Dear Family and Friends,
So what is going on in Yuba? We are finding sheaves. At our last Zone Conference we focused on how to help members know how to have gospel conversations with the people around them. We have been using this theme for our dinner thoughts so one Sunday when it was my turn I pulled out Doctrine and Covenants 33:8-10 (well at least I think those are the verses), about how when we are willing to open our mouths the Lord will not only tell us what to say but he will--to paraphrase--put sheaves (ie of wheat, the field is white ready to harvest) on our backs. Then on Tuesday at District Meeting Elder Medwin, our District Leader, asked us to give a quick thought on OYMing. This is not my strong suit but I have been working very hard to be better about it. Well I was suitably chastened by D&C 60:2 (or maybe that was 12?), and Sister Howard and I decided to try to get 70 OYMs last week (we had very poor numbers the week before and were feeling a little down). According to Elder Ballard if we as missionaries strive to have at least 70 OYMs a week it will lead to doubling baptisms (among other efforts). So all week we tried really hard and I have to say I am improving. I am sad to report that we were only able to talk to 59 people, but it was a good effort and I know that this week we can do better. But even just from that added effort we have already been able to see some sheaves not only in our area but in the District Leader's as well. So it must work.
What else? Well we learned how to play Yahtzee from an OYM who turned out to be an ex-Mormon. Also on Saturday we had a car stand down day so we walked a LOT and then made an 8 mile round trip bike ride to our dinner appointment. Actually the bike ride was really fun my larger "hybrid" tires allowed me to keep up with Sister Howard extremely well. In fact the only complaint I have is that as soon as I get going at a good clip the skirt starts to flap. So I am beginning to perfect the art of riding with one hand on my knee. Any tips Anne or Emily? Sister Howard also taught me an elegant dismount, which I can show off in about a year. I did alas give myself blisters this week with all the walking we've been doing--it gives us more opportunities to talk to people. We have generally been walking several miles a day, more or less from 1:00-5:00 pm. And apparently when you persist to walk with little rocks in your shoes you get blisters. But we have been trying to remain hydrated, Mom, and typically drink 4+ water bottles a day plus lots of water at meals; so never fear about that.
That is right folks. I am hitting my 6 month mark next week. Now it is time to play a game which I call "Watching your life pass by with Sister Sorensen's Mission". Isn't it fun. 1/3 down, 2/3 more to talk to lots of lots of people. I better get even busier! And despite rumors to the contrary, it was absolutely no temptation for me to call home on Father's Day. Sister Howard and I both told the Doolittle's directly that we would not and only discovered later that sweet Sister Doolittle decided to call you anyway and pass along our well wishes. Speaking of the Doolittles they are taking us out to dinner at Jack in the Box tonight in my honor because I've never been there. I'll let you know how that goes next week.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
Monday, June 25, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
In Honor of President Hinckley
First, to whom it may concern,
I received information last week which stated that some people are concerned about comments I have made in the past few weeks regarding some of the Elders in my mission. Please be assured that I have the utmost respect for the Elders in our mission. I think they are great and they are truly an asset to the church and bring a wonderful boldness to the work. Elders are great people and I enjoy working with them immensly. I do find at times that particular Elders may be wanting in maturity in regards to certain decisions they make and would therefore encourage all to strive to be the best missionaries they can be.
That said I appear to have run out of time again. Know that this is the Transfer to Honor President Hinckley's 97th Birthday (which incidentally is on Saturday). So on top of having certain goal all transfer long for all the missionaries in the mission to have perfect mornings (first two weeks through end), Effective Finding (3rd and 4th week to end), and effective dinners and evenings (5 and 6th week) we are having a car stand down day on Saturday to try to talk to everyone possible. Also it finally broke the 100s last week. Or at least that is what Stella told us, and she might be crazy. She did tell us she was psychic. But I believe her because it was pretty hot.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
Give your missionaries referrals!
I received information last week which stated that some people are concerned about comments I have made in the past few weeks regarding some of the Elders in my mission. Please be assured that I have the utmost respect for the Elders in our mission. I think they are great and they are truly an asset to the church and bring a wonderful boldness to the work. Elders are great people and I enjoy working with them immensly. I do find at times that particular Elders may be wanting in maturity in regards to certain decisions they make and would therefore encourage all to strive to be the best missionaries they can be.
