and then there were three

TRANSFERS! We are now a trio here in Singapore, my companions are Sister Howard and Sister Ferguson. We're setting a little bit of a record for the mission...as our one companionship is covering five wards. Pray that we don't kill over. I can't believe how much I'm going to miss Sister Wong, who is now in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in East Malaysia ...with Sister Jensen!! Two of my favorite people together at last.

It was really hard first hearing about transfers, I'm not going to lie. I don't think I've been that depressed on the mission yet. I pretty much wasn't talking for a day and a half...I think I was just completely overcome by fear that I'm not doing enough here in Singapore so I may not be help to stay here longer and also by the fear that I'll never have a chance to really learn the language if I'm in a place where they don't really speak it for the first 2/3 of my mission. It was really awful. One of my favorite verses in D&C is section 6:36, "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." I was reminded that fear and the Spirit do not work well together and I felt that void during that time and just completely surrendered in prayer. I think it's a little sad that I have certain prayers that I can remember in my lifetime where I felt like I was really turning myself over, they should probably all be that fervent, but this was one of them. And through prayer I came to trust in the decision in transfers and know that it was inspired, to know that I do still have much more that I can do here in Singapore but I do need to pick up my pace and start working harder. I have always hoped that I'll be a good missionary, but what's hope without work, right? So, I think I have a renewed commitment to work harder this transfer. And I know that even if I don't see results from it until after my time in Singapore, the resulting happiness that I will feel knowing that I gave my best will be enough. And I'm already feeling happier about that decision.

Anyway, here's my week starting with last Wednesday night :) We met with L&E for the last time as L&E, because L is now back in the Philippines! I cried a lot. I'm a baby. It was a nice evening though and I think they really felt our love for them as we bore testimony of The Book of Mormon and our love for it. I will miss her so much, but she was talking about maybe skyping into our lessons every Wednesday night with E. So hopefully we'll "see" her tonight, and eventually get her to continue learning from the missionaries in Cebu.

Thursday night we met with a young married couple from China and Singapore, ZY & SL. Quite an interesting lesson as ZY is Muslim and SL is a free-thinker...but they're still interested in hearing more about why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is different. So we'll be happy to share :)

We've met with YL twice since I last wrote and her understanding that's developing of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon is astounding. She's an incredible person and she wants good things in her life so she can do good things. It's so interesting to teach her and to answer the questions she has about the readings from the Book of Mormon that we give her every week. The only problem that we're seeing is that she sees these chapters and stories from the lives of Jesus Christ and his prophets as fables...that the morals learned from them will lead her to do good to others, but she's still not believing that there's a God or that there's life after this life. So it's a slow process, but I really think she'll start to believe as she continues to read and pray and do her part. Someone with that much sincerity has got to receive the answer that she's looking for, as long as she's looking for it. That's the only problem.

Sister Wong and Sister Ferguson had a wonderful baptism on Saturday! This woman is the sister-in-law of an area authority of the Church here in Singapore and her learning about the gospel has been 30 years in progress. Her husband and daughters are supportive of her decision but still aren't opening up to the message and the invitation to learn for themselves. I got to sing at the baptism and it was so much fun to be there for her!

D is still staying strong to his baptismal date at the end of October and he's bringing so many people to church and to learn with him! His friend, A, is now also on date to be baptized the same day.

