you're crazy, wildcat!

My companion's high school mascot was a wildcat. I'll send an instant egg to whoever can guess which movie I'm quoting all the time!

WELCOME HOME ELDER LYONS!! I'm glad to hear that you're doing good :) I'm sure Wisconsin is already missing you!

So....remember how I've said I've got some humbling experiences ahead of me? We had some this past week! I can't tell you how many hours and cab fares were spent on trying to find less-active members and referrals from Salt Lake City that apparently don't exist anymore. My poor companion is sick too. After driving around in a cab for an hour in the middle of nowhere, I turned to her and apologized, because I think the lesson to be learned was a little bit of patience and humility for me. Poor Sister Howard, she had to come along on my fun lesson-learning ride.

I didn't go to KL with the trainers of course. Sister Jensen was pretty bummed and so was I. But, Sister Ferg and I got to be the greenies on the loose in Singapore for a few days! We tore up the place. Thursday had to be my favorite contacting day ever. I was proposed to by a man named George. He didn't believe that I was only 21. "You have got to be kidding me! You're older than that! 25 or 28 at least!" And he was not to happy that my purpose was to bring him unto Christ, not to marry him. We did get his number though! Handed it right over to the elders :)

That same night, as we were leaving a members house, I saw a cute cat that I started talking to. Sister Ferg is afraid of cats and was a bit distraught when this cat started following us, and she wasn't watching her steps so she tripped and sprained her ankle. I felt awful!

Alison was baptized on Saturday night! Elders Nowland and Ulrich had been teaching her but she has a pretty long history with the missionaries. She's been meeting with them for three years now, but hadn't had permission from her parents until she turned 21. That night was amazing!! She's already such a strong member.

Highlight of the week: On Sunday night, Sister Howard and I planned on going to Harbour Front to contact a bit. On the way there, we stopped at Clarke Quay, where we never go. There wasn't anything there for us, so we hopped back on the train and went to Harbour Front. The first guy we talked to wasn't so interested, but as we were talking to him, we saw a man staring at us, and when we finished, he basically flagged us down. We introduced ourselves and he told us to sit down. Then he proceeded to tell us that he had been praying for answers about God the night before, he came to the boardwalk to sit and think, and as he was sitting there, he looked over and saw us, "people of God." As you can imagine, I was in shock. Not only was someone not shutting us down completely, but he was telling us that we were an answer to his prayers! I wish I could include everything that we talked about, but I don't have time and I can't do it justice. It reaffirmed my faith that God is going before us, preparing people to hear the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The message that we had to share with this man meant more than gold to him. He knew that it was special and before we could even ask him to pray to know of its truth, he said, "Well I will ask God tonight." Boom! We're meeting him again on Friday. The church is true baby.

I love you all. You're in my prayers everyday. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my daddy and to my Grandpa Merlin, Grandpa Stoney, and Grandpa Austen! I'm the luckiest granddaughter and daughter in the world :)

Love you!

Sister Norton

HFI

... were you aware that eating lots of curry could take years off of you? Yep, change your hair and eye color too!

... can you get pneumonia on the equator?

Hey Mom ~ Thanks for sending the comments you received from Grandma & Grandpa, Sister Molloy, Sister Wunderli, and Sister White. I love you all so much and appreciate your support and love! It's been a pretty hard week, so it was such a blessing to open up my email today and read all of your sweet comments. Grandma Dionne, I didn't know Grandma Zola liked to sing! You know how much I can't wait to meet her someday :) Diana, I am assigned to the Singapore 1st Expat ward. It's a pan-island assignment so I'm all over the place. In a usual day I'm out to Pasir Ris, over to Jurong East, up to the Woodlands, by Orchard, and then we live over by Little India in Boon Keng. Thank goodness for the MRT. Most importantly, Callie, whom I sang with at Michelle’s baptism, is amazing. Everyone needs to look her up on YouTube please! ~ Callie Moore, you'll love her too!

Stoney buddy! Bonjour! How is your French coming along? Hopefully better than mine...I love you bud. I'll send you some cool pictures soon. Jenna Douglass, send me your address please. And Kimmy Lane....what in the world?? I haven't heard from you since I left the MTC.

