Sister Sorensen Orlando Florida Mission

WOW ONE WEEK IN!

Temple with my District

How do I even explain it, not sure. Too many things are happening. I think to myself all the time, How was I almost going to not do this? I have to do this! How would I have missed out on something so AMAZING ( I will use that word a lot btw) First off, thank you for the packages! The shoes, the film, the notes, THE SKINNY POP:) It is the most wonderful thing in the world! Tell Nan thank you for the package too! I nearly cried it was so sweet. No seriously the sisters and I always do a little dance when we get the note saying we have a package.

Cup of Noodle of Happiness - a Novel by me

ALSO Dear Elder me anyone if you want to, because then it comes throughout the week. Even if it is just "HI" or I don't know make me laugh. Elder Whitehead keeps dear john(ing) himself. So he gets a ton of letters. I need to beat him. I joined the choir with the sisters in my district and it is amazing. The teacher is amazing. He stops and talks throughout. And he was telling us how his daughter had just come home and he very sternly goes "If you are wondering 'is this for me?' 'should I go home?... stop it right now." Which I loved.

Me and my Comp in front of the temple

We already are teaching investigators and with one of ours we have 45 minutes to teach and no time to plan so that is straight stress. But the feeling of the spirit is so strong that it makes it all worth it. Both of our "investigators" are wanting to be baptized now too. Haha November 5th all is welcome. Side note. There is bats here. When we moved into our rooms, there was no one else in the hall because they had moved them out because of a bat problem. There is bat's in the gym and there was a bat in our class building and some elder got it in a container and tired to shove it in my face. that's fun. Sister Page and I are trying to workout hard. So this whole week we have been crazy sore. and our classroom is on the 4th floor. so that hurts. Oh and Sister Stevenson and I are branch music coordinators. I know nothing. The Elders in my district are crazy. Elder Whitehead and I fight a ton. We tease each other a lot. I think everyone else thinks we are actually mean to each other haha. Elder Whitehead and Elder Danes... we call the bromance. They are always together. They have this little notebook that they write messages to each other in, no one is allowed to read it. And on the front is written "Miles Finch... What's more vulnerable than a peach?" I DIED of laughter when I saw that. I don't think I had laughed that hard in a long time. The other day some of the elders offended the other sisters in our district (they usually do) so they wrote a sorry note on the white board in our class. It was cute. I was on the second floor of the gym, talking to Elder Bunker. And the Elders were playing volleyball on the court and yelled "SISTER SORENSEN PAGE 33".... and everyone looked. (page 33 basically says don't be alone with or flirt with the opposite sex" ) It was super funny, that has become a running joke in our district now. Elder De Priest even has a sign in his notebook and carries it everywhere. My companion told us the funniest story the other day and we were laughing so hard. So basically there were these missionaries trying to get someone to commit to baptism so they told him to read 1 Nephi 3:7..... But instead by accident they told him 3RD Nephi 3:7. Just read it. Its so funny when it is in the wrong context. Big difference. Oh and no big deal or anything.. but BEDNAR came and spoke to us on our Tuesday devo. Yeah. The minute he walked in everyone stopped talking instantly and stood up. The spirit hit me like a train in that minute.. and not gonna lie I started to sob. and to make it worse we sang praise to the man and Sister Page and I had a hard time getting through it. He talked about general conference and how that should be leading our lives for the next 6 months. And how each speaker has doctrine,invitation, and blessings. He also shared how everyone always says "that's cool you coordinated topics" when there seems to be a theme. And he said "Let me be clear, we do not coordinate topics, heaven does, we listen to the spirit." if that doesn't tell you the church is true I don't know what will. We also got to sing for him it was very powerful. A cool experience was the other day we came back from breakfast and I tried to open the door but the key would not work, so the other sisters tried for a while and we found out none of them worked. We tried forever, and then started to look for someone in the staff to help us, but we could not find anyone. SO Sister Christansen suggested we go back and say a prayer. She asked for the Lord to either help us open the door, or someone to come to along and and help us. During her prayer I just kept feeling like spirit so strong and thinking "i know you can open this door, I know it." haha. So she ended her prayer and I went to put my key in and try one last time, and boom. it opens. just like that. The crazy part is after I took my key out and we were in our room it jammed again but we were able to fix it. Ah I wish I could even describe how amazing that was. We instantly said a prayer of thanks. God is good. Only 3 zones here have the opportunity to go to whats called the refferal center. We go most every day for an hour, and basically we just call people back who requested a free bible or book of mormon (mostly bible) and we confirm there information and ask if the missionaries can deliver it with a message. It is straight up amazing. The first time I went I found a non member with a thickkkk southern accent who wanted a bible and I talked to him the whole hour (well mostly he talked) He told me he knows a little about mormons and he likes them. He LOVEs the bible, I got him interested in the book of Mormon and he is now going to let the missionaries come talk to him. I told him I would follow up with him and call him and see how it goes later. I also got another guy who is currently (im pretty sure) homeless living in LA to meet with the missionaries and to get the book or Mormon as well. These people are amazing. I love talking to them. SORRY THIS IS SO SO SO LONG But I just want you to know I am happy. English is hard too. We go very much in depth to the gospel. My teacher let me cry a little to her yesterday when I got frusterated with myself that I wasn't teaching the way I wanted to. I could not put words together and I was so discouraged. She helped so much. And reminded me to have patience with myself and that I was doing better than I thought. And that I "couldn't live my 18 month mission in the mtc." I am really aware of my weaknesses here, but I want to be better. I am no where near perfect but I want to be an good missionary. I pray alllllll the time. No really all the time. I also am always shocked on how different I want to be. I love being a missionary, I think all the time. seriously How could I have not done this?. That doesn't mean that sometimes I don't want to just sit down and cry, because trust me, I do. But The good out weighs the bad. This is an amazing work, We get to make peoples lives better. We get to share that they do have a purpose. that they are worth more than can even comprehend. How wonderful is that? LOVE YOU SO MUCH MISS YOU -Sister Sorensen

