Breve

Guess what that means in spanish? Yup! Brief, or short. I´m pretty sly, huh?

double rainbow over the amazon forest

Well, Monday will be the start of my last week in the mission. Can´t wrap my head around that but am stoked to make it the best week yet! Will be heading to La Concordia (coast) and then getting lots of stuff ready for the following week with new missionaries and departing missionaries. Gotta get that baton handed off to my comp! :)

Eating some chontacuro (worms)

This past week we had MLC, zonf conf in Chillogallo, and zone conf in Puyo (the jungle). Thursday night we got in to Puyo and got to stay with the zone leaders down there, two of my best friends in the mish!! One finishes with me, and the other has about 10 months left. It was awesome hanging out with them. All the conferences went super well this week. Time flies when your busy. Today we went to the mall to go bowling, but it was PACKED. So we just got some lunch and came to the office to hang out and play some Star Wars Risk. For some one who has never seen any of the movies...it was TOUGH. Haha!

Love you all. Will write more next week. Until then...

ES

Striding!

Hey all,

This week I will be brief. 

We are continuing to be blessed with both trials and miracles. This week I am especially grateful for trials and small miracles. Last night we had a rough night of work. As you know, our sector is VERY active on the weekends. No one who we planned to visit was home, and many people in the street were far to busy to talk to us. None the less, about 5 minutes before going home, after a long, slightly frustrating night, a member from Washington DC calls out to us and thanks us for all we are doing here, and asking us about the work and our mission experiences. He had served in Paraguay and is currently with a few friends getting to know a few other South American countries. It was awesome talking to him and just getting a little reminder that God will never leave us alone. I am so grateful for these past ¨few¨ months in the mission, although I can hardly find ways to express that. The good times have made me more grateful than I ever though I could be, and the trials have made me stronger than ever. 

Was able to visit and work in one of my old sectors. One of the hardest and most rewarding sectors in my whole mission. 

We will be having missionary leadership council on tuesday, zone conference in Quito on wednesday, and heading into the jungle thursday/friday. Time to stride out!

Love you all. 

ES

Risk. The Gospel will reach the 4 corners of the earth.

800km

I forgot to answer my moms question...so, how many miles did we travel this week? I dont know, but we traveled around 800 kilometers between monday-friday. I think that is something like 500 miles....Jeff?

Needless to say, it was an EPIC week. President´s son and his family (him, wife, 3 boys) have been here in Ecuador since last Friday, so due to that we got to travel this week the old fashion way, Ecuadorian Buses. It was awesome. Let me give a very breve run down...sorry if this sounds like a travel log, haha!

Monday we were busy in the office from 9-3, taking care of lots of stuff and holding down President´s post, while he was out with his fam doing a little sight seeing. At 3 we took a 45 minute tram ride down to the terminal, and then headed out to Santo Domingo. We got there at around 8, got some Carls Jr, visited my old bishop and a few converts, and then headed to the zone leaders house, where Elder Higbee is. It was awesome chatting with him, we are both getting a little excited about heading back to the Y. But he is staying focused! ::)

Tuesday we had Zone Conference in Santo Domingo. It went really well. I love SD, the weather and people and food are just great. As soon as the conference ended, we hopped in a bus and headed from Santo Domingo to Ambato. We got to the zone leaders house in Ambato at around 10. 

Wednesday we had Zonf Conf in Ambato. It also went really well. While President was going over the emergency plan with the zone (which we know have by memory, haha!), I got to catch up on my journal, so that was cool. B would be proud. Still keeping up my every day since the year mark streak! Bueno...casi. After the conference we got on a 3 hour bus ride and headed down to Guaranda, a tiny town a few hours outside of Riobamba. There I met up with Elder S and Elder K, while my comp went with another companionship. 

Thursday we worked down there in Guaranda. Elder S finishes with me, and Elder K is a homie from Laguna Beach, CA. He only has 4 months, but is powerful! The day went super well, we had a good day of work, got to attend their district meeting in the morning, and barely caught the last bus (8pm) to head in to Riobamba.

Friday we had Zone Conference in Riobamba. There was a few activities going on towards the end of the conference, so I got to see a few member from my old branch down there! It was a solid conf. 8 out of 22 missionaries in that zone go home with me, so there were some powerful final testimonies to finish off the conference. After that, we hopped on ANOTHER bus, and got home at around 9:30. Home sweet home. Never felt so good to sleep in my own bed. We slept 4 days in 4 different cities. Epic.

