Carlsbad? Carlsgood.

"Dear Sister Norton,

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are assigned to labor in the California Carlsbad Mission."

So I'm sure you've already heard about this (maybe a little too much) but I got my mission call and I couldn't be happier about where I've been called to serve!  You can click here to watch a video of me opening the call. From what I've heard, Carlsbad is, like, one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Just to give you a little glimpse, here are some pictures of Carlsbad. 

Is that not just the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen?? I'm so excited to serve the people there! Also, my friend Landon Smith (Jake Jensen's best friend) is serving in that mission, so it'll be super cool to see him! I'll report to the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC) on September 24th (so far away!) and learn how to be an effective missionary for 2 weeks. Then after that they'll send me off to Cali for 18 months! And just a little side note, I'll be in the MTC during General Conference so I might get to go to Conference in Salt Lake City and, if I'm SUPER lucky, I could end up getting to sing in Conference! It all just depends on who they decide to have sing for that session.  But I think that would be pretty dang awesome to sing in General Conference. Like a dream come true actually...but I'm trying not to get my hopes up haha. So anyways, I love Carlsbad already, but if you've been watching the news lately, I'm sure you know it's not exactly at its best right now.  There have been some crazy wildfires in that area right now, so please keep them in your prayers!

Maybe it's just me, but that looks like some pretty scary stuff! Luckily, the fire is totally contained right now, but there's been about $10-$15 million of damage. So I have a feeling the missionaries will be doing a lot of work to help restore everything that was damaged. Also, according to Landon, some of the fires were actually intentional which is really sad. I don't know why anyone would do something like that, but he pointed out that even though bad things happen, God lets those things happen for a reason so that we can gain experience and learn from them.  I think that's a good thing to remember with life in general.  Bad things are going to happen, but there's always a purpose and God will never give you a trial that you can't handle.  So back to Carlsbad...I'm just super excited to get there and finally start what I've been waiting for so long to do.  I've wanted to serve a mission since I was probably about 12 or 13, so the fact that it's actually happening now is just so crazy and exciting!

So I just have one more thing to add before I finish this blog post.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true!  Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, in person. He translated the Book of Mormon by the power of revelation and was a prophet of God.  Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today and he has the authority to speak for Heavenly Father.  By following the teachings of the prophets, the Bible, and the Book of Mormon, we can make it back with our families to live with our Father in Heaven for time and all eternity because Jesus Christ died for us and atoned for all of our sins. Because of Him, we can be forgiven and made perfect again no matter how many times we mess up.  I am so blessed to know these things and to have the opportunity to teach these things to the people in Carlsbad. And if you have any questions, just check out mormon.org or ask me. Have a great day everyone!

Here We Go Again!

Well first of all, I'm back in Rexburg, Idaho!! But before I go into that, I'll catch you up on my last couple of weeks in Indy.

Spring Break 2014

For Spring Break this year, we went to Panama City, FL and Orange Beach, AL which were both GORGEOUS places, and even better than that were the people we got to spend time with. In Florida, we stayed with my mom's brother's family, and that was a BLAST! There's never a dull moment with that family.  But sadly I don't think I have any pictures with them.  So after we stayed with them, we went to Alabama and met up with the family of a girl that my dad grew up with who joined the Mormon church a few years ago.  We had a blast hanging out with them.  So here are some pictures from the trip!

Silver Classic: Visions of Sound

One of the things I missed the most during my first semester at BYUI was being part of an amazing choir, so it was a bitter-sweet experience to go watch Silver Classic perform at Ball State University. I also got the wonderful opportunity to arrange the music for Vocality, which is the acapella women's group at Fishers High School.  I was absolutely blown away by how well they performed.  I got just a little glimpse of what it's like to be a proud mother when I heard them sing.  It was also awesome to see AG Harmeny, the guy's acapella group, perform because some of my best friends are in that group and Stirling sang one of the best solos I've ever heard. There are videos of both of their performances on my Facebook page, but for some reason they won't upload on here.

Goodbyes

They suck. They really do. I thought maybe it would be easier this time, but I was wrong.  So shoutout to these people for being some of the best friends I could ever ask for. And thanks a lot for making it so hard to leave :(

OK. 

