Being an Affective Instrument in His Hands‏

 Dear family and friends,

 

    This week has been a wonderful week!  I hope that each of you have taken the challenge that I left with you this last week to read the Book of Mormon and seek for the words of Christ while you're reading. Let me know how its going. I'd love to hear all of your insights and thoughts!

 

   There is so much that is happening in this area now, it is wonderful! This week we had the opportunity to have Elder Pearson of the seventy come and teach us. He is the President of all the Pacific Area. He is such a powerful teacher. We got to hear him several times at many different events. He was traveling around Sydney speaking to many different groups. We were privileged to have him come to our zone conference. Man I tell you what that was surely the most rebuking/spiritual conference ever! He is a very powerful teacher. Without a doubt I know that he is called of God. He is really making a difference and I hope that the mission will lift due to his visit to Sydney. Thank goodness for the atonement so that we each can do better and become more like our Saviour.

     President Pearson taught a lot of important principles that really stuck with me. He taught a lot of the importance of planning and setting goals. He did this great demonstration to teach an important principle about the difference between trying and doing. It will be hard to explain over email but the quote that he shared was, "Do or do not, there is no try!" He said it so powerfully and it hit me hard. That we are to be "doers of the word and not hearers only" ( James 1:22).

   After zone conference Sister Koster and I spent a lot of time setting goals and planning out how we were going to improve and truly uplift this area. It has been amazing how the Lord has already been blessing us and helping us to execute those goals. He is definitely leading this work and helping us.

   

    One miracle that we've seen this week is that the Lord has helped us to know who we need to focus on in our investigators, less- actives, and recent converts. We've been fasting and praying to know how to help them and we are already seeing so much success with them. This work is incredible and I'm so glad to be apart of it!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

 

Love always,

    Sister Sorensen

 

Pictures:

  We found these awesome pens this last week! They are perfect for walking missionaries in the heat of Australia. They have pretty powerful fans on the end of them to keep us cool while we're walking. They are our favorites!

"Just roll with it, because Heavenly Father's driving"‏

Dear family and friends,

    Happy New Year to you all! I can't believe how fast this year has gone by but as I look back I'm so grateful for all the wonderful things that have happened this past year. My heart is so full of gratitude for the love that my Heavenly Father shows to each of us consistently. I absolutely love this gospel!

    It has been a wonderful week! To be honest, I'm so grateful that the holiday's are over so now we can focus on the work more and we can also have the focus of the members. It is starting to really pick up and we are loving it! The Oatlands ward is a wonderful ward, there are so many great people here. But our main goal now is to take all those wonderful people and unify them to all be on the same page. It is a big challenge but we know that this is the Lord's church so as long as we do it His way, we can do anything. That has been the main focus in this area is the members. We've been visiting more members than anyone else because if we don't have the members by our side the work is a whole lot harder. It felt so good to go to church yesterday and to be able to recognize most of the members there and to already have the relationship with them. I love when that starts to happen!

     We've had so many great experiences this week and so much that I've learned. Here are a few of the things that happened this week:

