This is Idaho

Hi!
So this week has been pretty good. Although the temperature has been peaking in the 100's, we still push on. I'm talking about sweat stains in my collars for days. But on the bright side, due to the heat, some people are a little bit warmer towards us. Get it? No?

Anyway despite the heat this week, as usual, was well worth it. Although a nap would be nice the work stops for nobody. There were some nice people that gave us water but dinners this week were all pizza and hamburgers. No lie. Pizza is the bane of my existence. There is no possible way anyone can eat pizza and then jump on a bike to ride in the oven called Idaho and feel okay. But I will say that I am thankful that we get fed at all.

So very hot!!

So the most exciting thing that happened this week is that I can see a change in some of the members of the ward and some of the less active members. Since 8th ward is so big, Elder Barrow and I have instituted a plan to help get the ward members involved in missionary work. We go to their homes with a map of 8th ward which has been divided into districts. On that map are the names and locations of members who are both active and less active. We show them the map and ask "Will you get to know these neighbors?" Usually they agree. Hopefully once the members know each other, we can step it up a bit and ask them to spread out to the nonmembers that they live by.

We've gotten a few new people who seem to be interested in church and we hope they will see the need for it. One of this weeks greatest successes was Ashley, the daughter of a widowed active member. The mother and youngest son actively attend church but the rest of the siblings do not. Ashley hasn't been attending church regularly so we wanted to invite her to come. On Tuesday while we were sharing a message Ashley had come out of her room to listen. Just looking at her you could probably tell she was having a hard time and didn't seem too happy. After sharing our message we invited all of them, active members included, to attend church. All three accepted. And come Sunday they were all there! It really makes us happy to see people at church. It means they are keeping commitments which also means that they are actively making an effort to change/ repent.

Later that night while on splits, brother Baker told me that he wanted to go see Ashley and her family because his wife does a lot with the young women and she was concerned about Ashley. So we went. We talked to her mother at first and she told us that her daughter seemed to be having a hard time with self-worth. It's always hard to hear that because as a missionary you seem to truly understand that everyone is so valuable. To know that someone doesn't feel the love that God has for them truly makes your heart hurt for them. You wish that you could somehow make them understand how important they truly are. After a little bit of talking. Ashley came and sat down with us.

As we spoke about their experience with other church's I felt that I should invite them to do a family home evening which is where a family gets together and plays games and shares spiritual thoughts. At the center of their family evening that I wanted to invite them to do is the Because He Lives video which can be found at www.mormon.org/easter. As I handed off the assignment to the mother, she turned to her daughter, Ashley, and said "Actually I want Ash to do it." That was inspired. So Ashley has now been assigned a lesson to prepare and I know that if she does it, she will be blessed.

The theme for this week is that you are all valuable. Although there may be times when we are the only ones who cannot see our true worth it doesn't make you any less valuable. We are all sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. He will always love us and guide us. The only thing keeping us back from those blessings is ourselves. What good is a gift if we do not accept it? Always know that you are loved and that you are never alone in anything. Through the good times and the bad, your Father in Heaven will always be there; Christ will always understand; the Holy Spirit will always want to guide you. If you ever feel lost, humble yourself and pray to God, relinquishing all of your fears and all of your desires to Him. If you are truly willing to do whatever it is that He asks, your own desires will align with His, you will be happy, and you will fear no man because you will know that your Heavenly Father is on your side. He will chase out the darkness in your life with the light of His love and there will be no place where you cannot feel Him close by. You will know that He is there and that He has a plan for you.

Love,
Elder Norrell

Awesome watch tan

Various pics of Idaho animal friends

Elder Savage on his death bed...

The importance of families

June 15, 2015

Hi!

This week was awesome and insanely hot some days but that's okay because all of these people, some were strangers, gave us water and one even gave us popsicles!

So church attendance this week was amazing! We had nine less actives and recent converts attend and two investigators attend as well! It was so amazing to see all of these people who we love finally come to church! One old lady named Linda came and she sat with us. She felt that everything that had been said and done was just for her and she was so glad! She really wants her son to come to church but he is a grown man and can make his own decisions so she will be patient and love him regardless which is wonderful! I think that this past Sunday was the happiest day of my mission so far and it gives me hope to know that a lot of our efforts aren't in vain. It's an interesting thing to see how Heavenly Father is so aware of all of us. Still I'm not going to settle and get comfortable with the success that we have now. Everyone is important and nobody is too far gone and that's why we are always pushing to get God and Christ into every home and every life.

