Hey Family!

So transfers were today and my new companion is named Elder Ames! He is exactly the type of missionary I have been praying for and I know we are going to see a lot of success together. I hope to be able to help out the zone as well.

Elder Oppe and I had a good last week and a lot of cool things are happening with our investigators. The first cool story was with one of our investigators named Demira. She is from DR and has been looking for the truth for a long time now. She has been coming to our church a lot in the past year but because she was going to school in long island, she couldn't come consistently. She is now going to school in Manhattan and so we are able to teach her every Sunday. She loves the Bible so at first she was skeptic about the BOM. I had her read 3 Nephi when the Savior comes and she loved it. I then had her read Mosiah 2-4 and as she read ch 2 last Sunday, she cried. Last sunday she told us that that she will be baptized, before I could ask, she just wants to pick the date. It was a super awesome lesson and the spirit was so strong.

The 2nd story was with one of our investigators named Rafael. We have been working with him a lot of the WOW (Word of Wisdom which is the guideline we use about drinking coffee, tea, etc) which is a big battle for him. It's all mostly social but with work and friends, it can be really hard. In the last lesson we had with him he said that as people would offer him coffee, beer or tobacco he would tell them that he doesn't do those things anymore. When they would insist he would explain that he is now a "changed man" and he doesn't do those things anymore. He also explained to us that as he reads the BOM he feels something really different inside. He doesn't really understand what that is, but he really likes it. He has been coming to church a lot and should be baptized soon.

We finally set a solid date with the Rodriguez kids for the 8th of next month. They came to church last week so if all goes well they should go down. The parents are really showing a lot of change and are pushing there kids to be baptized now. Angel, Natali's dad, also told us that his daughter finally said she wants to get baptized so we might baptize her on the 8th as well.

We were also told about another part-member family this week and so we are going to try to start working with them. The family is active, they just haven't baptized their daughter yet. They also have a 16 niece that lives with them and comes to church all of the time. Hopefully that will lead to a quick baptism as well.

Because of all the work we have going on in this area, this transfer we decided to split our area. We mostly work in White Plains and the rest of our huge area hasn't ever been touched. I talked to a member who served in this area like 10 years ago and she said that she never went to that part either so it should be good for the other missionaries. I know there are a lot of Spanish people up there so now missionaries will be able to go teach them. But we also closed down our apartment and will be moving in with Elder Wilkins and Lambert this friday. Poor Elder Ames, he doesn't get to unpack yet.

Well that's basically all that is happening here. There is a lot of work to be done in this area and I hope I can be able to get it done in 12 very short weeks. I've never grown to love a people as fast as I have grown to love the people in this area. The Lord has so many blessing just waiting to happen here. I will keep praying for you all and I hope the best for each one of you. Thank you so much for all that you do and the example you have shown me.

Elder Sorensen

PS. I will just go in Aug. to try and find an apartment.

Mandee,
Focus on school! There is only one thing more important than school and that's the gospel. Please don't make the same mistake that i did.
Savanna,
keep being a good girl. And no boys. You are far too pretty to talk to boys.
Mandee,
Don't worry, your pretty too.

4.21.10

Hey Family!
How is everything going? I had a great week with a baptismal service! The service went great and Rocio and Noemi had a great experience. I got to confirm Noemi and I thought it went well. Rocio's two kids also received a blessing and Charlie, the four year old, actually did really well. Their bother, who I've been told is an atheist, now shows a lot more interest in learning about the church.
On Sunday the branch had another baptismal service for an eight year old. With special musical numbers, church and the baptismal services, I had to play the piano a lot this weekend. For sure I'm going to get the grand!
With two of our investigators baptized we have to look for a lot more while our slower progressing investigators continue to progress. We didn't do very well on finding this past week but hopefully we will do better this week.
I can't believe this cycle has flown by so fast, it's almost over. Next week is transfers and President promised me a companion who I can really work hard with. The zone really needs some good zone leaders to help them out. I don't have much time left and I there is some much more work for me to do.
Thank you everyone for the increase of letters, it seems like whenever a missionary is about done everyone seems to remember them. lol. A special thank you to the Farvers for the Easter package. And to Nick, Deb and Clair for the package.
Well Family I hope everyone is doing great. I'm glad to hear little Clair is doing better. I have really enjoyed seeing her grow up, through pictures. It will be fun to see her and the new baby. Thanks for all of the support and I will continue to pray for you all!
Elder Sorensen
Here is his address:New York, New York North Mission700 White Plains Road Suite 315Scarsdale, NY 10583

4.14.10

Family,

Elder Oppe and I had a great week full of lessons. We had mission conference yesterday and it was pretty much the same as the mission council. I hope everyone raises the bar in the mission. We have two baptisms this Saturday, Rocio and Nomis. Hopefully everything goes well for their interview today.