We have a family that we're teaching!!! I couldn't be happier about that. They are from China but have been living here in Singapore for over ten years. The mom, J, is a very strong Christian, but was intrigued by her coworker's beliefs (a member of the Bedok ward) so she brought her family to church. We met with them on Sunday afternoon and now have a standing appointment for every Sunday afternoon. W (the father) is also Christian, but only for a year now. They have differing beliefs...J sees things like baptism in the bible and notices that Christ was baptized by going into water and wonders why there are now many different ways to baptism, where W thinks that it's all technicalities and doesn't really matter as long as you have faith in Christ. J said something that made me think about something I've never really realized as a blessing. She feels like she has no room to doubt in her religion. Not that she has perfect knowledge, but that she literally isn't given the privilege of doubt. She feels like if she were to question some practices of her church, she wouldn't be able to explain them and it would result in a loss of faith. One of the reasons she wants to meet with us and learn more about the Latter-day Saints is so she can go through her doubts and voice them with someone. I never realized how much I've had the opportunity to doubt in my life. I think I even look at doubt as a good thing for myself. Every principle of my religion that I have ever doubted has led me to study and to prayer and my faith has only been strengthened through that. As I study the things that were once confusing, I see that there really is no hole in God's plan, nothing missing from the restored church of Jesus Christ, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I believe it so strongly. I know that the things I'm teaching people are true and I only hope that they can take the initiative to find out for themselves if they're true. And I know that hope is brought through that process. And that hope destroys all doubt. I'll keep you updated on the W family. For now, just know that they're awesome and I love them. They have three children, the 18 year old is not interested in religion at all, but the 9 year old and the 4 year old love coming to church. And the 9 year old, SR is such a smarty. Man I love them.

I also love the Lai family so much! I was in the MTC with Elder Lai and now I'm serving in his home ward, so Sister Lai is spoiling us rotten. She makes amazing food. I love Singapore.

Here's the cherry on top of this week. I had a surprise visitor from the Forest Bend ward on Monday (well only surprise until I found out he was coming on Saturday when President approved the visit). Brother Bonham from my home bishopric hand-delivered a package to me from mom and dad! I thought it was going to be so weird to mix these two lives, but it was great. I got to show Brother Bonham our new chapel here in Singapore. We're all so proud of it. And I sent a letter home with him, so if any of you reading this are my home ward members, there's a letter for you all on its way! THANK YOU BROTHER BONHAM!!!!

My companion is now the oldest sister in the mission, Sister Hite left the mission today...we're going to miss her :( I think my companion, Sister Howard, (I’m not going to lie, I really like to call her Sister Howie…not sure why), but she's a little freaked out about how fast the time is going. She's only got seven weeks left now! Oh man.

I am stoked for Conference, to answer your question, mommy! It just won't be aired here until the 8th and 9th of October, instead of this weekend. You guys are just way too far behind us in time, sheesh. Have a safe trip to Lake Powell, mom and dad, and enjoy watching Conference in that beautiful setting!

I love you all so much and hope you're happy and having a great week :)

Sayangi!

Sister Norton

HFI

Just though you might like to know...

Me and Sister Wong

and a nice dying present she left for me on my desk.

Sooo sweet...

One of my very favorite families.

he's not the brightest pea in the pod

THANK YOU FOR THE BIRTHDAY WISHES, EVERYONE! It was one of my most favourite birthdays yet. Starting with the picnic with F on Wednesday, then teaching some awesome lessons on my actual birthday, and getting so many nice cards and letters from everyone in the mail! I have the best ward back home! I promise I'll be writing you all back, it just might take a while, please be patient with me :) ... Thank you! You made my day and I love you!

I guess we'll start where last week left off. Last Wednesday, we met with L&E again to read Alma 32 together and talk more about faith. Before we could even start, L told us that she has decided to move back to the Philipinnes because she can't find a job here. She told us with tears in her eyes, it's been so hard on her here, so then I just started crying and it was all down hill from there. We all kind of just ate in silence and then pulled out The Book of Mormon to read. It's been very slow teaching these two because of the negative opinions they've had of the Church in the past. When we got to verse 28, I lost it again, trying to explain to them how this verse has come true for me. It says that the word "beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me." I have recognized that so much as I've been reading The Book of Mormon more. It enlarges my soul. I understand who I am as a daughter of God when I read that book. And I really do just crave it in my life now. It finally got through to L&E. I don't know what it was about that chapter, but they both agreed that it's beginning to be delicious to them too :) In those exact words. So it was a bittersweet night. We'll get to see her one more time, tonight.

We had a bit of a surprise on Thursday. The elders gave us a referral of a man they met, so we called him while planning our next week to set up an appointment and he said that he wanted to meet that night. So we did! We'll call him D, hoping that we don't already have one of those. He is the most adorable man ever. He's in his 70's and I think he's just beautiful. He told us that we were his angels and we talked about God. Good night! And after yesterday he's getting baptized on 22 October!

