April 26, 2017

Hey Everyone! This week was a pretty good week! It was actually pretty fast considering there was a few extra days since I have talked to you! I will just get right into it! 

Monday- We went up to Fort Smith, and played basketball, and volleyball! It was a pretty fun time! We have a pretty fun zone!! We played for a few hours, and had fun most of the time! 

Tuesday- We had service at that food pantry, and it was a little bit busy, but not to bad! I really like helping there because my job is I help people load up the food in their car, so it is way fun to talk to everybody, and it is a great missionary opportunity!! After we went to a less actives house, and we talked to them for a little bit! They are interesting! It is a mom (in her late 50s early 60s) and her two sons (26 and 30)! They dont ever leave the house, and the one son vapes so much! He was smoking his vape more than any body I have ever seen in my life! It was kinda nasty! 

Wednesday- We had our district meeting this week, and this one was really weird! It was an hour longer than normal and we had members there who we practiced teaching on! It was way weird, but good I think!! We helped a member fix a cabinet that some former missionaries had built! Let me tell you some people dont know they basics on how to build something! This cabinet was Jacked up!!! It took quite a while to get to where it was some what normal!!! Then that night we went with the young men! They shot skeet, so we got put as the designated skeet throwers! It was way fun to throw! Even though we didnt get to shoot it was a ton of fun!! 

Thursday- It was our planning day, so the morning took up most of that! Our branch had a Family History Discovery day where we did a bunch of Family History things! We spent most of the day inviting people to that, and then we went to that event! It was pretty fun! I learned a ton of things! 

Friday- So we got our hair cut on Friday morning, and we went to a beauty college to do it! I was super nervous because that place looked super dumpy, but it turned out to be a pretty good hair cut! We had an exchange with a member, and we spent a lot of time visiting less active members! We also go a few things ready for our baptism! 

Saturday- We got to the church, and started filling up the font! I tell you what, There is no better sound that a font filling up! It really is such an amazing sound! S. got baptized, and it went really good! It was so cool to see her finally get baptized because we had a long and crazy process with getting her there! It was pretty funny for dinner a member took us to a restaurant that describes Oklahoma! It was a catfish buffet! It was in an old barn that they converted to a restaurant, and all the wall were ply wood! The food was soooo good though! I tell you what, It may not look pretty, but it tasted amazing! 

Sunday- Church went really good! S.was confirmed, and it went really good! After that It was a pretty funny day at church! I was asked to speak, so I had this talk prepared! Well I was the 2nd speaker, and Elder Butler was supposed to be the 3rd speaker! There was a lady speaking, and then a musical number, and then me! Well this member gave a 40 minute talk about family history, and then there was a musical number, so by the time It was my turn to speak it was about 10 after 11! I gave about a 5 minute talk! Elder Butler got up and bore his Testimony! Then we closed it all up! As soon as the meeting was over our Branch President informed us that we were teaching Gospel Doctrine! I have no problem teaching a lesson on the spot if it is an easy topic, but the topic was The Law of Consecration! It was interesting lol! 

Monday- Since it is transfer week we had District meeting on Monday! That was pretty fun! There is an Elder in our District and it is his Last transfer, so it was kind of fun we sang the Hymm "God Be With You TIll We Meet Again" To him! We had some way good teaching apointments with some less actives, and then had an amazing lesson with our investigator Matt! He was given some Anti Mormon stuff, and we were able to bare testimony to him, and he said that he was going to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith to know for himself which is true! It was AWESOME!!!!

Tuesday- Tuesday was interesting!! We had a lunch with some members where they fed us BBQ! We ate with them around 1! I ate a ton, and got super full! We had an appointment with a returning less active at 3! It turns out she was planning on feeding us as well! I almost made myself sick eating! It was also Elder Butlers Birthday so our dinner threw a birthday party for him as well! It was a ton of fun! We got Transfer calls as well! Elder Butler is Leaving, and I am staying! I am getting a missionary I have never met! His name is Elder Augustus! I am also District Leader again! This transfer should be a good one! 

