Serving Salta : Change is coming; however, some things don't change!!

What???!!! It's already May!
Thought I'd share an experience that I had this week. As we were knocking doors, looking for a referral, we came to a house that clearly had people inside. We could hear music and a TV, so we decided to knock at this house. But of course, it's Argentina and there is a gate in front of almost every house. So we clapped...no one answered. Clapped some more, but no one came to the door. I looked around and saw a doorbell near the corner of the gate. I thought, "oh, perfect! These people will definitely hear the doorbell." I walked to the doorbell, it looked a little different, more like a switch, but I decided to try it anyway. I pushed the switch and everything went silent in the house, including the lights! I cut the power to their house. Yeah, it wasn't a doorbell...jajajaja. But I got their attention! The husband came out, looking a little upset, and demanded to know what in the world we were doing. I explained who we were and what had happened, and he got a good laugh out of it. We invited him and his family to listen to our message. He declined, but he ending up giving us a referral to his neighbor, who ended up becoming one of our investigators. Everything happens for a reason, and yeah, I still have a lot of my "bright" moments, even in the mission. jajaja

Update on Nelida: she is doing great spiritually, but not so great physically. She lives in constant pain and she recently told us that the wound from a recent hip surgery reopened, and that it will take weeks or possibly months to completely heal. Until then, she can't fully submerge in water...which also means postponing her baptism. We continue to pray for her and I ask for your prayers as well, for Nelida.

We did an activity as a District this past Friday called "Tormenta Blanca". All of the missionaries in our district, 4 companionships, went to one single area and we split up this area and just started knocking doors. The purpose was to find new people for the missionaries in this specific area. It was a cool experience, we really had to follow the Spirit and we ended up finding a woman who has been looking for a church to attend. She loved the message we shared and accepted a baptismal date and everything. We also had another Capilla abierta, or open house type thing for the church and that was really cool too.

Tomorrow we have transfers. Usually we have transfers today, but it is a holiday here and so no one is working and everything is closed. But my companion, Hna Ferreira is going to Jujuy and she is going to serve in my first area, Ciudad de Nieva. I will be companionless tomorrow because my new companion arrives in Argentina Wednesday. I AM TRAINING! Woohoo! nervous and excited but I'm super grateful. Next week I will have pics of me and my future "hija". :)

Thankful for modern technology. Even though I am in another country, I was happy to find a video from my Mom of my grandparents opening their mission call. I am so proud to be their granddaughter and I love them very much. They have always been perfect examples of loving the Lord and doing all that he asks of them. I try to be the kind of missionary that they would be proud of. Congratulations to my Gpa and Gma Ho Ching on their calling to be President and Matron of the Apia Samoa Temple. I cried through the whole video. Tears of joy and happiness, but then a little sad knowing they will not be in Utah when I return home. Cant imagine not seeing them for 4 1/2 years!! So I will have to go to Samoa to visit...

Hope everyone has a great week. Thank you for all the love and prayers!

Con Amor,
Hermana Norman