June 30, 2010 Update

Namaste,

This was a very good week here in Bangalore. All of the really cool things happened on Monday, but that was also the day that we had to say good bye to President Nichols. It was a fun event filled with biryani and singing. Afterwards we had a lot of wonderful spiritual experiences. We first visited Daniel and Amitha; they are Jehovah Witness/Baptist background. We shared the gospel of Jesus Christ and answered some questions about the Book of Mormon. We were planning on setting them, but we ran out of time. When we were leaving Danny said, “You know what, instead of Monday, can you guys come on Thursday? I have lots of questions about which baptism is correct.” Sure enough, we are going over there on Thursday with plans to set him and his wife. While we were in the lift (elevator) I had the thought, “This family will be baptized.” It was so strong that I know he will accept the date on Thursday.

This just in, I finally got the photos from the baptisms of Donald and Pethal. They were the family that smoked and drank tea like no one else’s business. They are awesome! I am so excited. I got great news from my last area; Leslie Browne is getting a new job soon and he is going on lots of exchanges with the missionaries!!!!! Words cannot describe how happy I am!!!

Then, later on Monday went to visit a brother named Rajendran, his wife, Mary, and their son Jeevan. This was our second visit but our first time to teach. We taught about God and the Restoration. Raj said, “I thought they were all one. We believe in the Trinity, right dear?” lol. I am TIRED of people saying that. So we explained it and he said, “Huh, I never knew. What else don’t I know?” We then got to the apostasy and talked about how the people didn’t want to leave their traditions and they missed out on great blessings. When we shared about Joseph Smith his eyes got really big, excitement filled his body, and he said, “I really wanna know if this is true.” We invited them to pray and to come to Church. They committed to do both. He was hesitant about coming to Church because of his father at his church. I reminded him about what he said before about the apostasy and he said, “Alright, we will come. See you on Sunday.”

We really had a good week. Thank you for all of your prayers. I feel them, and appreciate them. Bangalore is a wonderful place; I am grateful to be serving here. I love the people, and He who sent me to teach them. Hugs and kisses from India!!

Love,
Logan
Happy Independence Day

January 20, 2010 Update

Namaste!

Apparently there was an Elder Sorensen who served in this very same branch about 12 years ago. This week at church a bunch of the members asked me if I was his brother or some sort of relation. He baptized about half of the branch at that time. There are a lot of old time members - people who have been members for about 12-20 years. It reminds me a lot of Hyderabad, except there isn’t as many faithful members here. A lot of them have been inactive for 10 of those 20 years. But, now they are all doing fine and Chennai is getting a building - something that Hyderabad and Rajahmundry have had for years. The longer I stay in Chennai the more I come to realize that my mission will end. I am kind of sad, but excited at the same time. I know it has to end, but I’m kind of at that point where I can see the finish line. It is still far away, but something about being here makes me think I will actually have to leave.

One thing that I noticed about my area in Chennai is that it has over 2 million people. This is now my fourth area - out of five - to have more than 2 million people living in it. President Nichols said, on our first day in India, “Some of you may have times when you will be in an area that has more than 1.5 million people. That is the average size of a mission in the States. Then, some of you will be put in areas that have more than 2 million people living in them. That is bigger than any area of any mission in the states.” That is pretty neat to think about. It's very hard, considering the restrictions that come from the Hindus and the lack of English, but Heavenly Father seems to always have people prepared. The ways are not always the same, but He does prepare people. President Nichols also reminded us a few zone conferences ago that “No one who lives in your area can truly come unto Jesus Christ and follow the gospel of Jesus Christ, except through you! If anyone wants to live in the kingdom of God, if anyone wants to live with God, if anyone wants to be with God, then it has to be through you.” He usually does this to drive home the point that we need to remember our purpose and work hard.

We set a new mission goal for 600 convert baptisms. President Nichols said this is because he has such great faith in such great elders. We haven’t had 600 baptisms in this mission since the time when Bangalore and Delhi split into 2 missions. We haven’t had any American missionaries come for about 9 months and we only have 6 Indian missionaries who have come since that time. Remember what President Monson asked us to do, “Pray for areas in which our missionary efforts are limited, or restricted.”

I love you all! I am very grateful to be serving the Lord. I know He is a part of it. I know HE loves His children in every part of the world. I love the Gospel, and I am so grateful for it. Thank you for you letters, and all you support, and thank you for making fun of my Indian accent.

Love,
Elder Sorensen

The forty-seventh week...