Now we can get to the actual college part. So I drove out here with my sissy Britney and it was quite the road trip! I drove up to Minnesota by myself which was an accomplishment itself, and then she rode with me the rest of the way.  Longest drive of my freakin' life. But so worth it! If you're reading this, thanks Britney! I love you!!

Also, driving through Yellowstone was pretty dang gorgeous.  We had to pull over and take some pictures which don't do it justice, but here's one anyways.

Started from the Bottom

So I got here and once I got all moved in, one of the first things I had to do was audition for choir, which I was absolutely dreading because I had an awful experience with this last year.  Long story short, choir lady didn't like my voice, laughed at me for wanting to be in the top choir, and put me in the lowest one.  So I'm sure you can understand why I wasn't too excited to do that whole process again, but long story short again, after a few rounds of auditions I actually made it into Collegiate Singers which is...wait for it...the top choir! Take that lady!  Haha but seriously I almost peed myself when I saw my name on the list.  It's a bit intimidating considering most of the other members of the choir are married and almost done with college, but I've already had the opportunity to sing in devotional with them and I am so excited to work with them this semester.  I am so blessed!!

Scotty McCreery

Remember that guy from American Idol with the super deep, gorgeous country voice? Yeah well he came here.  And we felt pretty bad that he had to come to Rexburg, ID but he was so good!! I wish I could upload the videos I got, but they won't work either...oh well.

Oh also, random side note, Lauren and I went to Idaho Falls yesterday to do some shopping cuz Rexburg has like a whole 2 stores, and we started driving and noticed a ton of smoke in the sky so we decided to follow it and this is what we found.  It was some pretty scary stuff, but at the same time it looked pretty dang cool!

One more random side note.  Lauren and I made these adorable Easter eggs last week and I just thought I'd share (:

So basically, Rexburg is awesome and I love it here! Hopefully I'll have some more interesting stories to share with you next week. Maybe even a mission call!! I'll talk more about that next week (:

He Qualifies the Called

As many of you know, I'm preparing to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  If you don't know what that means, let me explain.  In the Mormon church, all worthy men are expected to serve two-year missions for the church and can go at the age of 18.  Young women also have the opportunity to serve a mission for a year and a half if they choose to and can serve as soon as age 19.  These missionaries spend all day every day bringing people closer to Christ.  I have known that I wanted to serve a mission since I was 12 or 13 years old and that time is finally almost here!  So some of you are probably wondering where I'm going to go.  That's where it gets a little crazy.  In the church, we don't just choose where we go and then pack up and go there.  We fill out a ton of paperwork, meet with our local church leaders, and then turn all the papers in to the Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City.  Then, twice a week, a group of leaders from the church all around the world meet together and go through tons of missionary applications and prayerfully decide where everyone should serve.  About three weeks after turning in your mission papers, you get your mission call in the mail and find out where you will be serving for the next year and a half!  

So like I said, I have kind of always known that I wanted to serve a mission, but the hard part to decide was when.  Up until a couple years ago, girls couldn't serve missions until age 21, so that was the plan, but then they lowered the age to 19 and everything changed and I was so excited to be able to serve earlier.  Then the time rolled around for me to start filling out the papers and actually start the mission process and I got a little freaked out.  I still knew I wanted to serve but I began to doubt myself and wonder if I was ready to serve right now.  I mean when you think about it, a mission is a lot of pressure!  I was getting ready to sign up to leave all my friends and family for 18 months, possibly learn a new language, walk around talking to complete strangers about Jesus, and be responsible for people's eternal salvation! That's kind of intimidating!  Now I wasn't feeling like I couldn't serve a mission at all, but I still felt like a kid that needs to ask permission to cross the street! I can't live in some random place all by myself yet.  I need to wait until I feel like a grown up.  So I did a lot of praying and talking to other people around me and I kept getting more and more confused.  I would read my scriptures and think for sure I needed to wait, but then I would talk to my Bishop and feel like I was for sure supposed to go now.  I kept praying and telling Heavenly Father "please just tell me what to do!" I tried to make a decision and then ask if it was the right one. Nothing.  So I tried a different decision. Nothing. I couldn't tell the difference between what things were my own thoughts and what things were from the Spirit.  I mean I had always been taught that if it's a good thought, it's from the Spirit, but they all seemed like good thoughts! So then I talked to a friend of mine who recently returned from her mission and asked her what she thought.  I explained to her how I felt like I wasn't good enough because I can't name scripture references off the top of my head and I'm not good at telling people when they're doing something wrong and I am definitely not good with words (if you read my blog you obviously know this) and she helped me realize something really important.  No one ever really feels ready for a mission.  That's what the Spirit is for.  It's not my job to convert people.  The Spirit does that.  My job is to represent Jesus Christ and to help people to feel the Spirit.  She also helped me to realize that maybe the reason I haven't felt a strong answer to when I need to go is because it doesn't matter.  Sometimes Heavenly Father leaves the decisions up to us.  Serving a mission is something good and He will be happy with that decision no matter what.  So I decided to continue on with the mission process and if there is something that Heavenly Father knows I need to be doing instead, He will make it happen.  

