Family!
Hey everything is going good here in Manhattan. I'm loving life in this sweet English ward working my tail off. The ward here is truly amazing from what I have seen and really missionary minded. I see a lot of success coming from this ward and I hope I can learn my way around quickly to contribute more in planning and finding. I know that the Lord is confident in what I can do and who I can become so I have to step it up and work a lot harder.
Teaching in English is definitely a lot different; not only with the people but with how I describe things. Teaching in Spanish has really taught me how to teach simply and clearly because of a limited vocabulary. Now that I'm teaching in English I have a little more freedom in what I can say but I find it much more complex. The people also can be very different. Because I'm in New York there is a wide variety of people and in the Spanish culture mostly everyone is very humble and poor. In English you have a much larger scale of people. Most white people here are Jewish. There are also lots of African Americans too. I'm having a lot of fun learning new things and I am sure I will grow a lot from this area.
Our teaching pool is actually pretty big as of now. Elder Swan and I found 7 news together and hopefully we will be able to put them in the water this December. We also have two who are progressing towards baptism named Angie and Dora. Angie has felt strong confirmations about the church but is hesitant because of her mother who is Jehovah Witness. Dora has also felt really good about church but we still need to teach her a lot. She also has a son that could get baptized with her.
So the area I cover is from 155th to the top of the island which consists of Washington Heights and Inwood. Washington Heights have the nickname of Dominican heights because it consists of mostly Dominicans. Inwood is a little nicer and there are a lot more Jews. I don't really know a lot about my area yet because I just got here. The George Washington Bridge is in my area which is cool but I don't really know much about my area yet.
Elder Swan and I taught our first zone training this last Monday, which I felt went well. We had a big combined zone conference and president along with the assistants and others trained us. It was a really good conference and I really learned a ton. I really enjoy preparing to give trainings because of the amount I really learn myself. When I would prepare trainings for District meeting I learn so much about receiving revelation and teaching others. Now I am learning much more as a zone leader and I hope to gain a lot from this experience in which I could bless the lives of others.
Congrats again Mandee of making all state choir. You truly must have grown a lot to be able to get that far. Just make sure you are putting your grades first because that's what's going to matter to get into school. I want both of you girls to also remember the importance of personal scripture study. What we learn at school has little importance compared to what we learn from the scriptures. Sorry for so much advice, I know I'm being the annoying know-it-all brothers. I just wish I would have spent more time with things that really mattered instead of focusing on less important things.
That was a sweet elk hunting story dad! You'll have to send me some pictures and let me know how the Utah hunt goes. I swear I'm the bad luck charm in the family when it comes to hunting. Lol Man I wish I could have been there. All we are doing when I get back is hunting and fishing!
Well family I hope the rest of you are all doing great and loving life. I'm sorry I can't write more I wish I had more time. I am doing really well and loving life like usual. Thanks for everything and keep working hard. I hope you all have a great week and I will talk to ya all next week!
Elder Sorensen
PS. You can send letters here to the apartment but it's best to send packages to the mission home and I will get them on Sunday. I'm having Elder Wilkins send a package home with picts for me from the Bronx so you should get it when ever he sends it.
My address is:
20 Laurel Hill Terr. #1A
New York, New York 10033
Please send any packages to the mission home
700 White Plains Rd. suite 315
Scarsdale NY, 10583
First day
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
11.13.09
Family,
Sorry I didn't get to write yesterday, the libraries were closed due to the holiday. So yesterday was the big day in the mission. I don't have much time so I will summarize it all and tell you how I feel about it all when I know better myself.
1) I'm still in the city. I cover from 155th to the top of the island. Manhattan!
2) My new companion is Elder Swan; grew up in texas, moved to utah
3) They put me in the English program
4) My companion and I are basically white washing. (where they take out both missionaries of an area and put in two new ones) Elder Swan was here for one cycle a few cycles back.
5) President called me to be a zone leader So as you can imagine, I'm feeling a little like Enoch and Moses when they were first called to be prophets, a little overwhelmed. I feel like a greenie again; all confidence gone! Last night we taught this different kind of different guy and ate some BBQ ribs from the south, which is not the usual beans and rice.
Elder Wilkins and I had a great last week together, a ton of success. The general trend of the mission is to do a lot worse the week before transfers due to lack of focus so Elder Wilkins and I did our best to step it up. I knew it was probably my last chance to make a difference in the ward so I did all that I could to do so. We had three at church
found 9 new people and taught 7 withs.(I have no idea what a with is!) Tons of success!
Well sorry but that’s all I have time to say I will write more next week. I love you all and hope you have a great week. Congrats Mandee on the all state choir! That is so amazing, I knew you could do it. Love you all!
Elder Sorensen
P.s Danie*a Ga*cia, she cried her eyes out when i left.
Sorry I didn't get to write yesterday, the libraries were closed due to the holiday. So yesterday was the big day in the mission. I don't have much time so I will summarize it all and tell you how I feel about it all when I know better myself.
