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.

Week of March 16, 2014

Good week this week in the great white north... It's still white.... I want something else... Green... Please.... The snow's been here for the vast majority of my mission. But it's melting ever so slowly. Funny thing I realized this last week. we've had the snow for a while, and I thought the snow would be there one minute, and gone the next. But I neglected the gray area in between, and I never took into account the melt. And when it's flat, there's no runoff like back where we have mountains, so where does the water go? EVERYWHERE! I've never seen my shoes so nasty in my life haha. but it's good, and fun to go driving in the truck just to see how dirty we can get it and what kind of puddles we can splash. 

This week was good but slow. We taught the bird's which was nice. We took a primary teacher over there that knew them because she's their neighbor, it went really well, and was probably the best lesson we've ever taught them. Good times. 

The highlight of my week was that I got to travel down to the temple in Regina with the ward here. It was a 4 hour drive that we took on Friday night and we did a session then, and did baptisms in the morning, then drove back up. It was a blast. Eric came with us and he had a lot of fun. I'll send a picture of me and him there. I got to spend the night with the missionaries down there, and see a missionary I used to know from Winnipeg there so we caught up. An other great thing was the car ride was with President Fowler. He's in our Mission presidency, but he's in the Prince Albert ward, so I got to know him really well and talk to him for a bit. It was fantastic. The thing is the Regina temple is tiny, not like the ones back home. I'll send some pictures. IT was beautiful.

In other news Sunday was great. We had a senior couple come and speak to us that came home from Russia. They served in the Siberia side of Russia and had some good stories. They told us how Prince Albert had a worse winter than they did. Made me feel special =P. But they also taught about getting over your spiritual "normalna" which is a Russian word for "as Usual" or getting over just going through life and especially the church and just going through the motions. He asked, What can you do more? which I never really asked and then applied until I came out on my mission. My mission's taught my a whole lot, and I love it. Don't want to trade it for anything.

It was +2 today, so I'm wearing short sleeves!!

Love you guys, thanks for all your prayers and support.

Elder Sorenson

March 10, 2014

Prince Albert Saskatchewan Canada. Easy to draw, hard to spell. Also, where we don't have Daylight savings! haha but really it was a good week up here. I'm having the time of my life! and what it sounds like you guys are too. Not a whole lot happened up here this last week, but it did warm up a little bit and the snow on the road melted but it's still here. The funniest part is that I say it warmed up but it's still 30*f. we just get excited and put shorts on when it gets to 0*c. that's just because we've seen -40 for sooooo long! haha but I hear that the cold is behind us finally! but now the 3' of snow's all going to melt and the roads are going to flood! yay! 

So we taught this guy named joey and his common-law wife named jamie. They're very humble but you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover! haha they have tattoos everywhere but they love the gospel and want to come to church so bad. We taught them about the restoration and they loved it, we left them with a book of mormon and just bore solid testimony and it was great. Other than them, we taught the birds which is always a hand full. It was crazy! teaching those 6 little girls is just.... crazy. We always have to think and be on our toes, because with a large native family, the'll steal things and cry, and just go nuts if you don't know what to do. Usually it has to involve coloring or an object lesson. So we taught them the word of wisdom. It went well. 

We also taught Eric this last week. Oh man, that guy is just a power house. I love teaching that guy! He found out that I like blink 182 so he had it playing in the back when we came over. I got mad at him and said it had to go, but he said it was his house :) but he tuned it off. But we had a very spiritual lesson with him about charity and home teaching. we did a practice home teaching because he just got called and we were helping him out, and he's a great teacher. It was great! We actually took him to a lesson the next day and he was just fantastic. I don't know what else to say about that guy other than the gospel changes people so much. I mean we met him 2 months ago and since he's been baptised, he's grown so much.

One of my favorite parts of the week is Sunday. I get to teach the gospel principles class at church that all the investigators come to and it's a lot of fun. I just get so into teaching. One thing i've found since coming on my mission is that I hated teaching at first and before my mission, but now I love it. And the Lord helps you out. And gives you the words to say. I love it when I start bearing my testimony, and the words come, and the spirit fills the room. I'm going to miss that when I go home. 

Yeah, that's basically my week. I'm going crazy up here. We just got a sister up here from Germany. And I just figured out that Brady Merrill from P.G. just came into my mission, so I'll have to find out where he's at. 

Thanks everyone for reading my boring email and for your prayers and support!

Love you,

Elder Jake Sorenson

Week of March 2, 2014

Slower week here in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada. We taught a lot, but it was soooo cold. Everyone said it was supposed to warm up mid-february but this last week it dipped down to -50! it was pretty crazy, and i'm getting sick of the snow. It's been here for 4 months! and from what I hear, it'll be here for an other 2! It's not like Utah where the snow falls, then melts then falls again. It just falls in November, gets frozen, and doesn't leave till April! crazy. But here's some stories from this week, I'll try to keep it short. 

We taught Warner again on Monday, and Sunday. He's the guy that we're helping stop smoking. He's been smoke free for a week now and I'm happy for him. We taught him about the book of mormon, and also taught him one of the best restoration lessons I've ever taught. The spirit was so strong, and you could just see him lighting up. I love that. Wednesday I went on Exchanges with Elder Hanson in my district and helped him out a little bit to get the ball rolling in his area. It's a very slow area so hopefully things'll pick up. Friday we got to go to the dump! haha doesn't sound too exciting but we were helping a less-active move her brother out, and we took a bunch of trash in our truck out to the dump. It's out of town to the north, and the drive there was beautiful! only problem was it was -50 that day haha so it was fairly cold. Also on thursday we taught the Bird's. It was so fun. We made little restoration puzzles and taught the little girls. It was so much fun. I hope they'll be ready for their baptism in a couple weeks. Saturday wasn't too bad, but we did a lot of planning and then drove out to Wahpeyton reserve where we got "lunched." It made me pretty mad, but I always love the drive out there. 

Yesterday (Sunday) was pretty great. We had a great church service, and Elder Hindes and I taught sunday school again. It's a lot of fun. After church held the highlight of my week. Eric, our new recent convert, got the priesthood! It was amazing. Elder Hindes ordained him, but I got to stand in with the bishop and all of his counselors. Truly one of the best experiences on my mission. After church we taught Warner, and went to give someone the sacrament. We also went to the best member-missionary family I've ever met- The Yawneys. Oh man I love them so much! haha we had dinner over there with Eric and His investigator friend Cindy. 

That's basically my week in a nut-shell. We also got transfer calls, and Elder Hindes and I are both staying in Prince Albert for an other transfer. This'll be our 3rd together. I'm looking forward to it. 

The pictures are of my district (only 6 missionaries for the next 2 hours away.) and the other picture is the "

gateway" to northern Saskatchewan, and one of the biggest hills in the mission :)

Love you guys! Thanks for all your prayers and support.

-Elder Jake Sorenson