The eleventh week...

Return to Excellence

Holla all my people. Hello to all my friends in the ward serving in God's Army. I'd like to extend a special welcome to the newest member Elder B. Wilson. OK, on to the amazing stuff. This was the week to end all weeks. It was amazing.

This week I truly fell in love with missionary work. The family in the pic below is the Abraham family.

They have 8 members. We set 6 of them for baptism February 22, 2009. Awesome! We have been teaching them this whole transfer, 6 weeks. Their English is less, and they have been begging us for baptism. We decided that it would be a good idea to give them a date and it was amazing!

We went to their house for Republic Day - that's why a grown man is feeding me cake. It's a weird Indian tradition - but I love it. The cake was amazing too. The family asked that Dwight and I would do the baptisms. So of course I accepted.

Saturday we found an atheist. He was amazing. His father was there. And Peter, that father, is a body guard for the CMs of India. He is personally over Rajasekhar Reddy, the CM for Andhra Pradesh, the state which I am currently in. Suren, the son, wasn't believing in God. He said that something was telling his soul if it was right or wrong, but he didn't know what it was. He hadn't come to church before, and he had never prayed. After we taught the Restoration, we asked Suren to pray. He gave an awesome prayer. Then on Sunday he came to church for all 3 hours and stayed for a baptism. It was wonderful. Since Saturday he has shown us 4 or 5 wonderful families. Sunday we have a baptism for Suresh which we think we may push back so we can give him more time. He's ready; we just don't want to push it.

The kg count is down; 96KG (210 lbs). That's how big I was starting my freshman year. But it's all good. I love this weight. We also have a few other families we are working with. Malar family-they just moved here from Tamil Nadu and stay next to a recent convert. The mother and grandmother are the "only ones liking Jesus" in the family. The son is only 7 and the father is always ledu - not there - and the grandfather is also atheist. The missionary work is fun here in India. Thank you for all your encouragement and support. Like Jensen always says "More letters are much appreciated." I love y'all!

Elder Sorensen

"I've Been Hittin' the Blinkies!"

A direct quote from Mom:

I can get cheese for 75 cents cause I've been hittin the Blinkies!

How can I not resist sharing that with the world? I promise I'm not mocking! I appreciate all of my mom's couponing talents.

I really enjoy my free Fructis hair products and especially my Herbal Essence Shampoo and Conditioner. She was really awesome and scored me some Apple Jacks this weekend! Yes, my mom is a Coupon Diva and she is awesome - even if she's been hittin the blinkies!

The tenth week...

Elder Sorensen's time in India has reached double digit weeks! Yay!



Nothing too new is happening. Missionary work is normal. I loved seeing the pics of other missionaries and how they have mountains and blue skies behind them. The theme seemed to be sticking your hands up in the air so I will do that next time.

We had a pretty good week - 14 new investigators. That’s pretty good even for here. My number average has been 9 a week - so 14 is good. We are teaching all of them this week. A few are already set and some are a little slower due to English - but all have given us nice referrals. Suresh is set for Feb. 1, 2009. He’s way awesome. We set him on meeting one. Another set for the 8th is Krishna Reddy. He’s had a rough life. His girlfriend of 14 years left him one day and married some Hindu. He loves Jesus and the Atonement.

Another Family is Vinay by4. His son saw us on the street and I asked, "Brother, anyone liking Jesus?" and he said "I do. My family also." So we taught them. We went back yesterday and Vinay brought us to some new potentials. He took us in his car. It was nice to be in a car. The little things in life. lol. But while in his car we both noticed a funny smell, matches, and a skull pipe...usually for becoming acquainted with Mary Jane. So we will teach Word of Wisdom next. Hopefully "It wasn’t his." like they all say. lol.

The week was good. I am safe and so is Dwight. Thanks to everyone for their love and support. Just like you Jensen, letters are much appreciated - even though it’s a little more expensive. Thanks for all the prayers also.

I love all y’all.
Elder Sorensen

The eighth week...Now with emails!

Check it out folks - the eighth week now has emails.

There's some great stuff from this week - including Elder Sorensen's first baptism in India, weight loss tips, and some scriptures to read.

Enjoy!

