transfers

Not me, I'm still in Penang. Happily also :) At zone conference, the AP's pulled Sister Wilkes and I aside and said, "There's going to be a transfer next week." Of course I didn't believe them so it took about 30 seconds for them to convince me to the point that they could tell what was going to happen. "Sister Wilkes will be going to Miri and Sister Song will be coming to serve with you, Sister Norton." Oh my goodness I couldn't believe it. My greenie is in Sarawak! Soon she'll speak better Malay than I do, and Iban too! AND SISTER SONG IS WITH ME! I love Sister Song. She's from Singapore and I served in her home ward, met her once before she went into the MTC and she was trained by my MTC sister, Sister Kubota. So this is a very good thing. We just have to make sure that we don't have too much fun, that will be the only problem! Then of course I wanted to know if Jensen was still in Miri. She's opening Puchong (KL) for the sisters!!!! Which means I GET TO SEE HER NEXT WEEK. I might cry. It's been since last July. Too too long. So good things all around.

Sister Wilkes left yesterday, had to be at the airport at 9:30 and Sister Song didn't get in until about 1:30, so I sat in the Penang airport for four hours, companion-less, all alone. It was the weirdest feeling. But now I'm all caught up in my Jesus the Christ reading. We got her back and all settled, then met with A&D and their family and had an awesome lesson. They're just still getting tripped up on one verse in the bible that says we all have the priesthood...so they don't see the need to be baptized into this church, even though they believe the Book of Mormon and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. So they're going to try church. And next time we're pulling out the big guns. D&C 1:30. Pray pray.

Sister and I are off to a good start. It's p-day, we've been companions for just about 24 hours, and we've already found two new investigators. We're ready to work hard and see some miracles. March Madness isn't just for basketball.

Zone conference was incredible. We talked about the Atonement. It just made me want to be a missionary forever. I don't think I can say anything to do it justice. Sorry!

J is doing awesome. We taught her about the Word of Wisdom on Saturday and she was ready to try, but still just in love with her coffee and also feeling like she needs it so she doesn't get dizzy. Well she had some on Sunday morning before church and said during church she just prayed for helping to stop drinking it and afterwards, started getting dizzy, the same as if she hadn't had any coffee even though she had. So it's a weird answer to a prayer, but we'll take it. She says she's done and hasn't had since then. Ahh she's just amazing. I love her so much.

And some not so good news....S had to go back to Nigeria because they wouldn't renew his passport. We didn't even get to say goodbye :( We have hopes that he'll be able to come back in five weeks, but we don't know at this point.

That's it. I really will try to write something a little more meaty next week ok? I love you all. Have a great week!

Sister Norton

HFI

it was a good sunday lah

So we were on a bus on Saturday night coming back from Paya Terubong, a little outside of our area. A group of Nigerians got on the bus and one came and sat next to me. I started talking to him and he said he was going to church right then. Oh such an easy transition. I pulled out a Book of Mormon pass along card and before I could really share what it is he cut me off with, "Latter-day Saints? I was baptized into that church in Nigeria in 2008!" What?! "I'm a Priest." So, he didn't know that there was a church in Penang (it's been a while I think...) so we gave him the address and invited him to come the next morning. He was there along with three of our Nigerian investigators and some others. It was a good Sunday lah. We thought there would be no one coming. We had worked so hard to get as many of them at church and woke up to some calls and SMS's that left us hoping for at least two there. Then bam, with some major help from our Heavenly Father, seven! It was a miracle. Happy girl here.

Another happy thing...the English class size once again grew by two students. Huzzah.

We met a way cool Nepalese guy last week while going to visit a family that we teach. He said he was Christian also so we set up a time to meet with him and when we sat down to talk, he put his bible on the table and said, "I've only been Christian for about four years but I don't really know which one to follow. Can you help me know which one to join?" Ohhhh such a magical thing to hear. So he's on date to be baptized at the end of March.

And some more: J is awesome. We've had some great faith-building experiences with her this last week. We haven't taught her about fasting but she knew that we were fasting for a friend one day so she called on Tuesday night saying she needed to fast for her family...how can she do it? Golden. Still doing great.