I really want to emphasize the importance of family to all of you. I've been reading True to the Faith and in it there is a lot of information about the eternal significance of the family unit. We have been warned and counseled by modern- day Prophets on how to protect the sacredness of families. This year marks the 100th year since the institution of Family Home Evening which is where once a week families take time out of their busy schedule to teach and learn gospel principles and grow together closely. In 1915 I don't think there was as big of an issue about having time to spend with families as there is now. That was definitely inspired and God knew that we would be where we are today and He knew how important Family Home Evening would be. On top of that, the document titled "The Family a Proclamation to the World" was released twenty years ago . Simply put, the document clarifies that the family is ordained of God, that marriage is between a man and a woman, that children deserve to be reared in a home with two parents who love each other, along with other things. One thing that stood out to me this morning was when I read about how we are all a certain gender for a reason. I wondered if gender identity was really that big of an issue twenty years ago. It wasn't as big of an issue as it is today. It's important to realize that God makes us the way we are for a reason. We endure physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges because we can grow from the and rise above the obstacles. It isn't because God is cruel but rather because He is a very great deal wiser than any of us could ever hope to be. Much like a parent, God knows much more than His young children and even though we may not understand why things happen the way they do, we can always find comfort in knowing that God loves us and that all pain, separation, and guilt can be only temporary if we trust God and try our best to be like Jesus Christ. He is the only way, the only pure example, and the only One that could have made up for our own mistakes and shortcomings. Do not give up hope that your Father in Heaven loves you and cares for you. Remember that we lived forever before this life and that we will continue to live forever after this life and that because we are able to endure this frail existence with faith, our joy can be multiplied exponentially because we will always remember the pains of mortality as well as the joys of eternity. Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy. It is because we know pain that we can feel joy. The sting of death and sin is swallowed up in Christ and everything that happens to us is for to make us all better than we were and better than we are.

I love you all very much and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Elder Norrell

Mission destroyed

So the mission was DESTROYED this transfer! Nearly every companionship had missionaries transfer out and it was cray cray! We got a third missionary. His name is Elder Barrow and he's cool!

Today for P-day we went to Swan Falls which is a dam. There are these things called whistle pigs and they're like these little cannibalistic Guinea pigs that live in holes in the ground. I think they're known as ground squirrels or something. 

Elder Savage is going home three weeks into this next transfer because of school and whatnot. He'd be leaving at the end of the transfer in six weeks anyway but oh well. 

So we moved about a third of a mile down the road today so that's cool. We are living with an Elderly couple now and they seem nice. We had a good time moving. Elder Savage was trying to remove a stopper on the legs of the bed with a knife and I was like "Elder Savage we can find a better way to do this." and Elder Savage was like "Nah" and I said "don't cut yourself." and then the knife slipped and he cut his hand. Looks like I was right but I'll never say it. I'm the one that tries to think of the best way to do something and Elder Savage is the one that just does it with brute force. What I'm trying to say is that we compliment one another.

This week I found investigators while on splits! A mother and son living with the less active member boyfriend. Confusing right? But seriously this lady was praying for help and then a day later we showed up. Prayer ANSWERED! Cause that's what we do. They are all super awesome and are willing to come to church and do what it takes to get Christ back into their lives. I mean you can give me all of the reasons not to believe or have faith but this kind of miracle has been happening often soooo I can't deny it nor do I want to.

This week has been amazing and I love you all! I hope life is going well! feel free to send me mail and a personal email!

Love you all so much!!

Love, Elder Norrell!

Mailing address is : 

Elder Joshua Norrell

1008 W Sanetta St. 
Nampa, ID 83651-5047

Fasting and praying

Hello!

I have to make it quick this week because all of the computers were taken for EVER!