Ok. It's been a hard week like I said. We've been here for a little over five weeks now. It's been so wonderful to work with Michelle in helping her prepare for baptism and to be able to see that happen for her. Now we're helping Benjamin, and hopefully he'll be getting baptized at the end of the month. We've met so many wonderful people, but Singapore is a very interesting area...contacting, we are finding is not an affective use of time. (For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, this is where we go to public places, approach people, get to know them a little bit and share a little bit about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Then we ask them if they'd be interested in learning more. Usually they say they'll call us back if they're interested, and that never happens.) The members here are so strong, the people to whom they've extended an invitation to learn more are like a billion times more likely to progress towards baptism. There are some members who have been on fire with missionary work (Callie Moore and her husband included), but it's very hard to get referrals otherwise. What we'd like is to have no time to contact or "find" on the street because we're so busy teaching member's referrals :) It's not happening yet...but we've got plans….and it's going to happen :) And if anyone else has some great ideas about how to get referrals from members, feel free to send them this way.

In other news, it's not supposed to be rainy season, but it's rained non-stop this past week. We have to walk a good distance to get to the MRT and then from the MRT to church, so by the time I got there on Sunday, I honestly had to wring out my clothes. Three hours of air-con church...and I was frozen!! I'm gaining quite the reputation as the sister who is always freezing. I have a reserved part of the room for district meeting, far away from the air con. Oh ... and also I taught a short lesson on eternal families to a 6'1" Russian supermodel on the MRT a few days ago. Not intimidating at all.

We're still meeting with Michelle for her recent-convert lessons. We were quite worried for the week after her baptism because she kept canceling on us and we were pretty sure something was up. We finally were able to meet with her last night, and found out she's just been super stressed because she has moved up her date to move back to China...to JULY 10. So....we've got a lot of ground to cover. She's in the middle of packing and resigning from her job, but we were all so happy that we found time to meet last night, the Spirit was once again there in so much abundance, as it always is with Michelle. We were able to give her a book of remembrance to record the experiences of learning about the gospel, her baptism, and to get her started on her family history, getting her on track to go to the Hong Kong temple in one year. Temples are something that Michelle connects with so much. When we showed her the picture of the Hong Kong temple, her eyes lit up. "That's our temple?! Someday I think they'll have one in PRChina." Yeah yeah me too, Michelle! Oh it was so awesome. So, she'll move back to Chengdu soon, and then she'll move to Shanghai after a while to continue her studies. She is determined to stay strong in Chengdu, where she won't be able to attend a church service. She's such an inspiration to me. Her prayers are so full of faith. I still can't believe how blessed I am to have met her so soon in the mission. I've learned so much from her that has really built my faith.

Ready for the coolest story of my week? I bought a suitcase on the side of the street on the way home a few nights ago. The second I got it on the MRT, I started playing with the combo that locked the zippers. Of course I messed it up and locked it without seeing what the code was. The whole train was cracking up as I was standing there laughing so hard that I was almost in tears. I consider this quite the feat. No one shows emotion like that in public. Hello we're in ASIA. So, these two Chinese girls were laughing at me and Sister Howard started talking to them. They spoke no English so I hopped in and started talking to them about my broken suitcase. They of course wanted to know how I knew Mandarin and what I was doing there, so I pulled out our name card and showed them. It has a picture of Christ on it. One of the girls saw Christ and just flipped out, saying how she heard about how He died for us on the cross and how easy that makes her heart feel and how touching she thought it was and she wanted to learn more. CAN! I haven't been able to remember how to ask for a phone number in Chinese. So simple, so pathetic, I know. But of course I remembered just in time. She scribbled her number down as she was rushing to get off the train at her stop before they closed the doors. It was so killer! So, she's a referral for the Chinese elders now. Heaven knows I can't teach in Mandarin. But it was so cool to know that we were on that train with her at that time for a reason. And I bought the stupid suitcase and broke it for a reason. God has a plan for everything.

I love you all and hope you have the most incredible week!!

