Week of August 3, 2014

Man, 11 months today! Crazy. But hey, I love it here, and the work is going great! So excited for the next year and a month to see how I develop, and grow as a missionary, and a man. Then, hopefully as I work hard, I'll have some hot wife points by that time :)

It was actually kind of a slower week for us. Almost all our investigators went on some vacation, and it seemed like half the town was gone this week. But things still happened. On monday we met with our town council again to discuss needs of the town, and how all of us can help. It's always great when the mayor of the town you're serving in always thanks you and appreciates all that you're doing. 

Tuesday was a great day. We ate Supper with Casey and his family who I told you about last week. It was an amazing meal, and afterwards we sat down to teach them the restoration, and we asked them one question, and Casey basically turned around and taught the restoration to us! It was probably the most awe-struck moment I've had on my mission. He's never met with missionaries, never read the Book of Mormon, but yet, he's read the bible enough times that he saw the missing links. So we helped him fill in the gaps, and made sure his wife was on board. They left to BC for a week, so we'll meet with them again on Thursday and we'll see where it goes from there. So excited for them. 

Basically Gull Lake is in the very northern part of tornado alley. So we can get some incredible storms. In my time of being in Gull Lake, i've been under 3 tornado warnings, but luckily haven't seen one yet. It was pretty crazy come Thursday, we were helping the town council shovel some gravel into a flower bed, and while we were, a storm started to blow in. It looked like a huge storm, and we figured the magnitude of it when the clouds rolled in above us, and they started to swirl.... Pretty neat looking I have to admit. Luckily we finished in time, and the storm acutally blew right by us, but hit a town 20 min away pretty hard. I got some good pictures of lightning, and we were happy to not get hit.

Other than all that, we went with an investigator to a gospel concert on Saturday, and it was great! Really opened my eyes to people that love the Lord, but are lost still. 

That's my week. Hope you guys all had a great week too! Thanks for everything.

Love, Elder Jake Sorenson

Week of July 27, 2014

Like I've said before, time's a flyin'. These weeks go by so fast, they feel like days. By this time next week, I'll hit my 11 month mark. It feels like it's been 2. Crazy! But this week was crazy busy, and we were truly blessed. 

Tuesday I went on exchanges with the greeny in the district, Elder Peterson. He's a fantastic elder. I was surprised. IT was his first exchange, but we were in his area, Swift Current. For the day we taught this lady who had a huge cat! it weighed 35 lds. So of course I got a picture with it haha. But Tuesday night we were walking around contacting some people, and we ran into some drunks. It was funny just talking them in circles, but after we walked away, this couple that was sitting on their porch invited us over to talk. Their names are Dave and Karen, and at first they wanted us to sell door to door insurance because we'd be good at it. It was funny, but we turned the conversation around, and we taught them the restoration on the spot. They ate it alive! and wanted to hear more so we taught them the plan of salvation too! and then gave them a Book of mormon and they committed themselves to come to church. Way too good to be true I swear! 

After I got back to Gull Lake, we got a member referral for a family that was moving. His name is Casey. So basically, tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we took some time out of our day to move this guy. And he is the most prepared guy I've met in Gull Lake. He said he used to go to Bible College, and preach, but he fell away and he needs Christ back in his family. He said he's been researching our religion and loves it! So we're having supper with them on Tuesday night to teach them. So excited. 

Those were the basic highlights of my week. We also met with Don and Evelyn on Thursday and taught them the Restoration. It went well, but Don likes to talk A LOT. and he's very opinionated. It got in the way of teaching Evelyn because she's very prepared. 

Other than that, we met with Ann and she came to church, and she fed us supper. She's great! We hope that she can get baptised her soon. 

That's my week! Thanks everyone for everything!

-Elder Jake Sorenson

Week of July 20, 2014

Is it just me, or is time getting faster and faster? But I'm enjoying it at least. This last week was great. We saw some good miracles, and had the same church attendance as last week, but church was 30 min away!

Tuesday was pretty good. We were doing some service in the morning, and when we left, we were walking in Gull Lake and I had stopped to tie my shoe. Good thing I did because right after we ran into Don and Evelyn, our new investigators. We were talking with them and Evelyn asked us "so same time next week for church?" We told her it was actually going to be in Swift current, 30 min away, and she said "Okay, same time then? I know where it's at." Solid response. She's ready. 

Saturday was pretty good, we were walking around town and it was pretty dead. We both felt impressed to stop by some less-active members in town. Which was weird because they don't like us stopping by without an appointment. But we didn't question it, and went anyway. On the way there, we ran into a lady named Donna. She's from a ranch about 30 min out of town, and she was asking us where we were from and what not. The usual q's. But then she asked us if we've ever been to cypress hills where she lives, and we said no, because we have to go with a purpose. And she said, well what if you come visit me? Of course we didn't turn it down so we'll go this next week. 

As for farming, and catching birds, we went out to a member's farm this last week and did some service. It was super fun, but we mainly just did weed control. With some weed eaters. Good times. And Three times this week Elder Blackburn and I have come accross birds that can't fly. I caught a pigeon, And Elder blackburn got two baby birds. 

Well, onto sunday. Like I said, we had the same attendance as last week, but this time church was at the branch building in Swift Current, 30 min away. All our investigators showed up and loved it. Including Ann, Don, Evelyn, and our less-active members too! Crazy. 

