Getting to know GusGus

Dear Family and Friends,

I know you're all waiting to know what happened with transfers today. Just imagine what fun and excitement you have awaiting transfer news from both Elder Sorensen and I for the next 7-8 transfers! It turns out that the Japanese sister was delayed in the MTC for another 6 weeks--I would rather presume that means she would appreciate more time to work on her English. So there had to be another threesome of Sisters in the mission. And yes, Sutter Buttes and Buttes Vista wards were the lucky winners once again. I really don't know why this is, it seems like they would share the experience around, but I guess Sister Nielson and I are just getting good at this (it will be her third, almost consequtively, and my second back to back). Sister Muaga, the sister from Samoa, will be joining us fresh from Palo Cedro tomorrow morning. And it turns out we are the companion swapping spot because another set of sisters is coming up to drop off the new Palo Cedro missionary. So it should be a fun little meeting tomorrow morning. I rather suspected that Sister Nielson and I would be staying together, but there is a definite surprise ending. For some reason or other I was made Senior Companion and now have driving duties. We can't quite decide if it is because I have a slightly cleaner driving record than Sister Nielson, if it is just because I know the area better than her, or what. But I am trying to be very conscientious of her feelings in the matter and she is being a very good sport about it as well.

This last week was quite good. We had a rough Monday proselyting--your body just kind of gets used to having its rest day at a specific time and does not like it when you change things up. But we had some good lessons on Tuesday and then were able to go down to the temple on Wednesday. It was quite nice to go down to Sacramento, the temple is very pretty and it was an enjoyable and quite full session. It was a little nerveracking because we were supposed to be meeting Sister Rowlands and Sister Gurr there and they did not show up until the very last minute possible (despite the fact that they live/work in the area closest to the temple). But there was a mix up afterwards and we didn't end up getting to see them and take pictures with them which was sad because I did not get to say good bye to Sister Rowlands. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we tried to focus on finding more people to teach in the Buttes Vista ward to little avail. Though we did start teaching two new people in the Sutter Buttes ward. The work in that ward is going great, we had two investigators at church, and all our lessons with members present were there this week. But we would love to balance out the effort. As a mission we have started offering chapel tours (see the article on Member Missionary work in the August Ensign) and we have gotten very good at setting the building up, and even doing them. But nobody has actually shown up for a tour yet! We keep inviting the ward members out so they can see what they are and get excited to invite friends to them, and there should for sure be people there this weekend. Hopefully. We really hate wasting our proselyting time by sitting at the church even though we did get some good Area Book updates made.

Anyway that is pretty much how my week went. Here are a few pictures. I was very sad to see Sister Howard leave this morning, it is nice to work with someone when the work both goes well and is fun. We have really been able to help get a lot going in Sutter Buttes ward which is exciting. And I am also sad to know--if not see--Sister Rowlands leave as well. But the work will go on.

Love,
Sister L. Sorensen

PS I'm sure we will have lots of fun teaching Sister Muaga how to ride a bike . . . in a skirt. And, in case you were wondering GusGus is our Mazda 3.

Sister Howard's last week . . .

Dear Friends and Family,

I don't know that I have too much to report. We kept busy last week with lessons, finding, and car repair. Having our car in the shop (pointlessly as it turned out) gave us the opportunity to ride bikes Thursday and rather surprise the older couple who we do yard work for by showing up on our bikes. I think I am finally becoming proficient in lawn mowing; though I still make Sister Howard do the front yard because I figure that one should look nicer and I am well aware of my physical inability to do just about anything in straight lines.

We did have excellent lessons last week, but we lost our one baptism date and were unable to set baptism dates with the other two investigators we thought might be a possibility. But the work continues. Sister Howard is trying so hard to stay focused on the work and to continue being the best missionary possible while still having to figure out essential details of her imminent departure. I have to say that I will miss her a lot. She has been an excellent companion/leader/teacher, plus we both think each other's jokes are funny--always a plus. I don't really have any idea what will happen at transfers next week. The new sister from Japan is not coming out for another six weeks so that means a sister's area has to be turned over to the Elders and another threesome. So who knows, we may get a third sister back in Yuba City, but I doubt that. Anyway its possible that I move, but I don't think I will. Next Monday we will be travelling though, so I don't know if/when email may be.