1) I'm still in the city. I cover from 155th to the top of the island. Manhattan!
2) My new companion is Elder Swan; grew up in texas, moved to utah
3) They put me in the English program
4) My companion and I are basically white washing. (where they take out both missionaries of an area and put in two new ones) Elder Swan was here for one cycle a few cycles back.
5) President called me to be a zone leader So as you can imagine, I'm feeling a little like Enoch and Moses when they were first called to be prophets, a little overwhelmed. I feel like a greenie again; all confidence gone! Last night we taught this different kind of different guy and ate some BBQ ribs from the south, which is not the usual beans and rice.
Elder Wilkins and I had a great last week together, a ton of success. The general trend of the mission is to do a lot worse the week before transfers due to lack of focus so Elder Wilkins and I did our best to step it up. I knew it was probably my last chance to make a difference in the ward so I did all that I could to do so. We had three at church
found 9 new people and taught 7 withs.(I have no idea what a with is!) Tons of success!
Well sorry but that’s all I have time to say I will write more next week. I love you all and hope you have a great week. Congrats Mandee on the all state choir! That is so amazing, I knew you could do it. Love you all!
Elder Sorensen
P.s Danie*a Ga*cia, she cried her eyes out when i left.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
veteran's day 09
This year for one of Daniel's Christmas gift I'd like to send him a scripture tree. It would have a little message he could open each day of December. Please send me your favorite scripture reference and why it is special to you. I'll type them up and put them in a little jar for him to open. Thanks for you help.
Krista
AND
No message from Daniel today. I'm sure it is because the library was closed for Veteran's Day. Hopefully he will be able to email us tomorrow to tell us where he has moved to. I'll keep you posted.
If you haven't yet emailed me your favorite scripture for his Christmas package, please do as soon as you can.
Thank you.
Krista
Krista
AND
No message from Daniel today. I'm sure it is because the library was closed for Veteran's Day. Hopefully he will be able to email us tomorrow to tell us where he has moved to. I'll keep you posted.
If you haven't yet emailed me your favorite scripture for his Christmas package, please do as soon as you can.
Thank you.
Krista
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
11.03.09 part b
Daniel's letter from the mission president.
Dear Sisters and Elders,
Mission update: During the month of October, there were 42 baptisms in the mission (however, 3 were confirmed on November 1) A great number! Baptism commitments for November are at 28 with 11 set for December. As of today, there are three districts in the mission without any baptism commitments for either month. This is very short of our goal of 42 for the month of November and 47 for December. I am praying that through obedience, inspiration from the Spirit, and hard work, the Lord will guide you to those who need to hear your message. In order to achieve our goal of 42 for this month, we will need some miracles. As I have visited with a few of you, I know that in order to achieve our future goals, we must be diligent in our contacting. Also, we need to be more bold in our baptism invitations to those we know want to be baptized.
When I looked at the mission’s key indicators contained in your letters last week; for some reason we had a very tough week for lessons taught, new investigators, and progressing investigators. I am praying for all of you to be successful which will lead to happiness. Please fill out your key indicator report below. Some of you are not sending the information to me.
Thank you for your fasting and prayers for Elder Wang. His condition is very serious. At this point we know that he has experienced some kind of psychotic episode which has left him confused and not able to think or communicate clearly. He has been admitted to the New York Presbyterian Hospital in White Plains and is receiving excellent treatment. This is a very delicate and sensitive matter. Please continue to pray for him and his family at this time. I will let you know through your Zone Leaders of his progress.
Dear Sisters and Elders,
Mission update: During the month of October, there were 42 baptisms in the mission (however, 3 were confirmed on November 1) A great number! Baptism commitments for November are at 28 with 11 set for December. As of today, there are three districts in the mission without any baptism commitments for either month. This is very short of our goal of 42 for the month of November and 47 for December. I am praying that through obedience, inspiration from the Spirit, and hard work, the Lord will guide you to those who need to hear your message. In order to achieve our goal of 42 for this month, we will need some miracles. As I have visited with a few of you, I know that in order to achieve our future goals, we must be diligent in our contacting. Also, we need to be more bold in our baptism invitations to those we know want to be baptized.
When I looked at the mission’s key indicators contained in your letters last week; for some reason we had a very tough week for lessons taught, new investigators, and progressing investigators. I am praying for all of you to be successful which will lead to happiness. Please fill out your key indicator report below. Some of you are not sending the information to me.
Thank you for your fasting and prayers for Elder Wang. His condition is very serious. At this point we know that he has experienced some kind of psychotic episode which has left him confused and not able to think or communicate clearly. He has been admitted to the New York Presbyterian Hospital in White Plains and is receiving excellent treatment. This is a very delicate and sensitive matter. Please continue to pray for him and his family at this time. I will let you know through your Zone Leaders of his progress.
11.03.09
Hey Family! How's life?
