Ripley Has a Walmart!!! I am so pumped! 2/25/2015

This week has been super eventful! It literally rained ice! Where in the world does it rain ice? West Virginia of course!!! The ground was this thick sheet of ice and it was impossible to walk anywhere without almost killing yourself. The sick kitty is much better! This cat is only alive because of Gods loving grace. I didn't do much for it!! Haha. 

Snow and ice!

More snow!

Thank you for the birthday wishes. My birthday was filled with cheese cake, laughter, progressing investigators, and a super great companion. I am so blessed to have a family that loves me and wants me to progress and succeed! Thank you so much.

Happy birthday banana bread.  (Hmmm)

Happy birthday cakes with Diana and Sandy.

I got a hair cut last week. The women totally chopped off all of my hair! I was not impressed! AT ALL! Haha. Good thing it will grow back. 

West Virginia sweatshirts and a hair cut.

 So I have some great news! Sister Erickson and I are both getting transferred tomorrow. She is going to Blacksburg Virginia and I am headed to Ripley West Virginia. The missionaries in Flatwoods will be Elders now. When they changed the mission age to 19 for sisters there were a lot of sister missionaries.  Now they are all going home and there are not as many sisters so we are turning Flatwoods over to the Elders.  My new companion will be Sister Lopp! She is so sweet! I have met her a couple of times during zone meetings and exchanges.  She is fantastic! I cant wait to serve with her. I will however miss Sister Erickson with all of my heart. She is an amazing missionary and she is going to change the world. I love her so much.

Sister Erickson and I have really focused on bearing our testimonies this week. A lot of our investigators and members are really sad to see us go. I don't blame them at all. I was the same way when I learned the Sister Missionaries were being transferred from our stake back home. It has been amazing to see the way the branch has become unified and the determination our investigators have to keep progressing. I will miss them so much. 

But I know that there are good people everywhere and I cant wait to meet the members in Ripley. Its going to be a great adventure!

I love you!

Sister Sorensen

Beautiful West Virginia!

Just Do It!

Fred and the Sutton Food Bank Crew.

Happy Birthday! 2/20/2015

It has been a little chilly this week. It has snowed and snowed and snowed! Like 6 inches!!!!! The world stops in West Virginia when it snows. Nobody goes out! They have these things called flurries here. Its where the wind picks up the snow that has already fallen and blows it in your face and up your skirt! It is not a pleasant feeling at all! Haha. Mercy, its gets cold!

This week was full of adventures! I drove the truck through a super deep river! We may or may not have almost got stuck and died. Sister Erickson almost peed her pants! It was a blast! I love driving a truck!! You can go anywhere and do anything! I am wise though! Safety first!!

On Monday I got a call from one of our investigators asking us to come over to her house because her cat had a wound that needed to be fixed. She knew I internshipped with a vet clinic for a VERY small portion of my life and wanted me to see if I could help the cat or not. So we get to the house and the cat has an open wound the size of a silver dollar!!!!! I have no idea what to do!!! I came on my mission to help people not animals!! Sister Erickson was totally grossed out and so was I. We irrigated the injury and put some neo on it. I then told the family that I had done everything I could but we needed heavenly fathers help too! So we all kneeled down around this dying cat and said a short but sweet prayer. The cat is still alive! Thank heavens!

So I had a sorta kinda had a traumatic experience this week. I was backing up the truck and I scraped a little bit of the paint off of the upper right side of the bumper. I lost all hope for a couple of minutes. We called the mission vehicle coordinator and he told us he would examine the truck at zone conference on Wednesday. I was freaking out!!! We super washed the truck and vacuumed the inside like twelve times in hope of softening his heart. The day quickly came and I thought I was going to vomit! During a break in the meeting I walked up to him to apologize for the damage. Before I could speak he shook my hand and told Sister Erickson and I that we had the nicest looking vehicle he had seen in while. The scratches were not super deep so he wasn't worried about them! I am so blessed! What a tender mercy!

This week was full of miracles. When it is cold the people don't like to go out. So we can knock on any door and someone will be home. We have picked up 7 new investigators this week! What a blessing! Our investigators are all progressing! I know that it is all because of God! I am so grateful to be serving in Flatwoods. The blessings are so great as well as the people. There is no greater gift than to get to serve Christ! I love ya.

