Hey hey hey!
I'm currently sitting in a freezing cold library as I write this email. Never thought my hands would be purple and I would shiver this hard in Louisiana, but I think their AC is stuck on 50 degrees. Oh well, I guess I should enjoy it because when I walk outside it will be 100+!
This week was just crazy for a bunch of reasons. First, I went on exchanges for the first time this week. The Sister Training Leaders usually go on exchanges with us. They are in Chalmette which is about 45 minutes away from us. Usually, for your first exchange, the trainee (me) goes with a STL to their area and the trainer (my companion) stays with the other STL, but nope, not this time. I got to be senior companion for the day and bring an English-speaking STL to all of our Spanish speaking investigators and less actives! I was kind of scared at first because I've only been here for a month, and I don't drive yet (you're not allowed to drive until after you’re done training... I feel like I'm 15 all over again sometimes :)). Anyways, I was kind of scared, but I was really pleasantly surprised at how well I actually knew the area and the people. We went tracting for the first time since I got here. We were in a predominantly Hispanic area and I was also pleasantly surprised that I don't struggle with my Spanish anymore! Other than learning some more vocab, I think I'm actually fluent now. The Gift of Tongues is real! It was nice to realize that even though I still have so much to learn, I'm where I need to be in terms of learning the area and I'm doing pretty well!
I'm currently sitting in a freezing cold library as I write this email. Never thought my hands would be purple and I would shiver this hard in Louisiana, but I think their AC is stuck on 50 degrees. Oh well, I guess I should enjoy it because when I walk outside it will be 100+!
This week was just crazy for a bunch of reasons. First, I went on exchanges for the first time this week. The Sister Training Leaders usually go on exchanges with us. They are in Chalmette which is about 45 minutes away from us. Usually, for your first exchange, the trainee (me) goes with a STL to their area and the trainer (my companion) stays with the other STL, but nope, not this time. I got to be senior companion for the day and bring an English-speaking STL to all of our Spanish speaking investigators and less actives! I was kind of scared at first because I've only been here for a month, and I don't drive yet (you're not allowed to drive until after you’re done training... I feel like I'm 15 all over again sometimes :)). Anyways, I was kind of scared, but I was really pleasantly surprised at how well I actually knew the area and the people. We went tracting for the first time since I got here. We were in a predominantly Hispanic area and I was also pleasantly surprised that I don't struggle with my Spanish anymore! Other than learning some more vocab, I think I'm actually fluent now. The Gift of Tongues is real! It was nice to realize that even though I still have so much to learn, I'm where I need to be in terms of learning the area and I'm doing pretty well!
Second, we got a cat. On Tuesday night it was pouring rain. We were coming out of a member's home and we heard something making noise underneath a car, so we looked and it was this tiny white kitten all soaking wet! Long story short, 20 minutes later, and very much soaked, we finally got the kitten (it kept running from car to car). We took her home, fed her some tuna that we randomly had in our pantry, and put her in a box with some blankets. For the next four days we asked everybody we knew if they wanted the kitten and they all said no! During the day, we would just leave her in the bathroom with her box, some food, and some water, and she did really well! Anyways, finally, on Saturday we needed to find somewhere because we can't have pets on the mission, so we went to Petco to see what they could tell us. We ended up going to the grooming area and one of the ladies fell in love with her and took her! We talked to her and three other groomers and they were just the sweetest things and we taught them a little bit about what we do. Then the lady who took the cat said, "Here's my number. I would love to stay in contact so you can see this kitten grow up and you can come over and see her!" God works in mysterious ways sometimes. :) Wouldn't that be the best conversion story if she really does start taking lessons? I'll keep you updated on how that one turns out. :)
Third, we keep finding the best contacts! It's so true that Heavenly Father is preparing people for us because we'll feel like we need to talk to someone, then we do, and it turns out they had this super deep question that we can totally answer. This week, my favorite contact was William! (actually I probably shouldn't pick favorites... oh well..) Anyways, literally this guy is exactly like Forrest Gump! He's probably in his 40's, and we found him in the courtyard of an apartment complex. He was just talking to this 8 year old kid and we started talking to him and asking him how his day was going. He said, "oh it's just great! I'm just hanging out with friend here!" Oh man he's the cutest. We ended up teaching him the entire Restoration and he wants us to come back and teach him more. The Spirit was so real in that lesson and he was taking things so well! We feel so bad for him though because he lives alone and when we invited him to church he was like yeah I can probably go, all I really do is sit at home and sleep, and then I go to work and sometimes I go out to eat or something, but that's about it. He's the sweetest guy ever! We're going to go teach him again tomorrow I'm pretty sure.
