Should I stay or should I go?: Transfer Week – March 15th

So...TRANSFER WEEK! Pero...Dito po kami parin..or for all you Englishy speakers: nothing changed. Sister Laiti and I are staying here in Moncada together for at least 6 more weeks! She will be my first comp that i've had for more than 1 transfer! I'm pretty stoked....It's fun having another foreigner (she's from Australia) as a companion...And there's none of that awkward getting to know you: "who's getting the bottom bunk?", "do you eat rice" rubbish.  

 So my zone is called Paniqui Zone..just recently i found out that Paniqui means Bat in Tagalog. And just this last week i found out why; so earlier this week our schedule was a bit messed up and ended up out in a particular area at a time we normally are not there, and for some reason i decided to look up. It was dusk so i was really curious why there were sooo many birds still out ....they were NOT birds...they were BATS! there had to have been at least 100 bats right above my head...i almost passed out...it was terrifying.. so as you can imagine i squealed like a little girl and since people were still out they were all laughing at the "american" that is scared of "ang mga Paniqui"...well earlier that day...in the exact same place, around the same people i had another "lets all laugh and point and the dumb american" moment. I broke a tree. It was an accident...i touched a dead, brown part of a coconut tree and the whole thing fell off! It was reallly loud too (because it's really huge) and alot of (the same) people were around! It was really embarrassing...they already think i'm huge so when i broke the tree...let's just say they had no mercy as to what they were saying..haha ;)

Oh another fun couple things....I got to hold a piglet this week....and i named all of the guy's pigs for him...my new BFF's name is Bella...and i had to explain that in french, italian, and spanish it means beautiful...he thinks i'm really weird now.   Oh last uh..fun/interesting thing.. i had some pretty...uh interesting food this last week...i had a big ol scoop of what i thought was just some meat to have with my rice at this one member's house...PERO...it wasn't just any meat...it was meat mixed with blood...i think i almost died...like i couldn't even hold a polite face...worst part was that i was still expected to eat it...so i ate like 2 bites but i decided leaving some food on my plate would be more polite than throwing it back up on their floor. That's what the picture is of...me with the bloody meat MASARAP!

hmmm... well i guess i can move on meow...

In other news, my companion and i are trying to change...it's fun but kind of hard! We both chose things we want to improve on and mine were meekness, repenting everyday, applying "No judgement; just love", and having courage..(i have a bigger list pero i can't change everything all at once:) ). I love learning about changing ourselves because it always goes back to applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life and i feel happier and I have more hope now too! Today i finished the Book of Mormon again...only this time was different because i wasn't finishing it to finish it...i was studying it and applying the gospel principles in my life, and looking for the pattern of love our Heavenly Father shows us as well as seeing how I can use both the Redeeming powers and enabling powers of the atonement in my life. This time as i read the last chapters of Moroni, the Spirit of God testified to me that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith really was a prophet called by God and most importantly, that JESUS IS THE CHRIST.  I couldn't imagine my life with out this Book. It is what generates my hopes and gives me happiness. I understand why i'm here and how to get to the kingdom of God after this life because of it.I understand the love of God for me. Alam ko na totoo Ang Aklat Ni Mormon at sobrang nagpapasalamat po ako dahil meron po ako ng Aklat ni Mormon sa Buhay ko. (I know it is true and I'm so thankful i have it in my life)

I miss all of you and hope you all have an amazing week! :)

Pictures: Me with the bloody mix of meat ...sorry i look real haggard! :)

Sister Norman says these little guys live behind her home with several others.

why did the chick cross the road? –Mar 8

heheh..a chicken crossed the road right in front of a trike so i was all.. "Ah! Why did the chicken cross the road!?" ...i'm a comedian...

any way..this week has been quite the roller coaster. Wednesday was really great. I started off wed. with a great personal study about tender mercies from God; i read the Tender Mercies of the Lord by Elder David A Bednar and it was amazing!!! (it was in the Feb 2012 ensign if you want to read it!) Sister Laiti also had the strength to work a fulllll day which i was ecstatic about! I got a really cool tan too.....Pero the rest of the week wasn't as amazing...it was a lil bit crazier. It was just really disorganized and rushed which are two things that just don't go together..especially in missionary work! I got feeling pretty sick too but i'm better meow!!:) The nanay of the house, Sister Acosta, is gone too. She dies in the mission this week! which is really exciting but kind of sad to see her go too! It made leaving more real...before i felt like that day will never come for me  but i'm already 5 1/2 months in the mission! weeeeird! This next week is already transfer announcements! which is craazy! i don't feel like i've been here that long! i'm excited to see what will be happening!

This last week we did find some really great new investigators that i'm reallly excited about! they are all really really promising and all want to be baptized which is great!

But even though this week had some tougher times, since i had a really great personal study wednesday about tender mercies, i could identify the tender mercies in my life and it made my week easier! but that's about it for my week! hope everyone is good! here is a pic of my zone and my awesome tan! my arm has tons of dif. shades from all my dif. length shirts:)

Perks of being... a missionary – Mar 2nd

soooo! This week has been great! Some as i read things (scriptures and talks) now, that i  read before my mission, i hardly recognize it because they just seem so different! I feel so much closer to my Heavenly father and to my Savior so  a talk i would have read in 10 minutes now took me 1 hr to get through 1/5th of it...because so many other things pertaining to it come to mind. The specific talk i'm talking about is by Elder Bednar about grace. It's so amazing. I have never thought much about the word grace...never the less if or how it pertained to the Atonement. I finally am starting to get it. Grace isn't just what we give before a meal...The atonement of Jesus Christ wasn't just for our sins to be made clean; Grace is the Enabling Powers of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This is the part that, after you have used the Redeeming powers or cleansing power of the Atonement to erase sins, you use Grace to become better, to overcome trials, to be comforted, to be made STRONG! in 1st Nephi 7:17-18 he prayed to Heavenly Father because his brother tied him up and sought to take away his life. In his prayer to God, he didn't plea to the Father to smite his brothers and loosen the cords; He prayed for strength...He didn't pray for his circumstances to change to meet his strength but rather for his strength to meet his Circumstances and trials. And only through grace, or the enabling power of the atonement, was he able to overcome his trials.:

"17 But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound.

18And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again."

ya...so i finally kind of get it... We can all receive literal power through the atonement. i think that's pretty cool.

On a more casual note... -we got free bananas from the tree outside this week....-my companion asked me, as a mother dog was feeding her puppies, " I wonder if that's milk" as you could imagine i couldn't stop laughing...then i had to explain that Yes...yes indeed that was milk...

anyway...that's my update  for the week!  This is a picture of my ka-bahay and companion and me:)

mahal mahal kita

-Sister Norman

off to neverland!- Feb 22

ya..the title has nothing to do with today's email other than when people ask how old i am i still say 19 but really wish it was like 18..i've been alive for 2 decades and a week...that's really weird...anyway. This week has been great! I celebrated my birthday monday and had zone conferences Wednesday. I saw lots of people from my batch and old ka-bahay and my Lola and Step-nanay here on the field. Seeing them made me so happy!  Zone conferences were really nice. Really motivating and spiritually uplifting (of course). Thursday i had a realllly bad migraine which was dumb because i didn't get to work:( but friday-suday we worked really hard! anyway..nothing other than that really...i have been study Ether in the Book of mormon and i have found lots of comfort and strength in it! I finally am feeling like i can almost speak the language..i'm in a really awkward part where i'm not really good at the language but i'm not really good at english anymore either..anyway love all of you!

sorry for the lame update this week!

-sister norman