!

This week was pretty crazy! First, because of some emergency changes, we got a new companion from Columbia, Elder S. We picked him up last Tuesday, and were only supposed to be with him for 3 days, then a week, but the APs still dont know what the plan is so we have a few more days with him! Not sure what went down in Santo Domingo, but he is a WAY COOL DUDE! It is fun working with him. He only has 3 weeks in the mission. But he makes us speak more Spanish--which is good for Elder G and I, cause we rarely do outside of teaching and meetings haha. ALSO, on Friday, another emergency change went down, and out DL Elder A went to the Offices as a Finance Secretary, and his comp left too...and we now have 2 Hermana Misionaries in our ward! Which is kinda a bummer cause the other missionaries were awesome, but the ward is super happy to have sisters again (its been over a year!), so everything is all good :) Elder Gon is now our DL, which means we have a cell phone in our house--which is saving us some money. Score! Elder Gon and I did divisions Saturday, it was fun working with him--and we ate some BOMB food like always. He was a Zone Leader for like 6 months before training, so he knows a ton and has taught me a ton already.

Today for Pday we had a Zone Activity. We met at the church in Conocoto, had a Zone Study, then went into the heart of Quito--this MASSIVE park (like Central Park in NY), and played some soccer/hung out, and then went to get some Subway in downtown Quito. Twas another good Pday. Last Pday, right after emailing...we had a Family Home Evening and did a chocolate fountain....literally ate until I couldnt--which if you know me, that takes a lot haha.

All is well out here--still having a blast, especially living with 4 Elders. Elder G and Gon are always pranking each other. Mattress in the kitchen/bathroom, tooth brush soaked in Aji (super super spicy pepper down here), alarms set for 4 in the morning....It is hilarious. All fun and games. We also play Uno and the loser always has to eat something crazy. It makes the long days a little easier knowing we have an hour or so to have a good time at night. But dont worry--we are still staying plenty focused!!! Just having a good time while doing the Lord´s work :)

The work is going well. Nothing too big or new. Just still teaching a few families and other investigators. F. hopefully will be baptized this Saturday. He keeps putting it off and doubting himself--even though he knows its what he should do and believes 100% in the Book of Mormon and all our lessons. Some just need a little more time--I still got faith in him. Pray for him! Also, we rescued a less active this week. To rescue a less active, you have to teach them all the lessons, they have to come to church 3 times, and meet with the bishop. After her 4th attendance yesterday, she had her interview and is so happy to be back at church! She is always happier and has found more work lately! The blessing are coming in hot :)

Well, thats all I did (or had time to write...).

​Questions below!​

Love you all! 

Elder Sorensen 

What fun service have you done lately? We used machetes and hoes to dig up a field for O, one of our less actives. Got gnarly blisters and a nice tan! It was way fun.

Are there many young kids (in the neighborhoods, at investigators or members, or at church) who think you big, tall, strong, American missionaries are awesome? Haha..yeah. Most of the kids in our ward, of our investigators, or just on the streets love us. We tell them all we are from crazy places (Narnia, China) and can talk to animals. Classic.

Where you at in your scripture reading - do  you mainly read in English or Spanish? Finished the BOM a month or so ago, am now about 100pgs into the New Testament. All English during my hour of personal study--outside of that all spanish!

Do you have normal toilets? Shower? Yes for both, haha. Luckily!

Do you ever get sworn at, spit at, yelled at, or generally picked on? I'm sure you've had to bite your tongue a few times. Just a little from drunks who try talking english to us. Really, I am surprised how well I have been treated! All good over here :)

Make-shift poncho! Had a fun 20 minute walk home in the POURING RAIN with a garbage bag...haha asi es la mision!

Stay Golden

Hey all! I spent all my time today catching up on emails and downloading some EPIC mormon messages/inspirational vids/conference talks to share with our members and investigators! So forgive me for the super brief update.

It was another great week! We taught a ton again and found a new family, well kinda like 3 families who all live together in these supppper ghetto houses! They are really great, and have a ton of interest and excitement. Buut, we found out the mom and dad arent married, so it may be a long ride. Ill let you know more next week, we have only visited them 2.5 times! But they are great, and are humble as can be. 

