November 28, 2016

Hey Everyone! This week Was another good week! 

On Monday we went down to St. Robert to go play Basketball on the Military post! It was pretty
 fun! There were 7 of us there! It was Elder Durrant, Myself, Elder Hess, Elder Coley, Elder
WIlcox, Elder Roy, and a youth from St. Robert! It was pretty good! We played for a few hours!
Afterwords I went on exchanges with the zone leaders! I went to St. Robert with Elder Wilcox!
I am not going to lie I was a little nervous to go with him! He used to be an Assistant to the
President, so it was a little nerve racking to go with him, but we had a good time, and I really
like him! We went to a dinner with a part member family, and they made us Chili! I am not the
best at eating hot food, and this chili had some spice to it! The Husband made the chili, and
the wife took a bit and yelled at him for making it to hot, and he said that its not even hot! He
looked at us like we were supposed to be on his side! Neither one of us said anything for a minute,
so I just piped up and said "Ya its not bad" That was a big mistake! He went and got this powder
stuff and put it in my chili and im pretty sure it  burned a hole in my stomach! It was so HOT!!!!!!!
I honestly dont know how I managed to eat the whole bowl! My tongue was numb the rest of
the day! Then we moved part of a 3 piece couch from the apartment to a less active members
 house! The house was like 30 minutes away, so we couldnt get it all in one trip so Monday
 night we took the first part! It was so Heavy!  The zone leaders have a truck so we just put
it in there, but it didnt quite fit! We had about 6 inches hanging over the edge! We got the only
tie down we had! It was a tie down with only one clip on the one side, and we jimmy riged the
 tie down and we headed off! We made it there and got the couch in safely! We got hung up
on the door for a little, but we got it in! It was about 9, so we had to head on back!

On Tuesday I spent the whole day in St. Robert with Elder Wilcox! We started off by doing
service at a food pantry that they always do service at! (It seems like a pretty common thing
that all missionaries do on Tuesday) It was honestly some of the worst service I have done
 this time! All we did was take canned food, and move it from carts (and there was like 50
of them) to shelves and  stack them and organize them! it was bad, but to make it worse I
 stood up to fast one time, and hit my forhead on the corner of a shelf, and started to bleed!
 It was funny though, and after a little it stopped, but my head is fine! So we went around,
and saw a bunch of people, and taught some really good lessons, but I dont remember the
peoples names that we taught because it was just a one time thing! At about 8 we decided
 we could take the 2nd part of the couch to that ladies house! This piece was the biggest
piece! It stuck out of the truck like 2 feet! We still only had the one crappy tie down, so this
 time it was not in there so secure! We still had to drive the 30 minutes, and some of it was
on the freeway! To top it all off it was raining pretty hard! There were some times were the
 couch looked like it was going to fall out! We made it there safe and sound though! The
couch was soaking wet, but at that point I was just happy it made it there! This time her kids
 were awake thought, and she has this one kid named Jake! He is about 3 years old, and He
 is a missionary legend! His nickname is "Naked Jake" He is always naked! Well when i first
got there he had his clothes on, and about 5 minutes into it he ran into the other room, and
 ran out butt naked! It was really funny because we kept trying to get him to go in the other
 room, and he would, but then he would run back in still butt naked! It was kind of funny though! 

On Wednesday before we went to district meeting to exchange back there was a member
 of St Robert who had a turkey bowl game that day, and wanted us to come watch him! It
was way funny he was so pumped up! He was the starting corner! (This was a military game,
so it was pretty official) Anyways he had a sweet one handed interception! After the game we
drove up to Rolla to have our District meeting! It went pretty good! After the meeting we
exchanged back, and it was good to be back in Sullivan! It was a pretty normal day, but at
about 8 Jacob (The youth we always play basketball with) was texting us some mad trash
talk, so we went and beat them in basketball like normal! It was pretty fun though! 

