An experience I will NEVER forget!

Dear family and friends,

 

      This week has truly been an incredible week. This last Wednesday we had a mission conference with Elder Russell M. Nelson of the 12 apostles. We had this conference combined with the North Mission as well. So we got to go to the North Mission for the day! They had the chapel spit in half with tape running down the middle of it. They had the South Mission on one side...aka the best mission and they had the North Mission on the other side. Elder Nelson and his wife came to speak to us. Before we started the meeting we were all able to shake Elder Nelson's hand (all 400+ missionaries). He stood up at the front of the chapel and we all went in an orderly fashion row by row to shake his hand. I was pondering the whole time what I should say to him. When I got up to him I was about to say, "Please tell my mom that I love her the next time you see her in the temple." But before I could get a word out he said, "Are you Heidi? I don't think I even answered him I just smiled and he knew I was. He then turned around and gave me a plastic bag that he had brought in with him. He looked me in the eye and said, "I believe this is for you." By then I had tears running down my face as I knew who it was from. He then turned to his wife and said, "Give her a hug." She gave me the biggest hug ever. This was in front of the whole mission and north mission as well. That was one experience that I won't ever forget. I have the greatest family in the world! Mom you're incredible, thanks so much for doing that for me! That really helped me and it made me realize just how blessed I am.

    

     The mission conference was incredible! All the speakers were so good and spoke as if it was directly to me. I was striving the whole week before this conference to be prepared for this conference. The spirit was so strong and I learned so much! It was all exactly what I needed to help me to have strength to keep pushing forward. When Elder Nelson got up to give his talk he said he wanted some volunteers to help him. He called a few missionaries up and then he called "Sister Heidi Sorensen." All the other missionaries were from the other mission and he just called them randomly but he called me specifically to come up. He then asked us each a question. My heart was pumping out of my chest as I was awaiting my question as I was the first one that he asked. He asked me to share with everyone one thing that I have learned here that I didn't know or understand before. I then talked about the importance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how much the Lord does provide for us. How far the Atonement can reach and how the atonement is for each one of us. He asked me to share an experience. I just talked about how life as a missionary is hard and we all have those times of discouragment but right after that low point the Lord always sends a blessing and a tender mercy that builds us up.

     

      I know that we all have hard times in our lives and we are all going through different things but as long as we are doing what's right and doing our best then the Lord's grace will come into play. God will pour his blessings upon us as we strive to continually be obedient and strive to do whats right. I have seen that countless times. I know that God loves each and every one of us and God knows who we can become. It is up to us to align our Will with God's and He will shape us into who He knows we can become. Rely on the Lord and we can do all things. Just as Elder Nelson spoke about in the conference he said, "The Lord uses the unlikely to do the impossible." One example he shared was Joseph Smith. He was a 14 year old boy that restored the church. There is no way that he could have done all that he did without the Lord. That is evidence that this is the Lord's church, He stands at the head of it. I know that we can do anything with the Lord on our Side. Trust in the Lord and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

 

  Thanks again for all of your love and support. Keep up the good work and remember that EVERY MEMBER IS A MISSIONARY!

 

Much Love,

      Sister Heidi Sorensen

Sister Woodford and I found this beautiful dock that is our new favorite place! Green Valley is not the prettiest place in the world, but its the people that make it!

Thanks mom for the treat you gave me that Elder Nelson delivered to me. What a treat that is itself!

This is all the missionaries serving in the Green Valley Ward. We had two elders leave for home just today. As for me and my soa, we are staying put for another transfer.

Happy Valentine's Day!

  This week has been a challenging week. But I'm so grateful for this week because I have learned so much. I was a little discouraged because we weren't able to see very many people this week and we didn't teach very much but that is because of Zone Conference, my companion being sick, and District Meeting. So we have had a lot of things that have happened this week. I have realized that I have been more worried about the numbers rather then the sole purpose of why I'm here. I'm here to bring others unto Christ and in order to bring others unto Christ I have to be prepared and trained. This week has been a lot of training and learning and it has helped me so much to be strengthened as a missionary. I have also realized that its not always just investigators that we bring closer to Christ. In our purpose it just says that we are to "Invite OTHERS to come unto Christ..." That even includes other missionaries that are around me. There are many missionaries that are struggling at this time and this week has been a week of renewal I think for many of us.