We had a Zone Conference on Thursday with President and the Assistants and the Nurses. About half of it was all from the nurses about health and emergency plan and stuff like that. Also, Hermana C talked about keeping out houses clean AND gave us all sweet hand towels! The littlest things excite you on the mission hahaha. 

But something not so little... I GOT MY FIRST PACKAGE!!! Thanks to Gma and Gpa H, I have enough Twizzlers, Starburst, and Skittles to last me till the New Year :) And, a FAT JAR OF PEANUT BUTTER!!! Which doesnt exist here...so my apple and PBJ consumption is about to go off the charts. And some other treats, including tissues ;) Oh gramsy :) (THANKS AGAIN!!)

Oh yeah, forgot to tell yall, but last week in Church I gave my first talk here in Ecuador!!! It went super well. A few of the members told me my spanish sounded great, and that if they hadnt known me they wouldnt have believed I only had 3.5 months on the mission. Things are looking up...! Ill take some pics of it and send it to yall next week to read! (those who can speak spanish..that is. haha)

Well, I love you all and know I am doing great! 

Elder Sorensen

A lady we were teaching hooked us up with a huge bag of Cedron, which makes BOMB tea. We transferred the leafs from her grocery bag to one of my companions ziplocks he had from a package from his girlfriend....the caption just went  too well hahaha. #Cali

Hola.

Dear all,

It was another good week out here in the Sur. The week started out a little slow, but we ended out on a band, having 14 lessons between Fri, Sat, Sun (after having 8 over the 4 days before). F., our main progressing investigator, had his baptismal interview on Saturday and his 3rd attendance yesterday, so he is READY for baptism! And he is way excited! This, or maybe next Saturday, we will have his baptismal service. Cant wait!

Two new elders moved in with us, who are working in the sector at the bottom of our little hill/mountain. Elder Gon, from Chili, and Elder B, from Columbia. Elder Gon has 16 months, and had been a Zone Leader for the past 6 months..so he has tons of experience and has been teaching me a ton! Also......he speaks english! Which is so clutch. He is way awesome, I already know its gonna be a super fun change! His comp is fresh out of the MTC and has a lot to learn, but has a huge heart with awesome intentions and is a good guy. Gon will help him TONS! He´ll be killin it in no time! 

On Thursday we took Gon into Quito to drop him off at the training/pick up his new companion. After dropping him off we hit up McDonalds for breakfast and DANG, egg sausage bacon mcmuffin with fresh Ecuadorian bread...tops the states! Didnt think that was possible.

Like I said, Fri through Sun we killed it. Taught tons of lessons and got fed from members or investigators like 3 times each day. And on Sunday...we had 2 of our less actives who we are helping come back to the church, and F., and the Familia D (the family we baptized last change), all in church! It was dope.

Today was a super mellow Pday. Did laundry and ate lots of food at the Familia V's house (with a washing machine!), and just napped/chilled in the casa. Hma V cleaned my white shirts and got the collars´stains COMPLETELY CLEAN...which is amazing because the main 4 shirts I wear Brian used on his mission so I thought those stains were there for eternity... ENRO baby! 

Thats all for me, but I promised Id share a few of my favorite thoughts/points from General Conference last weekend. So this morning I looked over my notes and wrote down a few things I really liked. I noticed a ton about service, fasting, and sustaining Thomas S Monson as the Prophet of God. ¡Disfrute!

Lynn G Robbins - ¨Dont forget which way you face¨ ¨Jesus always faced his Father´´

D Todd Christofferson - ´´God will not live our lives for us´´ ´´A God who makes no demands is the equivalent to a God that does not exist.´´

Dallin H Oaks - ´´Love is the very essence of the gospel, and Jesus Christ is our example.´´ 

Jorg Klebingat - ´´Accept trials, setbacks, and surprises as part of this mortal experience. Say, ´I know what this is Lord, a chance to prove myself.´´

Jeffery R Holland - Talking about serving the poor and needy, and sharing a crazy interesting scripture about Jesus Christ, the creator of the world...being homeless at some points--´´The son of man hath not a place to lay his head´´

´´Though I may not be my brothers keeper, I am my brothers brother!´´ (J, B, sup)

Dieter F Uchtdorf - ´´Lord, is it I?´´ Look inward and focus on what you can do better before trying to change something about someone else.

Richard G Scott - ´¨the more we follow Christ the more Satan tries to attack us, but with less power to affect us.´´

​

​

David A. Bednar..... ´´Come and See´´

Love you all!!

