Final Letter- August 17, 2015

Hello Everyone!
Wow. I can't believe it's here. It's been two years! They've been the most amazing years of my life. It's been the hardest, greatest thing I've ever had the chance to do. Granted, I know my life hasn't been that long, but it's still the most incredible experience.

I think it's funny how Las Vegas has become the home of my greatest spiritual experiences. What some people call Sin City has become holy ground to me! I have loved my time serving the Lord here. I can't really describe how much I love the people and the memories I've made. I could try, but it would take years. 2 years, actually. Maybe more! I've watched the Savior work miracles in so many peoples lives. I've watched a mother who was broken from the suicide of her son and the abandonment of her family rebuild her life on faith in Christ as she read the Book of Mormon. I've seen a man relieved from his guilt of 15 years in prison as he learned about repentance and baptism. I've watched a 15 year old son lead his father to follow the Savior like he had, and another father do the same for his son. I've made so many wonderful friends here that have changed my life for the better. I'm so thankful for the technology of this era that allows me to stay friends with them for my whole life. I can absolutely testify that the Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families. I know that this Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the perfect organization to dispense the gospel to the world. I have a testimony of revelation from inspired priesthood leaders. On my mission, I've had such sacred experiences. I testify that I know from God that the Book of Mormon is true. I also know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and so is Thomas S. Monson. I testify that God answers prayers and the grace of our Savior has the power to enable us to do good. I've felt him lift me through trials that I felt were breaking me. I've had the privilege of facing heavy persecution for the sake of bearing Christ's name. I've had the opportunity to learn how to lead, how to teach, and how to love. Seriously, I could go on for years.

This week was a great benediction to my mission. I got to go back to Henderson for the baptism of a good friend, Sister Carlyine Michaelis. She's the sweetest old lady you'll ever meet. She's from Cleveland, Ohio. Her husband, Phil, who's a member, introduced her to the Church and we got to teach her! I remember when she bore her first testimony to us. She said that she was pondering on the kindness and love she felt from the Church. She thought of the members who left their homes to travel across the valley to visit her husband in the hospital. She thought of the work of the missionaries and how we paid to come out in the blazing hot sun to talk to people about the Savior. She said "as I thought of these things, I realized that no one would do any of this if it wasn't true. It had to be true!" And then she said "I felt something in my heart then, and I knew that it was all true." What a beautiful experience. 

Also, this week I had a few tender moments through the Spirit. As we were pulling out of a trailer park, I saw a UHaul truck by one of the trailers. That little voice inside said "stop." We stopped and I asked the lady there if she needed help unloading. She broke down crying and praised the Lord. She explained that she had just been praying and pleading for help. The people that were supposed to help her didn't show up. She had pulled her back and was losing hope. I love being an answer to someone else's prayer. That's why I love being a missionary. I pray that I'll have these experiences throughout my life. I want to stay a missionary, even if I'm not a full-time one. This mission has changed eternity for me. How grateful I am for the privilege and the Call to Serve. 

I bear my witness that it's true! In the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Matthew Norton

August 10, 2015

Hello!

This week has been good! Full of hard work and sweat and all that good stuff! I'm having fun for sure. I can't believe this is my last week! AUUGHH!!!!! It's still not totally real for me yet (although I had a very realistic dream last night about the airport. weird!) but I am excited. This week we saw some awesome miracles. The Zamora family is one of them! A polynesian family. 13 of them in the house!! They were a referral from bishop and we went over and they've had us come back every day. 7 of them came to church! It's been so much fun to teach them. All the kids start with E - Ethan, Eric, Eugene, Essence, Elena, Emerald. Tons of fun. We're praying hard to be able to set them for baptism here soon!!! My companion Elder Guinn is doing really well. He's grown a ton in the last 6 weeks. He's planning well, going out to talk to people all by himself, and being a stronger teacher. Very proud of him. 

So much to catch up on. Cant wait to see you NEXT WEEK!!!!!! As for an email next week, I'm sure I'll send one. I won't be too busy, since most of the preparation to go home will happen prior. I'll send out a final last email to put on the blog and some pictures. 

