Dear Friends and Family,
This is going to be short because my companions are waiting. But the week has been going pretty well. We rode bikes half the day on Wednesday and I had a blast. I just love my bike! The big tires help me completely outstrip my companions AND climb hills easier and the swoop is great for riding in my skirts. It was definitely a very wise purchase. That said we also got more miles so we aren't riding our bikes as much--between the fact that they never increased the miles in this area when they picked up a second ward and that I am supposed to be taking naps at lunch (meaning we have to go home for lunch) it was necessary.
But things here are great. I have never served with these two sisters before so we're all still getting to know each other. It is definitely a different dynamic in a companionship than I've ever had before--I just can't figure out exactly why. I am also having to adjust back to 7 hours of church. I'll also admit yesterday I was pretty "homesick" for the Lincoln ward; my personality just clicked for that ward. But things are going well. We are even having a surprise baptism on Friday. It was more a surprise for us than our investigator, no worries.
Otherwise things are going well.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Summer Has Arrived!
Dear Friends and Family,
How are all of you this week? Well Sister Curtis has officially survived her first four 100 + weather days. The only scary thing is that this is still mid-May and we didn't get over the hundred until July last year! It looks like this is going to be a warm summer. But, we all lived to tell about it. We wanted to ride our bikes out in the real heat--I finally got Sister Mauga and Sister Curtis to take out their bikes in our Pros on Wednesday night--but the member we lived with insisted that she's heard it was a horrible air quality day. To tell you the truth, I didn't notice any difference, but we did decide to ere on the safe side and took our car.
We had a pretty neat experience on Tuesday. We were pretty late getting out to the street we'd planned to tract, so we only had about 40 minutes to tract. Then it didn't seem like anyone was home. The first several houses we knocked didn't even have any noises to respond. But then Sister Curtis knocked on a door and an older Indian (or East Indian as everyone says out here) lady opened the door. At first it didn't seem like she understood us at all, but Sister Curtis cheerfully continued on. Then when we thought she was going to say "No," she told us she wasn't interested but she thought her daughter would be and invited us in to sit and wait. Her daughter came down and was actually really open and we taught a very simple first lesson from our pamphlet (only about 5 minutes) and set up a return appointment. It's been a long time since I've gotten into a tracting door to teach. The whole family has only been here for just under a year, and the lady we're going to be teaching has a pretty strong accent and it sounds as though she's been Hindu her whole life and the only Christian tradition is some brief familiarity with Catholicism. But she did say she knew Christ was the Son of God and had lived and she like to learn about all kinds of religions; in fact she even committed herself to come to church next week. This should be a good teaching experience for the Sisters. They'll have to teach very simply at first, but that is good practice too. The only problem would be that they both had a hard time understanding Pinky--I didn't and I believe I understand a little bit more of her religious background than they did. So we're looking for a good strong fellowshipper from the ward to help out.
Friday was our last Zone Conference with the Perry's. It was actually a very good conference, but I was so sad! I just love President and Sister Perry so much and I can't believe they are going to leave before me! I'll admit I even cried as they gave their farewell testimonies (they did too, however) much to the surprise of all my former companions. Sunday was Stake Conference and we had a visiting General Authority, Elder John C. Dalton of the Seventy. There were some stellar talks including one from an 11-year-old boy who was asked to talk about preparing for a the priesthood and a mission. I was really sad none of our investigators made it to such a great meeting!
And as for the last news I am packing up and moving down to Orangevale tomorrow. I expect to be there for the rest of this transfer at least. It sounds like I may be getting more experience on my bike, too! So that should be fun.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
How are all of you this week? Well Sister Curtis has officially survived her first four 100 + weather days. The only scary thing is that this is still mid-May and we didn't get over the hundred until July last year! It looks like this is going to be a warm summer. But, we all lived to tell about it. We wanted to ride our bikes out in the real heat--I finally got Sister Mauga and Sister Curtis to take out their bikes in our Pros on Wednesday night--but the member we lived with insisted that she's heard it was a horrible air quality day. To tell you the truth, I didn't notice any difference, but we did decide to ere on the safe side and took our car.
We had a pretty neat experience on Tuesday. We were pretty late getting out to the street we'd planned to tract, so we only had about 40 minutes to tract. Then it didn't seem like anyone was home. The first several houses we knocked didn't even have any noises to respond. But then Sister Curtis knocked on a door and an older Indian (or East Indian as everyone says out here) lady opened the door. At first it didn't seem like she understood us at all, but Sister Curtis cheerfully continued on. Then when we thought she was going to say "No," she told us she wasn't interested but she thought her daughter would be and invited us in to sit and wait. Her daughter came down and was actually really open and we taught a very simple first lesson from our pamphlet (only about 5 minutes) and set up a return appointment. It's been a long time since I've gotten into a tracting door to teach. The whole family has only been here for just under a year, and the lady we're going to be teaching has a pretty strong accent and it sounds as though she's been Hindu her whole life and the only Christian tradition is some brief familiarity with Catholicism. But she did say she knew Christ was the Son of God and had lived and she like to learn about all kinds of religions; in fact she even committed herself to come to church next week. This should be a good teaching experience for the Sisters. They'll have to teach very simply at first, but that is good practice too. The only problem would be that they both had a hard time understanding Pinky--I didn't and I believe I understand a little bit more of her religious background than they did. So we're looking for a good strong fellowshipper from the ward to help out.