Our Indonesian family, A&D...A's wife hasn't been joining our discussions but when we went last week, she was out in the living room and had questions for us. Then she asked if it's too late in the lessons for her to learn too. So big progress made there. We saw them again last night and they wanted to feed us before our bus to KL. I again wanted to cry afterwards. They told us flat out that if we don't eat it all, they'll know we didn't like it. Aduh.

Here we are in KL now. Maybe I'll have some cool stuff to share about it next week. All we've done so far was have Pday at the Batu Caves. I'll send pictures.

I love you all! Enjoy the cold.

Sister Norton

HFI

The hill we bike ... a lot.

rain's back

When we first got to Penang it was the end of the rainy season. So much rain everyday. Then it stopped and it was dry. For Malaysia at least. Then everyone said it would get ridiculously hot for Chinese New Year. And it did. And now it's still that hot and it's raining a ton again. I hate biking in the rain.

We met with A&D last week. A's father was a member of the church but we recently found out that he and his wife and A's older sister have all passed away. We felt like they needed to know about the blessings of the temple and the connection between that and the spirit world that we taught them about a couple of weeks ago. I took a really awesome temple edition of the Ensign and we had a great lesson. Tonight is kind of our last chance to invite them once again to be baptized and be a part of the true church that his father found so many years ago.

We had such a great lesson with JN last week, but now she's moving back to KL! I was impressed with her understanding of what it means for us to pray about the Book of Mormon with a sincere heart and real intent. That's how she'll get an answer. Luckily we are going there next week for a zone conference, so we're trying to set up a time to meet her there and introduce her to the missionaries so she can continue to learn.

English class was even more of a success last week, we had a whole five in attendance. It's growing lah :)

On Saturday morning a member took us on a hike with a university classmate of his. Ummm … Penang is SO beautiful! I wish I wasn’t so frustrated with this island so often so that I could really just enjoy it a little more. The hike was good and the friend had some interesting questions, but we weren’t able to get a return appointment with her yet. We’ll see.

J came to church again! We naik bas together. Got some cute pictures of her little boy. It's going well.

We got a referral to go visit a family that lives near our building so gave him a call on Sunday and tried to get a confirmation on the address. No street name, just the building name. Problem, there are two complexes with the same name in our area. Another problem, people here don't know directions, if you said south of Georgetown, no one would know what you're talking about. So he said "after USM." Ummm after USM coming from where? North? South? He doesn't know. I can't speak Tamil. So we've yet to be able to make it there. Aduuuuh. Terus cuba.

S&Y? Apa khabar? Masih baca ini? Saya rindu kedua kamu! Ada jumpa dengan Sister Kubota? Ada cakap dengan Sister Wong atau Sister Howard? Harap kamu sihat dan gembira!

I can't hear people. I think I'm going deaf. It makes me want to cry sometimes.

S&J. We've got a sad situation here. We had another good lesson with them, just talking about what it means to be a disciple of Christ and the sacrifices they'll need to make if they really want the witness they're looking for. They're in this time, I hope. But S's visa is up next week and the government is giving him a really hard time with it. If he doesn't get it renewed, he's back to Nigeria and I think I'll cry. I understand that there are problems here with people from his country, but I know he isn't involved with those problems, and I hate the racism he's facing from the stereotype. Please just pray for these friends of ours.

Hopefully I'll be able to email next week from KL. I love you all.

Sister Norton

HFI

third time's the charm

Well, D was baptized! Three times...Most memorable baptism of my mission for sure. And I don't think I'll be able to top it in the next six months. I don't like it when Heavenly Father makes me learn through experience, can't I just read it in the Book of Mormon?