Today we played some volley ball, hit a little AbRipperX workout in the morning, bought a dope hammock from an Otovaleño Market, and are now about to go buy some food cuz our house it EMPTY.

Well, hope you all enjoyed the travel log. I should be a tour guide some day...if anyone wants to visit Ecuador just holla at your boi. 

Love you all! Have a great week!

ES

One Month...

...one more month until we get 13 new missionaries here in our mission! I am so excited for them! They are going to love it.

This week was ballin. I am currently a little sick right now, and my comp is still sick...he has been pretty messed up for like a month, but they finally got him some meds that actually help him.

This week was full of trainings and finding. We had Zone Conferences on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, in Los Chillos, Turubamba, and La Colón. They all went super well! We also ate pizza in all three. So far, 3/3, let´s see if we can beat last Zone Conference´s 6/8. Haha! We are training for 1.5 hours on the Area Book, we are getting a little creative and so far all the trainings/workshops have gone super well! I have also gotten to see some of my best friends, so that is always a plus.

Oh yeah, the aftershock earthquakes are still going hard. This week there was one at 3am, which was a pretty big/long one. We woke up and ran into the kitchen to wait until it stopped. Although it wasnt as big as the first one (first of like 450 haha) last month, being up on the 6th floor and sleeping with 3 big loud metal bunk beds in our room made it seem WAY stronger than the first. And then that same day during our training there was another one, right before noon. It was also a small one, but big enough to make the church building shake a squeak, so we went to the bball court for a minute until it stopped. It is always a little scary because they say a big quake is due here in Quito, so every time there is a little one you just think to yourself ´´alrighty...is this the ´´Quito Quake´´?!´´. I love this country! I´d rather worry about earthquakes than Volcanoes like we did last summer. EPIC.

On Satuday we had a great baptismal service. F is a awesome, humble 18 year old who has great desires to continue strong in the church and serve a mission! His girlfriend is a member, so she definitely helping in the fellowship/conversion process. ;)

This week is going to be crazy. Monday evening we leave Quito, and then will be in Santo Domingo on Tuesday for Zone Conf, Ambato on Wednesday for Zone Conf, Thursday some exchanges in Baños or Guaranda, and then Friday Zone Conf in Riobamba. President´s son, daughter in law, and 3 grandsons are here, so we will be bussing it like old times! Gonna be one heck of a week. Especially if we are both still sick. But at this point, there isn´t any time to hold back anything we got! I´m stoked.

Well, love you all! Have a great week!

ES

Subject

Good afternoon,

This week has been crazy. Like the first week of every change, we have been running around non-stop. Although, today we got to take a little break to play some bball and go bowling, but now we are about to get running around again to prepare Francisco´s baptismal service at 6pm! 

cloudy days in Quito

First off, skyping with the fam was epic. Can´t believe that was the last of MANY Sorensen skype calls.... Like my mom said, we can always skype next Christmas, we can all through our missionary name badges on, too! ;) It was sweet meeting my new baby niece and talking spanish with my new sister in law (even though we talked when you guys were engaged...it was fun talking behind the whole fam´s back, haha!)

Right after skyping with the fam, my new companion, Elder L got to the offices and we had a meeting with President to finalized transfers, then call all the zone leaders to send them out, then went to say good bye to a few families with Elder F, and then dinner at President´s house! It was a busy but great day. 

So my new comp. My new comp is Elder L. He is from Colorado, born in Miami, and his dad is Cuban and mom is Puerto Rican, so he speaks perfect Spanish but is still a gringo in my book. He has 3 changes left, so like me will probably be here for his last few months. He is a GREAT missionary, I had a feeling he would be the one I´d finish my mission with for a while, and I am super stoked. We get along great and have very similar personalities. Best of all, he loves to work and be obedient, so these last few weeks are going to fly by. He was a zone leader he in La Colon, so he just had to take a 30 minute bus ride from his old sector. My first kid, Elder B, took his place as the new zone leader in La Colon, so we are super happy to be close together here at the end of my mission. It is gonna be a good, bittersweet change.

