February 24, 2014

FAM BAM, Wow pretty long tough week not gonna lie. I got my new comp and he's got a pretty girly side to him and he doesn't care to respect me or care to listen what I have to say even though im probably the most successful missionary out here in his first 3 months. but whatever he can sit and listen while I teach as I have this past week! but no worries im still nice and I try my hardest to serve and apologize to him for everything even if its not my fault... Kill'em with Kindness... but anyways Wed. Sakurada wasn't feeling to hot so we took him to the hospital and then the senior couple took him down to Durban and he was there for a few days and I was with two African companions yay.. but Thursday I got a call from sakurada and the AP's saying the Sakurada and his comp are being Emergency Transferred to Bloomfontein because the missionaries over there 'lost the trust of the branch' and then the 2 problem missionaries are coming here. so yeah its gonna be me and 3 Africans in my house and none of them like or talk to whites and 2 mare 2 of the worst in the mission which seems like im always around such great company haha! but I was at a dinner appointment when I found/prompted to open my scriptures and I found (3 Nephi 22:7-10) and wow it applied to me perfectv those verses are in a song I remember from back home that I think was written by Rob Gardner, by the way mom I need that cd! Anyways im just gonnna keep doing me out here and I hope things will be okay the next 5 weeks of the transfer.. I wont lie im pretty dang nervous about all this. but President said after this transfer im for sure out of here so I hope I go up to Swaziland for the next 6 months! but enough Negativity, Yesterday was AWESOME! we had 5 baps and only the 5 converts cause the Branch Pres is too lazy to interview the other ones but it was sweet I was asked by 4 of the 5 to baptize them it was amazing! and we should have 5 child of records next week that we taught but cant interview or baptize which is lame but the week after we should have about 4 or 5 more convert baps so yeah works going go im getting rich out here in the gospel but not in missionary friends ha! but who cares about them they aren't the reason why im out here. anyways Sister Rogers was here and did get my package to me and I must say it is the prettiest one I have gotten no bumps or dents in it ha! but thanks for all the love and support from home you all are amazing and I love you all so much! love the people around you cause you don't know how much you love and care about them until you don't have them! Stay Strong and Always endure your trials its for your benefit and the Lord knows that they will make you strong if you endure them well! I love you so much!! LOVE, ELDER SORENSON

Sakurada and Alex at the hospital

Fire out in the Bush

Wacking the fire with a branch African style

Alex's new companion and a little girl named Luyanda

Vusi, Sakhile, Nothando, and Noneumiso (children that Alex baptized)

Cleaning the Font

Awesome shirt from Dad



Alex, Sacurada, Merile, and Sister Rogers



February 17, 2014

Saobona Family! Wow Really fast week! so this past week was the last week of the transfer and of Elder Rogers Mission so we took his journal around and got it signed by the members but also had a few good lessons. Some of you don't know but his mom is coming to get him which will be awesome 1. cause shes American and 2. cause they'll be coming to church with me and my new comp this next week! this coming week we are going to be having 10 BAPTISMS so yeah I've been working my butt off teaching and loving these people all while having fun! next sunday is going to be one to remember. So Thursday night I was laying in bed and I was like okay its probably time for the big shot to be back in the USA! man its crazy Jake's home! I hear he is pretty skinny but that's what Africa does to you. I lost another notch on my belt this past week! also I have seen some beautiful pics of the gilbert temple! I wish I was there but i'll have to say Sam White is a pro photographer and sent me a legit pic! but thanks for all the love and support! This past Saturday we had a Youth Conference and we the missionaries were in charge of a bunch of classes. I was in charge of the Testimony and Tracting Class it was a blast see the power these kids, who some of them are the only member in their family, have when teaching and bearing testimonies! Its rare to see that back in the states and I know that I would've gone to church as much as I did if I was the only member! I was taught more by these young kids than i taught them! Africa is power! some of these kids could end up being the Brigham Young's and John Taylor's of Africa. Im so Thankful that i was brought up in the gospel. i know sometimes i was a punk and that i did a lot of stupid stuff that im not proud of and im sorry. but the past is the past and i'll leave it there! its already been three months and its gone by quick. but this up coming transfer i am getting a new comp. his name is Elder SSRENKUMA, from Uganda so we'll see how it goes! but for the next few days im a Zone Leader which is cool. nothing to big going on i haven't gotten any mail for a while and mail hasn't left cause there has been some mail strike which is lame but what can i do This is Africa... THE GEHTTO OF THE WORLD! enjoy the states for all you that are there. crazy people, gun shots and muggings get old. this place is so corrupt but i wouldn't trade it for anything! not many people can say they lived in Africa and have seen and heard the things i have! Mission you gotta have fun or it all will destroy you! Anyways Jake i love you and im so proud to have you as my African Brother! you did it bro! Happy Valentines Day to you all this past week i love you and wish i could see you all on holidays but out here holidays are just another day. i love you all so much! LOVE, The ONLY Elder Sorenson


