pics...

I've been out of town for the last three posts and couldn't get the pics up while I was gone...here are a few to make up for it!


-deb























Family,
Hey every one it sounds like you are all doing really good and I'm excited to hear all
of your news. Congrats to Nick and dad for their new jobs I know that will be great. I
have been really impressed on how much all of you have grown and all that you have done
in such a short time.

I didn't do anything really for my year mark and kind of forgot about it until you all
sent the package. It was a great surprise and my roommates and I loved it thanks a lot! I
guess in a way today I celebrated it by going to another Yankees game. Elizabeth got us a
bunch more tickets so we all went and it was a blast. Time has really flown by fast and
now that I'm a year out, it makes me feel like I am running out of time to do all that
the Lord wants me to do. I have to work a lot harder, and now that I have some
experience, I have to start working a lot smarter.

I had a great week and I'm really enjoying training. Elder Wilkins is really learning
fast and I know he is going to be a lot better missionary than I am. I am also kind of
proud of myself in a very humble way of course. In a new area and training I have been
able to keep the same kind of numbers that I had with Elder Smith last cycle. That has
shown me that the Lord has really blessed me with a lot of miracles and taught me a lot.
I of course have a ton to learn and am no where close to being the kind of missionary I
want to be. I am just grateful that the Lord has blessed us with so many miracles in the
past few weeks. They are nothing big but finding a new or talking to some one cool is
always a big miracle to me.

We had one person come to church last week named Marianna, but she isn't the most
solid. I need to study better and increase my teaching skills. We are finding the news
and teaching with the members now the rest is up to our ability to bring in the spirit to
bear testimony of the simple doctrines of the Kingdom. We are having zone conference
tomorrow which will be great because I always learn so much and end up having a great day
after.

The Lord has blessed us with so many miracles and we have found a ton of new people. We
are always in the right place at the right time because we make plans, let the Lord know
what our plan is and then He puts people into our path. Last week we were just looking
for this person who moved and when we found out he didn't live there, I about turned to
leave but then I just remembered to asked if they wanted to hear our message. She
accepted our invitation and became a new. Yesterday we went to go teach this person who I
didn't think would go anywhere but then his girlfriend was there too and the lesson
went really well. Those are just examples of miracles I see every day and what I have to
be grateful for.

Well I have to get running but again I am really proud of you all and am thankful for all
that you have done for me. I hope you all have a great week and keep working hard.
Congrats again Nick on the sweet new job and thanks for writing me a letter. I love you
all and I will keep praying for you. Have a great week!

Elder Sorensen

7.15.09

Family!

Hey life is still doing great here in the Bronx and I'm loving every moment of it. We had mission conference last week and I was really impressed by the new mission president. He definitely has a different personality, but I know it will be really good for the mission. He seems really excited and from what I've heard he has a lot of great ideas for the upcoming trainings. We will be having a zone conference at the end of the week so we will be able to hear more from him then.

I am training Elder Wilkins this cycle and he has been doing really great. His Spanish is a lot better than when I first got into the field and he really has a drive to learn. From the other greenies I've seen I feel like I got the best pick so it should be great. I am doing the best I can to be patient as he learns all of the little rules we have and as help develops his Spanish and teaching skills. I think I will end up learning a lot more from training than he will learn from me. I have to teach all of the lessons by myself, plan, find everything is kind of on me for a little while. It is a little stressful but I'm excited to learn and we have had a couple of great days already this week and we are excited to keep moving forward.

The new area is coming a long slowly but surely. We have been working really hard to find new people in the new area but it is a lot of tough work. We have to spend a ton of time finding and so we are trying to think of more creative ways than knocking doors. Elder Wilkins brought a great idea from the mtc to use side walk chalk to write messages about plan of salvation, questions of the soul, ect. That was a lot of fun but we haven't seen too much success from it. We are trying to work with what members we have a surprisingly we have been getting a few referrals from them.

