Hi

Pondering life.

Hey guys. It was a great week but went by sooooo fast so I really dont know what to tell you! Ill hit 3 things today-- exercise, street life, L's baptism.

Exercise. Elder B and I bought some vanilla protein powder last week and have been going wayyyy hard every morning. We have tons of water bottles/broom sticks that we use, a few cement weights, and a bed frame that we use as our bench/perfect pushup/dip bar. Knowing that you have a delish banana vanilla cream protein shake waiting for you makes working out much more excited and easy...and cant forget the #gainz

We cook.

Street life. Brian asked me when we skyped about the street life...and I told him we dont really have too many exciting things happen to us....well I was wrong. This week we had a few cool stories. One night as we were heading home and crossing this kinda sketchy bridge we saw 1 guy on one end, another in the middle, and one of the other end. And we got weird looks and strong/bad feeling about them, and just as we got to the other end all 3 started following us. But we already had promptings that something was up so were already walking pretty fast, and then we picked it up even more for about 5 minutes until we got a panaderia (break shop/little store) were there was a handful of people, and after waiting inside for a few minutes they left and we went home a different way. 

Two nights ago we saw a group of like 20 people burning a motorcycle. Turns out 2 robbers tried robbing a woman, when a group of people threw them off their moto and then more people came over and helped them and then logically they burnt the robbers motorcycle, and woulda burnt them if they didnt run!!

Last night at like 11 at night I heard a ton of wreckage outside...so I went to the window and then noticed all the neighbors looking out their windows....Ended up watching 2 really drunk guys crashing their cars (or prob stolen cars) into each other like 20 times and just destroying them and then every few minutes getting out and yelling and throwing broken car parts at the other cars....They drove off (hopefully didnt drive off the mountain) after 5 minutes before the cops came...crazy stuff.

L. L got baptized on Saturday! He is a beast. 71 year old dude whose son has been a member for 15 years...and finally listened to us and had a change of heart and is now sooo much happier and is truly the man. He is hilarious too... See pic!

Well, love you all! Got a week full of meetings (trainers conf, zone conf, district meeting) so i know this weeks gonna fly. Hope you all smile at a stranger today! Its fun.

Elder Sorensen

´´I dont repent for this love´´ classic soccer fans.

....And for gma´s question of the day!!

Since today is Memorial Day in the USA, I was wondering if they observe the same holiday in Ecuador? 

What holidays are most important to the culture? 

What traditions accompany these holidays.

No, not that I know of or have seen today. They probably have a day similar to Memorial Day, just on a different day of the year!!

Here the biggest holidays are New Years Eve, Christmas, and something called Carnival. New Years Eve is like halloween, everyone dresses up crazy with tons of masks and a lot of adults dress up as girls and run around the streets bugging for money...a little strange but hey! Also on New Years Eve there are a tonnnnn of fire works, its like a comb of Halloween and 4th of July in the states! Christmas is pretty much the same...except that most of their celebrating takes place on Dec 24. A big dinner, christmas party, staying up until midnight, things like that. And Carnival is a week long holiday in February (or march.... i think feb) when everyone basically just goes crazy and places huge water fights and also egg/flour fights. Its pretty crazy but for the most part all take it with a good attitude and is mainly done without bad feelings...unless your a gringo, we get attacked if we arent large or careful.

And My Father Dwelt in a tent.

Dear all,

Today has been a GREAT pday, but we kind of got a little carried away and lost 30 minutes of computer time. So sorry for being short, but I gotta do what I gotta do!

It was another great week. My new comp and I are getting along great and working hard!! We have a ton of fun together but at the same time are really starting to get in a groove as far as working/teaching together goes. 

Two quick highlights... L, 65 yr old homie whose son is a member...had his interview yesterday and is gonna get baptized this Saturday! It has been a huge miracle working with him. For many many years he didnt want anything to do with the church or missionaries, but about a month ago had a huge change of heart and has been making hugh changes every since! His son will get to baptize him, too!! We are very excited.

Also, G, the mom of 2 members...finally accepted a baptismal date! She is an AWESOME woman/mom and has been attending church with her kids for about a month but was a little timid about taking this leap of faith....but after a great lesson Friday night she accepted an invitation and decided she is ready/wants to be baptized next Satuday. Another huge miracle we saw this week.

