Crikey!: January 19, 2014

Dear family and friends,

I got a new companion! Her name is Sister Woodford and she is Toronto, Canada. She was VISA waiting in Spokane Washington for 6 weeks and now has finally gotten to Australia. Its kind of weird not having an islander companion anymore and I sure miss my old companions but I'm really looking forward to this transfer with Sister Woodford. Its kind of crazy too, we both have the exact same food allergies so it makes it easier to eat healthy. But she is also Vegan, which is kind of impossible to be here in Australia because chicken is apart of every meal...well pretty much. So I'm slowly converting her over to eat meat. For the first time in a like 2 years she had some chicken. So looks like my plan is working. Now all she wants in chicken, haha it is so funny!

This week has been a pretty good week though. The work of the Lord continues to move forward in this part of the Lord's vineyard. I'm striving to help Sister Woodford adjust to the way of life here in Australia which is a little bit of a challenge but I know over time she will be able to adjust and love it here in Australia as I have come to love it here. I feel like this transfer is going to be a good transfer because the ward is really starting to catch the wave of missionary work and are now assisting us more than ever in the work. We went to ward council yesterday and they are working on the ward mission plan. Each auxiliary had the opporunity to contribute to the ward mission plan and almost all of the activities is focused on missionary work. It is so cool to see that!

The whole mission has taken the challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 6 months. It has been such a great experience so far. I love being able to read it slower and so that I can focus on the true meaning of each chapter and how I can apply it in my own life. I LOVE the Book of Mormon, it is truly the word of God. I'm learning so much each and every day from the Book of Mormon and my testimony continues to grow. Today I read in Jacob 5 about the olive tree, what a great chapter that is! I learned so much and I was really able to relate it to my life right now. It talks about some of the good fruit becoming wild as the wild fruit over powers the good fruit. I thought a lot about that. I thought about how important it is to be around good people and to fill our lives with things that are good. As we do so, then we are able to resist the temptations of Satan. But if we let Satan temp us than little by little we will fall into his grasp.

So think about that in your own life. What kind of things are you filling your life with? Is your life full of good things, are you doing the small and simple things such as prayer, scripture reading, service to others. What kind of music are you listening to, what kind of friends do you have. What do you spend the most time doing? All of us make mistakes and we fall at times. But I can promise you that as you are striving to LIVE the gospel of Jesus Christ and not just have the faith then the Lord will bless you and help you to progress towards your Father in Heaven. I think of James chapter 2, "faith without works in dead." We need to act upon our faith in the Lord and the Lord will pour his blessing upon you.

I hope that you are keeping in mind your purpose of why you are here upon the earth. We have a purpose here in this life. We are here to become like our Savior, Jesus Christ. As you remember that and keep that in mind as you live your day to day life, your perspective of life will change. The time is now to spread the gospel. Turn outward and look for those that are prepared at this time to hear the gospel.

I love you all very much and appreciate all your prayers in my behalf. This is truly the Lord's church here upon the earth. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Heidi Sorensen