It's great to hear that you got to go visit Griff and everyone in Idaho; I hope they are all doing great. I wish I had more time to write everyone but there just isn't any time. The Lord is really providing for each us in each moment of our lives. He sees the big picture and knows all of the small things that need to be done for each and every one of our salvation. I am really excited to be able to be a small part of just a few people's salvation. I am doing all that I can to be an effective tool in the Lord's hand and I am really giving Him everything I've got. Thank you for your support and I hope you all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Sorensen

7.9.09

Family!
So I just gave birth today to my first son on the mission. His name is Elder Wilkins from Orem Utah. For some reason they trusted me to be a trainer and I guess we will see how it goes. Now not only am I opening a new area but I also have to train! I guess it will mostly me on me for a while. I am definitely a little nervous. New missionaries don't know anything and they expect me of all people to teach him everything. Elder Smith went home today along with a ton of other missionaries so it was sad to see them go.

So last week was a little bit of struggle but we worked hard and it paid of in the end. The area we are opening is actual part of my old area but because it was so far away and there was plenty to do here close Spanish missionaries haven't been there for a long time. So what they did was give part of my area to the ZL and gave me full metro so we can go out there whenever we want. We still have a part of our old focus area with a lot of members but in our new focus area there isn't very many members and no old investigators, referrals or any other useful information. So we have been trying come up with as many ideas to find new people but we just have been knocking a lot of doors and talking to people in the street.

All last week was really hard because we couldn't really find anyone out in our new area. We worked really hard but just didn't see any success. Only one old investigator came to church but we found out she is moving and the other investigator we had, Miguel who came to church, moved to our old area so now he's out. We gave the ZL three new investigators with a solid date from our old area and they all came to church. So every one we were working with is not longer in our area.

At the beginning of the week we found two people who were ok not too cool but other than that nothing. So we had a goal to find six investigators and by Sunday we only had two. We worked really hard but a lot of our appointments cancelled. But because we worked really hard the Lord blessed us with a few miracles. One of the appointments we set that cancelled, showed up so we were able to teach them. Miracle one, two new investigators. Miracle two, after tracking we found a couple equaling six new to hit our goal.

The biggest Sunday miracle was two new investigators that a member brought to church. It was from the ZL, they had been working to get that member to bring them to church so now they have a date and we are seeing them Friday. It is the sister and daughter of a really cool member so it should be a really good referral. So we ended up getting eight new investigators which was sweet!

Well I've got to run but I love you all. Sorry I can't write more I've run out of time. I didn't do much for the 4th, we had to be in the house by 6:00 and we just played a game of risk. Don't worry about sending a new suit, I have four and it's just the lining that's messed up. I plan on just using it until I can't and move on to my other suits. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Sorensen

7.01.09

Family,

Hey we had a great week and Dan**la's baptism went great. It was kind of a hard week because Mig**l, our strongest investigator kind of dropped off. He was having problems at home and so he decided to move out. It was really sad for us and we tried to help him but I guess the problem was just too much. I think he will be moving out of our area but I'm not too sure.

So we had a big change already and it looks like I've got a big challenge coming up next cycle. It should be a lot of fun but it will be a lot of hard work. I'm basically opening a new area in the mission that hasn't been touched by Spanish missionaries for a while. To explain my old area was really big and because lack of funds for metro, we never went to one big part of the area. We just worked in one part of the area like all of the missionaries before us and did well. Well they have given that part of the mission to the ZL (zone leaders) and given us full metro so we have to focus on that part of the area. It is really far a way and there aren't any members out there but we basically have to jump start the new area. It should be a lot of fun, but like I said, a lot of work.

Right now because of the area changes we don't really have any investigators or people to work with. We are really working hard to start over and find some people to teach. The new mission president also came in today and so that will be a big change. The large group of missionaries is going home next week so I will be getting a new companion. I hope he likes to find in an area I don't know.

I don't have too many people to tell you about because there not in my area any more but I will tell you a little about the baptism. Last Saturday Dan**la was baptized which was really great for me to see. I don't really feel like I did anything to help her be baptized. We didn't find her, a member did, she accepted everything we taught her, and from the beginning she was way excited to be baptized. While I don't think I taught her much I learned a lot of patience from her. She was always busy and so we were really struggling teaching her before the baptism. She was just always helping other people and didn't have time to help herself. At first I felt uncomfortable baptizing her because we had only actually taught herf like five times. But with a lot of pray and talking to my companion we both felt like we couldn't deny her of the blessing of baptism any longer so after teaching a very short version of everything, we baptized her.

