Lights out!

August 3, 2011

Hey Family,

It is so nice to hear from everyone. This new month has kind of had a rough start. Yesterday, Elder Hibbard and I tracted all day and we only talked to 16 people and no new investigators - pretty discouraging. It has been very hot lately, but last night a monster storm came in and our power went out and won't be back til tomorrow.

I feel more comfortable talking to people the more I do this and the things that I was working on this week are starting to become strengths for me - so that is good. Mom was asking about the branch size. It is a larger branch - about 90 - 100 active members. There are quite a few recent converts. About zone conferences, we did have one right after I got out to my area.

We are struggling to get investigators out to church, so could you pray that we do get some of them to come. Other than that not much is happening. I love you all and God Bless!

Elder Josh Sorensen

7-27-11 Hey family, It is awesome to hear about the mission calls for the boys in the ward. That is pretty crazy that Brian is going to Wisconsin, just above me. This has been by far one of the toughest, but best weeks of my mission so far. We decided to visit all the less actives in our branch and found a new investigator. He is the husband of one of the less actives - their family reminds me of Jessie and Aaron's because they have 3 cute little girls who are very outgoing. We have worked very hard and that is what is keeping me so happy - being able to work that hard and then be able to see little miracles happen as we work. The number of lessons we have been teaching lately has dropped though due to all the baptisms we've had. We still have 1 person on date, we just don't know when because it had to be postponed. We also have a young family who we will start teaching sometime next week, we saw them last night and they are having a garage sale and are selling a kitchen table and chairs for $20, which we need and will likely buy. Also our neighbor upstairs in our apartment building offered us some nice couches for free! Friday night and Sunday morning were crrazy because of big storms. We have church at 9 and it rained hard during all of sacrament meeting, so we helped people get out of their cars with umbrellas and kept them dry. There was no major flooding where we are - so no worries. I forgot to mention that Saturday we had a Pioneer Day celebration at our building, which was a lot of fun. They had a corn-hole tournament and good food. It has been just a fantastic week, and I think things are only going to get better. Thank you all for your love and prayers, God Bless, Elder Josh Sorensen

I promised Elder Sorensen that I would try to get this blog going. I'm not sure if this is going to work, but I'm going to try!

Hi everyone! This is Josh's mom (Jill). Josh has just trained me to do his mission blog. I am sort of practicing right now. His farewell was yesterday and I must say it was a great day for all of us. He did a wonderful job on his talk. It was interesting, meaningful, spiritual, and appreciative of everyone in his life. He bore a faitihful and powerful testimony. Family and friends came over for sandwiches, chips, veggies and fruit. And, Josh and I made ice cream balls for desert, along with toppings of homemade carmel, hot fudge and frozen strawberry jam. The day was warm but windy. The kids played inside and outside for hours. The adults relaxed, visited and ate and ate. Bob Koch brought over 2 large trays of his famous chocolates. Yes, they are all gone. We now have 2 days to write thank you's, pack and do all the last minute things. We are going to dinner at Cafe Rio tonight and then to a movie. Josh has been talking on the phone to his siblings who are away - saying goodbye is hard, especially to the nieces and nephews who he loves so very much. We didn't really think of taking pictures yesterday, but Derek took a few and I'll try to get those and post them on this blog. I hope this works for everyone. Thanks so much for your love and support. Jill and soon-to-be Elder Josh Sorensen

Countdown, 3 Weeks till I'm gone

I can't believe there is only 3 weeks till I leave for the MTC, it is crazy to think about.  I have got just about everything I need, my second suit is getting fitted and I will go pick it up soon.  I have started noticing myself start to cheer for the Chicago sports teams such as Bulls (especially since they are in the playoffs).  I have been through the temple and I feel very fortunate to have a temple in my mission that I can go to every other month.  The temple is such an awesome place.  I can't believe that my farewell is 2 weeks from tomorrow, it is weird that it is coming together so fast and I will be out of here so fast.  I getting more and more excited as I get ready to go to Chicago and serve the Lord and bring the light of this great gospel to the people of Chicago.