Hello! I hope everyone isdoing well! I have a feeling that a lotof my words willbe combined because the space bar doesn´t worktoo well on this keyboard! Sorry this is getting to you all a little late.A lot has happened and I didn´t have my pday yesterday, so I had permission to writeyou all today! We had changes last tuesday. I gotthe call that I was staying in Solanda and getting a new comp, hna Padilla,and Thelin was going to Ibarra,which is up north. We were pretty sad toleave each other, but that is the life of the mission, you just have to move on. So Hna Padilla was fun, a hard worker,and we got a lotof work done together. Everywhere we went though, people would say, oh, where is Hna Thelin, or where isthe other gringa. EVERYONE! Even the guy who does our copies forus.So I got over it.
Then came yesterday. IT was pday and me and Padilla wereleaving to play vball with our zone. Then we got a call from the assistants to the presidente and they were asking Padilla how well she knew the sector,ifshe could located the church and the investigators houses, etc. Solanda is very confusing, I had gotten the hang of it after 3 months, she didn´t havea clue. Then htey told us that we had an e-change, which is emergency change,and that I was leavingto Otavalo and she was staying in solanda. There were a setof sisters in otavalo who were having some difficulties. Hna Mereira said she had medical problems andthat she hatedthe dogs in otavalo and she just couldn´tstand being there any longer. She also refused to work there.Everyone usually loves Otavalo, so who knows hwat her dealwas! So, I had to pack everything and say goodbye to people in 3 hours. Igot to the offices, picked up my new comp, Hna Tax, and headedto Otavalo.Because of therain, a 15minute carride to the station took 2 1-2 hours! I was dying! And fromthere 3 hours in bus to Otavalo and here I am! I was understanding everything in my ward becauseI have the hang of Spanish, but now the ward here is indigenous, which means the meetings will be in Quichua. We are taking classes every Wednesday and Saturday to learn the language. Most people can speak both spanish and quichua,but we still needto learn and make the effort to teach in quichua. Sothat should be fun. Lots of people heredress traditionally and everything, which isfunny because they willhave their old traditional clothes, and then be talking on a cell phone,so a weird mix!
Ecua Fact: Ithought I wouldtellyou about some of the food. They eat a ton of rice! Thelin would keep a plastic bag in her backpack and scoop someinto it. My favorite is empanadas and humitas. Empanadas arehuge fried bread things filledwith different things, I like them fillediwth beef. Humitas are a lotlike tomales, but without meat or anything, just a cornand cheese mixture. Then they use all stages of bananna. With Verde, thye double fry itand make patacones or fry it once and cut it thinner to make chifle. With a normal bananna,you make maduro. IT is all good.
Well,I loveyou alland think of you often. Thanks foryour emails of support. Just to let you know, I have anew pday, Saturday, insteadof Monday. Love you!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Drunks and us Yankees
Hello everyone! Thanks for all of the emails of support! I love hearing from you!
Well, this was a fun week, as usual. Lots of people told me everything fun that they did for Easter, well, not a huge holiday here. In church, no one even mentioned it! It´slike it wasn´t a holiday at all. They do celebrate throughout theweek. It´s called Semana Santa, and they go all out on Friday, Good Friday. But yeah, we didn´t doanything special for Easter, sad day. I did make cookie dough because someone gave us choc. chips, so hopefully we will do some baking soon. Good way to celebrate Easter. But like I said, they do celebrate Good Friday, and they have a traditional plate that they only eat around Semana Santa, and I tried in on Friday. It is called Fanesca. It is a soup with about 12 different kinds of grains, and a weird smelling fish. Luckily, my comp doesn´t like fish, so we both got ours without. Before I got it, everyone was like, this soup is crazy, you won´t beable to eat anything for a day or two, it is so heavy, don´t feel bad if you can´t finish (which you always have to finish usually), etc. So I was expecting something extreme. Well, it was good. It was a hearty soup, but they said we would be too tired to work afterward and that we wouldn´t be able to move...they underestimate us gringas! We both finished, and went back to work afterward! It was good, and I might try and get the recipe!
We are teaching two sisters, Juanita and Alejandra, 19 and 8 yrs old. They want to get baptized, but there is always something keeping them from getting to church. Well, we called this week wanting to stop by, and found out their dad died. We stopped by and it just made me so grateful that I could share with them my faith that he is happy. We talked to them about our Heavenly Father´s plan and how as a family, they could be happy together after death. Hna Thelin then said that she knew her father wasn´t hurting anymore (he had been sick), and Juanita looked up and responded, you mean he doesn´t feel pain where he is at? I am so glad that we could have brought her that message of such happiness that could give her more comfort, knowing her father is happy and not hurting anymore.
Now for a funnier note and my subject line. So yesterday we had to meet a couple of elders in our zone to give them some things. So we were outside and it was raining, but then came aguacero, downpour, followed by hail and more rain. Needless to say, we got soaked! We were drenched, even with our umbrellas. So the elders finally come and say that theywant to meet the Pepinos, so we take them to their house. Well, on the way, Thelin and I are already soaked, so we don´t care about getting more wet. So we stand onthe side of the sidewalk, trying to get splashed by the oncoming cars. This turns into a water fight with the elders. It was so fun! We got them soaked and they got us even more wet. I woke up this morning and my shoes are still wet. I took them off and just poured water out of them, that is how wet we were! I will send pics! Way funny! Anyway, at the end, we were saying goodbye to the elders and this drunk passes us. Usually, drunks always hit on us, big time, but this one just yells at us, go home you yankees! The elders we were with were Latin, so they were yelling at us. But I thought it was hilarious! I can now say that someone called me a Yankee! It was funny. On our wayback to the apartment to get clean and changed, we got 15 cat calls and hit ons. Yeah, let me remind you that we were soaked and had makeup running down our faces. Thelin just got so mad that she yelled, we are so ugly right now and we still get hit on! Good times on the mish!
Ecua fact: So, no matter who you are, you always look at the ground while you are walking for 3 reasons: dog poop, gum, and uneven pavement. You can not walk in Ecuador and look up at the same time. You will fall flat on your face, step in poo, or get gum on your shoe, it is just a given. So if you come and visit me, be prepared!
I love you all and miss you and until next time!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
Well, this was a fun week, as usual. Lots of people told me everything fun that they did for Easter, well, not a huge holiday here. In church, no one even mentioned it! It´slike it wasn´t a holiday at all. They do celebrate throughout theweek. It´s called Semana Santa, and they go all out on Friday, Good Friday. But yeah, we didn´t doanything special for Easter, sad day. I did make cookie dough because someone gave us choc. chips, so hopefully we will do some baking soon. Good way to celebrate Easter. But like I said, they do celebrate Good Friday, and they have a traditional plate that they only eat around Semana Santa, and I tried in on Friday. It is called Fanesca. It is a soup with about 12 different kinds of grains, and a weird smelling fish. Luckily, my comp doesn´t like fish, so we both got ours without. Before I got it, everyone was like, this soup is crazy, you won´t beable to eat anything for a day or two, it is so heavy, don´t feel bad if you can´t finish (which you always have to finish usually), etc. So I was expecting something extreme. Well, it was good. It was a hearty soup, but they said we would be too tired to work afterward and that we wouldn´t be able to move...they underestimate us gringas! We both finished, and went back to work afterward! It was good, and I might try and get the recipe!
We are teaching two sisters, Juanita and Alejandra, 19 and 8 yrs old. They want to get baptized, but there is always something keeping them from getting to church. Well, we called this week wanting to stop by, and found out their dad died. We stopped by and it just made me so grateful that I could share with them my faith that he is happy. We talked to them about our Heavenly Father´s plan and how as a family, they could be happy together after death. Hna Thelin then said that she knew her father wasn´t hurting anymore (he had been sick), and Juanita looked up and responded, you mean he doesn´t feel pain where he is at? I am so glad that we could have brought her that message of such happiness that could give her more comfort, knowing her father is happy and not hurting anymore.