That said I appear to have run out of time again. Know that this is the Transfer to Honor President Hinckley's 97th Birthday (which incidentally is on Saturday). So on top of having certain goal all transfer long for all the missionaries in the mission to have perfect mornings (first two weeks through end), Effective Finding (3rd and 4th week to end), and effective dinners and evenings (5 and 6th week) we are having a car stand down day on Saturday to try to talk to everyone possible. Also it finally broke the 100s last week. Or at least that is what Stella told us, and she might be crazy. She did tell us she was psychic. But I believe her because it was pretty hot.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
Give your missionaries referrals!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Covering Two Wards
Dear Family and Friends,
Yesterday we had the great pleasure of attending 8 hours of meetings in the church building, listening to 6 talks, receiving the lesson on Chapter 9 of the Spencer W. Kimball manual twice (for the third and fourth time that I've heard that particular lesson, and singing 14 hymns--including #220 Lord I Would Follow Thee twice. Oh the joy of covering two wards! Well Sister Howard and I continue to work hard. I now know the area geographically pretty well. Once again we were able to find 5 new people to teach last week and had 42 OYMs (we could do better but between Zone Meeting, Interviews with the Mission President, and some service on Thursday we just weren't out and about on the street that much). This is rather better numbers than we ever had in Palo Cedro. But we still feel like we are struggling to learn all the ward members names and back stories; after all that is rather a lot of people!
I don't really know what else to say, and I am being rushed off the computer 15 minutes before my missionary time allotment is up. Thanks to everyone for the letters. Anne, don't worry about a Hindi OYM as it seems the quite substantial East Indian population here are mostly Sikhs/Punjabis.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
PS could someone send me some information about Sikhs and Punjabis? We are curious to know what their religious beliefs are. Also could someone send me the definition of anathema and harlequin? Those words have been bugging me.
Yesterday we had the great pleasure of attending 8 hours of meetings in the church building, listening to 6 talks, receiving the lesson on Chapter 9 of the Spencer W. Kimball manual twice (for the third and fourth time that I've heard that particular lesson, and singing 14 hymns--including #220 Lord I Would Follow Thee twice. Oh the joy of covering two wards! Well Sister Howard and I continue to work hard. I now know the area geographically pretty well. Once again we were able to find 5 new people to teach last week and had 42 OYMs (we could do better but between Zone Meeting, Interviews with the Mission President, and some service on Thursday we just weren't out and about on the street that much). This is rather better numbers than we ever had in Palo Cedro. But we still feel like we are struggling to learn all the ward members names and back stories; after all that is rather a lot of people!
I don't really know what else to say, and I am being rushed off the computer 15 minutes before my missionary time allotment is up. Thanks to everyone for the letters. Anne, don't worry about a Hindi OYM as it seems the quite substantial East Indian population here are mostly Sikhs/Punjabis.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
PS could someone send me some information about Sikhs and Punjabis? We are curious to know what their religious beliefs are. Also could someone send me the definition of anathema and harlequin? Those words have been bugging me.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
The Great City of Yuba!
Dear Family and Friends,
I know what you're wondering. What are those apostate sisters in Yuba City doing emailing on another non-Pday? Well these things can be explained. We washed the car yesterday--which was greatly needed, thanks again to the Elders who previously inhabited our apartment (did I mention we had to take 3 hours to give the apartment a scrub down last week?)--and apparently that upset the car because then it stopped working. We of course discovered this once we were late in getting to an appointment we had set up. See we do do work (the double dos were intentional) we taught a lesson on a Pday. So we walked over there, taught a great lesson, and came back to give the car a second try. No luck. So then we spent a nice hour on and off the phone to Elder Blackard who is in charge of the mission cars, then an hour or so calling tow companies for estimates and seeing if we could find a Sister from one of our wards to give us a ride from the car place to grocery shopping. When the tow guy came though he jumped the car for us and we were able to drive it down to the dealership where we got to spend another fun hour or so while they replaced our battery. Thus Sister Sorensen did not get to do her laundry, we did not get to email, and we barely had time to go shopping. That is okay though, as I was able to get the laundry done during study this morning and here we are contacting a member referral and emailing all in one!
