obviously you've never been to singapore

Hey hey! Sorry it's going to be super rushed today. It's the end of pday and we may have spent a bit too long at the zoo....but I love this place. Sorry I'm not ever coming home. I rode an elephant! I'll send pictures next week when I remember to bring my camera plug in thing. Instead of Malay getting better...I think my Singlish is improving. I've incorporated "can," "also can," and "lah" into my everyday vocabulary. I don't speak English so well anymore. Oops!

So Jilli had her farewell, eh?? I love you girl! I'll see you soon. Please please send me your mtc address. Go tear it up.

I totally forgot my embarrassing story last time I emailed. Picture this: first night in, we're all on the MRT (subway). We're about to get on the train at Dhoby Ghaut station and everyone is just hesitant if they want to get on this train or not. It was nonsense so I hopped on right as the doors were closing, figuring that they would do the same. First night in the field and I'm on a train without my companion. I was about to freak out and then I remembered it's a straight line and I could get off at the next stop and wait for them. So I did and I stopped freaking out. It was fine and I got to talk to a hilarious old Chinese guy who was just so tickled that I could speak some Mandarin. Not that I'm saying it was worth it or anything...but it was.

Ok, to the good stuff. I found out why the mission is such a roller coaster of emotions this week. We have another one of our investigators on date for baptism! Benjamin! From Hubei, China. We love Benjamin! He's on date for the end of June, but I think we'll be able to move it up. He was too nervous at first and set it so far back, but as we've met with him we've seen his faith grow. He's felt the Spirit so much and he understands the blessings that come from following the gospel and he wants them in his life. Sooner than June 25th maybe :) Michelle was set to be baptized this Saturday but we had to move her back to next Saturday. It was heartbreaking. But she's staying strong and also understands how much the Lord wants to bless her if she will do the things that He's asked. So, good good! Murugan is next. He's from India and he's really quiet so we haven't really gotten beyond that yet, but I'm excited to. He's so so sweet. He is Hindi and we taught him about the Godhead last week, so it was a lot to comprehend for him, but he was very receptive. We have another appointment with him this Saturday and we're thinking of maybe starting with the Plan of Salvation because his older brother died last year. We're really excited to share the amazing news that he'll see him again; that he can live with him forever! I know that's true. It's an incredible gift that Heavenly Father wants all of His children to know about. So, we'll see how that goes.

This week has been crazy. We met so many Malay speakers so I got lots of practice! One girl, Sharon, was really excited to meet with us again. Problem: all of them have similarly formatted hand phone numbers and none of them are connecting. So we've really got to figure out the magic code or whatever it is. We don't want to lose them! We did tell Sharon to meet us at the Newton stop on Sunday at 8:30 before church though, we'll see how it pans out.

We are in the expat ward and they spoil us rotten. We have dinner appointments every night and the members are so eager to be a part of the work. I had the opportunity of seeing how the Lord uses them in the work this past week. We really try to have members present for every lesson we teach, and I'm glad I paid attention this week, otherwise I might not have realized that each member was chosen for the investigator they were with. Their testimony and personal experiences were exactly what all of our investigators needed. It was amazing to see that having the Moore's with us when we taught Michelle, the Annerl's with us when we were with Benjamin...etc...none of it was a coincidence. The Lord's hand is in everything. I've really never been so positive of that.

We've got quite the opportunity coming up this week also. On Sunday night, we'll get on a bus and go up to Kuala Lumpur to meet with...Elder Bednar! Sadly, not all of the mission can go, just the zones in Singapore and Sabah (East Malaysia - I'll get to see Sister Jensen again!). We get three hours with him on Monday to listen to his message for us and ask him ANY QUESTIONS WE WANT! Not too often you get a Q&A with an apostle of the Lord, eh? Don't be too jealous. I'm so excited.

Mmmmk I think I have no more time or thoughts. I hope you're all doing well and know how much I miss you and love you! Oh, I forgot to mention that I was in a recording session for almost FIVE HOURS last Thursday night singing hymns in Malay. It was fun. I even got to lay the alto and soprano tracks on some songs, it's a duet of all me! We'll see how they turn out...

Kasih!