Well that was my week! I sure love you and miss you guys! 

Love Elder Jordan Sorensen

April 17, 2017

Hey Everyone! Happy Late Easter! I had a pretty good week! Just a forewarning I didn't take a single picture this week, so there won't be any on here today! I am sorry about that, and I will work on it for next week! I did have a pretty good week though! 

Monday- We went to Fort Smith on Monday, and played some basketball! It was a ton of fun! It was much needed to! It had been a while since I had the opportunity to do that, so it was great! That was about the only exciting thing that happened on Monday! 

Tuesday- We helped out at that food pantry! It was an average day there! There was a new lady working there, and she was crazy, so there was a ton of laughing that was going on! A member came out with us, and it was kind of funny we had a list of people that we wanted to stop by and see, and he pulled up to our apartment and said "do you have any appointments?" When we told him that we didn't have anything set he said "Great! Thats what i was hopping for! I need your help with a treadmill!" So we went and helped him! It was just funny that he really didn't want to go see people he just wanted help, but we were glad to help! 

Wednesday- It was a really big day on Wednesday for a couple of reasons! #1 We had district meeting! It was some way good stuff! It was about asking questions, so it was cool! #2 We also had interviews with President and Sister Loveland! It was awesome! President Loveland gave me a blessing, and it was way awesome! Sister Loveland was really cool to, and she didn't punch me this time, so that was way good lol! #3 We went on Exchanges after the meeting! I went up to Sallisaw with Elder Crowther! That was a ton of fun! I really like him! and last but not least #4 Wednesday was the day that marked 100 days until I come home, so that was really crazy!!!! 

Thursday- We did a weird exchange back where Elder Butler went up to Sallisaw with Elder Crowther, and Elder Taylor came back to Poteau with me! We had a pretty good day in Poteau! We had a member come out with us, and he was way funny! He is planning on moving here soon, and you can tell he really wants to be gone for some reason! When we went to dinner the kids really wanted to have an Easter egg hunt, so we did that will them, and it was way funny these kids wanted to hide them for us, and the put those eggs in some of the craziest places! One of them was inside a guitar! It was funny! We also got two new really interested investigators! That was way awesome! They are both praying to find a church, so it was way cool! 

Friday- When we exchanged back for real this time We had Elder Crowther do Savannahs baptism interview! That went really good because she passed, so that is really awesome! She is going to be baptized on Saturday the 22nd! That should be way cool! The rest of the day was pretty slow except we had Brother Fountain (I have talked about him a lot) come out with us, and he and this older guy had a hour and 15 minute talk about war stories, so needles to say we really didn't get a lesson in that time! It was kind of funny though! 

Saturday- Well on Saturday it was my 21 month mark! That is crazy! 21 whole months!!!!!!!!! It was a big day for sure! Unfortunately there is nothing you burn for that, so that was not as fun, but still good! We had a lunch out at a part members house, and they invited a ton of people to come out at eat! We were thinking that it was going to be a great missionary opportunity, so we were excited! The only people who would talk to us at all were members, so that was kinda lame, but it was still way fun! The Stake had a youth activity in Poteau! They had dinner, so we got invited to dinner! After wards there was a dance! It was kind of funny we were standing next to some members! As soon as the music started up we got out of there so fast! It was way funny! 

Sunday- It was Easter Sunday, and here in this area Easter services are packed, and there was hardly an empty seat in our chapel! It was way awesome! The speakers however were something else! The first guy just read a paper, so it wasn't to interesting! The second guy he was interesting! He got up and said 

"I used to be a Assembly of God Preacher, and I was nervous ever sermon I gave! I used to dip into the wine stash and ease a little of the nerves before each time! I guess thats why them call them SPIRITS at the liquor store because man that sure puts you in a good spirit"

Honestly I was laughing so hard I had to go to the bathroom because it was so funny that he would say that over the pulpit The rest of the day was pretty good!

