hard-boired eggs

Fourteen hours on a bus = hard-boired eggs...man r's are so hard to say. Oh, that's an L huh?" Sorry. Too many languages in our heads.

Sister Song and I had to go to Singapore this past week! She only gets 30 days at a time here in Malaysia, and there's nowhere for me to go if she isn't here, so I got to tag along. I always love Singapore of course, but it turned out to be such a headache. We left Sunday night around 10:30 on a bus that was not so clean, had the coldest night of our lives, got harassed at the border and told we'd never be let into Malaysia again, got into Singapore around 10 in the morning, went out working with the sisters there on Monday, slept on rug in their apartment Monday night, then took a bus back across the border with SO MANY PRAYERS they'd let us in. And they did. It was the first time they haven't even said one word to me at the border. I believe in prayers. President and the AP's were praying for us too, so I guess Heavenly Father wanted both of us to get back here to Penang. It was good for me. I owe more than I've been giving for the help I'm getting back. I'm glad I still have time to try and correct that. After we made it through, we got on a bus bound for Penang. It should have been about 9 hours from that point, but 7 hours later we were stuck in KL on a broken bus (it should only take 4 or so to get there). So we ended up being on that bus for 14 hours. BUT we did get to teach two lessons to a loan shark and a tour guide. Can.

So J (not the one that just got baptized....different one) has been meeting with us for about two months and has just been so reluctant about everything. She met with us last week and after we taught the lesson, we talked more about the Book of Mormon and her reading. She told us that she had planned on dropping us that day (she was going to tell us she didn't want to meet anymore), but I think she must have felt something different and I am almost positive it's the Book of Mormon that's keeping her. She is still so confused by things she hears from people at her work and church, but she's hanging in there. That's the power of the Book of Mormon. She's going to try to come to see what church is like this Sunday and we're meeting with her again tomorrow.

Our branch president introduced us to one of his friends last week, Ms. S, and we were able to meet with both of them. Ms. S then gave us two referrals and we're planning on meeting with all of them! The lesson was awesome, in Mandarin so I couldn't contribute much, but I could understand her questions and see the things she was understanding. Ahhh I love when members help us :)

J (Nigerian J) is gone...we don't know if she'll be coming back. We went over for an appointment and her roommate told us she'd left for KL. Bummer.

MS is still doing great but we're having trouble with the fact that he's a teenage boy and wants to stay up late playing computer games so then he sleeps in and misses church. What to do with this boy!

I don't remember if I've talked about N before, she's a friend of a member in the Butterworth Branch from Indonesia. She came to church three weeks ago and we invited her to be baptized and she accepted. Well....we went to go teach her again two weeks ago and she wasn't at home for the confirmed time. We thought we had lost her because she maybe felt shy or in the wrong for not being there and she wouldn't answer our calls or SMS's for the next week. On Saturday we were on our way home and I thought it was time to try calling again and she answered!! Everything is fine now and we went to teach her this morning. After we taught about the Book of Mormon, she got this huge smile on her face and almost started laughing like a little kid does when they're excited about something so I asked her how she felt about what we had taught. She hugged the book and said, "I can't wait to start reading this book." Ahh the feeling in the room was so great. I love the Book of Mormon.

Church on Sunday was awesome. We had two inactive families we've been working with come, one of them hasn't been for years. AND one of our investigator's sons came to church too. M is waiting for him to be baptized with him but he hasn't been making any progress. I think there's still hope!

I hope you all enjoy conference this weekend! Don't spoil it for me...I won't see it till next weekend. Maybe longer if I get transferred next week. It's such an awesome opportunity we have twice a year to hear from living prophets and apostles. I've been reading the Old Testament lately and it's given me such a greater appreciation of the Lord's chosen leaders and what a big deal it is to have them leading us once again. I hope we can all have the humility and faith to listen to them and heed their counsel. I love you all! Have a great week.

Sister Norton

HFI

demam

I got to see a Penang hospital on Saturday night because I was sick. While waiting for my turn with the doctor I saw that the door I was about to go through said, "ambil darah" ... or "take blood". I almost fainted. Luckily they didn't. I think I'll be ok, not going back there though...there was definitely urine on the floor.

J GOT BAPTIZED!! Everything went through after we fasted for her on Friday. She's awesome. Already has such a strong testimony of the restored gospel.

Things are going just ok with everyone else...it's been a frustrating week with people wanting to build their faith and follow Christ ... better, but not willing to do anything to help that desire. There's nothing more frustrating than when people you are teaching and you love are no longer progressing simply because they're lazy. And I mean that in the nicest way possible, of course. But still lazy.

Sorry I don't know what else to write and I'm out of time! I love you all and appreciate the letters and emails and comments. Sorry so lame this week! Still recovering.

Jaga diri baik baik,

Sister Norton

HFI

ji pi gu

I ate chicken butt. You know what? I have had much worse things. Not bad lah.

