Monday August 29th

Kia ora, or now I can say Malo se fua!

     Transfers happened, and the news is I got shifted out.  I'm back in the city (Auckland).  My companion is Elder Fiu from Savai Samoa.  I'm covering two wards in the Waterview Stake.  I cover Avondale, and Titirangi wards.  Its a pretty big area for the city.  On Sundays we are at church from 9am till 4pm going to the two wards.  There was a convert baptism on Saturday, which was the first on in the Titirangi ward in about a year and a half.  So thats about all I know about this area.  Elder Fiu has been out for about 6 months now and he's pretty on top of it.  He went to church college for his four high school years, so his english is pretty good.  Its pretty cool to hear him speak samoan to other people.  I wish I'd been called to one of the language programs.  I found out that Elder Falepapalangi (my MTC compnion) was put in the Tongan program pretty much right after he got here.  Now he's training in the English program for this transfer.  I found out that he covered all the tongan speaking people in the stake I'm in now.  

     There's a lot to look forward to in this area, its big with heaps of people.  My district here covers the Chinese elders, the samoan elders, and us.  There used to be the tongan elders too, but they closed the area for at least this transfer.  And that means we've got a car for this transfer.  That sure would have been nice in Tokoroa.  But I'm happy we've got a car.  If I can get a picture I'll show you my area.  But we stay on 121 Lynnwood St (I think Avondale).  I don't know how to explain it any other way.  

     I don't know much else to talk about, so I'll let you all know about stuff next week.  I love you all and appreciate your support!

Aroha nui! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

 

Baptism of Peter and Vienna      

Cristus at Visitors' Centre

My last district

                                                  

 Me kicking Elder Fiu into the font

Baptism of Bianca Pita

My companion Elder Fiu (Savai, Samoa)

8/22/2011

Kia ora whanau!

     This past week was a good week.  Not too much has happened.  The weather is about like it is in Utah.  Cold nights, frosting overnight usually, but warm sunny days.  It feels like spring every day.  Sun shine sure puts people in better moods to talk to.  We've finally been able to find some more new investigators.  Its been a while since we've found any investigators that want to keep learning.  Jack, Paige, Vienna, and Peter are all still coming to church, and I got a letter from the Puletaha's in Te Kuiti.  This is what Stacey Puletaha said

     "Things are great here went in to the temple to get my nan and brother baptisted,but yes cant wait to seal into the temple so for sure will let you know.  Kasey is doing great he is now second councilor in the church and we have received heaps of blessings,so happy that you and Luckhardt made me see the light....so once again thanks heaps.  I have a calling in the church I am relief society security and its not much but hey its something."

     Being able to see the people I have baptized so active and happy feels so good!  Missionary work is hard and I think no matter how much you get used to it, you still have to get out of your comfort zone every time, but when things happen, it is sure overwhelming.  And it strengthens my testimony and makes me want to do it more. 

     Transfers is this week, and I have no idea what's going to happen.  I have lots of thoughts both ways.  I've been here for about 4 months, but missionaries here usually stay for about 6 months, so...?

     Oh yeah, last week I got to go to a burial for member.  He was a Cook Islander (I knew his son when I was in Hamilton), so there was heaps of people.  I'd guess a couple hundred.  Rather than being all quiet, there was heaps of singing and chanting.  Even though he was a member, the pastor from the PIC (pacific island church?) Presbyterian church said a couple of prayers and sang a couple of songs.  Then Howard's (the deceased) son Theo (the one I knew from Hamilton) dedicated the grave.  Its pretty cool to experience the cultural differences in things like deaths and things.

     Well next week I'll let you know the news about transfers.  Thanks again for everything you all do for me!  I appreciate all the prayers and support.  Love you all!

--

Aroha kotau! 

Sincerely,

Elder Sorensen

Aug 15, 2011

Kia Ora Whanau!!