Friday was another great lesson with YL and we finally got to the Restoration of Christ's gospel. She was eager to pray about what we told her and understood the importance of what the message meant for her if it is true, so that's always a good sign. She was planning on going to Indonesia for a visa chop that night and wasn't sure if she would make it back. We have kind of a bad history of people just leaving the country on us, so you better believe we prayed hard that night for her and were so worried when we didn't hear back from her until yesterday when she finally made it back in the country. But she made it back! And she told us she's excited to meet again this Friday. So things are looking good.

Friday night was another great faith find. We only had about twenty minutes at Harbour Front so we prayed and went to work trying to find someone who needed us. We found R, the third person we talked to. He also told us that he thinks we're angels sent to him. (Hearing that repeatedly in a week starts to give you the feeling that you must be doing something right.) We met with him on Saturday and had an awesome lesson with the help of Alison and then he came to church on Sunday! Praying really is the only way to go.

Speaking of Alison....I love her! She made my birthday! You should see the cutest gift she gave me! I'll try to send pictures, mommy. It was so great to be able to see her and also to have her come teach with us that day. I love you, Alison!

The other sisters also did so much to make sure I had a great birthday, including getting me the tackiest blanket in the world (desired), because they know how much I don't like the air con at night. And the birthday call from Y was so nice, thank you! (Have you had a chance to look up the CES Fireside by Elder Oaks yet? It should be on lds.org.) I think that's it. I tried to come up with something inspiring to write, but I'm out of time. Sorry, next week eh? I am so thankful for all the cards and letters this week! You all make it so easy to be out here serving and having this incredible experience. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Dengan kasih,

Sister Norton

HFI

Sister Norton & Alison :)

Sweet!

guess we're not going to the beach today

We had plans to go to east coast park today to have a picnic with F for my birthday, but a huge thunder clap woke all of us up at 5:30 this morning. Three of us sat up in our beds at the same time and just sat there quietly until Sister Wong said the plans were not looking so good. It was a huge storm! So now, seeing as it's too "cold," we're going to have the picnic indoors. I'm still excited though.

It's been a rough week but there's been so much love coming in the mail...it made it a lot easier. I got a birthday package from mommy, daddy, and daxy and it was so great! I know you guys miss birthday month :) It's low key this year anyway, we'll resume in 2012. The emails from Jillian were such a blessing. I love that girl. I'm so happy that one of my best friends is out here with me. And Sarah is joining the ranks today! Then I got a letter from Sister Jensen that just made me bawl. She's incredible too. I also got an email from my Grandpa Merlin telling me happy birthday...and it made me cry even more. Oh, and I got a birthday card in the mail from my Grandma Dionne and Grandpa Riggs. It was SO sweet. Thank you everyone for remembering my birthday. It really meant a lot to me! Basically I just have awesome people in my life. They're all angels.

The expat ward is officially split, giving us three wards to work with. It's going to be crazy busy. But we were reminded that the split put us one step closer to a temple here in Singapore. I was thinking about that a lot this past week. We're trying to build the Lord's kingdom out here, and bringing people to the gospel is wonderful, but we need a temple. The temple is like the crowning glory of all the work. The temple is what will seal families together for eternity and endow the members with priceless knowledge. Knowledge really is power in this life. We come across a few very skeptical people that kind of approach religion the same way Marx did, "an opiate for the masses," but I'm coming to realize that just the knowledge of what our purpose is in this life, what will happen after it, that's enough hope to get me through anything. Joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will not take away your problems. Your life will still be hard because that's the only way we can grow. But the knowledge given us through the gospel sustains us in our trials. And I believe that it gives reason to hope and have immense joy in this life too. I'm so grateful that I do know that.