•  P-DAY: On Monday for p-day we went to the Sydney Olympic park. It was a really fun park and we had a lot of fun walking around and seeing where all the events took place during the Olympics. We also got as close to swimming as you can on a mission. We ran though a few fountains to cool us off. It was so hot that we dried instantly afterwards.
• ALMARIO'S:On Tuesday we went by to meet this part member family named the Almario's. The mother is the only member of the church and she has two daughters that are not members. They are both in their early 20's so we thought it would be good to get to know them and be able to help them. The elders before us were trying to teach them but they said that they never had a whole lot of luck because they never wanted to listen. But we had such a great lesson with them. We got to know them and was able to have a great spiritual discussion. It helped us to see where they were at spiritually and what we can do to help them. While we were there I had this strong feeling like these two girls are the reason why we are here. Now it is just the beginning of teaching them but I know that we can help them to understand just how this gospel can help them personally and that it is for them specifically. I can't wait to see their progression!
• NEW YEARS:For New Years Eve we had to be in our flat by 6pm so that was a little bit of a downer. We were meant to do a deep cleaning but because I live there it was already really clean so we didn't even have to do that. So we made a nice dinner together and just relaxed a little bit, which is un-heard of as a missionary. haha! We had a lot of fun with the sisters that we live with, Sister Prete and Sister Brewer, they're awesome! We also got to play one of my favourite games, "Ticket to Ride" as we celebrated the start of a new year.
• 20 REFERRALS: On Friday we were struggling because we hardly had anyone to see that day. Well I mean there is always someone we can see but we didn't have any set plans. We were just putting names down to try but that day I really felt like something good was going to come. The Lord always has greater plans for us. That day during lunch we received 20 referrals! Because our area is right across the street from the temple we received a lot of referrals from the Christmas lights that they do at the temple every year. It was such a tender mercy. Our plans soon changed as we had so many more people to go and see. We were able to have a member come with us and we started down the list and contacted a lot of people. With one of them we even had a full lesson on his door step and many of the other ones we tried invited us back for another day. So now we have so much to do and so many wonderful potentials!
• FASTING: Yesterday was such a great Sunday! I was fed spiritually for sure as I was fasting. I love fast Sunday's! Church was great and there was a lot of wonderful testimony's shared. After church we decided to just go out and walk until dinner time. Well lately its been between 35 and 40 degrees Celsius here (which is super hot for those that don't know). It has been really humid as well. We weren't sure where we would end up and how we would do in the heat with no water or food in our bodies but we knew the Lord would provide and help us. We walked and tried a few houses and no one was home so we kept going. But it got to a point where I could see that both of us were really struggling. I know for me I didn't know if I could make it so I told Sister Koster to stop and we said a little prayer for strength. We kept going in the faith and knew the Lord would provide. Just when I was about to give up hope and grab some water there was someone home! We went inside and started talking and shared a good message with them. It wasn't until after we left that I can realized the hand of the Lord in our lives just then. We no longer were struggling, we had more energy and were able to keep going. I KNOW that the Lord will look after us even when you're about to give up...hang on and HAVE FAITH! He will always bless you and help you! That was such a testimony builder to me that the Lord knows our needs and is by our side.

     This week our mission has started a new Book of Mormon challenge. Instead of just reading the Book of Mormon we have been asked to read and highlight all the scriptures that speak of Christ or where Christ is speaking. I cannot put the Book of Mormon down! I love it and I have gained an even stronger testimony of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I have read the Book of Mormon so many times before but this time it has put it in a new perspective. I'm now looking for Christ and I'm realizing more and more just how much the Book of Mormon truly testifies of Christ. I never knew how much he spoke to His children and how much He helped the people in the Book of Mormon.

    I challenge each of you to start this challenge for yourself. Get a new Book of Mormon, just those small, cheaper ones are great. And just start looking for His words and I promise you that if you have the desire you will find Him and you will come to know Christ more. For me it has helped me to learn more of the Character of Christ and who He truly is. Let me know how the challenge goes. I will send the paper for you to check off along with me if you'd like to.

  Now you're probably wondering where the title of my email came from... Just yesterday we went to a members house for dinner and we had such a good discussion with them. I learned so much! This is one of the quotes the Sister Danielson said and I really liked it. We were talking about the importance of putting our trust in the Lord and in our Heavenly Father. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much and will be there for us. He has provided the Lord to be there for us and to help us in our lives. I know these things to be true because I've seen it in my own life, countless times.

  I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love always,

    Sister Sorensen

On Christmas day we went to this beautiful waterfall and wildlife place. It was really cool!

The Olympic Park

Happy New Year!

Sister Koster and I at the Temple, Christmas lights.

Book of Mormon Challenge

Christmas in Australia!

Dear family and friends,

  This week has been a wonderful week! I hope that all of you have had a very Merry Christmas! I'm really liking this Oatlands area. There are so many wonderful people here! It has been a bit challenging getting around and getting to know everyone without a car. But the members have been very helpful. This week we've been going through a long list of unknown names and trying to figure out who they are. It is always a long process and hard when you don't see a lot of success in one day but I know that our efforts are never wasted. It has been good because we are finally just beginning to see the needs of this area and seeing who we have to work with. Even though we didn't get to see a lot of people this week we were able to talk to some people on the street and were able to find 3 new investigators this week! So I definitely know that the Lord is guiding and directing us.

    Even though it was a holiday this week we have many members willing to come out with us all throughout the week. That is true dedication right there! The members were also very kind in inviting us over for lunches and dinner to help us feel at home this Christmas season.

     For Christmas Eve we went over to a families house named the Mackie's. They are originally from Utah so it was good to have that common ground. We went out that night and delivered Cup cakes to people that were in need that night. It was great to see them smile big as they found a nice treat on their door step.