As for Yuba City, Sister Howard and I have decided that we like it. Aside from the fact that we are more or less in the ghetto of the mission it is great to be able to go out walking or biking for proselyting and to simply have people out on the street that we can talk to. In fact last week I nearly tripled the most OYMs I had ever gotten in one week and we were able to find 5 new people to start teaching. Of course we also spent many hours trying to figure out exactly who the previous Elders had been teaching, where those people really lived, and what they had written about their lessons on the teaching records. So, Elder Sorensen (Zone Leader), here is my humble plea that you keep good, detailed, and respectful teaching records once you make it to the field. Emphasis on the respectful--I couldn't believe what they had written on some of those teaching records. And while learning the names, faces, and callings in two wards is definitely harder than one, I think Sister Howard and I are making good progress.
Hopefully next week my letter will actually be interesting.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
I know what you're wondering. What are those apostate sisters in Yuba City doing emailing on another non-Pday? Well these things can be explained. We washed the car yesterday--which was greatly needed, thanks again to the Elders who previously inhabited our apartment (did I mention we had to take 3 hours to give the apartment a scrub down last week?)--and apparently that upset the car because then it stopped working. We of course discovered this once we were late in getting to an appointment we had set up. See we do do work (the double dos were intentional) we taught a lesson on a Pday. So we walked over there, taught a great lesson, and came back to give the car a second try. No luck. So then we spent a nice hour on and off the phone to Elder Blackard who is in charge of the mission cars, then an hour or so calling tow companies for estimates and seeing if we could find a Sister from one of our wards to give us a ride from the car place to grocery shopping. When the tow guy came though he jumped the car for us and we were able to drive it down to the dealership where we got to spend another fun hour or so while they replaced our battery. Thus Sister Sorensen did not get to do her laundry, we did not get to email, and we barely had time to go shopping. That is okay though, as I was able to get the laundry done during study this morning and here we are contacting a member referral and emailing all in one!
As for Yuba City, Sister Howard and I have decided that we like it. Aside from the fact that we are more or less in the ghetto of the mission it is great to be able to go out walking or biking for proselyting and to simply have people out on the street that we can talk to. In fact last week I nearly tripled the most OYMs I had ever gotten in one week and we were able to find 5 new people to start teaching. Of course we also spent many hours trying to figure out exactly who the previous Elders had been teaching, where those people really lived, and what they had written about their lessons on the teaching records. So, Elder Sorensen (Zone Leader), here is my humble plea that you keep good, detailed, and respectful teaching records once you make it to the field. Emphasis on the respectful--I couldn't believe what they had written on some of those teaching records. And while learning the names, faces, and callings in two wards is definitely harder than one, I think Sister Howard and I are making good progress.
Hopefully next week my letter will actually be interesting.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
Friday, June 1, 2007
Anybody Miss Me?
Dear Family and Friends,
I am most sorry to have kept you all waiting (as I am very sure you have been, on the edge of your seats, constantly refreshing the internet browser just waiting for that email/blog entry to come up). But, in all seriousness (almost) yes, it finally happened--I got transferred. So despite the fact that Sister Ah Puck and I thought that we were being very clever by creating a giant transfers possibility grid with sticky notes, we were still very wrong. I am now in Yuba City with Sister Howard (Sister Rowland's MTC companion, and she's served with her twice in the mission too). We are shotgunning--or in non-mission lingo, opening up an area for sisters--two wards: Sutter Buttes and Butte Vista. It has thus far been quite interesting since we have no idea who people are and more importantly where. We do have a car (another Mazda 3 even) but guess how I got to the library today? Yes folks pa min cykle. No, that is not a typo, just Danish. Those kind elders, we only have 1.9 miles left in our allotment for the month, so we probably will go over when we go on exchanges with the Butte Vista ward tonight. Speaking of which we left a message with the Ward Mission Leader of that ward informing him that Sisters had moved into the area but we have not heard back from him so I hope he knows.