This week we made a few trips to the airport, gave a handful for trainings, had a welcome dinner and a farewell dinner, and had a little bit of time to work in our sector. Tonight F will be baptized. We are stoked for him. On Sunday we had Stake Conference, and a member pointed us to a 45ish year old man sitting in the back, so we went and talked to him. Turns out he is from Cuba, lives here alone, has been looking for a way to get closer to God, and has 2 kids in Cuba who will hopefully be here in Ecuador at the end of Summer. He is excited about attending the baptismal service tonight, and about preparing for his own on the 28th of May! We are so stoked to be teaching him. We also found another great couple, who lives in our same apartment building. He is from the Solomon Islands, and she is from Rwanda. We found out she was baptized in Holland, but due to some doctrinal misunderstandings fell away from the church for the past 7 years. They are both really excited to come to church tomorrow. Oh yeah, he went to BYU for a semester on a study abroad scholarship...hahaha such a small world.

Well, we´re outta here. Gotta go get some grub!

ES

Happy Mother's Day

Hey all!

I am not going to write too much because tomorrow I will talk to most of you! (Haha, I love that excuse....)

We had another great week here in Quito. Last Sunday F, an awesome 18 year old dude with desires to go on a mission RANDOMLY showed up at church after a full week with out hearing from him. He has a baptismal date for this upcoming Saturday. He is DOPE. He brought his 2 younger siblings to church, too!

Today we went back to the QuiCentroNorte mall and went bowling again. My first 2 bowls were strikes, and then I went cold. I lost by a point. #Humility ;)

This morning while we were in the internet cafe looking at email really quick there was this random 25-30 year old classy looking guy sitting next to us. Out of no where he asks ´´what do I need to do to be baptized in your church and to become a member?´´ After chatting with him for a minute, we got his phone number, found out he lives a few blocks from the church, lead him to mormon.org, and got an appointment for tomorrow. Such a crazy miracle, hopefully we can help this man come unto Christ! God is preparing people daily. Last night we found a GREAT new family. The dad is one of the happiest, friendliest, purest guys I have met here in Ecuador. And, he looks like Gru from Despicable Me. Bald, big nose, big shoulders.....EPIC.

Well, can´t wait to skype with the fam tomorrow! Fourth and final call....unreal! Oh yeah...on Monday my flight plan came in. Unreal. Tomorrow will be the start of my 17th and final change here in the mission. Can´t wait to make these last 6 weeks the best yet!

Also, SHOUT OUT to all the mommas out there. I love you, Mom. And I love all my Grandmas and all the other wonderful moms out there. I would say more, but tomorrow I´ll have a little bit more time to talk to my momma. :)

Love you all!

ES

Week #___?

Well, I truly dont have too much to say this week. Not because nothing happened, but because I am really tired and dont have my adapter to send some pics, which always jogs my memory. Oh yeah, and next Sunday I get to skype with the fam, so I want to save some stuff to talk about. ;)

We had another very solid, busy, fast, Ecuadorian week. Monday evening we road tripped down to Riobamba with the Christensens. It rained like CRAZY. At one point we couldnt really see anything and we felt like we were on Splash Mountain. It was quite the adventure. We got into Riobamba at around 7:30, got some bomb dinner from Chili´s, and then had interviews/trainings the next day. All the trainings went pretty well. No one has beaten me in arm wrestling ;) I love thinking of ways to make trainings exciting (at least a lil bit more exciting, jajaja).

On Thursday we went to Zone Meetings in Chillogallo, the zone furthest south here in Quito. Afterwards, my comp stayed down there and did exchanges with one of the zone leaders in their sector, while I came back north to our sector to work with Elder W, one of my best buddies from my group. It was a blast working with him. He is great teacher! We also enjoyed some delish Cuy (guinea pig), because he hasnt eaten any since his first month in the mish. At night we played some epic rounds of chess. I have been playing a lot of chess lately. I cant golf, so have to pick up a different Gentlemen´s Sport for now. ;)

Love you all. 

ES

Ps- Shout out to my best friend, Cam, or Elder Cuvelier, who turns 21 on Wednesday!!!! I know marriage is important and all, but I think Cam and I are meant to be life-long roomies. Love you, brodda!

Shake shake...