Now for a funnier note and my subject line. So yesterday we had to meet a couple of elders in our zone to give them some things. So we were outside and it was raining, but then came aguacero, downpour, followed by hail and more rain. Needless to say, we got soaked! We were drenched, even with our umbrellas. So the elders finally come and say that theywant to meet the Pepinos, so we take them to their house. Well, on the way, Thelin and I are already soaked, so we don´t care about getting more wet. So we stand onthe side of the sidewalk, trying to get splashed by the oncoming cars. This turns into a water fight with the elders. It was so fun! We got them soaked and they got us even more wet. I woke up this morning and my shoes are still wet. I took them off and just poured water out of them, that is how wet we were! I will send pics! Way funny! Anyway, at the end, we were saying goodbye to the elders and this drunk passes us. Usually, drunks always hit on us, big time, but this one just yells at us, go home you yankees! The elders we were with were Latin, so they were yelling at us. But I thought it was hilarious! I can now say that someone called me a Yankee! It was funny. On our wayback to the apartment to get clean and changed, we got 15 cat calls and hit ons. Yeah, let me remind you that we were soaked and had makeup running down our faces. Thelin just got so mad that she yelled, we are so ugly right now and we still get hit on! Good times on the mish!
Ecua fact: So, no matter who you are, you always look at the ground while you are walking for 3 reasons: dog poop, gum, and uneven pavement. You can not walk in Ecuador and look up at the same time. You will fall flat on your face, step in poo, or get gum on your shoe, it is just a given. So if you come and visit me, be prepared!
I love you all and miss you and until next time!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
Monday, March 17, 2008
The goy goy noise
Hello Everyone! So good to hear from you! As always, it has been another busy week in Ecuador. It seems like every day there was something big that had to get done. But, busy is good and it means success!
Let me tell you one thing I love about Ecuador, and this is completely sarcastic, and that is the people that throw parties right outside our window in the alley by our apartment, from about 3am to 8am. Oh my gosh! Both Friday night and Saturday night! Me and my comp were dead from lack of sleep! They blare this music so loud, and it is literally right outside our window! And Saturday night they were all really drunk and started fighting, which I was glad because I thought that would break up the party, but no, it kept going on until we left for church. And we had to speak in church! Again, which I was fine with, but it is hard when you are going off little or almost no sleep for the past two nights! I actually did better on my talk this time then the last time. I got lots of compliments and I feel like my Spanish is really improving. I get compliments a lot on my pronunciation. Now I just want a Latin comp so it can get even better!
To my subject line: The goy goy noise. Some of you might know this noise, in fact most of you probably do. Annie taught me in like elementary school, where you put your fist to your mouth and say girl and comes out sounding funny. I do this to entertain my nephews. Well, people here have never heard it because they would never think to say girl with their fist to their mouth. So my zone heard me doing it and demanded that I do it at the talent show. All of hte missionaries in our zone hosted a stake talent show and we put together a bunch of funny sketches, and they wanted me to do that noise since I can do it to songs. I didn´t think it was that funny to do, but agreed to it and wow, they thought I was the best thing since Bon Jovi! I even got an encore, but here they just say, otra, otra. I was like the only one to get an encore! I did it to two hymns, the Battle Hymn of the Republic and to Choose the Right. Who knew that I could entertain people so much!
Which brings me to my next point. After the talent show, this young woman comes up to me, low 20s, and just says hi. She is holding this really small baby and introduced herself. I had no idea who she was, but she just wanted to know me! She went to another ward, her entire family are members, but her husband wasn´t and our zone was having a Noche Blanca, where lots of people in the stake get baptized on one night. Well, she told me her husband was getting baptized first that night. She was just opening up to me about all sorts of things. I had to get going, so I told her I would see her the next night at the Noche Blanca and how excited I was for her and her husband. So the next night, as soon as she sees me, she comes up to me, wants me to meet her husband, has me hold her baby, everything! When the program was about to start, she handed me a necklace and told me she wanted me to have it. I had only met her the night before and she loves me! I have no idea what I did to deserve it! She had me take a picture with her and her family before the baptism and everything! She was so excited for her husband, and she cried when he was baptized. It´s like I just know that this family is so strong! They are amazing! Even though she is not in our sector, we are going to try to get permission to visit her.
Which brings me to Daniela, one of our investigators. She is 23 and has been investigating for about 6 months, maybe more. She wants to get baptized in about two weeks. But yeah, she came to church on Sunday and just opened up to me about everything in her life. I told Thelin later and she was shocked because she never told her any of those things. She is going through a divorce, her husband is basically a creep, and her family is against her being baptized. She then bore her testiimony to me, saying that with all of that, she still wants to be baptized because she knows it is true. She knows it is a good way to bring up her three young kids too. She is strong and always wants to learn more. It´s just crazy because it feels like this past week, people have been opening up to me in a whole new way that I didn´t think was possible. It makes me love this work even more!
Ecua fact of the week: Here in Ecuador, like most Latin countries, when you greet people, you give them a kiss on the cheek. I got used to that when I was in Mexico. However, you are supposed to do that with everyone, men or women. Well, as missionaries, it is against the rules for sister missionaries to do that to men. This has created some akward moments when men who are not members and we meet them for the first time, they always go to give us the usual, kiss on the cheek. Most of the time you can get out of it by sticking out your hand real fast, but other times they shake your hand and at the same time kiss your cheek, so then as a missionary you just feel awkward after knowing you just let that happen. So yeah, good times!
I hope all is well with everyone at home! I loveyou all and think of you often. Until next week!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
Let me tell you one thing I love about Ecuador, and this is completely sarcastic, and that is the people that throw parties right outside our window in the alley by our apartment, from about 3am to 8am. Oh my gosh! Both Friday night and Saturday night! Me and my comp were dead from lack of sleep! They blare this music so loud, and it is literally right outside our window! And Saturday night they were all really drunk and started fighting, which I was glad because I thought that would break up the party, but no, it kept going on until we left for church. And we had to speak in church! Again, which I was fine with, but it is hard when you are going off little or almost no sleep for the past two nights! I actually did better on my talk this time then the last time. I got lots of compliments and I feel like my Spanish is really improving. I get compliments a lot on my pronunciation. Now I just want a Latin comp so it can get even better!
To my subject line: The goy goy noise. Some of you might know this noise, in fact most of you probably do. Annie taught me in like elementary school, where you put your fist to your mouth and say girl and comes out sounding funny. I do this to entertain my nephews. Well, people here have never heard it because they would never think to say girl with their fist to their mouth. So my zone heard me doing it and demanded that I do it at the talent show. All of hte missionaries in our zone hosted a stake talent show and we put together a bunch of funny sketches, and they wanted me to do that noise since I can do it to songs. I didn´t think it was that funny to do, but agreed to it and wow, they thought I was the best thing since Bon Jovi! I even got an encore, but here they just say, otra, otra. I was like the only one to get an encore! I did it to two hymns, the Battle Hymn of the Republic and to Choose the Right. Who knew that I could entertain people so much!
Which brings me to my next point. After the talent show, this young woman comes up to me, low 20s, and just says hi. She is holding this really small baby and introduced herself. I had no idea who she was, but she just wanted to know me! She went to another ward, her entire family are members, but her husband wasn´t and our zone was having a Noche Blanca, where lots of people in the stake get baptized on one night. Well, she told me her husband was getting baptized first that night. She was just opening up to me about all sorts of things. I had to get going, so I told her I would see her the next night at the Noche Blanca and how excited I was for her and her husband. So the next night, as soon as she sees me, she comes up to me, wants me to meet her husband, has me hold her baby, everything! When the program was about to start, she handed me a necklace and told me she wanted me to have it. I had only met her the night before and she loves me! I have no idea what I did to deserve it! She had me take a picture with her and her family before the baptism and everything! She was so excited for her husband, and she cried when he was baptized. It´s like I just know that this family is so strong! They are amazing! Even though she is not in our sector, we are going to try to get permission to visit her.
Which brings me to Daniela, one of our investigators. She is 23 and has been investigating for about 6 months, maybe more. She wants to get baptized in about two weeks. But yeah, she came to church on Sunday and just opened up to me about everything in her life. I told Thelin later and she was shocked because she never told her any of those things. She is going through a divorce, her husband is basically a creep, and her family is against her being baptized. She then bore her testiimony to me, saying that with all of that, she still wants to be baptized because she knows it is true. She knows it is a good way to bring up her three young kids too. She is strong and always wants to learn more. It´s just crazy because it feels like this past week, people have been opening up to me in a whole new way that I didn´t think was possible. It makes me love this work even more!