Anywho so this week was good! I fasted and prayed for patience because I was feeling super impatient with EVERYTHING you know the whole "Me want cookie NOW!" deal. So I was fasting, I was hungry, nothing was happening, and I was bummed but I decided to keep trying and see how things turned out. So nothing had happened and it was time to break my fast. I was disappointed to say the least but I am not allowed to fast more than 24 hours (missionary rules) and THE SECOND I prayed to end my fast I felt absolutely fine. And that's when it hit me that being patient is all about knowing that God is in control and that as long as you keep the faith and endure, things will be fine! It is an absolute testament that God is there and that he wants to bless us but He will do it in his time and only when we are obedient and have faith in Him.

Love,
Elder Norrell

The simple truths

Hey all you people! Hey all you people! Hey all you people, won't you listen to meeeee!!!

This week has been good! I'm getting a watch tan line and stuff! So this week was pretty fun and challenging. It's getting kinda warm outside, like I had a pit stain the size of a quarter. It's legit. Sorry for being gross. So all of our families are doing well. We got a referral for a guy that just got out of prison, we taught a young sixth grade girl who had just been adopted by a member family (She was baptized just before we got here so we are just reviewing stuff with her) and she's so cool! We also taught an Elderly woman who is not a member with her husband who is a member. She wants to be baptized and she knows what we teach is true but she feels like she needs to know everything about everything first. It ain't gonna happen. The Crawly's are also doing well Brother C. hurt his shoulder and was cheated out of some overtime at work and was feeling down so we gave him a blessing Sunday morning before he and his wife attended church. It went over very well. There were no super insane people this week but it did rain twice! So that's good (just so you know it's nothing like the rain back home).

I had a neat experience with reading this morning. I have been rereading the New Testament as well as a book called Jesus The Christ and I realized when reading about Christ's childhood that all that is said about Him between the age of twelve and thirty is that (probably not an exact quote but you get you get the point) "He increased in wisdom and in stature". What this means is that even Christ, being always perfect and diligent in learning, was still learning about The Gospel and Himself at least until He was thirty years old. That being said, none of us are greater than Christ. So how could we ever possibly hope to know everything there is to know about God, Christ, the Spirit, and the Gospel? Simply put, we can't. We cannot ever hope to fully comprehend any of it because we are physically limited to mortal understanding and capacity to comprehend spiritual matters. The only thing we truly have are the simple truths. Christ knew we would never understand; that is why He taught us to focus on the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. That is why he taught us by parables and example. That is why it is necessary for us to focus on Gospel truths that we do know rather than be frustrated about we do not know. Christ put it simply for us so that we could stay on the strait and narrow path when he stated that the most important commandments were to love The Lord thy God with all they heart, might, mind, and strength. And like unto it, love they neighbor as thyself. Contained within these simple commandments is the spirit of the law. If we truly love God, we will obey all of his commandments as well as all of the promptings he gives us and we will love everyone else to the degree in which we will do them no wrong but forgive and love them continually to which extent we will be willing to lay down our property, our time, and even our very lives for them.

I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's Church and that there is none other like it. I love The Lord and his example. He is perfect and His love for each of us is perfect. Always always ALWAYS pray sincerely to know what you should do and how you can do the will of God. I love you all so very much and I love your support!

Love,
Elder Norrell

Elders come here!

Hello!

So this week has been good! Biking at least five miles gets easier every day and now that it's warming up I'm sweating a lot. I never realized I could sweat so much but what can you do? One day it felt like everyone had something to say to us when they drove by! It was interesting to get so many opinions and most of them make Elder Savage and I laugh and give us something to talk about so that's good! We had to get Kevlar bicycle tires because we kept getting flats from these little thorn things called goat heads. So far no flats!

We met a RM (return missionary) the other day while we were going to contact someone and he was just standing on the street corner yelling "ELDERS COME HERE! ELDERS! ELDERS! ELDERS!" When we spoke to him he had been back from his mission in Portugal for a whopping seven HOURS. He had been home seven hours and here he was walking down the street at eleven O'clock looking for something to do and apparently talking to himself. It was a little weird like "Guy, you just got home at four O'clock and you got up at six thirty to go tracting in your own companionship. You're crazy." He was practically begging us to take him with us to go do contacting which was actually pretty funny. So we are going to get in touch with his dad so that we can get together since he doesn't have a phone of his own.