Elder Sorensen

´´Across the plains of time bleach the bones of countless thousands, who, while upon the threshold of victory, sat down to rest. And resting, they died.´´ -Paul H Dunn

Keep GRINDin my people! (Get Ready Its A New Day)

Transfer #3 and CONFERENCE

Ecuador, que bonitaaaaa!

 

Dang, 2 changes (transfers) already done! How crazy..time is really flying. Neither G or I are leaving, which means 6 more weeks in Montserrat together! We are both stoked, love our sector! But, both the Elders living with us got transfered, so on Thursday a newbie and his trainer are moving in! Which means I wont have the least time in our district, word ;) 2/17 down, and a ton of Spanish to learn and people to help in these next 15 changes! Hopefully they slow down a bit as they go...

 

Quito from the top of our sector

 

It was honestly a pretty packed week. Tuesday, we headed back into Quito, again, for a mid-training verification meeting with all the new missionaries and trainers. It was SO awesome to see Anderson (comp from MTC), and all my other homies from the CCM. They are all doing great and loving it. Not too many have gotten parasites, too ;)

 

The meeting was only half a day, and not too much happened. But we were fed a bomb breakfast from the Senior Missionaries (there are 2 companions of senior couples), and Subway for lunch! (which is expensive here haha). After an hour or 2 of meetings, all of the new missionaries and President Christensen and the APs headed up to the Panecillo. The Panecillo is this massive angel statue in the middle of Quito on this big random hill. From the top, you can see miles and miles of Quito both North and South. At the top of Panecillo is where Spencer W Kimball gave the dedicatory prayer when Ecuador was opened up for missionary work. We read the prayer together up there and talked about the words and our grand work in front of us for these next 21 months. It was a beautiful view and an even better experience.

 

Views from Panecillo

 

And of course--CONFERENCE. General Conference on the mission is basically like Christmas. It was a dang nice weekend. We watched it down in San Rafael, about 1 hour bus from our house--so we just stayed down there in between all the sessions on Sat and Sun. There was a gringo room for us missionaries from North America, and a few members who spoke English! Getting to hear the talks in English was the best. So many epic talks, and I definitely got so much more out of it than I ever have. Maybe cause Im out here on a mission...maybe because before I was in my pjs on the couch eating popeye pancakes. But, it really was great. I havent had the chance to look at any of my notes, because right after Conf on Sunday we have lessons--which means you will have to wait until next week to hear my favorite talks and thoughts from Conference. But obviously, Bednar's was amazing. (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2014/10?lang=eng&vid=3822608486001&cid=10)

 

Today was another sweet P Day. We went to this massive mall in San Luis (hour or so away from our house). It was bigger and nicer than most I have been to in the States. Rich people do exist in Ecuador, who woulda thought! It was fun hanging out there, getting some pictures developed, and listening to American Music throughout the mall. Im not sure why I capitilized american music...probably because I am a patriot.

 

This week was a little slow on the work because we didnt work Saturday and Sunday or most of Tuesday, but we still managed to find 8 new people to teach including one AWESOME family from the Coast. So far all 6 of our most solid investiagators are from the coast, they are just so open and cool! The dad loves soccer and even likes rugby, score! We also had F., a MASSIVE 6ft 350lb black man from the coast come to conference with us to the Sunday PM session. He absolutely loved it!! He now has 2 attendances, so next Saturday he can get baptized! He is the man. And a large one.

 

I love you all and hope you got as much out of conference as I did. The church is true and God is grrrrrrrreat.

 

Elder Sorensen

 

OH, also, Friday Elder G and I adventured the borders of our sector. Found about 300 more houses over a mountain...and found an abandoned house with the DOPEST view from the top...where you can see Quito to the left and the Valley of Conocoto to the right. Lo maximo vista! 

 

 The epic view from the abandoned house!

Throwback: Final Week in the CCM

All of the pictures Elder Sorensen took the last few days in the CCM were with Elder Anderson's camera. Elder A emailed these and Elder KSo asked me to post them!

Some homies from the MTC.

Elder M and I. Elder M is from NZ, headed to Nicaragua, and is likely gonna come play Rugby at the Y! We schooled everyone during some pick up games at the CCM. Dudes a beast.