    

     We had Zone Conference this week and it was an incredible experience. Just what I needed to be uplifted and reminded of what is most important. One thing that I really took from the Conference was the power and authority of my calling. As missionaries we are called and set apart as representatives of Jesus Christ. Sometimes I forget about the importance of my calling how I'm truly the Lords servant in this part of his vineyard.

     

      Michelle is still progressing slowly but surely. The only struggle we are having with her is getting her to church. She is a single mother of 3 kids and VERY busy and she works every Sunday and Monday. So it has been hard to ask her to come to church but we know that the Lord will provide a way if she truly desires to learn. Right now she is the only investigator that is really progressing at all but we are keeping the faith that the Lord will put someone in our path that is prepared to hear this gospel. In the meantime we have been working with heaps of less actives and helping them to come back to church and remember of its importance.

 

      Just yesterday we had a tender mercy. We were having kind of a rough day but we knew we needed to go and visit someone. The person that came to mind was this old man named Kevin. He is an old man about in his 80's and he is blind and lives alone. He has very little support from anyone. The only person that he has is his mate down the street and his daughter that only comes once a week. But he needs a lot  more help then that. When we went there he was so happy to see us. He said that he was praying that someone would come to help him that day. We knew that we were exactly where we needed to be and that gave us strength. As he shared with us some of his struggles I was immediately humbled and realized that I was being very selfish. I was worried about my own trials and struggles and not thinking of others. Tears were rolling down Sister Woodford and my face and he was talking. We sang some songs with him and had such a good conversation with him. We were reminded of the importance of turning outward and helping others and realizing that there are others that are struggling as well. I'm so grateful for that lesson I learned yesterday from Kevin.

 

    I love you all very much and I'm so grateful for all your love and support. Keep up the good work! I hope all of you have a wonderful week!

 

   Love,

        Sister Sorensen

It was Sister TeMaari's b-day and we had some fun that night...as you can see.

Zone Conference!

 Last week we went and explored a buddhist temple, it was so cool!

My wonderful district. It is the last time for Elder Langi (from tonga).

"Missionary work....the hardest thing I've ever loved to do"

Dear family and friends,

 

    As the people in Australia would say, "How ya goin mate?" I hope all is well in the great land of the United States of America. Wow just being here I'm more and more grateful to live in America. I mean don't get me wrong, Australia is a great place but they are really behind in the times. We are so blessed for all that we have.

  

      This week has been a great week. I don't remember if I talked about our new investigator named Michelle. The work is slowly picking back up and I'm so excited for those things that are coming. Michelle is our newest investigator and she is progressing so well. She is a single mother of 3 kids and she is the sweetest lady. She already acts like a mormon mother. She is a very smart woman and so willing to learn more about the gospel. She unfortunately works a lot though so we aren't able to see her much, just once a week. But it is a work in progress and she also works on Sundays so she hasn't been able to come to church...yet that is. We are really going to strive to get her to come because we know that once she does she will have a stronger desire to learn more and get closer and closer towards baptism.

 

    This week in our Zone Meeting the Zone Leaders asked me to give a portion of the training. They also asked a few other missionaries. It was a great opportunity and I learned so much from the preparation of it. I wouldn't say I did as well as I wanted to but the spirit was present and very strong and that is all that matters. The Holy Ghost is the true teacher anyways, he is the only one that can carry the message into the hearts of men (2 Nephi 33:1-2).

 

   This week I read a talk given by Elder Bednar several years ago and it truly changed my perspective of the Tree of Life story. In his talk he focuses on the difference between clinging to the iron rod and continually holding fast to the iron rod. If you read in 1 Nephi 8 you realize that there are three groups. The first group doesn't hold or even use the iron rod as a guide and they strive to just stay on the path and they lose their way once they hit the mist of darkness. The second group clings to the iron rod but once the people at the great and spacious building see them partake of the fruit they feel ashamed and fall away. But the third group continually holds fast to the iron rod. They have hard times but they continually strive to hold fast and seek the word of God. That really strengthened my testimony of the importance of continually striving to keep the commandments and do the small and simple things each and every day. The things of the world can be so tempting at times but as we remind ourselves each day and read our scriptures and say our prayers. That is when we are more fully able to resist the temptations of the world and become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. I encourage all of you to read 1 Nephi 8 this week. It has been a great strength to me and has really helped me this week.

