Hello Everybody!
I've had great companions so far, and I've had some great times, but holy smokes. Sister Portzline and Sister Sorensen are a match made in heaven! We're actually the same exact person, and we both have crazy high goals for our time together and I know we're going to see some great stuff happen. Before even being together a week, we've already gotten so much done, and we're already so close and we've been having a great time. I'm so excited for what's ahead of us!!
I've had great companions so far, and I've had some great times, but holy smokes. Sister Portzline and Sister Sorensen are a match made in heaven! We're actually the same exact person, and we both have crazy high goals for our time together and I know we're going to see some great stuff happen. Before even being together a week, we've already gotten so much done, and we're already so close and we've been having a great time. I'm so excited for what's ahead of us!!
This week was full of transfers and planning/introducing Sister Portzline to the area. It was sad saying goodbye to Sister Johnson for sure. We got really close and she is honestly the sweetest, kindest person I've ever met. I'm pretty sure she's a real life Disney princess. Transfers were weird because transfer meetings got outlawed, so now only the people leaving their areas go up to Baton Rouge (or just go straight to their area if their close) so I stayed down in a trio on Wednesday with two sisters who also weren't leaving. Somehow, transfers worked out without too many disasters, and now we're going full speed in Kenner. She's already met the Bucios, Manny, Sister V, lots of people in the ward, and a bunch of my other favorites. It's been so fun showing her around NOLA because she's been exiled up in Baton Rouge. Okay, Baton Rouge isn't actually exile... but there is way more Spanish down here, so this is the promised land. :)
This week was mostly planning/mapping, so I don't have a ton of actual stories...but here's a couple highlights of the week. One, I've been visiting this less active family for as long as I've been in the area, and I haven't seen a ton of progress from them, especially with the oldest son who is 18. He has struggled with his testimony for a while and was definitely not planning on going on a mission or coming back to church. I've never really known what to do exactly with them to help them come back, except to keep visiting them and helping them to feel the Spirit and to set goals and such. This week, when we went and visited them, Hector (the 18-year-old son) told me that he's planning on going on a mission now. I was so surprised! I asked him what changed and why he wanted to go and he said, "Well this week I was just thinking about how every time you come over here you're just so happy and you talk about how amazing the mission is and how excited you are all the time to be a missionary, and I realized that's what I want to do with my life too!" Oh my goodness. I just about cried. You never really know how big of an impact you can have on someone's life. I thought this whole time that I wasn't getting anywhere, but turns out, I was helping the whole time just by being excited to be a missionary. It's so true that by small means are great things brought to pass.
Second, we were contacting at Lafreniere Park, and it was a BEAUTIFUL day. Seriously. Probably the best weather I've ever had in Louisiana. We were walking around the small lake in the middle of it, and we saw a couple old guys driving around toy sail boats. We walked by and said, "Hey, how are y'all doing?" And they said, "Beautifully!" We started talking about the weather and how amazing it was, and then they asked, "Do y'all wanna try these out?" And we said, "Um OF COURSE!" So then we spent the next 20 minutes learning how to drive these toy sailboats (that are actually worth a whole lot of money). It was so much fun! We also had a good conversation with them about what missionaries do and the church and everything. One of the best parts about being a missionary is that even though when you wake up you have a plan of exactly where you're going to be that day, you never know what the day has in store for you. Sometimes, you end up sailing toy boats! :) Speaking of planning, Sister Portzline told me this cool thing she heard that the reason we plan is so that we can tell the Lord exactly where we're going to be the next day, so that He can place people in our paths that we need to talk to. I thought that was just a really cool idea! I've always planned and I know it's important, but when you put it that way, it makes it seem even cooler. I love going out every day knowing that even if we don't find golden investigators, the people we talk to were impacted in some small way, and that was all the Lord needed of us in that moment.
Missionary work is the best! I've honestly never been so happy in my entire life. I feel like my greenie fire has expanded into a greenie wildfire because I have even more of a drive now than I did 7 months ago to go find, teach, and baptize. I love this mission with my whole heart! I love you all so so so much! Have the best week ever!
Hermana Sorensen
Hermana Sorensen