A quick update on April 18th, after the earthquake ~ 

Hey guys. Just so you know, we are all safe and sound. It was a pretty exciting night, but no big damage was done within our mission, just a few houses fell in Santo Domingo, but no missionaries or members were hurt. The missionaries in the Ecuador Quito North mission are all safe, as well. We were teaching a lesson on the 3rd floor of a house when it started, it was super intense/kind of exciting!! We stayed in the house for about 30 seconds, and then went down to the street for the next 1.5 minutes of the earthquake. The houses were shaking and the cables as well. A few of the families closest to me are from the provinces Manabi and Esmeraldas, but I have gotten in touch with one of the families, and am waiting to hear from the other. Hopefully everyone is doing okay. We have received tons of calls and emails here in the offices, but we are doing our best to comfort all the parents/family members and tell them that all is well in Zion! We have been praying hard for all those affected. Keep my people in your prayers! Love you all!

ES

And the longer email on April 23rd ~ 

It was quite a crazy week here in Ecuador. As most of you have heard, there was a pretty severe earthquake Saturday night. More than 600 people were killed and 12500 injured, and many are still missing. Most of the damage took place on the coast, so here in Quito everything has been much more tranquilo, although we felt the main earthquake very strongly and have felt a few aftershocks throughout the past few days. Thanks for the prayers, and keep praying for this amazing country. I have reflected a little over these past few days...thoughts: a) How grateful I am to know that there is life after death and that if I do what God has asked I can be with my family for ever. B) This gospel truly provides peace and happiness. So many members or investigators have felt a strong peace during all of this madness. It has been especially cool to hear stories of members in the coast who acted in faith and were protected during the main quake. C) While it is very tragic what has been going on here, in many places of the world this amount of people die with MUCH more frequency... Moral of the story, we got a lot of work to do, folks. 

Post-quake guinea pig

On Thursday we went to Santo Domingo, which is the main zone that was affected. While some houses fell and a few missionaries houses were damaged, everyone is doing okay. President gave everyone a big pep talk and helped all the missionaries down there calm down and get re focused on the work! We are beginning to see many people open their hearts due to the current situations in this country.

Today we played some soccer, basketball, and ping pong, versus the assistants and secretaries of the Quito North Mission. They beat us in Soccer, but we beat them in Basketball. So...to be continued... It was super fun. We went HARD for about 2.5 hours, it felt great to get a sweat on and ball out. Almost had a SICK put back dunk...moral of the story...my glory days are done.

Love you all and appreciate the concern/support/love/prayers! #ContigoEcuador

ES

Gym in our new house

Hi

Last Saturday we had a GREAT baptismal service for the Familia C. I love this work!

Today we went bowling. It was EPIC. In our mission we don´t have bowling, so it has obviously been 21 months since I went...but today we got special permission from President to go up into the North Mission and bowl. It was awesome! I bowled 130 (help me, someone...is that good?) and won 1st place. Too bad I am no longer in Little League, or else I would be rocking a sweet plastic trophy right now. While we were up north, we got Burger King. Rodeo Cheeseburger....lets goooo.

This week was great. Super busy, again. On Tuesday we went to the jungle (Puyo), and had interviews/trainings with the Zona Oriente. It was a beautiful trip and good seeing some buddies. And we ate some BOMB chocolate cake. Wow. On Wednesday we had interviews/trainings with Zona Ambato...which also went very well. My comp and I found a new family to teach while talking with people on our way to the Zone Leaders house...we taught a quick/powerful 15 minute lesson and then passed them off the the Elders in Ambato..hopefully they can progress. God is preparing MANY! On Thursday, we had interviews/trainings with Zona Chillogallo. They, as well, went well. It rained like CRAZY all weekend...so the 20 foot run from the chapel to the car SOAKED President/Hna C and us...but it just makes the experience that much better...right? 

Tuesday we will move in to a new house. It is soooo nice. I am stoked. Our old landlord was being super difficult and we have been taking cold showers for 2 months. But now, there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

Love you all and RIP Kobe. And wattup Steph Curry. RIP Bulls.

ES

Sup

Hey all!!!

Hope you all had a great week and enjoyed General Conference last weekend. Also, hope you all are enjoying your Saturdays. Especially you, Pops! Sorry I can´t help with some yard work. Haha!

Well, my week was great. Busy as ever...but way solid. 

As most of you know...this past Sunday it was announced that there will be a new temple constructed HERE IN QUITO in the upcoming years. For Quiteños, it is about an 8 hour in bus to get to the temple in Guayaquil...and even further for those who live more east...so needless to say everyone is SUPER excited that there will be a temple here in Quito!!! Everyone in all the chapels here in Quito went crazy when President Monson made the announcement. After 21 months here in this country, and 2/3 of that time being here in Quito, I am soooo happy and grateful for this huge blessing for the people of Quito. So epic.