Dan**la is an older Dominican lady who, elder smith and I think is crazy. Lol. She picked Elder smith to baptize her because he looks like Joseph Smith from the movie. She also gave us this ginseng extract which she described, would make us very hyper like her. It was funny working with her and I hope the ZLs take care of her as a recent convert. I am also worried about Fanny and her family because they aren't in my area so I can't keep teaching them. I hope the ZLs will have enough time to help them in this new crazy world of Mormonism.

Well I've got to run and go get my hair cut by the old makeup artist of the Cosbys. I love you all and hope you have fun playing with fire. Don't get into too much trouble. Thank you for your support and letters. I also got that picture and cd from mandee. She is growing up too fast and has too much of my good looks for her own good. The cd was blank so if you could try again that would be great. I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Elder Sorensen

6.23.09

Family!

Hey every one how's life? It was so cool to get hear about Griff's mission call! I am really excited for him. I haven't met too many people from Uruguay but I know they have a really cool accent and drink this tea called Mate. I think it tastes like alfalfa but whatever. And the fact that he is going to the Argentina MTC is sweet. Oh man he is going to have a lot of fun.

I had a really good week as usual with ten with member lessons. That is the most I've ever gotten and it is double standard of excellence. Still struggling getting people to church, but we are really focusing on it and learning a lot about how to teach people.

This past cycle has really past by fast and I can't keep track of time anymore. My companion goes home in a few weeks via car which is actually a funny story.His family wants to take a month long road trip home looking at every church history site, temple and grave yard they can find. The problem is they can't find a twelve passenger van for all of them to come so they are looking at buying a very cheap one that will probably break down on the way. My companion is kind of stressing out about it and I think it is really funny. Well at least he's not looking forward to being done! (Don't get any ideas mom! lol)

We have another baptism this Saturday with Dan**la and some of the other missionary's investigator. Teaching Dan**la may have looked easy because she came to church every Sunday, fed us lots of food and accepted whatever we taught her but it was a huge challenge. She doesn't work because she has a foot problem but because she has such a big heart she is always helping people and never had time to sit down with us. It was a huge challenge being patient enough to adapt to her up in the air schedule and I really had to humble myself to make sure she was ready to be baptized. I had to make sure we weren't going to baptize a less active and so we had to really question her and ourselves. There is the temptation of just wanting another baptism verse really converting someone. But we worked everything out and Elder Smith and I feel very comfortable baptizing her this Saturday and we are very excited.

We also made some really big steps with Mig**l. This whole time he hasn't accepted a baptismal date but last Saturday we went over the Plan with his wife and he accepted a date for the 25 of next month. He said he should know by then if he needs to be baptized and so Elder Smith and I are really praying that he will receive that answer which we know he will by then. He has come to church twice and is really learning a lot.

I also have seen a lot of wonderful things happen with Fa**i and her family. I sat by them at church last Sunday and it made me so happy to see their oldest daughter Ga**lea who is about five, sing the hymns, fold her arms and say amen to every prayer, and go to primary. We are still working with little Sa*d is about three but also have made some
really big steps with him. We think he had a bad experience in primary or just doesn't like being away from mom and dad but he really doesn't like going to primary. Last week I took him away from mom and dad and went to primary with him. I stayed for five minutes and then left and came back at the end of class. He seemed to have a fun time and it was a huge step for him.

Well I am doing super good and still loving the missionary life. I have developed a love for learning that I never thought would come and I hope it doesn't go away. I am really trying to improve my Spanish and my teaching skills. I am working hard and loving every moment of it. Thank you all for your support and everything you have given me. I hope you all have a great week and remember to keep the people of the Bronx in your prayers they sure need it! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love
Elder Sorensen

PS. Happy late Father's Day Dad! Card is in the mail. Got to go bye!

Hey family!

It sounds like you are all having a great start to your summer vacation with a little bit of crazy weather. We have had a lot of rain here and some thunderstorms but nothing too crazy. I'm working harder than ever lately and really pushing to improve and get people to church. I've really learned a lot from the older missionaries around me and so I'm trying to apply them and improve. I am also trying to work on my Spanish using any spare time to study.

We had a pretty good week with a lot of miracles. We had eight with member appointments which is really good. We were struggling all week to get new investigators but the Lord blessed us with a few little miracles in order to hit standard of excellence. No one new came to church so we have to work on coming to church. That seems to be the hardest thing to get people to do and so that is what we have to focus the most on. I know if we use our members and the scriptures well we can get them to church. That is another thing I'm really trying to work on, knowing the scriptures. I thought I had a fairly good knowledge of the scriptures before the mission, but I have a lot to learn so I'm really taking advantage on my study time to better know the scriptures.