On Thursday it was Thanksgiving! We had Dinner with family at 2! Well they told us two!
We got there, and they wernt close to being done with the food, so we just played with the
kids! They had about 10 kids there, and they were all younger then 10, so it was fun, but
kind of loud! The food was really good though! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! I love
 to just eat! After we had a Turkey Bowl with our district in Rolla! The sisters in Rolla were
talking up this turkey bowl saying it was going to be the best! They said it was going to be
on a nice field (it was in a members back yard) they said a lot of YSA members were going
to be there (there was 1) They said that there would be a ton of members (There was 3 and
 they all lived at the house) Now despite all that It was still a ton of fun! We played for a few
 hours and it was a ton of fun! 

On Friday we went out to Owensville We visited with Sister Burlison! She was way funny today!
 to be honest I dont remember any funny stories that she told us, but it was such a funny time
 to be over there! We had to go to Rolla to get something from the Salem Elders so we ended
 up eating lunch with them, and a member! It was a pretty good time! When we got back to
 Sullivan we had a referral! We went in, and the house was NASTY!! It is not the worse house
 I have been in, but it was bad enough that Elder Durrant and I both had to go back to the
apartment and change, so we could get the smell off of our clothes! It was way nasty!  They
had a bunch of dogs, and they smoked, and it was just bad! 

On Saturday It was a pretty slow the day but it was funny one of our investigators talked to
 their preacher about us, and googled Mormons, so they got into a bunch of Anti! Well they
 started asking about it, and every single question they had we just shut it right now, and gave
 them the truth! It was really good! it was the best times i have had with Anti! We had dinner
 with this one family, and they fed us chili! For all yall who knew me before my mission you
would be surprised I actually dont mind chili anymore, and i used to hate spaghetti, but now
i dont think its that bad! Its weird to see that those two things that i used to not like at all now
 I dont think they are bad! 

On Sunday it was Johns Confirmation! It went pretty good! Elder Durrant Did it! It was kind of
 funny John wore a Marlboro jacket! It was just kind of funny that that is what he wore to when
 he got confirmed! We did our fast sunday this week because our stake conference is next week!
A guy who was visiting got up, and he was from tonga, so he bore his testimony in tongan! His
name was said something like hocky, but i think it was spelled something like Hichi or something!
 He was cool though! After church we went to visit this guy, and all of his family was asleep,
so he asked if we could do a lesson outside! It was COLD!!!! It was about 45 degrees with a
 20 mile an hour winds! It was a great lesson! It was cool as soon as we started with the lesson
 I dont ever remember being cold! The Spirit was pretty strong there! I really like the lesson
we had! At night we went to a member who moved in! He is like a 70 year old guy! He is
CRAZY!! All he wants to talk about is how is wife died and his and her whole mission now
is for him to find anther wife to marry so he can bring them to the Celestial Kingdom! It was
 a crazy talk! Well that was my week! I love and miss yall

Love Elder Sorensen 

P.S. Only 27 days until Christmas 

November 21, 2016

Hey Everyone!

This week was a pretty good week! 

On Monday we went down to Rolla like we do most Mondays, and we were Penny boarding through the college campus that is there! They have a perfect down hill all the way through it! Well on our first run down the hill (we usually do a bunch) There was a bunch of people, and I think there was a few outside classing going on! I was feeling pretty confident in myself, so at this one part where you kind of slow down for a second I was going to give myself a few extra pushes in, so I could get going fast, well as I went to push I ran over a acorn, and my board stopped! I however, did not stop! I ended up with a few good scraps! A bunch of people saw me wreck though, and they thought it was pretty  funny! All and all it was still a good time! After we got done there we went to another spot where there is a pretty good hill, but the only problem is at the bottom of the hill there is about a block, and then a busy road were if we go down we have a stop sign! The hill is big enough that it is worth it to go down, so what we would do is have 3 of us ride down, and the other one would wait at the bottom and give us the thumbs up or down as to if we can go through the road with all the traffic! It was a pretty fun time! We did that for a few hours! 

