The second week...

Wow! Can you believe it? Elder Sorensen was set apart as a missionary 7 weeks ago! He has been in Hyderabad for 3 weeks as of tomorrow.

This post is from the email conversation last week. Sorry for the delay....we were out of town and I wasn't able to edit on my cell phone. I figured I would get this posted before I had another jumbled conversation to sort out. Enjoy!

*Reminder!!!! Elder Sorensen's quotes look like this. Mom's look like this.

Getting to the area...
Logan had to fly to Hyderabad, as he will for most transfers according to the letter from the mission. We kidded with him before leaving that he would have a chicken on his lap, but he informed us that there was no chicken. They flew Jet Airways and he says it was pretty nice. There were 4 missionaries going to Hyderabad and his buddy from Mr.Mac and the MTC Elder Pacanos was headed to Visac.

Eating....
Logan is feeling a little better, but he told us he hasn't been eating much since he doesn't have money for groceries until Monday. With the constant need to use autos, the cost is starting to hit him a little hard and he hasn't been able to buy as much food. He did tell us about eating buriyanni from Paradise - it's the best around and pretty cheap - and missing burgers. He has heard that you can get burgers in Chennai and Bangalore, but they're not the same.

ES: All we eat is curd and buriyanni. Buriyanni is just a weird rice with chicken or whatever you want in it. It's all ok. One food was so hot I thought I was gonna die, but I was ok. I say a prayer every time before I eat.

M: Too hot for a Cajun boy?? That's crazy!! Prayer before food is always best no matter what continent you are partaking it on.

ES: I lost my Cajun senses when I was brought to Texas unfortunatly. lol.

Logan told us last week that whenever he has a little of the water that it makes his stomach feel a little woozy. We asked why he was drinking the water if he had been told not to and he explained that he could drink the water only when he has to. Some people are too poor for even water bottles , so he takes what they offer.

ES: It's alright. If I get sick...I'll have to be tough.

The Elders got to enjoy some American food at the Marriott for Thanksgiving day. Logan was excited to have some mashed potatoes.

Turkey Bowl...
Elder T and Elder S planned a Turkey Bowl for all the Elders in the area (20). Logan was pumped! J-Wall had apparently given him a hard time about missing it, so Logan was thrilled to be able to continue the tradition.

ES: There's a big soccer field around here that we played on. We rented it out for 1000. There were 20 elders. It was really cute to see the natives running around doing what they thought was good. I scored a few times, but I was Qb a lot too. I threw to everyone about 3 or 4 times except my companion. He was letting everyone else do their stuff too. It was lots of fun. I scored a rushing, recieving, and throwing TD. I had a couple of both. and I didn't throw one pick. It was an amazing game.

M: Sounds like a fun way to met possible investigators. Sounds like you were being a good sport.

Communication...
M: Talking this way is a huge blessing!! Do you miss snail mail letters? Or do you like these quick conversations?

ES: There have been 2 parcels so far and I haven't gotten anything. Whatever is best for y'all.

I think that means he would like to get some mail. If anyone wants to send him something, check out the mailing address on the top right on the blog homepage.

Teaching...
The other elders in the their flat have been sick. Logan said that it's been draining because they worry about them in addition to all the people in their area.

ES: Hyderabad is 13 million people. We have over 3 million.

Elder Sorensen has taught a few lessons, but he shared that it's pretty intimidating and that Elder T saves me when I freeze. It's all good. I'm doing 2000x better. He expressed that it is difficult to teach because it's hard to describe how the Spirit feels.

ES: It's kinda hard to describe it to them, especially when we know they have felt it. Any insights?

M: Erik says galatians 5:22-23. Seth says it's a warm fuzzy feeling. Ask them if they are feeling it. Stop and describe when you feel the spirit and how it feels to you. Just remember you don't have to be the only contact they ever have. You maybe just the first. Help them to recognize how they feel when you teach. Sounds like trying to describe salt to someone that has never tasted it.

ES: As the days go on and I know more about India the easier it is to apply it to their lives. It's pretty sweet. I'm loving it.

Also, there are many Anti-Mormon and Anit-Christian groups and the people will go speak with friends or pastors and then they never meet with the missionaries again. Elder Sorensen was positive though!

ES: I'm not too worried about it. Thanks for the prayers. We usually have about 8 or 9 new investigators a week. We teach all of them a lesson. We are spending a lot of time finding Hindus because they don't know much about Christ yet and they haven't been baptized, and they have no pastor to go to. lol. We teach about 3 lessons a day. We plan to have some baptisms before we leave.

Before leaving, Pops kidded with Logan about meeting "Bob" from Tech support. Last week, Logan met a Bob and they are teaching him. They met him after being bummed about Rajini telling them that he had changed his mind about being baptized.

ES: We were talking to someone...He saw our tags, stopped, got off his bike, and started talking to us. He told us to just call him Bob. He was pretty cool. We are teaching him again soon. AWESOME!! The Lord works in mysterious ways.

M: Keep teaching!! You will have baptisms. Remember Abinadi never knew he helped convert even one person - that was Alma and through Alma every other Nephite prophet. Sometimes we don't know the good we do in this life. It's so great that you get to teach that much!! That's lots of practice and experience with the scriptures.

ES: We tract a lot and we have about 2 or 3 study hours a day. I know that if these people are willing to talk to us now they will be in the next life and there they will be able to understand. It's cool. I'm not too worried. I know somehow I'm making a difference. The other elders and I get along so well. The members are so nice. They always ask how i'm adjusting.

The Roman Catholic family mentioned from last week stopped accepting them, but Elder T and Elder S see them every day. He mentioned that they hope to get in to see them again before the weeks' end.

Some Funny Anecdotes...
ES: Monday night I almost hit the BP (Branch President) in the face. He was riding by on his bike and he almost hit me, joking, so I almost swung. I saw his tie so I knew he wasn't too bad. And then Kennedy was behind him laughing so we were ok.

M: Kati and Seth wanna know have you named your new monkey friends and can you bring us home one? Erik wants to know if they throw stuff at you.

ES: I'm working on a fool proof monkey trap as we speak. lol. They don't throw anything yet. They usually scavenge and we keep our distance because T hates them. lol.

An interesting observation from Kaycee: Upon compiling these emails, I noticed the frequent usage of LOL by both Logan and Mom. LOL was used 29 times in this series of emails alone! I guess that's pretty appropriate seeing as we are a Laugh Out Loud type of family.

ES: I love y'all. This is my last transmission this week. I love y'all. Thanks for the encouragement.

HOG TIE!! WITH LOTS OF KISSES!!!
SPREAD THE HUGS AND KISSES AROUND!!!!!!
I love you.
Logan