Dirty Jobs with Elder Norr

Ok, so we had lots of cool experiences this week, and also some weird ones. 

I went on divisions with my son Elder Chico (who is now my zl) and we burned his shirt for him completing a year in the mission. That was interesting :) Then we were out working the next day and this lady let us into her house. the spirit was super strong, and when we went to leave you reaches up and grabs my head and tries to kiss me. After fighting with her for a couple minutes, she lets go of me as I try to explain to her that she can't kiss me.

We have a family (the familia Orihuela) and he wanted to know who were the names in the book of mormon. I told him to read the introduction and then we would talk abou it the next time. The next time we go we are on splitz and I am with the Elders quorum pres and his wife. I ask Brother Orihuela to explain what is the book of mormon..... OH. MY. GOOODNESS. This man profetized. He explained exactly what the book of mormon was, down to explaining about the nephites and lamanites! I was so happy I almost started to cry in the middle of the lesson! The spirit was SOOOO Strong!

We were on our way home from our junta with the zone leaders to report, and also after having a ping pong death match and we were walking by this man, I felt the strongest feeling: "GO TALK TO THAT MAN." I stopped in the middle of the street and told me companion we needed to go talk to him. We went and talked to him for a minute, and he told us his name was Jose Luis, we asked if we could go visit him and he said "yeah, follow me, I'l show you where my house is." ok, so we go. He gives us a drink of water and we offer a pray with him, and then he keeps talking to us. HE explains to us (he doesn't know what church we are from), but he tells us that his brother, IN UTAH, gave him a copy of THE BOOK OF MORMON! He hasn't ready to much, but we are going to go see him tomorrow! It is gonna be sweet! 

Here in about an hour we are going to do something that I have never done. We are going to be speaking at a funeral of the grandpa of a family in our area. I don't really know what I am goign to say, but I pray that the spirit can help me bring peace and comfort to thse that are present.

Well, my hands is killing me because this keyboard is really tough, so there probably won't be any more capital etters. i know that the church is true and that thomas s. monson is our prophet today. i know that god loves his children soo much that he has prepared a plan of happiness, a plan of salvation by which we may recieve knowledge, peace, and testimony during hard times. I love jesus christ! I love this work! The time goes by sooo fast, but it's time for us all to pick it up! God is with us as we strive to keep his commandments. He will help us be strong! Hope you all have a great week!

Chao! Que tengan una bonita semana!

Elder Norr

good week

As you have probably already noticed, I am starting to lose the catchy email titles... I think about the week and I honestly cannot remember if the events happened this week or last week or really what happened! The weeks feel like they don't go by that fast, but at the end they just have gone by TOO FAST!

Well, this week I gave a talk in our ward and I talked about "supporting our load with ease" using the talk by Elder Bednar. I talked about how our load as member of the Church of Jeus Christ is missionary work! We have the celestial mandate to take the true gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people! What a great blessing! We also had an awesome lesson with a family of saturday. We watched finding faith in christ and the dad at the end just broke down crying saying how awesome the sacrifice of jesus cristo was! It was an awesome experience! He came to church with us too! 

Does happiness really exist? That was a question that I got this week. We were presenting ourselves to a less active sister and I told her that I was a happy person, she then looked at me funny and asked "is it really possible to be happy? Doe happiness really exist?" I told her that it does, and that by living the gospel we may receive it forever. To anyone who may be reading this email: Living the gospel brings true happiness, and peace, and Joy in an evermore unstable world. I know it. We also had a really cool lesson last night with a family that has been having some issues. The brother is an ex-missionary and asked us to share a message about missionary work. We felt that we should talk about the atonement. The spirit was really strong and the brother is goign to come with us on wednesday to do splits! super excited!!!!!

Well, I don't know if there is really too much more this week. I will try to remember more things for the next letter!

I know the church is true. I know it, and i don't dare deny it. God knows this and will give us confirming testimonies as we diligently strive to live the gospel in our lives and share it with those around us. We need the loads in our lives to give us traccion to some day be able to return back home to our father in heaven. I love you guys lots! I hope you guys can all talk to at least one person about the gospel this week and tell me how it goes!!!!! 