On Tuesday we were in this ghetto apartment complex! We were looking for James! He is the guy who basically got us in the gang! We haven't saw him in a while, so we went to where he lives to see if we could run into him! He didn't answer his door! While we were at his door some little kid in the other apartment building just started screaming to his parents "Mom, Dad Its Elder Lenard!! Hes back! Mom Dad Elder Lenard is back! He changed his hair, and the other guy looks different, but hes back!" Well went to go talk to them after, and he realized we western Elder Lenard, and then they didn't really want to talk to us, but that was really funny! We ran into this guy who was their neighbor, and he let us in to talk with him! While we were talking with him he told us that James had died! It was crazy! He kept telling us more info about it, and it seemed to line up with the James we knew! We didn't get a for sure that it was him though! (There is more to the story, but it will come later) So at this point we didn't know if James was dead or alive, so that was weird! We started to teach this guy, and  he was super open he was answering all our questions, and then he stopped and said "Wait is the the religion that Worships Joseph Smith?" Elder Durrant said " No We don't Worship him! He was a prophet just like Prophets in the Bible, but we don't Worship him" Instantly the guy stopped answering questions, and stopped talking to us about really anything! It was just crazy to me that some people get so stiff necked that they wont even talk to us after they know who we are! Tuesday was also my 16 month mark! That means I have been out for 2/3 of my mission now! That is so crazy how fast time is flying by out here!

On Wednesday we went out tracting in this trailer park! There is usually a ton of crazy people that live in trailer parks! This time however there was some pretty good potentials! We talked to this lady Named Britney! She has 3 kids, and is really interested in reading the Book of Mormon! When we asked her if she would read it and pray about it she said that she defiantly will do that, so that is a really good sign! The other potential we had in there was a family of 3 people and they all have had interaction with the church! They said they will read the Book of Mormon, but where unsure about coming to church, so we will see what happens there! At 7 pm we were asked to do an activity with the youth! They did live action Clue, so we were some of the Characters that gave them clues, and they were detectives, so it was kind of fun to do that with them! 

On Thursday we had a combine district meeting in St. Robert! Our whole zone came together and have a meeting! Elder Shaw (the other district leader) and I set up the meeting! It went pretty good, but during the meeting President Loveland came and had Interviews with us! I was almost last, and didn't go to after our meeting was over, so we were out throwing a football, and someone came and told me that it was my turn! I hurry and ran in there, and had the meeting! It went pretty good! Nothing to exciting happend during it, but about half way through he just stopped and said Oh ya don't you have a baptism interview I need to do? He just pulled Elder Durrant, and John in with me, and we had our interview! John passed, and it was really good! After my interview President Loveland game me a hug and said "Oh you are sweaty" (That is because I was out playing football) Then he said "I must have not got it cold enough in here" I didn't really say anything I just let him think what he wants to lol! We went on exchanges with Salem, and I went to Salem with Elder Hess! We got back to Salem pretty late because we didn't leave St. Robert until 7ish, and it was about an hour drive, so we didn't get to do a whole lot that night 

On Friday Elder Hess and I did a lot of service with a member there! The funnest part was we went to a care center and did a little bowling game with all of the ladies! They were way funny! After like 3 or 4 rounds I asked the one lady if she was ready to go again, and she said in all seriousness "I haven't gone yet, but I would love to go" It was funny, but sad at the same time! We just went around the rest of the day helping members with a bunch of different kinds of stuff! After Dinner we Exchanged back, and I went back to Sullivan! 

On Saturday it got COLD!!!! It went from 80 degrees a few days before to 40 degrees! It seemed like it was the dead of winter because it was such a huge change! Missouri Weather is weird! For dinner we went over to a members house, and the wife says she was sick all day, so she didn't cook food! She ordered food! When we got there she asked if we were in a hurry because she had to go get the food! We said no thinking it was ready she just had to go pick it up! Well she didn't order it until she got there, so about an hour later she came back to the house! It was kind of funny! After dinner we went and played basketball with the youth in our ward! We played outside, and it was FREEZING! It was like 28 degrees and i was out there in a short sleeved shirt and tie! It was fun though!

