Holaaaa Familiaaa!
Shoot. Where do I even start? Life is just fabulous.
The end of the CCM was very bittersweet, because we were all so stoked to finally get to our missions, but we got so close to everyone at the CCM and it was hard to say goodbye. Luckily I flew to Atlanta with my district so I got to be with them a little longer. On the flight to Baton Rouge, there were actually about 20 of us. Four of us were Spanish speaking, and then the rest are English. Then we all stayed the first night in the mission home which was super fun. We basically did a bunch of orientation type stuff that night and the next morning, but it was just fun to be with everyone. Then on Wednesday we had transfer meeting and I got my new trainer (I'll talk about her in a second). Then after that we just drove down to our new area (I'll talk about that too) and got to work! The past few days have just been full out contacting, visiting, teaching, and all that good stuff!
Shoot. Where do I even start? Life is just fabulous.
The end of the CCM was very bittersweet, because we were all so stoked to finally get to our missions, but we got so close to everyone at the CCM and it was hard to say goodbye. Luckily I flew to Atlanta with my district so I got to be with them a little longer. On the flight to Baton Rouge, there were actually about 20 of us. Four of us were Spanish speaking, and then the rest are English. Then we all stayed the first night in the mission home which was super fun. We basically did a bunch of orientation type stuff that night and the next morning, but it was just fun to be with everyone. Then on Wednesday we had transfer meeting and I got my new trainer (I'll talk about her in a second). Then after that we just drove down to our new area (I'll talk about that too) and got to work! The past few days have just been full out contacting, visiting, teaching, and all that good stuff!
Okay so my new companion is the best ever! Her name is Hermana Whitney and she's from Long Beach, CA. She just finished her training as she got me, so she's only a couple transfers ahead of me. The mission lost all of their Spanish speakers in the last little while so now there are only two that have been here for 2 transfers, and they're training me and another hermana, and then there are 5 others who got here last transfer, and they're all training each other basically. I absolutely adore Hermana Whitney! She's so hard-working and obedient, but we also have a ton of fun together and love a lot of the same things. She's an amazing trainer and is so helpful with all of my questions, but also she lets me teach a lot, which is really good practice! We're going to have a great couple transfers together, and hopefully more. Oh also, we're allowed to listen to Disney music here which is great, so I knew I was going to get along with Hermana Whitney when we were driving down to our area and she puts in the song "Down in New Orleans" from Princess and the Frog :)
So yeah as most of you already know, I'm in New Orleans!! Actually, technically I'm in Kenner, but it's like a subset of New Orleans. And since we're Spanish speaking, we cover a pretty broad area. We have Kenner, Metairie, West Bank, Harahan, Fat City, and something else that I'm forgetting. And on p days we can go to downtown New Orleans, like Magazine Street and stuff like that. I don't think we're going today, but maybe in the next couple weeks. I'm in the middle of the area that got hit the worst by Katrina, and there's definitely still some struggling areas. Fun fact, most people here use Katrina as like a focal point of their lives. When people talk they say things like, "Oh man I haven't seen him since before Katrina!" or "I think we got this dog two years after Katrina!" It's crazy! We're super close to the edge of Louisiana; in fact, the levee is right behind our apartment! It's crazy here because our area feels kind of suburb-ish, but then within five minutes we're legitimately in the swamps of the bayou. It's so green and gorgeous down here! And also SUPER hot! And the humidity. Oh man. But we have a car, so we can escape and get some air conditioning for a few minutes before we go out and walk again. We usually just pick an area (we've been in Metairie for most of the week) and park, and then we walk around and try to visit less actives, investigators, old investigators, and do some contacting while we're at it. The people here are so awesome! Everyone is just so welcoming and friendly and would do anything to help you out. We get fed a bunch here, and it's all amazing. This week I tried grits, crawfish, and a lot of Honduran food and oh man. SO GOOD!
So yeah that's Kenner. We live in a cute little apartment on the edge of Kenner. It's really nice because we have two bathrooms, so we each have our own, laundry machines, a big office where we study, like 6 closets, and a pretty nice kitchen. We get fed a lot, so we don't really cook. We don't take breaks for lunch or dinner ever because we know that inevitably someone is going to feed us. We eat a lot of Honduran food because most of the Latinos here are from Honduras. Our ward is fabulous! Yes, I'm in a ward! I'm in the only Spanish ward in my whole mission, so I'm super lucky to be starting out here. No, I didn't play piano or organ because another Elder always plays. We did teach young women's though which was super fun! We also helped and sat with a couple classes in junior primary, and man those kids are wild! They're so awesome though and it was great to be with kids again!
So yeah that's Kenner. We live in a cute little apartment on the edge of Kenner. It's really nice because we have two bathrooms, so we each have our own, laundry machines, a big office where we study, like 6 closets, and a pretty nice kitchen. We get fed a lot, so we don't really cook. We don't take breaks for lunch or dinner ever because we know that inevitably someone is going to feed us. We eat a lot of Honduran food because most of the Latinos here are from Honduras. Our ward is fabulous! Yes, I'm in a ward! I'm in the only Spanish ward in my whole mission, so I'm super lucky to be starting out here. No, I didn't play piano or organ because another Elder always plays. We did teach young women's though which was super fun! We also helped and sat with a couple classes in junior primary, and man those kids are wild! They're so awesome though and it was great to be with kids again!
Alright enough of the house keeping items. I don't want to make this super long, so I just want to share one super cool experience of the week. Then next week I'll start writing more Spiritual stuff because I won't have to take y'all on a tour of Kenner! Anyway, on Saturday we were teaching a lady named Daisy, who is one of our progressing investigators. She is just the sweetest thing. She's had a super hard life, but her faith is incredible! She helps people who are recovering alcoholics get back on their feet, and so during our lesson one of the guys staying at her house asked if he could join with us and we said of course. During the lesson, two amazing things happened. One, I invited Daisy to be baptized and she said yes!!!! WOOOO!!!!!!!!! We don't have a date yet (that's a project for Wednesday), but I really feel like she's going to go through with this. She believes everything we say and already lives so many of the standards. Also, so we were talking about the plan of salvation, and when we got to the part about the Atonement, Hermana Whitney had Daniel (the guy sitting in on our lesson) read the part in the pamphlet about what Christ suffered for. When he read that Christ suffered for all of our sins, he just got this huge toothless smile on his face, started crying, and said "That was for me. He suffered for me! MY sins!" Oh my goodness. It was the cutest/sweetest/most Spiritual moment I've had so far! His joy was just so simple and real, and that's what the Atonement is all about. This man is honestly trying to turn his life around, and I can't even imagine the joy of knowing that there's someone who can truly erase the guilt and pain. The Church is true!
So much else has happened, but it's hard to describe it all, and also I know you all have lives. I'm so incredibly happy! Yeah it's hard, but SO worth it. The heat does not even bother me because I just love being here and I love the people so much. I also love you all so much and I'm so grateful for your support and your prayers! I hope y'all have an amazing week!
Con amor,
Hermana Sorensen
So much else has happened, but it's hard to describe it all, and also I know you all have lives. I'm so incredibly happy! Yeah it's hard, but SO worth it. The heat does not even bother me because I just love being here and I love the people so much. I also love you all so much and I'm so grateful for your support and your prayers! I hope y'all have an amazing week!
Con amor,
Hermana Sorensen