Everything here has been great and we all had a great week. Time is flying faster than ever and I am pushing myself to make this the best week I've had in this area. This is probably my last chance, so I'm doing all that I can to make a difference here in the Bronx.
Last Sunday a guy named Dan*lo was baptized by some elders in my district. The thing that was so cool about it for me was that he was found by my recent convert, Dan*ela. She gave a powerful talk at the baptism how all the members are slacking and they need to work harder to bring people into the fold. She is going to be a powerful influence here and I can't wait to hear how things go. She has a very interesting personality that I will never forget. Probably one of the most energetic older people I've ever met.
I got to go on a split with one of the zone leaders back into part of my old area. I got to visit Dan*ela and Fan*y which was really awesome. They are both doing so good and growing a ton. Fa*ny is having a little trouble with her husband, but she is holding strong. Her two kids, who are about 4 and 5, said the opening and closing prayers which just brought in the strongest spirit.
We had been teaching this really cool guy named Pedr* who is progressing a lot. He has been to church two weeks in a row now and also came to the end of a baptism. I don't think I will be able to see it, but I'm sure by the end of the month he will be baptized. My district is on fire right now. We had one baptism last week and four more this weekend. As a district we have a higher goal for baptisms this month than some of the zones in the mission.
District meeting was really good this past week, but not as good as last week. We talked a lot about personal conversion through the gospel and how to apply it with those we teach. The mission is focusing on hitting the goals of 10 contacts every day, 20 total lessons and 5 total news for the week. Every one seems to be fired up and we are all seeing success!
We are starting to see a lot of fruit from working with the members so much. We have received a lot of member referrals and a lot more of the people we are teaching right now are from those referrals. Member referrals are a 100 times better than door knocks so we are pretty excited. I'm really glad for the chance I had to be companions with Elder Wilkins, he has taught me a lot and we have had a lot of success together. He is going to be one of the best in the mission for sure. (And not just because I was his trainer. lol)
Well we are heading off to the Natural History Museum so I will catch you all later. I hope you all have a great week and don't go on any dates with any boys. I love you all and hope your doing well. Thank you for your support and the Halloween packages. Please thank the Farvers for their huge packages as well! (Don't worry mom I will send a thank you letter, you've trained me well!) Have a great week!
Love Elder Sorensen
PS. clothes and shoes are holding up fine. I had one pair resoled and they need it again but its cheap. I may want a few more white shirts and some garments. The suits are pretty haggard but I've got two other ones that are still new I can wear when these are done.
Everything here has been great and we all had a great week. Time is flying faster than ever and I am pushing myself to make this the best week I've had in this area. This is probably my last chance, so I'm doing all that I can to make a difference here in the Bronx.
Last Sunday a guy named Dan*lo was baptized by some elders in my district. The thing that was so cool about it for me was that he was found by my recent convert, Dan*ela. She gave a powerful talk at the baptism how all the members are slacking and they need to work harder to bring people into the fold. She is going to be a powerful influence here and I can't wait to hear how things go. She has a very interesting personality that I will never forget. Probably one of the most energetic older people I've ever met.
I got to go on a split with one of the zone leaders back into part of my old area. I got to visit Dan*ela and Fan*y which was really awesome. They are both doing so good and growing a ton. Fa*ny is having a little trouble with her husband, but she is holding strong. Her two kids, who are about 4 and 5, said the opening and closing prayers which just brought in the strongest spirit.
We had been teaching this really cool guy named Pedr* who is progressing a lot. He has been to church two weeks in a row now and also came to the end of a baptism. I don't think I will be able to see it, but I'm sure by the end of the month he will be baptized. My district is on fire right now. We had one baptism last week and four more this weekend. As a district we have a higher goal for baptisms this month than some of the zones in the mission.
District meeting was really good this past week, but not as good as last week. We talked a lot about personal conversion through the gospel and how to apply it with those we teach. The mission is focusing on hitting the goals of 10 contacts every day, 20 total lessons and 5 total news for the week. Every one seems to be fired up and we are all seeing success!
We are starting to see a lot of fruit from working with the members so much. We have received a lot of member referrals and a lot more of the people we are teaching right now are from those referrals. Member referrals are a 100 times better than door knocks so we are pretty excited. I'm really glad for the chance I had to be companions with Elder Wilkins, he has taught me a lot and we have had a lot of success together. He is going to be one of the best in the mission for sure. (And not just because I was his trainer. lol)
Well we are heading off to the Natural History Museum so I will catch you all later. I hope you all have a great week and don't go on any dates with any boys. I love you all and hope your doing well. Thank you for your support and the Halloween packages. Please thank the Farvers for their huge packages as well! (Don't worry mom I will send a thank you letter, you've trained me well!) Have a great week!
Love Elder Sorensen
PS. clothes and shoes are holding up fine. I had one pair resoled and they need it again but its cheap. I may want a few more white shirts and some garments. The suits are pretty haggard but I've got two other ones that are still new I can wear when these are done.
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