Well, that's my week. Love you guys

Elder Jake Sorenson

Week of July 13, 2014

This has to be one of the busiest weeks of my mission. At least since I came to Gull Lake. I love being busy. Not saying that it all has to do with me, but I've really seen things pick up in this area since I got here. Elder Blackburn and I have really seen the area grow and now there's never a dull moment. Super good.

Monday night we got to meet with our town council and meet with them on a project called "communities in Bloom" It's a service project that they want our help on to clean up and beautify the town. They love our help, and we've found investigators from it so we do it. 

Thursday was also good, we did some service, and hung some flyers up for church on Sunday. We went to the care center and played some cards with some old fogies there and got to meet some people who were really interested in who we were, one of them invited us over for supper on Sunday night. 

Friday we drove 45 min south of town to meet with a less-active Ron. He's a great guy who used to bull ride. We got to know him, and shared a couple of things with him, then drove back. I love travelling out here.

Saturday was crazy, we invited everyone we could to Church on sunday because we were planning on having it at our apartment. One lady we met was named Evelyn. She met with missionaries in the Vancouver mission in BC way back when. They gave her a Book Of Mormon, she read it cover to cover, and believed everything in it. The only reason she wasn't baptised is because of her husband. But she divorced him, so now it's our time. 

Sunday was the day. We held church in our apartment, and it was really good. We had our branch president come and preside, and Elder Blackburn and I spoke. We had Evelyn with her husband come. As well as Ann, and a less-active that lives here in town. We were almost matched investigators to members! It was amazing. One experience I'll never forget. 

After our church, we got invited to go to the Anglican church and that was an interesting service to say the least. And after them, we ate at Wendy's house. The lady at the care home. They're Catholic, but super friendly and wanted to know everything about us. Super good. We now get fed by more non-members then members. 

Well, I'm just loving it up here. Being a missionary is so much fun, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I get my testimony confirmed everyday that Christ lives and loves his people. I know that this church is true and that the work of salvation is hastening. Even in places where it's hard. Like Canada where everyone's content. 

That's my week, had a lot to write about! love you guys

-Elder Jake H Sorenson

Week of July 6, 2014

Man, this last week flew by pretty quick! It's also pretty great when you have a Canadian holiday, and an American holiday, and the Canadians light off more fire works on the 4th of July then anything. It's glorious.

But this last week we taught Ann a lot. She feeds us a lot of food. We get fed by more non-members then members in the branch. It's actually pretty great because that means the town loves us, and we're teaching. Ann didn't come to church. She's pretty set in her ways, but I know if she reads the Book of Mormon, she'll feel the spirit. Also, we started teaching a new family in Gull Lake. They're very knowledgeable Evangelists. I always love teaching the restoration to someone who's very knowledgeable about doctrine. Tests my skills a little bit, and confirms my testimony that we literally teach with the spirit of truth.

On Wednesday we drove into Moose Jaw. We had our Zone Training Meeting over there. It was really good. Our Zone Leaders taught on the importance of families and following up. Really good training that I needed. I also got to wear my new suit that I bought on Monday for $7. You're not a true missionary untill you have a thrift store suit. 

The members in this branch are some of the best. There's a member family, the Parsons that went down and saw my family this last week. They dropped off a package, and picked one up. They're the best! 

Thanks everyone for your support!

Elder Jake Sorenson

Week of June 29, 2014

This past week was the most successful week i've had since I've been in Gull Lake. It wasn't anything huge, but we finally started to see blessings. I know that it was a direct result of our hard work, and patience.

We had an exchange on Tuesday which was pretty fun. I went with my district leader. I miss being the DL's comp. But it was a fun exchange. I took him to Gull Lake, and we did some service to the community and had a dinner appointment with the Parsons. We got permission from our zone leaders to watch a movie called the Saratov approach. It's about two missionaries in Russia that get kidnapped in 1998. It's pretty great and tells an amazing story on the power of prayer. 

I told you about Ann last week. We were able to bring some members out from Swift current and sit down and teach her about the restoration. It was pretty good. The members weren't the best, but they were willing. The spirit was so strong at the end of the lesson. Every time that I feel that spirit testify through me, it always confirms my testimony that the Book of mormon is true. 

Friday was a very funny day. First, there's a lot of birds in Gull Lake. So we're headed to the library to teach a lesson. Right as I got out of the car, I felt something hit my head and shoulder. I looked down, and it was bird poop. Sick! I turned to Elder Blackburn and told him, we both laughed really hard, got back in the car and drove back to our place, so I could get cleaned up. We're still laughing about it. Some people would call that good luck I suppose.  

There's a part member family that we've been trying to work with since the area opened. Paul, the husband is a member, but Wendy his wife is not. We do service for them a lot by cleaning out the movie theatre they own. We were able to meet them that way. We were pretty shocked because all the records say they're rude, but they're so nice, and they love us. On Saturday, they invited us over for supper. We were able to get to know them more and share a spiritual thought and learn about their concerns and find out why they're less-active. It was truly amazing. 

Other than that, that is my week. I'm loving Gull Lake. I get my transfer call on Friday, so I'm excited for that. I'll probably stay though.

Thank you guys for everything. 

Elder Jake Sorenson 

Week of June 23, 2014

This week was probably one of the fastest of my whole mission! Can't believe it's been almost 10 months since I left home, but time is just getting faster and faster. I'm loving Canada, and the sun is up for almost 22 hours a day! crazy. Super bummed to miss out this week on my bro's wedding, but Congratulations to my brother Matt, and his new wife Shelby. I'm super happy for you guys, now all my brothers are married..... No pressure hey?