Hello Family, It's Just your friendly neighborhood Sister Sorensen here. (I am still trying to figure out how to send pictures) no one I have met really knows how, So hopefully I figure that out by the end of the day. So of course today is my Pday. FRIDAY. I feel like I am back in highschool where you just can't wait for Friday. I know it has only been three days, but it slightly feels like 3 months. The second day was so long, The food.. is not "gross" like some people say. It's just not good. It's lunchroom food.. what you would expect. So you would expect me not to eat it. I have not really had much to eat at all. I did however today, find peach rings in the bookstore. And I'm thrilled. Because other than my banana and glass of water I have for every meal, the peach rings are great. PLEASE send me skinny pop. and chicken cup of noodles. They have them in the bookstore. But I am poor and don't want to buy them. The beds are not as bad as everyone says. But that could be because I am crazy tired at night. very happy I brought my own blanket. Because the ones here are slightly.. scratchy and uncomfortable. Also Let Lincoln and Oakley know I have snuggled that stuffed dog every night. I named it LO (like as in the first letter of Link and Oaks name) I know.. cute. My first day wasn't all that bad. It is however, A lot. very fast. One sister described it as a fire hose and she is not wrong. We had a huge group "meeting" with an 'investigator". And be proud of me, I got up and spoke. My Companion didn't show up until the end of the day, So I was in a trio for most of the day. My district is way cool. We are already starting to get along, and everyone is very productive. We have time along to teach ourselves and we are actually doing it. Elder Danes and Elder Whitehead and I get along very well humor wise. They are companions and have been best friends from about the second they met. The two other sisters in my district are way fun too. We get along very well. Sister Page and I are probably the most a like. My Companion and I, Sister Stevenson, are very different. But I am finding more and more things that we have in common. We were just talking about our favorite artists and time periods of art and I found out with both share the same obsession with Van Gogh. Being with someone else all the time is not easy. not for me at least. Espically if I want to just run somewhere and get something. You have to have someone with you at all times. I see Sister Craig all the time I will just yell SISTER CRAIG in the lunchroom and she gets embarassed. But I think it is funny. I hope she is doing okay. I wish I was able to talk to her more. The second day was a little hard. It was very long. It feels like I have been here for 3 months. I was struggling with myself yesterday. Wondering If I was good enough to do this, or thinking that they didn't really need ME. because there is so many people who know more than you. Because I try to push it to the back and get to work. and address it later in my prayers. I need to learn to have patience with myself. I just got here. A sister said something the first day that I knew I needed to keep with me she said "I wanted to run, when I didn't even know how to crawl." So I'm trying to get myself okay with learning how to crawl. Its hard being away from home, I miss you all so much. I think about you a lot. I try not to think about how far I have to go, But take it day, minute, even second at a time. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. It's a great day to save spirtual lives. ( I stole that and changed it from Mcdreamy..yes) -SISTER SORENSEN someone finally told me how to send pictures. But I have to go to the bookstore to buy an adapter. So hopefully I have time to do that before the end of the day. But we might not. So you might be having to get them next week. I know. I'm the worst. Yes, my companion is going to Orlando. My branch president's name is President Williams, and there is Brother Jackson and Brother May. Sister May is so sweet. She came in our room last night and talked to us for about an hour, telling us all her mission stories. She has been on FIVE missions. Shes super funny too, she constantly sounds like she is about to cry because she is so full of the spirit. like I always think she is going to cry.... The classes are amazing, its the most comfortable place to be. Lonnnngggg classses, but good.(I hate that I just said that) The second day we had to teach an "investigator" and my comp and I went first. Haha she went hardball on us for sure. Pause. I keep stopping this email because some elders in hall are out right yelling at everyone to get baptized The best way to stay sane is to make it fun. And to know when to make it spiritual. But being able to laugh is like a breath of fresh air. There's a LOT of spiritual jokes going around always. I realized I probably should have put this all in my group email but I ran out of time. So you can add it or not, I don't care. sleeping in a bunk-bed, is loud. Not so uncomfortable but loud. ANYWAY! also today I have been just trying to talk to everyone. because there always is something to ask. I love seeing where everyone is going. Its so cool to me that we are all here together, but within the next few weeks everyone is going to be going all around the world. I met a bunch of Elders and Sisters going to France today while I was doing laundry. And this morning I met Elders going to Ghana. Also way cool. You go where you are suppose to go. And I get more and more stoked about Orlando by the second. Oh and also forgot to add this to the group email. But my district consists of Elder Danes & Elder Whitehead Elder Merchan & Elder De Priest Elder Heywood & Elder Feltner Sister Page & Sister Christiansen And of course Sister Sorensen & Sister Stevenson Elder Heywood is my District Leader and Sister Christiansen is the Sister training leader (she feels like an older sister) probably because shes much taller than me too. I think that's it. LOVE you, talk to you soon

HI, just letting you know I am safe and sound. My district is really cool, two of the elders are going to orlando. But the rest are going to California and Pittsburg. I still don't have a companion. So I have been tagging along with the other sisters, who are way cool. I'm not sure where my companion is. She still had not checked in when I got here. And I still have not heard anything. The minute I saw Sister Groesbeck I cried. She seems so happy and full of light. Sister Craig still looks like a deer in the headlights but then again I'm sure I do to. It has been good so far, I am super tired and trying to switch my mindset. Just because you are given a lot of rules quickly. But I feel GOOD! love you. talk to you later