I love you so much! Thank you for the pictures of the reunion. I showed them to some of my friends. I'm so proud to be part of this family. We have such an awesome one. I got some good news this week. One of my investigators in Eldorado, Carlyine, is getting baptized this saturday. What a tender mercy of the Lord to be able to finish my mission with a baptism. Such a treasure. 

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I feel them! Give the last of vicarious hugs and kisses to the family. Next week I can do that myself :) 

All my love!
Elder Norton

July 13, 2015

Dear everyone,
Life is good. Crazy right now. I got transferred up to Central Las Vegas. Not the best part of town, but close to the temple. We have so much work to do here. Our apartment and area book were a MESS! The last Elders went home together and didn't really take care of their wad at all. Our wards are SMALL. Really struggling. We had 80 people at sacrament meeting and 59 last week.  The strong members are burnt out and tired. So much inactivity. So we've got a lot of work to do. I'm praying to stop the downward spiral and boost the ward members. Light a fire again. 

I'm so tired! We've been working so so hard. My companion has been a good sport about it. He's a good kid. Had a rough couple of companions (two were engaged, one got sent home) and so President's hoping I can help turn him around. But he likes to work after so long of not being able to. 

This week was one of the most spiritual highlights of my life. I got to go see recent converts from Seven Hills get sealed in the temple. It was such a beautiful experience. I had never seen a sealing before. I was amazed at how simple it really is. So simple, so real. Such a treat. And it was SO fun to see my friends from that ward. It really felt like a homecoming. I didn't realize just how good of friends I made with that ward. AH! Pay day for sure. 

Love you tons! Thanks for your prayers and your faith. I'm doing well and plan on working as hard as possible. Loving life and staying happy.
Elder Norton

PS. Hair cut day… sort of.

April 20, 2015- Transfer!

Hey!
I'm writing from the Eldorado Stake, Arrowhead ward. I'm serving with Elder Perrins, who's a good friend and came out with me. Eldorado Stake includes part of Old Henderson and down to Boulder city. It's a nice change of scenery. I needed something new. The ward is good, the work is good, the companion is good. So life is good! Our zone has been struggling along for a long time, and President asked Elder Perrins and I to get it pumped up again. I'm looking forward to it. I'm trying to give my whole soul to this. I don't have too much time left, so I need to make it all count. 

This week I came into the area and a baptism. The elders had been teaching a wonderful young couple with two young kids. They're amazing. They love the Book of Mormon. 4 weeks ago they were completely different, fighting all the time, frustrated, lost, and broke. They have seen some amazing blessings because of their obedience. I wish I could send pictures, but I forgot my camera cord. Sorry. Next week! 

Well, I'm happy and healthy. Just working hard. Love you! 

Elder Norton

April 1, 2015- Happy 20th to Matt!

Matt turned 20 today and his companion (Elder Gould) turns 24 tomorrow April 2nd!

March 30, 2015- *Please Read*

Hey everyone! Just want to share a quick miracle with you all. It starts almost a year and a half ago.....

I was still in my first area, with my second companion. I had recently been made senior companion, so mostly all the decision making was up to me. I worked hard for sure! But didn't have a very strong ability to understand the Lord's will. In fact, I'm still working on that.

So one evening I was feeling pumped up. I told the Lord that I would give it 110%. I was going to be everywhere I had planned on time and full of energy. I was feeling good and it was going to be a good night. Then, as things always do, my plans changed when my bike broke. BANG! chain off, gears messed up, somehow got 2 flat tires. Seriously, it was a weird combination of things that happened for absolutely no reason. And when you're a missionary, you depend on your bike like oxygen. My enthusiasm deflated almost as quickly as my tires. (poetic, huh? :)) I was so frustrated. We were far from home and walking back would have taken about an hour. The only choice was to find someone to help. The only one close to where we were was a family who were members of the church, but hadn't been in a while and didn't really have a testimony. We had spoken with them a couple times at the doorstep, but nothing really had come from it. But when we asked them for help, they were more than willing. Still, the repairs took a LONG time and pretty much messed up our whole evening. I was upset, for sure. I couldn't understand why the Lord would have my bike break when I was so motivated to do His work. We had a good conversation with the family as we worked on the bike, but it didn't go anywhere and I didn't feel like it was productive at all.