Let's get down to my week, because let's be honest, that's the whole reason you read my email anyway.... It actually went really well, We had a ton of rain! we're in what's known as Saskatchewan's rainy season. Super fancy, I know. But I haven't seen Canada over 30*C. which is about 92*f, and that was only one day, usually it's around 22*c which is room temperature and it's been really nice. Tuesday we took a long drive to Regina for Zone conference. It was a lot of fun, and our mission president actually got mad for once. It was glorious. He rebuked the "piles" in the mission that slacked off and weren't taking care of either their apartments, or weren't waking up on time. I just spent the whole time enjoying it because I was just happy that I was an obedient missionary and I wasn't called to repentance. It was a great meeting though. Learned lots about how to teach better to the family level. 

After the conference we got the new windsheild wiper arm we needed for our car and headed back to Gull Lake. After we got to Swift Current it started to rain. Hard. It was bad enough that our District leader asked us to spend the night in Swift, and drive back to Gull lake in the morning. Yay for 2 full days out of my area.... 

On monday we had a potential named Ann get back from vacation. She went on a bus tour of all of Canada. On Wednesday she invited us to sing with her church's chior. We did, and it was a lot of fun, but I didn't like their hymns. Mainly because they're wrong, but the tune was just not spiritually uplifting at all. But on Friday we had lunch with her, helped her with some service, and taught her a little about our church. This next week she accepted to take the lessons with a member, Super excited for her. 

Saturday and Sunday were spent in swift surrent. We went to a kite festival and volunteered. It was an international event with kites from around the world. It was pretty neat. Untill it rained on Saturday. Sunday was better. I'll send some pictures. I got pretty sunburnt from it. So that's pretty much my week. It went by quick! as is this transfer!

Love you guys and thanks for everything.

Elder Jake Sorenson  

Week of June 15, 2014

Man, these weeks keep getting better and better. I'm loving Gull Lake, and it's the place to be. It rained a lot this last week and we taught a couple of lessons so that was great! We're starting to get the work moving in Gull Lake and that's what I like to see.

On Tuesday we had a neat experience. We helped the town clean out an old Shoe shop that had not been opened for a little over 30 years. It was in business since 1943-1978. We took the boards down and spent most of the time looking at all the old stuff that was left behind, hut then we organized most of the place, threw away some trash, and we're going back next week to turn it into a tourist building. It was truly unique. 

Wednesday was interesting. We drove into Swift current for a district meeting, and it was great. I got to meet our new zone leader, Elder Kyler Messenger from Pleasant Grove. I don't know him from back home, but he's a great missionary. After District meeting we went and visited a less-active member in the hospital who has no legs. He was on dialysis and suddenly had to go to the bathroom. He asked us if we would help, and elder Blackburn and I just looked at each other, and just tried not to laugh, but luckily all we had to do is push him to the bathroom and he had it from there.

Friday was also pretty great. We drove out to a town called Shounovan which is 30 min south of Gull Lake. only and hour from the boarder =P But we taught some investigators out there who are devote catholic. They had a lot of questions and it almost turned into a bible bash, but luckily we were able to teach them about the plan of salvation and he understood it, but had some varying opinions. On the drive back to gull lake, It rained really hard. Gull Lake is actually in tornado Alley, so we get some crazy storms. But it rained hard enough that it broke our wind shield wipers! it was funny. One fell off, and I went to pick it up, and before I was able to, a truck ran it over and broke it in half! So we ordered a new part from Regina, hopefully to be picked up tomorrow.

On Saturday, we went to a native Pow Wow, and we showed up and the announcer said "it's not a pow wow without the mormons!" We started laughing and he said again "Remember the good 'ol days when we could have more than one wife?" It was halarious. 

Sunday was a pretty great day. We had the assistants come into church in Swift Current, and one of them used to serve here, so he was happy to be back. After church we talked with the AP's about our area, and then went to a supper appointment with them. We went to the Parsons' and it was great. they fed us good food, and sister parsons' texted my mom during it. It was pretty funny. 

That was my week in a nut shell. I'll send some photos too. There's a video about my mission on the Facebook. It's really good. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10204192382076854 Check it out! 

Love you guys! Thanks for everything you do.

-Elder Jake Sorenson

Week of June 8, 2014

The time's a flyin'. But it's oh so good. So currently, like I said I'm out in a little punk town called Gull Lake, Saskatchewan. We can almost double the population just driving into town. For those of you that have asked me questions about the area, let me clear them up. So our ward boundaries are pretty big. Not quite as big as they were in Prince Albert. But basically my companion and I work not only in Gull Lake, but we also work in Swift current where the branch is. It's rough getting there sometimes, and having contact with the missionaries there because it's half an hour away. Also, we work in the little towns that surround Gull lake. And the nearest town is an other half an hour away from Gull Lake. Our main purpose in Gull Lake is to reach out to the less-actives that live so far out of town that it's hard for the branch to reach out to them. So needless to say, Elder Blackburn and I do a lot of travelling. I love it. We get to see the beautiful country side that makes up the rolling hills of Saskatchewan, close to the Alberta Boarder.

So to get to what we did this week, we were actually quite busy. I love being busy. Elder Blackburn and I both hit our 9 month mark on Wednesday! Time's a flyin'. But also now that we're on Facebook, it seems to be working out quite well! I was able to teach someone I met up in Prince Albert over Facebook, and we taught her the restoration. It was great! She asked a lot of good questions. Hopefully she'll go somewhere.

