Kids Say the Darndest Things...

Well well well...another week and another round of adventures. I had no idea that the "titles" of e-mails were so important. it wasn't until i read both of my cousin's e-mails and heard about their stressing that i decided to investigate. It won't take much for me to title this e-mail. "kids say the darndest things"

 

Awwee Texico............where to begin. I think I'll start with the sexual harassment we received this week. Scenario (no se como escribirlo) : knocking on a door. "hey Hey you!" loook around, and see no one. " hey hey sexy lady" hhhmmmm that was a different voice and we still see no one. " Hey! Hey sexy ladies" Turn around and see a window open across the walk way revealing a gang of 3 boys all about the age of 6. " Hey sexy ladies wanna have my babies" SAY WHAAAAAAAAA?!!!  " hermana Deleon did you just hear what those boys said? " no." " i think they asked us to have their babies" " what?  No. I"m sure they didn't" --"Hey! Hey sexy ladies!! Wanna have my babies" "HOLY COW." --Yes. I said to them " hey hey you kids? Wanna have a childhood?" --not really but i thought it. We proceeded to get on our bikes and ride off.

 

Second child experience. Scenario: During a dinner apt. with a member and their family. Child says ' hey! Hey look over there! Its your dad!......(i look)......APRIL FOOLS". " HEY HEY LOOK OVER THERE! (says the child) - look over there, your dad's dead!...APRIL FOOLS!" hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah I quote that joke frequently to my companion because it was the best/worst joke i have ever heard. 

 

Third. Same child as the previous story. Comes into conference in the chapel and we are watching music and the spoken word. --She is a chatter box and immediately starts talking and sister Deleon says " hey we are going to watch this right now" and she sits down and says " oh my favorite movie"  ---bbaaaaahhhahahahahaha ooohhh i love it. 

 

The children here are absolutely the joy of my life. A recently baptized family (just got baptized before i got here) has a small boy who was showing us an impression of guitar hero and he gave us a double birdy flip off. wow. it was a shock but i laughed pretty hard. He was properly reprimanded and all was well afterwards but yeah.

 

 Well lets see....This week was eventful because sister Deleon almost got her hand bitten off by a Rottweiler (sound it out, once again, i don't know how to spell). We were knocking out in a place we call " Mexico" because it is essentially Mexico in America. and i was leading the way up to this door and i heard a dog barking but could see no dog. I felt fine so i went forward and then all of a sudden i saw this GIANT dog manifest itself and it didn't have a chain. I froze. You could tell it was not one of those "gentle giants" This one was probably trained to kill babies. I turned my side to it and let it come up and smell me and eventually i put my hand out. Meanwhile (sister Deleon does not like dogs) was hanging back and when she saw me making friends with the dog and petting it, she started to walk up. Everything was fine until she came...too close? no se que paso pero and the dog went crazy!! And she bolted and the dog bolted too and then it stopped. That made me happy but i realized that the dog was between myself and my companion. I had about a series of 3 baby heart attacks and then the dog came back to me and licked my hand. Why was i spared? BECAUSE I AM A DOG WHISPERER THAT'S WHY!!! I have decided to test my luck on every stray out here. Whats the worse that can happen?--just kidding mom and dad. I am smart around dogs. 

 

Y'ALL ARE VISITING BEN AND RAE!!! OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH THE BITTER HOT RAGE OF JEALOUSY!!!! Man how i wish i was with y'all. I've decided that i am just going to have to stay here in TExas because i am just so jealous. I seriously can not wait till i can know anything about that place. Como se dice ROAD TRIP despuace mi mision. Speaking of cool adventures. We met the most amazing investigator. her name is Jackie and she MY IDOL. She was the one who spear headed the Katrina efforts to round up the dogs and animals. She put them in the stadium....yeah that lady from ANIMAL PLANET! It is sooo cool. She trains rescue dogs. I am sooo impressed by her. I love her so much. She has only been to church once during our "Easter program" ooohh and our English branch is......colorful. Lets use that word. They don't like to do much but we are working with them. Our Easter program was more of a focus on the long hard road to Calvary and the dying and the blood on the cross and very to little emphasis on the RESURRECTION part of the Easter. oohhh well. Luckily Jackie is amazing and didn't mind it. (we are in the choir here and we only sang sad songs about death) hahaha it was sooo colorful to say the least. 

