Elder Sorenson - September 25, 2017

Hi Everyone!

This week went by great, but once again, super fast! We had a few meetings with the stake and also one with the president! They were really great and we all learned a lot. I felt like this week we didn't have very many lessons because of all the meetings.

One thing I learned this week is that enduring to the end is so important and having patience for every investigator that you have. I don't know if you remember this, but my first baptism on my mission was Lila. She is 80 years old and down to earth. She had a few problems, but we finally got her baptized. The last month when I was in my first sector in January we started teaching her son Jose. He's about 60 or so and had a problem with leaving the house. He hadn't left his house for six years because he was scared of the outside world. We had him committed to going to church in February and were super excited! That day I received changes to go to another city and he changed his mind about leaving the house. Now we will fast forward to two weeks ago or so and I saw him for the first time in seven months. His eyes lit up and he got super excited! This last Saturday, he was baptized. He told us the first thing he wanted to do when he left his house was go to church. It was such a special moment to be at his baptism and see how happy he was at the service! I know that a lot of missionaries have helped him know the truth and the importance of baptism! I am so fortunate to have been part of that experience with him!

Another thing I would like to invite all of you to do is to read the Book of Mormon with the mission and I. We are all, as a mission, going to read together every day. We're going to start in October 1st! I attached a picture of the days and their reading assignment of what we will read! I hope you will join me and the rest of my mission as we read the book of Mormon together!

Take care!

Elder Sorenson

Matthew 6:19-21 - "God is always first!"

Elder Sorenson - September 18, 2017

Hi everyone!

Well, this week went great and my companion and I had a lot of fun! We had a baptism yesterday, but forgot to take pictures (sorry mom)!  It was such a beautiful service and my companion and I got to sing at it. I had my second meeting with all of the zone leaders and it went well. I learned a lot, especially how I can be the example to help people in my zone become better. Since I came back to Guayaquil, I have really grown and strengthened my testimony that this work is true. I love being able to serve as a leader in this mission!

I want to talk about the importance of the Book of Mormon. As a missionary, I have really learned to love this Book and it literally can be applied to any aspect of our lives. I know what it says is true. It is the key to our religion and another testament of Jesus Christ. I invite all of you to read this book and learn from it. In about two weeks, our beloved prophet will speak to us and in order to be able to learn and truly be edified from this Conference, we need to be spiritually ready and we can do that by reading the Book of Mormon and praying every day!

I love all of the letters and support that I receive from all of you! I pray for you every day. I know this is where I need to be. I hope the best for all of you and I really hope you can all find this true happiness that I have found here on my mission. This is all true and this is so important for the people of Ecuador to know.

Please listen to Jeffrey R. Holland's talk, "The Best Is Yet To Come" Watch It. Live It. Love it.
https://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/01/the-best-is-yet-to-be?lang=eng&cid=email-shared

Love Always,
Elder Sorenson

Ephesians 4:32

Kyle's companion made homemade soup!

Elder Sorenson and his missionary companions making Kyle's mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies They were delicious! A HUGE thank you to the sweet Ecuadorian sister who FB Messaged Kim the pictures! 

Elder Sorenson and his missionary companions making Kyle's mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies They were delicious! A HUGE thank you to the sweet Ecuadorian sister who FB Messaged Kim the pictures! 

Elder Sorenson - September 11, 2017

Hi everyone! 

This week was transfers for everyone so we were pretty busy because everyone in our zone had them and two of them were receiving brand new missionaries fresh out of the MTC! So my companion and I were running around looking for beds and desks for the new missionaries. I can't believe how fast time goes, do you remember my old companion Elder Cortez? Yeah, he is in his house and finished his mission this past week! Also my first companion, Elder Espinoza finished on Wednesday as well!

We got to do service this week in the middle of a community park and the people are so nice! A member had asked us to help them out and we ended up raking a bunch of leaves, but what was super cool is that two or three random people that lived there came up to us and bought us coke, crackers, and juice. They then expressed their appreciation for us and how much this little act of kindness meant to them! The service was simple, but you know how the quote goes, "How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time!" I know that service is a great way to help people to realize that we don't just teach. We serve in many different ways! Many people here are surprised that my companion and I don't care about getting dirty in our church clothes. Ha ha! My companion and I will just drop our backpacks and go to work...whether it be moving bricks, concrete, painting or whatever things we can do, we will do it in a heart beat! 

Oh, and I also gave a talk in sacrament yesterday and it went really well! I talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon and how we should study so that we can know for our self that it is true and that we are all able to receive revelation! I want to leave you with a quote I said during my talk (in Spanish of course), "When we take the term of the scripture and adapt it to conform to our circumstances, it will mean so much more! We should do it with integrity, taking the eternal principles and applying them to our own life to be able to receive the answers we need for eternal happiness."