Sister Norton

HFI

Below are some very kind words received from Callie Moore last week regarding Mikelle's roll in Michelle's baptism. Thank you for keeping us updated Callie! Bless you!

Hi! My name is Callie Moore. I am a ward missionary in the Singapore 1st ward where your lovely daughter is serving her mission :). First off, I just want to tell you that Sister Norton is an absolutely amazing missionary! You have so much to be proud of! When I sat through a discussion with her teaching an investigator for the first time I thought she had been out on her mission for a long time. I can't believe this is her first area of only a month or so. Her thoughts and insight are so beautiful and her testimony is so strong and pure.

We have been teaching a girl named Michelle for the last month. She is from China and came to the church with very little knowledge of any of the doctrine. Sister Norton always gives visual examples and analogies that make perfect sense and explains things in such a clear way. Several times I could see Michelle's face as a concept that she had a hard time understanding just clicked after Sister Norton would explain it. The last discussion before Michelle's baptism date was about the prophet Joseph Smith. The sisters explained the story and answered her questions. After thinking for a few minutes, Michelle asked "Do you really believe this happened?" with a hint of surprise. We all briefly explained that we really do believe it happened. Then Sister Norton proceeded to bear a beautiful testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, saying that everything in the church comes down to this. If Joseph Smith lied about what he saw, then nothing in the church is valid. If he told the truth, then this is the everlasting gospel and the only full truth on earth. She talked about how many people may think she is crazy for giving up her personal life and ambitions for 18 months to serve a mission, but that she is making that sacrifice because she knows without a doubt that this gospel is true and that Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw. After hearing all of this Michelle thought to herself for a moment, then the sisters asked her if it made sense to her and if she thought this story could possibly be true. What she said was "I trust what Sister Norton said. She is making this sacrifice because she believes it, and I trust her. I hope that I can come to believe as well." What a beautiful act of faith inspired by a sincere testimony!

Last Saturday Michelle was baptized and I was asked to sing for her baptism. I love singing and I always prefer harmonies over performing solo. By now the rumor has spread far and wide that Sister Norton has a lovely voice! :) So I asked her to sing with me. Here is the video! ♡ Callie

(Note from Mikelle's Mom: Sorry, I am unable to load the video "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" in the format in which it was received ... just know that Callie has an amazing voice and Sister Norton did a beautiful job harmonizing with her :) Thanks again Callie! (You can check out Callie Moore on youtube.com! )

good thing there was a banana!

...it was late at night. I don't know why I said that about an area where we had been contacting all day.

I just got back from a great p-day at Pulau Ubin! It's this jungly island place right off the coast. We went biking there today and it was so beautiful! I got a little bike training "Singapore Mission" style. Basically, dodge wild dogs, boars, children....and then there's the side kick to fend off the aforementioned dogs, boars, children...it's great fun!

It's been the best week! MICHELLE'S BAPTISM WENT THROUGH!!! Oh it was the happiest day ever. Seriously. I'm learning that the bad days make you appreciate the good ones, and the good ones make you completely forget about the bad ones. This was one of those. The whole week leading up to it was a little stressful. There was a lot of fasting and praying for Michelle to feel the truthfulness of the message of the Restoration. And she did. Enough to get to the next step at least. We knew that her faith would result in an even greater witness after the baptism and boy were we right. The program was wonderful. The Hancock's spoke, Callie and I sang (did she send you the video?) and Brother Webb baptized her. When she came up out of the font, she was glowing. We went back to talk to her and she said, "I feel so fresh! Like I'm born again!" And then here was my favorite quote from her that night...we gave her a picture of Christ in a frame and letters of our testimonies and our love for her. When Michelle saw the picture, she froze, and with tears in her eyes said, "I feel so peaceful when I look at this. I feel like He loves me." It was the best!!! Seriously. Just a rush of pure joy. I know that He does love her, that's why it's so great! She finally felt what we've felt about His love for her this whole time! It totally solidified my belief in Ether 12:6. I know that faith is huge. And it has to be acted on. But if we act on that faith, that hope for something better, we will receive a witness and know of the truth.