I've really been struggling lately, feeling like I don't have the same passionate testimony that I used to. Sister Howard and I were talking about it yesterday and basically compared it to a relationship...it's fireworks at first, but once it calms down and matures, there's a deep love and that isn't anything less than the excitement at the beginning. That's how I feel my love for my Savior is becoming. I used to be quite emotional about it even, but I'm not very often anymore. I don't follow the path that I'm on because I'm controlled by emotions or caught up in any hype (although that may have been a starting point for me), but I follow it because it's the only logical thing to do. I know the plan that God has for us is real. Why would I not follow it?

We are teaching a new girl from China, YL. She is so hilarious. And so smart. It's such a treat meeting with her. We were talking about faith yesterday and we showed her a scripture in Alma 32:21 and she flipped out saying that's exactly how she would describe faith. It was cool. She likes The Book of Mormon. So we're happy about that :)

Still haven't seen NG :( B is still on date for 8 October. We'll meet with L & E tonight. N finally realized the magnitude of the message that we've been sharing with him for months, that we do have a living prophet. He was taken back a bit, but he wants to pray about it and gain that answer for himself, so that's progress.

It's crazy to think that Jilli, Kimmy, Jenna, and I were all living together this time last year. Now one is in Texas, one in Provo, one in Denver, and one in Singapore. 2012 will be such a fine reunion. I love you all! (Kimmy...I NEED to hear from you soon. Love you!)

I think that's it folks. I love you! I'm going to go party for my birthday now. Thank you all for the love!

Sister Norton

HFI

I froze Sister Ferg and Sister Wong's nametags

because they put my bed on my desk

then they decorated my door for my birthday :)

that's not what I meaned!

I actually said that this past week. Along with telling Sister Wong that I can speak Engrish. Rosak sudah. I don't know what's happening to me.

We had zone conference last week and it was amazing! It was just here in Singapore this time...because that's where our zone is...:) Elder Perkins and Brother Osguthorpe came to visit us. President gave an awesome training on the excuse-of-a-phrase "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." I love President Clark. He doesn't beat around the bush with anything. It was all about one of the greatest gifts that God has given us as His children, our agency. We have the power to control ourselves. He gave some examples like King David, and related it to modern-day examples like pornography, with some people thinking that the natural man is more powerful, that the flesh will win over. But he turned it around like this, "the flesh is willing but the spirit is weak." We can't blame anything on the natural man. It's all about desire. If the desire is truly there, then the flesh will do what it's told. It was awesome, so empowering. For me, it really brought more sense to fasting. Show the flesh who's in charge!

After the conference, the Toa Payoh ward had a BBQ for Hari Raya. (It is a Muslim holiday, but everyone was off school and work, so why not?) L & E came!! It was a blast. Tons of food and games. Plus I won a new tube of toothpaste and I was running low.

This is almost all of the Singapore zone ... welcoming back Elder Schone!

We're kind of having a hard time with investigators being worried about having their souls taken lately. Don't know what the deal is...so it was timely that we had that training from president so we could know how to address it. A few people that we're teaching were asking if it's possible for someone to take your soul. So we just said no. You'd have to give it. Ended that nonsense.

N came to church! He only stayed for ten minutes, but it's a start! We taught him about the Word of Wisdom on Monday and committed him to that, so now he's going to quit smoking. It's something he's been wanting to do for a while, so we'll kick it for good this time.

B shared his testimony with us when we met last week and picked a new baptismal date for himself. 8 October! Please pray for him, tithing is still the issue. But it's happening this time.

We met with Y&I too this last week and were able to talk a little bit about temples. I can't wait for the day when they get to go to the house of the Lord. Saya tahu bahawa kamu dua akan sayangi bait suci itu! Ada banyak untuk belajar tentang Tuhan dan Allah di sana.

SARAH KATHERINE. You are going to be so wonderful. Good luck heading to the MTC next week. You better get me an address soon. I love you!

I'm out of time. Sorry! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Sister Norton

HFI

(A note from Mikelle's Mom ~ Mikelle's birthday is next week, so anyone wanting to leave a comment to wish her a happy day can do that and I will relay ALL comments to her. You can also send a birthday card if you wish, using the Singapore address to the right ... on Bukit Timah Road.) Thank you ♥ Chris

well flip, elder, i'll try not to say it anymore.