   I've also been thinking a lot about conversion this week. I have reflected a lot about all of the many spiritual experiences that I have had throughout my life. It is amazing how much those experiences have been a source of strength for me while I've been serving my mission. Many times I have thought about experiences that have come to mind in a lesson and they have been a source of strength for all those that we are teaching. I'm so very blessed for the many things I have learned and continue to learn in my life. I think back to the story of the Ten Virgins and how 5 of them were prepared with oil in their lamps and 5 of them were not prepared. But they couldn't share their oil with others because if you apply it to our life today, that oil in their lamp came drop by drop through experiences that they had in their life.  It was their oil of conversion compiled by experiences that strengthened their testimony of the truthfulness of this restored gospel. We can't give away our experiences, they have to have their own experiences that help them to truly know for themselves of the truthfulness of the gospel. I would like all of you to reflect upon all those experiences in your life that have made you the person you are today. How have those experiences blessed your life and how have you obtained your personal testimony of this gospel?

 

  Sorry this is so long but I have learned so much this week and I wanted to share it with all of you. I would encourage all of you to read the talk entitled, "The Fourth Missionary" by President Lawrence E. Corbridge (June 22, 2002). It is an incredible talk that has really helped me and given me much strength. Let me know what you think about it.

 

I love you all and thanks for all your love and support. Have a wonderful week!

 

  Love,

       Sister Heidi Sorensen

Teresa is a polish lady that we are helping. She is a recent convert and she is the sweetest lady. She calls us her grand-kids. We walked with her to the shopping center last week because she was afraid to go by herself.

 Stake Sports day. We had so much fun!

 Sister Saipele is the best. Her and her family are moving soon unfortunately. So no more sunday dinner with the Saipele's. I guess we will have to find another family to go to on sundays. We are going to miss them so much!

Lunch with the wonderful sisters in my zone

Ordinary People.....Extraordinary Message

Dear family and friends,

     This week has been such a great week. I continue to learn so much each and every day. It is amazing how much you continue to learn each day. During my personal study one day I had this thought..."We are ordinary people, here to spread an extraordinary message."After that thought came to mind it really hit me on just how important this gospel is. One of the 12 apostles said one time that this gospel is for imperfect people. We are all human and we all make so many mistakes each and every day, but that is why we needed a Savior. We needed Jesus Christ to show us the way and to provide a way back to our Heavenly Father. This week I have thought a lot about the Atonement and just how necessary it is for us. We are truly nothing without our Savior, He is the one that makes it all possible.

   This week we have had so many miracles. We have been pushing hard to strive to meet our goals that we have set for ourselves. I'm sure Sister Woodford hates me but I have been pushing her really hard to get some things done. And I can see that all that hard work has not been wasted. One miracle that we had was with one of our new investigators named Michelle. We met her a few weeks ago and she is such a sweet lady. She has been really busy lately and so we haven't been able to visit her much but just yesterday we felt the need to visit her. We were really discouraged at that time because we were going to go to a fireside and we were told we couldn't go unless we had an investigator to take with us. Well we didn't have anyone to take so we decided to just continue onward and go out and visit some other people. That is when we went to visit Michelle. She has such a sweet spirit and she really put a smile on our face. She invited us in and we got to talk with her and get to know her better. We were also able to share a message of the gospel with her and she asked us if we could teach her more. We were so excited! She also has 2 girls, one is 8 and one is 10 and so we are hoping to teach all of them. So I will keep you updated on Michelle. But that really taught me to never give up hope. As you put your trust in the Lord, He will provide a way and poor blessing upon you.

   There is so much more I could share with all of you but there is not enough time. But I want you all to know that I truly do have a testimony of this gospel. I know without a doubt that its true. I'm so grateful to be a missionary at this time and to spread the gospel with the people of Australia.

   Thanks so much for all your love and support. Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Heidi Sorensen

Yesterday for P-day we went to a cool place called, "Lions Lookout." It was a beautiful place! That is one of my new favorite places to go because you can see everything. We could even see Sydney on the horizon.