Letters

Every day when I get home from work, I check the mail. On days when letters come from Elder Sorensen, I feel like a contestant on the Price is Right! I came in and everyone (Dad, Gavin, and I) stood around and waited for their individual letter. As I was standing in the kitchen reading my letter, I thought that it had become much quieter since I came in. Usually, that means trouble, but on this day, I went around the house to find they were in their own little "spots" reading the news from Logan. It was sweet to see, so being my mother's daughter I grabbed a camera and captured the moment...

The Ninth Week....

What Doesn’t Kill You Only Makes You Stronger

Well due to illness I was down for abut 2 full days...Monday and yesterday were a bit shaky also. But today is a full 80%!! But after all is said and done I know not to eat roadside breakfast. lol. Too bad. This week the Jay Raj family was given the Holy Ghost. And coming this week will be the baptism of Yohan. He’s so amazing. He’s been coming for about 5 months and frequently comes on exchanges. We can’t find this week due to Pongal a celebration where everyone is off school, except those at Christian schools since Pongal is a Hindu holiday. Stores are still open because not everyone is Hindu. Only 95% of India is. The good thing about so many religions is so many holidays. And on those holidays all stores are open. Here the Christians and the Muslims are working the email place. Lucky for us.

One thing I thought about this week...so many churches and temples are there in Utah. One on every street, right? Just like here. Doesn’t matter how poor or how rich - there is a mosque or Hindu temple everywhere. From my balcony I can see 4 mosques. Three are on my street within 1 kilometer from me. I finally saw camels!! But they were only in passing and it wasn’t p-day so I didn’t have my camera. I was so disappointed. I am losing weight like nothing else...I am eating a little more because fatigue is starting to catch up with me...unlike it did when I could sleep for 4 hours at night and go to school and sleep there. I eat a full lunch now and a bigger breakfast. I am down to 96KGs. which is roughly 211 lbs. I haven’t been this small since before my junior year. I feel skinnier now that I know my weight. lol.

We taught a way awesome family yesterday, Sri Kanth, his wife Victoria, his dad Prakash, his mother SHANTI- like jungle book, and his aunt Mathavi. all are way receptive. Sri Kanth has some doubts about the Book of Mormon which we helped clear. We left 3 with the family. Next meeting we are planning to set them for baptism about 4 weeks later. I love y'all. Thanks for all the support and the letters.

Elder Sorensen

running "lol" count = 424

The eighth week...

Animals...and Teaching
(See pictures above)

I got some new friends - Petey and Shrek - the birds are a must. because I love chicks! We are teaching Omprakash (right) and Vinay (left) is a [new member]. Both are eating American sweets - that we gave them.

We have a lot of people lined up for baptism...but none this week. T and the greenie set all the people he and I found. And the 2 brothers (Alexander and Sheelan) I found right before the transfer are waiting for a date.

The Jay Raj family - Jay Raj, Mary, Shankeethrana (their daughter) and Abhinay (their son) - was baptized on Sunday. Pydimala and Elder Tyler baptized them - but we were their teachers at the time. Elder Tyler flew in from Bangalore to baptize Jay Raj. Rajini came to the baptism - and to our branch. Rajini was excited as I was to see him. He didn't mention anything about baptism. Then, yesterday, T told me that they set him!!!!!! for the 25th of this month!!! I am so excited. I kinda want to baptize him...but we will see.

Being in India
I love India. The food keeps getting better and better. We had some way good biryani - and a member made us some way good chicken curry.

We can only leave our area for emailing. We need permission to leave our area - especially here just because it could really hurt the Church. It's not scary, but today is some big Muslim holiday. Don’t worry. I am not afraid. There's a Muslim, Hindu and Christian celebration every week - all on separate days. Some we can't even leave the flat and some we can find. Usually we can't tho. We just need to be kept safe. If we leave our area, and we dont know it well enough, we could run into an area that has been closed down due to force from the BJP - which is dying down. I don't know what BJP stands for. They are losing support because people are becoming more educated.

Have you seen or heard about the celebration where they throw colored chalk on people and then squirt you with water?? It's like the who or something.

I haven't heard about that celebration. This week is one where they cut themselves for hours. Weird.