 

I am soo happy to hear about the Temple. Thank you for sharing those experiences with me. That is sooo cool. Don't do all the work before i get back. I want to make some memories with y'all too please. Oh and i love that Lauren and Laura still keep in touch. THEY ARE SOO DEAR TO ME. Thank you for being amazing. I wish i knew my sister Libbi a little better. Could you please request that she stop having a social life and write me all the time? tooo much? too soon? No i do want to know all the details about the prep and the parties and everything. Thanks for your amazingness. I will talk to you soon. I love you all soooo much. Don't forget me. I am writing letters to y'all today. Larry-happy birthday a week ago today! I hope it was amazing. I'm sorry i missed it. Don't forget how much i love y'all!! Talk to y'all soon. 

 

Hna. Sorensen  

... I NEVER THROW UP!

Alright...Here goes nothing. So last week was my birthday. Exactly one week from this very day in fact. Nothing too crazy went down during the day but the most amazing family offered to make me a real HOME MADE TRES LECHE PASTEL POR MI CUMPLIANO!!!! I felt so stupid but i started to tear up as i went into their two room house that hardly has windows and a colony of killer wasps has inhabited the house across the street from them and saw this gian two layer cake sitting on the plastic picnic sized table (set for only the 4 missionaries). This is the Guzman family. Both mom and dad are converts to the church and mom is from Uruguay and dad is from California. He is the ward missionary coordinator and has recently decided to become active again! Ooohhh i love this family. They have two kids. Danny is 18 and has already graduated high school and doesn't turn 19 for another year. Their daughter weighs about 20 lbs and pets the dog and doesn't say anything. She is about 13. They made us all dinner and we ate delicious tres leches cake. I felt so humbled and blessed. I received so much love from so many people that day. I got the most amazing packages from my family and from susu and Gus and Larry. Thank you so much. It truly was a magical day.

 After that day............wow. Satan is real. He really really really doesn't like us down here in Del Rio. We planned and had planned several lesson to teach. NONE OF THEM SHOWED.  Not one. We knocked and we had more doors slammed and shut in our face. My favorite story happened a couple days ago when we were given a list of people to find whose records just appeared in our church and no one knew who they were. One was a lady named Ana Laura Navijar Garza. We knocked on her door and the dog started barking (that is expected now because everyone and their dogs, have a dog) A women inside yells "come in" and we shout back......uuummm we are missionaries. And she starts screaming...kid you not, screaming at us and at the dog. We could not tell what was going on so we stood there. All of a sudden we see a shadow at the door and it opens about the width of a ten pieces of paper. I can see no one but a black slit in the door and my companion goes " hello!!! Well its so nice to meet you" haha so nice to meet you?! oOOHH it made my day. I supported her and said "yes it really is! My name is Sister Sorensen and this is Sister Deleon" and she says through the slit in the door " i still go bad" and the door shut. What this means, i will never know but it did leave us baffled for a good while and provided a nice laugh in the midst of this up-hill climb. 

 Towards the end of this week things got still harder. My companion is super sick and yesterday, I felt dizzy from the second i woke up. I felt sooo bad and gross and when we got to the church I threw up. I NEVER THROW UP! So we went to church (both Spanish and English) and made it back home and took a nap. We needed it so bad. I told the elders in my district that i felt like i was going to have a baby. Being great elders they asked what they can do to help and both of us, being sick said, joking around ask for a big mack and some ice cream and some fries and just went on and on....they smiled and laughed.