Miracles Upon Miracles

My dearest family and friends,

 

    Wow I absolutely love missionary work. I know I may say that a lot but it is so true! Each and every day I'm reminded of the importance of this work and how this is truly the Lord's church upon the earth today. This week has been a great week! The work is really starting to pick up again in the Green Valley area. So here it is summer time and so everyone has been on holidays and gone for the time period while their kids are out of school. But as for missionary work it is not our favorite time of the year because the work slows down a lot. But luckly everyone is going back to school this week so we are able to find a lot more people at home and they aren't in the holiday mode anymore. Oh and just so you know the word Vacation doesn't really exist here, they say holiday instead so if you are a little confused with my lingo I'm sorry I guess I'm starting to turn into an aussie. haha

 

   This week we saw so many miracles it has been incredible. One really cool miracle we had was with the Funa family. They are a family in our ward but the father is the only member of the church but he has only been to church one time...in his life. We have stopped by there several times but we never seem to find anyone at home or they just don't want to open the door for us. One day we felt like we needed to just stop by there house so we did. We didn't think much about it, we thought it would be the same old thing. But this time right away they came to the door and invited us in. Sister Woodford and I looked at each other and I think both of our jaws dropped to the floor. That was the first time we have ever been invited into their house. We finally got to meet the Funa family and we not only met the father but the mother and 3 of their girls. We got to know them more and found out that the father got baptized when we came to Utah one time for holiday to visit his daughter. His daughter is a member and convinced him to be baptized so obviously he didn't have the right reason to be baptized and I don't think he ever really came to understand the importance of the church and what it is all about. We also came to find out that he is the only one working in his house and he has 7 kids so he works around the clock. That is why he never comes to church. The funa family is such a nice Tongan family and none of the girls are baptized and we can see so much potential in them. The elders even said they have tried their house several times as well but haven't really had much success. But it was truly a miracle that we were able to be invited in that day and we are so excited to be able to work with them now. We are so excited!

 

   Something that I have been reminded of this week during my studies is the importance of the Atonement. My testimony has grown so much on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. One realization I came to one day during my personal study was that the Atonement is central to each lesson that we share. The Restoration, Plan of Salvation, Gospel of Jesus Christ, The commandments. Each of these are centered on the Atonement, every single thing that we have is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I'm so very thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. Just as is says in Helaman 5:12 he is my rock and my foundation. So I challenge each of you to reflect and think about Jesus Christ and all that He has done for all of us. Build your foundation upon Jesus Christ and you shall not fall.

 

   Thanks so much for all your love and support. Keep up the good work and remember our Savior, Jesus Christ this week as you go about your daily life. Think about all that He has done for us. I love you all.

 

  Love,

     Sister Heidi Sorensen

 

    This week we got 4 new investigators! That is the first time ever we've gotten 4 new investigators in one week. But I know that the Lord's work is truly hastening upon the earth. As we are striving to be obedient the Lord is truly blessing us in so many ways. We have this little girl named Lilly. She is 10 years old and she was just bearly adopted from Samoa. Her mum came up to us at church last week and said that she would like us to start teaching her. The only problem was we didn't know how to speak Samoan. So the mum requested us and the Samoan sisters to come and teach her. So this last Saturday we were able to teach her. It was an incredible experience! The Samoan sisters did a lot of the talking but we were also able to share our testimony and have them translate to her. She is such an incredible little girl with so much faith. She is already growing so much even after just one lesson. On Sunday she ran up to us with a big grin on her face and gave us a huge hug. We are so excited to be able to teach her. So excited to me and Sister Woodford got Samaon Book of Mormons so that we can better teach her and help her.

I decided to make some Cocoa Lassa (Rice) this week. It is definitely not as good as the samoans but hey it was still pretty darn good. I'm now going to try to master it.

We decided to cook dinner for the elders this week. So we put our table out in our garage. It was so funny all the neighbors were coming out wondering what we were doing but it was a good time to get to know our neighbors more.

This is Lilly Toomata, our new investigator.

Kristal (our recent convert) had us over for dinner yesterday.

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

 All of us that live in the same flat now. It is so weird we are all White now. But these sisters are so much fun!

We had some Vietnamese soup yesterday that was pretty interesting. But I still ate it!