Ecua fact of the week: Here in Ecuador, like most Latin countries, when you greet people, you give them a kiss on the cheek. I got used to that when I was in Mexico. However, you are supposed to do that with everyone, men or women. Well, as missionaries, it is against the rules for sister missionaries to do that to men. This has created some akward moments when men who are not members and we meet them for the first time, they always go to give us the usual, kiss on the cheek. Most of the time you can get out of it by sticking out your hand real fast, but other times they shake your hand and at the same time kiss your cheek, so then as a missionary you just feel awkward after knowing you just let that happen. So yeah, good times!
I hope all is well with everyone at home! I loveyou all and think of you often. Until next week!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
Monday, March 3, 2008
Rain rain go away
Hello friends! Thanks for all of the fun emails! Like always, everyone is doing well and I love to hear that!
Well, lots of you were very curious to know what happened this weekend with the Lovato family...They got baptized! Well, at least Jeanette and Denise, the mother and the 11 yr old. It was so beautiful too! I will send pics! But yes, so the baptism was Sunday at 3pm. Jeanette got there early with her family to do the interview and while she was there, we got to talk to Denise. A little history, Michelle, the 15 yr old, has been a terror for us! She is such a rebel and is causing her family so much heartache. We were talking to Denise about baptism a couple of weeks ago and she was so excited. Then Michelle walked in, and Denise said she didn´t know if she really wanted to. All because of Michelle! So when she was at the baptism, we didn´t know if she still wanted to. She was really hesitant and just didn´t know. Then, another missionary, Elder Cayambe, asked us if he could talk to her. We told him to go for it, and about 45 minutes later, they came out of the room, and it was the old Denise again, wanting to get baptized with her mom. She was so happy! Little did we know, she had brought extra clothes with her the whole time preparing on getting wet, like she knew deep down the whole time that she was going to get baptized. It was also great because her dad got to baptize her. He was so nervous because he had never done it before and had been inactive for so long, but he just advanced in the priesthood and was excited to start using his priesthood after 30 years of not having it! They had to do Denise about 5 times because he couldn´t ever get her under the water competely, always something out. I felt bad because the water was so cold! Then Hno Lovato (Carlos), his brother baptized Jeanette. They were so happy and oh, the feelings that I felt! It´s like I could see into their future and could see the change that this was going to bring for this family. Oh, and before the baptism, our DL, Elder Vinces, asked if he could talk to Michelle. They were together for like 30 minutes, and afterward he said what a good person she was and that he knew someday she would be baptized. I know she is a good person, she just has so much hatred stored up. We are working on just establishing a good relationship with her. We taught her and her so nice friend, Rosaura, and this week we have a fun day planned with them, like doing their makeup and hair. We just want to establish some sort of friendship, try and make things better. After the baptism, we went to their house with their extended family and had so much fun. You seriously could see the difference that it already made in their lives.
Which brings me to my next point. I never realized how lonely people are. It has to be the same in the states. This past week, we visited Jeantte before the baptism, and she just broke down and cried, talking about how lonely she felt all the time. She has a day care, so all day she is alone, with like five kids, and she feels so alone. She said that hte only time she feels peace is when she would study the Book of Mormon or other material we gave her. We told her more about how that was the Holy Ghost and how she could have him with her forever after her baptism, and after that she was all the more eager to be baptized! But this lonliness is such a problem. We have two other investigators, Juanita Luzpa and Daniela Velez, both of whom are always so eager to have us over and talk because they are so lonely. That is what I love about the church. It is another family. You have so many people to rely on and so many friendships to build. And if you do what is right, you have the Holy Ghost with you, making you never alone. I love that feeling! If you feel like someone needs some special attention, give it to them. Everyone needs a frined.
Now to my subject line. So this week has been EXTREMELY SLOW. We could not get a ton of work done because of storms! For like, two days straight we were inside because of storms. We get done with our studies about 10:30, work until 1, eat at someone´s house for an hour, and by then, it is pouring rain and lightning and thunder, all within a mile or two. Your umbrella turns into a lightning rod. So, we were stuck inside all day, two days. We can go out when it is raining, but when it gets too hard or when you have the added pleasure of lightning, hail, and thunder, it is a rule to stay inside. Right now we are in the rainy season, until about May. That means from about 2 o´clock on, we are game for storms and rain. My umbrella is my best friend and I am loving the full length rain coat I was smart enough to get before I came! Yay for me!
Now an Ecua fact: I get hit on at least 20 to 30 times a day, no exaggeration. It can be any of the following: Mi reina, mi novia, mi preciosa, marry me, anything. Whistles are popular, and oh, when they are in their car, they will honk, but if they are with their wife, they will flash their lights at us. Even if I fell flat on my face, I will get hit on. It´s funny, because that is really just their culture. I know I get it more because I am white and stand out, but when we were wtiht he three stooges last week, they would do it to other girls. Me and Thelin got so mad and yelled at them, like show some respect, and you´re practicing on becoming a missionary for crying out loud, but they just laughed and kept doing it. So yeah, it gets pretty funny. People usually say, you´re beautiful, and Thelin will turn around and say, yeah, I know. It´s great, we try and make it fun.
So that is it for this week. Thanks for your continuous support and prayers, I need them and it feels great to have so many loved ones! Till next week!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
Well, lots of you were very curious to know what happened this weekend with the Lovato family...They got baptized! Well, at least Jeanette and Denise, the mother and the 11 yr old. It was so beautiful too! I will send pics! But yes, so the baptism was Sunday at 3pm. Jeanette got there early with her family to do the interview and while she was there, we got to talk to Denise. A little history, Michelle, the 15 yr old, has been a terror for us! She is such a rebel and is causing her family so much heartache. We were talking to Denise about baptism a couple of weeks ago and she was so excited. Then Michelle walked in, and Denise said she didn´t know if she really wanted to. All because of Michelle! So when she was at the baptism, we didn´t know if she still wanted to. She was really hesitant and just didn´t know. Then, another missionary, Elder Cayambe, asked us if he could talk to her. We told him to go for it, and about 45 minutes later, they came out of the room, and it was the old Denise again, wanting to get baptized with her mom. She was so happy! Little did we know, she had brought extra clothes with her the whole time preparing on getting wet, like she knew deep down the whole time that she was going to get baptized. It was also great because her dad got to baptize her. He was so nervous because he had never done it before and had been inactive for so long, but he just advanced in the priesthood and was excited to start using his priesthood after 30 years of not having it! They had to do Denise about 5 times because he couldn´t ever get her under the water competely, always something out. I felt bad because the water was so cold! Then Hno Lovato (Carlos), his brother baptized Jeanette. They were so happy and oh, the feelings that I felt! It´s like I could see into their future and could see the change that this was going to bring for this family. Oh, and before the baptism, our DL, Elder Vinces, asked if he could talk to Michelle. They were together for like 30 minutes, and afterward he said what a good person she was and that he knew someday she would be baptized. I know she is a good person, she just has so much hatred stored up. We are working on just establishing a good relationship with her. We taught her and her so nice friend, Rosaura, and this week we have a fun day planned with them, like doing their makeup and hair. We just want to establish some sort of friendship, try and make things better. After the baptism, we went to their house with their extended family and had so much fun. You seriously could see the difference that it already made in their lives.
Which brings me to my next point. I never realized how lonely people are. It has to be the same in the states. This past week, we visited Jeantte before the baptism, and she just broke down and cried, talking about how lonely she felt all the time. She has a day care, so all day she is alone, with like five kids, and she feels so alone. She said that hte only time she feels peace is when she would study the Book of Mormon or other material we gave her. We told her more about how that was the Holy Ghost and how she could have him with her forever after her baptism, and after that she was all the more eager to be baptized! But this lonliness is such a problem. We have two other investigators, Juanita Luzpa and Daniela Velez, both of whom are always so eager to have us over and talk because they are so lonely. That is what I love about the church. It is another family. You have so many people to rely on and so many friendships to build. And if you do what is right, you have the Holy Ghost with you, making you never alone. I love that feeling! If you feel like someone needs some special attention, give it to them. Everyone needs a frined.
Now to my subject line. So this week has been EXTREMELY SLOW. We could not get a ton of work done because of storms! For like, two days straight we were inside because of storms. We get done with our studies about 10:30, work until 1, eat at someone´s house for an hour, and by then, it is pouring rain and lightning and thunder, all within a mile or two. Your umbrella turns into a lightning rod. So, we were stuck inside all day, two days. We can go out when it is raining, but when it gets too hard or when you have the added pleasure of lightning, hail, and thunder, it is a rule to stay inside. Right now we are in the rainy season, until about May. That means from about 2 o´clock on, we are game for storms and rain. My umbrella is my best friend and I am loving the full length rain coat I was smart enough to get before I came! Yay for me!
