March 27, 2017

Hey everyone! This week was another good one! They seem to be going by so fast now days! It honestly

 kind of scares me how fast they are going! It is a good scary though! I will just get into it though!

Monday- Well being honest here Monday was a super boring day! We had some plans to go do some 

laundry at a members house, and while we were doing that go watch a priests baseball game that was 

right across the street, but the member canceled, and we never made it over to the baseball game, so 

we really didn't have to interesting of a day!

Tuesday- We went to the food pantry! It was once again slow! Elder Butler said before I came they were 

always super busy, but since I have came it has been so slow! After the service though we went on 

exchanges with a member! It was 85 degrees outside, and his truck had no air conditioning! To make

 it worse only one window rolled down! Then to put a cherry on top he kept trying to get the cold air to

 blow, so he would turn it on full blast trying to get it to kick in! It only blew HOT air! Elder Butler was

 sitting in front, and he kept turning it off saying "Ya it is just blowing warm air" and the guy would always

 turn it back on in a little while! It wouldn't have been so bad if at least one other window rolled down,

 but we lived! We also had a cool experience with a different member! We went to see this less

 active family! They haven't let people from the church into their home in a long time, and we tried 

by there, and they let us right in! It just goes to show that really people can't change no matter what! 

Wednesday- That one older guy who has all the medical problems came out with us again on Wednesday,

 and that was a ton of fun! We were trying by a ton of people house that we haven't talked to in a long

 time! So this guy has a really hard time getting out of the car, and into peoples houses, so if we are 

ever just stopping by we go knock on the door, and leave him in the car, and if they let us in we go

 get him, and help him in! Well this one house we went and knocked, and when we came back to 

get him there was the dog in his lap in the car! He said he opened the door to see this dog that had 

run up to him, and it just jumped in his lap like it belonged there! It was really funny!  So there is 

this Youth who is 16, and less active! We have been really trying to get him to come to young men 

activities, and so We got him to go to the one on Wednesday, but we and to go to! (I know how tough 

right?) the Activity was fishing, and a bonfire (It just gets worse and worse)! Now being truthful It 

was so much fun! I really like the Young men and there leaders here! 

Thursday- Our apartment manager (who is a member) Asked us to come help start cleaning up our 

upstairs neighbors apartment because they randomly just left! It was one of the nastiest houses/ 

apartments that I have ever stepped foot in! There was trash, and dog poop, and stuff 

EVERYWHERE!!!!!! It was one of the grossest things of my life! I honestly can't believe that people

 live like that! That took quite some time, but after dinner we went and visited a less active black 

member! I point out that he is black because he really loved sports! Well I really love sports, and 

we had a hour and a half talk about mostly football, and then he said the closing prayer! I thought 

it was a pretty fail lesson mostly on my part, but the member that was with us said that it was the 

first time he had saw him pray, and he is his home teacher, so it was actually way cool! 

Friday- We had a Zone Conference in Fayetteville! It was pretty good! It got kind of weird because 

some Missionaries asked some pretty deep doctrine questions that didn't really matter, but it was 

cool! One of the best parts about it was I got to see Elder Durrant, and Elder Jackson! It was way

 good to see both of them! After the conference we had to drive a little farther to Bentonville to

 get a bike rack! On the way home it started to RAIN!!! At one point I was going like 20, and 

couldn't see 5 feet in front of the car! It was crazy! The whole 2 and a half our ride was just hard 

rain! The cool part was about 15 minutes to Poteau it all cleared up, and was sunny! It makes me

 think that if we can endure our trials even though at times it seems like you have no idea if you 

are even going in the right direction! There is always sunshine of the other side waiting for you! 

Saturday- Well this day was boring, and most of it was knocking doors, but there was not a ton 

of success so nothing really to report there! 

Sunday- It was a pretty good Sunday! Although we got surprised, and had to teach 2nd and 3rd

 hour, but I think that both of the lessons turned out pretty good! We did have 5 non members at 

church though which was way cool! 

Well honestly that was the highlights of my week! General conference is this week, so I am

 pumped for that! I hope you all have a great week!

Love Elder Jordan Sorensen

March 20, 2017

Hey everyone! This week was another good one! It seems like at this point, most of them are at least good! This one will be a little shorter because it has been less days, but it was good! 

Wednesday- It was a pretty good day! We went up to Fort Smith, and played basketball! It was a ton of fun! Our whole zone was there, and It was a good, much needed day of basketball! After we got back to Poteau we got invited to go to Young mens activity! They were blowing up tannerite, and shoot clay pigeons! We also made hobo dinners! I didnt get the chance to shoot (because I am a missionary) That was kind of rough, but it all was still fun! The Young Men here are really cool! There isnt a ton of them, but I like them! 