Dan**la came to church for the fourth time in a row which is great but we are having trouble still finding time to teach her. She really wants to get baptized but we have to be able to teach her everything before. She is still doing well and we are really impressed with her church attendance.

Mig**l also came to church for the second time with his wife, the member and baby girl. The gospel principal's class was a little rough for them but I still think it was a good experience for them. The wife hasn't been to church in a long time and doesn't remember too much but we are also have trouble being able to teach her with Mig**l because she works nights and he works days. He is doing a little better and understanding more, I think it will just take time.

We had a great miracle last Monday which helped me better understand the power of prayer with faith. Last week we taught this Mexican couple who seemed interested but the husband works on Sundays. He expressed that he would go to church if he could but he needs his job. We said a prayer at the end of the lesson that he would be able to find a new job and then we left. Last Monday we found out that a half an hour after we left some one called and offered him a better job that works Monday through Saturday with Sunday off. It was a huge miracle and we helped him see that is the Lord providing a way to come to church. He won't be able to come this week because it's his last week but they are going to come next week.

Yesterday I went on a split with one of my Zone leaders to his area and I really learned a lot and we had an amazing day. We got 7 new investigators and 5 with members in one day! The Lord truly blessed us for working hard that day with some amazing new people. I also learned a lot from how Elder Sanders teaches and I am trying to apply them to my own teaching skills. I need to work on asking better questions and using the scriptures better.

I got the small package you all sent, thank you very much. It sounds like Mandee had a great time at EFY and both girls are having a great summer. If you guys could send a copy of the EFY cd that would be amazing. None of us have the 2009 efy so it would be sweet to have a new cd. I also am excited to hear about Griff's mission call, it doesn't matter where he goes, and he is going to do amazing. Well that's about it for me. I'm really having a great time and learning so much. I expected a lot of blessings from the mission but I never dreamed how much it really is. I am not only setting up for the rest of my life but for after too. I love bringing others into the gospel and it is worth all of the hard work. Thank you all so much for the support and everything you have given me. Keep up the good work and tell Griff to write me as soon as he gets his call. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Sorensen

6.11.09

Hey, here are some pics from the baptism.

Fa**y and her family and Chri**ian and the Me*ia family!

Family!

Hey family it's been nice to hear from you all and know that you had a great trip to Utah. It sounds like you are all doing so well and loving life. I had a great week with some trials and some blessings. I am trying to see more blessing than trials but I also know that blessings come from trials.

Our focus this week was to work with our members and try to take them out with us more often. We had a goal of 7 member presents and planned well for it but between the members and the investigators we fell really short of our goal. We learned a lot from last week and are trying to plan ahead to have more success.

One of our investigators named Mi**el finally came to church last week and he really loved it. He has been hanging on to his Catholic church for a long time and he still is, but coming to church was a huge step for him. We are really trying to teach him the doctrine of our church so he can see the need to be baptized again. Keeping things simple and clear are really going to help him understand better.

Dan**la, our date for the end of the month has been imposable to get a hold of this week but she still came to church last week. This is her third week in a row coming to church which is great but we still have to help her find time to have us teach her. There is a lot to teach and she isn't leaving us a whole lot of time. Hopefully things will work out and she will be baptized this month or the next.

We are pushing forward as best we can to find new and better investigators. We are really trying to give everything we can to turn our will to His. This is Elder Smith's last cycle so I am doing everything I can to help him see some miracles before he goes home. We are expecting miracles and I know they will come according to our faith.

So it sounds like you are all doing great and I am doing amazing. There is no place I would rather be and I am eager to see some more success. Thank you for all of your support and prayers, the people in the Bronx definitely need them. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love Elder Sorensen

PS. Dad, I didn't actually go out with that hair cut! lol
PPS. Happy Birthday Mandee! I can't believe your 16 and still alive. I hope you had a great day and a fun time at EFY. Don't let that spiritual high go away and always remember what you learned. Your big brother loves you a lot and actually thinks of you often. If you ever need my advice on anything you can write any time! Elder Sorensen