Now an Ecua fact: I get hit on at least 20 to 30 times a day, no exaggeration. It can be any of the following: Mi reina, mi novia, mi preciosa, marry me, anything. Whistles are popular, and oh, when they are in their car, they will honk, but if they are with their wife, they will flash their lights at us. Even if I fell flat on my face, I will get hit on. It´s funny, because that is really just their culture. I know I get it more because I am white and stand out, but when we were wtiht he three stooges last week, they would do it to other girls. Me and Thelin got so mad and yelled at them, like show some respect, and you´re practicing on becoming a missionary for crying out loud, but they just laughed and kept doing it. So yeah, it gets pretty funny. People usually say, you´re beautiful, and Thelin will turn around and say, yeah, I know. It´s great, we try and make it fun.
So that is it for this week. Thanks for your continuous support and prayers, I need them and it feels great to have so many loved ones! Till next week!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
Monday, February 25, 2008
The Three Stooges
Hello everyone! Another week has come and gone, and it was a great one! Me and Thelin worked extra hard and it feels so good! We have the highest numbers in our zone like every week. I am so happy that I have a comp that likes to work! Before I forget, with regards to recipes, there are two things that I can think of that they don´t have here: sour cream, and chocolate chips. So, any recipies without those would be MUCH appreciated!
So, this week since we worked real hard, we got permission to go to Mitad del Mundo with the Pepinos and their niece, who we are teaching. It was so much fun and they are like a second family for us. I can now say that I have been in two, is it hemispheres?, at once! How many of you can say that! Latitude equals 0! I´ll try and send some pics! So that was so much fun. We haven´t had any problems with our apartment since creepy man, bt we are still trying to move. Our ward is so worried about us and keep bugging us to move, but the office couple in charge of that is swamped! So, we are waiting patiently.
Also, we didnt´have the baptism with the Lovato family. Carlos, the dad, really wanted his brother to be there for it since they are the ones that introduced them to the church and his brother was out of town that weekend on business. So, for sure it should be this Satuday and 10 am. I am so excited. This family has made such the change! Carlos was already a member, just inactive for 30 years. So last week he advanced in the priesthood and now he´ll be able to baptize his wife and children. He is so happy and excited about his new duties as a priesthood holder. Jeanet, the mom, is just plain happier. She can´t stop smiling and she talks and acts like she has been a member her entire life! This family is so ready!
Every Sunday we eat lunch with the Rojas family. Once we were sick and couldn´t go, and I guess that was the first time in like, 15 years taht the missionaries didn´t eat at their house! They love the missionaries. They are such a fun family and I love hanging out with them and talking with them. Hno Rojas is in the bishopric, just such a wonderful family! Well, after lunch they were getting after us because we hadn´t shown them pics of our family, so we told them we would return that night and show them. It was so fun! They gave us a stack to look through of their family and they loved seeing ours. Well, Hno Rojas got to talking to me, and it kind of turned into an interview. When he saw that my sister was married to an African, he was like, so your family has no problem with that? I was like, of course not! He then responded, good, you can marry someone in Ecuador! I just laughed and he was like, what´s wrong with that. I said I am taller than most of the people here. He was shocked that I wanted someone taller than me. He didn´t get it. He kept tellingme that my kids would be huge then, and I told him my other sister is taller than me, and her husband taller than her. He was again shocked. He continued to kind of interview me, figure out my values and such, and I think he will try to hook me up with one of his sons after the mish. I just laugh it off. He is hilarious!
Now to my subject line. The three stooges. There are three young men in our ward, Jorge (Rojas son), Elvis, and Andres, like age 19 to 21, who are waiting for their mission calls, so we decided to give them a little practice this past Saturday. We took them with us out contacting and teaching lessons. They are so immature and funny! Something you have to realize is that people here are very touchy feely, even guys with guys, so they had their arms around each other the whole time just commenting on everything we were doing, cracking jokes, pulling pranks on us, the whole bit. Well, we decided it was their turn. We gave them the papers that we hand out, and said, your turn to teach and contact. Dear in the headlights! They were like, what do we do? How do we do it! They were terrified at first and were like, why are you making us do this. It was great. But as soon as they talked to their first person, they got real comfortable with it and you could just tell that they felt good about it. They want to go work with us every Saturday now! They made working hilarious, so I am looking forward to it!
We also had an Enrichment activity for Relief Society this week, and that was funny. It was just funny to compare to the ones at home. It had two parts, cooking a dessert and making a craft. The dessert was good, but the craft! It was like one of those really frilly ribbon heart frames that you find in like, old fokes homes. They went crazy over it too! Everyone got so excited! I´m telling you, this country needs TLC or HDtv. No one knows how to decorate! So funny! Anyway, one of our investigators went, Daniela Velez. She was one of Thelin´s old investigators and is starting to get really interested again. She loved talking to me! She just talked my ear off and it was really good to get to know her better.
Last but not least, your Ecuador culture fact for the week. Men here call their spouses, woman. When they talk to us, they say, my woman this, and at first I was like, that is so weird because in the states, that is offensive! Well, I was readng in Jesus the Christ and it was talking about how Christ calls His mother Woman twice when she talks to Him, once at the party at Cana and when He was on the cross. Well, it turns out that in the culture then, calling a female Woman was one of the highest forms of respect and love. So that made me kind of like the fact that they use that here in Ecuador. Crazy!
Well, thanks to all for your continuous support! I love your emails and letters, and it is so fun to get. Hope all is well and until next week!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
So, this week since we worked real hard, we got permission to go to Mitad del Mundo with the Pepinos and their niece, who we are teaching. It was so much fun and they are like a second family for us. I can now say that I have been in two, is it hemispheres?, at once! How many of you can say that! Latitude equals 0! I´ll try and send some pics! So that was so much fun. We haven´t had any problems with our apartment since creepy man, bt we are still trying to move. Our ward is so worried about us and keep bugging us to move, but the office couple in charge of that is swamped! So, we are waiting patiently.
Also, we didnt´have the baptism with the Lovato family. Carlos, the dad, really wanted his brother to be there for it since they are the ones that introduced them to the church and his brother was out of town that weekend on business. So, for sure it should be this Satuday and 10 am. I am so excited. This family has made such the change! Carlos was already a member, just inactive for 30 years. So last week he advanced in the priesthood and now he´ll be able to baptize his wife and children. He is so happy and excited about his new duties as a priesthood holder. Jeanet, the mom, is just plain happier. She can´t stop smiling and she talks and acts like she has been a member her entire life! This family is so ready!
Every Sunday we eat lunch with the Rojas family. Once we were sick and couldn´t go, and I guess that was the first time in like, 15 years taht the missionaries didn´t eat at their house! They love the missionaries. They are such a fun family and I love hanging out with them and talking with them. Hno Rojas is in the bishopric, just such a wonderful family! Well, after lunch they were getting after us because we hadn´t shown them pics of our family, so we told them we would return that night and show them. It was so fun! They gave us a stack to look through of their family and they loved seeing ours. Well, Hno Rojas got to talking to me, and it kind of turned into an interview. When he saw that my sister was married to an African, he was like, so your family has no problem with that? I was like, of course not! He then responded, good, you can marry someone in Ecuador! I just laughed and he was like, what´s wrong with that. I said I am taller than most of the people here. He was shocked that I wanted someone taller than me. He didn´t get it. He kept tellingme that my kids would be huge then, and I told him my other sister is taller than me, and her husband taller than her. He was again shocked. He continued to kind of interview me, figure out my values and such, and I think he will try to hook me up with one of his sons after the mish. I just laugh it off. He is hilarious!
