May 12,2014

Family, Wow it was so great to be able to see and talk to everyone its nice to feel of all the love in a place where you dont get much. thats one thing i have really learned to cope with is staying happy with out much love! so thank you again for all you all do for me!! but anyways not much action this week my comp thought he was gonna get transfered so he slacked off alot, but we still were able to extend the Baptismal Commitment to 3 people all with in their 20's and they all excepted im so excited to see people i have felt inspired to knock on their door progressing. What a wonderful experience for sure. Africa is so much different that the states and i didnt realize how use i have gotten to these crazy things until i skyped but it was so nice to get refreshed from home! not much to share this week i shared alot on skype. but its transfers this week me and my comp are the same which he's not to happy with and then also Elder Bryan and Matambala are leaving and im really gonna miss those guys for sure. Elder Matambala is the best Zone Leader i have been around that guy is truly inspired and work his butt off every sec of each day. he has help me come to love contacting people im not as confident as him quite yet since he does give atleast 50 passlong cards and people each day which is crazy i can only get about 5. but you all met that crazy guy! i love you guys a ton and i cant wait for the next 8 months to just fly by so i can talk to you all again! Stay positive and motivated in whatever you do that is the only way to succeed! i love you! LOVE, ELDER SORENSON

May 5, 2014

Fam Bam, Wow its been a crazy fast week! time really flies when you work hard all day everyday. Things were pretty good this week just trying to expand the teaching pool sense there isnt really anyone thats progressing. but Friday was a crazy day we showed up at a lesson with a guy named Osborn. we found him sitting outside talking with all his drunk friends they were wasted its was pretty funny i wont lie but with drunks that can go from the happiest guys to absolutely crazy in 2 sec and thats what happened, one guy was up in my face just asking me all this random crap but i just stayed calm and was laughing and said things to make everyone laugh. when we left my comp was like man that guy was about to smack you with that bottle but we just laughed it off and bonded over it. but other than that nothing really to talk about till i get home! this week tho its mothers day and im excited to be able to call and skype. i'll be skyping about 6pm my time which is about 9 in the morning back in AZ. so im excited for that big time and the day i skype 6 months before was the day i was on the plane all day coming to S.A. crazy stuff 1 quarter down 3 to go! but to keep a little thought of mission in the email i wanted to shared a little story that the Elders Quorum President shared on sunday. he was talking about a Chinese Bamboo plant and how it takes 4 years of water and fertilizer each day to sprout but after those four years of care it sprouts and can grow 6 meters in 6 weeks. he applied it to home teaching but theres so many ways to apply the little parable so to say and i thought it was cool but i love you all so much and cant wait to see and hear from you on sunday. i love you! LOVE, ELDER SORENSON
-Proverbs 17:17
-Philippians 4:13

Also that talk i wrote i emailed it to President Zackrison last week in my weekly update letter and this week in his letter to all the missionaries you put it in so all the missionaries could read it which was pretty cool in my book. Love ya

Zone Conference Talk, TCU Baseball Remix: We serve missions to be apart of something much bigger than ourselves. We join together. We believe in one another and we push each other to reach a level of greatness that can only be reached when we all work as one. Our Quiet Confidence comes from knowing that, while we may just be 19 and 20 year old boys and we may face the Advisary along the way, collectively we will rely on an Extreme work ethic, The Spirit, and sound fundamentals of The Gospel to meet the challenges we all face. We're told in Preach My Gospel to not worry about the things we cant control, its a waste of our time and its a waster of the Lords. The only things we can control when stepping out into the Mission Field are Effort and Attitude. I promise you if you give 100% of both You Will See Results. Resist the temptation to bind to the hype of a good area or a good week or something thats going on at home, it will only serve to distract and move us further from our goal. Keep your blinders on and sharpen your focus. Grasp the importance of now and win This day. Then when the Last Day of mission comes and the last lessons is finally over, only then will we know if we were Consecrated. But know this that a single day or a single lesson does not define a missionary. A True Consecrated Missionary comes forth in the early morning hours, A Determined Force, Full of the Spirit and Humility, but deprived of relaxation, mentally driving his body beyond fatiuge, beyond pain, beyond reason, to the point of exhaustion. How far a missionary is able to consecrate himself and be obedient when no one is watching... Thats the essence of a truly consecrated missionary. So when your home and happen to catch a glimps of a consecrated missionary hitting the wall and pushing through, take pause, look closer, and feel fortunate for what you are witnessing. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. * not sending this to boast of myself but hopefully to motivate missionaries and members alike to put forth that effort to do The Lords work. *

