes the floor feels like it will break under you because the houses are on stilts). I love it though!  And my bahasa is fine! No problems! I feel so comfortable around Asians.  White people actually make me slightly uncomfortable, so family, please...try not to be too white when I come home.  Really…dye your skin yellow and get rid of all the chairs and silverware in the house.  

I have to run now, but I love you all!  Hope you have a great week! 

Cinta Norton

hfi

Bako National Park - Yeah! P-Day!  It was beautiful!
(Previously posted but we had no idea it had a name.)

gawai!

I thought I had just escaped holidays that kill missionary work when I left Penang (aka Chinese New Year, Vesak Day, Thaipussam...) then I come here to Gawai.  It's a big deal.  It's the festival to celebrate the harvest in Iban and Bidayuh cultures and it means a lot of eating, drinking, and balik-ing kampung (going back to the village where you were born).  What does that mean for us?  No one to teach and a lot of Word of Wisdom problems for our investigators and members.  We visited a family last night and when we walked in, there was a man passed out in the middle of the floor.  After he woke up, he just laughed and said, "Mabuk mabuk.  Gawai!" Translation...."I'm drunk.  It's Gawai!"  Apoooo.  The Branch President chewed him out pretty much and reminded him that we wouldn't even have Gawai if it wasn't for the Lord, so the guy reached down to show him the cross hanging around his neck and President basically told him not to use that as an excuse.  He listened attentively for the rest of the lesson :)

There's been crazy rain lately also, a lot of floods in the kampungs. It's not so fun to ride bikes in.  But better than being stuck in the traffic when it's raining like we had to do last week with the senior couple.  Two hours in the car to go about 5 km. 

We're teaching an awesome family right now, Acha and her kids, then her sister and kids, and their dad.  We'll just call them Acha and co. because it's 7 plus all together and I'm still trying to get down all the names.  They are getting ready to be baptized at the end of June, just working on some Word of Wisdom stuff now. They're so good though!  I love going to their house.  We pull up and all the kids run out yelling, "Sister!!"  So I'm in love.

We found a girl last week (Jong) who is part Iban part Chinese and we've taught her a few times.  Yesterday while teaching her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and baptism, she remembered that she was baptized when she was 12.  (When we first met, she said she was Buddhist, not Christian.)  Apparently one night, a guy came through her kampung calling out for people to follow him and be cleansed...so yeah.  All she remembers is she was cold and didn't know who Jesus Christ was.  So we invited her to get baptized again the same way Christ did and she's on date for the end of July! Same day as Jessica...a girl we found a few days after I got here, who is already half-way through 1 Nephi!

In other news, my companion got hit by a car! And I was behind her so I watched it all happen.  It was so scary!  I looked up and saw a car hit a bike and the girl on it going tumbling across the road.  I thought it was some random lady on a moto and freaked out, thinking, "Oh my gosh that lady just got hit!"  Then I realized that lady was a white girl...not too many of those around here....and that's when it set in that it was my companion.  She's ok…miraculously, just a bruised butt, which isn't so good when we sit on the ground for all of our teaching appts.  But she'll be ok.

That's all I have time for.  I love you all and hope you're well. Selamat Gawai!

Sister Norton

HFI

one of our investigators and their home

acha's family 

one of acha's kids. 

he's adorable.  doesn't talk but getting better at his high 5

the sidewalk near a member's house :)

kampung where one of the members lives.  

a view of the main govt building and the sarawak river