Birthday
I had a good birthday. We had some cake and 5 baptisms in our district! Red Cherry Bakery made me the cake. lol. I was going to buy it but my companion did...he is a great companion. He kinda reminds me of KC. He shows love by buying me things. Sister Nichols, the office couple and Elder Mehan all called me on my birthday!! It was cool. Elder Mehan was staying in hyderabad at the time, it brought back some memories. Swathi, the first girl I baptized in Gajuwaka, told EVERYONE at church that it was my birthday. She dragged them to me and made sure every member shook my hand and wished me a happy birthday. It was sweet. One of our auto drivers Naidu brought me 3 apples and a rose for my birthday. He even took us to Church for free.

Illness
The sickness is there...and it's having a blast dancing around in my stomach. The meds don't make anything go away...they are supposed to make the pain less - which I think they are doing. I am very skinny - I am walking on sticks. (his legs are skinny - get it?)

Is chicken the meat you would have gotten all the little bones lodged in your throat? Everyone is having a hard time figuring that one out.

It probably was chicken. At the time I hadn't had beef in a while, and I hadn' had fish in a while... or mutton...so probably chicken.

The Work in India
We still have no one set...but we are doing really well at challenging people. We are going to a few homes to set people tomorrow and Friday. The week was good - nothing too exciting.
We are going to this new place called Steel Plant. It is far away and it is a jungle. We are meeting lots of new people and working on getting them to church. The Branch President lives out there, and he is helping us out a lot.

I was thinking the other day, when you leave Visak where do you think you will go?

I predict the last year of my missoin will be spent in Bangalore and Chennai. Those are the 2 biggest cities left for me. Ii need to stay somewhere I can get my meds I need - and if neccessary treatment. Coimbatoire doesn't offer those things. Bangalore has less restrictions now..I don't know what they are, but they had the most baptisms last month.

You wanna know something cool about the church here in India? Out of all the requests for new buildings this year, in the asia area only 5 were approved - 4 were in our mission!! Sri Lanka, Visak (we are getting a chapel!!!!!) Chennai, and Bangalore. That's sweet! All of them are going to be stake center size. It is way cool. This Sunday, before we watch Conference, President Nichols is going to announce the organization of 3 new districts in our misssion - Visak, Chennai, and Coimbatiore - adding to the Hyderabad and Bangalore districts. The members all over India are pioneers. It's difficult, and sometimes all we can do is watch, but I love being a part of it.

I was sitting in Sacrament meeting this week, looking at all of our members, and I thought, "The 2 year service that we do is nothing compared to what these people have to sacrifice." They leave family, friends, jobs, education, eveything (sometimes) because they know of the Restored Gospel. It feels really great to be a part of these people's lives and help strengthen them and help them progress towards the Celestial kingdom. I have been reading a lot about MY PURPOSE in Preach My Gospel this week, and I like a quote by Elder Oaks - "We don't baptize or proclaim the gospel to increase church numbers or build bigger buldings. We do it so that others can have the promised eternal life which we know is possible."

The forty-sixth week...

Zone Conference
Interviews were the bomb. I talked to President about a few things. I felt so good. I was so pleased with our interview. He is very pleased with me. He said, "I have interviewed many of your leaders and everyone who has served with you and gone on exchanges speaks higher of you than almost any other missionary."

Monsoons!!!
Since email me last week, it has NOT stopped raining. I think only 3 hours I have seen the sun this week. I have been soaked. I am working hard to keep my shoes dry. They are doing their job!

Teaching
No one is even set for baptism. We are having a hard time progressing people. We have lots of investigators, but not much progressing. We are gonna set some people this week.

Birthday - October 4th
My companion bought me new fitted shirts. The difference in the shirts I had and the ones I have now...is amazing - night and day. I have no big birthday plans. Maybe we will eat some beef curry. I haven't thought about what we may do. We have been busy. I am excited to see my packages!! I will buy new pants with my birthday money...but my suit is way too big. I am constantly told I need to get a new one...but I don't wanna spend $60 on a suit. (just $60?!!?!)

Letter standings (Mom's really in the lead though because she emails at 1am every week!)
1. Kiki- 25
2. Larky- 16
3.Dad-15 (was tied for #2 until the upset this week, lol.)
4. Smayla- 12
5 Gavin-11
6. Mom- 10
7. Burke- 5
8. SKittles-4
9. Chance- 3

If you want to join the running for most letters - write Elder Sorensen a letter!

Elder Reid Logan Sorensen
India Bangalore Mission
Anjali Plaza, 2nd Floor
493 C.M.H Road, Indirangar
Bangalore 560 038
INDIA