One thing that the town really likes doing, is putting us to work! We stopped by our town office, and had a great chat with our mayor, and his secretaries. We were finally able to have a gospel related conversation with them. It was great! And they also asked us to do some landscaping for some trees around town. So we did that all Friday, and some on Saturday as well.

One thing about Gull Lake is everyone plays either baseball or softball. We got asked to play softball with a bunch of 30 year olds on friday nights. It was a blast! Hopefully I'll get better at playing because I'm not very good, and then with softball, we can start teaching all of them and increase the YSA in the branch. 

This leads me to Sunday. Which is also my complaint. Driving into Swift current for church is great, but I feel that the members don't really care for us because we're tossed out in Gull Lake. Makes it hard to make friendships. I got to play the piano in sacrament meeting which was good, but then I taught elders quorum and they all treated it like a joke. Made me a little frustrated, but what could I do? Just trying not to be discouraged or anything. This last week I was between missing home, or really missing Prince Albert. I was missing Prince Albert more than Home. there's still a piece of my heart there! haha, but that's my little venting session to you all. 

Looking optimistic about the coming weeks! Thank you for all that you do.

-Elder Sorenson

P.S. this is how small Gull Lake is

Week of June 1, 2014

Crazy week. It all basically started off when everyone wanted to see me to say goodbye. It's nice that they wanted to see me, but where were you two weeks ago?! but anyways, it was nice. Monday and tuesday I basically spent trying to see everyone to say goodbye, and teach them a final lesson before I left. I also had to find time to pack. And It turns out that spending 6 months in PA, I collected a lot of junk. So that was fun.

On Monday we drove up north a bit and Visited a less active. It was raining all day, but the drive was beautiful! I loved it. Once it was warm there, everything turned green. super green. And it was pretty. Tuesday was the busiest day. We had non stop appointments with people and everyone wanted to feed me. No wonder I've gained weight haha. But Luckily we made it through the day and I took tons of pictures, and Actually got packed. On wedensday morning we packed up, and I went and visited someone on the res real quick for breakfast and then we were gone, and I cried leaving Prince Albert. It was no bueno. 

The drive Wednesday was amazing. Comprising Wednesday and Thursday, I got to see all the big cities in Saskatchewan, which most missionaries don't get to do in a single transfer. I was able to drive through Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw, and Swift Current. It was fun. We spent the night in Regina where we got to attend the temple. It was truly unique because we did a session with all missionaries. Lots of fun, and then I got my new comp, and the next day we drove to Gull Lake. 

Gull Lake is great. It's TINY! it's a town of about 900 people. We have church in Swift Current which is half an hour away, and we do tons of service. Gull lake was opened 6 months ago for Missionaries, and they haven't taught a whole lot, but Everyone loves us and knows who we are. I hope that we can turn it around because I feel like this is my transfer to prove myself to President Thomas. My Companion's Name Is elder Blackburn. He's great. He's from Vernal, and him and I know eachother well. We Served in the same district for 3 months in Winnipeg, So we just hit it right off the bat.

One last note-worthy thing. This last sunday we had stake conference. All of Canada did. The reason being was because Henry B. Eyring was broadcasting from salt lake to all of Canada. It was fantastic. He spoke with Elder Holland, and Elder Perkins from the 70, and Also Sister Burton of the RS. They spoke a lot on the Atonement, as did our stake president. They spoke on the need of cleaning the inner selves, and being able to utilize the atonement.

That's me this week! Really excited for this next transfer! Love you guys and thanks for your prayers and support!

Elder Jake Sorenson

Week of May 25, 2014

Wow, what a week. I don't even know where to begin. But I guess I'll just start here:

It's Finally spring time! and it is HOT in Saskatchewan. I would have never guessed that. It's been about +35 this last week which is in the 90's. Just crazy. But everything is finally turning green, and it's just beautiful up here in Prince albert. Anyways, it's time to dig down to a couple of stories from this last week.

Monday night our Zone leaders came up from Saskatoon, we had Elder Schofield and this next transfer is actually his last, so It was most likely the last time that I'll see him. It was pretty sad. So we had a lot of fun. 

Also, as many of you now know, on Tuesday, we got the Facebook as a mission. We can use it for proselyting purposes only. So basically gospel conversations, questions, posts, lessons, friend shipping, Things of that nature. I've been trying to add a bunch of people around PA and the mission, so don't feel bad if I haven't added you back home. My facebook name is Elder Jake Sorenson. Feel free to add me. 

Alrighty, So yes, we did have a baptism this last week. My comp, the district leader, actually interviewed two people for baptism this last week. It was great. He interviewed the one who got baptised on saturday, and the one who is this next week who's been investigating a while. We're all excited for her. But the one who just got dunked, her name is Diva Jobb. I actually found her, and taught her a little bit, but then I handed her over to the sisters. That was 6 months ago. They finally set a baptismal date, and I got the opportunity of baptizing her this last Saturday. It was truly amazing. Her whole family is coming back into activity and they were so proud of her. 

Sunday we got a new bishopric. The existing Bishopric was struggling. They were basically all less active. The bishop worked in the states, so he was never there. We brought the situation up to the stake level to make some changes, and they happened yesterday. We got a whole new bishopric of power houses, but we all knew who it was going to be, and it was going to happen. 