The baptism was wonderful on Saturday, great talks given, I sang and an elder who is an excellent piano player accompanied me, and the baptism itself seemed fine, except one thing, the elder baptizing her said her full English name. Once she came out of the water, I turned to Sister Wilkes and said ''I think it needs to be done with her full Chinese name.'' I started asking around everyone in the room and just had this feeling that it should be done again with her full Chinese name, just in case. She was in the font, it wouldn't be any trouble to just have it done one more time. I ignored that feeling. I felt uneasy about it for the rest of the evening. I talked to my District Leader when I got home, got passed on to the Zone Leaders, and then to the Assistants who said they would ask President, but he'd already gone to bed so they'd let us know in the morning. Eight o'clock am on Sunday morning, we got a phone call saying she needed to be re-dunked. Aduh. She was on schedule to be confirmed and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost during Sacrament Meeting, so it would have to be done before church at 10. The font takes 90 minutes to fill. It takes us 90 minutes to get to church by bus, 45 minutes by bicycle, and 15 by taxi, but we had to meet J and take a bus with her to church. So how? We called the elders (they live about five minutes from the church) and they rushed over to start the font for us. We tried to call the Branch President but his phone was off. About a half hour later we got a call from him, asking why the font was running when he got to the church. We tried to explain but he seemed to think it didn't need to be re-done, so he turned off the water. We couldn't get a hold of D because she has her phone off on Sunday mornings. So we ran to get J and then took a taxi with her and her son to church. We got there and the font was maybe 1/4 full...at 9:10. So we turned on the hoses out in the yard and brought them into the font, and our dear elders started filling buckets outside and dumping them into the font. So it was full in record time. Then D showed up to church and we explained the full situation to her, asking to see her IC card so we could know what her name is on all her records. Sure enough it wasn't the same name by which she had been baptized. She was understanding, but her father was far from it. I got chewed out big time. Like went upstairs and cried haha. Finally he agreed to let her be re-dunked and we got everything ready. It's ten minutes till church starts at this point and we have two families of investigators just sitting alone in the chapel. I'm so thankful that the Branch Presidency recognized that the Spirit wasn't there, and things were too crazy to have a baptism, so they decided to make it a part of the Sacrament Meeting. We started out in the chapel, and then the whole branch moved out to the font for D's baptism. That was nice. Only three members had come to the baptism the day before. I overheard one member commenting that this was probably the first time the whole active part of the branch had attended a baptism, and that's the way it should be. So it all worked out. It was a great baptism, but her hair was out of the water the first time, so they even had to dunk her a third time. So, hopefully it was a lesson learned. When the Spirit tells you something, you don't ignore it. Heavenly Father is so patient with me. He even makes my mistakes turn out for the best.

So, as said above, J was at church! She was a little nervous on the way there, but looked at me and said she's getting baptized on the 24th of March, so she needs to start getting herself ready. I love her! Her boy wasn't even that naughty during church! I just had to keep reminding her that it will take adjusting, but they'll get more and more comfortable at church. In an extra effort to help her feel comfortable, I bore my testimony in bahasa, first time from a pulpit! (Hard to find opportunities when I've only served in English and Chinese wards/branches...gearing up for East Malaysia!) One dear member started talking to her in the nursery when she dropped off her son and they hit it off. This member bore her testimony of the Church and how happy it's made her family, and it must have affected J because she invited us to meet with her and her husband next time. On Saturday is the plan.

M also came to church with one of his daughters and then we went to teach the whole family that night. It is so hard to help people understand the authority of the priesthood when they don't have a Christian background (or even when they do...), but it was still a good lesson. P made us thosai after and I thought I was going to lose it because we had to eat so many. Once again I had to rescue Sister Wilkes by grabbing food off her plate when they weren't looking....I stood by the side of the road for about five minutes thinking I was going to throw up on the ride home. Memories I'll cherish :)

Last week, Sister Wilkes and Kubota met a woman in a flat they were knocking, right before they were leaving to come home. She had a cross on her door but explained that she wasn't Christian, just learning, but her husband is. She was eager to hear more from us when they told her that our purpose is to help others understand more about Christ and how learning about Him and following Him can bless our lives and our families, so they set up a return appointment for last night. We walked in and could immediately feel something so special about their home. Their little 3 year old son was so sweet, everything was so clean, and they just looked happy. We all sat down and they pulled out the pamphlet we had given them about the Plan of Salvation. We had an amazing lesson with them and invited them to begin praying together as a family daily. They would be coming to church this Sunday but will be in KL, so we won't be able to meet with them for a little over a week. I just pray that God takes good care of them between now and the time that we get to see them again. There's just something very special about them. Oh, can call them A&W.