Today was dope/crazy. Woke up at 6 to hit a district workout with 4 other elders in the zone leader´s house. Then hit soccer from 9-11. Then hit subway with a few bros. Then bought some protein powder (me and my comp have been going harrrrrd these mornings!) then printed out some fotos, and now are here. I am so tired...

Well...thats about it. I love you all and hope all is well!!!

Elder Sorensen

Also, my wonderful grandma has a project for her english class where she is studying/researching about a foreign country...and of course picked Ecuador! So she wanted me to answer a question a week for her...here I go!!

Question:  What is the name of the area you’re serving in? How do they shop for food or other items (e.g., bazaars, street-shopping, stores, bartering, etc.)?  Who does most of the shopping, how often, and at any particular time of the day? 

I am currently serving in South Quito. Here in Quito there arent very many big stores/grocery markets, but on almost every corner there are little ´´tiendas´´ that have all the basic necessities. So basically everyone does little purchases once or twice a day, given that the stores are always so close and convienent! Really everyone does the shopping...but most common is that the family/parents send their kids down the street to buy a few little things. 

Hope that helped. Love yall again!

An Ode to Carebear.

Okay, I am not actually gonna write an ode to my wonderful momma...but I will say that talking to her and the rest of the fam last night was AWESOME! To make up for the lame freestyle poem I read to her (while pretending to read from a ´´Restoration´´ pamphlet lol) I did write her a short, heartfelt poem. (Keep in mind missionaries dont have too much free time to write good poems...but), it goes like this.

Carol is my momma, my momma bear

Full of love, passion, jokes, and care.

She cares for my brothers, sisters, and me,

And without her, who knows where we´d be.

Her stature is tall, but her heart is larger,

I love her to the moon, and then a bit farther.

She is a great teacher  and a better friend,

With Carebear and I, there is no end. 

I love my mom, and I say so proudly...

She´s my mom. Today, tomorrow, and for eternity.

Love ya momma! Go get a cone from McDees, on me! (jk, you got this, Kent!)

 

 Baptism last week

Oh yeah, also got my new companion on Thursday! He is Elder B from Colombia and has been here in Ecuador for 4 days now. He is a beast and has a lot of potential to be a GREAT missionary. The trainers conference was awesome and I got to see a few of my good friends who only have a few months left...including my mission ´´grandpa´´! He is a beast. My comp and I are excited to work hard and get along great. Its gonna be a way good 5-11 weeks together.

 

 

Also, had the baptism of M on Satuday. It was awesome. Her whole family was there, including her less active son. It was an awesome service and she was super happy and has made some amazing positive changes in her life. I love my job. :)

 

 

Love you! 

Elder Sorensen

Hey.

Hey all. Gonna be wayyyy short today for a few reasons. First, today were changes and we have been running around all over Quito dropping off and picking up and helping out Elders. And also we have to go help a few Elders get to know their sectors so basically only have about 30 minutes to write today. But...

Changes: I am staying in my sector and am SUPER excited. My comp is heading off to Ambato (3 hours south of Quito) for his last 3 months of the mission. Ill be getting my new comp on Thursday, fresh out of the MTC! Im gonna be training a new missionary and am way excited, especially cause I get to stay in this sector and keep working with all the great people we have found/been teaching this change. So on Thursday at the trainers conference Ill meet my new comp and then head back up the mountain and start going to work!! Cant wait!

This Saturday B got baptized and it was GREAT. I would send pics...but my camera may have gotten stolen today on the trolley...but Im hoping to find it in the house or get a call from another Elder who accidently picked it up in the big bus terminal. But none the less...it was a great baptism and her husband and whole family was there and everything just went great. Will send pics when I get them!!

Also, another one of the awesome people we are teaching got her third attendance and had her baptismal interview and will be baptized this Saturday at 5pm!! Cant wait, and am excited that my new comp will get to experience a baptism his first week in Ecuador! Gotta start em early, haha! 

Well, all is well. Cant wait to talk to the fam on Sunday!!!! Epic.

Love you all and am thinking about each of you!

ES