But as for my last week in Palo Cedro. It was actually quite good. We taught a lot of lessons with members, pushed, planned, and pleaded very hard to save up enough miles for the last week of the month so that we would not go over (yes, just in time for me to leave!). We had pretty good success with the ward and had some very good visits with some of the less active people in the outflung parts of the ward who the Ward Leadership asked us to visit. In Palo Cedro tradition we saw a bear (a baby one, which reminds me I saw a fox two weeks ago). So the work was picking up pretty well for Sister Muanga (sp?) the new Samoan "Greenie" to come to.
I've acutally forgotten a lot of the other things I was going to say since I planned this email out on Monday. Anyway (in response to Laura) I did send a picture of the pigman home--oh yeah that was one thing, we tried to go talk to the people at that house and discovered that the pigman was actually a cow in clothes, still odd however--but I also sent another picture of the Zebra and I don't know which one went up on the blog (as I do not control that) so it was not my photography skills which were at fault.
To Eric: Thank you for sending the French Book of Mormon and writing to tell me that you were sending it! I think I put the Mission Office Address as the return address on that letter so go ahead and write me back there because they forward the mail on. As for the monkey stickers, guilty as charged, but someone gave them to me and I've been trying to use them up. Feel glad that I didn't send you the "Girl Power" stickers. Though perhaps I should. . .
Oh yeah, my address. I don't really know it. I live at 605 Queens #3 in Yuba City, but I don't know the zipcode so I guess you can all just write me at the mission office address and they can forward it on. I guess that's easier.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
I am most sorry to have kept you all waiting (as I am very sure you have been, on the edge of your seats, constantly refreshing the internet browser just waiting for that email/blog entry to come up). But, in all seriousness (almost) yes, it finally happened--I got transferred. So despite the fact that Sister Ah Puck and I thought that we were being very clever by creating a giant transfers possibility grid with sticky notes, we were still very wrong. I am now in Yuba City with Sister Howard (Sister Rowland's MTC companion, and she's served with her twice in the mission too). We are shotgunning--or in non-mission lingo, opening up an area for sisters--two wards: Sutter Buttes and Butte Vista. It has thus far been quite interesting since we have no idea who people are and more importantly where. We do have a car (another Mazda 3 even) but guess how I got to the library today? Yes folks pa min cykle. No, that is not a typo, just Danish. Those kind elders, we only have 1.9 miles left in our allotment for the month, so we probably will go over when we go on exchanges with the Butte Vista ward tonight. Speaking of which we left a message with the Ward Mission Leader of that ward informing him that Sisters had moved into the area but we have not heard back from him so I hope he knows.
But as for my last week in Palo Cedro. It was actually quite good. We taught a lot of lessons with members, pushed, planned, and pleaded very hard to save up enough miles for the last week of the month so that we would not go over (yes, just in time for me to leave!). We had pretty good success with the ward and had some very good visits with some of the less active people in the outflung parts of the ward who the Ward Leadership asked us to visit. In Palo Cedro tradition we saw a bear (a baby one, which reminds me I saw a fox two weeks ago). So the work was picking up pretty well for Sister Muanga (sp?) the new Samoan "Greenie" to come to.
I've acutally forgotten a lot of the other things I was going to say since I planned this email out on Monday. Anyway (in response to Laura) I did send a picture of the pigman home--oh yeah that was one thing, we tried to go talk to the people at that house and discovered that the pigman was actually a cow in clothes, still odd however--but I also sent another picture of the Zebra and I don't know which one went up on the blog (as I do not control that) so it was not my photography skills which were at fault.
To Eric: Thank you for sending the French Book of Mormon and writing to tell me that you were sending it! I think I put the Mission Office Address as the return address on that letter so go ahead and write me back there because they forward the mail on. As for the monkey stickers, guilty as charged, but someone gave them to me and I've been trying to use them up. Feel glad that I didn't send you the "Girl Power" stickers. Though perhaps I should. . .
Oh yeah, my address. I don't really know it. I live at 605 Queens #3 in Yuba City, but I don't know the zipcode so I guess you can all just write me at the mission office address and they can forward it on. I guess that's easier.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
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