CHOCOLATE!

Hey y'all!

You'll be happy to hear that the 40 DAY SUGAR FAST IS OV-ER!!! WE DID IT! It was really hard sometimes, but it taught me a lot. It makes me realize in a very small way what it feels like when we ask our friends to give up tea and coffee and alcohol and drugs and cigarettes. It's hard work, but you just feel better! However, both Sis. Smith and I have had our share of Dr. Pepper and chocolate!

It has been a super weird week. I've been sick and such, so that made things a little complicated. We still found new people to teach! 

TINA PICKED HER OWN BAPTISM DATE AND SHE PICKED MARCH 16TH! Yay! We're so dang excited about that! She's so cute! 

We met with Jeff and his family on Wednesday. It was super cool! We read 2 Nephi 2, which talks A LOT about where we come from and why we are here. They enjoyed it! We're meeting with them tonight!

Miracle: we felt like we needed to stop by this new investigator who went MIA. As soon as we knocked on the door, he told us he was about to do some not so great stuff. He said we were definitely sent by God and he needs to listen to us! We took advantage of the opportunity! We hope to see Steve soon! 

Another miracle: we felt like going out for lunch (which we don't do often) and we were able to run into this woman who was really struggling. We read the Book of Mormon with her and it was awesome! 

This week is going to be awesome! We were able to pick up another family and they are so cute! Praying they will keep listening! 

I've been thinking about how much we are blessed and how much Heavenly Father is watching over us. Sis. Smith and I listened to a talk by Elder Jeffrey R Holland called "The Ministry of Angels." Y'all should listen to it sometime! Then, the next day I was reading in Alma 19:23

23 Now we see that Ammon could not be slain, for the Lord had said unto Mosiah, his father: I will spare him, and it shall be unto him according to thy faith—therefore, Mosiah trusted him unto the Lord.

I'm SO grateful for y'alls prayers! I'm so grateful for literal angels around us that look out for us. 

Love y'all! Have an amazing week! 

Sister Sorensen 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/the-ministry-of-angels?lang=eng

1-3: Sis. Smith and I got Mexican ice cream. Highly recommend lime flavor! 

4-6: WE SURVIVED THE SUGAR FAST! Then we ate 3 pieces of chocolate and low key had a sugar high. 

One Foot in the Grave

Hey y'all!

Its been a great week! I love being in Claremont! We cover part of Pomona and I think that's one of my favorite places to go! 

WE HAD A FAMILY OF 3 COME TO CHURCH FOR THE FIRST TIME AND STAY ALL 3 HOURS OF CHURCH! It's the Wirtes family and they have a cute little 8 year old who shares a birthday with my younger sister Lydia! 

Tina is SO CLOSE TO BAPTISM! All she needs to do is pick a date! She's the SWEETEST, CUTEST, MOST ADORABLE woman ever! I love her!

Lamont is pretty good. We haven't met with him as much as we wanted, but it'll get better!

We got a referral from some missionaries in Covina and we went by them. It's a family from India! They're so cute! We have an appointment with them tomorrow and I'm SO EXCITED! They seem super cool! 

We went to a woman's meeting on Saturday and it was so fun! It was about how we are virtuous women and that when we do our best, the Savior is proud of us. Look up "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox on lds.org under BYU speeches. IT'S AMAZING!

Sister Smith and I are having too much fun together, so that's been awesome! For only being together for a short time, we're pretty unified! 

Funny story, we changed companions for the day with some leaders. At the end, the sister reminded me that I have a little less than 4 more months on my mission! When someone goes home, they say the missionary is dying. So she told me I have one foot in the grave!  I was like NOOO! I'M NOT READY! I love the people here way too much to think about leaving! 

I know that His grace really is sufficient after all we can do. As long as we continue to grow and change for the better, we will LEARN heaven, not EARN it. The Savior's arms are always open to us, weather it's sin or we just need comfort. 

Thanks y'all for the prayers, especially about my health. It's been hard some days, but I know I'm learning something from it! Have a great week!

Love, 

Sister Sorensen

1. Found a pretty flower while trying to find MIA investigators

2. Sis. Smith and I!

3. Me and Danise's (a recent convert who moved here from Texas) granddaughters puppy. She's a little ugly (Danise said it... Not me ;)) but she's pretty cute too! 

4. Sis. Smith braided my hair and it looked super cute! 

5. Sis. Smith and Ziggy! That's the puppy's name.

Claremont

Hey y'all!

I made it to Claremont and this place is awesome! We're teaching so many cool peeps! I've been sent to the best areas in the mission! 

Lamont was a mormon.org referral and he's so cool! He has a desire to be baptized! We're meeting with him tonight! 

Tina is such a cutie! She is SO CLOSE TO BAPTISM! She's so ready! She loves the Book of Mormon so much and really enjoys church! We just got help her see how ready she is! She definitely has the desire! 

We picked up a new investigator named Hugo and he's super cool too! We also picked up Esther! She's older and doesn't see too well, but she's adorable! I love her! 

Spiritual story: we were walking to Esther's and we ran into an investigator named Dee. We haven't been able to get a hold of her, so it was a miracle that we found her. She was super upset about some stuff going on. We were able to teach her right there on the street. She's so sweet!

We're also working with a few returning members and new converts (meaning they were just baptized less than a year ago). Danise just moved here from San Antonio Texas and she was baptized last April! She's adorable! She gave her first talk yesterday! We also got to see Sis. Pless who is coming back to church strong! She will give you the best Pep talk of your life! 

Fun story: I had elote for the first time on Saturday! It's Mexican corn with butter, mayo, parmesan cheese, and chili. It's pretty good! Super messy. They sell them on little carts on the street.

In personal study today, I read in John 13. It's a super fitting chapter for Valentines Day in a couple days. In this chapter, Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. He also talked to them about how to treat others.

    34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

    35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

As I've been on my mission, I have never loved so much! I feel sad when I have to leave people in my old areas, but I get to feel my heart grow in love for even more people!

I sure do miss y'all! Have a great week! 

Love, 

Sister Sorensen

1.Sister Smith and I eating elota!

2. This member really loves the missionaries and languages! He made this for me and it says "Dear Sister Sorensen, Welcome into our lives." So cute! 

Just Call Me Dad

Hey y'all!

So transfers are on Wednesday and both my companion and I getting transferred AGAIN! It's sad to leave people, but I'm excited to meet new people! I'm going to Claremont with Sister Smith! I'm her Dad, which means I'm her 2nd companion in the mission field! I've been a Dad 4 times! It doesn't mean much, but I think it's funny!

I'm really going to miss this ward! I've been crying for the last 2 days! So many women that I got close to gave me a squeeze. One young man was like, "Dang it! I wanted to give y'all a hug! Handshakes are dumb! Come back and visit so I can hug you!" I'M GOING TO MISS THIS WARD! 

This week was pretty awesome! Elyse is on date for the 24th! I'm so dang excited!

Jose is still super awesome!

Julia fasted yesterday! She's so awesome! She's pretty sad about us both leaving, but we promised we'd keep in touch. 

We found a few new investigators and a couple of potentials. I hope they can feel the Spirit and take the lessons soon! 

I love being a missionary because I get to love so many people! It's super hard being a missionary some days, but I know that I'm going to be around people I love more than I ever thought possible. Although I'm SO SAD I HAVE TO LEAVE ALL THESE PEOPLE I LOVE, I'm SO EXCITED to love more people! 

Love and miss y'all! 

Sister Sorensen

No pictures this week, so enjoy a selfie of me and Sis. Wayman :)