Friday was our last Zone Conference with the Perry's. It was actually a very good conference, but I was so sad! I just love President and Sister Perry so much and I can't believe they are going to leave before me! I'll admit I even cried as they gave their farewell testimonies (they did too, however) much to the surprise of all my former companions. Sunday was Stake Conference and we had a visiting General Authority, Elder John C. Dalton of the Seventy. There were some stellar talks including one from an 11-year-old boy who was asked to talk about preparing for a the priesthood and a mission. I was really sad none of our investigators made it to such a great meeting!
And as for the last news I am packing up and moving down to Orangevale tomorrow. I expect to be there for the rest of this transfer at least. It sounds like I may be getting more experience on my bike, too! So that should be fun.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Introducing "House"
Dear Friends and Family,
I hope that you all have had a great and productive week. I have to say that we have. Last week we spent a little bit more time inside than we had planned. We had some serious work to do in tackling the Area Book here because the Sisters had let it slide for a little while. We also had several planned hours of service which fell through. Sadly nobody in Lincoln seems to need or want our help. I stronly suspect that the fact we are wearing skirts when we offer is to blame! Other notable events? We had 4 Chapel Tours and we picked up 2 investigators. Sorry to say the two aren't directly connected. We picked up the investigators through NNCs and Tracting. But we also have been working really hard on meeting the mission standards; for instance having 2 planned appointments for each evening, having a member at every lesson possible (by planning and making phone calls before 9:00 pm the night before), and backward planning. I think things are really working out well and I've been able to help smooth out some bumps from last transfer.
Sister Mauga continues to be a completely delightful companion. In fact, I learned last week that the first part of her first name, (gasp, first names) Fale, means "house" in Samoan and that she in fact has a pet pig at home named "House" because she thought it would be funny to give him an English name. Actually House was the first person/thing she asked about when she called home. By the way, Erin, Sister Mauga wants to see the picture of that pig we saw at the sheep shearing festival if you could email me a copy. We also had some very delightful visits with ward members last week. One family in particular, the Hargadons, let us drop in and introduce Sister Mauga. They are just one of the warmest, most open and inviting, group of individuals I have ever met! They are so great and missionary minded too! I am so glad they moved into our ward last January. Our Mothers Day went well even if we had gone to the trouble of setting 3 specific appointments and all were cancelled/or moved during the day. But all the necessary phone calls home were made and at least two of the three mothers cried. I am very happy, Mom, that you did not. It would have been especially silly considering I just saw you less than two weeks ago. Otherwise things continue to go well. I suspect I may be moving next week, but President Perry and I are going to decide for sure when I see him at Zone Conference on Friday. I just can't believe this is my last Zone Conference with President and Sister Perry! That is so sad.
Oh, and here is something else I forgot to mention last week. I received a letter last Monday with the return address of the First Presidency. It was a formal re-call to the Mission. I found it a little odd that they sent it to me after I was already in the mission (it was addressed to the mission office and everything). It is a good thing I came back to the right mission after all! But now I do have a call from each of the Prophets I have served under on my mission which is rather unique.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
I hope that you all have had a great and productive week. I have to say that we have. Last week we spent a little bit more time inside than we had planned. We had some serious work to do in tackling the Area Book here because the Sisters had let it slide for a little while. We also had several planned hours of service which fell through. Sadly nobody in Lincoln seems to need or want our help. I stronly suspect that the fact we are wearing skirts when we offer is to blame! Other notable events? We had 4 Chapel Tours and we picked up 2 investigators. Sorry to say the two aren't directly connected. We picked up the investigators through NNCs and Tracting. But we also have been working really hard on meeting the mission standards; for instance having 2 planned appointments for each evening, having a member at every lesson possible (by planning and making phone calls before 9:00 pm the night before), and backward planning. I think things are really working out well and I've been able to help smooth out some bumps from last transfer.