 This morning i feel a lot better but still a little upset stomach. I will only improve from here though. I am realizing how important it is to be a member missionary. To never ever be afraid to share the  gospel. Allow people to use their agency. If they reject it, then they reject it but at least they have heard some particle of truth that may ring true one day. This morning, the absolutely awesome elders in our district (the elders we have a car share with and do laundry with and eat with and see every day) (elder Lindsey and Elder Nyguaard) They knocked on our door to pick us up to do laundry and everything else we need to do and in their hands they had a car and a quart of ice cream!!! inside the card it said "congratulations on your new baby!" oooohhh it was the best way to start out the day. God sends tender mercies every day! Sister Deleon's card read " congratulations on being a new grandma!" hahahaahahah this may not be funny to you, but it was so funny to me. I loved it. It has been sooooo hot here. On average 90-100+ degrees. The air gets thick and humid and it feels like an oven. Everyone says its nothing. Yikes.

 The power of faith is so strong. No wonder it is the very foundation of everything. It is the first law of heaven. It allows us to ask God. It allows us to act, It allows us to receive and to know and apply the things we learn every day. God is aware of us individually. It can seem hard to see because Satan works so hard on trying to have us forget that. If we forget than we loose faith and when we lose our faith, so much is lost. Never hesitate to share an eternal truth with someone. We all have the light of Christ and when we share truth, it strikes and can ignite a soul. God is real. We need to never forget and never hesitate to stand and be the examples of Christ that the world so desperately needs right now. Life is truly simple. We complicate  our lives. Allow Jesus to take the wheel. I sing that about 3 times a day here. Hard work and working hard are what matters in life. We can never truly come to know Christ if we do not follow something of what he went through. I am so blessed in my life. I don't deserve my blessings. I don't deserve my family. Please family, wherever you are, look to lift someone else. We are an amazing family with HUGE spiritual strength. We know love. Please share some love with people. They will recognize it. I love y'all so much. Please never forget that. I love to hear all about your every day lives. I love to hear about the good and the bad times because that makes life real. Life is real and EVERYONE has real problems they deal with. I am so happy i have a REAL life and i can grow and become better for it.

Libbi- you are about to go on the greatest adventure of your life. I am going to send you a letter to kind of prep you for anything but seriously, most of it, you just have to learn on your lonesome and learn what works best for you. Never ever ever EVER forget ME! i love you so much and know that you are amazing and change people's lives every day. man i love you. Go out with the missionaries! See if you can! It would be sooooooooo good.

 Mom- i love you. YOu would be the best member present in a lesson. Go out with the missionaries. You love like no one i have ever known. oohh i love you.

 Dad- You are ridiculous. Go and be a member present. You are a spiritual giant. Your spirit is sooo strong. I love you and look up to you so much. DADDY I LOVE YOU.

 Meg- Don't go out with the missionaries. NEVER EVER be scared to tell ANYONE that you are member of the church. Keep inviting your friends to church. Your impact could change their lives forever. I love you so stinkin much.

 Ben- you know what its like to be a missionary. Share the gospel any chance you get. Its never over. 

 Pete- you know what its like to be a missionary. Share the gospel any chance you get. Its never over.

 I miss you all. Be missionaries yourselves! yous ARE AMAZING. GOD LOVES YOU. I love you. Never forget it. Rae and Sarah, even though i didn't send you a personal one liner I LOVE YOU SOOO MUCH. You are amazing influences in my life. I love you.

Hermana Sorensen

ITS MY BIRTHDAY YAHOOOO!!~!