One last thing. I'm finally leaving Prince Albert. I'm so sad. I don't want to leave this place! After spending 1/4 of my mission here, and getting to know basically everything about this area, it's practically home. But the Lord needs me elsewhere. I'm being transferred to the smallest area in the mission. It's a tiny little town called Gull Lake, Saskatchewan. It's an hour away from the closest missionaries, and it'll be just me and my comp. And the closest church house is also an hour away. I'm excited, but really scared at the same time. I feel like I'm leaving home again. 

That's me this week. I love all you guys, thank you for all your prayers and support!

-Elder Jake Sorenson

Week of May 18, 2014

This week was pretty great. We've been really blessed to be as busy as we have been. It's spring time in the north, and when that happens, everyone wants to travel. And that's mainly because everyone is closed off in their houses during the 7 months of winter, and now that it's finally +20*c outside, people are starting to get out of their homes, and travel. I hear it's pretty nice when within an hour drive you have about 10 lakes. That's northern Saskatchewan for you.

Last week I told you guys about the roofing project we were doing. We started it on Saturday for a member that lived outside of PA in a small town called Birch hills. IT was nice out there. They had a big house, and we had a crew of about 9 people who knew a little about roofing, but we were no experts. It was mainly all of our knowledge coming together. We thought it would only take 1 1/2 days, but it ended up taking double that. It started on Saturday morning at 8, and we ended Tuesday night at 8 30. It was long and hard, but it was fun. And we got to bond with some members over it. 

On Thursday our mission President texted us and told us he was going to be driving into town that afternoon and wanted to interview all of us and teach with a companionship. It was kind of a random occurrence, and kind of out of the blue, and I'm glad we have good missionaries in our district and we were being diligent, otherwise we would have freaked out a little bit :) But the interviews went really well, at least mine did. I love my mission president. He's really laid back, and one of the most spiritual/humble men I have ever met.

Friday we took a little road rip to visit a referral that lived 45 min out of town in an other small town called Shellbrook. It was pretty fun, she was in the hospital and needed a blessing. We soon found out that she was a member, and that she needed her records transferred over to PA. She lives about an hour north of town, so hopefully more news on her later. 

Nothing else really note-worthy happened this last week. I played the piano in primary and Sacrament meeting again, and i'm running out of songs to play so there's that. But that's me this week. Love you guys! Thanks for all the prayers and support!

-Elder Jake Sorenson

Week of May 11, 2014

This week's been crazy! And that's great! I always love a busy week. Basically, here's a couple stories, because that's what everyone loves. (sorry for everyone that I talked to on mother's day, this is a repeat)

On Tuesday we headed 2 hours down to Saskatoon for a Zone training meeting, and it was pretty great. I love Saskatoon, it's a pretty city. But when we were heading to lunch, our truck started squeaking and we didn't know what it was, so we called our vehicle guy in Winnipeg. He said it was probably the bearing in the tire ceasing up and we would have to replace it. Mind you, we're two hours from Prince Albert and have no idea how to get around. But we went to lunch anyways, and our tire almost came off, so it made for a good time. Basically what ended up happening was we switched cars with some elders down there so they could get it fixed, and we could get back to PA. I felt so bad for them. But they got my truck.

Anyways, for lunch that day, we all ate 1 LBS burgers, and then we died. It was no bueno.  

We had a pretty good exchange this last week with the other elders on Thursday. I went with an elder in my district who's been here a while but not as long as me. His name's elder Hanson, and this was our 3rd exchange. It was pretty great. One thing that was interesting is on Wednesday we had two appointments, and they both rescheduled to Thursday for the exchange. That was weird. But the exchange showed me that my street contacting skills are still pretty sharp.

Couple more things: This last weekend we had a huge ward service project out in a small town called Birch Hills, it's about half an hour south east of town. but what we did was we re-shingled a members house out there. It was a lot of fun. But their house is big, and has a lot of peaks, so we're not even done, and it's taken two days of work already! wahoo!

So This last sunday was mother's day! Yay! Happy mother's day to all you mother's out there. Every day should be mother's day so we would remember to show our appreciation. I know with my Mom, I wouldn't be here without her. Obviously, I wouldn't be born. But besides that, she's nurtured me, and raised me right, so that I'm here, serving the Lord. Thanks for everything Mom! Love you!

Thanks for everything that you guys do.

Love, Elder Jake Sorenson

Week of May 4, 2014

Tanzi! (I just felt like being like all of my friends in foreign missions that use their mission languages. So I used mine.) This is cree (native) for hello.

This last week was pretty good. I'm really happy that it's finally May, although it did snow pretty hard on Tuesday, but that's all gone now. It was a relatively slow week, but most of our efforts payed off. We walked around a lot, and most of our appointments fell through but did get rescheduled to next week. It didn't help a whole lot that a sister in our district was sick, then got my comp sick, then he got my sick. And I refuse to take a sick day because we need the blessings of hard work! haha. 

Tuesday was pretty good. We met with someone I contacted named Joell. We taught her the restoration and she ate it alive. She's catholic but said that she'd be willing to learn more next week so we'll see how she turns out. We also met with the Birds this last week. It wasn't as crazy as normal. We took our recent convert Eric with us and we taught them about eternal families. And did everything we could to get them to church, but one thing lead to another and they didn't make it:( the only thing holding them back from their whole family from being baptized is coming to church. so It breaks my heart when they don't come because they want to be baptized so bad. 

