Quick one!‏

Well, this is going to be a quick one! This week has been..... crazy. To say the least... But, I learned something important this week! I am hear to serve the lord, and I don't need to be worrying about offending someone. Strong decisions need to be made if we want to make real progress. That is one of the biggest things. 

Also, emotionally crazy! First, Hey Elder Norr! Guess what? YOU'RE GONNA TRAIN!!! 

me: oh.... freak.....  It felt sooo weird to hear that....

Then, when i was getting more excited about it. I get a call...

Elder Hammond (assistent) Hey elder norr, we've decided to hold off on the training for a while, so this cycle you won't be training....

me: oh..... whatever I have to do is fine then.

So, I have officially lost another son, but it's ok. The president does this by revelation, and i sustain our president! God has something planned!

Ok, that's it.

Not too many pics this week! But the work is going good. We have really dropped latedly with new investigators in the mission... But I know that the Lord has something special planned for us. We just have to repent, pray, and then get up and do it! And we can DEFINITELy do it! Hope you guys all have an awesome week! Their are lots of opportunities waiting!!!!!!! Use them!!!!

Love

Elder Norr

first things first‏

Ok, well this week I am going to write the big email first so that no one feels like I have forgotten about them! :) This last week, well.... last 3 weeks. Have been good, but things have been goin down. So, first things first, the familia orihuela didn't get baptized, and they won't be getting baptized... :/ They passed their interview TWICE, and they were super ready, but when we went to see them the next day (thursday) the mom said that she had talked to her family and that she would not be getting baptized nor did she want to... ok. The dad said the same. He talked to his mom and she told him not to do it; that family is very special and they will be baptized, but just not right now. The Lord has a time for each of us. I felt the spiritual confirmation that it wasn't their time and we have had more time to work and find other people which has been really nice!

 No, I haven't been sick, but right now my stomach is a little wrecked. Not sure what we ate, but i'll get over it, just gotta keep drinking water. Ummmm, what else. OH YEAH! Our investiator Jorge is soooooo getting ready for baptism on the 7th of February! He has already asked for prayer cards and has given them to all of his family members and grandkids!!! AWESOME!!!!! Also, we went and did "fat burning" with a family from the ward last monday (I guess it is kinda like zumba, but it's not dancing) and my companion and I about died!.... haha I couldn't do any of the push up stuff because of my shoulders, but it was still fun, we had planned to teach a lesson with the family's daughter who isn't a member afterwards, but she told us "tomorrow would be better." so we taught her on tuesday! Her name is Jenni, and she is super cool! She is 16 and her whole family are converts from the last 2 years! She is reading the book of mormon and has a date for the 31st of January!!!!! 

I don't really know what to write about this week. My "writer's flow" isn't really flowing today, but I just love this gospel. I am learning more about my weaknesses everyday, one of which is being overly self-critical. This week I had a really rough experience, and I just wasnt' feeling very good. I decided the next day I would focus my study on love. I found an incredible scripture in the bible, Romans 8:35-39. It says (i'm translating by thought) "What can separate us from the love of God? Tribulation, hunger, problems, feelings?....." and then in 39 is ends saying "nothing can separate us from the love that God has for us".

I love this scripture, and I would like to end this week with my testimony. The love of God is infinite, and it allows us to become better than what we may think we are. It is like a bottomless pit. If we are willing to throw in our rotten feelings and actions, they will be swallowed, and not returned. Christ loved us so much that he offered himself as sacrifice for OUR sins, our problems, OUR weaknesses. I know that God loves his children (US!) I know that if we let that love guide our lives, we will feel and know of that love and it will motivate us to be more christlike and obedient. Let the love of God fill your lives, and my every action show that we are grateful, and willing to show that love to others! This is my testimony! I hope you all have a great weeek! I) love you all! In the name of my lord and savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Norr!

Stay strong! When we stop fighting, we stop winning!

just letting you know! I have officilly eaten grasshoppers!!!!! They have the popcorn kernal texture, just like think, flaky, and unbreakable..... didn't reallly like it..... haha

Our ward, and the ones that have us hoolding the little white things are little plastic babies that were cooked into bread and we just happened to get them in our slice!

This super sweet orange hot rod truck that we found in our area!!!!!!

Elder Chico and I on divisions! 

I don't remember what other one I put!

This is us eating at the bishops hamburger restaurant, puesto place! They are delicious!, and huge! he has one called the lamanite and it is a half-pound burger with and giant argentine sausage on it and everthing else! And in the last one, that orange thing in my hand is a mandarin orange! Yeah, believe it! It was literally almost the size of my head! I had to pay 2 pesos for it though...

ummm, this is my skinny lady friend ;) 

These aer some piñatas from a lady in our ward!

No, I didn't die...‏

Ok, so first off, the good news. I didn't die. We were just running around all day yesterday and I didn't have time to write at all. I am still alive, apparently I am taller than before, and I am still loving the mission! 

Well, we have had an interesting 8 days since the last time i talked with you guys. Here's a quick rundown.

1: Well, They gave us the tangled chinese fire floating lanterns for the new years. So we went out on the 31 at night and there wasn't much wind so we lit it up and took some pictures while it was fillinjg up. I lifted it up and gave it a light push, and off the roof it went, and then started to fall down on a group of guys drinking a couple houses down. We hid with our eyes barely over the wall as this lantern literally got like 5 fit about the drunk guys, and then it got some air and went. it hadn't really gotten very high, or very far.... when we saw it all of a sudden disappear behind a tall building and not return (while it was still burning.....) The good news is that we don't think anything bad happened!

2: our landlady is a member and she invited us down for some atole and rosca. But then told me she had a present for me. She told me it was food, but told me i couldn't see it (suspicious) So i closed my eyes while she and my companion put some small, crunchy, salty think in my mouth, 4 syllables DRIED-GRASS-HO-PPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was like just eating the popcorn kernal that gets stuck in between your teeth.... didn't like it!

3: we went back to my first area to visit!!!!!! It was weird to see the familia solano-rivera! They are good and they have still been going to church! YAY!!!!!!!!

4: last thing cause I am out of time! This little girl got up (she has a little bit of autism) to share her testimony in sacrament meeting. She is like 12 or 13, but she starts off "a couple days ago I asked myself "why would God forgive us?" She then went into one of the sweetest stories about repentence that she learned from her parents. She then says "if we don't truly repent..... welllllllll, that would be lying to God, and playing with him,and weeeeeee would beeee, welllllllll Hypocrits!" and then she went on to share a testimony that literally made almost all of us in the congregation water up! It was such a sweet innocent spirit! I loved it!!!

Well, I think that's it. I gotta go to work. I love the gospel, and the church. The opportunities ew recieve to be able to become better people! I learned something very special about the plan of salvation this week. It isn't a plan of set, definite steps that are going to happen, but rather a plan of perfect probabilities according to the decisions that we make, and those probabilities will always have steps that will redirect us to the path that God has prepared for us to be able to return to his presence IF WE CHOOSE THEM!. That path is the gospel! So Good luck with your goals for this year, and remember that God doesn't have plans for his children to fail. Strive to be better, and pray for his help! He will give it to you! 

Love you guys!!!!

Elder Norr