April 7, 2010 Update

Interesting story before I begin with the awesome spiritual experiences that we had. I was on an exchange with an elder in my district; his name is Elder Mehan. He was my follow-up trainer and luckily he is finishing his mission here with us. We were teaching someone about prophets and he kept throwing out names. I think he listed the most obscure Old Testament prophets he could. Well, his name is Joel, so I piped up, trying to be funny, and said, “Yeah, like Joel, he was also a prophet, he has one of the shortest books.” Then, under his voice he said, “It’s the best one. And,” he laughed to me, ”there’s also a prophet named ‘Reid.’” Afterwards we laughed about it and I asked, “Where is there a prophet named ‘Reid’?” he asked, “Don’t you read the Apocrypha? That’s where it is.” When I come home I will look for my name in the Apocrypha. It sounds cool.

This was a week unlike any other. We were really blessed by the Lord. It's not that He hasn’t blessed us any other weeks, but I felt more like I was aligned with His will and not my own will. In the beginning of the week, missionary work always seems to be a little slow, and this week was even slower. We faced lots of cancelled appointments, and we found a lot of people who had really hard hearts and didn’t want to hear about the gospel. So by the time that Thursday led around we were pretty worried. We only have one new investigator and 4 member-present lessons. These are VERY low numbers, especially for someone who is suppose to be an example. Well, after I murmured I decided that it was all part of His plan. Friday we found 7 new investigators. Saturday we found 3 new investigators. Sunday we found another family of 3! Heavenly Father blessed us for our hard work and perseverance. This week, we have been blessed for doing the small things, like talking with everyone, always finding and stuff like that. We have 13 new investigators already with 4 more families lined up for the weekend. I love how Heavenly Father tests you, and then gives the blessing. Often times as a missionary I think, “I am serving a mission. I should be rewarded for that.” I don’t realize that I am receiving blessings already (like my health…), and I need to do MORE to receive MORE.

More amazing than that is Donald and his progression. We visited him and his family on Sunday night. It was then that we challenged Donald to be baptized on May 2, 2010! He said, in his raspy voice, “Surely, brother, I will be baptized. Then, my family will see that change and they too will be baptized.” He is awesome. He is still smoking about 15 a day, but we have gone over some plans with him, and he is committed to quitting. “I don’t know when I will be able to quit, but I know it will be before May 2.” he said. I believe he will be able to quit. He choked up a little bit when he was telling his wife about his priesthood blessing. He is doing awesome; tonight we plan on setting the rest of his family. We committed his wife to go out on Saturday night, stare into space, think about all that God has done for her and then get on her knees and pray and ask Him if this Church and baptism are true. She would like to be baptized, but she wants to know if it’s true first. She has been in Ooty this week, so that’s why we told her to pray outside and look at the stars. Both of those are 2 things that she cannot do in Chennai. We have high hopes for their family.

I love you all. thanks for your support. Keep working hard to forward the work along. "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing." I love you!

Elder Sorensen

March 24, 2010 Update

Hello Everyone,
This was an awesome week for missionary work. We found 10 new investigators and got 10 member present lessons, which has been something that we wanted to focus on. The district is still struggling to get people to church; it seems to be a problem all over the mission. I had to give them a little bribe. I told them if we meet our goals that I will buy everyone a cake and we will play Jeopardy or something.

I love being a missionary. My testimony grows everyday. The other day we were on a bus, the wrong one, and we had to get off in 20 seconds. I saw this girl with a cross on her neck. I didn’t want to talk to her because we were about to get off. Then, she whispers to her friend, "Jesus Christ." It really helped me to realize whose service I was on and who I represent. I love it. I ended up talking to her and she invited us over. We will see how it goes!

I realized that the Gospel just makes sense. We were teaching someone about tithing and how it is used to bless the members, whether or not they pay their tithing. It makes sense that God doesn’t play favourites, like most pastors do. He doesn’t care if you pay 100/- or one crore, you are going to be blessed, and HE loves you the same. I am grateful to know about the true Gospel, and I am grateful for my opportunity to serve Heavenly Father. I am especially grateful that I can serve Him here in India. I love this country.

Last Thursday we set up an appointment with an alcoholic named Donald. We have been teaching him for a few weeks and he talked about wanting to be baptized. He is always sober when we come, and he loves our visits. He HATES pastors, and anyone who comes in the name of Jesus. He feels everyone just wants to rag on him and he feels they all want money. He is literally a wreck. But, we went this time with Elder McKinley, Donald calls him McKinzie brother. Elder McKinley helped him to realize that he is addicted, and then helped him know how to stop. He committed Donald to go 3 days without alcohol. If he could do that, then we would know that Donald is not addicted anymore. However, the cool part was when Donald asked for a blessing. Mckinzie brother gave, and it was amazing. Donald got up and said, “Oh, something tingly happened. I cannot describe my feelings.” Then, we asked Donald to say the closing prayer, which he did. By the time he ended he was crying. I was about to cry. Donald prayed for help, and he prayed for us and his family. He is awesome. We left immediately and he was left all alone to ponder about what had happened. His wife noticed a change, he didn’t drink for 3 days and all he could talk about was how amazing Mckinzie brother is. He has a strong desire to be baptized. We just have to help him quit smoking now. I truly love being a missionary. This was the first time on my mission that I have seen a grown man cry. The spirit was incredibly strong. I look forward to more great experiences on my mission!

I love you all. Thank you for your prayers. I hope all is well.