Sister Mauga continues to be a completely delightful companion. In fact, I learned last week that the first part of her first name, (gasp, first names) Fale, means "house" in Samoan and that she in fact has a pet pig at home named "House" because she thought it would be funny to give him an English name. Actually House was the first person/thing she asked about when she called home. By the way, Erin, Sister Mauga wants to see the picture of that pig we saw at the sheep shearing festival if you could email me a copy. We also had some very delightful visits with ward members last week. One family in particular, the Hargadons, let us drop in and introduce Sister Mauga. They are just one of the warmest, most open and inviting, group of individuals I have ever met! They are so great and missionary minded too! I am so glad they moved into our ward last January. Our Mothers Day went well even if we had gone to the trouble of setting 3 specific appointments and all were cancelled/or moved during the day. But all the necessary phone calls home were made and at least two of the three mothers cried. I am very happy, Mom, that you did not. It would have been especially silly considering I just saw you less than two weeks ago. Otherwise things continue to go well. I suspect I may be moving next week, but President Perry and I are going to decide for sure when I see him at Zone Conference on Friday. I just can't believe this is my last Zone Conference with President and Sister Perry! That is so sad.
Oh, and here is something else I forgot to mention last week. I received a letter last Monday with the return address of the First Presidency. It was a formal re-call to the Mission. I found it a little odd that they sent it to me after I was already in the mission (it was addressed to the mission office and everything). It is a good thing I came back to the right mission after all! But now I do have a call from each of the Prophets I have served under on my mission which is rather unique.
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Something New
Dear Friends and Family,
Although compared to most weeks in the mission this was a short week, it was still pretty exciting. Nothing too eventful happened in flying back west--though because I was wearing my tag a member from the Amarillo 3rd ward stopped me in the Dallas Forth Worth airport and I also discovered that my flight to Sacramento was piloted by a member in the Loomis 3rd ward (which is in the Stake I'm currently serving in). My second plane was late, however, so Sister Perry couldn't pick me up after all, but the Biglers, one of the couples in the office, were kind enough to fill in. I quickly discovered exactly how serious they were about my travelling though. As the Biglers helped me put my luggage into the car they had to move a camping cot which they then told me was to be my bed for the next 12 weeks! Then we went to the Mission Office to pick up Sister Mauga's bike and a 72-hour-kit which also gets to travel with me. Then it was back to Lincoln! Sister Mauga and Sister Curtis seemed happy enough to get me back, and after I had bought some groceries and unpacked a little we sat down to brainstorm some finding ideas. I discovered that these sweet, industrious sisters have been tracting almost 4 hours every day! In fact they have nearly tracted out the whole area again. Tracting is all well and good, but there are other things we can do too. We didn't really get too much done Thursday because I was quite tired (I had to get up at 1:00 am California time) and so after unpacking, rearranging and setting up furniture, and picking my stuff up from the Evans family we just had time to plan and get to bed.
Friday was mostly missionary work as usual. We did our Friday Morning planning and then Sister Perry came and took us out to lunch. I think this was as my welcome back into the mission (President Perry was doing interviews in Redding so he couldn't come). Then we walked, tracted, and NNCed. You see while I was gone the mission did away with OYMs and replaced them with New Nonmember Contacts. It was interesting to meet with members from the ward again because some of them didn't even realize I'd been gone (or thought I was just new), some thought I'd only been gone a couple weeks, some thought I'd been transferred away, and then some were just completely surprised to see me back. Saturday was the first day of my mission that my companions and I walked the whole day just because we chose to. I have to say I was very impressed by how well my feet held up because usually the first few days of summer they give me problems. I could tell by the end of the day, however, that I definitely had spent 7 weeks at home!
What I was looking forward to the most was seeing what reactions I would get from all the different ward members on Sunday. I am happy to report that I received very warm greetings especially from the Ward Council. It was tricky to explain that I would only be here for a few weeks. I was very impressed, as well, when a ward member came up to us and told us that they had a non-member friend they wanted to bring on a Chapel tour; finally all my talk about chapel tours is paying off! We also had dinner last night with the Clark family who had fellowshipped Sister Kawasaki and my Miracle Investigator/Convert of last October. I was so happy to find out that they'd invited him to come. It was great to talk to him and know that he is still so excited about the church and is still doing very well. He gave his first talk and goes out with the Elders in his ward as a ward missionary almost every week.
As for my new "calling" as a Travelling Sister I'm still trying to work that out. I think it is especially hard for me here in Lincoln because I am so used to being the Senior Companion here (after all I was Senior Companion here for 6 months). It is also a little tricky since I have also been Senior to both of the Sisters I'm with here. So I try to bite my tongue and make sure I'm letting Sister Mauga lead out during planning, study, and the decisions we are making during the day. I am also trying to figure out how to help them in the work without making them feel like I am constantly analyzing and evaluating them. They have done some good work here even if they are both really quiet and neither of them have been sleeping well for the past 6 weeks! I am working with them on the quiet thing, but I don't know how to help them about not being able to sleep. That is probably another one of their big problems in being louder and more creative in their finding; they can't think clearly since they don't get enough sleep!