Sister Norton

HFI

"why is it called a botanical garden? i don't know...botany? oh! that's with the botan!"

I'm in Singapore! I still can't believe it. I never ever thought I'd be serving here. While flying here I was thinking of the different places in Malaysia where I could possibly be born (start my mission) but I never ever thought of Singapore because I thought it wasn't even an option. We have four sisters opening it for the sisters right now. My companion, Sister Howard, and I are serving in the Expat Ward, and Sisters Wong and Ferguson are in the Woodlands Ward. It's pretty sick but waaay hard because we're basically white-washing it. We NEED people to teach! The days are so long when you have to just be looking all day. And you would never think this...but white people are mean. We're specifically looking for expats. And they all look at us like we carry the plague. I've really never had people be so rude to me in my life. It's hilarious. There's a huge fashion show going on here in Singapore right now, so lots of Europeans are here and yeah...so much fun! :)

We are super lucky, because even though we haven't found any new people to teach yet, we're walking into a few investigators who are accepting and loving the gospel already. Michelle is from China and she is on date to be baptized next Saturday. Sister Howard and I will get to teach her a few more times before that to make sure she understands the amazing blessings she has coming her way. She is so sweet and has such strong faith. She shows it all the time, so it's just about helping her to recognize that her faith is strong enough. We also have Benjamin. He doesn't have a date yet, but he's great. We are hoping to ask him to be baptized and put him on date this Friday when we meet with him. I am also so excited for Caroline. She is from Pennsylvania and happened to run into the elders a few weeks ago, about the same time that she found out her grandma was about to pass away. She found so much comfort in the message they had for her, that hope that God has a plan for us and that she will see her grandma again. Now Sister Howard and I have the privilege of teaching the lessons to her. She's a dance major doing an internship here till August, so we're really excited to get to know her.

This city is INSANE. There is a huge mall on every corner. Yet you can go running and occasionally see monkeys in the trees. It's something like 26x17 miles, with about 4 million people. There are so many different cultures. We live a few stops away from Little India and Chinatown. Everything is written in English, Malay, Chinese, and Tamil. SO many people speak Chinese! It's such an easy way to get them to open up a little bit. You start talking to them and they won't even look at you. Bust out the Mandarin and look who wants to be friends all of a sudden! So, I'm definitely trying to brush up on that.

With all of the craziness going on everywhere, it is definitely hard to find people. Everyone is too busy to listen to just a short message and it can be very discouraging. But I'm learning that it really is worth it. Last night we sat in on a lesson with Alison, another sweet investigator who is from Singapore. She is on date to be baptized June 4th. We were sitting in the park on the grass, teaching her the 3rd lesson, the gospel of Jesus Christ, as the sun was setting. I got to teach her about the importance of enduring to the end in all that God has commanded us. The Spirit was so strong and I knew that what I was telling her was true. If I can have more opportunities to testify like that, it will all be so so worth it.

Since we are in the expat ward, we're really trying to get the members involved in the work. Our time is much better spent teaching than finding, because finding is so difficult. We're trying to help the members understand what a blessing it would be in their lives and the lives of their friends if they could share this amazing gospel with them. So please please please, give the missionaries referrals! Today! Right now! Think of someone in your life who could benefit from the message that Jesus Christs' gospel has been restored. We have a living prophet to guide us. You should be thinking of a lot of people. I'm pretty sure that would benefit just about anyone. So go ahead, call the missionaries now :)

I'm going to go to the botanical gardens now. Something to do with the botan. I hope you all have a lovely day!

Dengan kasih,

Sister Norton

HFI

the longest flight of my life

Sister Jensen and I enjoy our very first meal in Singapore. Delicious!

I thought the flight to China was killer last year. I hadn't done an 18 hour flight straight to Singapore. My head is still spinning a little bit right now so this probably won't be very long. I'm in Singapore! I've already been out on the town, eaten some banana leaf curry with my hands, contacted a little, been assigned a new companion, and of course, you probably want to know where you can send me letters for the next 6+ weeks. Ready? Just send them to 253 Bukit Timah Road, Floor 4, Singapore 259690. I'M SERVING IN SINGAPORE!!! We're re-opening the area for sisters! So...uhhhhh....might need to brush up (or just start over) on my Mandarin. I am being trained by Sister Howard and we are serving in the Expat Branch! I love it. It's so over my head right now. I just can't even believe I'm here. You should have seen the rain we walked home in. I'm accepting that I'll be soaking wet from either rain or sweat for the next 16 months of my life.