    On Christmas day we went to several different families houses in our ward. My favourite part of Christmas day was the evening. We had the opportunity to go over to the Laugery's house. They are a young couple in the ward, Racheal is the Relief Society President and her husband is the Elders Quorum President. They are so much fun! We had a wonderful typical Aussie Christmas dinner and we played some fun games! It was so much fun to finally get to play a game again and to feel a bit more like home this Christmas.

   There were so many more wonderful events that happened but I wish I had more time to share them. I know that this is the Lord's church. I learn so much each and everyday. I hope that all of you will take the spirit of Christmas with you all throughout the year. Because we are God's children and we need to reach out to those around us and help them to find the true joy and happiness that we all feel. May the Lord bless each one of you.

    Thanks so much for all the love and support you each give me!

Love always,

      Sister Sorensen

Dinner at the Laugery's

Skyping my family!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dearest family and friends,

    My heart is so full of gratitude for everything that the Lord has blessed me with. This week has been a wonderful week, a bit of an adventure but it has been great! My new companion is awesome! Her name is Sister Koster and she is from Denmark. She is so great! I'm so blessed to have her as a companion. She is already pre-trained, literally so its been easy to transition. She has been serving in her own country for 3 months waiting for her VISA,then she went to the New Zealand MTC, and finally now made it to Australia. So she knows already a lot about how to be a missionary and now I just help her to know the ways of being a missionary in Australia. She has said that Australia is so different from Denmark so its been fun to help her and to know some of the differences. But she has so much desire to serve and so much energy I absolutely love it!

   

   Our first week in our area has been wonderful! We've gotten such a warm welcome from the Oatlands Ward it is unbelievable. They are so excited to have sisters back in the ward. They had taken out the sisters a little bit ago and now just put us in so everyone wants us over. So its great with the timing as well so that we can have a place for Christmas. I love the desire that these members have to do missionary work. There is so much work to be done here but I can see that as we all work together, it will be a great success as we strive to bring others unto Christ. I hope that each of you are striving to do all that you can to help assist the missionaries in your area because it makes it so much easier to do the Lord's work. So if you are doing missionary work, keep it up...if you aren't I encourage you to get involved. This is the greatest work that I've ever done. I thought I knew how to be a missionary but now I realized that I was probably the worst at doing missionary work before. This work is so important and so many people are searching for truth and without us they won't be able to find it. The Lord needs each and every one of us!

  This week I had the wonderful opportunity to go back to my old area for the baptism of Donelle and Leo Tuipulotu. It was a great opportunity to see them again and to witness their baptism. The spirit was so strong! I know that the Tuipulotu family is the reason for why Sister Parr and I were there. The Lord has perfect timing and that was the time that they were ready to receive the truth. Those boys will be such great examples to their family and friends. I can see so much potential in them! I love being able to see some of the fruits of our labors as others enter into the waters of baptism. It is the greatest feeling in the world!

   Just yesterday we were able to go into Mortdale to the Mission Office. The entire mission met together for a big Christmas conference. It was so much fun to see all my past companions and all the wonderful elders and sisters that I've served with throughout my mission. It was so weird that I knew the majority of them this time around. Last year I didn't know anyone and now I have so many wonderful friends. We had a wonderful and inspiring Christmas program, the spirit was so strong! I'm so grateful for this wonderful Christmas season and the opportunity we have to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is truly the greatest gift our Heavenly Father has given us. I hope that all of you can slow down a little bit this season and REMEMBER CHRIST... for he is the REASON FOR THE SEASON!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! I love and appreciate all of you.

Love always,

    Sister Sorensen

Pictures:

   My companion, Sister Koster and I...everyone thinks we're twins. and the other picture is with Donelle, Leo, and Nari. I love them!

 *****

This is all of my district from the MTC. We are all still here, it was fun to see them all again.

Re-united with one of my best friends, Sister Schwab. She is such a great blessing in my life. It was so great to see her!

Transfers...Shotgun Training!

Dear Family and friends,

     It has been a great week. So this weekend was transfers again. I can't believe how fast this transfer flew by. I found out on Saturday that I was being transferred again. I kind of saw it coming though. I'm going to miss so many of the investigators that we're teaching especially Nari and her boys. They have been the biggest miracle of this transfer. In fact this coming Saturday Donelle and Leo are going to be baptized! I've already got the approval to go and I can't wait for that day. Those boys are so excited and the Lord has definitely prepared them for this time to be ready for baptism.