Couple of things that I've noticed about Prince Albert in my 5 months here is that people are more open here then in other spots in the mission. It's a small town so people will talk to you and wave and what not. It's great. We've been able to find investigators at least every week I've been here. It's been pretty great. All we need to do is put our selves out there and let the hand of the Lord bless us. Also funny note. I've been here long enough that i'll call home on Christmas and Mother's day using the same member's computer, phone, everything. It's been too long haha.

At the end of the week, on Sunday I had triple duty in church again. I love doing it because I feel busy. I call it triple duty because I play the piano in Sacrament meeting, then I teach sunday school, then I play the piano in Primary as well. It's a lot of fun. 

So that's my week. Or at least everything that was note worthy. Well, Love you guys, and thank you for all your prayers and support!

-Elder Sorenson

Week of April 27,2014

Hey everyone. This last week was pretty good. The weather was not so much, but we did a lot of work, and my new comp and I just hammered right into missionary work. We saw a couple of miracles and stayed busy. I think the biggest thing is I've felt like I've been in PA for forever and I've seen the area grow, and now die a little bit. So I've been waiting for a change for a while. But for now, I'm going to work as hard as I can to get this area back up to where it was.

As for this last week we did a lot of walking. We tried to street contact as many people as we could. And the weather didn't really cooperate with that. We got snow last weekend and I thought that was the last big dump of the season. Boy was I wrong. Tuesday was very nice. It got up to +15c and the snow all melted (finally) but the next day it rained, and as of this morning, we now have 4' of wet snow on the ground. We can't win! haha. 

Interesting thing happened on Tuesday though. We were walking to contact a potential and we heard a guy playing and singing his guitar. Elder Schollars saw a drumset through the window and told me to go knock on the door and see if he was willing to jam and listen to our message. I have been itching to play since I came out so I didn't hesitate. The guys name was Jovani, and he let us right in, we jammed for a bit, and it turns out he's an inactive member of the church! He moved from Alberta and just never had contact again. I don't know if he'll come back to church, but at least we made his day, as well as mine. 

The rest of the week was mainly spent teaching/contacting former investigators, setting up appointments, visiting my favorite less-actives who sadly won't come to church. But we got to see Sister Daniel's husband's (who's not a member but loves missionaries) man cave. He has a huge starwars collection and is nuts about it. He has a room full of collectables that blows my mind. He even has a starwars edition X-box. It was simply amazing. and meeting with the Birds as well. The Birds didn't make it to church yesterday and I don't know why. Their whole family can be baptized if they started coming to church. So if any of you guys could pray for them it'd be grand. 

Well that's my week in a nutshell. I wish the weather would clear up a bit. I love the snow. Just not when it's almost may. haha, but the rain this last week was nice. My comp's from Washington State, and it reminded him of home. It's just been so wet, so there's been no one out. So that my dear friends is spring time in Saskatchewan- April 28th, and 4' of wet snow on the ground. Wahoo. 

Love you all, thank you so much for your prayers and support.

-Elder Jake H Sorenson

Week of April 20, 2014

This last week was simply amazing and all out crazy busy! Well, here it is: It all basically started when Elder Hindes got sent to Brandon Manitoba. He had been here in PA for the last 6 months, and so when they found out he was leaving, they all wanted us over for dinner. So basically everyone that we loved, or that loved us we went over and saw and got pictures. It was great. I'm going to be here for at the least 6 months so we'll see who all loves me ;) 

One of the craziest days was definitely Thursday, we had 3 supper appointments set up and an elders quorum meeting that night. One of the Supper appointments was out of town so we had little time to run between appointments, and then Elder Hindes had to pack. It was just all-around nuts. I ate so much food that I swear I went into labor with a food baby. I weighed myself at the beginning and end of the week. I gained 5 pounds. It was so gross! But hey, at least the members love us we found out.  

But then came Friday. On Friday the whole mission got pulled into Regina for a mission conference with D. Todd Christofferson. This was the first time that the entire Canada Winnipeg Mission had all been in one spot. It was historic. The drive down to Regina took 4 hours and We left Prince Albert at 9 and we left right as it started snowing hard. I was so mad because the snow from the last snow storm was just starting to melt. But luckily we beet the storm and got 2 hours to Saskatoon where it was just raining. We met up with some other missionaries and caravaned 2 more hours to Regina. When we got to Regina we had a conference with just the mission and our mission president basically in preparation for the next day. It was so great to see all my old district companions and all my old mission buddies. It was a lot of fun. One of my old companions, Elder Martin, who got sent home because he blew out his knee surprised me because he came back and was at the conference. 

The next morning was amazing. We got to all meet Elder Christofferson, shake his hand, tell him our name and where we are from. After that we had a meeting where our mission presidents wife spoke to us, followed by President Thomas, then we had Elder Spackman, our area 70 speak to us. And then Elder Schwarez from the Presidency of the 70 spoke to us, and then they were all followed by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the council of the 12. The meeting was so spiritual I can't even put it into words. But believe it or not Elder Christofferson is a very funny guy. But he spoke on some great topics and it seemed as though the whole time he was talking right to me. Some of the things that I got out of it was that our testimonies are strengthened when we have the spirit testify. And we can gain the spirit and be humble as we build our relationship with our heavenly father. This was coming from a man who knows heavenly father better than I do. We were all overcome with emotion when he closed with his personal testimony of the saviour. Elder Christofferson told us to remember that he was there. And that he wanted us to remember that he said that the saviour lives and is at the head of our church today. He said "this is coming from someone who knows." I know his words were true. 

