"Have I Done Any Good in the World Today"

Hola hola hola,

sounds like you guys are doing good and having a good time. the weather has been cold lately and ive been waking up freezing because we leave our windows open. its pretty nice today though. this past week was awesome. we had a lot of great opportunities and i have decided that "Have I done any good" Hymn is the theme of my life from now on. Serving others has no greater joy. i think when i get back im goin to buy a big truck and trailer so that if ever anyone needs help with whatever thing i can help them.

but so on last friday we helped an investigator move and we talked to the elders quorum and everyone the sunday before about who could come help and who could drive the uhaul. some people ignored us and others volunteered. we keep contact with those 2 who volunteered to help but then they dog us because one said he had to baby sit his son and the other because of school. so i made the decision that no matter what in life, you drop what youre diong and serve others and dont be a city slicker. so after much frustration and calling, i decided that me and my companion were just going to carry the stuff across town and someone would stop and help us, because she said it wasnt that much stuff.

so we show up on friday morning and we cant get anyone to come with us, go in look at the house and its a lot of stuff, so dont ever believe someone if they tell you they only have a couple things they really have a lot. so i give up on our plan of carrying the stuff across town. i call the zone leaders, then the assistants, then Pres. Murray to get permission to go rent the Uhaul myself and drive it. we talked it through and decided i couldnt. but he gave me the idea of calling someone old in the branch who could just drive.so i thought i had called everyone, but when he said old i thought of an older guy who is here with his wife and they had been out of town in Arizona at their house for two weeks so i didnt know if they were there. but i call him, he says he is in town and would love to come help. so we meet him by the train stop, walk over to the uhaul place and rent a uhaul. he pays for it too because hes a nice guy and has a little money. but so we end up moving the family and it took two trips in a box truck and we lifted a lot, couches, dressers, washer and dryer. all through this little row home house. it was great and we had a good time sweating away in the heat of the no air conditioned house. but after all was said and done we got them into their other house and they now are interested in the gospel and are coming to church on sunday. oh and the whole reason they couldnt rent a uhaul or drive is because theyre illegals and dont have a license. but man it was fun and realized that when we are in the service of our fellow brethen with our brethren we are 1. serving God, 2. strengthening our relationships with those we are working, 3. smiling.

But then on tuesday we had zone conference and it was great. it helped internalize my purpose as a missionary and im now motivated to do better.
So this week is going to be pretty good and our investigators are doing very well. i might not have a baptism while im here in Philly but they will be baptized sometime in the near future.

as for Mothers Day i dont know what we'll be doing as to when we'll talk but i think right now it would be best for us at around 1 or 2 my time and that way you dont have to worry about leaving church early or anything. and also dont plan on us talking for as long as we did on christmas. it will only be 40 minutes this time so i got one or two stories for you and then have some questions for me that you want to know.

thanks a bunch for sending my shoes and shorts i really appreciate it, i havent gotten them yet though, but thanks a bunch. also brooks watch out when you go to that quincinera because there could be lots of girls not dressed too good and a lot of alcohol. thats how it is over here in Philly but that'll be a good experience for you. you can brush up on your spanish. well thanks you guys for all you do and have a great week. i have some stuff i want to send you guys so i might be sending it to you this coming week for mothers day.

les quiero

norman

"You Don't Look Hispanic, You Look Irish"

Hola hola hola,

Como estamos? sounds like you guys are doing good and staying busy. this past week was pretty good except for Sunday. we had a lot of member involvement and lessons but the people here are driving me nuts how they dont come to church. we only had 7 people at church on Sunday and it was pretty depressing after a lot of people told you they would come. but this week has been good. we have taught a lot of people but most of them work on Sundays. then we had exchanges in the district and i got to be with another missionary who has been out the same time as me and we've kinda been friends so it was fun learning from him and seeing other ways to things.

my new companion is pretty cool and all but still he doesnt talk very much and so its hard finding new people because i always feel like im talking and he's just in the background. things are going good though between us and hes getting more used to walking. his feet were killing him before and he was always tired but now he's getting more used to it. we had some tacos on monday that were interesting. they were pig stomach and they boiled the stomachs and then cut em up. it was chewy but with enough salsa and avacado it tasted ok. yesterday we got fed a ton. it was tacos again but steak and cactus and potatoes so it was pretty good.

the funny story for the week though is we were on the bus and it was packed so we were standing up in the middle isle. there was a mexican guy right next to me and so we started talking. a lady that was an old irish lady was sitting down right in-between the conversation just staring at me. as the man and i were talking, she grabbed the mexican guy and asked him if i spoke english. he said he didnt understand. but then she leaned towards me and asked with the slow loud pronunciation if i spoke english? I responded to her "no entiendo ingles." and then she said slowly again where are you from? I responded to her " Espana." She looked at me and then said slowly you dont look hispanic, you look irish. but she was amazed that i didnt speak english and how i looked so irish. so people got off the bus and me and the mexican guy walked back and sat down away from the lady laughing about how she believed i didnt speak english. after a minute talking to the guy, i went back up and apoligized to the lady and told her what we do and that i am from Idaho. she thought that was pretty cool and then we went our separate ways.

