November 21, 2013 Hey "Fam Bam" as jake would say, So this past week as been pretty dang crazy. I was pissed i had to wait till thursday to email since that is our mtc Pday but it'll normal be mondays but i wont talk to you all till a week from monday because we fly out to our mission on tuesday so it'll be a long week with out a pday or a email home but anyway the first two days i was so stressed!! things finally got better after our first sports time which is everyday from 3:30 to 4:30 and after sports on friday as i was coming in to shower and i found card from mom hid in my bags, and by the way in didnt unpack at the mtc im just living out of my bags so thats why i didnt find stuff till later in the week, but anyway i read the card from mom and it got better it made me a little home sick but i think the biggest thing that helped me was having hot dogs and fries for dinner friday. honestly that helped me get my appettie back and mad things a little more comfortable. I'll admit though this is so dang hard, way harder than i ever imagined... we get up at 6:15 i do push-ups sit-ups and pull-ups then go to breakfast at 7 after that we seriously study non-stop from 7:30 to 12:30 with like 2 five min breaks and by 12:30 or lunch i feel like its time for bed. i'm completely drained. but Mom thanks for packing the photo album of the family and lauren its nice to look at faces you miss and love so much while writing in my journal or before i go to bed each night. My MTC Companion is Elder Nkambule He's from Swaziland, He's okay but speaks very quietly, as most of the africans do, and he is hard to communicate with, but we were made District Leaders the first day which is cool. President and Sister Reber Are Great if you dont know by now sister reber has been sending pics which it nice since they wont let us upload pics at the mtc. Sunday Sister Reber gave a lesson on journals and what to say and how to record it it gave me a bunch of ideas. then in priesthood we were able to watch a talk by Elder Bednar that he gave to missionaries about Doctrine, Principles and Applications, it was a great talk and very helpful but it got confusing trying to keep up with Elder Bednar becasue all the incite he shares in such a small time or maybe it was because i was completely jet lagged still haha. Monday we had a great message on stress management it helped me a lot and reassured me that i can do it and that its normal to be overwhelmed and not pick everything up all at once. The teaching is getting easier as time goes on but i wasnt even close to being as ready as i couldve or shouldve been. Tuesday was a great day we were able to go to the temple and before we went in we had a fireside with us 16 missionaries and Elder Brickdale, the area authority and a member of the 70. it was amazing. he talked about when he was a mission president in Idaho and how he met a young man that loved the Lord and always wanted to serve a mission but wasnt able to because he had cancer but elder Brickdale went on and said that the doctors thought the cancer went away and so Brickdale had the boy serve in his mish in the office but long story short the cancer came back and the boy was so sad he didnt have the energy to serve the Lord and when the boy pasted away all the missionaries sang called to serve and the boy pasted away as an elder and was never released it was a touching story and i'll admit that it choked me up he did a great job speaking with a great spirit about him. After the fireside we went to the distrubution center and i bought a scrip case thats made out of wildebeast its pretty legit but i dont know who im gonna send it to yet! haha but anyway we walked up to the temple and took some pics outside which some of them you have seen and when i get a chance ill send you all the pic of me by the entrance and sign that says Joberg temple. its a beautiful temple and from the outside it looks alot similar to the Vegas one but on the inside its not even half the size the chapel for waiting held like 18 chairs and the session groups were like 20 max, and thats if they bring in a couple chairs. but either way its a temple and its beautiful on the inside. tuesdays are packed there though and this week all the area authorities and mission presidents were in Joberg for a convention so they were all in the session after us so we saw a few but didnt get to talk because we had to hurry and leave. our mission president was there and we didnt get to see him and his wife so he was bummed and decide last night that they would stop by and meet everyone going to their mission. they came with Elder Hamilton, a general authority, and his wife. they spoke to us for a little while and expressed their love for us. you could tell how much they love us and how much they cared and also how great of people they are and how the spirit works through them. but anyway again this is so stressful and without anyone to really communicate with its difficult i literally just pray for like 20 min every night because thats all i have to talk to at nights. dont worry you are all in my prayers. i miss you all so so so much and love you so much. Katie thank you for the sweet card I LOVED it and i will definatley put the ear plugs to good use hahaha i love you. Ben be good, and be smaarter than the kids you hangout with they arent going anywhere in life and you will if you choose whats right. a mission will be hard but you need it so prepare your self now and do what you need to to go on a mission and study and learn as much as you can. and dont forget i said this after an hour remember it!!!! if not a mission will kick your butt like its doing to me! but i love it! itll make me who i want to be and prepare myself to be married and have a hottie for a wife if any of you know a cute girl named lauren let me know hahaha jk we all know who that is. i dont know why im telling you all that but anyway best you find out now haha as long as shes there when im home!!! Mom Dad i love you so much and thank you for everything you have done and will do for me. i don tknow where to send the credit card and all that stuff yet but ill let you know as soon as possible! this is probably the longest letter of my life and probably will be the longest one of my mission but if anyone gets upset that i didnt send a personal email to them its because i dont have time and cause im not the fastest typer. But anyway im out here in the Danger Zone, no worries i havent been robbed yet but supposely that happens all the time in Joberg so im hoping its safer in Durban. too many Black Eyes on the couple white kids when we leave the mtc haha but i'll be good no worries haha i love you all so so much!! Dont forget that i'm always the Favorite son, missionary, and boy!!! I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU ALL A TON. LOVE, The Younger Cuter ELDER Sorenson
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| Elders' Setshedi, Lombola, and Mulumba received their endowments |
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| President and Sister Reber |
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| MTC Companions at the Johannesburg Temple |
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