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 

February 23, 2015- Matthew's Testimony

Hey everyone!
We had a great week this week. Our friend KC Foltz made the decision to be baptized! He is 13 years old and is a sharp kid. His family has a really cool story too. His Grandma, Sister Odonahue, was raised in the gospel but fell away and made some wrong choices. Her actions not only took her away from the peace of the gospel, but also put her children on paths that brought them a lot of struggle. She said that when she finally realized what had happened, she felt an overwhelming amount of agony for the consequences of her actions that hurt her children. She worked hard to come back, got a temple recommend again, and has been going there weekly since. As part of her reactivation, she promised the Lord that she would do all she could to bring her children back. Recently, her son Casey and his son KC (funny, I know) left California and moved in with her for a time. She immediately got to work. Casey is a member of the Church but isn't very involved anymore and his faith has dimmed. But his son KC accepted the invitation to listen to the missionaries and work towards baptism. He's a great kid. I remember one of the first lessons we had, he asked us "What is a testimony?" What a great question! What is a testimony? Why do so many Latter-Day Saints focus on bearing their testimonies? How does one gain a testimony?

A testimony is something that you know to be absolutely true and is centered on the gospel. It's obtained by a witness from the Holy Ghost about certain principles of the gospel. We experiment upon the word of God by reading the scriptures and applying what we read in our lives. We see the difference and blessings that come from living those teachings. Knowing that a principle of the gospel is true means you have a testimony of that principle. Testimonies are never complete in this life, I think. There is always something more to learn and a deeper understanding to attain. I love my mission because it has taught me a deeper level of understanding on the most basic principles of the gospel: faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, covenant keeping and making, and being led by the Holy Ghost. I truly know that these principles bring blessings and happiness to our lives. 

So after explaining what a testimony was, I asked KC what he knew was true. He said "Well, I have a testimony! I know that the power of God is real!" Since this was his second lesson and hadn't grown up learning about the gospel, I was a little surprised. I asked him how he knew that. He said

"Because of my Grandma. She's gone through a lot of pain and sadness. She has had 2 husbands pass away and has been through a lot. But she's happy! Only the power of God could make her happy after all that." What a simple testimony.

I agree.

I know God lives and loves us. I know the fullness of the gospel has been restored to the earth through Joseph Smith. I know with all my heart that the Book of Mormon is true. I love that Book. I know these things through a number of real-life experiences. I hope you all can identify what is the root of your testimony and take the time to think about why you know it to be true. Then search the scriptures, live what you learn, and watch your testimony grow. It's a guarantee formula for everyone! 

Love you all!
Elder Norton

February 16, 2015

Dear Family,

So I'm still in 7 Hills, and I'm loving it. It's definitely harder than a lot of areas still, but it's getting much better. Our mission has two focuses: Become a Preach My Gospel Missionary for Life and to build a new stake. So our charge as Zone leadership (us and the Sister Training Leaders) is to create a zone culture where we can do this! Our Zone vision is to create "Self-Sustaining Wards" and push from behind so that we can help change our member's hearts so that they're the ones doing the work. So far so good! We're focusing on improving ward coordination meeting, teaching with the members, and participating in ward council. Those are kind of our three pillars to achieve this. It's been amazing to see the blessings that are coming because of it. We've had two families this week invite coworkers to take the lessons in their homes. Both have been amazing spiritual experiences for us, the investigator, and the members. Truly, it's the best way to do missionary work. One of them, Rick, has committed to baptism at the end of March. I can see in him a longing for the Savior. He's so burdened by guilt and shame. He made some heavy mistakes in the past that have hurt his family. He's seeking relief. I can't wait to help him discover the Savior through the Book of Mormon. What an amazing book. I wish sometimes that I could forget all about it so that I could have the opportunity to open it up for the first time again and feel what these people feel. That Book has power! 

I've been learning so much about leadership. We're encouraged to have a personal vision, to become something. I want to become someone who enables others to fulfill their potential. And it's amazing to me how Heavenly Father has helped me with that request. He's taught me about balance in the work, sharing responsibility, helping others see their strengths, succoring the weary, and so much more. I sometimes can't really believe just how spiritual life can be. Spiritual experiences can happen every day. They should! It means our progress is on track and when that's in place, what more do we need to worry about? I think part of why the gospel brings peace into our lives is because it gives us the assurance that when trials come, we'll have the ability to make a right decision. It gives us confidence that we know no matter what happens, we know how to choose the right. I love that. I'm starting the final quarter of my mission and I feel like I'm just beginning to understand faith, repentance, covenants, the Holy Ghost, and enduring. I trust that the end of my mission won't be the end of this progression. In fact, I've decided that it won't be. It'll just be the foundation for it. I have such a desire to be good. I just want to be good. And I'm very grateful to be a part of a Work that is simply good. 

I love you so much!
Matt