Now to my subject line. The three stooges. There are three young men in our ward, Jorge (Rojas son), Elvis, and Andres, like age 19 to 21, who are waiting for their mission calls, so we decided to give them a little practice this past Saturday. We took them with us out contacting and teaching lessons. They are so immature and funny! Something you have to realize is that people here are very touchy feely, even guys with guys, so they had their arms around each other the whole time just commenting on everything we were doing, cracking jokes, pulling pranks on us, the whole bit. Well, we decided it was their turn. We gave them the papers that we hand out, and said, your turn to teach and contact. Dear in the headlights! They were like, what do we do? How do we do it! They were terrified at first and were like, why are you making us do this. It was great. But as soon as they talked to their first person, they got real comfortable with it and you could just tell that they felt good about it. They want to go work with us every Saturday now! They made working hilarious, so I am looking forward to it!
We also had an Enrichment activity for Relief Society this week, and that was funny. It was just funny to compare to the ones at home. It had two parts, cooking a dessert and making a craft. The dessert was good, but the craft! It was like one of those really frilly ribbon heart frames that you find in like, old fokes homes. They went crazy over it too! Everyone got so excited! I´m telling you, this country needs TLC or HDtv. No one knows how to decorate! So funny! Anyway, one of our investigators went, Daniela Velez. She was one of Thelin´s old investigators and is starting to get really interested again. She loved talking to me! She just talked my ear off and it was really good to get to know her better.
Last but not least, your Ecuador culture fact for the week. Men here call their spouses, woman. When they talk to us, they say, my woman this, and at first I was like, that is so weird because in the states, that is offensive! Well, I was readng in Jesus the Christ and it was talking about how Christ calls His mother Woman twice when she talks to Him, once at the party at Cana and when He was on the cross. Well, it turns out that in the culture then, calling a female Woman was one of the highest forms of respect and love. So that made me kind of like the fact that they use that here in Ecuador. Crazy!
Well, thanks to all for your continuous support! I love your emails and letters, and it is so fun to get. Hope all is well and until next week!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
Monday, February 11, 2008
Bichos anyone?
Hello everyone! Thanks for all of the support via email! You guys are so great and it sounds like everyone is doing well. Just to let you all know, a lot of you were concerned, we are fine as far as creepy men in our apartment go. The more we talk to different people, the more we think that our phone line got crossed somehow. Noone could have had copies of our keys and we are too far up for window entries. We haven´t had any problems since, so I really think we are safe and good. Our District leader is filling out a form anyway to send to the offices, telling them that they need to move us into the Pepinos house, so we will see what happens.
Now to the fun part, my subject line. I have bichos. aka, parasites. It is so fun! Can you catch the sarcasm? So we ate at the Lovato families house on Saturday, and immediately afterward, me and Larson felt so sick. Pretty much we had to stay somewhere with a toilet near by for the rest of the day and for all day Sunday too. I did manage to go to church, just with lots of breaks in between. It was real bad yesterday, but I am feeling pretty good today. Thelin says that I still have them, don´t be fooled, so I am taking a test tomorrow so I can get the pills and officially get rid of them. It´s like yesterday, my stomach would move and make the most noise I ever heard it make before, and about 15 minutes after that I would explode! It sucked, but now I can say that I´ve had bichos! Yay! I was thinking, Larsen names her bichos, so I thought we could have a name contest for mine. Email me your ideas, and I´ll let you know who wins!
Lots of you asked about the progress of the Lovato family. They were supposed to get baptized this past weekend, but the mother, Jeanet, wants her brother here for it and he lives on the coast, so now it is this Sunday right after church. They are an amazing family and love to talk to us. They come to church every Sunday and love it! They are so amazing, and I will try to remember to grab a picture of them so I can send it next week. They are so stong and really are excited about learning more and progressing. Their favorite topic is faith. They can talk forever too. We have learned to schedule them as our last cita for the day because if we schedule something after them, we never make it on time because they always talk to us forever, they just love us!
There is also our English class every Saturday, and it is coming along slowly. We give out so many fliers for it, and just not that many people show up. However, without fail, every Saturday this 8 yr old girl comes, named Alejandra, and each week she brings more friend. She isn´t a member of the church, but we have been teaching her and her older sisters, Juanita and Mariana. She is a doll though and loves us so much. It was funny because she came to class this past week wtih a beanie on her head, and she comes up to me and hugs me, whispers in my ear, want to know a secret? I was like, sure. She scooched her beanie back and she had shaved her head! I was like, Alejandra! Why did you do that! She shrugged and was like, there was too much of it! She is so funny and so cute!
Also, changes are tomorrow night, well, we get the call anyway and Wednesday everyone does the changing. Changes mean that missionaries could be transferred to new areas, they could be training, they could get new comps, etc. I just hope that we stay the same, me and Thelin in the same area. We are really good together and have more we need to do together. Usually they keep the trainers together wtih the newbie for at least two changes, so I am crossing my fingers, but Thelin has a feeling she is leaving. We do have 11 new hermanas coming to the mish this change, and only one of them is a gringa! It´s so crazy!
So that is pretty much my life! Nothing too exciting since the last time I wrote, but I´m sure that more will happen this week by the time I write next! Oh, and if anyone has any good stovetop only recipes, send them my way. Oh, and preferably without a lot of rice. No, I´m not sick of it yet, but everyone tells me taht I will get sick of it soon enough, and I just want to prolong that from happening. It would be greatly appreciated! I hope all is well and I love you all and until next week!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
Now to the fun part, my subject line. I have bichos. aka, parasites. It is so fun! Can you catch the sarcasm? So we ate at the Lovato families house on Saturday, and immediately afterward, me and Larson felt so sick. Pretty much we had to stay somewhere with a toilet near by for the rest of the day and for all day Sunday too. I did manage to go to church, just with lots of breaks in between. It was real bad yesterday, but I am feeling pretty good today. Thelin says that I still have them, don´t be fooled, so I am taking a test tomorrow so I can get the pills and officially get rid of them. It´s like yesterday, my stomach would move and make the most noise I ever heard it make before, and about 15 minutes after that I would explode! It sucked, but now I can say that I´ve had bichos! Yay! I was thinking, Larsen names her bichos, so I thought we could have a name contest for mine. Email me your ideas, and I´ll let you know who wins!
Lots of you asked about the progress of the Lovato family. They were supposed to get baptized this past weekend, but the mother, Jeanet, wants her brother here for it and he lives on the coast, so now it is this Sunday right after church. They are an amazing family and love to talk to us. They come to church every Sunday and love it! They are so amazing, and I will try to remember to grab a picture of them so I can send it next week. They are so stong and really are excited about learning more and progressing. Their favorite topic is faith. They can talk forever too. We have learned to schedule them as our last cita for the day because if we schedule something after them, we never make it on time because they always talk to us forever, they just love us!
There is also our English class every Saturday, and it is coming along slowly. We give out so many fliers for it, and just not that many people show up. However, without fail, every Saturday this 8 yr old girl comes, named Alejandra, and each week she brings more friend. She isn´t a member of the church, but we have been teaching her and her older sisters, Juanita and Mariana. She is a doll though and loves us so much. It was funny because she came to class this past week wtih a beanie on her head, and she comes up to me and hugs me, whispers in my ear, want to know a secret? I was like, sure. She scooched her beanie back and she had shaved her head! I was like, Alejandra! Why did you do that! She shrugged and was like, there was too much of it! She is so funny and so cute!
Also, changes are tomorrow night, well, we get the call anyway and Wednesday everyone does the changing. Changes mean that missionaries could be transferred to new areas, they could be training, they could get new comps, etc. I just hope that we stay the same, me and Thelin in the same area. We are really good together and have more we need to do together. Usually they keep the trainers together wtih the newbie for at least two changes, so I am crossing my fingers, but Thelin has a feeling she is leaving. We do have 11 new hermanas coming to the mish this change, and only one of them is a gringa! It´s so crazy!
So that is pretty much my life! Nothing too exciting since the last time I wrote, but I´m sure that more will happen this week by the time I write next! Oh, and if anyone has any good stovetop only recipes, send them my way. Oh, and preferably without a lot of rice. No, I´m not sick of it yet, but everyone tells me taht I will get sick of it soon enough, and I just want to prolong that from happening. It would be greatly appreciated! I hope all is well and I love you all and until next week!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Strange things are afoot....
Hello everyone! As always, thanks for all of the news and updates! I love hearing from you and about what is going on in your lives!