I am so incredibly grateful and excited for the opportunity I will have to serve the Lord for a year and a half.  I keep seeing friends get their mission calls and leave to serve their missions and it makes me realize that I am as ready as I'll ever be.  I may not have every scripture memorized and I may not be the best teacher but what really matters is that I have a desire to teach the Gospel and that I am willing to let the Lord refine me into whatever He wants me to be.

I'm a Big Kid Now!

Good news! I'm officially DONE with my first semester of college! And let me tell you, it was a crazy one.  I mean I guess I don't really have anything to compare it with, but it seemed pretty crazy to me! I learned so many new things about myself that I never knew.  Apparently I have a sassy side in me that I didn't discover until I met Nahiomi.  Also, I can actually survive subzero temperatures! Who knew?! I sure didn't think I could do it.  I also didn't realize that I can sing opera.  Now just because I can sing opera does not mean that I can sing opera well or that I enjoy to sing opera, but I'm trying to learn to enjoy it.  I learned that Heavenly Father truly does hear and answer all our prayers, even if it isn't how we expect.  And finally, I realized how much I am truly blessed.  Even in the middle of trials, I could always reflect on my life and see endless blessings from my Father in Heaven.  So here are just a few of the things that I was blessed with this semester (in no particular order).

1. The Rexburg, Idaho Temple

Even though I didn't attend the temple nearly as much as I should have, it was amazing for me to be able to look up and see the temple each day as I was walking to class.  It was so amazing to have that constant reminder of why I need to do my very best each day.

2. Lauren and Nahiomi

I love these girls so freakin much. I don't know what I would have done this semester without either of them! Lauren is such an amazing example to me in so many ways!  Even if she didn't know it at the time, she always helped me by to remember to say my prayers each night.  She is so in-tune with the Spirit and I admire that so much! Not to mention how gorgeous she is.  She will never ever admit that this is true, but Lauren could wear no makeup at all and still look flawless.  And she's pretty dang hilarious too.  Especially when you get a little Red Bull in her system (;  Then there's Nahiomi.  She just cracks me up every single day!  Only Nahiomi and I can make fun of each other as much as we do and still know that we love the crap out of each other (;  I'm so excited to see everything she accomplishes in Guatemala and on her mission wherever she goes!  She is going to be the greatest missionary ever, even if she does go to Georgia (;

3. Tender Mercies

 

It's the little things like cupcakes on a bad day, new fuzzy socks when it's cold outside, packages from your sister, and President Monson shaking a little boy's hand after General Conference that you don't ever forget.  There are so many tender mercies in our lives; all we have to do is look for them and we will realize how blessed we are.

4. Tickets to Wisconsin

If you've never lived a thousand miles from home, let me tell you, it's hard! Obviously I loved it in Idaho, but there were days where all I wanted to do was go home and even though I didn't get to do that, I was lucky enough to get to fly out and see my family in Wisconsin for a weekend.  I had such a great time and after that, it was so much easier for me to push through the hard days.

