Serving Salta : How do I leave?

WOW!!

5 months dedicated to serving my Savior. The hardest yet most rewarding 5 months of my life! This is my last week here in my first area. I can´t believe how attached I have become to the members here and to the people I am teaching. We are currently teaching a mother and son. They will be baptized at the end of this month, after I am transferred. When we were talking about their baptism with them, the Mom, Rosa, started crying when she found out that I would not be able to attend their baptism. She thanked me for finding her, and for teaching her how she can have true happiness in this life and for the eternities. I am so grateful that I could meet all these amazing people, and that I could be a tool in the hand of the Lord to help remind them of their divine potential. I am going to miss Jujuy!!

Many have asked me if they celebrate Halloween. They do not celebrate Halloween here but they have Dia de las almas.. where they make an offering to and put their pictures of their loved ones who have died all over. Different, but fun to see the different cultural celebrations.

I love the food here... and strangely enough, I haven´t had to eat mayo. The Lord knows me, and knows what I can handle jajaja. But we are fed soooooo much. The other day someone asked if my companion was pregnant right after we ate lunch. Needless to say, we are working out harder in the mornings now jajaja

I am learning to cook so much. I can make pancakes (without bisquick!) and rice with milk--I love this! I know you are all proud of me!

D.O.G.S.

There are dogs everywhere! One actually tried to attack me this week, but with my ninja like reflexes, I kicked it away! Yep! I did that!

Funny thing is that one day a dog followed us for about a mile. My companion and I tried to run and hide from it and it just kept finding us! We were literally playing hide and seek with a dog! We finally dodged into a small store and had a nice chat about the gospel with the store owner and then the dog was never to be seen again!

I finally got to go to the doctor and get my arms checked out. They are not sure if it is an allergic reaction or bed bugs. They drew some blood and I should get the results tomorrow. Meanwhile, my bedding is all wrapped in plastic bags....

Something that I have learned this week: we choose and we determine how we can react to situations. Even when we have a hard day in the mission, I can choose to remain positive and happy and have faith that Heavenly Father is preparing someone for us. We can choose to be annoyed with someone who is different than us, or we can choose to love them and look for the good in them. Everyone is a child of God. We can always choose to be happy, and we should be happy! We have the fulness of the gospel!!

My invitation to all is to

Not Judge. Just Love.

I am so grateful for every day, and for the small miracles I witness every day, I hope that everyone can have an amazing week, and look for the tender mercies of the Lord every day!

Thank you for the love and support!

With love,

Hermana Norman