5.19.2010

Hey family,

It sounds like life is a little stressful back home. I hope everyone is doing ok, i will definitely keep you all in my prayers. Elder Ames and I had a great week full of meetings. Elder Robbins from the 70 came to the mission and met with all of the ZL (Zone Leaders) on wed morning, fireside on wed night, and then a conference on Thursday. It was an amazing experience to be taught by him and I really took a lot out of it.

In the meeting with the ZL he taught us a lot about taking responsibility for our actions. He shared a lot of stories from both his church callings and his business career. He talked a lot more about life skills than missionary skills, which can easily apply to the mission. I also had a short interview with Elder Robbins along with a few other ZLs. He just wanted my opinion on the mission and he taught me some good pointers on leadership.

Yesterday we had interviews with President Smith which was really good. He has a great gift of helping people feel like a million bucks. He really expects a lot from us and holds us to those expectations. In my interview I received a clear answer to one of my prayers and helped me know that what I was doing was right. I feel much better because of what he told me.

Delmira called us the other night to share a great experience she had with HF answering her prayers. She is taking this baptism very seriously and is striving to properly prepare herself. She knew she had to repent of everything before she got baptized and make reconciliation with everyone she had offended. There was one person who stuck out in her mind and she couldn't ignore. She knew that she had to ask for forgiveness from this person. The problem was that she didn't have any way of getting a hold of them. She offered a prayer for an answer and the next morning that person sent her an e-mail, inviting her to an event! She said that she doesn't know why she keeps getting surprised that He answers our prayers, but I feel the same. It amazes me every time how we get our answers.

Rafael is doing well and he accepted a date for mid June. He seems to get stronger and stronger with each visit and his testimony is growing brighter and brighter. He wasn't able to come to church last week due to work but we did meet with him that night.

Elder Ames and I are both doing well. We have starting running in the morning and our goal is to be able to run 5 miles by the end of our mission. We also started the perfect push-up program again so we are both super sore. I don't know what president was thinking putting two dying missionaries together! lol No, we are doing really well and keeping each other excited in the work.

Well, I hope you are all doing well and good luck with upcoming finals! I love you all and hope the best for you. Thank you for being such a strong support for me and a great example. See ya soon! lol

Elder Sorensen