5. Devotionals

Maybe it's just me, but I think it's so cool that at BYU-I we have the opportunity to all meet together every week to hear from inspired men and women.  Even though sometimes I had to drag my feet to devotional, I never once regretted going.  The Spirit you feel in a room full of thousands of disciples of Christ ready to learn about the Gospel is incredible and each week I learn something new.  I also got to sing with my choir in devotional several times which gave me an entirely new perspective as I got to look out and see all of my fellow students in the audience.

So basically, I think it's safe to say that I go to the greatest school ever! I know I just got home, but I already miss Rexburg and the people there. BYU-Idaho truly is an inspired school led by inspired people.  That being said, it is so great to be back home again! I missed everyone and everything about Fishers like crazy!  Rexburg is great, but Fishers will always be my home.  I'm so excited to spend the next 4 months here (:

♥♥♥ Grateful ♥♥♥

Happy Thanksgiving!

So as you all know, last weekend was Thanksgiving and since I live a bit far from home, I went to Logan, Utah and spent Thanksgiving with my grandparents, my dad's sister, and her family. It was really great to spend time with them.  I love that even though I don't get to see all of my family that often, we still know each other so well and have such a fun time together.

I got to spend time with these precious cuties.  Ruby (left) and Lucy (right) were born several weeks early, so they're my little miracle cousins. I absolutely loved hanging out with them! I also got to play with their 3 older brothers that I met for the first time last summer. The youngest, Max, kept telling his brothers that he only wanted to play with "the girl" (me) haha. They crack me up! So we all had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner together and then on Friday I met up with Lauren and Nahiomi in Salt Lake City to see the lights on Temple Square.  I'm so lucky to have been able to see the this beautiful city all lit up 2 years in a row.   Everywhere you look you see hundreds of millions of lights.  They cover every inch of every tree and light up the entire square. It's so breathtakingly beautiful.

After we walked around Temple Square, I met up with my mom's youngest brother and his wife who live right by Temple Square and we went to get hot chocolate. I wish I remembered the name of the place we went to because it was some of the best hot chocolate I have ever had! It was also great to catch up with my aunt and uncle since I don't see them that often.  Once I went back to Logan, I just hung out with everyone some more before I had to go back to Rexburg.  I just love these sweet little girls so much and I miss them already!  They're growing up so fast!

Back to the 'Berg

Sadly, vacation couldn't last forever and I had to come back to Rexburg, but I still got to do some pretty fun stuff this week! On Monday our FHE group got to go for a ride in Bishop's helicopter! I have now decided that when I'm married my husband will own a helicopter and we will travel America in it (; But seriously, the view of Idaho Falls from a helicopter is beautiful!

That huge building you see is the Idaho Falls temple.  It was so cool to see a temple of the Lord from this perspective and it reminded me that no matter where we are in life, physically or spiritually, we can always have the temple in our sights.

But really. I want one.

It also snowed like a crap ton here this week.  And for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to go take a picture like this in the snow.  Also, it was about -10 degrees when I did this. I'm obviously not the brightest kid on the block...but as fun as snow can be, it has definitely caused some problems.  If you don't know anything about the city or Rexburg, picture it like this.  It's like a giant hill with the temple at the top, then BYU-Idaho a little below that, and my apartment complex is pretty much at the bottom.  So to get from my apartment to anywhere on campus, I have to drive up a hill.  Now I've driven in snow before, but that was in Fishers, IN...the flattest place on earth.  I'm sure you can imagine my frustration as I'm struggling to drive up an ice-covered, unsalted, unplowed, uphill road in 2nd gear going absolutely no where.  I was about to give up when I thought to say a quick prayer to myself. It was nothing fancy, just a simple "Heavenly Father please help me up this hill". Next thing I know I'm moving.  I looked in my mirror to see what was going on and a group of guys pushing my car up the hill.  Only at BYU-Idaho.  What a great reminder that even though Heavenly Father might not physically be with us, He can and will always send us help through His servants if we just ask for it. I am so grateful that I go to a school where students are so willing to serve, even in below zero temperatures. It is truly a blessing and I wouldn't want to be at any other school.  It's definitely been hard here and I'm more than excited to be back home in less than 2 weeks, but this school has blessed me in so many ways and I know that I was put here for a reason.