Have a great week!

Love,
Sister L. Sorensen

Pizza in the morning, Pizza in the evening, Pizza at suppertime. . .

Dear Family and Friends,

It was a great week. We started teaching 4 new people, 4 of the people we are teaching came to church, we set a baptism date, and we had 7 progressing investigators. Even nicer and more rare, last tuesday we had no time to tract because we were going from one teaching appointment to another the whole day (well aside from Zone Meeting where we actually did work on Tracting skills). So that was quite nice. We generally have been able to do quite a few lessons each week with members present (the ideal lesson) which is really nice. For the most part, the Yuba Stake/Zone is leading the mission and it is always nice to be a part of that. We were disappointed though that two of our investigators who were supposed to come to church did not show. But things are really going great in the Sutter Buttes ward, if only we could catch Butte Vista up!

Other news of interest? In the past 2 weeks we have been fed pizza 6 times. Sister Howard was very distressed. Apparently her last week or so in Orangevale she also had a pizza rush; including a notable day where she had pizza for two meals, and another day when members/investigators fed her KFC, McDonalds, and pizza. Other than that we haven't really had anything that interesting served to us in Yuba City. Thus far on my mission I have had venison, elk, I had my first artichoke the other week too. Not that artichoke in and of itself is that weird, but I had no idea how I was supposed to eat it and I suppose my pride crept up a little bit because I did not want to ask. So instead I watched my one companion as she ate it very intently which didn't work because it confused her. I'm not entirely sure I ever really got the hang of it, but apparently the artichokes could have used another few minutes boiling, so perhaps it is not my fault. Other than that I don't think there is anything too weird happening out here.

Just a warning, next week we are going down to the Sacramento Temple so you might get very short emails on Monday. Then the week following that Sister Howard is leaving, so we have to go down to Orangevale and I don't know if/when we may be emailing then either. So that is your two week warning of/on transfers. I think I will be staying at least one more transfer with Sister Neilson here in Yuba City which I am rather looking forward too.

Love,
Sister L. Sorensen

Pictures: One of Sister Rowlands, Howard, and I at Sister Conference; Sister Fultz, Sister Nielson, Sister Howard, myself, and Sister Gore at Zone Conference; Sister Howard pondering the path of her feet.

Living in a "Harry"-less World

Dear Family and Friends,

Elder Sorensen's letters home have made me realize just how boring my own are. But I don't like to write too much about the people we are teaching because 1) I think it is kind of boring to read about people you don't know (for those of you who do not know the people involved) and 2) I don't know how they might feel if they were to discover themselves on the internet. But if you--as in you, my general readers--want to know let me know. We are teaching some people right now who probably really wouldn't care. So what did we do this week? We taught a lot of lessons--there are several people we are teaching in the Sutter Buttes ward who are progressing quite well--and went on a lot of exchanges (again mostly with the Sutter Buttes ward). We feel bad because it seems that a lot of our time and energy end up focused on that one ward, but that is where we can find the people who really are interested and willing to make commitments. Most of our finding is actually in the other ward, but we usually end up dropping a lot of those people because we either can't stay in touch or they really just aren't that interested. So we are still trying to figure out how to get the Buttes Vista ward excited about working with us and doing member missionary work.

