Hey Family,

We had a really good week and we worked really hard to achieve our goals. We had three investigators come to church and every single companionship in our zone had people in church. We also had a lot of less active come who haven't come to church in over ten years. Church was pretty good and we also did really well on lessons taught. The mission goal for total lessons taught each week is twenty. That's a really high goal and not most people hit that goal, but last week we got a total of 18 which is the best I've ever done. We didn't do so well on finding new investigators. We really need to focus on talking to everyone in our path and really finding the elect.

M went to DR for a couple of weeks and so she is out of our teaching pool right now. We are teaching this less active and his girl friend right now and last week he really opened up to us. He kind of explained why he hasn't been to church in over ten years and I felt like we made some progress with him. We are still working with them but it might be a while before she feels ready to be baptized.We are also teaching this other young family who came to church. The husband was baptized when he was twelve but never really came back. The wife told us she wants to be baptized and so we are doing everything we can to get her ready. They really liked church and followed along with all of the classes. They have two young kids who liked primary and so it will be really good to raise them in the church. We are teaching a man named Jose who didn't come to church last week but we are still working with him. We got the feeling that he has never prayed in his life and never read to much of anything so it might be a while but he will still progress.

We had mission conference yesterday at the chapel in the temple. It was really good and we got a lot of good trainings on how to be a better missionary. One thing I really liked it just learn the pure doctrine and strengthen your own testimony and others will see the light you radiate. If we all as members really tried to strengthen our testimonies others will see how we are different and the elect will find us. Just as the scriptures say we are a light set upon a hill. We have to strengthen our testimonies and let everyone else see. So many people are seeking for the truth but know not where to find it. We have something that everyone is searching for sometimes they don't know it but everyone is seeking out our Savior's love.

I went on a split with my district leader last week and we had a really good day. We ended up teaching four lessons that day and it went really well. I am improving a lot but I still have many things I wish I could do better. One of my focuses throughout my whole mission is to be a better teacher. I am really trying to be able to teach with the spirit in a powerful setting and be able to teach with simplicity to their understanding. I am doing everything I can to invite to spirit to not only direct my thoughts but the thoughts of those I am teaching.

It sounds like every one is doing really well and still going over board on amount of projects and things to do. One thing that I've really learned is more important than anything you do throughout your day is how you start and end your day. Prayer and scripture study can ether make or break your day and I've seen it many times. Prayer has gotten me through my hardest moments and my knowledge of the scriptures keeps me going. I know that if you all focus on prayer and the scriptures, you will find yourself having a new light in your life.

I love you all and I am praying in your behalf. Please keep the people in New York in your prayers and do everything you can to keep this stone cut out of the mount rolling through out all of the corners of the world. Good luck with the play and happy birthday Savanna!

Elder Sorensen

PS: Send any packages to mission office. I can just buy the pushup things at target they will just be more expensive. If you send any cds just send me a copy of them and keep the originals so they don't get messed up.

PPS. Any news about griff's mission call?

getting caught up...

These are some great shots, but I don't know what they are, really. I'm not sure when they fit into the time periods, so maybe Krista will be able to fill us in more. Just click on the comments link and tell us from top to bottom, as best as you know, if you don't mind, Krista.

Hey family,

We had a great week with a lot of hard work and success. I am still really enjoying the Bronx and loving the missionary life. We also had a good week and church with three of our investigators to church and we will be getting some with dates soon. Elder Christianson and I are doing the best we can and working hard to be the best missionaries we can. It has been hard for two young missionaries with teaching and planning and all that but we are improving fast and doing better every day.

We had one investigator whose name isJM come to church and then a baptism right after church. That's a long time but I think he really liked it and our last appointment he asked what he had to do to get baptized. We are teaching him tonight and will be giving him a date for March. We are also teaching an old investigator named R who came to the last few hours of church and the baptism. He also liked church the only problem is he is so busy and his dad hates Mormons. We are still working with M but we are trying to give her some room so she can warm up to us and want to be baptized. We also got a sweet Peruvian family for the ZLs. The husband was baptized a long time ago and hasn't been to church for a long time. He has a wife and two young kids and the wife has done a lot of good reading in the BoM.

We have been teaching this less active family named the R and there family has shown a lot of progress. There is a 22 year old who has been going to church every week and even to some appointments with us. Now he wants to go on a mission which is just awesome. They have shown a lot of improvement and hopefully we can do that with more families.

I feel like my Spanish is coming along well enough but I think I can do better and try harder. I need to step things up a bit and work harder. There are a lot of little things I can do better with but little by little I am improving. I know the Savior has made it possible for me to improve so I am doing the best I can to rely on Him and put my faith in him.

I didn't get to see the pictures for whatever reason they didn't come up, but as for some boy taking over my role as big brother tell him no way. That's my job and they can't date until I'm there to approve. As for the blog, I'm sorry to say but I'm not supposed to use websites other than this one. For the b-day those perfect pushups would be great. You can get them at Wal-Mart for about 20. Well I've got to run my companion is waiting for me. Sorry for not writing enough. Love you guys.

Elder Sorensen

Hey family,
So I thought I would start my letter with my experience last night. We got out late from an investigator last night and we were about two miles away from home. Early in the week we found a foosball table in the trash and we decided to take it home. The problem was we were two miles away and going to be late home. It wasn't a full size so one of us could carry it by ourselves. So we took turns running with the table until we got home. It was pretty funny to watch people's faces as we ran past them with a foosball table on our back. I don't know if you can picture it but it was a very funny experience. We are going to have a lot of fun with that on our p-days.
The same investigator we saw last night had a date for this Sunday. Her brother in law is very active and her husband is less active. But she doesn't feel ready yet so we will have to put it off for a while. The problem is she is going to DR soon for a while so I don't know how things are going to work out. We both got the impression that she has some sins hasn't repented of so we are going to try to help her as best we can. I'm sorry I don't write more about my investigators. It seems like we get new ones and drop old ones so fast it's hard to fill you in when they aren't progressing a lot. I will tell you about the good ones we find and those who will get baptized.
One of our trainings was on inspired questions that we could ask people to spark there interest and I had a good experience with that yesterday. We were tracking building and I asked a lady if she knew what God's purpose for her in this life. She said she had just been thinking about that last week and also said that we were a sign to her that God answers her prayers. She sounded pretty cool and hopefully we will be able to set up something with her next week.
My Spanish is coming along well and Elder Christiansen are working hard to improve. We have picked out times when we will only speak Spanish during the week and it's been a lot of fun to be able to just talk to any Hispanic on the street and have a conversation. Our teaching skills are also improving and I can see how far we have come along.
I'm doing great and I love the life as a missionary. Me and my companion are really learning a lot and well. In all the movies were you see a ghetto city that's the kind of city I live in. It's really diverse and different and everyone is gangster but I'm having a great time. I hope I don't come back and want to be a gangster but I'm not too worried about that. I love you all and hope you are doing great. I'm proud of what you're all doing and keep up the great work!
Elder Sorensen