Thursday- It was a pretty long day Thursday! Elder Olsen didnt start packing until 11:30 and we had to get up at 5, so there wasnt a ton of sleep that night! We had to go to Springdale to transfer point, and that is about a 2 hour drive! It was so good to see some of the missionaries that I havnt saw in a while! I got to go to lunch with Elder Jackson! That is always fun! After transfers was all said and done we had a few minutes, and so we went and checked out the University of Arkansas football stadium! We also checked out a few cool stores in Fayetville! It was a pretty fun day! We didnt make it home until late, so it was a long day! I also got to come back to an actual bed for the first time in a transfer, so that was a huge blessing!!!!

Friday- We took Friday, and took most of the morning and was planning! It was kind of rough, but we got through it, and tried to have a good time with it! Friday was actually the best day of the week! around 5 Seth Naef, formally known as Elder Naef came with Ciera Harper from Tahleqauh, and visited with me! Honesty it was awesome! I have really missed both of them! They are both doing really good! At 5:30 Seth let me know that it was St. Patrick's day! Honestly I had no idea the whole day! 

Saturday- We had a member come out with us who is the biggest example to me! He is like 80 years old, He had a stroke about 2 years ago, so he cant walk, he has all sorts of medical conditions, and yet he is at church every single Sunday, and he comes out with the missionaries at least once a week! He is an amazing man!  Unfortunately we didnt have a ton of success! We were trying to find less actives at the edge of our area, and we had 6 names, and addresses! 3 of those addresses were vacant lots that didnt even have a house on them, but they had the mail box! That was kind of weird! We had a ton of fun with the member though! That night we had a Taco fry at a members house with a few families active, less active, and non members alike! It was a ton of fun, and way good I might add! 

Sunday- We had Church, and Honestly it was a pretty basic day of church! Nothing to crazy happened! We did go to a way fun families house for after church dinner! It was fun they lived in Hawaii for a few years, so they made us some Hawaiian food! It was way good! Then we went and took the Sacrament to a few Shut ins!

Honestly that was the highlights of my week! This coming week should be another good one! I sure love and miss you all a bunch! 

March 15, 2017

Hey everyone! This week has been a long, but good one! I tell you these transfer weeks when we have to wait an extra two days sometimes they feel way long! It was a good week though!

Monday- We had hair cuts in the morning! It was way weird because a member scheduled them for us, and they were at 7:45 in the morning! They went great, but it was weird to have it that early! The rest of the day was slow! We took a pretty good nap that was much needed! 

Tuesday- In the morning a member texted us, and asked us to move a piano! They said it was super heavy, so we were way nervous, but it was a pretty basic piano, so it wasn't to bad at all! Afterwards we went to that food pantry, and helped out there! There was literally not one person that came in, so we were pretty bored the whole time, but we tried to find ways to entertain ourselves, so it wasn't to bad! We had a member take us out to eat a pizza buffet for dinner! While I was getting food one of the workers came up, and started to talk to me! We were keeping a pretty casual conversation going on when all of a sudden out of random she told me that she had the next day off work! It was kind of weird, and then I noticed she wasnt doing anything at the buffet she was just picking up spatulas and putting them back down trying to stay there! Now she wasn't an ugly girl, so It got a little weird so I wrapped up the conversation! It turns out Elder Olsen was standing there the whole time! We both concluded she was hitting on me, and wanted me to ask her on a date the next night! It was a good feeling to know that I still got it!! 

Wednesday- We had a normal district meeting in Sallisaw! That was way good! I learned a ton at that one!  After district meeting we have an investigator living in a care center! We were teaching her when this CRAZY lady came up to us, and just starts talking! Honestly I could write a whole weekly email just on that hour! She talked and talked and talked! The funniest thing she said was when some people next to us wernt listing to her read a pamphlet we gave her she said very loudly "DO YOU WANT ME TO STOP PREACHING? DO YOU WANT ME TO STOP PREACHING?? BECAUSE IM NOT GOING TO< SO YOU ARE JUST GOING TO HAVE TO LEAVE!" Then she went right on reading! It was so funny I about died of laughter! 

Thursday- Honestly Thursday was super slow again! We did a ton of planning! The only interesting thing that happened on Thursday is that we went on a split, and Elder Olsen and I went and visited a less active sister who is black! She was way funny! It was a pretty boring day though! 

Friday- We did a lot of less active work that day, and didnt have much sucsess! It was Elder Olsens 19th birthday, so we did have a little party at our Branch Mission Leaders house that was a ton of fun! 

Saturday- Elder Butler and I took on a challenge of changing a riding lawn mowers belts while Elder Olsen went and visited people! Well we worked on that dang mower for 4 hours! It seemed like every time we fixed a problem it caused another one! It was a mess, but I had a blast doing it! Again this day was a pretty boring day besides that, so I dont have a ton to report for it! 

Sunday- Well as you all are probably aware it was Daylight savings which sprung forward! That sucked lol! We had Branch Conference! It was way good, but one of the weird parts is they had us sing with the youth in a choir! It went ok though! The rest of the day we went to a members house, and helped them clear some wood! 