Sister Sorensen

Busy Week! 2/9/2015

With President and Sister Salisbury

Sister Erickson and I had a super busy week. We love busy weeks because it means there are good people out there that are ready to hear our message of comfort!

I when on exchanges in Charleston this week with Sister Kitto. Thankfully there were no falls or injuries. Haha. I love exchanges because you get to see different teaching styles and learn more ways you can be obedient. I LOVE our Sister training leaders. They are always reminding us Sisters to look at our hearts and to never focus on the negative. They are the best! 

 

However, coming back to Flatwoods was my favorite part of the exchange. Flatwoods has become my home away from home. As soon as we pulled into the driveway I hopped out of the car, ran inside the apartment, and gave Sister Erickson a huge hug. She is by far the best companion and Trainer ever! I have come to love her like a real sister.

We did a lot of tracking this week with not much success. It was a beautiful week so no one was home. We looked everywhere. We went to the park, the grocery store, and the gas station. When the weather is nice I'm not sure where the people of Flatwoods go? Haha. Next time its sunny outside I'll have to go on another adventure!

Sister Erickson and I also had a Zone meeting this week. It was great. I learned that you reap what you sow and we should always be striving to make a Christ like effort in all our actions. Zone meeting is always fun because you get to meet and mingle with other Sisters.

We put a new investigator on date to be baptized while another one went to jail. That was interesting. Haha. I have learned how bad of a drug problem America has while serving here in West Virginia. It breaks my heart to see people ruin their lives and family's lives.

We met our new investigator through his wife who is a less active member. He is super kind!

Sister Erickson and I have high hopes for him!

I love this gospel! It is the best thing ever! .

Love,

Sister Sorensen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just had to take a picture of this.

Look at what Grandpa sent me!!!  Potatoes!!!!

 

No words necessary!! 

Happy, healthy and DRIVING! 1/26/2015

I can DRIVE!!!!  So quick funny story. Sister Erickson and I were in the truck in front of an investigator's house. Sister Erickson was saying a beautiful touching prayer when all of the sudden my stomach growls. I leaned forward in hopes of muffling the grumble and in the process I hit my head on the truck horn! My companion quickly had to finish praying because we were laughing so hard.
I love this gospel and I am grateful for the opportunity I have to share it with the people of West Virginia. I know my Savior lives.
This morning for personal study I read through the white handbook. We are so blessed to have this book of guidelines as missionaries. On page 5 it states " You represent the Lord in this area and are responsible for obtaining His direction in carrying out your assignment and blessing the people there." I love this statement. We have the amazing assignment/privilege to bless others through service, prayer, study, conversation, and our testimonies. We must stand a witness of God at all times and in all things so that we can be lead by the spirit to those who are ready to hear His word.

This week was wonderful! We have five new investigators!!!!! Sister Erickson and I are so blessed!! We went tracking in Clay last week. Clay is so far away from Flatwoods so we don't get to go down there very often. So we saved up our miles and drove down there! We had some pretty amazing visits with people. One visit was with a women by the name of Wilma. We knocked on her door and she came out on her porch to talk with us. We gave her a Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment to meet with her. The conversation was like every other conversation we had had that day and we thought that Wilma (like a lot of our investigators) would probably cancel on us.

The following week we stop by her house kind of expecting her to tell us that we needed to reschedule. We knock on the door and she surprisingly lets us in. Wilma then tells us how she has started to read the Book of Mormon as well as the pamphlet we left with her! Crazy Cool! She told us that she had a couple of questions for us and about how she was looking for a book that would help her understand the Bible better! AMAZING!!!!!! We had a wonderful meeting with Wilma and her husband and committed them to continue to read the Book of Mormon and to pray to see if it is true. They both said that they would and we get to go teach them the plan of salvation this week! Sister Erickson and I are super pumped!