Those are all the things that really stood out this week. Other than that it's just a bunch more lessons, contacting, and blessings on blessings on blessings! None of our investigators came to church but so many of our less actives did. Including one who hasn't been to church in almost 40 years! FORTY YEARS! We're seeing miracles every day! It's crazy how the Lord's timing works out and how when we're praying so hard to be patient with one person, and they don't follow through on anything, but then our prayers get answered with someone else we weren't even directly praying about!
Those are all the things that really stood out this week. Other than that it's just a bunch more lessons, contacting, and blessings on blessings on blessings! None of our investigators came to church but so many of our less actives did. Including one who hasn't been to church in almost 40 years! FORTY YEARS! We're seeing miracles every day! It's crazy how the Lord's timing works out and how when we're praying so hard to be patient with one person, and they don't follow through on anything, but then our prayers get answered with someone else we weren't even directly praying about!
Another thing this week is that I am increasingly more grateful every day for my amazing parents and the family I grew up in. We see so many broken homes, it's unreal. So many alcoholic husbands, so many wives who want nothing to do with the church, so many crazy rebellious inactive kids, and so many other problems you wouldn't even believe. I realize more and more how blessed I am to have two parents who love each other very much, who work hard and are super strong in the Gospel, and that I grew up in the church. I got so lucky! Never take what you have for granted because trust me, it's super rare what we have been blessed with.
One thing I studied a lot this week was prophets, especially about the prophets as missionaries. One of my favorites is Abinadi! I've been working a lot on being more patient here and it is very much a work in progress. I loved the story of Abinadi in terms of patience this week. He went and taught the people and they tried to kill him. So he was like whelp, you're not ready yet, so he waited for two whole years! Then he taught them some more and they killed him. He just bore his testimony and taught the best he could, but for all he knew, nothing actually happened. His story is a testament to not seeing the fruits of your labors right away. He didn’t know that one person listened to him and that that one person went on to baptize thousands, and his sons after him baptized thousands after that! Never think that your efforts aren't worth it because we're on the Lord's time, not ours. You never know how much that compliment meant to someone, or how one day that guy at work is going to meet the missionaries and remember that you shared something about church one day and he felt something while you talked. You never know the effect you have! So just be patient, keep smiling and sharing this light we have, and you can literally change the world.
I love you all so much! You're all in my prayers all the time. I love my mission so much! The church is true!
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Sorensen
One thing I studied a lot this week was prophets, especially about the prophets as missionaries. One of my favorites is Abinadi! I've been working a lot on being more patient here and it is very much a work in progress. I loved the story of Abinadi in terms of patience this week. He went and taught the people and they tried to kill him. So he was like whelp, you're not ready yet, so he waited for two whole years! Then he taught them some more and they killed him. He just bore his testimony and taught the best he could, but for all he knew, nothing actually happened. His story is a testament to not seeing the fruits of your labors right away. He didn’t know that one person listened to him and that that one person went on to baptize thousands, and his sons after him baptized thousands after that! Never think that your efforts aren't worth it because we're on the Lord's time, not ours. You never know how much that compliment meant to someone, or how one day that guy at work is going to meet the missionaries and remember that you shared something about church one day and he felt something while you talked. You never know the effect you have! So just be patient, keep smiling and sharing this light we have, and you can literally change the world.
I love you all so much! You're all in my prayers all the time. I love my mission so much! The church is true!
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Sorensen