ON Sunday We had a dang good day! In Ward Council before church it was kind of weird! They invite us to every meeting, and during this one they had a 20 minute discussion about our dinner calendar like we wern't even there! They didn't ask for our opinions or anything, so that was kind of weird! After Church we had John's baptism! It went great! It was really good to have a baptism again! It was way cool to see all the support that John is getting from the ward as well! While he was getting changed after the baptism during the little intermission we played a video for everone to watch! After they got back, and changed we started the program back up, and a Kid who has Autism came runnin in and just yelled "I got your video pulled up" He thought we wanted him to show the video, so he was trying to get it on his grandpas laptop! It was really funny! He is a good kid he is just really loud! 

It is also my comps birthday today, so we had a little party last night! Thats what these other pictures are from! 

Well that was really my week! It was a pretty good one! I miss and love you all! I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving! 

Love Elder Sorensen

aww shoot I forgot to finish my story about James! He actaully is alive! The guy who died is named Jamie and James just is in Prison, so thats good, but bad! 

November 14, 2016

Hey everyone!
This week was a good week! As you know I emailed last week on Wednesday, so this one might be a little shorter, but I will see what I can do! on Wednesday we went to Rolla, and we were with The Salem Elders and the Rolla sisters! We were going to go do stuff, but ultimately we ended up in a parking lot for 3 hours ridding penny boards, and tossing a football around! It was pretty fun though! At dinner we ate with a guy who is very interesting! I think he might have some form of autism, but nothing is confirmed! He is like 35 and he lives with his mom because he has to take care of her! He is the king of boosting! Boosting is when you add to the truth to make yourself sound cool! He says all sorts of stuff such as He is fluent in German (he is not he only knows how to say hello)! We try to be nice to him, so we go along with his stories! Sometimes they get way crazy, and we just cant help but bust up laughing! Wednesday we were trying to get him to do the Saltine Challenge! That is where you have to eat 6 saltine crackers in 1 minute! He said he hated them, so he wont do it! We moved on to the Cinnamon challenge! That is where you have to eat a spoon full of Cinnamon! He claimed he eats a mouth full of cinnamon every morning! We called him out on it, so he tried it, and it was so funny he like coughed and was puffing out clouds of cinnamon, and we about lost it! It was so funny!
On Thursday we taught John a lesson! He is a homeless guy who lives in his van! We had a lesson at a members house! That lesson went really well, and as of right now John is going to be baptized on Sunday! I am really excited for that! It is always good to have a baptism, and i haven't had one in a while, so i really hope this one works out! We went to a less actives house right at sundown, and the kids wanted to play basketball really bad, so we were out there in the pitch black trying to shoot hoops with them! After a few lucky shots, and a bunch of close calls we decided we better quite playing, but it was way fun! After that Elder Durrant left some stuff in Salem's jeep when we were together Wednesday, so we had to go to Rolla to meet in the middle so Elder Durrant could get it back, and we went to dinner with the Salem Elders, and that was pretty fun!
On Friday we went out to Owensville like we do every other friday! We visited with this older couple, and the lady talked for about an hour about how she used to raise Chihuahuas , and she showed us pictures of all of them, and remembered all of their names it was crazy because there was at least 100 dogs! That night we went and played basketball with some youth! We played this game called Tips! Well Elder Durrant and I worked them! We never lost! we played for like an hour and a half, and never lost!
Saturday a Recent convert set up an apointment to cut our hair! We had to run up there because it was free, so those are always nice! Fun Fact i have never paid for a hair cut on my mission! After the lady cut my hair she asked me when are next transfers and i told her December, and she said perfect this is what we are going to do! She then laid out my "hair plan" So i guess thats good when your hair stylist has a plan right lol? For dinner that night this lady was making us chicken strips that she says everyone LOVES them, so we went in there, and there was a ton of anticipation, and they were about the most average chicken strips in the world lol, but she acted like the were the best thing known to man kind! After dinner those youth we creamed in basketball were callin for a rematch so we played with them, and again dominated, but we did loose the 2nd game, but won every other one, so in the end everyone walked a way happy!
Sunday we found a few potential investigators, so I am really excited about them! They are younger kids, but really loved what we talked about the Book of Mormon!
Well That was my week! I love and miss you guys
Love Elder Sorensen

November 9, 2016

Hey Everyone!