   I've been transferred to a place called Oatlands. I've never heard of this area but I'm told it is near the temple in a place called Parramatta. I'm training a new sister! So for the next couple days I'm in limbo land with a few sisters who are also training. I haven't been to my new area yet but I look forward to go in the next couple days. My new companion arrives tomorrow! I'm so excited to meet her and to get to start in a new area again.

   I'm sorry my email is short this time. But I'm so grateful to be a missionary. I've learned so many things that I can't even begin to tell you. I'm excited for this next chapter on my mission and to meet some new people. Thank goodness that I have the Lord by my side and the spirit to guide me in this work or else I don't know if I could do it. I know that this is His work and He stands at the head of it.

Merry Christmas to you all. I love you heaps!

 Love always,

   Sister Sorensen

Pictures: the one by the sign is of Donelle and the boys and Moetahi. They are all going to be baptized soon.

The other pic is of my investigator Melelupe. I'm going to miss that girl. I used to teach her in Green Valley and so it was cool to teach her again.

"Be not afraid, only believe." (Mark 5:36)‏

Dear family and friends,

   This week has been another great week here in Australia. I can't believe it's already December! Time is flying by but I'm loving it here so much. There are so many wonderful people here that we're working with. Here are some updates on some people. Nari and Donelle and the other boys are doing wonderful. We are still teaching them every week. We go over almost every single day to keep them going and to make sure everything is going good. They are starting to get more and more involved in the ward activities. The baptism for Donelle and Leo is still on for December 20th of this month and we can't wait for that day to come! We are so very blessed that God trusted us to be working with this wonderful family. We love them so much!

   

Here are some of the tender mercies that happened this week:

• This week one of the recent new investigators that I met in the Green Valley area we were finally able to meet with him. I was a little unsure of how keen he was to learn. But it turned out to be a great lesson. Hamlet was so eager to learn! He read the Restoration pamphlet and we went through it with him. We gave him a Book of Mormon towards the end and he was already reading it. He was so happy to learn more and to see what it was all about. We look forward to working with him and hopefully he continues to have the fire and desire to learn more of restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
• I went on exchanges with the Samoan sisters in this area. I had the opportunity to go with this new sister in the mission, her name is Sister Esau. She is amazing! She has only been here for about a month but she taught me so much and is a great missionary! Her area is actually the same area as Green Valley but they just cover the Samoan people so that whole day in their area I was trying to remember any Islander families that I knew of that could help these sisters find people to teach. I've never searched so much for islander, specifically Samoans in my life. I was on the lookout all day long! They don't have a car in that area so we were walking all day and so it was so great because we got to talk to heaps of different people. We had one cool experience...We were walking on our way to this less-actives home when we saw these islanders outside their house. We were so excited and started to talk to them. This one boy in particular was very interested in religion and had been searching for a while in all the religions. He was truly seeking truth and Heavenly Father had led us right to him. We taught him of the Restoration of the gospel and we testified of the Book of Mormon. He said that he would read the Book of Mormon and the Sisters have an appointment with him this coming week. It was such a blessing. I know that those sisters struggle with finding people to teach, especially Samoans so that was great to see the hand of the Lord in the work that day.
• We had a great experience this week as we were going through the ward list. We're still trying to meet some new people and especially all the ward members. We tried many different houses and we went to one of them and no one was home. But as we were getting in the car a woman drove up. Her name was Priscilla. She said that the man that lived there was her x-partner but now she lives there with her daughter. She was the sweetest woman and we got talking about who we were. She was very interested in learning more and we were able to set up an appointment with her. That was such a tender mercy to meet her that day. The Lord is so good to us, it always happens that way. After a long day of no one home we were able to have a little tender mercy with Priscilla to help us know that he is there and that we are doing the right thing. What a blessing!

      I don't know if any of you have heard about the new initiative that has come out by the church. It is called "HE IS THE GIFT." It is a great program that is going and we are taking it on strong. We pass out so many of those cards each day and we are really seeing lots of success during this Christmas Season as we are striving to put Christ back into the Christmas season. If you haven't already seen this mormon message please do! Or have a look atchristmas.mormon.org. Invite EVERYONE that you know to take a look at this. It has been a great blessing in my life and has helped me to remember what Christmas is all about. 