but things are going good and we are having a good in the warm weather. today we are going to try and find somewhere local and italian to eat but one of the english elders is not wanting to go outside his bubble of chili's or olive garden so we'll see what happens. i need you to send me my brown Nike running shoes. they got that bubble stuff on the bottom. i need those shoes for soccer and morning work outs. my shoes i have right now i still use even though theyre ripped but they are ripping even more and not really serving as shoes. also one pair of my basketball shorts or i guess one of brooks pairs since he probably took em all. thanks though i would really appreciate that. but mom i recall you said this year you wanted to work on family history more, and do 10 push ups a day. How you doing with those goals?

but let me know if you guys need anything alright. have you sent me back the memory card for my camera yet? we should switch soon cuz i got a lot of photos from here in South Philly. have a great week you guys and dont forget to read your scriptures. its gonna be a good week even if it is like ground hog day over and over. remember charity never faileth. adios.

love

norman

Still in Philly - New Companion

hola amigos,

so im still here in South Philly. no need to worry though i got a sweet companion. Elder Munson who was trained in Reading with me my first transfer is my companion and things are going great. we have had an awesome time these past three days and its different being with someone who actually knows how to speak spanish and teach too. my old companion Elder Glover went down to Wilmington Delaware and has a sweet companion whos from idaho also. so things are going great and we have had a lot of member involvement this past week. sunday was great and also the weather is great today.

but thats sweet you got to see mike and he came over and said hello. thats too bad about Chase's dad though. he already had testicular cancer and conquered that a couple years ago. but thats too bad mike didnt change too much. did he sound like a mexican? gain any weight? the bad news i have though is that my old companion Elder Bateman, when i was in reading, had to go home last week because of sickness. He got some crazy sickness and they dont know what it is. he was pooping a lot of blood and feeling really weak all the time. he should be coming back out in 2 weeks to 2 months so thats good.

but all is well here in south philly. we havent had anything crazy goin on. just lots of Phillies fans and signs everywhere. the other day we were getting on the train and down in the station there were tons of people decked out in their phillies gear goin to the game. they dont mess around here when it comes to phillies. they wear everything they have that is Phillies and all the buses have Go Phillies on the message boards. But all is well and today we are planning on going up to north philly to play basketball with other elders. the weathers been nice and a little chilly with a constant wind and humidity.

As to dealing with people who dont have a desire and motivation and how we can better help them, i dont know. i often ask myself that a lot and what i have come up with is that they just need to come unto Christ and find the light of wanting to do better. and it takes consistency. so i guess in your case you cant really teach your students about the gospel, but you can try and inspire them to do activities that are uplifting and worthwhile. because if they can find joy in doing good things then they will feel some light of Christ. because all that is good and uplifting comes from God and so if you can somehow help them to see the "coolness" of doing good and maybe thinking of others, then maybe they can gain more hope. but like in Alma 32 we read about how we have to experiment on the words of Christ, so just keep trying and experimenting with them. consistency and the joy of inspiring just one student would be awesome. have a great week you guys and take care. dont have to much fun playing tennis.

norman

People are Like Mama Cows

Hola hola,

"Oh the weather outside is humid, and the heat is so exhausting. But since we've no place to go, let it blow, let it blow, let it blow."

I wish we had the 50 degree and windy weather like you guys. man its been hard changing to this type of weather and having to sleep when you're sticky. but its good and there are a ton of people outside so that helps a lot. but this week is the last week of the transfer so i have no idea what is going to happen. either one of us could be gone so we'll see. but im thinking im going to stay one more transfer and then leave but we'll see.

But this past week was really good. we had a great time at conference, i hope you guys enjoyed it. my favorite talk was President Uchtdorf on Patience, and Elder Hales. Also the member of the 70 who gave the story of the cows and the Snake River was a great talk. but with President Uchtdorfs talk I felt like he was talking right to me. the day before we had interviews with President Murray and it was a great interview, but we talked about patience and President Uchtdorfs talk was the icing on the cake.

but speaking of cows and how calves stick to their moms. since i have been on my mission ive thought about this relation a lot. the people here remind me momma cows and how they just moap around and then freak out if someone messes with their calves. but also people here look like em too. there is this one guy who we see off and on who looks just like an old black angus. but its funny to see the similarity between people's actions and features, and then cows. you might think im weird but theyre actually a bit similar.