So that's all. It's really hot here. I hope you're all enjoying winter... I love you and am so thankful for your words and support. Oh ... and before I leave you for the week I would like to say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY ABANG! I love you Dax! I hope you have a really great birthday! We'll celebrate when I get home. Till next week...

Dengan ikhlas,

Sister Norton

HFI

The beginning of another BEAUTIFUL day in Penang!

who's lori sewa and why does she put her number everywhere?

My dear companion makes me laugh sometimes. A lori is a truck. Sewa means to rent. I almost fell off my bike I was laughing so hard.

This week has probably been the best week we've had here in Penang. I am so happy. We worked our butts off and are really seeing the results from it. D will be baptized tomorrow before the branch CNY party and she'll be confirmed on Sunday. We have an appointment tonight in which we hope to begin teaching her parents also.

President and the Assistants were in town last weekend and we got a time to sit down with them as a district and address some concerns coming from this area of the mission. I cried in front of the whole district (poor elders) but it was good. Church was on fire on Sunday. I have never felt the Spirit that strong at the Penang Branch. Attendance was at 60 something from our average of about 45. There were members there that haven't come in a while who we were afraid we had lost. We were able to visit one of those sisters this last week and try to help her address some of her concerns and what's been holding her back from coming. It broke my heart to here that she just doesn't feel the same love at church that she feels when she reads the Book of Mormon. We had a good talk about the perfection of God's plan, Christ's Atonement, and His Restored Church, and the imperfection of all of us. Then we asked her to help there be more love at church and promised we'd do the same. We're going to turn this branch around. She'll be there on Sunday.

There was a baptism on Saturday night in B-worth and we decided we had work to do so we wouldn't be able to attend. About half way through the afternoon I remembered how much we would try to always attend all the baptisms in our district in Singapore and decided we should go. We had already set some lofty goals for the day though and didn't want to go home without reaching them, so we set off on a mad rush to make them or not make it to the baptism. The branch president from B-worth drove past us in Georgetown and asked if we wanted a ride in his car and we told him no, we hadn't reached our goals yet. When we got everything except one new investigator, we had to leave in order to get to the next ferry. I think both of us were a little on edge knowing we had done so much and had to stop just before completing all of the goals. On the ferry, a younger women, JC, saw our name tags and wanted to know what we were doing. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and invited her to learn more and she said we could meet on Monday. Ohh Heavenly Father helps us so much. And the baptism was amazing. Something we couldn't have missed. We had an awesome lesson with JC on Monday also.

We taught A&K on Sunday and invited them to be baptized. It was quiet when we asked how long it would take them to know the things we were talking about and the Book of Mormon were true. I thought maybe we were habis when they all started mumbling in Tamil to each other, and then A looked up and said "a month." Also can! They're set for 10 March.

We ran into DA again...he's reading the Book of Mormon! And really enjoying it. He still hasn't prayed about it though so we promised him that it will never make sense whether or not it's true unless he just gets on his knees and asks.

Our Nigerian friends, J&S, have accepted a date to be baptized at the end of March. They'll be at church on Sunday.

Sister Rinet and Sister Kubota have been assigned to be "Quarterly Traveling Training Sisters," so they came to see us this past week. That's why pday is today (Friday) and wasn't on Wednesday. I love my Sisters here. It was so great to go on splits with them. We learned a lot. We got so much work done. It brought my sister and I closer together. It helped me to realize how special our assignment here in Penang really is. One night after we finished our planning, Sister Kubota and Sister Rinet started telling us that they have never felt "this" way in any other area of the mission. They feel the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. They feel surrounded by His protection here. I think I've just been to scared out of my mind to realize that but I've been paying attention to it the past few days now and I feel it too. This is an incredibly special call we've been given. I feel like I owe so much to the Lord for entrusting us with this area. We're trying to pay it back now.

I love you all, hope you're doing well. Happy Thaipusam! Penang is going to be insane this week...apparently all the Hindus in Malaysia like to come here for it. Aduh.

Sister Norton

HFI