Ok bangarang family. bangarang. HAS THIS DAY BEEN THE SNAZIEST BIRTHDAY EVER?....no. jUST KIDDING! i can not even begin to tell you how fantastic this day has already been and its only 2 in the afternoon! First of all...Saturday: i got your letter ma. THANK YOU. As always, your attention to detail makes me feel like i am right there. Then we spent most of the day at church watching conference. This is all good right....till blue eyes white dragon walks in. This is the name we have termed for the ridiculously good looking pilot that is in training here. What was his first order of business? To  walk up to me and ask me when i was going to play my violin for him...ok what?! YEAH...it was...well anyways...i said something stupid like "oh sorry" and then felt awkward and walked away. While walking away, he said that the violin was his favorite instrument and that he wanted to hear me play again because i was "fantastically amazing at it"--his words, not mine-- Yeah......we all went out to lunch (the elders and my companion and i and dragon boy and a girl in the ward and her parents). We then ran into a 'less active" - meaning not active member of the church. Her name was Erin and you better believe she attached herself to blue eyes white dragon.  Erin ended up coming to ALL SESSIONS OF CONFERENCE!! Ok really?! Really? haha The lord works in mysterious ways my friends. I have also decided that we are just going to take blue eyes white dragon to all of our lessons and tocaring so that he can swoon all of Del Rio into either becoming active again or joining the church. I pray Erin is doing it for the right reasons. It will be interesting to see what happens when he goes away on Tuesday to training. Blue eyes is a convert of 8 months and truly has one of the most remarkable conversion stories. He is a really genuine guy and i can only hope and pray that he says with it. He has a lot of potential.   

 

WASN'T CONFERENCE AWESOME?!!...ok, ok ok,...i don't really know because on Sunday i magically received 4 new children of the ward. Where their parents were? i know not but it was ridiculous. NEVER WILL I EVER HAVE CHILDREN. No no no....i will. Just.........when i'm good and ready. I DID, however, feel a special connection when Elder Ballard talked about the "gold flecks" in our lives. I nearly stood up and shouted "THAT IS WHY I WEAR A VILE OF GOLD AROUND MY NECK WITH A MUSTARD SEED IN IT!!" My favorite part was when i looked at my companion and, having already explained that because of that story i wear gold flecks around my neck, she turned to me and said "your mom is thinking about you right now...your sister too probably". Oooohh did that make me happy. I love my necklace. Thanks Mom. I love you for being so thoughtful. 

 

So Lets see...i went to Austin for some training this last week....WOW! Austin is soooo cool. I really really really really really really want to serve there. There are seriously the craziest people there. Men with boots and hats and bums on the street and single women who wear no clothes and men who have short shorts! Ooohh it was a shmorgusborg (sound it out) of amazing people. I got to stay in a little place called San Marcos. It is right next to the Texas state campus. Sooo many cool people and houses. I just am excited for all the possibilities. Well like i said, i went to this training up there and right when we got there, we got a call from President asking us....TO TRAIN AT THIS MEETING. This meeting was the meeting of all the leadership in the mission and anyone who was training...so all the top dogs in one room and WE ARE SUPPOSED TO TELL THEM HOW ITS DONE! Yeah...baby heart attack. Well...we wanted to make it fun because a lot of these turn into the same old same old kind of stuff...sorry for putting it that way but...they can be repetitive. So i thought of some ideas of how to make it fun....long story short and a stinkin AWESOME training later, we had everyone suuuper pumped. Among some of the highlights: I tried to write "follow up"....don't worry....i wrote "fallow up". Yeah. I  also started everyone out doing some bautizmo jacks? Don't know what that is? well let me compartir: spell baptize while doing some jumping jacks and then yell baptize at the end. (it was a crowd favorite). The elders and sisters loved it. Our subject was on commitment. It was so cool and good for me to learn. I know i made quite the scene when afterward an elder told me " great job Sister Sorensen on your training. YOu are quite a captivating person".....ummmm ok. :) 

 

Well anyways,  today has been awesome. Jimmy john Jack sparrow: i love you. Now you know. I got your letter today and it was the best letter/dibujo. Gracias por todos. KEEP WRITING ME OK?! seND ME YOUR ADDRESS IN WASHINGTON. i WILL WRITE YOU I PROMISE.

 

LARRY- That was sooo nice of you. I did not deserve that. Thankn you soo much. Thanks for your support in everything. 

 

Susu and Gus: i love you. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and support as well. 