Richards Bay District Youth Conference



Farewell Party for Elder Rogers

Making Mexican Food out in Africa

Cooking for a family during FHE

Mlondo Family

A random guy at the store respresenting America and Jesus like Elder Sorenson

February 10, 2014

Family, So wow pretty quick week but a lot happened. The teaching it going pretty great. we have about 10 on bap. date and we were going to have 2 baptisms this coming sunday but our branch pres, whose a complete joke, wants to hold the baptisms until you can interview some kids that are born in to the church so we can just have one big baptism. so by the time we have the baptism its gonna end up being like 15 to 20 people so ya! the mission "vision" is 2 baptisms a month and im just gonna follow my big bro and say that is a stupid idea! you aren't working very hard if you can only get to baps a month! i'll admit I don't work as hard as I should or want to but its coming to be productive! I love these people! its a weird feeling loving someone you barely know! But wow Jacob is home this week! that's gotta be one heck of a feeling knowing you are 100% done and are able to go home! I've seen somethings that he has seen out here in the Africa. these townships can get pretty crazy. Wed. a lady in one of the Branches died. she was a less active so I didn't know her but out here you just seen and hear somethings that you'll never forget. so Friday night we had a D.A. with the whole zone in our area for my comp since he has a week left. so we dropped everyone off at the house but then me and Sakurada had to run to the house that had the person pass to take them chairs and then they ended up having us do a short little service for them since the body arrived that night it was weird. I sat right by the coffin while the people all sang these Zulu African songs. then Saturday we had the service at the church and I had to carry the coffin with the Africans cause most are too strong but the weirdest was at the cemetery when I actually had to bury the lady while everyone sings these songs that sound like the our out of the lion king. but its different and fun something you only get in Africa and not in the states for sure! you defiantly get turned in to a man in a African mission! but that's all for this week! Love you ALL!! and Jacob you are a stud and love you lots! keep the attendance under 1000 at the homecoming or people will try to say they didn't come for you! haha I love you Guys! LOVE, The ONLY AFRICAN Elder Sorenson!

Package from Lauren

Mom's Cookies

February 3, 2014

FAMILY, Wow it was actually a Super fast week. and its crazy Jake's got one more week left! congrats Big bro you did it! but this week was pretty nuts. Tuesday we took our two hour drive down to Zone Conference and it was pretty fun I got to see Moorhouse and Sieverts which was great! they are like my best friends and twins out here! but yeah zone conference was pretty good but long! they just talked about the reason behind stats and all that! The work out here is the same Gospel as back in the states but out here you just gotta do it a little different! sometimes things get tough but everytime they do I just tell myself ' that you are the light in the strom so shine bright'. these people don't understand what we are bring to their doorsteps. Tracting hasn't been too successful but the members have been. I think last week we only had about 5 for sures on bap date and now we are about 8 and all are from members friends. this week we met Sfiso and Nduduzo. they are my criminals, Legitly criminals its funny, but they commited and wanted to be baptized so that's when we began to meet with them. Thursday a less active, named Cindy Chriwa, I gave a blessing of comfort to the week prior told me that I was an angel and that my blessing was the exact thing she needed. she ended up taking care of everything she needed and was stress free. it was such a good feeling to see how happy she was. I told her only staying strong in the gospel can ultimately help her with everything through out life. Saturday we walked to the beach and my comp caught a chameleon and we also walked right passed a twig snake. I saw just the head and kept looking for the body but it honestly looked just like a stick! soccer is always fun tho. Sunday was good we had some less actives bare testimony and cry, even though it was in Zulu and I couldn't really understand much it brought the spirit. then that night we went to a members house for a quick lesson and within 5 min about 6 young boys from about 9 to 13 walked in and all wanted to be baptized and be taught by us! Miracles! so by next Monday we should have about 14 or 15 on bap date that should all go through as long as the can Know, Feel, and Do. That's pretty much the week! it was Awesome and I hope to have more of these! thanks for all the prayers and love it is much felt out here in Zulu land! I LOVE YOU ALL! have fun with the big guy coming home! don't miss me too much! Love, soon to be the only, ELDER SORENSON