The other big highlight of our week was Sister's Conference. All 13 of the Sister missionaries in the California Roseville Mission convened at the Stake Building here in Yuba and we taught little talk/lesson/workshops on different subjects. Okay so the 4 greenies didn't teach but everyone else did. The third day that I was "in the mission" (i.e. in California) we had a Sister's Conference, but at the time I was still really tired from the traveling schedule just a bit dazed. But this Sister's Conference was absolutely excellent. I was able to learn a lot, particularly on "Mighty Prayer" which is what I had been assigned to teach about. Most of my thoughts stemmed from an article in the December 2006 Ensign--it was called "Mighty Prayer"--and it was really exactly what I needed to be learning and focusing on as a missionary that week. The topics came from each companionship of Sisters; they suggested things which they wanted to learn about either because they have been struggling with them or would simply like to be able to do better them better. It was not only great to be able to see all the Sisters and catch up on the news and people from your old areas and companionships, but it was a powerful meeting. I think it was a needed pick-me-up and a great introduction for the new sisters. That and I also learned a little Hula from Sister Ah Puck who was in charge of introducing the Sisters and talked about magnifying our talents. But alas, I forgot my camera cords, Mom, but I WILL actually send you some pictures next week. I promise.

This week will be great though because we have some good appointments set up already not to mention Zone Conference. We also are singing in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday with the 15 year-old we are teaching and his best friend who will finally be able to get her less active mother to come to church. It also is a great excuse to tell the people we are teaching that they HAVE to come and support us. We aren't doing anything too fancy, just "Hark All Ye Nations" because our 5th Sunday topic is on Missionary work.

So I am not only jealous of all you who get to read Harry Potter, but I am debating whether I just want to get someone to explain the whole thing to me so I get a good explanation or risk it and see if I can actually go a whole year without someone ruining the ending for me. I guess time will tell. The hardest thing is seeing the book just sitting on counters at so many members' homes. I've had to keep Sister Nielson from reading the last page several times!

I hope you all have a great week. And by the way, Eric, if you sent that Spanish OYM to Palo Cedro with the French Book of Mormon, then I never got it and Erynn Scott was probably pretty confused about that. Could you send me another one to my mission address? Thank you.

Love,
Sister L. Sorensen

PS Mission Address:
Sister Lindsay Sorensen
California Roseville Mission
8331 Sierra College Blvd Ste 208
Roseville, CA 95661

Yuba's Finest

Dear Family and Friends,

Apparently I forgot to give my new companion a fair introduction. Now in addition to Sister Howard and I, the Sutter Buttes and Buttes Vista wards are being served by Sister Nielson of Orangeville, Utah. She is the youngest of three kids, went to Snow College studying something in the fine arts, and does not like milk.

Well this past week we had a busy week. We were able to teach a lot of lessons and leave a lot of good commitments with the people we are teaching. We were not, however, able to get any of them to church except for the little girl who is moving to Kentucky next week, so we were sad. I guess that is life as a missionary. Before I came on my mission I always heard about how missionaries would get discouraged when people kept slamming doors, but thus far the door slams and the many, many "Not interested" responses we get don't discourage me at all. What gets me, more in wonderment really than depression, is when we teach really good lessons where I can feel the spirit strongly and then the person declines to have us back again. It is hard to believe that they don't want more peace, answers, and understanding in their life.

Other exciting things this week? We stopped by the Heritage Fair at the Yuba Sutter mall briefly on Saturday to see if we could help the members who were running the Church's booth and not only did I get good homemade bread (though I did not try the Jalapeno jam) but I also ended up with my picture in yesterday's paper. So, you never know what is going to happen. It has also been exciting to see how one of the people we are teaching, a 15-year-old whose father is in the Spanish Branch, really start to progress. He had a hard time getting along with some of the Elders but has really opened up to us. He is still praying to know for himself, but we have high hopes.

Love,
Sister L. Sorensen

Two Funerals and Nearly a Baptism

Dear Friends and Family,

Transfers have come and gone and not only am I still in Yuba, but I am still with Sister Howard! I was a little worried there at the end that either we would get split up (in which case I was probably the one moving) or that nothing would happen and it would feel anti-climactic. So instead President Perry sent us a third sister so that the Sutter Buttes and Buttes Vista wards could have just one more sister to fawn over. Isn't that crazy? I don't know how many times in the last 6 weeks I've heard about how these wards have NEVER had sister missionaries before--now they will have three!