Oh my goodness so many blessings. It was weird because this past week I realized that before my mission I absolutely did not care much for talking to people. And then I think about what even motivated me to serve a mission. I'll be honest with you. I'm not doing it for myself. If this was about me I'd be out of here. I'm on a mission because I love God and in turn am obligated to love his children and that is what nobody around here seems to understand. They act as though you are trying to be sneaky and trick people into doing the wrong thing. Behind this badge is a person and he cares. I'm not a robot, just in case there were any doubts. If I could somehow make people understand my intentions I think they'd be a lot more receptive. All of the time we get people who want to use baseless facts and words that have been taken out of context and I wonder "What are they trying to accomplish?". They want to confuse me or shake my faith because I don't know why. Don't you know I have a big 'ol rock that I sit on? Don't you know that Christ is the foundation? You will never break me as long as I've based my faith on Christ. If all you want is to confound me, what do you accomplish? Did Christ himself not say that a tree that brings good fruit is good and likewise a tree that brings forth corrupt fruit is corrupt itself? Did he not say that if the blind lead the blind that they both fall into a ditch? Sometimes we are too busy focusing on little things that we fail to see the big picture. Are you or are you not trying to bring others unto Christ? Don't worry about who has a degree in whatever or who claims to know what's best for you. Do what YOU feel God wants you to do and always pray to know if what you are doing is correct. If it brings you closer to God it is right.

Sorry about my ranting! I meant it in the best way possible and in no way is it directed at any one person or event. You all are wonderful and I know that our Heavenly Father looks out for us and wants us to be happy. Just accept Him into your life, live the gospel, love your neighbor, and know that I love you. Do what is right, not what is easy.

Love,
Elder Norrell

P.S. I've given up on correcting people about the pronunciation of my name. It can be whatever you want.

April 27, 2015

Miracles miracles miracles! Hello to all of my favorite people!

So this week has been wonderful! My legs are super in shape and stuff. I mean I can bike for days no lie. So this week we didn't really have anyone say anything rude or try to offend us which was pretty cool. We did have an old guy that wanted to not so subtly insult organized religion but I'm not exactly sure what he was trying to accomplish. You can always tell if someone is truly trying to serve The Lord by the way that they treat you. If all they want to do is tell you what's wrong with you and make you feel bad then you know that they aren't doing God's work; they're doing man's work. And so far I've had nobody even attempt to help me grow closer to God. Usually the Nazarenes and the Jehovah's Witnesses flee for their lives when they realize who we are.

So there's this family, we will call them the Crawly family for the sake of anonymity, and they are blessed. Around 8:30 Elder Savage and I got home from a long day and for some reason it just didn't feel complete. We walked inside and I was like "Wooh! Let's go again!" So we opened up our area book and saw the name which has been replaced with Crawly. "Let's go see them." we said. So we walk a ways because it isn't too far from our home and we knock on their door. An older gentleman who looks to be in his late fifties opens up the door and is standing there in his white tank top and jeans looking at us kind of confused. "Hello." He grunts. "Brother Crawly" Elder Savage states, "We are your missionaries." Brother Crawly just stood there. I can't recall exactly how it went but he ended up telling us that he hadn't seen missionaries for a while. When he said that tears began to well up in his eyes. "I've been turning away the missionaries for twenty years" he says "My wife and I have been going to all of these churches and praying a lot recently trying to find the right one and here you are." His lips turned upward into a smile as more tears came. "Would we be able to come back, Brother Crawly?" I asked. Immediately he said "Yes." And that, my friends, was a miracle and a witness to me that the LDS Church is the true church and that God's hand is seen there. It is a church of fellowship, love, and forever growing faith.

This week hasn't been easy. I will tell you that. Sometimes it's hard when everyone knows that you are the new guy. But I won't settle for that. I promise you that I will do my best to keep going and to stay worthy of my calling as a full-time servant of The Lord. With sufficient faith there is nothing that we cannot do to fulfill all righteousness. Stay faithful and trust in God. He is there and He is ready to bless you. All you have to do is show Him that you are ready to accept whatever he has in store for you.

Love,
Elder Norrell