On Tuesday we had a really solid mission leadership council. My comp and I trained on ´´Unity´´. It went really well. This change we have interviews with President, so we have been traveling with him and Hermana C to all the zones and giving specialized trainings to all the districts as President has his interviews. So basically we have been on our feet all day Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday morning, and this morning. I kind of miss having real P-days, but there is nothing better than this work!!

I finally have a camera again! I bought a pretty nice one from a missionary for just $25!!! I got way lucky, seeing as he had two and really likes me so gave me the amigo discount! So, I will finally start taking pictures again! This week I took a few, hope you enjoy em! Haha.

Well, I love you all and am grateful for your friendships and examples and emails. You guys rock.

ES

GC.LDS.ORG

First off, I just want to wish a special FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS a mi mamá, Carebear. My mother is amazing. Today, while listening to General Conference, I noticed that there were a lot of talks about families, children, and parents. I am so grateful for all the my parents have done for me, especially my loving mother. I do not know how on earth she raised four very imperfect children into four (in my mind) pretty amazing people. I love you mucho, Momma beat. And dedicate this talk, to you!!

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/behold-thy-mother?lang=eng

You have always been there for me and always supported me in ALL that I do. Thanks for everything. Love ya. See you in 11. 

Well, aside from that, I am about out of time. Conference today has been amazing! In 10 minutes we will head back to the church to watch Priesthood session. If you have´t been watching...watch it dude! gc.lds.org

This week was busy and great! Four trips to the airport to pick up missionaries, a few deliscious dinners in Presidents house for Easter, Farewell, and Welcome dinners. And a great day long new missionary/trainers conference on Wednesday. Today CT has his baptismal interview, and the familia C has theirs on Wednesday. I love watching the gospel and love of Jesus Christ change peoples lives for the BETTER. If there is one this I have learned out here..I am nothing. But through Christ, I can become something. Philippians 4:13. 

Love you all! Have a great week! Pray for CT and Familia C!

ES

Happy Easter!

All,

Hey. I will be quick this week. Figure you are all a little tired after a few long emails in a row... ;)

It was another great week here in Quito. This week we didn´t have any conferences or trainings, so we got to spend the week in our sector/doing divisions with other missionaries here in Quito! On Thursday we did a full day exchange with some missionaries from our zone, La Colon. I went with Elder W from Arizona and Elder J from North Carolina. They are both BIG BOYS, so it was fun roaming the streets/hills of center Quito with them. Elder J has 5 weeks in the mission, so it was fun seeing how he/ his companion are doing and improving and adapting to missionary life. It was a fun day with them and we were able to set some great goals for them and their sector! 

Aside from that, Elder F and I have just been doing our best to get our sector moving along. We currently are teaching a part member family of 5, and a great old man named C. They are both preparing to be baptized on the 9th of March, the weekend after General Conference!

Today we had a great pday, climbed a huge Rebar ball in a sweet park in the center of Quito, and then played volleyball in the church. 2 on 2...it was great and exhausting. Felt so good to sweat and run around! My spike is getting nasty...watch out Misty May. ;)

Love you all and hope you have a great Easter Sunday! I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I have felt His love and influence more so in these past 20 months than ever before in my life. I am grateful for His example, Atonement, and resurrection. Take a minute to think/read about Him...I promise you will feel His love.

Thanks for everything. You are all great.

ES

La Obra

I am running low on time, again. Nature is full off patterns. Call me a naturalist.

It was another great week here in Quito. I lied last week. I live one block from the Hilton Hotel. Anyways. This week we continued with zone conferences. On Tuesday we had one with Zona Chillogallo. It went really well. We watched a powerful video about Abraham/Isaac during the zone leaders training. Unreal amount of faith shown by both of those men. We also ate some tasty lasagna. On Wednesday we had zone conf with Zona Colón, which is the zone we actually are a part of, so that was cool. I got sung to for my birthday. And got a really cool pencil case from Hna Christensen. I like it. It was cool because Elder H is one of the zone leaders here in La Colón, so I got to watch him train. I felt like I was back in Elders Quorom at BYU, haha! That night we did divisions with him and Elder L from Colorado, another one of my favorite missionaries in the whole mission.  We only have about 2.5 hours after the conference and travel, but we had a great night! Talked with TONS of people, and taught a really solid progressing investigator, Senor Tierra. Yes, his last name is ´´earth´´. 