After our wonderful day in Clay we had a member drive us home. It was pouring rain. Buckets of water were falling from the sky!! We got home said good bye to the member and started to walk to the door. I then realized slowly that I had locked the house keys in the house!! AHAHAHAHA! Why!!!!! I am locked out of my apartment in the pouring rain with a ticked off companion (I am exaggerating here). Can the night get any worse? Yes it can!!! Our district leader decided to visit us!!!AHAHAHAHAHA!!! Our very patient district leader and his companion do everything they can to break into our house! But nothing worked and they had an appointment they had to get to!! WHY!!!!!! We then ran to the neighbors house and they kindly drove us to security to get the spare key. Mercy. I just don't make mistakes. I royally screwed up! hahaha. I love being a missionary! I am so very grateful for all the kind neighbors in my life that have taken me in from the "rain" of life! I know our Savior lives and loves us! Stay strong.

Sister Sorensen

 

The District in Flatwoods

Sister Erickson, Sister Sorensen, Brother and Sister McBean, Elder Stechnji and Elder Marcowsi,

Elders Neilson and Young and,

Elders Warner and Taylor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look who's driving!

 

 At the food pantry.

Dinner with the Whites.

 

It is freezing in Flatwoods!

Happy New Year!

This past week was wonderful. We had an investigator share his testimony during sacrament meeting yesterday. How cool is that! It was probably the best Fast and Testimony meeting I have ever been to. This week I learned how important it is to be specific in what you ask for in your prayers. How can God answer our prayers if we are not specific in what we ask for. Prayer is vital to an investigators conversion to the gospel. It is important that our investigators are specific in their prayers so that they can come to the knowledge that there is a God and that he has restored his gospel today.

This week was an exchange week. An exchange is where your companion switches with a sister training leader(STL). An STL is the equivalent to an assistant to the president but female style. I was super nervous. I wanted everything to go perfect! Hahaha. But of course it didn’t. HAhAh. Sister Combs and I started our day off in a Burnsville trailer park. No one was home! No one!!!! So I decided to try a women who Sister Erickson and I dropped because we could never get a hold of her. I cautiously walked up to her door and knock. The women answer the door and let Sister Combs and I in. We ended up teaching her the whole Restoration lesson and committed her to read the Book of Mormon. It was fantastic and we were able to pick her up as a new investigator. After we went and taught the Plan of Salvation to Crystal and she loved it. It gave her “hope,” she said. I love this woman with all my heart! She WILL be baptized before I leave Flatwoods! Sister Combs and I were going to go do more visits but we realized we had run out of miles!! AHAHAHA! How did I let that happen!!!! I may or may not have freaked out a little. Haha. After Sister Combs calmed me down and told me that everything was just fine we decided to make no bake cookies for my neighbors. But we didn’t have a recipe and I had accidentally left the phone in the truck so I ran outside to get it. Sister Combs waited on the porch for me as I ran toward the truck. I jokingly turned around and made a comment on how sexy I look when I run. Just as I said the word sexy I missed a step and totally did a mini flip in the air and biffed it hard. My skirt came up and over my head. The whole world could see my underwear including poor Sister Combs who was laughing/ screaming my name on the porch. Hahaha. I rolled over laughing and flipped my skirt down. Sister Combs came running passed me(Still screaming my name) grab the keys, got the phone from the truck, and came back to my side. I thought she had left me to die. HAha. Sister Combs helped me to my feet and back inside the apartment. We realized that I had been running so fast I gave myself road rash on my left knee and right hand. We laughed and joked that what was seen could not be unseen. HAhAh. We then made some no bake cookies and tried to take them to the neighbors but no one was home!!!! Again!! Well, I tried to have a perfect day but the Lord quickly humbled me. Sister Combs and I had a blast but I was very grateful to be reunited with Sister Erickson the next morning!

Yesterday was fast and testimony Sunday. A very old man by the name of Brother Ash stood up and shared his testimony. We have been teaching his grandson’s wife the lessons and they have made many a meal for us. We were able to attend their wedding the week as well. I love Brother Ash!!! He is amazing. Toward the end Brother Ash’s very touching testimony he said that he had learned something very important. He had learned that Sister Sorensen was addicted to potato chips and that she was a vegetarian. Everyone laughed so hard. I am so very grateful for him because now the whole ward knows that I am a vegetarian and will no longer feed me meat! He bragged about how he had made me the best vegetarian chill ever! I love him! Haha.

I love ya lots 

Sister Sorensen