Elder Norr :)

Short One...Picture Overload

ok, so I kinda got sidetracked today, but this is going to be a short one. I got transferred to aztahuacan in the Paradise stake. Up til now, I LOVE IT! The weather in the morning is always overcast and cool, and our house is nice! My companion is de Guatemala and has about 8 months in the mission. His name is Elder De Leon! He's a cool kid! we have lots of awesome investigators and I will include a little bit more about them this next week. i will also take more pictures so you guys know who my comp is. we found this awesome lady when we went to visit an investigator, selina, and we have a cita tomorrow to teach the plan of salvation. SUPER PUMPED!!!!! I love this work, and even when it's hard, and even when we aren't seeing tons of success, I remember that I am still blessed in that I am set apart as a representative of the lord to preach the true and everlasting gospel to all of these wonderful, sometimes grouchy, sometimes shy, sometimes "why is this white boy talking to me"-faced children of God. I know this church is true! Learn it! Love it! Live it!

Elder Norr !

The family carrasco! I love these recent converts!

Elder Ocampos last day in the mission. he is now back in peru!

Us with the family Nava! They always invited us over for awesome food. Their home is and was a paradise to be in! 

 Jesus, and I in a random picture!

me with Esteban (the proffesional chef) He's so awesome!

Us with Rocio and Esmeralda! Clarke decided to pick the dog up, an this is how it came out!

I love these 2 ladies! This is ofelia and her daughter rocio! She did so many things for us and is just so great!

we made these with the chef! They are called "garanpiñados"! They are delicious! They remind me of christmas! 

me with the bishops wife! She saved my stomach with awesome food!

My mugshots with the ward secretary! haha I love this guy! he has super classy hair!

we went with the chef from the MTC and made belgium waffles! They were delicious!

I went snake huntin in our house! This really is a cobra that was killed and made into a belt... haha

 Brother Ignacio! I just love this man! He's like my mexican grandpa and I love him to death, he came to church in his pancho.

Last week in Xochitenco...‏

What up!?

This is officially my last day in xochitenco, so I won't be writing too much because we are going to go say goodbye to a couple of families. Today has been awesome so far. There is a professional chef in our ward that works at the mtc here and he invited us over this morning for BELGIUM WAFFLES!!!!!! They were sooooo delicious, and then we made some "garanpiñados"! They are super easy and they are delicious. THey are toffee covered peanuts!
I will send the recipe later on!

Ok, so just a quick update on our investigators: Karina and Alexis! CHOSEN!!!! They are so incredible and they accepted their baptismal date for the 20th of December! They are such champions!!!!!

We had a couple chances to do service this week! FINALLY! President Stutz is really putting more emphasis on us serving in our areas. I think this is really important because not just teaching shows our love for the members, but serving and taking the time to help them temporally too!

I'm sad to be leaving elder clarke, but I am super excited for a new adventure! Who knows what's going to happen! This week was really pretty uneventful, but i enjoyed it. I can see why the older elders in the mission say that sometimes the body starts to get tired, but we do our best to keep going and work hard in the service of the lord!

This church is true. I love the savior and am so grateful for loving parents who raised me in the true gospel of jesus christ. But just as important as teaching by word, we must also teach by deed. Living the gospel is the greatest teaching that you can give to the people and family members around you! I hope you all have a great week and look for ways to serve others!!! Love ya! BTW, not going to be many pics this week because this computer is a little lame...

Love Elder Norr

15 Months Out!!! Awesome week!!!!

Well, let me start off telling you that this week was so awesome! We had a really cool district meeting last monday and went to talk to the ward mission leader to see what we could do to get the ward more invovlved and committed to missionary work.

So, let's just start off with the miracles:

1) we were walking by this house (huge, green, white door) and I really felt the need to knock on it. A couple of ladies walked by and we waited for them to pass to knock; turns out, they went in... Bueno. So we go knock, a woman comes out named lorena, we say our names and that we are representatives of the lord Jesus christ, and then "do you guys want to come in?"  US: ummm.....? HER: Come on in! US:ummm.....ok.....

It turns out that it is a family of 8 and two of the kids are married! We only got the chance to talk to 3 (mom, dad, and one of the sister-in-laws) but they told us that we were allowed to come back whenever. We had an appointment on friday, but they had to leave so we didn't get to go with them again last week.

