Serving Salta : "If any man serve me....

...let him follow me." John 12:26

It seriously blows my mind how fast time is going by. It is already week 6 in the transfers and I will find out Sunday if I will stay in 3cerritos or go to a new area.

This week we were able to watch the worldwide missionary broadcast, and Wow! There are a lot of changes, but I know they are inspired and will help us focus more on our missionary objective, teach repentance and baptize converts.

Right now our closest investigator to baptism is Luz. She LOVES the church and has attended twice and goes to our noche de hogar activity every week. All of her family are Jehovah Witnesses, but she says she has a lot of special feeling in the church of Jesus Christ. She will be baptized on Feb 11th.

We had an amazing spiritual lesson with a new investigator, Ana. She gave us praise after we explained what we do as missionaries. She couldn't believe that we are willing to put everything in our life on hold to dedicate 18 months to serving the Lord. My response to her was simple. I told her, "once you hear our message, you will understand why we are here." I was thinking about how the Lord called his apostles. Without hesitating, they dropped their nets and followed Him. I love this, and I think everyone can apply this in their lives. The Lord has said that he needs TRUE DISCIPLES and has asked that we follow him. But are we willing to "drop our nets"? Do we love the Savior more than the things of this world? I have been pondering this question this past week, especially after our District Meeting. Our District leader asked us, "do you love your mission? If the Savior asked you to serve 18 more months, would you be willing?" The mission is hard and by far the hardest thing I have done in my life, but it is so worth it. To be able to represent my Savior and preach His gospel is an honor and a privilege.

Bueno, now for the crazy stuff....my dog bite is healing nicely. I only have a little mark now. And I turned 20 this past week. It is a birthday I will never forget. My companion made me breakfast and some members made me brownies. So I am a very happy girl! I was amazed by the kindness of the members. They really tried to make birthday special...and it WAS!

Thank you everyone who emailed me birthday wishes!

The church is true! Read your scriptures! Pray always! Go to the temple! Don't forget to fast this Sunday!

Love,
Hermana Norman