{Kevin is in the back row toward the left}

Thursday morning we woke up at 6:30 and took a taxi to President´s house, and then drove out to Santo Domingo. It was awesome being back in the coast. The zone conference went great, and then afterwards we did divisions with the zone leaders down there. I got to work with Elder Q, an Elder who was in my ward in Solanda over a year ago. He finishes in 2 weeks and is such a stud. It was awesome working in hot, rainy Santo Domingo again. We some some AMAZING lightning as well. I´m alive though, don´t worry! Yesterday we were able to get some office work done/get ready for the upcoming week. This week we will have the new missionaries/trainers verification on Tuesday, and then travel down south for zone conferences in Ambato Thursday, Riobamba (YES!) Friday, and the Oriente (jungle) Saturday. Hopefully we will find some time on Saturday or Sunday to write home, if not, I´m good. :)

Love you all! Oh yeah. We went on an epic hike today. Teliferico round 3, but this time to the PEAK! 

ES

Hello.

Hola.

Hey all. Hope everyone is doing great! We had another great week here in the beautiful city of Quito! I love it, I missed this massive, unique city. Gonna be weird leaving in it a few months....anyways!

This week was excellent. On Tuesday we had a big Mission Leadership Counsil, which was a big conference with all the zone leaders from the mission. Got too see all my homies from other cities. It went really well. President gave a few great trainings and we trained on ´´Living What We Teach´´. It went pretty great. On Wednesday we went to Los Chillos (a zone like 45 minutes outside of Quito) for a zone conference. It was awesome being back in Los Chillos...hadn´t been there since I was born! The conference went great. Lots of good teachings from President and some bomb food! We trained on ´´Vivir lo que enseñamos´´ again, and it went well again! It was cool seeing a few old comps and friends down in Los Chillos. On Thursday we had zone conference with the Turubamba zone, the zone I spent 8 months in. It was a great conference. It is cool because even though we have the same agenda for each conference, the Spirit always changes things up and we always get to learn new stuff from President and change our trainings according to what we feel. I got to see Elders A and U! My two best buddies in the mission. After the conference, we did divisions with the zone leaders from Turubamba. I got to go out and work a few hours with Elder U! It was awesome!!! We hadn´t worked together since the Mexico MTC...so it was way cool being with him. It was also awesome being back in my old zone...I miss South Quito. Had some major nostalgia and though back on some great times earlier on in my mission.

Due to all the conferences, we have only been able to get about 2 hours a night of work done in our zone, but wow! We are seeing serious miracles. We are teaching a lot of great people and have a family progressing towards a baptismal date on March 26th. I love this work and am learning new things every day.

A few quick Qs from momma bear...

Do you drive a car when you pick up missionaries from the airport?

-No, President Christensen always drives. And on the way home when we are with the new missionaries, we take a van or a bus that we have scheduled to pick us up, depending on the number.

Where do you live? How far away from the mission offices? Are the offices the same place as the mission home?

-I live in ´´La Colón´´ in Quito. The offices are about 4 minutes north of the Marriott, and our house is about 5 minutes north of the offices, walking. The offices are our mission home. We do almost everything here besides special dinners which we do at President´s house up in the Quito North mission about 40 minutes north of here.

How many people live with you?

-Just me and my comp. And every once and a while a companionship sleeps with us if they are in town for a special reason, but often sleep a few floors below us with the secretaries.

What do the mission office elders do, besides finance? 

-There are 3. One is for finance. One is for housing and visas and materials, and one is for baptismal records, plane tickets, paperwork, references, and other random stuff. He does what the Senior Missionaries would typically do, but we won´t have new Senior missionaries until June.

Do you still tract and teach at all?

-Of course! About 3 hours a day, from 6-9. Sometimes a lot less, and sometimes a few hours more. Def learning some good time managment skills!

Love you all!!! 