2) We were just walking by a lady's house that we had contacted a couple weeks ago. US: Hey, let's go see if she's home. She wasn't, but then We decided to know two doors down. Eva paz comes out (that's her name). We tell her who we are, and she asked us if we wanted to come in and eat with her because she was just getting lunch ready, and then said we could go by on friday. We went by on friday and she was there. She really liked the message, and she seems interested. We have a cita with her on martes (tuesday)!

3) Yazmin and Alfredo. A couple that has had some difficulties (from last week's email) we taught them on thursday night, and Alfredo is already in 1 Nefi 10 and says that the Book of Mormon has already answered a couple of his questions! YES! I testify that it is a true book, and it has been tested and retested by millions! They are doing great and want to be baptized!

4) I was on divisions with an Elder from our district (elder paredes). We walked by this lady on the street, and as we walked by I glanced over at her. We kept walking, but I just felt aweful for not talking to her, so I told Elder Paredes, I turned around and we went to talk to her. Her name is Karina and she said she wasn't really too religious, but she wanted to know more about the message (we talked about eternal families). We had a cita with her yesterday after church at 1. and her oldest son was there Alexis who has 17 years. We taught them and asked to come by tuesday or wednesday. She said she was really liking the message and that we could come by wednesday. She said, you can come by the day you want, but please just keep coming. I AM SUPER EXCITED FOR THE AWESOME PEOPLE GOD HAS BLESSED US TO FIND THIS WEEK! 

Obviously there were more miracles, but those are some of the ones that stuck out more.

This week has 3 holidays: Halloween, Day of the dead for kids, and Day of the Dead for adults. 
MEXICAN CULTURE TIME!!!!!: Day of the Dead is a day in which mexico remembers their family members that have passed away. They do this by putting up pictures in their homes and surrounding the pictures with fruits, candles, breads, and the other things that those people enjoyed while they were still alive. On saturday (the day for niños) all the little kids dress up and go around asking for treats just like halloween, and then on sunday, the adults and families go to the cemeteries to clean the graves and decorate them with flowers and fruits and things. It really is a cool thing!

Good News/Bad News: Elder Clarke is going to train! I therefore and probably going to have transfers this next tuesday. I have loved this ward, and I am really excited for the people that will be taught by whatever missionaries that are here!

Ummm.... I think that should be it! I'm just lovin it down here! Fall is definitely in the air. It's not as hot, the nights cool down, we have a nice breeze going most of the time. It's awesome! The smell here really reminds me of lake powell, especially when I put sunscrean on my face before we go out! Random fact!

I know this church is true. I know that Jesus Christ lives and is our savior and redeemer. God gives us commandments to help us recieve according to our needs, including the needs that we ourselves cannot easily identify. Read the book of mormon daily, pray often, go to church regularly, do family home evenings, because in these things are safety and peace from the problems of the world. I testify of these things and invite you all to pray to see if this message, this church are true(even if you have already done so). God will answer you in a personal way that you will be able to identify.

I hope you all have a great week! Love ya lots!

Elder Norr!

Miracles do continue!

Well, things have been a little tough around here in Xochitenco, but we're still going. I read a quote by President Henry B. Eyring “So, the great test of life is to see whether we will hearken to and obey God’s commands in the midst of the storms of life. It is not to endure storms, but to choose the right while they rage. And the tragedy of life is to fail in that test and so fail to qualify to return in glory to our heavenly home. Everything that we go through in life is for a reason. We are really having some tough challenges here in this ward, but it is simply another test that the lord lets us have to help us learn to stay faithful during times of trial. I don't want to sound like I am perfect, because I got pretty frustrated yesterday, but God really does continue to bless us; in big ways, just as often as small. So a recent convert that has not been able to come to church in a long time came to chruch on sunday. Her daughter Esmeralda was giving a talk, but they didn't come alone. They brought her other daughter Jazmin and her husband Alfredo (both nonmembers) they want to be better. They have had some tough trials and now want to talk to the missionaries! we have an appointment on thursday in the night, and I am super stoked about it! The talks were so great and I feel that through the youth that spoke, God also had a special message for me!