I guess I´ll start out with my subject line. So, we have had a weird last couple of days. We were locked in on Monday and Tuesday because of Carnival, but we knew that so that´s not a huge deal. However, we had to travel about an hour into Quito to visit two other hermanas, Hna Larson and Hna Merback. Merback´s parents were coming in because she is done with her mission, so we had to pick up Larson to take her back with us to our area, so she´s not alone. Well, when we got home, we had like, 15 missed calls, which is unusual for us. We called our DL back, who called us the most, and he was like, where were you. We had told him earlier that day, and reminded him, and he was like, but you just got home? We were like, yeah, like a minute ago. He was acting weird and said he would callus right back. When he did, he said he was extremely worried not because he had kept calling us throughout the evening, and twice a man had answered the phone. Let me tell you, that is impossible! Me and Thelin are the only ones with the keys to the TWO locks, not even our landlord has copies because hte mission put these locks in special. Anyway, when the man answered, this caught our DL by surprise, and he asked if the hermanas were there. He responded that they weren´t home yet, but they were coming back later. I mean, if it was a wrong number, wouldn´t they just say so? I guess earlier that day a member called us and the same thing happened, this man answered the phone. I really don´t think there was someone there though, because they didn´t take anything and everything was exactly as we left it. We live on the 2nd level, so it would be hard to climb in through the windows. I just don´t understand what happened. We don´t have a land line for our phone, it is a cell that stays only in the house. It´s like a cell phone, but you keep it plugged in. So anyway, everyone was freaked out for us! Two of our ward missionaries and a member of the bishopric were over at our house like ten minutes after we got home because they were so scared for us and heard waht happened. Hno Rojas, the man from the bishopric, chewed out our landlord and was yelling at him, what kind of security do you even offer here,that kind of thing. So, since everyone was so scared for us, they made us go back into main quito and stay with the mission nurse. She has a really nice apartment, with carpet and everything! Talk about nice! Then last night we stayed at Hna Larson´s apartment in Cotocollao, and tonight we are returning to our place. People from the mission office are coming this week to check things out, and at the same time we are going to take them to see the Pepinos´s house, because this just makes us want to live with them more! It would be safer! Anyway, we still don´t know how anyone could have been in our apartment, no one has access to keys, the windows are too hard, and what, just to answer the phone? Like I said, crazy last few days!
Other than that, things are going well here. Thelin is just getting over everything, and now that carnival is pretty much over, we are safe to go out! I got hit by two water balloons this week, and by members! I would be fine if it was just water, but dothey really have to add dirt to the balloons? It´s just gross to be in for the rest of the day! In other places, like Ambato, they throw flowers and it is actually supposed to be very beautiful. Too bad I couldn´t be there! If you haven´t heard, the volcano became slightly active this past week. It wasnt much, but they still moved the missionaries, just incase it turns into something big. I really want to go there sometime in my mission, because it is supposed to be the most beautiful part of the mission.
So every 6 weeks, we have changes, where we change sectors or areas, or our comp changes sectors. Everyone thinks Thelin is leaving, but I really hope she doesn´t. I feel like I have so much more to learn from her! We have so much fun, but get a lot done too. So cross your fingers that she stays! Some ask how many latins there are for comps and how many gringas. Well, there aren´t a whole lot of hermanas to begin with, but even fewer gringas. It was a miracle that I had Thelin to begin with! She was the last one that came in, and that was 11 months ago. Three are leaving next week, so I think that leaves 5, and they will all be gone by July. There are very few coming in too. One comes in this Wednesday, and my dad said one from our stake will be coming in the change after that. So most likely, I´ll have a ton of latin comps, which will be good for my Spanish!
Speaking of my Spanish, it is going quite well. People understand me, I participate in our lessons, and all of the missionaries here, especially the gringos, are shocked that I know so much and I just got here. that makes me feel good. My pres said that I know more than any other american that came into the mish. I guess it can only get better from here, so I just need to keep practicing!
And lastly, we have a baptism either this Saturday or Sunday. It is family, I can´t remember if I talked about them, but they are the Lovato family. The dad is a member and has been inactive for 20 years. His wife and two daughters are investigating the church and he is so happy to have the church back in his life. He has such a solid testimony already. He and his fam had been going from church to church looking for something, and when a family invited them to our church, they went and he said he was so excited because he knew he found it. He said something had been missing for so long, and as soon as he went to church, he felt it and knew and it made him so happy. He just wanted the same for his family. So Jeanette, the wife, Michele, 15, and Denise, 11, are getting baptized this week. It has been only like, 3 weeks, but they want it so bad. I love this family! They are incredible!
Well, thanks for all of your letters of support. They really are that, support. I did see the funeral services of our prophet and the calling of our new prophet. Pres. Hinckley was my prophet. I grew up with him. At the same time, he was the prophet for most of my ward here. So many of them are converts, and he is all they know. I love this church and am happy that I can share this with others. This gospel makes me happier than I ever thought possible, and I want to share that with others. Thanks again for your emails and I love you tons!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
I guess I´ll start out with my subject line. So, we have had a weird last couple of days. We were locked in on Monday and Tuesday because of Carnival, but we knew that so that´s not a huge deal. However, we had to travel about an hour into Quito to visit two other hermanas, Hna Larson and Hna Merback. Merback´s parents were coming in because she is done with her mission, so we had to pick up Larson to take her back with us to our area, so she´s not alone. Well, when we got home, we had like, 15 missed calls, which is unusual for us. We called our DL back, who called us the most, and he was like, where were you. We had told him earlier that day, and reminded him, and he was like, but you just got home? We were like, yeah, like a minute ago. He was acting weird and said he would callus right back. When he did, he said he was extremely worried not because he had kept calling us throughout the evening, and twice a man had answered the phone. Let me tell you, that is impossible! Me and Thelin are the only ones with the keys to the TWO locks, not even our landlord has copies because hte mission put these locks in special. Anyway, when the man answered, this caught our DL by surprise, and he asked if the hermanas were there. He responded that they weren´t home yet, but they were coming back later. I mean, if it was a wrong number, wouldn´t they just say so? I guess earlier that day a member called us and the same thing happened, this man answered the phone. I really don´t think there was someone there though, because they didn´t take anything and everything was exactly as we left it. We live on the 2nd level, so it would be hard to climb in through the windows. I just don´t understand what happened. We don´t have a land line for our phone, it is a cell that stays only in the house. It´s like a cell phone, but you keep it plugged in. So anyway, everyone was freaked out for us! Two of our ward missionaries and a member of the bishopric were over at our house like ten minutes after we got home because they were so scared for us and heard waht happened. Hno Rojas, the man from the bishopric, chewed out our landlord and was yelling at him, what kind of security do you even offer here,that kind of thing. So, since everyone was so scared for us, they made us go back into main quito and stay with the mission nurse. She has a really nice apartment, with carpet and everything! Talk about nice! Then last night we stayed at Hna Larson´s apartment in Cotocollao, and tonight we are returning to our place. People from the mission office are coming this week to check things out, and at the same time we are going to take them to see the Pepinos´s house, because this just makes us want to live with them more! It would be safer! Anyway, we still don´t know how anyone could have been in our apartment, no one has access to keys, the windows are too hard, and what, just to answer the phone? Like I said, crazy last few days!
Other than that, things are going well here. Thelin is just getting over everything, and now that carnival is pretty much over, we are safe to go out! I got hit by two water balloons this week, and by members! I would be fine if it was just water, but dothey really have to add dirt to the balloons? It´s just gross to be in for the rest of the day! In other places, like Ambato, they throw flowers and it is actually supposed to be very beautiful. Too bad I couldn´t be there! If you haven´t heard, the volcano became slightly active this past week. It wasnt much, but they still moved the missionaries, just incase it turns into something big. I really want to go there sometime in my mission, because it is supposed to be the most beautiful part of the mission.
So every 6 weeks, we have changes, where we change sectors or areas, or our comp changes sectors. Everyone thinks Thelin is leaving, but I really hope she doesn´t. I feel like I have so much more to learn from her! We have so much fun, but get a lot done too. So cross your fingers that she stays! Some ask how many latins there are for comps and how many gringas. Well, there aren´t a whole lot of hermanas to begin with, but even fewer gringas. It was a miracle that I had Thelin to begin with! She was the last one that came in, and that was 11 months ago. Three are leaving next week, so I think that leaves 5, and they will all be gone by July. There are very few coming in too. One comes in this Wednesday, and my dad said one from our stake will be coming in the change after that. So most likely, I´ll have a ton of latin comps, which will be good for my Spanish!