So that was basically one of the peaks of my mission. And after the meeting we had our transfer meeting. So now I have my new comp. His name's Elder Schollars. He's from Eagle, Idaho and was just serving in Winnipeg so We've served around eachother. He's been out a little over a year so I'm excited for this next transfer. Nothing more exciting has happened really other than the 4 hour boring car ride back up to PA, and sunday was great. I had triple duty, I played the piano in Sacrament meeting, then taught sunday school, then played in Primary, so It was fun! Just running around really. Sunday=Game day as a missionary. 

That's me this last week.

Love you all, thank you for your prayers and support

Elder Jake H Sorenson  

Week of April 13, 2014

Alrighty. What to yack about this week? Well, transfers is upon us. And unlike the last three transfers, Some change is finally happening. I'm getting a new comp from winnipeg that served in the same zone as me. His name's Elder Scholars. He's from Idaho and is a really good missionary. I'm excited. But Elder Hindes is leaving me after 4 1/2 months and is going to Brandon, Manitoba so I'll be stuck here in Prince Albert for at least an other transfer so going on 6 months here! 

This last week was good, but we didn't teach a whole lot. We did a lot of walking around a met a whole bunch of people. The snow started to melt at the beginning of the week so people started to walk around, so that was nice. We met this one guy named Ernie who lives on the 11th floor of an apartment downtown and it over looks the river. He apparently has an incredible view so I'll have to check it out! We also started to teach Eric's mom out on a reserve where she lives. She's great, very interested in the church. We knocked on her door and she let us right in! It was solid. 

This last weekend we went an hour east of town to Melfort for a zone conference/service project. The zone conference was great! It was held in their branch building out there and could barely hold all 52 missionaries in two zones. My mission pres talked about "What can I change from sitting in this meeting today?" It changed my perspective on a lot of things. It was the spiritual reboost I needed. That night we had a fireside that he also spoke at and he shared some of his float plane stories from Ketchican, Alaska. I like to think he's a little like Pres. Uchtdorf because he relates the gospel to airplanes and how good he is at flying them. 

The next morning we did a service project. We canvased for the melfort food bank which was a lot of fun. We got to wear those ugly yellow vests. But it was good. the one downside was, It snowed this weekend. A lot. It dumped 6" on us. We were not happy, the snow was just about gone! But now it's back haha, welcome to spring time in Saskatchewan. 

Sunday was great. I got to speak in church, along with Elder hindes and jordan who are leaving. I always like speaking in church. Never thought I'd say that till now haha. But after church we visited some less-actives that sadly didn't come to church, but that elder hindes wanted to say bye to so that was fun. This next week is booked with meal appointments. It almost seems like if you have a companion that has been here for 6 months, then finally leaves, the ward will suddenly love you. Maybe that'll happen when I leave because I have the potential for being here for 7 1/2 months. 

That's essentially my week. This next Friday we travel down to Regina, then on Saturday we have the mission conference with Elder Christofferson, then I get my new comp. We're going to be way busy. I'm way excited! Wahoo! 

Well, I love you all and thanks for all your prayers and support.

This is Elder Sorenson

Signing off

Week of April 6, 2014

Jambo! So this last week was pretty good. We didn't teach a whole lot, but I'm excited for the weeks to come here. It'll be great. Couple of interesting things that happened though. Just a couple of things that are note-worthy- On tuesday we were walking to an appointment, and a guy came up to us because he was looking for peace. He was a native american who had served in the canadian military and had some ptsd problems. We taught him about the atonement and how Jesus Christ can help him through anything. We set up an appointment with him to meet the next day. Native people have pretty great names, this guys name was Jay Rabbitskin. After we talked with him, we went to our appointment which was teaching a family we found doing service. They didn't speak much english, but they spoke Swahili, and we soon found out they were devout muslims. It was great getting to tango with them haha. The way to teach them is to share about our religion, then have them share a little about theirs. I don't know how much we got across, but I learned a little swahili in the process :)

Wednesday we taught the Birds. It's always interesting teaching two parents, and then 6 little girls under the age of 11. Always have to use our creativity with that one. But we taught them about following the prophet and it seemed to go well. Sadly they weren't able to make it to conference, but it was understandable when their dad has to work till 6 am. Friday I taught my favorite less-active up here. Kim daniels. She's great. She's sitting on the fence of coming back to church, just wish the ward would help out. She works at the jail as a programs counselor so we can always go over there and have our venting sessions. Good times.

Saturday, We had a ping-pong tournament/BBQ at the church in between conference sessions. It was great! I did all the grilling, Sister Daniels let us borrow it. It was great. And Sunday was also conference. Shocker. But then we gave a member in the bishopric who had a bad concussion a blessing which was stressful for me, then went over to the best member family-The Yawneys. Bro. Yawney taught me a little guitar and we ate some indian food. It was so good. They're solid. 

So conference was great. I can't share all that I got out of it, but I obviously loved Elder Holland's talk. Because if there is one thing that I have found on my mission, it is that people know Jesus as a "comfortable God" but he's not. so he smashed it! it was great. I also Liked Elder Anderson's talk on the Church's standards. our recent convert is struggling with some of the church's standpoints on gay marriage so hopefully that helped him out. I loved Pres. Uchtdorf's talk in Priesthood on remedy's for things that hinder our priesthood power. All great things. I could go on and on. Mainly I got out of conference that we should -Follow the prophet, -Communicate, -Serve, -Stand up for what we believe in, -Be courageous, and -daily prayer and scripture study builds our foundation of Christ. 