     IT SNOWED HERE IN TOKOROA!!!!!!!  Its the first time I've seen snow in over a year!  It started after I got out of the shower and my companion was in the shower.  So I had to run out and play in it a bit.  It only built up a tiny bit on the car windscreens, nothing on the ground.  It lasted off and on for about an hour or so, and now its sunny, but still cold.  People here have said that in their lives they can only remember it snowing in Tokoroa like 3 or 4 times.  They say that it only snows in Taupo and Turangi southwards, so I thought I'd never get to see the snow in New Zealand, but boy am I lucky.
     Peter and Vienna's Baptisms went great!  A real special one.  The spirit was there and lots of people were crying.  Not me though, I'm tough.  I looked over at Vienna's mum while she was getting baptized and saw the tears in her eyes.  After the baptism both Peter and Vienna bore their testimonies (after a bit of encouragement).  Vienna walked up to the pulpit with one of her friends from the ward by her side.  Its always so touching to see the power of friendship.  Peter was grateful for the friends he has made in the ward, and he said he hopes to be able to live up to what he said he'd do. 
     To think that a baptism like Vienna's came from one of the young women inviting her to church a few times, her feeling the spirit, and asking her if she wants to learn from the missionaries.  It can happen so simply.  It makes me think back and wonder if there were any non members who came to church that I didn't talk to. 
     Peter also bore his testimony at church on Sunday too.  The confirmations were great too.  The ward mission leader has a great idea of spreading out the new member lessons over three months so that they can have good contact with the member during the hardest part of conversion. 
     Things are great, and I'm happy to be a part of such a great work.  Aroha kotau, I love you all.
Aroha nui! 
Sincerely,
Elder Sorensen

8/8/2011

Kia Ora!!

     Ke te pehe kautau?  I can't believe another week has passed in my oversea's experience in Kiwi Land.  I see it more and more ever week, that days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days.  Last Saturday we had a temple trip, and Peter and Vienna came.  It was a big success.  Pretty fun to go with everyone packed in a mini van, 8 seats full. 
     Brother Wright as the ward mission leader is awesome.  He's saving us a lot of stress making sure there's food/clothes/food/programme/food/water and a light refreshment afterwards.  So its really nice that he's taking care of everything.  Sadly we're going to drop Patu.  He's just not keeping any commitments. 
     So last week my bike got stolen again, and found again.  We've been pretty busy otherwise I'd take a picture and show you a picture of it now.  We were going to a lesson with Brother Wright and we saw a couple of teenage girls on bikes, and Elder Jibas yelled out "thats my bike, follow them!"  So we followed them down a street and they took a dirt footpath between a couple streets.  We turned around to head them off.  We jumped out of the car to look for them and they were running back the other way.  Went back to the other street and they were gone, but my companion went to look where they were at and they had left the bikes in the trees.  His was pretty much the way it was, but they've hand painted mine.  You'd think that they'd do a halfway decent job, but it's pretty terrible.  But it still runs from point A to B.  I'll have to get some mud flaps again so I don't ruin my suits.  But all this just makes me laugh.  And I'm definately going to take better care that my bike won't be stolen again. 
     Well I've got limited time this week, but enjoy the pictures.  Love you all and thanks for everything!

Aroha nui!

Sincerely,
Elder Sorensen

Feed after Jack's Baptism

Kaimai's pass

Kaimai's

Back Side of Kaimai's

July 25, 2011

Kia Ora!!

We've been really spoiled this week with warm weather. It felt like spring back home when all the snow is melted, the air is cold, but the sun is warm. I guess its not supposed to last much longer. There's some kind of wind coming off the ice caps or something like that, and we felt it get colder this morning. We haven't had frosts since last week, which is sure nice when we bike around at night.

So last week we had a bit of frustration in the companionship. I think it was mostly because Elder Jibas is used to the city and lots of work and heaps of families and baptisms. He's really frustrated that the country is a lot slower. So he's been frustrated with me, and makes me do all the work because I know the area, which makes me frustrated with him. So I know I'm a part of it. But we were able to talk it out during weekly companionship inventory (mandatory communication) and things are good again.

Jack and Paige were both baptized and confirmed this last weekend!! Finally and thank goodness! It was pretty stressful running around and getting everything set up and sussed out. But they both went smoothly and successfully. Jack's Baptism was huge. There was probably 70/80+ people there. He's got a pretty big family, and they're pretty much all SDA (Seventh Day Adventists). But they still came to support him being baptized. And in NZ whenever there's that many people gathered together, there's always a big feed afterwards.

Speaking of big feeds, after church on Sunday Bishop Manu made a boil-up for us for lunch. It was probably the nicest boil-up I've had since I've been out. Most of them are nice, but a bit watery.

At church they had I think 9 new callings. And while going through them, they called Jack to be the YM's 2nd counselor. And he was just confirmed on Sunday! Sure took me by surprise. But we also got a new ward mission leader, since last week they unexpectedly released our old one without giving a replacement. Bro. Wright is in his Early 30's I think, but he served his mission in Japan. So we met with him a bit, and he seems really good and ready for the calling.

I'm doing well, and time is going fast for me here. We've got work to do and its really rewarding to watch people come into the gospel. I'm greatful to be a part of this great work, and I'm making the most of my time here in NZ. Still happy, still healthy, and still working. Love you all, and thanks again for everything.

Aroha nui!
Sincerely,
Elder Sorensen

July 18, 2011

Kia Ora!!!