Oh yeah, also want to wish a HAPPY HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY to my biggest brother, Jeffrey Todd! Thanks for everything, dude! You have been such a huge example for all of us. Я люблю тебя, Старейшина Соренсен! Rocking your Ukrainian tie in the pic, just for you ;)

Love you all, again. Have a great week. Remember who you are. ;)

ES

Changes

After three AMAZING changes down south in Riobamba, I am finally moving on. I loved my time in Riobamba and grew so much. I met some wonderful people down there and really learned a lot about a positive attitude and hard work. We had a great last week with Elder B. On Saturday we had the baptismal service of A. He is a great old man who has changed SO MUCH! When we found him he was always sad, lonely, and confused--but now he is so happy and his health has also improved like crazy! I can´t believe how much the Lord has blessed him.

At noon on Saturday I got a call from President. We chatted for a few minutes about the mission and life and then he told me he wanted me to come back into Quito and be his new assistant. It was a very humbling phone call and I am so excited to learn from him and push myself to become an even better missionary/person. Saturday night after the baptism a family who I love threw me a good bye party...pizza, cake, sweet words, it was the best! 

Sunday morning I bused up to Quito. Since then, everything has kind of been a blur. On Sunday we had a transfers meeting with President and then gave all the new assignments/changes to the whole mission. Sunday night we visited a few people and then went over to President´s house for dinner. It was super nice of him/Sister C to invite, and we ate some BOMB food. Monday we were in the office all day getting ready for training and incoming/outgoing missionaries. Monday evening we went back to President´s house for a ´´good-bye´´ dinner with all the missionaries who went home on Tuesday. Monday night at around 11 we picked up 2 missionaries from the airport. Tuesday morning we picked up 9 more. Tuesday night we had a welcome dinner for the new missionaries, and then at around 11 went baaaack to the airport to pick up the last missionary who had just barely gotten his visa. Wednesday we had a big conference with all the new missionaries and their trainers. Thursday we went to the zone/district meetings of our zone here in La Colón. Yesterday we planned out the month and some trainings for MLC and Zone Conferences next week. And today, we played Bball and Volleyball with the mission secretary elders. 

It has been a crazy week with very little sleep, but I have felt the support from above (and you all!). I am way humbled to be able to work so closely with President and have already learned SOOO much from him in meetings, car rides, and elsewhere. This week will be another hectic week with two zone conference here in Quito and a Mission Leadership Conference on Tuesday. 

Oh yeah, my comp! My comp is Elder F from SLC Utah. He is amazing. We are from the same group and get along great. He loves EVERYONE and I love being with him. We are super excited for this change!

Love you all! 

ES

Baños Round #3

What a week! As far as la obra misional goes...it was a rather slow one. On Monday and Tuesday we were basically locked in the house all day due to ´´Carnaval´´. But, we were still able to get our and teach a few lessons each of those days. Wednesday and Thursday we went pretty hard in the sector and tried to get as much work done as we possibly could! Unfortunately I never got over that sickness from last week, but on Wednesday the uncle of someone we teach gave me a free check up and then prescribed me to some solid cough syrup and antibiotics. Turns out my left lung was closing...but now I am feeling WAYYYYYY BETTER! Modern medicine works...after 19 months trying to tough things out I gave in and well....it worked. Haha!

Friday afternoon, right after lunch, we bussed down to Quito as a zone. Again. The trip was good, we got in to Quito around 7 and then from the Mission Offices jumped in some taxis and headed up north about 30 minutes into the Quito North Mission. The Elders of our zone (12 of us) stayed in the house/hotel of some zone leaders from the North Mission. Turns out I knew both of them! Both the Elders were in the MTC with me!! They came out 2 weeks after us but were in our same zone! We played soccer almost every day together. With Elder A, them, and I, we had a sweet little CCM reunion. 

On Saturday we had the Mission Wide Conference with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Wow. What an amazing experience! The conference went from 1pm-3pm. At around 12:30 we went out onto the bball court to take a mission wide picture with Elder Holland and Elder Montoya. Then we each got shake their hands/greet them on the way back into the chapel. The conference was just excellent. Sister Christensen and President gave small 5 minute talks, followed by a 5 minute talk by Elder Espinoza (area 70), followed by a 15 minute talk by Elder Montoya (70 from Mexico) and then Elder Holland took the stage for about an hour and a half. Wow. It was POWERFUL. He spent the majority of the time walking up and down the center aisle, really getting close and personal with us. He was extremely passionate. He talked about his own mission, the importance of our calling, the importance of the Book of Mormon, and he talked a lot about what it means to be a true witness of Christ. As he said, ´´I get all crazy and passionate about this because it means EVERYTHING to me.´´ It was truly epic. He pumped us all up and gave me exactly what I needed to hear for these last few months. I´d share more but all my notes are at home, so fam, wait a few months and I´ll get back to you.