My Zone



Sieverts and Alex



Elder Moorhouse, Sakurada, and Sorenson Trumping

Soccer Stadium

 The young boys of Bap

African Hotwheels

African Remote controlled cars

Shout out to Big Bro, Jake

January 27, 2014

The Fam, So another week down but for some reason time flew by but it feels like forever since last Monday. It was a really tough week for me personally but the missionary work is all going good. we got another 5 Baptismal Dates for the 16th of Feb which is great to see progression in so many people. Finding people out here is extremely difficult cause we are just little white boys going through teaching all these black people. we rely heavily on the members to introduce us to people to teach and so far its worked very well. we also have to work hard with reactivation but that's almost everywhere in the church. but lets talk alittle about the past week. last Monday after emailing my comp wasn't feeling to good. when we got back to our house he vomited a little blood which wasn't good so we decided to take him to the hospital so we went and ended up being there for about 7 hours and right as we got called back a guy came in on the ambulance so all the doctors rushed to help him and at the same time I walked out to tell the other elders what was going on and I saw the Doctors doing cpr on the guy. we were informed a little bit later that the guy pasted away. it really opened my eyes on how precious life is, when a guy that went to work one morning and ended up dying that afternoon it was a weird experience. my Comp ended up being dehydrated so no biggie there. Tuesday Moorhouse Got transfer which sucks cause I lost one of my best friends out here, but with loss I gained a package from The Whites with some many goodies its was Amazing! Wed. we had a zone meeting and they were talking about stats and it was so annoying I finally couldn't take it and told them that this is so stupid and that these stats and plans they have a garbage. these aren't Stats these are People and then we went into an hour long discussion and everyone agreed with me that I was right. Thursday was a very hard day for me and I didn't know if I was going to last much longer out here I didn't feel worthy. then I realized its just satan using the past to make me want to go home! As I taught lessons I reassured myself through the spirit that everything will be okay! that's pretty much the week. I hope I don't have to live this week again!! LOVE Elder Sorenson Pictures this week are a package from the Whites, A Hospital trip, a monkey, the duck dynasty brothers, the garden after a few weeks, some member girls that introduced us to friends that now have Baptism Dates.

 

January 20, 2014

Fam Bam For the most part it was a pretty great week! Last Tuesday Elder Frishnect, the piano major, left and we got at new zone leader. Also, a new comp for Elder Moorhouse, whose comp also got transferred. Also, last Tuesday, we had to go get new mattresses for the boarding we just moved back into, so me and Elder Sakurada rode in the back of the truck for about 30 min holding all of them. It was pretty fun. This weeks missionary work consisted of 3 straight days of tracting. In the 8 weeks I have been hear I haven't tracted or knocked on one door until this week but we knocked a ton this week we tracted for about 5 hours each of the 3 days and covered probably about 15 miles total. we met some great people that we hope will build the teaching pool. out here we really focus on reactivation because so many members just stop showing up to things but that is going pretty goo once you have someone out here that knows how to talk to people. when I got here we only had about a constant 45 people coming to church and now we are up to 70 for the past 3 weeks. its awesome seeing the fruit of your labor! Friday night me and sakurada made about 150 no-bake cookies and we decided to sneakout about 9:30 since our comps went to bed at like 9 and we didn't wanna just sit around so we went over to the other boarding to see moorhouse and give him some cookies. he told us that he was getting emergency transfer this up coming Tuesday because our mission is getting 7 guys that don't have visa to another country. it sucks! my twin is leaving me and the kid are exactly alike! im gonna miss him. but saturaday morning was soccer once again im starting to get okay at it since we play it a lot. Also Saturday we had to go clean out the baptismal font since there was like a 8 inch layer of who knows what at the bottom. Saturday night we also stopped by one of the kids house to see who he wanted to baptize him and he said me! I was over joyed and blessed! sunday was the baptism first was sezwe the 9 year old boy who was baptized by our branch pres, then Sphiwe who I baptized! it was such an amazing experience! the toughest part was the full name tho haha it was good fun tho I got it on the first try! but that was pretty much the week! Sounds like the party animal is getting a little excited to be coming home! that's awesome that he is almost done! I love you big bro. but I miss you all so much and cant wait to see you again! I love you LOVE ELDER SORENSON

Me and Frisnecht before he got transfered.



Soccer Saturday

The Crew.

The Mattress Trip

No Bake Cookies!

Tracting

Me and my boy Sphiwe.

I love my package and Si shirt!

My first baptism.

Sezwe is left, Me, Sphiwe right

January 13, 2014

Fam Bam First Transfer down! it went by pretty fast for the most part. this past week elder sakurada got a new comp. he's from South Africa and is pretty cool but its also a awkward transfer cause really only the people that are coming from the mtc and that are going home got transferred last week and then this week is more transfers. its pretty out of wack out here in Africa but things for the most part are going good! my comp and I have 2 baptisms scheduled for next sunday and then we are also teaching about 5 more who will be baptized most likely in the next 3 weeks. among those 5 are three boys. Vuzi (16), Sakile (15) and Stew (11) they are great kids and we found them through soccer. its really fun teaching them and seeing their growth from lesson to lessons. this week we also saw a huge dead cobra in the road so I asked the members how often they see snakes and they said they see black mombas and cobras all the time. so that didn't comfort me too much when I have to walk through the bush to get to some houses. but it atleast makes things exciting! Africa is just so different the people just burn their trash and tires all the time and the air just seems so crappy here but its all good its only for a few years. Also this week we had to clean one of the boardings and paint it so the elders staying there came and stayed in my boarding for the past 3 days and its pretty fun and legit cause Moorhouse is there and we just talk about stuff and we are pretty much the same person. its nice having someone like that around who gets what you are talking about. so that is pretty much the week! I love you all and miss you a ton! Love, Elder Sorenson

Saturday's Soccer Service

Trash Can Fire

The Usual Cows in the Road

Elder Sorenson Driving Stick Shift in South Africa

Four Foot Long Dead Cobra (gross!)

Walking through the Jungle to the Beach to play Soccer