After the Vietnamese soup we loaded up on lollies...bad idea to give us the lolly jar.
(Do you think she means candy jar?)  :)

Jan. 13, 2014

Dear family and friends,

  

   This week has been an incredible week! I don't even know where to start. But then again that is how it is every week because so much happens over a week. Well first off we were just told that Elder Russell M. Nelson is coming here on Febuary 19! We are all so excited! So mom you should talk to him. Although it will be combined with the North Mission as well so there are going to be close to 400 missionaries there, its going to be crazy but so good!

 

  So many are wondering what happened at transfers this last week. Well unfortunately I don't have my two lovely companions anymore but I'm training a new missionary! My new companion arrives tomorrow and I'm so excited/ nervous for this opportunity. I mean I trained Sister Fuatimau but I still had Sister Fa'agase so we were both kind of the trainers. But this time is totally different because its all up to me. But I'm honored for the opportunity to train again. I can't wait to meet my new companion. It has been so weird yesterday and today because I have a temporary companion. We are both trainers but I have my own phone, keys, area, everything...kind of weird haha. But I'm really lucky because Sister Hoeft (my temp companion) her zone went to the temple today. So I got to go to the temple today and I get to go with my zone in a few weeks! I was so excited to hear that because I miss going to the temple. It was an incredible experience to go today and take part in the ordinances of the temple again. We are so blessed to be able to have a temple near by that we can go to. So take advantage of all those temples we have super close in Utah. Not many have temples near by and have to travel far just to go to the temple.

 

   This week my companion Sister Fuatimau was sick for a few days so we had to stay home for a little bit longer than we wanted to. It was killing us! But luckily we have 3 in our companionship so one could stay with her and one could go with a member. Because I'm the only driver I had the wonderful opportunity to go out a few times with some members. It was an incredible opportunity! The members are starting to really help a lot more in the work and are starting to "catch the wave" of missionary work now that the holidays are over.

  

    One miracle that I had while I was out with one of our members was, well we didn't have any set appointments but we were just out visiting less actives and potential investigators. At first we couldn't find anyone at home but I knew we needed to keep going and try to find someone to visit. We said a little prayer and continued to go through possibilities of people we could go see. One name stuck out to me and so we decided to go there. She is an inactive lady that hasn't come for at least 10 years or so but she said she is still a believer. But we had a good visit with Sister Mauga there too (the member). Afterwards we looked at her record and realized she was endowed! We couldn't believe it. But Sister Mauga being the proactive woman she is took down her name and wanted to go visit her and make sure that visiting teachers went to her. We now are going to go visit her more regularly and help her to remember some of those important ordinances she has taken part in the temple and the importance of this gospel. We are now going to work and help the members with their visiting teaching. We have come to realize that not many do their visiting teaching anymore and that is not good. Visiting teaching and home teaching is so important especially in our world today. There are so many temptations in the world and without some visits of others and help in our lives it is so easy to forget the important things and fall. So go out and visit others! Even if they are active members, they still need help because we ALL face challenges and we all need help at times.

 

   I have so much more I could write but I don't have much time left. But I  would like to thank all of you that support me. I don't think you realize how much it helps me being out here on a mission. You are all amazing and I'm blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends. Love you all! And remember to open your mouth and spread the gospel to all those that you can. These are the latter days, NOW is the time to step up as members of the church and save those souls that are lost.

 

  Love you all heaps! Have a wonderful week!

 

Love always,

    Sister Heidi Sorensen

We had such a fun p-day last week! There were many missionaries that left for home this week so we had a big combined zone p-day. We went laser tagging! That was seriously the best laser tag ever! There were heaps of missionaries everywhere. It was funny because we were all freaking out because we don't do things like that very often. haha

 Sister Fuatimau had never had Krispy Kreme donuts before so I bought my companions some. She loved them!

We had a vietnamese family feed us an authentic dinner this week. It was really interesting food but not too bad. As you can see we all sat on the floor and ate with chop sticks.

 I'm going to miss this girl!

Elder Lapu'aho is from West Valley Utah and he left for home today. He is going to go play football for BYU! He was my zone leader and he is an amazing Elder. Look for him back home!

Today at the temple. It was such a fun morning! 5 am was so worth it to go to the temple