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