Thanks for the pictures, and boy does home look nice and warm. The nights and mornings are getting cold. I think one day last week was down to -5*C. They call it a frost. So its frosted the last few mornings. Most people are complaining, but I'm throroughly enjoying it. Its the closest thing to snow I'll be able to see here in the mission. I actually saw some ice in a gutter one morning! Its so humid that it all condenses and freezes on the grass, so it all looks white. Pretty cool.

My new companion is Elder Jibas (See-bus, like the waters of sebus in the book of mormon), and he's from the Marshal Islands. The first thing I noticed was that he has a sense of humor! Elder Hussain wasn't very good at getting jokes. And when you're serious all the time things get stressful. But anyways, I'm still here in Tokoroa. So Elder Hussain was called to be a district leader. I really thought I was going to go because I'd been here for 3 months, and he had only been here for 1 transfer. But President Lekias had something else in mind obviously.

There have been some big changes, and there are going to be more big changes coming up in August. 6 of the Senior Zone Leaders were put as District Leaders or just Senior comp as well as training. In August they're going to start a new training program. So for the first 12 weeks the new missionary (we're not aloud to call them greenies anymore) will be trained, and then they will train a new missionary for 12 weeks and that will create a big cycle. And also, every companionship will get a portable DVD player.

We had a couple really good lessons with Peter this last week and he is set for baptism on the 13th of August. He was a bit shakey at first, but after church and another lesson with a member he's pretty solid now.

Guess what!! I'm sitting here emailing, and Frederick walked in. They're the Philipino couple that went to the Philipenes for a month. He came over and wanted to set up a lesson! Talk about a miracle. Preach My Gospel says that we'll be led to them or them to us. It doesn't happen as often as I want, but when it happens it sure feels good!

Anyways enjoy the pictures and thank you for yours. I appreciate your prayers, emails, and support. It really helps me out! Love you all!

 

Elder Jibas

Pokeno Ice Creams (4 scoop) I think you can get like 20 scoops.  The only thing is that it melts super fast here, even in the cold.  My flavors are Limonata Cheesecake (my favorite) cookies and cream, mint/cookie smash, and lemon/lime

 Mountainside Graveyard

Aroha nui!
Sincerely,
Elder Sorensen

July 11, 2011

Kia Ora!!


This week was pretty good. We got to do I think a bit of everything. Trade-offs, setting people for baptism, traveling (to Rotorua) last minute, sun, rain, lightning, wind, sun rain lighting and rain all at once, and to top it all off we started teaching a guy from Switzerland.

We had the mission tour to meet the new mission president (President Lekias [Lee-key-us]) scheduled for Saturday morning at 7:30 am. So that meant getting up at 5, leaving by 6, and getting back to work at 10 am. But on Friday they called and changed it to that night. So last minute we shot up to Rotorua and met the Lekias family. Pretty cool family, hard auzzie, and I got the 'new missionary' feeling from them. Completely understandable though. He's kept the NZAM vision the same, but changed a couple of things. The vision is "In the NZAM we: Save Souls, by being exactly obediant, being preach my gospel missionaries, and Preaching by the way to everyone." Preach By The Way (PBTW) is a key indicator that I think is special to our mission, and it just means we keep track of the number of people we talk to. Pretty cool.

We had a couple of really choice lessons this week. The guy from Switzerland is probably in his mid 60's and is a real crack up. When he was talking about his car he said in his really heavy swiss accent that when he gets to a passing lane "you put ze svitch to ze 's' (for sport) and you put ze foot down!" We had a good lesson with him on Sunday and he finds it important to be baptized by the priesthood authority, but he's just not willing to set a date becasue it feels too soon. He really likes the plan of salvation because it makes a lot more sense than what the Jehovah's Whitnesses have shared. They've probably been one of the most frustrating people to work with, and the people they teach, they teach to turn out all other doctrines. I really don't like that church. But anyways. We had a lesson with Jack, and he hit us with a real surprise. We had asked him to pray about the 23rd of July to be baptized, and he said that he did so, and he got his answer at work throughout the week. He said its time to stop putting things off, and start doing things for his family. So we're pretty excited for him and his family.

So for the past few P-days, we've been working on a project with Brother King for a school dance. They had the theme for Narnia. And so we helped him build the sleigh and the throne. So thats what the pictures are about. We were going to go play golf, but the rain has put it off another week. Oh yeah, transfers are this week. I almost forgot. I don't know if I'll move or stay, but I'll sure let you know.

Thank you for all you support. I do need your prayers, and appreciate them.

Aroha nui!
Sincerely,
Elder Sorensen