I love President and Sister Clark so much already. They're amazing. Everyone says it, but I am in theeeee best mission! So yeah. Send me letters there.

I love you all and will have more updates for you next week.

Dengan kasih,

Sister Norton

HFI

go, go ahead, read some books

Halo. So the MTC changed their schedule entirely. On our last week here. It's rotting my brain. There is no longer ANY MDT time. Companionship study is with a teacher. Two hours of personal study (I'm not complaining about that part...it's just hard to keep from going crazy because I usually break things up into half hour segments to stay focused and awake in MDT. Basically, this resulted in an interpretive dance being created for the First Vision. It was quite moving.) Last night Sister Jensen and I were discussing what passage to have our Juni (progressing investigator) read next time we meet with him. She suggested Moroni 7&8 so I turned to "Moroni" 7&8. I was slightly baffled that she wanted our investigator who just accepted the baptismal invitation to read this chapter but I kind of just hinted that maybe we should find something else. Five minutes later I realized I had been reading in Mormon 8. Hell fire and brimstone baby. This schedule will be the death of me. I promise I'm not this dense, I'm familiar with Moroni. I was just extremely tired. And then to make things even more awesome, the cafeteria is under construction so there's one option of deep fried food every meal :) I've never been so excited for airport food in my life.

I think I already told you, mis padres, but I got my flight plans! We leave next Monday at about 5 something and fly to San Fran where we have a 6 or 7 hour layover and then we fly straight to Singapore! On Singapore Airlines! 18 hour flight! Ohhhh baby.

It's only been a few days since I last emailed so I feel like there really isn't much to say. It's not like my best friend got married or anything. I hope everyone starts sending me some pictures stat. I bet she looked so pretty! I bet it was beautiful!

We had an Easter egg hunt on Sunday! It was the best, I loved it. And then a sweet sweet fireside. Stephen Allen spoke to us. He's been in charge of the old Mormon adds on tv for a long time so we got to watch the awesome old ones from the 70's and 80's and related the messages about family to missionary work.

Oh, also this week, Sister Jensen and I were picked to demonstrate how to begin teaching in the new missionary orientation on Wednesday night. So basically we're just missing class left and right this week. I'm not really a fan. I need to speak Malay ya know?

I don't know what else to say to you. I have nothing. I leave for Singapore in 6 days. I'm stoked. It's snowing right now. I'm so glad I will never see that again for a year and a half. Good riddance. But I love you all. Send a letter to Singapore sometime if you want. I'll make sure to get my Malaysian address to you once I get it. Looove you!

Sister Norton

HFI

you go, glen coco!

Selamat pagi!! This is my last Thursday to email from the MTC! The schedules change next week and my pday will be on Tuesday, so expect to hear from me then. And then I'm basically out of here. In 11 days. Finally.

Jenna Eve Morgan. I can't believe you're getting married on Saturday. I love you so so much and I will totally be there in Spirit mmmk? YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED!!

So, surprise surprise. Cool things are still happening at the MTC. But before I get there, let me just mention that church on Sunday was the Sister Norton show. I led all the music, gave a talk (about your cherry trees, daddy!), and the closing prayer. And Sunday was such a sublime day. Seriously, did anyone look outside??? It was gorgeous! We went on our temple walk at about 1 and the flowers were so pretty and everything was green and it was sunny and we took some sweet jumping pictures. It was one of those days where I was in such a good mood that I was writing stuff like this in my journal: "There is seriously never an ordinary day here. How can there be when I'm seeing miracles everyday and everything is so beautiful! You get to talk to amazing people everyday! Life is the coolest gift."