This week has been a roller coaster. Here's a surprise...J is getting baptized on Saturday!! As long as there isn't too much opposition from her husband. Ohh I want her to have this so badly. She's a kingdom builder. As we taught her the law of tithing this week, she asked how she can still pay it even though she doesn't have an income. We explained it's only a tithe on her increase and she said she needs the blessings that come from it. She is going to be ok for a long long time.

We met with J&S and had such a sickening conversation with S about the weakness of the flesh and basically his indesire (uhh I don't know the opposite of desire) to repent and let the gospel change him. It sounded exactly like 2 Nephi 28:8. Such a misunderstanding of the Atonement and what our Saviour really suffered for. He gave us the freedom and power to change, not to be ruled by the flesh and other circumstances around us. Sure, we still will fail sometimes, but we have to at least try.

We visited a less-active family that we've been seeing a few times and shared the Restoration with them again. THEY CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY. The first time in years. My heart almost jumped out of my body.

MS is a new investigator who we met on a bus. Sister Song sat next to him and talked a little bit about the gospel and invited him to church. He came! And brought a friend! The amazing part is the SMS that we got from his mom after she picked him up from church. She told us that he came from a broken family and needed love and she was grateful for what we were trying to share with him. Then she asked us to save him. This from his Buddhist mother. WOW. We met with him on Monday and taught about Heavenly Father and as we were talking about how he felt about it, he said, "Great. That means I do have a father." Oh my heart. I love being a missionary.

A friend of a member in Butterworth also came to church on Sunday. N. She's from Indonesia and she's adorable. We sat down with her before church and before we even taught her anything really, we felt like she just needed to hear about baptism. So...she's on date for 5 May and excited to meet with us every Wednesday night to prepare for that.

The not-so-fun parts of this week...I was attacked by a Buddhist monk from Brooklyn yesterday. We were talking to people in a mall and he came up and just started verbally abusing us. To the point that Sister Song sms'd the elders to get someone to call us so we could get out. He caught that part and was so awful about it. I just stood there through it all. Man I felt so sad for him. Obviously hasn't found nirvana yet. He even shouted something about my mother as we walked away after telling him we weren't looking to argue. Grow up, man. Then today...as we were teaching our investigator on her break at work...same thing happened, this time coming from her boss. Man he had some crazy anti-Mormon stuff. I think the annoying part about him and the monk both was that they told me I didn't know my own beliefs and I needed to re-evaluate my decisions. It felt so good to just stand my ground and calmly tell them I knew exactly what I'm doing and I know what I believe and I hope they can come to understand it also someday. I really do believe it all. I know it's true. It was fine. Just annoying. Some people...

I don't have time for anymore. I love you all and hope you have a great week! Happy half-birthday to me on Saturday! :) You all can celebrate if you want.

So much love,

Sister Norton

He really does.

Stuck!

Sister Norton & Sister Song

ok have a nine days!

Back from KL! It was such a great conference with Elder Perkins, the area 70 here in Asia. I was one of the missionaries he chose to interview, don't know if that's good or bad...but it was a good experience for me to spend some time asking him questions I have about missionary work and the gospel. We stayed the night at the Puchong sisters' apartment. I GOT TO SEE JENSEN. Ohhh it was soooo good. It can last me till August hopefully. I love her. It helped me so much to just hear about how she's doing and spend some time lifting each other.

Ok it's going to be super quick this week, I've got like five minutes left.

Sister Song is loving Penang and I'm loving having her here. We have so much fun. We work hard and just laugh the whole day. It's a dream.

Last week we went to M's house for his birthday. There were fireworks and cake and ghee thosai, this time I only had to eat five...I feel like there's still ghee in me. (It's Indian butter pretty much.) We invited him and his family to be baptized again, but there's a hold-up. He likes to go to the pub and "dance with girls." This was said in front of his wife and three daughters and it broke my heart a little. It's hard when people don't want to change their life...that doesn't leave much else for us to do.

Things went interestingly with S&J. The other S had to go back to Nigeria :( He was on date to be baptized at the end of this month and was doing so well, but then he couldn't get his visa renewed. Nooo! So susah. At our lesson with the others, there was just interesting talk about "yellow people." I think Sister Song felt slightly uncomfortable. It's a good thing she has a sense of humor and didn't let it bother her too much.

Another lesson with KC...we had a hard time teaching him about the Restoration because he answered the phone mid-lesson and said "Shut up. I slap you. Shut up. I'm coming. Ten minutes." It was a spirit-killer for sure.

A whole new world has been opened with Sister Song and her blessed

Chinese-speaking skills. We taught two lessons in Mandarin last week. One with CC and one with LC and W (they're boyfriend and girlfriend from China...the girl more interested than the boy). I wasn't able to add much other than a simple testimony, but I'm starting to remember enough to at least know where the lesson is going and what they're talking about. It's been soooo good. Penang has needed this.

I don't have anymore time, sorry! I love you all!

Sister Norton

HFI

Mikelle and Sister Wilkes at the airport as Sister Wilkes leaves for Miri.