Speaking of my Spanish, it is going quite well. People understand me, I participate in our lessons, and all of the missionaries here, especially the gringos, are shocked that I know so much and I just got here. that makes me feel good. My pres said that I know more than any other american that came into the mish. I guess it can only get better from here, so I just need to keep practicing!
And lastly, we have a baptism either this Saturday or Sunday. It is family, I can´t remember if I talked about them, but they are the Lovato family. The dad is a member and has been inactive for 20 years. His wife and two daughters are investigating the church and he is so happy to have the church back in his life. He has such a solid testimony already. He and his fam had been going from church to church looking for something, and when a family invited them to our church, they went and he said he was so excited because he knew he found it. He said something had been missing for so long, and as soon as he went to church, he felt it and knew and it made him so happy. He just wanted the same for his family. So Jeanette, the wife, Michele, 15, and Denise, 11, are getting baptized this week. It has been only like, 3 weeks, but they want it so bad. I love this family! They are incredible!
Well, thanks for all of your letters of support. They really are that, support. I did see the funeral services of our prophet and the calling of our new prophet. Pres. Hinckley was my prophet. I grew up with him. At the same time, he was the prophet for most of my ward here. So many of them are converts, and he is all they know. I love this church and am happy that I can share this with others. This gospel makes me happier than I ever thought possible, and I want to share that with others. Thanks again for your emails and I love you tons!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
Monday, January 28, 2008
kids and dogs
Hello Everybody! Thanks for the emails! I love reading them! Some of you mentioned that you were concerned I wouldn´t have time to read all the emails and write, but I print them off in the morning and so that way it doesn´t take away from my time, so no worries! You all sound happy and good, which I lvoe to here!
So, this week went by pretty slow because we were inside for 2 and a half days! Not because of carnival, but because my companion has bichos, also known as parasites or bugs! When you have bichos, you pretty much feel miserable and not like moving, not to mention you are on the toilet at least once an hour. Here, you can only use your own bathroom or public bathrooms becuase you never know the condition of people´s houses. So you are pretty much stuck in the house. I was starting to get cabin fever. But for one of the days I was sick too, so not much that you can do. I didn´t have bichos, I just had like a fever or something, but it passed for the most part. It came back a little today, but that is what you get for playing volleyball in the rain. Volleyball is the only sport that we are allowed to play, the others are banned because too many injuries, so I just lucked out. I did wear myself out though, so not too smart! It will pass though, and hopefully Thelin´s bichos will vacate soon too!
On to my subject line, kids and dogs. So, these are two of the most innocent things in the world, things you shouldn´t be afraid of. Well, guess who always walks in paranoia now because of fear of dogs and kids? ME! First dogs. They are everywhere, and Thelin said Quito isn´t that bad, but places like Santo Domingo are so much worse. Well, I almost got bit twice this week and actually ran away from another. I look at every dog on the street in terror now! The truth is, they hate white people. Every missionary here who has a Latin companion said that their comps think it´s hilarious because the gringos are always getting chased. Thelin taught me that when I think a dog is going to attack, you take off your back pack and guard your ankles, because that is where they go. She got bit in St. Dog and has the scar to prove it. I have so much to look forward to! Now the other one, kids. You´re supposed to love kids, but not during carnival season. They´re the ones that are starting early, it´s not supposed to start until next week! They just sit on their roofs with water balloons and buckets of water to throw at passerby. Last week I got hit with a balloon filled with water and sand, so my clothes were a lovely mess. Some have asked me what Carnival is. It is just an excuse to party, and nothing else. It lasts like, the first two or three weeks of February. So, until then I look down every alley with fear, staring at the roofs and running from kids and dogs! Next Monday and Tuesday it will be so dangerous that we have to stay inside because they target gringos. We´ll have some fun though!
So, we do have some awesome investigators. We have a whole family who is going to be baptized on Feb 9th. The dad is a member but hasn´t been active for like, 25 years, since he met with the missionaries the first time around. He said that when he went to church a couple weeks ago, he felt something that had been missing in his life for so long. He and his family have been visiting all sorts of different churches, and he said that he instantly recognized what was missing when he came back to the Mormon church. He shared his testimony with us and just said that he wants the same for his family. It was so beautiful and I look forward to continue teaching them!
I also am serving in an awesome ward here. The members are just amazing and want to help us in every which way. Thelin raves about how good they are compared to some of the other wards that she has served in. We go to the Pepinos house every Wednesday and just love that home. We haven´t heard if we will get to move in with them but we will see. It doesn´t sound to promising though. They always give us great references of people they know who want to learn, so they are such a help to us!
Well, I need to wrap this up! I will try to send some more pics next week. I just run out of time so fast! Ihope everyone is doing well. Know that I love you and look forward to hearing from you!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
So, this week went by pretty slow because we were inside for 2 and a half days! Not because of carnival, but because my companion has bichos, also known as parasites or bugs! When you have bichos, you pretty much feel miserable and not like moving, not to mention you are on the toilet at least once an hour. Here, you can only use your own bathroom or public bathrooms becuase you never know the condition of people´s houses. So you are pretty much stuck in the house. I was starting to get cabin fever. But for one of the days I was sick too, so not much that you can do. I didn´t have bichos, I just had like a fever or something, but it passed for the most part. It came back a little today, but that is what you get for playing volleyball in the rain. Volleyball is the only sport that we are allowed to play, the others are banned because too many injuries, so I just lucked out. I did wear myself out though, so not too smart! It will pass though, and hopefully Thelin´s bichos will vacate soon too!
On to my subject line, kids and dogs. So, these are two of the most innocent things in the world, things you shouldn´t be afraid of. Well, guess who always walks in paranoia now because of fear of dogs and kids? ME! First dogs. They are everywhere, and Thelin said Quito isn´t that bad, but places like Santo Domingo are so much worse. Well, I almost got bit twice this week and actually ran away from another. I look at every dog on the street in terror now! The truth is, they hate white people. Every missionary here who has a Latin companion said that their comps think it´s hilarious because the gringos are always getting chased. Thelin taught me that when I think a dog is going to attack, you take off your back pack and guard your ankles, because that is where they go. She got bit in St. Dog and has the scar to prove it. I have so much to look forward to! Now the other one, kids. You´re supposed to love kids, but not during carnival season. They´re the ones that are starting early, it´s not supposed to start until next week! They just sit on their roofs with water balloons and buckets of water to throw at passerby. Last week I got hit with a balloon filled with water and sand, so my clothes were a lovely mess. Some have asked me what Carnival is. It is just an excuse to party, and nothing else. It lasts like, the first two or three weeks of February. So, until then I look down every alley with fear, staring at the roofs and running from kids and dogs! Next Monday and Tuesday it will be so dangerous that we have to stay inside because they target gringos. We´ll have some fun though!
So, we do have some awesome investigators. We have a whole family who is going to be baptized on Feb 9th. The dad is a member but hasn´t been active for like, 25 years, since he met with the missionaries the first time around. He said that when he went to church a couple weeks ago, he felt something that had been missing in his life for so long. He and his family have been visiting all sorts of different churches, and he said that he instantly recognized what was missing when he came back to the Mormon church. He shared his testimony with us and just said that he wants the same for his family. It was so beautiful and I look forward to continue teaching them!
I also am serving in an awesome ward here. The members are just amazing and want to help us in every which way. Thelin raves about how good they are compared to some of the other wards that she has served in. We go to the Pepinos house every Wednesday and just love that home. We haven´t heard if we will get to move in with them but we will see. It doesn´t sound to promising though. They always give us great references of people they know who want to learn, so they are such a help to us!
Well, I need to wrap this up! I will try to send some more pics next week. I just run out of time so fast! Ihope everyone is doing well. Know that I love you and look forward to hearing from you!
Hna Kaylee Sorensen
Monday, January 21, 2008
The Beginning of Carnival
Hello to all! Thank you so much for your emails!They are so fun to read and it makes me feel like I am right there with you!