I'm excited for these next couple of weeks. We get to go an hour out of town to Melfort for a service project/zone conference so that'll be fun. But the week after that is a huge one. We have transfers and on top of that we have my first mission conference and we just found out that D. Todd Christofferson is coming to that. And that's in Regina, Saskatchewan. So they're pulling the whole mission into that. All 150 missionaries, across 3 provinces and 1 state to one city. It'll be nuts. Well, that's this week. The snow is still here. It's finally up into the positives though. Today is +4! yay haha. So hopefully this snow'll be gone by the end of this week. 

Love you guys, and thanks for all your support.

-Elder Sorenson

Signing off

Week of March 31, 2014

Welcome to spring time in Saskatchewan my dear friends. Where the temperature is -30 and there is still 3' of snow on the ground. (if you can't tell I like spelling Saskatchewan, and I hate winter) I have Spring FEVER! yay! haha. So this last week was pretty good. We didn't teach a whole lot, but we set up a lot of stuff for the coming weeks so we'll see what happens. 

So Monday was a great day. I finally fulfilled my dreams in eating balut. For those of you that don't know what it is, it's a fertilized duck egg that's mostly developed and then boiled. It's a Filipino dish, so we had it at a Filipino member's house, and I was one of the brave souls that ate two birds. It was pretty good. Tasted like a salty boiled egg but with bones and feathers if that gets the image in your mind. I'll send pictures of it :)

I find that being the only 6 missionaries that are 2 hours from the next set of missionaries, we tend to play practical jokes on eachother. So I changed my number in the sister's phone to our mission president's number and messed with them that way. Let's just say it was good times of them freaking out a little bit. Just wanted to add that in there for no reason.

In other news I went on an exchange with Elder Hanson from our district and we went to a reserve north of town, and also taught a less active member that wanted to watch Johnny Lingo with us on VHS. it was the best! There was still snow everywhere, but it somewhat melted, so dirt roads+puddles=dirty truck/ a lot of fun.

Also we met with our Elder's Quorum president this last week. He's a year and a half convert, and is the best! we organized the setting up of a branch up in northern Saskatchewan, and a ping-pong tournament in between conference sessions, and also a fireside. He gets work done. I like him a lot. 

So church was interesting this week. The Bishopric here has 4 members, a bishop and 3 counselors, and they just happened to be all gone this last week. So it was the first time I saw a high priest group leadership in charge of the meeting. Very interesting. But still good. 

Well, I'm excited for this next week, It's conference weekend, and we get to figure out which of the apostles is coming to our mission, and hopefully this snow will melt, because It's getting old. 

Well, thank you guys for your love and support.

Love, Elder Jake Sorenson

Signing off

Week of March 23, 2014

Alright. That's what this week was. It was alright. I figure that Canada has these 4 seasons- Almost winter, Winter, Still winter, and Construction. But really, when it goes from last week, where everything melts, and there's water on the road, then to this week, going to -30. The roads turn into solid ice. Wha-hoo! That's a good time. But we actually had some fun this week so let's talk.

On tuesday our zone leaders came up for an exchange which is always a treat. We went with an Elder named Elder Schofield. I knew him a little bit because I spent the night with him once when he transferred into Winnipeg and I was there. But we got to know him a little better. I made him some mexican burritos that night which was surprising because it's really hard to find refried beans in Canada. We taught a new investigator named Marcell on Tuesday as well. He's a great guy, we were going to teach him the restoration, but the conversation just kind of lead to the plan of salvation. Crazy how the spirit leads you to those things sometimes.

Friday was interesting, we were invited to a roundance. It's basically a native dance where they beat drums and sing in Cree and people dance around them in a circle. It was a lot of fun. We got to participate and we felt a little out of place there seeing how we were the only white dudes there. Needless to say we were in white shirts and ties. Good times. 

So on Saturday we finally found that we were out of things to try doing to find new people. So we went TrAcTiNg. We don't do that a lot in this mission, because it doesn't work in the CWM. It might in other places in the world, but not here, we use it as a last resort. We went for a bit and really didn't find much, but this one guy basically said- "yeah i'm not interested, but come into my house and check out my home theater system and listen to dub-step for the next half hour!" it was pretty crazy. For those of you that know me, I know sound systems, and I know that it was crazy. That is all.

That brings me to Sunday. Church was great. We had Warner come to church. Warner's our investigator that we're getting to stop smoking. During church the bishopric all spoke and they gave amazing talks on repentance. It was so spiritual and I was glad Warner was there, but I was so sad/appalled because Warner said that he didn't want to meet with us anymore after the meeting. But my mood got brightened up by teaching class and playing the piano in primary. Good times. I love Sundays because we sometimes go out of town to dinner appointments because most of the ward lives out of town, so we pack all 6 missionaries in our truck and head out. It's fantastic, and Sundays are just relaxing. 

Those are my stories for the week. I'm finding it hard to stay motivated sometimes, mainly just because doing the same schedule day in and day out with the same people in the same town for over 3 1/2 months gets old. haha I still have a long way to go though! Take it easy guys!

Thanks everyone for your prayers and support.

This is Elder Sorenson 

signing off.