So, we found Rafael, and we gave him a book of mormon. He's really straight-forward with us, and told us that it would take him some time, but he was going to start reading it and then he was going to let us know what he thought!

we can do more! I think that is something that everyone, ESPECIALLY ME, can apply. We can do more because the Lord has promised us that through him, and by our faith, that we "will have the power to do all things according to the will of the lord". This is a church of progress. I love it! I love the challenges (probably jinxing myself with this)! I love to work in the lord's vineyard! I love the lord! I would like to invite/ ask you all to include our investigators in your prayers. we leave cards with our investigators names on them and I would like to leave their names with you all as well! Rafael Luna, Dalila, Jazmin, and Alfredo. I know that there really is power in prayer! 

I hope you all have a great week! Love ya lots!

Elder Norr

this is our area, it's kinda small huh?

this is my awesome comp Elder Clarke!

Us hanging at a member house to drop of clothes! (she always gives us juice boxes)

 We found and made Mac N Cheese! Wasn't really worth it.... haha

 The old Juan Escutia Crew at the mission conference!

 Eating tortas de Tomal (tomale sub) with members on P-day! So delicious! We need tomales in the states!

 Just chilling here eating a big piece of deep fried big skin!

This is pan de muerto (bread of the dead) it is only made for a couple weeks of the year to commemorate the day of the dead (november 1st and 2nd) and it is delicious!

I think that's all the photos for this week... It won't send anymore. I will have to send the deep fried pig skin picture next week! Love you guys!

miracle in xochitenco

This has been a good week. we got to do some different stuff. to start the week off, we had interviews with the president on wednesday, we found a new investigator on friday, and we had a mission conference on saturday.

things were pretty calm. elder clarke is just full of energy. he is so funny. he saw this cat on the side walk and starts tip toeing and then tells me to get ready. i was like "what is my companion doing?", then Elder Clarke takes off trying to catch this cat i can't help but laugh when Elder Clarke and I are out in the streets :)

I just love our president and his wife. they just love the lord so much and want us to come more unto christ. In our mission conference, the president had told everyone to bring all there contraband items (ipods, ipads, iphones, movies, cds, books, fireworks, etc.) and promised that they would not have problems for just this time. He stood before us, and he explained "what I say is the will of God; and I do not excuse myself. I will probably say some hard words, that I do not excuse myself." He then proceeded to give an incredible talk about repentance and the importance of being worthy, faithful representatives of christ. then sister Stutz, not knowing spanish, got up and gave her talk in spanish that explained the relationship between faith and obedience. I just loved it. they love us so much, and you just feel it as they talk to you, as they shake their hand. I'm so grateful for the chance to serve in this mission :)

So, we were walking up a long street looking for an address of a new investigator. We couldn't seem to find it, but we passed by the home of a man that we had supposedly missed a couple of days before. I said to Elder Clarke "hey, lets just see if this guy is home." we knocked on the door, and he came out, opened the door, told us to come in, and then as we walked in he said "I thought you guys weren't going to come.". we then sat down as he told us he didn't know anything about our religion. we then talked for the next 2 hours as we explained the restoration and answered his questions. we invited him to church, and he told us directly "I go to church to change. If I go to into a church and come out feeling the same, i don't go back. but, I'll see if i can go this week." Ok... So sunday morning I sent out a couple of messages inviting nonmembers to come to church with us. about 45 minutes into sacrament meeting, i look and that man, rafael Luna, walks into teh sacrament hall. I go shake his hand an we sit down. Long story short, he stays for the second hour (gospel principles. the lesson on sunday was the restoration of the true church of christ) and then has to go, but before he goes, he tells me "I think i am going to be here with you guys next week." YYYYEEEESSsSSSS! We have an appointment with him on wednesday and I'm really excited to talk to him again. 

other than that, I'm pretty healthy. I gained 5 pounds. No, I don't have a foot fungus for those that saw the pictures last week. It rained early and I was walking around in titanics all day. the dye from my socks rubbed off on my feet. 
I love the gospel. I love the savior. It's very important that we learn how to look at ourselves and ask god "lord, is it I?" The book of mormon is true and there is no other book like it in this world. God Lives, This is his church. Please, search for a testimony because it is the only sure thing thatwill keep you safe in this world of constantly changing values and standards. God loves you. remember that. understand the atonement. Love those around you!

love Elder Norr