   As I was doing my personal study one day this week I came across the scripture of Mark 5:36 which I entitiled this email. It was something that really stuck out to me. We've met so many people that are fearful of where the world is headed but as I got to thinking, we really have no need to fear. As we trust in the Lord and live a righteous life, we won't have to worry because we know that we are on the winning team. Are you on the winning team? Are you on the Lord's team? I encourage each of you to evaluate your life and see if you are doing all you can to do what the Lord has asked us to do. If not there is still time, the Lord is always there for us and can help us to get on the strait and narrow path towards our Heavenly Father.

  I know these things to be true! this is the Lord's church. I hope that you all have a wonderful week!

 Love always,

     Sister Sorensen

PS. the pictures are of Nari and Donelle. And then the other one is of Simi, Nari's little boy. He is so cute!

Testify of the truths that you DO know

Dear family and friends,

    It has been another incredible week this week. I've loved it and I've learned so much. That is my favorite part, I'm constantly learning and growing each and every day. This week I have seen the hand of the Lord continually leading us and guiding us in this work. Here are a few of the tender mercies that happened this week...

•     On Monday we were sitting in the mall eating lunch when this Vietnamese woman came and sat by us. She constantly was looking at our badge so of course we turned to her and started to talk to her and get to know her. She shared an incredible story with us...she said that about 20 years ago she lived in the Philippines as a younger girl and she said that she was in a concentration camp? We weren't quite sure what the conditions were with that camp. She mentioned that missionaries just like us would come and teach them English and would teach them of Jesus Christ. Melody was her name and she said that she grew to love those missionaries and they really helped her. Well she lost contact and it wasn't until she saw us that day that all those memories came flooding back to her mind. She then invited us to come to her house sometime. She unfortunately isn't in our area but we passed it to the sisters in that area. It was a big testimony builder of the power of ever planting seeds and no effort is ever wasted. It may even take 20 plus years to prepare someone to receive the restored gospel.
• On Wednesday I had the wonderful privilege of going back to my first area, GREEN VALLEY! I have been looking forward to this for the longest time and it was such a great experience. That day the relief society just so happened to put together a lunch and it was great to be able to go and see all the relief society women there. It was so great to catch up with them. I was also able to catch up with Anikka, my recent convert. She's been struggling lately and so we went and picked her up and took her with us for the day and we taught her along the way. I think she really needed that boost. It was perfect timing. The sister there have been struggling to find new investigators so we parked the car and just walked the whole day. It was so great! We didn't let a single person pass us by without talking to them, it was great. We were able to find 2 new investigators and find a heap of new potentials for the green Valley area. It was amazing!
• On Friday we had a lot of appointments to start the day off, but they all cancelled on us. Every single one of us. But we went forward anyway and just prayed constantly to know where we needed to go next. There was one tender mercy after another. One great experience that we had was this our two older ladies that we visit at the nursing home. We went to visit Dawn and Faye that day. And that particular day they were dying to have a Hamburger. They haven't had one in the longest time so we ran and bought them a hamburger. You should have seen their faces. They were so excited to have one and they ate it so fast. It made our day to see them and to do a little service for them to brighten up their day.
• Just this past week the Tongan sister passed us a referral for a less-active that they met on the street. No one knew about this woman named Sister Allen. We were able to visit with her and she has mentioned that she hasn't been to church in many many years but she wants to come back now. She is so eager to learn, she wants us to come and re-teach her all the lessons again because she has forgotten so much. She would like to work towards the temple and just get back on track. It was so cool to be able to meet her and now be able to bring her back to Christ.

   I have learned so much this week but one main principle that I've learned this week is the importance of testifying and sharing your testimony. We had an appointment with one of our investigators and I began to feel very inadequate because he knows the bible really well and I don't. But we had our ward mission leader with us, thank goodness and he was able to testify but he was testifying more of the importance of the restoration and all of the basics. Peter, our investigators had many questions and things he didn't like about the Book of Mormon. But one thing that I learned is that we don't have to know everything. All we have to know is the basics of the restoration and the plan of salvation. And as we testify of the truth, the holy Ghost will testify of the truth, if only the investigator has an open heart. I know that this is the Lord's work and he will help us to know what to say right at the right time and I've seen that time and time again. Don't be afraid to open your mouth because this is the best message that you can share to anyone and we are on the Lord's side. I know without a doubt that He will be by our side to help us.

I love you all very much, thanks for all your love and support.

Love always,

    Sister Sorensen

Going back to Green Valley

 Dawn and Faye and their hamburgers

All of us serving in the Liverpool 1st ward.