We are still working on the part member families here in the ward. The Rodriguez finally came to church which was great. Natali slept in but her dad came which is a step in progress. Neither one of them will make this Saturday, but we should be able to get them in soon.

We are working with a bunch of other people and a ton of them came to church last week. We had 8 people at church, 7 of which were our investigators and the other person we set an appointment with for this week. I should be able to hit my goal for total baptized if I stay in this area.

I had a cool experience giving one of the people we are teaching, Danilo, a baptismal date. I took what I learned for mission council and our role plays and I really felt the spirit guide me to know what to say. I simply said a silent prayer and then opened my mouth. The spirit really took over the rest. He accepted the commitment to baptized and acknowledged that he need to do more to learn.

I have really been trying to look for moment like this when i know the spirit is guiding me. I realize that everything comes down to recognizing the spirit and I have really been trying to do that. Hopefully the things I learn will stick with me for the rest of my life. I sure have learned a lot and I have to keep at it if I want to keep it.

Not that I've been trunky or anything but I've really thought a lot about how I want to finish my mission. There are a lot of lame missionaries who just give up the last few months of their mission and I want to do everything I can to not be one of those missionaries. Sprint to the end. I really want to have a companion who will allow me to work as hard as I can to finish my mission.

Well family thank you for all of your support and love for me. I continue to pray for you and hope all is well. I love you all and wish you a great week!

Elder Sorensen

4.8.10

Family
Hey i had a great week full of conference! I really love conference, it seems so much better as a missionary. We just watched it at the chapel and the spanish members made sure to bring enough food between sessions. It was very interesting to see the different themes they all spoke about. A lot seemed to focus on the home and the importance of mothers.

LOL so it doesn't seem like anything has changed back at home. Mom is still going 100 m/hr! It's good to hear that you all are getting so much done. I'm sure I don't even hear half of it.

So we baptized Marisol last saturday. It was a really great service and the branch showed a lot of support. She gave the great example of coming to all sessions of conference even with a 7 year old daughter. Her and her mother are both great recent converts. She will be confirmed this Sunday.

The Rojas family is also doing well. Lourdes still hasn't set a firm date but her daughters, Rosil and Noemis are still good for the 17th. We have to work on Rosil's husband next and some other extended family. They have really strong testimonies and i guess saw a lot of miracles happen through priesthood blessings before i got here.

Our part member families are doing well. Hno Lopez's daughter should also be baptized on the 17th and the Rodriguez just need to come to church. I guess we will still be working with them. Hno Lopez was finally able to get work off, so he doesn't work sundays any more. That will help a ton.

We had a mission council yesterday that was really good. A few people from the mission department came from Salt Lake and gave us a training. They taught us a lot about the Doctrine of Christ, roll playing, and mission culture. I really hope we as a mission can grasp on to what they trained us on. I learn about a lot of things i can do to improve.

Well I hope everyone had a great Easter and enjoyed conference. I am so grateful to have such an amazing family and support unit. Thank you for putting up with me and helping me whenever i need it. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Elder Sorensen

4.1.10

Sorry I didn't get this out earlier. I was out of town. K.

Family,

Hey we had a great week with a ton of lessons and 7 people at church. This area is really primed to baptize. We have a baptism this sat after the 2nd session. Marisol’s mom was baptized in Feb and she is finally ready herself. Hopefully we will have a few more in April.

I got to go on a split with Elder Wilkins, the elder I trained, yesterday. He is doing really well and having a ton of success. He is one of the few missionaries that I can really relate to. The rest of the zone has a lot of good missionaries, a lot of people I haven’t served around too much. I hope I can make a difference in their mission.

I think I’m finally starting to gain weight here on the mission! It’s not confirmed but I will update you later. The members have been feeding us well and they all love us. For a branch and Spanish program it seems to function pretty well. I have been impressed on how well things run here.

Elder Oppe is doing well, his birthday is this Tuesday. He got to come on his mission when he was 18 because he dad was a mission president in Brazil, so he will be turning 20. Greg, what mission did you serve in?
I got the pictures from you guys! I haven’t listened to the cd yet but I’ll check it out as soon as I can. From what I see on the pictures it looks like I’m going to be on the next flight home, with a fresh razor in hand. (He is talking about how his sisters look. He always said he was going to shave their heads if things got out of control.)

We are still teaching this Mexican family who should be baptized on the 17th. Two of them bore their testimonies this past Sunday which was really cool. We are also teaching this philosopher guy who came to church last Sunday and loved it. He is very interesting. There are a ton of part member families in the branch and I hope to be able to baptize some of them. A lot of 9 year olds.

I am really looking forward to General Conference and I can’t wait to see it. It has always been a highlight of the mission. Well anyways I love you all and hope you have a great week! Thanks for praying for me!

Elder Sorensen