New Year's
We taught aunties about fitness this week. They were all doing pushups and curls and lifts in their saris. We had a way lame fireside. It was lame because it was our "New Year's Bash." The 2nd Branch was doing games and stuff. I am missing 2nd branch...too bad.

Companion
Logan decided to call his companion Elder Mehan Elder "Dwight" because he reminds him of Dwight from The Office. I don't know how much he is actually like him, but the name stuck.

Is Dwight really tall? B wants to know if Dwight's head bobbles?

It kinda bobbles. He's 6'4. So yeah - way tall. My comp's dad is from Punjob. so he's 1/2 native - but no accent is there. Dwight is from Ohio. He hates my pajamas. lol. He heard they lost. He has this recipe for buckeye candy...looks good.

Walking and Weight Loss
We are walking so much more. We have a lot of hilly areas - so autos won't go there. We walk about 10 miles a day. Tell Kerrie to lose weight she must eat 2 meals a day and walk 10-15 miles.

Letters & Packages
On Wednesday (New Year's Eve) when I got home there was a letter from KC and Burke and a letter from the Sanders - it was a Christmas card. How about that? And then on Thursday I got a Christmas card from Elder Tenney - how about that? - and the letters form the Sorensen Krewe 3 (Chris & Tanya's fam). It was opened. I got the letters - the envelope was stapled shut tho. I look forward to letters.

This is an answer for Aunt Tanya - Mom asked if he got your package. Here's the response:

You’re going to love this. I got their letter. Tell them I am in the process of writing them back. I have pics of white people. lol. No package...I'm worried.

I don't think you'll "love" that he didn't get the package, but just remember that everything takes much longer to get there. We have determined it takes approximately 1 month for letters. Packages run the risk of being stolen or eaten, so just be aware. If you need some tips on sending packages, please let us know.

Scriptures to Read
Read Alma 26:9 - I forgot what it's about, but I wrote how it reminds me of some Muslims here and I need to "Ammon" them. lol. and Alma 27:17 - like when I come home or like Friday Night Lights when Coach Gaines gives his halftime speech.

"Ammon them" - is that serve them or cut off their arms?

I was thinking cut off their arms. I could serve them tho. lol.

Funny Story of the Week
How can I not resist posting this email thread? This is not all of it - I just put in some of my favorite lines. Enjoy....

(see Seventh Week pictures)

Kaycee and I need you to clarify - which is the shower and which is the toilet in your bathroom? Is the bucket your shower or toilet?

(Really she had to ask...I already explained "squat toilets" to her, but she just wouldn't take my word for it....)

The hole in the ground is the toilet, where rats come out. lol. Joking only!! The shower head is to the left. You can't see it tho.

(Rats? Really? You had to joke about the "unmentionable rodents with Mom? Where's the Mom filter? Definitely not filtering all to well...)

So what is the bucket for? Not funny about the rats!!!

The bucket is for cleaning you bum. The poop will sink to the bottom.

Sink to the bottom of what?

The junk sinks to the bottom of the bucket. I used the squatter twice this week - but i didn’t use the hand - so I still have my virtue.

So you poop in the bucket? Is the hole like a porta potty?

(maybe he does have a Mom filter...oh wait nope...he turned it off....)

YOU POOP IN THE HOLE IN THE GROUND! I was hoping I didn't have to say this...You wipe your butt with your hand. Then you wipe your hand off in the bucket. That's what sinks to the bottom. I've never done that. You know how I say "I kept my virtue?" - meaning I didn’t use my hand. We have tp and we use it daily.

(and here goes Random Man - trying to change the subject and restart the Mom filter)

I wanna start an auto game like we had on trips.
Buffalo - 5 points
Peeing person - 5 points
Coconut stand - however much they charge
White person - 500 points

running "lol" count = 396

The sixth week...Now with Emails!

As promised, I have added the email conversations with Logan from the sixth week (his Christmas Eve p-day).

Enjoy!

The fifth week....more info

I was finally able to go back and add some of Logan's emails from his fifth week in India.

Go check it out - The fifth week

I'll try to add some to the sixth and seventh weeks over the next couple days, so keep checking in!