April 28, 2014

Family, Wow what a fast good week! Had some great experiences this week. but it just flew by! And seems like stuff is getting done back at home big bro getting engaged thats some crazy news! but nothing but love, support and encouragement for the love birds! but two months of waiting is pretty quick we'll see if anyone can top that! ;) haha but Congrats! Anyways what a great week! Monday i get a great big envelop from home that was full of so much love and support from so many people and i wanna thank everyone that wrote a letter and also a HUGE thanks to Lauren for always going that extra mile for me! In that letter there was some amazing words but for sure something that was for me was the story of Pushing Against the Rock that was sent by Jon Lovell. i had never heard it before but i knew that it was for me because after studying it and thinking about it prayers and more inspiration came. Things got real tho when the next day(tuesday) at zone conference the AP Elders Summers shared the exact story what an amazing experience! and thank you again for that story. but ya tuesday was zone conference which meant i was around Americans which was awesome. once again Elder Moorhouse and i had a great time catching up and cant wait till pres makes us comps one day. Zone conference was on consecration of ourselves it was power. but funny story as we were taking a break for lunch and Elder came up to me named Elder Bryant from Gilbert and he looked familair but i couldnt put him to anything until he said i know your little brother he knocked out one of my really good friends and then it clicked. i was dying! what a small world it truely is.but Zone conference we were asked to write a talk and i took a TCU motivational thing and changed some of the words to apply it to missionaries i felt inspired to do so, so since i wasnt able to share it at zone conference i'll send that in another email.But General Conference was this weekend and wow was it power it seemed to go by so so fast i learned a ton and loved so many of the talks. but truely this week i found a power scripture in my studies that applied so good to me.... Mosiah 23: 10-11: Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my prayers and has made me an instrument in his hands in bringing so many of you to the knowledge of His truth. Nevertheless, in this i do not glory, for i am unworthy to glory of myself. It was powerful for me to read those few short verses and i hope it helps one of you as well. but that was pretty much the week. still working hard going out at 11 and coming home at 8:30 whether or not its tracting the whole time or not we are doing our best. I love you all so much! keep me posted! love ya LOVE, ELDER SORENSON

April 21, 2014

Fam Bam, Pretty Fast week even though we didnt have much success. are teaching pool isnt very big so we have been tracting and finding alot. My whole mission i havent been a fan of tracting at all until this week. i have been praying for a desire for finding and i felt this week i got my answer. for two days i felt inspired to go to so many houses and most of them turned out to be successful, and the ones that werent we were still able to plant a seed for future missionaries or members. but Last monday was pretty legit. after emailing we went to the Durban Botanical Gardens which was pretty fun (not my idea) but still enjoyed it. but after that was the good part. We headed to Moses Mabeda Stadium which is the big Soccer stadium that was built for the world cup and the have a ride thing that takes you to the top but its pretty expensive, lo and behold i was able to convince the security guard to let us all go up for free it was sweet also got his number for other missionaries. tuesday it rained and since i walk i got soaked but we made the best of it my companion was great and just marched along with the work as we got rained on. We gave a blessing that night it was powerful. it was for Gogo Sitoly cause she have a bad swollen foot. Later in the week we had a powerful lesson with an investigator Michael and his wife. they are having family and relationship issues but my companion had a great idea to have all of us kneel down and pray at the end of the lesson so as each of us prayed the spirit was very strong and even the wife started to sob it was a great experience. Sunday (easter) we had Exchanges and i was with Elder Chigede. we had a powerful day and many powerful things that happened that i cant fit in an email. but Last night as we exchanged back my comp Elder Chipeta told me that our best investigator is no longer able to be baptized. his name is Topelo and is 18 he wants to be bap. and go on a mission really bad but he parents are supportive at all so we will have to gain the trust of the parents and maybe the Spirit will even convert them. But this week Prayer was important. No Matter what Pray every morning and evening and i dont have to tell you the blessing you will see them! Quotes of my Week: "Satan always goes after the talented ones" "Excuses are easy to find; they spring up as readily and plentifully as weeds by the wayside" -James E. Talmage (Jesus The Christ,p.431) "If your complaining about life you are only thinking about yourself" "Forget yourself in the service of others" - President Gordon B. Hinkley "For Blessings some come Now, some come Later and some don't come till Heaven, but for those who have faith and believe in Christ they come." -Jeffery R. Holland I love you all so much! and thank you for the continued love and support!! LOVE, Elder Alex Sorenson