Love Always,

Elder Sorenson

D&C 93:49

D&C 25:16

Everyone can receive revelation if we truly desire it! 

On 9/10/17, a sweet sister in Ecuador FB messaged this picture to Kyle's mom, Kim, letting her know that her mom had made this tie for him! 

Elder Sorenson - September 4, 2017

Hola! Como Le va? Estoy muy bien, solo un poquito cansado! My week once again flew by, but I enjoyed the time this week with my companion in my zone.

First, I have to tell you about a spiritual experience I had.  We have an investigator named Valeria. She is married with three kids and we have been trying to teach them all together, but her husband is always working. We had a lesson with her on Tuesday. She has always had a lot of doubts about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith as a prophet, and that kind of stuff. So we have been trying to get her to read the Book of Mormon to know if it is true. At first, she wasn't reading and still had all of those doubts. We started our lesson this past week and the first thing she said was, "I read the book you gave me." My companion and I were kind of in shock and so we asked her, "So what do you think?" She told us that she loved it and believed everything it said. My mouth hit the floor and then she told us how she felt while reading it and that it impacted her a lot. The spirit instantly filled the room and tears came into her eyes and she asked, "When can I be baptized?"  This moment/experience showed me how powerful the Book of Mormon is and that it helps people (more than any words I can say) come unto Christ. I invite you to read this book to know for yourself and experience something that will change your life forever.

This week I was able to go to the temple which was just so amazing. It is such a privilege to be able to enter the Lord's house and make covenants with Him. I saw my dad (my first trainer) at the temple and he is ending his mission this Wednesday, along with Elder Cortez. So it is just crazy how fast time flies and how precious and important being diligent in the work is. 

I guess I would consider my fun for the week to be the activity that my companion and I were in charge of. We are both gringos, so we wanted to go all out on the activity. So we did an Ecuadorian style Minute To Win It and it was a huge success! We had seven or eight investigators there participating and enjoying the events. I was the person in charge of getting the audience involved and excited! So let's just say I lost my voice because of how much I was screaming. Ha ha! But overall it went well and we had a lot of fun. My companion and I spent hours creating the Minute To Win It challenges and making sure everything was OK and it definitely paid off! We must've done a good job because the Stake President wants us to plan and do another activity.

An elder in our town is finishing his mission so we were invited to a family home evening at family Artio's who are in my old sector.  Two of my converts were also there and they were super surprised to see me! Ha ha! I guess you could say that during this week I learned the power of the Book of Mormon and the importance of me enjoying the time I have to be on the Lord's errand because eventually it will come to an end. I love missionary work! I'm working on loving rice, but I don't know if I'll ever get to that point. Haha! 

I love all of you and thank you for the support and your prayers! I appreciate the emails every week and all that you have done for my family and I. Keep going strong and just know that I pray for you all every night and that I miss you, but will see you soon! 

Love Always, 

Elder Sorenson

John 10:4-18

My companion and I doing service for a family in the area. 

My companion and I doing service for a family in the area. 

My companion and I made 10 gallons of juice and drank it in a week.

My companion and I made 10 gallons of juice and drank it in a week.

Our matching Zone shirts! 

Our matching Zone shirts! 

                                                                     

Elder Sorenson - August 28, 2017

Hi Everyone!

Those pictures I sent last week were taken when we went to an island and saw iguanas, alligators, and birds! It was fun to do something new and visit a new place in Guayaquil! 

This past week I got to do exchanges with an Elder in my old sector so we visited my converts. It was so great to see them still active in the church! I learned in the exchange the importance of enduring to the end. The Elder I was with is ending his mission in a week so I guess you could say he is a little "trunky" and I tried my best to get him to work his hardest this last week! Also, I learned the importance of investigators needing a testimony of the church before being able to teach them the rules or commandments we must obey. If they don't have a testimony or are unsure that the church is true, why would they obey the word of wisdom? I have really gotten to learn the importance of building my investigator's faith and their hope in the church then AFTER, teaching them the importance of not drinking alcohol or things like that. It is so much more easier to stop when you have a testimony. I promise. 

The zone I am in is really working hard and I am really proud of the work they have done in the past week! Honestly, we are so close and all of us get along great! What I love about the church and serving a mission is that the missionaries here may have different hobbies, my companion might like the Giants and I like the Dodgers and we might be from different countries, but all of those things don't matter because we all have two things in common, which is a testimony that this is the Lord's church and that we are dedicating 18 months to two years of our life to be able to share what we know with the people of Ecuador. 

I honestly thought two years was going to be a long time, but for me it is not enough. I love this church and the happiness it has brought me. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have been given to share my testimony every day! I love you all! 

Love always, Elder Sorenson 

John 4:34-36