We had a pretty good week. Our talks in Sacrament meeting went quite well--we were even able to get two of our investigators to church (finally) and some of the less actives we have been working with as well. I have to say that our talks complimented each other nicely. We were also able to start teaching 5 new people even if our OYMs were pretty low. My "excuse" is that people are hiding from the 108 degree temperatures. The nice thing about tracting in that heat? People first tell us that it is too hot to be doing such work, and then they offer us water even when they are not at all interested. We participated in my most interesting finding effort to date, we helped a ward member prepare 78 copies of the Book of Mormon with his late mother's testimony in it to hand out at her funeral on Friday morning and then handed them out. We also almost had a baptism when a 12 year-old girl the Elders in Citrus Heights were teaching moved up here the day before her baptism was scheduled, but President Perry decided to postpone it and interview her today due to her special circumstances. The second funeral you ask? One of the people the Elders were teaching died yesterday morning. So we may be going to that funeral as well, I don't really know.

Our Fourth was pretty uneventful. There weren't any fireworks around here because there was an accident at the fireworks last year which resulted in some teenage girl having to get her leg amputated. So instead we met up with the Elders at the church in the afternoon and played Soccer Volleyball which was surprisingly hard to get a hang of. I am afraid I was in no means any good, but I tried not to be too much of a hindrance to the Elders on my team who were quite good.

Talk to you next week.

Love,
Sister L. Sorensen

Yuba Thus Far

Dear Family and Friends,

Well I forgot to mention to you last week, but transfers are next week. I know six weeks already? I am not exactly sure how that happened. I suspect I will stay here, but there is a chance that I'll be shipped off because we are getting 3 new Sisters and we are not entirely sure who will be training (Sister Howard has only trained one and then there are certain other factors so she might be training another. Though I told her that she could just consider herself as training me since I am learning a ton from her). So you are duly warned and I suggest any mail you send this week you send through the mission office just in case.

Before what I have learned, how about a little bit more about the area? I don't think I've really talked about it much. It is much smaller than Palo Cedro and rather more culturally diverse. We cover parts of Yuba--some apartments with interesting tenants, lots of new development, and then a little town called Sutter which apparently was at one point in running for becoming California's capital--although the Marysville natives (Marysville is just across Feather River from our Buttes Vista area) say that they were supposed to become the California State Capital. Anyway Sutter is pretty small but has a lot of members. It is our unofficial goal to tract every single street there before Sister Howard heads home at the end of next transfer. So far we have 3 streets down. We also have the Sutter Buttes in our area (if you've seen the mission logo, which most of you probably haven't it has Mount Shasta, the Sutter Buttes, a redwood tree, and a rose in it. So far I've seen Shasta, the Sutter Buttes, and technically been in Roseville so all I have to do is make a tour up to the Redwoods. Which is not very likely since they don't have Sisters in the Redding Zone.) Apparently Black Widows are pretty common over here; but thus far I've only seen the webs and not the spiders. Something which I do see with almost alarming regularity, however, are Chihuahuas. Everyone around here has Chihuahuas. I have yet to figure out why, but I will let you know when I do. And how about that Sister Howard? She is from Southern California, Brawley (sp? I don't know exatly where she went or I would ask her how to spell that) which is 30 minutes from Mexico in the Imperial Valley. She graduated from BYU-I in Business Marketing, and plans on working to go get a Masters or go into Cosmitology (with the goal of eventually opening her own school) when she goes home. Anything else you would like to know? She is a great missionary and keeps me on my toes, especially to make sure I am teaching well and OYMing like I should.

What I've learned? Well, now that I have no time to really write about that I'll just give you a taste. I have learned how to edge lawns and weed whack with some skill. So Dad if you need some help with that in a year I'll be glad to give you a hand.

Love,
Sister L. Sorensen

PS I have to give a talk on Repentance this coming Sunday so if you have any ideas/quotes/talks you'd like to send me that would be appreciated (but you'll have to send them rather soon for me to get them on time with the holiday this week, like today or tomorrow).