Tuesday was the raddest though. Elder Scott came to speak to us and it blew my mind. Seriously. He answered so many questions that I've had for a while. Then he bestowed an apostolic blessing on all of us learning languages to have the gift of tongues. My friends, apostolic blessings are pretty awesome. The whole time I've been learning Malay, my Mandarin has just slipped, slipped away. After the devotional on Tuesday night, I was showering and phrases of Mandarin just kept coming to my mind. Here's where it gets really cool though. I was a host for new missionaries yesterday, and the sister that I hosted was from SHENZHEN! Shenzhen, as in the place I'd go to church in China. Right next to Zhongshan, my hometown. Sister Yue Gao. And she's the sweetest thing ever! She speaks English but not extremely well, and it just happened to be that all the phrases that I had remembered the night before were the ones that I needed to be able to communicate with her and help her find everything she needs. She was so impressed with my Chinese and I think I was even impressed! It shocked me. I have no doubt in my mind that it was the Spirit because frankly, I seriously fail at Mandarin now. It was the coolest experience.

Also, in the past week I've eaten dinner with President Brown, President Nally, and President McIff...the MTC presidency. It's like every time we sit down to eat one of them pops up and sits down next to us and just wants to chat the whole time. It's been cool getting to know them, they're amazing men. They were shocked to find out that we're an all sister district. Apparently they've never seen it while they've been in the presidency.

I think that pretty much wraps everything up. I have the coolest family in the world. Both sides. Thank you all for writing me this week, Aunt Traci, Stoney, Grandma Dionne, Aunt Shawna, Mom, Dad, Dax. I love you so much and will try to write you soon! I miss you and pray for all of you every day. (Dearelder.com you are seriously so cool! Thank you.)

Have such a happy Easter this Sunday! I know that our Savior lives. Seek Him every single day and I promise you His peace and love will come flowing into your life.

Dengan kasih,

Sister Norton

HFI

(Note from mother ~ Mikelle loves to read comments to her blog ~ I send them to her ... so please leave them if you feel so inclined to. Thank you :)

di sini senang, di sana senang, di mana mana hatiku senang!

Apa khabar! Isn't that the sickest song? I'll sing it for you all someday. It just means I'm happy wherever I am basically.

This morning Sister Jensen walked into a wall. While I was laughing and mocking her, I walked into a door. Evenly matched companionship.

I can't even really remember what happened this week very well, the days are all blurring together. And I get my flight plans in less than a week! 18 days left here! If you're going to write me, you might as well do it now because we all know it probably won't happen once I'm in Malaysia ;)

We taught in Malay at the TRC for the first time last week! All of lesson one! It was sick! A little bit more frustrating than English...but I know it's coming along.

Sister Jensen suggested that I start keeping track of my daily "miracles" this week, and it's been incredible to just pay closer attention to how much my Father in Heaven cares about me. The first tender mercy was on Sunday night. It was an awesome day as far as learning goes (and I had been worrying about how I can get people to understand the importance of this message...of course everything was pointing to D&C 84:88 that day. I just need to teach, they'll know because God will go before me.), but my Malay was hitting a brick wall and I just wanted to hug someone and cry pretty much. When I walked into the fireside that night, I saw these familiar blue and yellow striped ties and then the Men's Chorus badge on a bunch of jackets. BYU Men's Chorus did the whole fireside and I swear everything that was said and sung was just for me. And then....I got to see Ricki!!!!!! It was just what I needed.

Then I was thinking about a friend of mine from China and how in the world I could get her address here in the U.S. so I could write her. I prayed about it and literally the next day got a letter from Abby talking about her and how she thinks we should write. Same wave length here, baby! The Spirit is so cool. Thanks for paying attention to it, Abs.

On Tuesday, Elder Rasband came and spoke to us and just tied everything together for me. It was on the Spirit, surprise surprise. I must have a really thick head because it's taken me till now to realize that pretty much everyone speaks on the Holy Ghost. Maybe it's like an important subject. It was great. And then he testified that we are divinely appointed to our missions. I meet sisters going to Taiwan and Hong Kong and all that all the time here and there's not a bit of jealousy anymore. I'm going to go chum with the Malays and Ibans! Those are my people and I have a work to do there. With all these miracles and tender mercies, whatever you want to call them, it helped me realize that if Malaysia is where God needs me to be, I've got a lot more coming my way. Here in the MTC, it's like I'm in a play pen ya know? Like for a toddler, yes I am using this comparison. His ultimate care and protection isn't needed that much yet. (Ignore that I just stated children don't need care when they're in a play pen. I will be a good mom, I promise.) I'm stoked.