Hey! I really hope that I can make sense of what I'm about to write...we're in the mission office right now and it's kind of crazy, so I keep getting distracted. Sorry :) First, my parents send the best letters in the world. Thank you guys! I love reading them. You crack me up. Ricki's wedding sounds like it was wonderful! So happy for you, buddy!

Hey mom, you said that you saw a link for the Compassvale Chapel on lds.org, surrounded by skyscrapers? Those are HDB flats (government subsidized housing). It's a very residential area. Welcome to Singapore haha. And that chapel is about 15 minutes away from where I live! Just google Mustafa's. I'm right up the road. It's fun :)

Want to hear the most amazing thing? Remember Deborah? She was living here in Singapore and learning about the church when we first got here. She was the one that asked me if I ever feel embarrassed wearing a nametag. We had a chance to teach her a few times before she returned to the states. SHE AND HER THREE SONS GOT BAPTIZED LAST WEEK. I cried when the ward members told me. You're always told that you never know what happens to the seeds you plant, it was such a blessing to know about this one. She's such an amazing woman. So happy for her.

We met with our new friend, Mr. S. last week. He's Christian and he tends to call anyone who isn't Christian an infidel...makes for a pretty amusing lesson. We'll try to work on the whole love for everyone deal. He's really sweet though. We're excited to meet with him more.

Last Friday was the beginning of the Lantern Festival for Mid-Autumn Festival and we got to go to the Chinese Gardens to see all the lanterns with L and her husband, K! L has been praying more and more and is loving having that be part of her life now. K is a bit critical of it, but he's still nice and willing to meet with us to learn more. But L left for China today, so we'll see how that pans out.

A member in a ward invited us to meet with his friend, M, on Saturday. They're both in Secondary School so we had to have permission from her parents. This young man gave her a Book of Mormon about a year ago and she's read more than half of it on her own. She's grown up basically atheist and never really thought about God. The deal is she became friends with many of the young men in the expat ward here and she wanted to know what they all seemed to have in common to give them such strong morals and a positive outlook on life, and they have all been sharing more and more about the gospel with her over the past few months. She had so many questions for us, I loved it. She's not sure if she'll be able to meet with us again (her mom wants to know everything she was taught before she agrees to let her see us again) but she wants to. And she wants to come to church. So, right now we're just praying for her and encouraging her to pray for the desires of her heart.

On Saturday night, F invited us over to her flat for dinner and a short lesson. She is so lonely, it breaks my heart. It's a really slow process with her, so we haven't really gotten past the Restoration. Her faith is amazing though. She is constantly talking about her Savior and listening to Christian music. Being at her house was a little bit of an eye-opener for me. Her expressions of faith are very different from what I've grown up with and been comfortable with all my life, but it made me realize that it was extremely honorable and I could probably learn a lot from her devout expressions of faith. She shows it more than many Latter-day Saints, and I think we could all learn from that. We shouldn't ever be comfortable in our progression towards Christ. There's always more room to grow, and we can learn so many lessons from people not of our own faith.

We were supposed to meet with N at the Compassvale Chapel yesterday, like usual, but we got to the chapel and realized we forgot the key. It ended up being a huge blessing because N invited us back to his home to meet his family instead of just cancelling the appointment. And then, he prayed for the very first time with us. Huge progress. Sikit sikit lama lama.

Last night we had were able to meet with L & E again and just set out our expectations. They both married into LDS families and have been around the church and members for years. Unfortunately, they've felt very pressured and offended on occasions, so it was progress that we even got an appointment with them. They made us this wonderful dinner and then we just laid everything out on the table. I told them that we don't want any elephants in the room (trying explaining that one to someone whose first language is Tagalog...), that we know the church isn't a new thing to them, and that we know they already have strong faith in Christ. We don't want to meet with them to destroy that faith, we just want to explain what we believe and let them make the decision if they think they could add it to the truths they already know. Something triggered something, because the ice melted almost instantly, their body language did a complete 180 and they just opened up to us and told us how grateful they are that we were wanting to listen to them and let them learn at a slower pace. We've got standing appointments for every Monday night, so we're excited :)

NG finally texted back!!!!! She can come to church next week. Updates later. I cried once again.