Love,
Elder Sorensen

December 30, 2009 Update

Dear Everyone,

This was an interesting week. I learned many things about myself, and I realized how much I have learned. It started by an interesting experience I had with an auntie. In prayers here, people like to mumble their own prayers and shout, especially the Pentecostal women. This one lady said her kids couldn’t come to church. So we talked for a while and they said they would come. My companion said the closing prayer, and immediately she began to mutter words and say things “in tongues.” I remembered a quote that went something like, “If you are on the Lord’s service, you are entitle to His Divine assistance.” So when I thought this, I wanted the auntie to shut up. I said in my mind, “God, silence this auntie.” And before I could even say Amen, she was quiet. It's nothing too special, or exciting, but I thought it was cool. It was something that I will be able to remember, and it will help me to rely on the Lord more.

I realized that you can’t know what our mission is really like. I have this culture of India book, and it describes the culture. I read it in the morning, and when we were going to our first appointment we turned a corner and realized that we were sharing our small lane with 7 HUGE buffaloes. One of them even charged us. That’s when I realized that a book cannot tell you how to avoid that, or what to do in the scenario.

I realized how much I have left behind. A lady was telling us that she was afraid to leave her church for a few reasons: she doesn’t know English, she was raised in that church, and her friends are there. I bore testimony and told her about how I left my home country, my language, my friends AND my family. She realized that our Church is correct, but she is afraid. I don’t know what else we can do. I love her family to death, but she fears the world more than the Savior.

We had a bit more luck with a new Roman Catholic family we are working with. They have met with us 3 times and we decided they needed to be set…mostly because we haven’t had anyone set for about 3 weeks. They accepted the date easily. Yesterday, before we came to meet them, the mother called and told us not to baptize them, but to come and do prayer. We went with a sister from the branch who was R.C. She was a huge asset; she helped so much. The father didn’t know his wife called, he said, “I still want to be baptized. Why are you talking about authority? I understand and I still want to be baptized on the 24th.” The wife said, “Absolutely no way.”, but her 2 sons are still excited. She is also afraid of what others will think about her if she leaves her church. Even though she was crying when she said that. We are pretty sure she knows the Church is true. I love you guys. Thank you so much for the letters and the support. I will see you all next Christmas.

Love,
Elder Sorensen

January 13, 2010 Update

Wanacum~
Well, I made it safe and sound in Chennai. It is a really hot place, but I love it. As I got off the plane I noticed some differences about Tamil Nadu and my beloved Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu smells funny to me. Now that I have been here a few days it’s normal, but still it was weird. The language is shorter, choppier, words that I cannot understand. I am doing a little bit better; I am taking notes and asking people what things mean. The problem is that Tamil seems more “blah blah” to me. It’s kind of hard to describe.

I have found that Chennai is the real Indian experience. When I first got off the plane, it was raining and it continued the full day. My companion was sick so we didn’t go out my whole first day. We have crappy water pressure in our flat, so that means we have to shower with a bucket. I enjoy it. I feel more Indian. The only time I take a bus is when I go to the train station. All of our travel is done by trains. We have a monstrous area, and we can travel 45 minutes by train and still not leave our area. I love the trains. The last thing that makes Chennai Indian is the heat. It hasn’t been under 95 a day that I have been here. It's so hot, and it's so sticky, but I love Chennai. I am so excited to be here. Hopefully I will continue to see success as we get the people who we have set baptized, and the people we are finding progress towards baptism.

Other than that nothing great has happened. I am sorry this is short, but I have less time. I love y'all. Thanks for the letters and the love. I hope all is well.


Love,
Elder Sorensen

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

Logan's Testimony

Keep your fingers crossed. Kaycee has been our dutiful blog updater until now. When she got a job (YEAH!!!) her blog time diminished greatly. She's still teaching piano and helps me with Algebra for Burke as well. So I'm giving it a go.

For those who don't know, Seminary is a religion class that our teens attend at 6 a.m. everyday they go to school.Each year they study a different text of scripture. This year it's been my blessing, along with my good friend, Staci Dansie, to teach these amazing young people from the Book of Mormon.

Prior to beginning the year, I asked each of the missionaries serving from our ward to write their testimony of the Book of Mormon along with their favorite scripture then send it to me. Our youth have been friends with each of the young men that are currently serving. I thought this would bring more meaning to the study this year.

Logan sent a dvd that had not only his testimony but also testimonies of people he has baptized, his companion and other members of his branch. I hope to be able to post them all over the next few weeks and catch up the blog.

It's interesting that he is so hard on himself. To hear him talk, he was some awful kid. I more than anyone know what a handful he was. But I also saw his potential since the day he was born. Now he's living up to that potential by loving and serving as the Savior wants him to do.

It was great to talk to him on Christmas day. We had the best Christmas we've had in a long time. Probably, because we're all excited he'll be home next year. He does sound just like an Indian now. It's pretty funny. He's still sick. But it's ok. We know he's in the Lord's hands.

He finally (after 9 months) was transferred. Pres. Nichols didn't want to move him from his doctors. Logan received word before Christmas to prepare himself and his doctor because he would be leaving. He hopped on a plane last week and is now serving in Chennai. The first thing he told me this week during email time was, "I LOVE being a missionary". Those are five of the best words a Mom could hear.

Hope you enjoy his video. Check back over the next while. I'll try to update. Leave a comment about his accent and testimony. I'll forward them onto him. He loves to hear the comments.

Cheree

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."