That is about it for my week! Again I am sorry that I don't have any pictures, but I hope you have a great week! Oh and ps I won't email until Wendesday next week! 

Love Elder Jordan Sorensen 

April 10, 2017

Hey everyone! This week was an alright week! It went by super fast, but as I have looked back it doesn't seem like to much happened! I will sure do my best at making this interesting though!

Monday- We had a pretty good P day last week! We went to Sallisaw and played Frisbee golf with a few Elders! It was pretty fun! We did have 2 major problems! #1 we didn't have the special disks you are supposed to have, so that made it harder #2 we all suck lol! We sure did have fun though! We also got to have an amazing lesson with a new Investigator that night! She is currently living with some active members, and has some really awesome potential right now! I am pumped for that!

Tuesday- At our weekly time at the food pantry we were busy! It was great! I got a little used to just sitting around over there, so it was way good to get up and help people with getting food! I don't remember if I ever talked to you guys about Savannah, but she is one of our investigators who has a few stumbling blocks other wise she would be getting baptized (More on that later)! We went with her and helped these people who really had a ton of junk! We moved most of the junk up into the attic! Honestly if I would have had it my way we would have moved it all out to the trash, but oh well! It was a crazy weather day on Tuesday! It was 88 degrees around 1 pm and then by 6:30 it was about 65 and raining super hard! Sometimes the weather out here just can't make up its mind! 

Wednesday- We had district meeting on Wednesday, but due to a mix up in districts Poteau became the center point, so now normal District meetings will be in Poteau! That is way nice! The meeting was really good! For the most part I like our district! The sisters are kind of lame, but it's all good! After the meeting we were able to visit with Sister Bailee! She is an older lady who due to health hasn't been to church in a long time, but we have actually gotten her to come to church the last 4 weeks, so our lessons with her have been going way good! Our Branch mission leader has been out of town for a few weeks, and he just got back, so we had a meeting with him Tuesday night to get him back caught up on where we are at! That was a pretty good meeting! It sure took a long time though!

Thursday- We had our planning stuff in the morning, and well that is usually a grind because I am not the best planner, but it went ok! While we were eating lunch Elder Butler started feeling sick, and after a few minutes was not doing good at all! We ran to the store and got him some meds, but he was down for a while! The meds started to work around dinner, so we went out to work then! I got my weekly lesson in with the Lewis family! Again it was a way awesome visit! They are so close to coming back to church! I think I'm these next few weeks they will come! 

Friday- We drove out to this town called Heavener because we were asked to stop by some people by our Branch President! I will say it was a good day! We got 2 return appointments with less actives, and got 3 potential investigators with return appointments! It was a good afternoon! After we got done there a Part member family took us out to eat! While we were there there was three people, all early 20s! What was significant about them is they were getting DRUNK!!! It was kind of sad because they sure thought they were living life to the fullest, and they were sure missing the big picture! After we got done Elder Butler burned his pants because it was his 18th month mark! That was fun! 

Saturday- Homestly for some reason Saturday was way slow! All our appointments cancelled! We ended up spending most of the day updating/fixing/calling people from the area book! 

Sunday- Church was pretty good! We had 3 investigators at church! One of them is Savannah! She had an interview with our Branch President, and he told us that she is ready to be Baptized! We set a date with her for April 22nd! We are all way excited about that! 

Well that was the highlights of my week! I love and miss you all so much!

Love, Elder Jordan Sorensen

April 3, 2017

Hey everyone! This week was a pretty good one as well! They are all good at this point really! This one seemed to fly by though! It was way fast for me! There wasnt anything to crazy happening! It was just fast!

Monday- It was a pretty good P-day! We were out at a members house doing Laundry! It was pretty fun I guess, but nothing to crazy happened there! They did buy us lunch which was way nice of them! When we got done doing our Laundry I took a nap! It was pretty good actually! (Dont worry this week our p day will be more exciting! We are planning on playing Frisbee golf!) 