This Saturday we have a baptismal service for a dope 76 year old man. He is awesome. We found him a few weeks ago in a very tough situation. He has been lonely and very sick for a long, long time. We have seen huge miracles in his life as he is slowly being healed by Christ, both emotionally and physically. Like he says... ´´I don´t know why, but when you guys are here I feel healthy, I feel good, I feel loved´´. So grateful to be a missionary and spread God´s love to those who are in need of it.

Today we went to Baños...again. It was EPIC. We went to the Pailon del Diablo again....this time we went to the upper part with those sketchy wooden bridges. It was epic.

This Sunday we will get changes. Sadly, it is likely that I am outta here and will be going to my final sector. But, anything can happen! President knows best.

Love you all! Take heart.

ES

​Pics:​

​Pailon de Diablo

Oops - dunking too hard

feliz carnaval

Hey all! Today we had to walk around downtown Riobamba for like 45 minutes to find this cyber to email. So I am way short on time. Carnaval is going on. A big holiday in South America. Basically a continent wide water/foam/color/egg/flour fight. Fun stuff. Today and tomorrow we will only be leaving for set appointments. And on Friday we will be heading up to Quito as a zone for the Elder Holland mission wide conference on Saturday. We are all sooo stoked! It is going to be great. This week was solid. We had a good MLC on Tuesday. I got to see the homies...we are getting a little nervous because the months are going by faster and faster! But needless to say...some epic BYU plans are being made. Haha! After the conference on tuesday we stayed in Quito one more day because I got a few more ingrown toenails ripped out. But they feel great now. And health wise I am doing way better. Thanks for the prayers, mamà!! On Wednesday there was the new missionary/trainer verification conference, so my kid Elder B came in on Tuesday night and we got to hang out in the hotel that night and talk about the past few months and shoot the bull about our good times in Quito together. He is tearing it up. My second grandson is from Peru, he is a BEAST! See pic.

Love you all. 

ES

Hola....?

Hello. How is everybody? 

Another good and crazy fast week down here in Riobamba. We just got off the bus in Quito about an hour ago. It was another, beautiful, long drive. I feel like I say the same thing every week. Oh well. I`ll just keep typing and hope that my momma doesnt mind. ;) Tomorrow we have a missionary leadership counsel which means more delish momma C food! Can`t wait. I have been pretty sick since last monday. Gnarly headaches, cough, chest pain, sinus pressure, and couldnt really hear out of my right ear until yesterday....so I am probably gonna have a medical appointment tomorrow after the conference tomorrow. Or I might wait until next week...we`ll see.

Speaking of next week... Next Saturday we have a mission wide conference and el ELDER JEFFREY R HOLLAND will be presiding!!!!! We found out last week but I forgot to mention it. I am sooooo excited! It is going to be one heck of a conference. It is exactly what will help me get double focused/motivated for these last few months. We will be traveling up to Quito as a zone on friday and then returning saturday afternoon. I am so stoked! Also pumped to see some past comps and a few grand children I haven`t met. Dont worry Jeff, I`ll get a pic for ya ;)

On friday we had interviews with President Christensen. It was good as ever. We talked a lot about my goals for this new year/the rest of my mission. It was great. I love this man, he has given me countless advice! (2nd to Kent, that is. ;)

As a zone, we have been trying to really get pumped up about talking with EVERYONE. We have given incentives to the zone, challenging anyone to out-contact us and they`d receive a prize. While the number of contacts had been going up a little the past 2 weeks, this last week we had 1002 contacts as a zone. In other words, 1002 people met mormon missionaries in our two small cities of Riobamba and Guaranda. DOUBLE our number from the past two weeks. We could really see/feel a difference. When you talk with more, you smile more and enjoy more. The zone also saw lots of miracles due to the efforts of everyone of talking with more people. This week eight people were baptized and confirmed, and it has been awesome getting to know each one of them and watching them make life changing decisions. The church is true and offers us so many blessings.

Well, that`s about all. Love you all and glad to hear that everyone is doing well. Stay golden.

Elder

pics.... alguien quiere verde..? and pitahaya roja