 

Thank you family for your letters and support! I love to hear from you and know that y'all are doing well. I love y'all so much. how is Kimberly? i miss her. David Hunter..my love. How are you?! I miss y'all so much. I love you. Thank you for making this the best birthday ever. I am so blessed to have y'all in my life. I love you!

 

Luuuhhh y'all

 

hna. Sorensen  

I love y'all with all of my Texas heart!!

Ok so hard work does pay off in mi mission. I put my noes down and plugged away this week and......nothing major happened. Its all good though because i have been working on my faith and its getting better. Life works better cuando usamos fe. Es verdad. Lets see....lets start off with a story. 

 

This week we went to visit a couple who has some special needs betwixt the both of them. They are very kind people...just not all there right. Well We were invited inside. Little did i know (or see) Mr. anonymous decided to leave the door open while going to the bathroom. I did not see but mi cerido herman Deleon saw ALL! We had a nice meeting and they were both very kind. We ended and then i hugged Mrs. Anonymous and Mr. anonymous wanted one too...i'm not allowed to hug men so we had a charming/ terribly awkward arm grabby imaginative huggy thing. It was so bad i started to laugh. It wasn't until later that sister Deloen shared with me the other part....which I promptly sanitized both hands and arms multiple times. :) Este es la frontera.

 

My life has been good. Its bizarre being a missionary. Already almost a month here and i feel like I've done this for years. I love it but it is VERY different than anything I've ever done. I would like to share with ya'll a bit about Del Rio. It is a boarder city as you all know already. It is very flat and contains muchas cacti--no se como escribirlo. My companion and i work the west side of Del Rio--sounds rough right? NOOOOOTT!! We have the safe and rich area of Del Rio. We have the mostly white people area. The white people come from the Air base. Yes, Del Rio is known for his Air force Airbase. In fact, our branch has a famous pilot - Danny Williams. He literally has adopted about 15 children with his wife. Its a very unique situation...like so many on the mission. It is very common here to have babies out of wedlock and to speak both Spanish and English in the same sentence. (oh tell Little May that in McCallen Texas, he is going to be speaking this " porcho" -speaking both English and Spanish in the same sentence) In Del Rio, we also cover some poorer areas and then an area right by the boarder called Cienigus. (see-en-i-gus) --pronunciation-- it is Mexico. It has dirt streets and dogs running everywhere. EVERYONE HAS A DOG HERE AND 7 TIMES OUT OF 10 ITS A CHUwawa. Its ridiculous the amount of dogs here and they ALL bark and want to attack you. The trick is when they are running at you to bend down and act like you are picking up a rock and they immediately stop charging. -kid you not, works every time. I guess from the beginning of time, Missionaries have come to Del Rio so everyone knows who we are and a lot of times people don't like us. I am still very hopeful because people are always moving in and out. We come into contact with some Jehovah's witnesses and people confuse us a lot for one another. The JW are really really really mean here i guess. I've never met one but everyone else has. Oh and racism is common here too. Its really awkward going to the English branch on Sunday which contains A TON of boarder patrol and then go to the Spanish branch where we .......may or may not have some people who may or may not be here legally or illegally. Wow that was spelled wrong but I've given up on spelling. There are far greater things to worry about. 

 

GUESS WHAT MOM, DAD, LIBBI---Issac plagues my life. Remember Issac? Yeah, he has a twin here in Del Rio and he is the brother in law of one of our cute couple investigators and guess what....HIS WIFE IS 14 YEARS YOUNGER THAN HIM!! He speaks Spanish here and every time i see him, i have a baby heart attack because its sooo weird. Entoneses, I'll just baptize him and hopefully i will have some better feelings towards him. 

 

Well i know i told y'all about if i were to receive a birthday package....yeah PLEASE just send those few items i requested.  Also, if I could get some normal short sleeve shirts...like maybe a soccer one or something like that. And if I have some nice short sleeve shirts...all my clothes are turtle necks and its been on average 85-91 degrees here. Needless to say...i don't need them now. We got to do some service the other day and I burned my arms. I think there is hole in the ozone here. Wow, I truly don't know how to spell anymore. 