Tuesday- We had the service at the food pantry! Now it was still pretty slow, but it was the fastest day by far! Most of the time there we were spraying for wasps rather than doing anything with food, but it was still way fun! Afterwards Brother Fountain, The Awesome guy who comes out with us every week, Took us out again! We have a list that our ward clerk gave us that has a bunch of new addresses for members that we need to try by, so we took him out on those! It was way fun to be with him! We also had another member come out with us in the evening! We got a new investigator from a media referral! His name is Matt! He is way cool! The biggest problem with him is he lives 45 minutes away from us! I am excited for him though! We also visited a less active family! There are some crazy people in this world! These people have almost nothing! The dad has a job at McDonalds, and the mom doesnt work! They have 6 kids, and there house is kind of nasty! Well they got their tax return last week, and bought the biggest set of speakers for their TV i have ever laid eyes on! The boxes were about 5 and a half feet tall! There was two of them, and the biggest speaker way about 15" in diameter! There was all sorts of speakers on them, and they were $800 dollars! Some people priorities lol!

Wednesday- We had Zone Training in Fort Smith! It was pretty good actually! I learned a ton there! Most of what we talked about was how to improve teaching! A skill that we were trying to make better was using silence to let the Spirit teach! After the meeting there is a Sister Missionary who just got transferred into our zone! It turns out that her Mom grew up in Gunnison, and her grandma still lives there! She said she lives right behind Subway by Hermanson mill! Crazy stuff! It is a small world! 

Thursday- We had our planning day, and we also had a member come out with us! Whenever we go with members we try and knock out that list of new addresses if we dont have any appointments! Well it was pretty boring! Not a single person answered the door that day! We sure kept knocking though! Eventually it was time for dinner! So a quick side story! Elder Butler is the jumpiest person I have ever met in my life! The other day we were eating lunch, and I dropped a fry, and swooped my arm down really fast to catch it, and it made him jump! He jumps at everything! Now back to dinner! So it came up in conversation that Elder Butler was jumpy! Well the kids wanted to test it without him knowing two left the room! The 13 year old girl slowly walking in the room, and jumped out at Elder Butler and he of coursed jumped! Then about 2 and a half seconds later the 5 year old boy fake threw a paper air plane at Elder Butler causing him to jump again! It was Hilarious! If you remember last week I was talking about the Lewis family! He is a black guy who loves sports! Well we went out and taught his family the restoration, and it went really good! He really is starting to progress! Now his whole family are members, but it is still way cool to see them take these steps forward! 

Friday- We had a church tour with a investigator, and it was way good for her to come and see the church! We also had a crazy good lesson about the Book of Mormon, and she said she would read and pray about it every night! It was so cool! Brother Fountain came out with us again, and we didnt have a ton of time with him, but he said a super funny quote he said "Elders When you go home and get married, and are looking for a place to live, Make sure you get a house that has 4 or 5 acres! That way you can take your kids out and beat them without disturbing the neighbors" Now he was joking.... I think! But it was way funny! We also had the opportunity to catch a youths baseball game! He is a priest, and right now isnt planning on serving a mission, but we are tying to get him to come out with us, and the baseball game is all part of the plan to get him to like us more! It worked! He hasn't come out with us, but is a lot more open to us right now!  

Saturday- In the morning we were actually on a roof fixing a hole in the roof, and re shingling a part of it! Let me tell you I have never done that before, but I learned a ton! It took us a long time though! It was just Elder Butler and I doing it! Because of it we actually missed the first session of Conference, so that kinda sucked, but thank goodness they have those things online! The second session was really good! I think a way common thing that stood out to me was being a Disciple! I thought that was way cool! The Priesthood session was cool as well, but there was only 4 members from our ward at the building which was kind of lame! There was some way good stuff though! 

Sunday- Well honestly it was just conference that was the highlight of Sunday, and I dont want to bore you guys to much more, but I will say this! That was my last conference of my mission which is kind of crazy to think about! 

Ya my week was great! I love and miss yall so much!

Elder Jordan Sorensen

ps the picture is just a mail box I found in the middle of no where