We have a few new investigators too! Mr. Yong! He's hilarious. This little old Chinese guy. And Tomoko. She's a girl from Thailand about our age. And Sikiel! Oh we love Sikiel. I got to teach in Malay for the first time because of him. He's from Sabah and he's just like a little angel. We're really excited about all of them. There's more to tell obviously, but I can't ever think of what to write in the time I have, so sorry you'll just be stuck with a tiny little glimpse every week. It's like 10x better than this email. Maybe even more. I just don't have time. Sorry. I love being a missionary! I love everyone of you too! Hope that all is well.

Kasih,

Sister Norton

HFI

PS ~ The bishop in my ward is Bishop Nef. He has a son returning from a mission this week whose name is Kelson Nef. Kelson Nef was in my freshman ward at BYU! Crazy!!

My first baptism! Michelle is so incredible!

lemonade stand la

(speaking Singlish: everything ends in la :)

Sister Jensen and I in KL

so that's malaysia...

I added another few stamps to my passport this weekend. We went up to Kuala Lumpur for a zone conference and meeting with Elder Bednar! It was incredible to sit so close to him, listen to his words, and just see that he's a normal man. He's hilarious. But when he bore his testimony that God is our Eternal Father and Jesus Christ His son and our redeemer, I knew he was called of God. We're so blessed to have living prophets and apostles. We were able to ask him questions so I asked him about our situation with Michelle. Her baptism is still scheduled for this Saturday, but it's coming down to the line. Her faith is there. She prays to God, she even makes promises with Him beyond what we've asked her to do, but she's not sure that she can answer the baptismal interview questions. There's a disconnect between talking to her casually and hearing her testimony when she doesn't even realize it's coming out and then asking her directly about it. But Sister Howard and I still feel like it's going to happen. She's ready, we just have a lot of work to do to help her realize that. Everyone involved in fellowshipping her agrees too. It's the most stressful baptism ever! We just all know that once she takes that leap of faith, she'll be blessed. She'll see where she's been this whole time. Talk about a fun first baptism, eh? I'll breathe on Saturday once it's over.

Malaysia is so crazy. We saw the KL Petronas Towers or whatever. They look fake. They're enormous. The people in Malaysia (for the day and a half that I saw) are the coolest people ever! I can't wait to spend some more time with them. Also, at zone conference, they announced a few trivia facts about the different districts. Apparently I am the first non-native Chinese-speaking sister in the mission. Ever. Good thing I don't even speak it haha. It's coming back little by little. People from China can understand me...people from Malaysia who speak Mandarin look at me like I'm speaking pig latin.

Now, to my dear best friend who is going into the MTC next week. Jillian!! I'm so excited for you. You need to check the third floor's "Dress and Grooming Standards" poster in 17M. I hope my surprise is still there for you. I have something to share with you (and anyone else who reads this as well obviously). You're going to put on a nametag next week that says your a representative of Christ. Don't ever be ashamed of it. I know you won't be, but I've had some cool experiences with that this past week. We have an investigator named Deborah. She's an incredible woman and she asked me a question that caught me off guard on Sunday. She pointed to my nametag and asked if it was ever embarrassing to wear it. The answer that I gave her was exactly what I needed to share with Michelle later that day as well. I kind of laughed because there have honestly been times where I let my hair "accidently" lay over my nametag so people don't look at me like I'm from a different planet. I'm tempted to be somewhat embarrassed sometimes. I love people and I love talking to people so it kills me when I'm talking to someone and they treat me differently than they would sans nametag. It's painful. But answering Deborah and Michelle reminded me of why it's worth it. I told Deborah that I know that my Savior has already paid for every soul in this world, it would be a shame if someone missed their opportunity to learn of that. We wear it so people know who we are and what we're here to share. It's a miniscule cross to bear. Later that day I was testifying to Michelle that this church is not just a "good" church. It's true. I love serving people, if that's all I wanted to do, I would have found a different way to do it, one that didn't involve the nametag. But I know this church is true. That's the reason I'm serving. It is the only way to return to our Father in Heaven and be saved through the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ. Alma 17:1-2. See you out here, girl!

I love you all! You're always in my prayers. Till next week! Jaga diri baik baik!

Sister Norton

HFI

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