 

Mom- i just got your letter today. Thank you. I really appreciate the detail you send in every letter. Yo are the best. I am glad you got your letter. It was supposed to be sent for your birthday but like so many things in my life, i failed. I am working hard on being better. I love you so much. You are truly the best mom.  A lot of my companions have complained about their moms but i can not. Why? Because my mom is perfect and i tell them that. They see that for themselves. I rock because i was blessed enough to have the best family and mom and dad and everything. Thanks for being the best mom. I love you! 

 

Libbi- PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HAVE THE BEST BIRTHDAY OF YOUR LIFE. I am so devastated that i am not going to be there for your big 21st birthday. Don't worry, everyone here knows its your birthday and that you are going to Brazil on your mission. You should hear all the Spanish branch when i tell them...."OOOO Brazil. Ella es muy suerte"  its really funny. They love it. Libbi, the mission is hard. Its hard to talk to  people when you don't want to. Its hard to make yourself do awkward things but truly, you will be the best missionary because you work hard and that is truly all a mission is. Hard work. You  get to laugh and smile. Please don't forget to laugh every day. If i had some pennies i would give them to you with a note that says "don't ever change" --get it? HAHAHAHa ooohh i love you so much. When i dream, you are always there, my companion. My heart is full even writing this. I am sooo cheesy now. gross. OK I love you. you know that. never forget it. mom please give her a hug from me. 

 

Yikes meg i am sorry about how sick you've been. Please have mom give you another one of her awesome hugs with a kiss on the forehead from me. I miss you always. I love to hear how successful you are. YOu are amazing. Keep being amazing and choosing the right and helping mom and dad.

 

Dad- i love you. Truly, you are so awesome. I miss you a ton. Thanks for your encouraging words. I love telling everyone about my dad because here, no one really has or wants to be good dads and i LOVE telling them how awesome i have had it with the most amazing example of a dad i could ever want. I am so blessed to be in your family daddy. i love you!

   
I am so glad to hear about Lauren and all her success. Good for her. Dayna rocks. Please, if you ever get a chance to tell her that, do. Tell her that i love her guts so much and i can't wait to hear her sing songy Spanish. Man i love Lauren too. I miss her a lot. I miss a lot of things all the time but at the same time, its weird. Its like another life. Its like i didn't even have a life before the mission. My life is the mission and i am loving it. I have to love the hard things. I have to love the good things and its soo easy to do when i live with faith. FAith is not something that has ever been easy for me. When i choose to have it and live it, my life goes leaps and bounds ahead of anywhere i thought it could be. I have a great President who trusts me. He is truly inspired and loves his missionaries.

 

This week is pretty exciting. I am  going to Austen for a training. I can't wait!!! I get to see more of TExas. YOU BETTER BELIEVE I AM COMING BACK A TEXAN. HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THE CRAZY PEOPLE AND THE CRAZINESS OF THE BIGGER AND BETTER TEXAS. Wow i have so much to tell you and no time. Some missionaries are singing for a Spurs game but i won't get to be apart for that because i am on the boarder and its too far away. cool though. Sorry to hear about Japan and all the craziness there. Its done wonders for missionary service here though. People are really starting to freak out about the end of the world and because of that, they are willing to talk about God. Very bizarre way have receiving blessing but there ya have it. Lord's ways are not our ways.

 

I am growing up. Not quite though. NEXT WEEK IS MY BIRTHDAY!! YAAAAHOOOOOOOOO!!!! Best birthday ever! That, and the next one. Libbi- have an amazing birthday. I love you.

 

i heard "fixin" quite a few times this week. I also say y'all all the time. i don't know if y'all got that or not.

 

te amo siempre. I love y'all with all of my Texas heart.

 

Hna. Sorensen