This week has been a pretty good week! Last Monday was Halloween and we went to St. Robert and played basketball! It was a pretty good time! We played for a few hours, and then we went with Salem and we spent the day with them! We had a really good time! It was a fun day! Tuesday was an interesting day! We were out and we ran into a member! This is that older guy who works at Dominos that I talked about last week! He said something really funny this time! He was talking about how he can usually guess what race someone is by their orders and he made a pretty harsh statement about black people, and me and Elder Durrant started busting up laughing, and this is what he said "What guys? Thats not Racist! It is not racist if its true" We about died laughing! It was really funny because he was so serious! Wednesday was pretty good We had a zone training meeting in St. Robert! It was pretty good to go and see all those Missionaries! The thing that we are going over in all our meetings this month is The Gospel of Jesus Christ! It is pretty cool to go over it! It is one of those things that makes you realize how important the basics really are! One thing that I have been trying to focus on latley is not worrying about deep doctrine or anything like that, but rather I am trying to study the basic stuff, and see how I can apply that better to me right now! It has been pretty good! Its crazy how much that stuff makes you so much more happy! I have been really enjoying studying that! On Thursday our Zone Leaders called us and asked us to come down to St. Robert to do a baptism interview! When we got there it was a 80 year old lady who is from the Philippines! The interview was crazy! So this lady was hard core Catholic! I dont know if im allowed to share stuff from those interviews, but they were SOOOOO funny, so i am going to! I have 3 really funny things she said! First I asked her what she understood about the Law of Tithing she said "Tithing is the  all the energy that you give to show the Lord you are grateful" I didnt fully understand her because of her accent, so i said "you give 10% right?" and she said "Oh ya thats what I ment! It is 10% of your money you give to the church" The second funny part was I asked her "What do you understand about the Word of Wisdom? " She answered  "It is the Wisdom in the Word of God" I said something like "Right we see how God gives us Directions like what not to put in our body right?" and She said "Oh ya right right, and then listed all of the things that are against the Word of Wisdom! The last funny thing that happend is she said the closing prayer!  I said the opening prayer, and so she agreed to say the closing prayer! It was SOOOOO FUNNY she said a Catholic memorized prayer, and part of that prayer she blessed "The Holy Catholic Church" I about died laughing after i walked out because in her interview for baptism she blessed the Catholic church! It was so funny! Friday was a pretty normal day! We taught a really good lesson with John! He is a guy who is investigating the church! He is a little interesting! I am not sure how much he is comprehending, but he seems to like it! We set a baptism date with him! We set it for November 19th! I hope he can make it!  Saturday we took John to a baptism in Rolla, and it was interesting! The guy who preformed the baptism messed up on both of the people baptisms like 3 times! John seemed to like the baptims, so i guess thats what matters! Sunday was pretty good! It was fast and testimony meeting! It was funny there was a few people hinting at the election over the pulpit, so that was kind of funny! Monday We had district meeting, and it was ok! Everyone was talking about transfers, so there wasnt a ton of discussion going on! After the meeting we went to Wendys to eat lunch, and we were throughing a football in the parking lot after we ate, and we got kicked out of the parking lot, so that was kind of funny! Yesterday was a long day It was the day we got transfer calls! I am in the spot where I could be transfered, so i was trying to figure out if we were staying! Well we got our calls at 9 pm and I am staying in Sullivan with Elder Durrant for another transfer! I am pretty excited! This transfer goes until December 15th! I am pretty excited! Well that was my week! I love and miss you guys

Elder Sorensen