We made a paper chain to count down to my birthday! Birthday month starts in two days! I've been gone six months...crazy huh? I've got to go or we'll be late for the Hari Raya BBQ! Selamat Hari Raya! I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Sister Norton

HFI!

is this going to be forever??

We've been having fun with our new Toa Payoh area! It's crazy busy now, trying to juggle two wards that both meet at 9:00 am on Sundays, so we'll always be on splits on Sundays now. My companion this last week was the lovely Callie Moore! She was great. And a HUGE cockroach just crawled out from under the computer, the Indian man who works at the computer shop wouldn't stop laughing at me because I was maybe freaking out a bit. Ewww.

Ok, bust it out. First to answer the Mommy's questions, my Malay is ok...I get chances here and there to practice, usually with Y & I, but sometimes on the train or with taxi drivers. Mandarin is not as ok as Malay, but it's coming along. I did learn how to pray in Mandarin by my goal date, and it was so good that I did! You'll see why if you keep reading :) TT is not back from China yet, but we did hear from her and she misses us and can't wait to meet when she gets back. That's always good to hear. We're expecting about two weeks or so on that one. NG still doesn't answer calls or respond to SMS. It seriously breaks my heart. I feel like such a baby because I just cry about it sometimes, especially when her baptism date came and passed and no word. It's got to work out eventually though. I know that she felt this is the truth, so she'll come back. Maybe I won't be the one that gets to see her baptism, but it will happen eventually. I wasn't able to see Y & I this past week, but the other sisters did and they're still doing well. Rindu kamu!

Friday night was such a treat. We were finally able to meet with J, she's been coming to church for quite a while with a member, but has been very reluctant to let people in. When we told our ward mission leader that she had invited us over for dinner, he was shocked. And it was so great! She made popiah and shark fin soup and made us eat so much I wanted to die, but it was delicious. We were able to share one of our favorite scriptures with her (Ether 12:4) and her brother and sister-in-law and talk a bit about what faith in Jesus Christ can do for us. Then she came to Relief Society on Sunday, which is a huge step because she usually only goes to Sunday School. She's a sweetheart. It's going to be very slow with her, but she's ready to start learning. I can't wait to help her along the way, she's so eager to understand more about the gospel.

Saturday morning we went out to the Chinese Gardens and walked around the lake with L. We met her a little over a week ago on the MRT. She was standing facing us but a few people were standing in between, so she leaned through them and smiled and just said, "Hi!" Then she asked us who we were and what were we doing? We had to get off the train, but we were able to get her number and give her a call so we could meet up. On Saturday, she told us that she had wanted to say hi to us on the train because we had "shining smiles" and she knew we were good people. She's incredible. She's from China and living here with her husband right now. So at the lake, we talked a little bit about who God is and what we do as missionaries, helping people understand how they can have a relationship with God and learn of the plan that He has for them. It was such a foreign idea to her, but she embraced it and just kept saying how hopeful it all seemed and she wanted it. She introduced us to her husband too, he's also very nice. Then yesterday, we went back to teach her more. We covered a lot of material, but after, she said that she wanted to know more, and then she prayed for her first time in her life with us. It was awesome. The Mandarin came in handy when we were trying to explain a few different parts of the gospel, and I told her that she can pray in Mandarin or English, whichever is more comfortable for her. She said she wouldn't know how to pray because she's never learned words for God or anything like that in Mandarin, so I was able to teach her how to pray very simply in Mandarin. So, definitely a blessing that I learned that last week. We'll see her again on Friday night and Sunday, but then she'll go back to China next week for anywhere from 1-6 months....so....we'll see.