this past week we have taught a lot and been able to help a lot of less actives feel the Spirit in their homes again and help them see what they need to do to get rid of the dark cloud that covers them. We had an interesting experience in a lesson on monday with a less active who i get along with pretty well. As soon as we started teaching and asking him questions, something hit him and he just sat there and started to cry a little bit. we just kind of ignored him for a moment and talked to his wife. then he began asking us some deep questions about humility and personal questions. after we answered the questions and read some scriptures, he seemed clear. he looked as if he felt free and wasnt worrying about work or the struggles in his life. he just felt as if he was at peace because he knew what he needed to do. but he then was talking to us about what he wants to do and he said that the city is making him go crazy. all the stuff the goes around here and his schedule is making him turn into an animal and he doesnt like it. he said all he wanted to do was go back to mexico to where his wife is from, sit on the porch and read the scriptures while looking out into the fields. so i thought about that and then how blessed we are that we dont have to live over here in the east coast and that we have a background of farming and being outside a lot in dirt, not concrete. also how we are part of this tiny percent of people in the world that knows the fullness of the gospel and we were chosen to come here at this time. its pretty crazy that we were chosen and not some other people. what are the chances that we were lucky enough to have grandparents that worked to come to america and then cross the plains and accept the gospel. i dont know man its pretty cool and we are really blessed with what we have and who we are.

so i hope you guys have a great week and stay out of trouble. hopefully next time i write i'll still be here in philly. thanks for the package and the food. i havent made the curry yet, but the crackers and cheese are already gone. you guys are "doing a great work and cannot come down."

love

normandy

oh and no we dont have cockroaches in the house. but write down that i need to tell you about my companion and his fear of mice. also pigeons. And a cheese steak is just thin beef that you fry with out oil and then chop it up and mix it all together. the bun is a long roll, like an italian sandwich bread. while the meat is on the pan and is about ready to be done, you put the cheese on top of it and let it melt a little, right after you put the cheese on the meat, put the sandwich bread on top of the cheese and meat and it heats up the bread a little bit. then when its melted and the meats done, put the spatchula under it and get as much meat and you can in the sandwich. then put the rest in after you got it out. but a lot of places put cheese whiz on the sandwiches and its pretty good so you could try that. but you can get onions, green peppers, red peppers, jalepenos. i always get banana peppers, ketchup, and cheese.

Sick of the City or April Fools?

Hola hola hola.
well sounds like you guys are doing pretty good and stayin busy. Dont you have spring break this week? whats up with you guys not doin anything? theyre having spring break over here this week and so its been great to teach those we teach with everyone there instead of just 2 or 3.

but this past week was pretty good, it wasnt great but it wasnt just good. we found some great new investigators and we prayed to find people who didnt work on sundays and we've found two this week so thats really good. but as for the members and the branch, we arent doing so good. we only had 5 people at church on sunday and the attitudes of the leaders are rough. its hard to get them to support us and help us as to coming out teaching with us, talking with the spanish members even when they dont understand much english, and just really helping out. this area has been the hardest thing ive ever done i think. with the lack of a base and all the difficulties and responsibility ive had to focus on these past months, ive had a hard time keeping a positive attitude. its just hard to keep going when you feel like theres no reason or effect to the work youre doing. we have interviews tomorrow with President Murray so im looking forward to talking with him and getting it all out. but i know that its a lot about our faith and i have tried focusing on faith more and really striving to show more faith but it just kills me on sundays when we go into meetings and the branch president and other leaders ask us oh so hows the spanish side? and i think well maybe you should know and be more involved with us, but they just dont. so this past sunday i told them why dont we have spanish members do this and why cant they come to this? and they agreed but we'll see how much of it goes into action.

Im just sick of the city and the people that live here are nice and all but the majority are just lazy and dont want to things out of the normal. its all girls drugs and beer. and im about sick of it.

But this weekend is conference and i am really looking forward to it. last conference was great and this one is going to be sweet i think. my companion and i predicted a temple in Ceder City so we'll see. but we have a baptismal date with one of our investigators and hes already read the Book of Mormon so he's prime. also we set a date for another investigator but then we tried coming back the next day as we planned to see what she thinks about it after praying, and shes ignored us so hopefully we see her before sunday. today we are going to go play basketball right next to Pats and Genos in this 70 degree weather so it will be fun. last time we showed the south philly ballers that these kids from out west can play. but all is well and we're doing good. its going to be a great next 3 days so i hope you guys have a good one and stay out of trouble.

i got the package you sent but i have to go pick it up so thank you so much. oh and i made some clam pasta and no one wanted to eat it. they were all grossed out by the clams and had to stick to their mac and cheese. but it was pretty good thanks. love you guys keep it up.

April fools

norman