Got it? Part one complete.

Part two:
This last week our bishop called us and asked if we had been praying lately. We said" ...... um, yes Bishop. All the time, actually." He said that a family had moved in to the ward and were willing to have the missionaries by. They were a part-member family. The parents were members of the church, but they had 2 unbaptized children. Of course, we were SO excited. That's like Christmas for missionaries. And, even better, they moved in RIGHT NEXT DOOR to us. True story!!!!!! So we went to meet them as soon as we could. When the lady answered the door, we introduced ourselves. She looked at me funny and said
"I know you. You're that missionary that had all those bike problems, aren't you?"

WHOA!! This was the family!! They had moved away from that house that I knew them at and up to Utah. They started taking the missionary lessons and wanted to keep them up! Their 12 year old daughter wants to be baptized and we did a little celebration dance. Because I had met them before, it was incredibly easy to start interacting with them and teaching them. It felt really comfortable. Who would have guessed that what seemed to me as a complete waste of time was actually a really important step in a miracle that would happen 15 months later!!! I love the Lord!!!!! This Church is so true. He is watching over us and has a plan for all of His children. So if things aren't going how you'd like it, just remember that there may be something much bigger at work. Trust in the Lord and He'll reveal to you His plan. It's masterfully made.

Love you all!
Elder Norton.
P.S. This is "Fifi." the last B-29 bomber still in flight. This was the same type of airplane that dropped the Atom Bomb in WWII. We have a small airport in our area and we got to sneak some pictures :) We don't know what kind the little one is

March 9, 2015

Hey everyone!

This week has been great. The weather is warming up and it's beautiful here. It should be in the 80's by the end of the week. It sounds great now, but since it was such a warm winter it's going to be brutally hot in the summer. 

I got a new companion this week! Elder Kilgour from Australia finished his mission and I now have Elder Gould. Elder Gould started his mission 3 weeks after serving in the Army for 4 and a half years. He was station in Louisiana, but spent a year in Afghanistan as infantry. He's an awesome guy. Hard worker! Surprising, huh? We really get along well. In fact, he was in my district in North Las Vegas this time last year. He's a goofball and we've had a lot of fun and seen a lot of miracles. He still jumps at sudden noises and I almost got punched in the face when I accidentally scared him. If I send home pictures of black eyes, you'll know why ;). He's the real deal. In fact, the Green Berets were trying to recruit him before his mission. So yes, I'm serving with Jason Bourne. It's pretty cool. And his birthday is one day after mine!

This week we definitely saw miracles. I have a strong testimony of prayer. On Tuesday night we had planned to see an investigator family when, as is quite common, they had to cancel. We had a member of the ward with us and so we really wanted to make this time a good experience. We had planned as a back up to go see a less active sister. So we prayed together that we might be able to share the love of God to this sister and have the Spirit with us to teach. As we walked to her apartment, we street contacted a man smoking at his car. We introduced ourselves and he immediately told us that he was looking for a church. He is LDS, but hasn't been active at all for a while. He and his wife had just moved here last week. We went into his home and met his wife. Dustin and Tasha are awesome. I feel a friendship with them already, even though I just met them. They're taking the missionary lessons now. 

Cool, right? Well, it gets cooler!

Right after we left Dustin and Tasha, we got a text from our Elders Quorum President asking if we knew where apartment 2216 was in the apartment complex across from the one we were in. I remember thinking "hmm... that's a funny coincidence. We just left Dustin and  Tasha in apartment 2216 in this complex." But I didn't think too much of it. We met with Bishop the next night to introduce Elder Gould and report on this family we found. When we said their names, he lit up and said "That's them!!" Tasha's grandfather had called Bishop to request that someone from the ward go find them. He had assigned our Elders Quorum President to find them that night (Tuesday). But he had given them the wrong address, so they were looking for them in the wrong complex. 

SO! My point is that the Lord wanted these people found. We found them out of circumstance right at the exact time when our ward leaders were searching for them. Even though they had a wrong address, the Lord used us as tools to make sure that these people were found. I love prayer! I love being a servant of God to find the lost sheep and experience miracles like this one. I love you all! Remember that prayer works!
Love,

Elder Norton