Our friend, C, has been here all summer for a dance internship and we got permission to go see it on Saturday night. It was amazing! There was no stage and no seats, so you just couldn't stand in a spotlight in the room because that's where the dancers would be and other than that you could walk around and see the dance from different angles. It was incredible. And she got an offer to come back and dance with their company permanently after she graduates! So proud of her. She'll leave tomorrow for the states and hopefully continue learning about the gospel there. C is very artistic and naturally spiritual, just not very religious. I was kind of thinking about something that we have in common, we both really loved the book Eat, Pray, Love and that kind of quest for inner peace and understanding. That's something that's always interested me. So many world religions are focused on finding that, kind of a nirvana idea. I've come to learn more and more out here that that inner peace comes from having harmony in your life, and for me, it's harmony with the plan that God has for me. Just knowing that I'm on the path that He wants me to be on, the one that leads back to Him. That's the most beautiful thing about the gift of the Holy Ghost. When you have the Holy Ghost with you, you feel peace. I truly believe that it's the same peace everyone else is searching for, and it's something that's attainable in this lifetime, it's a gift that's there to help us. I think some of the people out here would be shocked to see how easy it is to have once you begin following Jesus Christ. Just a thought.I hope you're all doing well! I love you so much!! Have a great week :) Email me early if you're going to email this next week, we've got zone conference so it will need to be on Tuesday. Sarah love, please know that I love you and am praying for you. I'm so excited for your mission to start. I would write you now, but it wouldn't get to you before you enter the MTC, so just send me your MTC box # and all that and I'll get one to you there. Do it fast though :) You'll be there a short amount of time so I need to get it off soon. CADE. I need your address. Someone send it to me please? I doubt he reads this. The giant cockroach is now sitting on the wall next to me, I can't take my eyes off it. Why did God create cockroaches?!

Sayangi semua kamu!

Sister Norton

HFI

This guy is way cool! Check it out ~ http://mormon.org/me/3D6F/

Another beautiful night!

parrish, you're 6'3"...get it over the net!

We were working on zone unity today, so we all went to west coast and had a zipline relay and played volleyball....obviously it brought us really close together, no competition there :)

Sister Howard and I are the lucky new recipients of a second ward (and area) here in Singapore, the Toa Payoh ward! So, just as we thought things were picking up and getting pretty busy with just one area, we get a new one (in addition to the expat ward). I don't think we'll be trying too hard to fill our time anymore. I'm so excited to be able to work with a local ward too. It's going to be awesome.

The bad news first: NG still won't answer SMS or calls :( All we can do is wait and pray that she'll come back now. The other bad news, we have to stop teaching N pretty soon. It's so hard because he just keeps trying to turn it into a religion bash and proving that his church is right. That's not what we're there to do. There's no point to our meetings if we can't have the Spirit there with us and trying to prove truth is never going to do that.

The good news: We met with all of our investigators from China last week! The Chinese is not coming along so great on my part...I do have a goal to be able to pray in Mandarin by the end of the week though. Good thing they can tahan in English for the most part.

The big lesson I learned this week: Prayer. We always pray before we leave the apartment, but we've gotten lazy at praying during the day before appointments and contacting. We were at Harbour Front the other night and decided to say a prayer before we tried talking to people. It was crazy, everyone was listening to us after that. People would just have us sit down and tell their whole past history with God and really just open up. We picked up a new investigator from it even, she met with us the very next day. It was just such an apparent tender mercy and pointing us in the right direction, like, "Of course you're supposed to be praying! Keep that up." I always prefer learning by incentive. Just another great reminder that God is in this work with His missionaries. It's His work.

Y and I are still facing a lot of opposition. It's so amazing to meet with them and know without a doubt that we had nothing to do with them coming to learn about the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's exactly how it should be. The Spirit should always be the one teaching. I know you're both on the right track, just be patient. Terus berdoa, terus membaca firman Tuhan yang ditulis untuk membantu kamu. And check this out http://lds.org/general-conference/2003/04/the-sustaining-power-of-faith-in-times-of-uncertainty-and-testing?lang=eng&query=tribulation+patience

Sorry it's a short one today. We still have to make it to Malaysia before pday ends. Hopefully we'll have lots more to tell about our new area next week! I love you all so much and hope you're doing well! Thank you for the letter and pictures of Jenna's final show, Wendy! I loved it! I'll write back soon.

Dengan kasih,

Sister Norton

HFI