I also realized exactly how much the Spirit really does affect and help you with missionary work. Tuesday night I was lying in bed trying to remember the phone number here in Lincoln and it took me ages. But as soon as I got back here all of a sudden I could remember everyone's names--and their kids' names--and all the streets, and everything else a missionary needs to know about their area. Actually when I got back it really felt like I had never left (except of course that Sister Mauga was here now). I also discovered that I have this wonderful new ease in talking with everybody. My door approaches and NNCs are so much more natural and fluid than they ever were before I went home. It is amazing and I guess it is to help me in my new role here in the mission, but I certainly appreciate it!
I hope everything is going well with all of you!
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
Although compared to most weeks in the mission this was a short week, it was still pretty exciting. Nothing too eventful happened in flying back west--though because I was wearing my tag a member from the Amarillo 3rd ward stopped me in the Dallas Forth Worth airport and I also discovered that my flight to Sacramento was piloted by a member in the Loomis 3rd ward (which is in the Stake I'm currently serving in). My second plane was late, however, so Sister Perry couldn't pick me up after all, but the Biglers, one of the couples in the office, were kind enough to fill in. I quickly discovered exactly how serious they were about my travelling though. As the Biglers helped me put my luggage into the car they had to move a camping cot which they then told me was to be my bed for the next 12 weeks! Then we went to the Mission Office to pick up Sister Mauga's bike and a 72-hour-kit which also gets to travel with me. Then it was back to Lincoln! Sister Mauga and Sister Curtis seemed happy enough to get me back, and after I had bought some groceries and unpacked a little we sat down to brainstorm some finding ideas. I discovered that these sweet, industrious sisters have been tracting almost 4 hours every day! In fact they have nearly tracted out the whole area again. Tracting is all well and good, but there are other things we can do too. We didn't really get too much done Thursday because I was quite tired (I had to get up at 1:00 am California time) and so after unpacking, rearranging and setting up furniture, and picking my stuff up from the Evans family we just had time to plan and get to bed.
Friday was mostly missionary work as usual. We did our Friday Morning planning and then Sister Perry came and took us out to lunch. I think this was as my welcome back into the mission (President Perry was doing interviews in Redding so he couldn't come). Then we walked, tracted, and NNCed. You see while I was gone the mission did away with OYMs and replaced them with New Nonmember Contacts. It was interesting to meet with members from the ward again because some of them didn't even realize I'd been gone (or thought I was just new), some thought I'd only been gone a couple weeks, some thought I'd been transferred away, and then some were just completely surprised to see me back. Saturday was the first day of my mission that my companions and I walked the whole day just because we chose to. I have to say I was very impressed by how well my feet held up because usually the first few days of summer they give me problems. I could tell by the end of the day, however, that I definitely had spent 7 weeks at home!
What I was looking forward to the most was seeing what reactions I would get from all the different ward members on Sunday. I am happy to report that I received very warm greetings especially from the Ward Council. It was tricky to explain that I would only be here for a few weeks. I was very impressed, as well, when a ward member came up to us and told us that they had a non-member friend they wanted to bring on a Chapel tour; finally all my talk about chapel tours is paying off! We also had dinner last night with the Clark family who had fellowshipped Sister Kawasaki and my Miracle Investigator/Convert of last October. I was so happy to find out that they'd invited him to come. It was great to talk to him and know that he is still so excited about the church and is still doing very well. He gave his first talk and goes out with the Elders in his ward as a ward missionary almost every week.
As for my new "calling" as a Travelling Sister I'm still trying to work that out. I think it is especially hard for me here in Lincoln because I am so used to being the Senior Companion here (after all I was Senior Companion here for 6 months). It is also a little tricky since I have also been Senior to both of the Sisters I'm with here. So I try to bite my tongue and make sure I'm letting Sister Mauga lead out during planning, study, and the decisions we are making during the day. I am also trying to figure out how to help them in the work without making them feel like I am constantly analyzing and evaluating them. They have done some good work here even if they are both really quiet and neither of them have been sleeping well for the past 6 weeks! I am working with them on the quiet thing, but I don't know how to help them about not being able to sleep. That is probably another one of their big problems in being louder and more creative in their finding; they can't think clearly since they don't get enough sleep!
I also realized exactly how much the Spirit really does affect and help you with missionary work. Tuesday night I was lying in bed trying to remember the phone number here in Lincoln and it took me ages. But as soon as I got back here all of a sudden I could remember everyone's names--and their kids' names--and all the streets, and everything else a missionary needs to know about their area. Actually when I got back it really felt like I had never left (except of course that Sister Mauga was here now). I also discovered that I have this wonderful new ease in talking with everybody. My door approaches and NNCs are so much more natural and fluid than they ever were before I went home. It is amazing and I guess it is to help me in my new role here in the mission, but I certainly appreciate it!
I hope everything is going well with all of you!
Love,
Sister L. Sorensen
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