Monday- We had district meeting in Fort Smith! It was an intense district meeting! So we were asked to instruct as a companionship! Well Elder Crowther was talking, and all of a sudden None other than President Loveland came in, and sat right on down next to me! Not 2 minutes after we did some role plays, and President was my partner! Talk about intimidating! It went ok, and our instruction went pretty good I think as well! We also went fishing with a less active member! It was a ton of fun! It was way windy though, so that made it kind of rough! I got a letting in the mail that is setting up my flight home! I need to mail it back with some information! That is kind of crazy to think about! Time is sure flying by! 

Tuesday- It was another boring day, and this email is already long, so I wont go into it, but at night we got our transfer calls! Elder Olsen is being transferred to Springfield, and Elder Butler and I are staying together in Poteau! I am way excited for that! 

Well the only other thing I have is today is officially my 20th month mark!!!!! TIme is sure flying by out here! I love you and miss you all a ton!! 

Love Elder Sorensen 

Ps The first is of us fishing (obviously) and the second is of that lady at the care center who was "preaching" to us! 

March 6, 2017

Hey everyone! This week was a pretty good one! There was some rough patches, but for the most part it turned out alright! 

Monday- Monday was a really really really good day! After we got done emailing we got a call, and they said our car is done! Due to the fact of they have told us this 3 other times we proceeded with caution, but It turns out that it was really done!! That was a good day to finally after 3 weeks get our car back!! It was pretty funny we went out to a families house for dinner, and they have a few younger dogs! Well they started to "fight"! It was mostly play fighting, but they were growling pretty loud! Elder Butler doesnt like dogs very much, and they started to get closer to him, and he hopped up on the couch, and was trying as hard as he can to get higher! It was pretty funny to watch him! We also had a pretty good time with this family! I would give you the details on what we did, but due to the fact that my mom posts this on the internet, and some of the wrong people might read it I will leave you guessing lol! It wasn't anything to bad though!

 Tuesday- We went out to do our service at the food pantry, and it is such a huge blessing to have that car! It is about a 5 minute drive in the car compared to a 30 minute bike ride! It was pretty slow at the food pantry though! It seems like there is never people there, so I dont even know what goes on there! So i learned something on Tuesday, I learned that it is said Chest of Drawers, and not chesterdrawers! Mine was really crappy, so a member got a free one, and gave it to me, and we had a little English lesson, and I learned how to properly say Chest of Drawers!! 

Wednesday- We had district meeting in Sallisaw again! It was pretty good! Elder Crowther, our district leader, does a pretty good job with district meetings! We were going over the first discussion trying to become better at teaching it! After the meeting we went on Exchanges! Elder Thomas came with Elder Butler and myself to Poteau! We had a pretty good time! It is always good to have a mix up! For some weird reason we exchanged back later that night, so that was kind of weird, but it wasnt to bad I guess! 

Thursday- Well for some reason Thursday always seems to be the slowest days of the week, and once again it was slow! We did a lot of knocking doors, and i swear we knocked for a couple of hours, and not one door answered! We gave up on that idea and started by less actives! Eventually we were all in a super bad mood, and really not wanting to do anything! I whipped out my penny  board, and taught them how to ride it! Ultimatly they loved it, and said that they are going to buy one if they stay with me another transfer, so I think that I did alright in lighting the mood up! 

Friday- Well Elder Olsen felt sick, and was being a really big jerk! He didnt want to leave the apartment, so we left him there! I know that it probably wasnt the best idea, but i was pretty done with him, so Elder Butler and I went out, and had a pretty good day! We talked to a bunch of people, and even got to install a air conditioner unit into someones window! That was pretty interesting! We sure jimmy rigged that bugger in there, but it sure is staying! We also had an opportunity to go on a short 5 minute hike, and it was way cool! We found a sick view that if i remember to attach it we have some pictures! 

Saturday- There was a youth temple trip, and they also invited a recent convert that got baptized before i got here to go! He was planning on going, and that means that we were going to be able to go with them as well! Well Saturday morning he called us, and said he was sick, so he couldnt make it! That kind of sucked honestly! Instead of spending the day in the temple we finished up trying by all the less actives in Poteau! So far we havent had to much luck with them, so we are going to try a few of the other towns in our area next! Saturday night a youth wanted me to cut his hair, so i was able to do that! It turned out pretty good! I dont want to brag, but it wasnt bad! 

Sunday- We had chruch, and it went alright! It was fast and testimony meeting, and it was a pretty good meeting actually! After church Elder Butler and Elder Olsen had a 2 and a half hour talk with each other! The whole time they were trying to figure everything out I was talking with that member I was telling you about when I first got here that was wearing blue jeans and boots to church! He is so awesome! He gave me a bar of homemade soap! He is so funny! 

Well that was the main highlights of me week! Just for your information next week is transfers, so i will not be emailing until Wednesday! I sure love and miss you guys so much!!

Elder Jordan Sorensen