Ohhh here's something funny. I rolled my other ankle yesterday. Just find me a Hercules already (for after the mission of course). It wasn't really my ankle though, it was the same spot that I sprained my foot on the acorn last fall. I felt super smart. I iced it though and it's fine. No set backs just a little swelling.

I want you to know that Jacob Watson is in my prayers and I'll be fasting for him this Sunday. It's been amazing to hear about the ward pulling together to support the Watsons at this time. I know that the priesthood is the authority and power from God and that their family will make it through this time with its blessings. Let them know how much I love them! And I love you all too!

Dengan kasih,

Sister Norton

HFI

tengok. tengok, kitab mormon!

So I've discovered that I love speaking Malay in a Southern accent. Book of Mormon is more like KEETAB MOORMOHN that way. It's so entertaining.

Has it seriously been another week since last pday? You'll only get three more emails (after this one) from me while I'm at the MTC. I should even get flight plans soon, baby! Tidak masuk akal. We had another no English day yesterday...and I didn't want to die by the end of the day. Progress! It's so amazing to me. I've tried learning other languages (Mandarin, Spanish..) and I can have short, limited conversations in them, but I never believed I could ever speak in another language without feeling restricted, for the most part. It seriously blows my mind. Saya berterima kasih atas kurnia lidah lidah :)

Our Malagasy elders left this week. The hall feels empty with just the four of us sisters and the two Mongolian elders in our zone. We're getting the new Malagasy's though. Your brother is included in that, Natalie! They came in yesterday and the other sisters met him, but I haven't yet. I'll give him a hearty handshake when I do. The Mongolians are here for 12 weeks, we're 9, and we leave at the same time...we're both getting sick of watching groups, who came after us, leave before us. Our day will come. And yes, we're still the only sisters in the branch.

So, there's a clothes give-away bin for the sisters here, and I saw a ridiculously sick long green skirt and a matching Tommy Bahama top, so you know I had to grab it and wear it on April 1st. Everyone took it way to seriously. Luckily I ran into someone I know from the outside world, Bryant, so the shame didn't go to waste.

Last night, we learned that there is an abundance of lizards and cockroaches in Malaysia...in our apartments. I was expecting the cockroaches, but lizards?! I was shrieking when I heard that one sister had a huge lizard fall on her when she was sleeping once. I don't know how I'm going to handle this. It was hilarious though. Sister Kubota and I are bound to be comps in an area with them because we're the ones that were freaking out. And I mean that neither of us could put our feet on the ground, and Sister Kubota was convinced that one was in her hair.

Wendy Morgan, you are wonderful! Thank you so much for the care package!! You're the best second mom ever!

OH, guess who graduated from rehab?? Yours truly! So I'm back to volleyball, but all I really can do is serve and play back row ds...it gives me the heebie jeebies to even watch people jumping at the net. I hope I get over that.....but you could send me my ankle braces Mommy :)

Now let me get to my favorite part. I hope everyone watched/listened to conference. Even if you're not LDS, go to lds.org and read the words of our prophet and apostles. They're not just for the Mormon church, they're called of God to lead ALL of God's children and I know that there is a message in them for ALL of God's children. By their fruits ye shall know them, check it out. I loved Uchtdorf's, Bednar's, and Robbin's talks. Ok everyone's really, but it was just comforting to hear the way Elder Bednar described revelation and the Holy Ghost. It went perfectly with Elder Uchtdorf's talk in my mind. I needed to hear that I'm not failing here at the MTC because I haven't seen a vision (don't worry, I wasn't expecting one...I mean I just haven't had any crazy powerful experiences), but it doesn't need to be that. I'm learning line by line. Jangan risau. I had a list of seven questions and every single one of them was answered. I promise you that you can find answers in their words as well. Now go, read!

Mmmk...I think that's all! I hope you all have a fantastic week and I love you!

Dengan kasih,

Sister Norton

HFI