Alright, some people asked me some questions, so I will try to answer those first. In the area that I´m in right now, I do my own laundry. We go to this lavanderia by our house every wednesday night so that we can teach this german that goes. It´s our only time to teach in English! We have to stay the whole time too so that no one takes anything. Our hot water still doesn´t work great. I take turns between cold showers and bucket showers. It´s really not that bad though. Since hna Merback left with her new companion, I now have a bed and don´t have to sleep on the floor. So that is nice! Since we are at such a high altitude, we don´t really get any bugs, just an occaional fruit fly. We don´t have to boil our water to drink. We get two huge bottles of purified water that usually lasts us about a month or more. But we do have to do everything with it, drink, brush teeth, wash retainers or things like that. For dishes, we use the sink, which is freezing cold water, and then let the dishes soak in a tub of sink water that has cloro in it. It works! We also have to soak any fruit that we eat in the cloro water. Speaking of, fruit here is not only the best ever, but soooo cheap! The other day I spent 80 cents on a pineapple and taht was expensive! Usually they are like, 65 cents. Bananas are the cheapest and are so good. You make all sorts of things with bananas, and all during their different stages of life. You can make things with Verde, maduro, and just plain bananas. I like it! Oh, and they don´t talk to much about the volcano. No one seems to worried about it. The missionaries are still there. They say nothing will happen, if anything, just a little ash.
So now to my subject line. They have here in Ecuador what is called Carnival. It is just a two week long party that usually starts in the first week of Feb, but some are starting the festivities a little early. What sucks, they just throw things at people, and they love to get the white people! Right now it´s just water, but it will get worse. Hna Merback got pegged with an egg last year. They like to throw water, eggs, flour...you name it! It even gets so bad the first few days that we will have to stay inside. For like 2 or 3 days! I think I´ll go crazy! Cabin fever!
Oh, I also have to give a ten minute talk in church this week. That will be interesting. I already have it done, it´s on love and mission work. Now I just need to practice so I´m not reading from a paper the whole time. I really am blessed to know some Spanish already. It has helped me out so much! I would never be able to do the things that I´m doing without all of the preparation I received. I still understand a lot and overall do pretty well. We are even starting English classes every Saturday at 4pm. Hopefully we´ll have a good turnout!
Now for the program. We have had a lot of success. It just goes to show that the Lord blesses you for hard work! We have three people getting baptized in the next two weeks. What´s even greater was that I was there since the beginning with two of them! There are these two girls, Juanita and Mariana, 19 and 16 yrs old. Juanita just kept telling us that she wanted a change in her life. She said she felt cold and empty when she was alone and hated taht feeling. We told her about baptism and how she can have the companionship of the holy ghost so she never feels like that again. We invited her to be baptized and she was so excited! We´re also teaching this younger guy that works in a bakery. We actually teach him while he is working. What´s great is he is our age, but he´s like one of the only Latinos that hasn´t tried to hit on us. He really is just interested in what we are teaching. He´s incredible and we´ll see where it goes.
We also met wtih the Pepinos family this past week and I love them! I feel so comfortable and at home with them. They got to talk to their son while he was at the airport and he even told them to tell me some things and to take care of me. Well, they are keeping their word! They want us to move in with them! it would be free rent, hot water, two floors of a house to ourselves, a waching machine, and two great parents! We are talking to people in the office to try to work it out. It would be so great!
Well, I think that is it. I hope all is well with everyone! Keep up the great letters! I miss you all and till next week!
Hna Sorensen
Hna Thompson: I loved reading your emails! It sounds like you are having an adventure! Sorry it is so challenging! My comp is a gringa, so definitely not as hard. But you are going to learn Spanish so much faster! Jealous! I´ll write you more next week but I love you and miss you! You´re the best compie ever!
Alright, some people asked me some questions, so I will try to answer those first. In the area that I´m in right now, I do my own laundry. We go to this lavanderia by our house every wednesday night so that we can teach this german that goes. It´s our only time to teach in English! We have to stay the whole time too so that no one takes anything. Our hot water still doesn´t work great. I take turns between cold showers and bucket showers. It´s really not that bad though. Since hna Merback left with her new companion, I now have a bed and don´t have to sleep on the floor. So that is nice! Since we are at such a high altitude, we don´t really get any bugs, just an occaional fruit fly. We don´t have to boil our water to drink. We get two huge bottles of purified water that usually lasts us about a month or more. But we do have to do everything with it, drink, brush teeth, wash retainers or things like that. For dishes, we use the sink, which is freezing cold water, and then let the dishes soak in a tub of sink water that has cloro in it. It works! We also have to soak any fruit that we eat in the cloro water. Speaking of, fruit here is not only the best ever, but soooo cheap! The other day I spent 80 cents on a pineapple and taht was expensive! Usually they are like, 65 cents. Bananas are the cheapest and are so good. You make all sorts of things with bananas, and all during their different stages of life. You can make things with Verde, maduro, and just plain bananas. I like it! Oh, and they don´t talk to much about the volcano. No one seems to worried about it. The missionaries are still there. They say nothing will happen, if anything, just a little ash.
So now to my subject line. They have here in Ecuador what is called Carnival. It is just a two week long party that usually starts in the first week of Feb, but some are starting the festivities a little early. What sucks, they just throw things at people, and they love to get the white people! Right now it´s just water, but it will get worse. Hna Merback got pegged with an egg last year. They like to throw water, eggs, flour...you name it! It even gets so bad the first few days that we will have to stay inside. For like 2 or 3 days! I think I´ll go crazy! Cabin fever!
Oh, I also have to give a ten minute talk in church this week. That will be interesting. I already have it done, it´s on love and mission work. Now I just need to practice so I´m not reading from a paper the whole time. I really am blessed to know some Spanish already. It has helped me out so much! I would never be able to do the things that I´m doing without all of the preparation I received. I still understand a lot and overall do pretty well. We are even starting English classes every Saturday at 4pm. Hopefully we´ll have a good turnout!
Now for the program. We have had a lot of success. It just goes to show that the Lord blesses you for hard work! We have three people getting baptized in the next two weeks. What´s even greater was that I was there since the beginning with two of them! There are these two girls, Juanita and Mariana, 19 and 16 yrs old. Juanita just kept telling us that she wanted a change in her life. She said she felt cold and empty when she was alone and hated taht feeling. We told her about baptism and how she can have the companionship of the holy ghost so she never feels like that again. We invited her to be baptized and she was so excited! We´re also teaching this younger guy that works in a bakery. We actually teach him while he is working. What´s great is he is our age, but he´s like one of the only Latinos that hasn´t tried to hit on us. He really is just interested in what we are teaching. He´s incredible and we´ll see where it goes.
We also met wtih the Pepinos family this past week and I love them! I feel so comfortable and at home with them. They got to talk to their son while he was at the airport and he even told them to tell me some things and to take care of me. Well, they are keeping their word! They want us to move in with them! it would be free rent, hot water, two floors of a house to ourselves, a waching machine, and two great parents! We are talking to people in the office to try to work it out. It would be so great!
Well, I think that is it. I hope all is well with everyone! Keep up the great letters! I miss you all and till next week!
Hna Sorensen
Hna Thompson: I loved reading your emails! It sounds like you are having an adventure! Sorry it is so challenging! My comp is a gringa, so definitely not as hard. But you are going to learn Spanish so much faster! Jealous! I´ll write you more next week but I love you and miss you! You´re the best compie ever!
Monday, January 7, 2008
First Week in Ecuador
So I am finally in Ecuador! The real adventure finally begins. i am not going to use caps because it takes too long on this keyboard, so bear with me! this week has been a whirlwind, but oh so fun! i arrived late on wednesday and then on thursday had all sorts of orietations and things like that.
later that day i met my trainer, hna thelin. she is from california and is way cool. this is her first time training so she was pretty nervous, but calmed down when she saw that i was a gringa and that i already knew a lot of spanish. hna larson was a friend of mine in the mtc but got sick, so she didn´t come down with me, so her trainer is in a trio with us. so like in the mtc, i am in a trio. her name is hna merback and she finishes the mission in feb. her parents are coming down and everything so it reminded me of what will happen with me 16 months from now! anyway, they are both hilarious. they love to have fun and make the work fun, which i like. already we have these weird little games we play, like when someone burps, we all have to say a fruit and the last one gets hit. i taught them that! also, back in the mtc, hna thompson would always say instead of salud when someone sneezes, which means health, she would say death as a joke, so we do that too. so we definitley have fun together.
right now i am in solanda, which is on the outskirts of quito. quito is the richest part of the country, but it still seems very poor. my first night i kept waking up starting like at 5am bcause all i could hear was birds and dogs. so loud! quito is beautiful weather too. i think we are in the rainy season, but it hasn´t been too bad yet and i haven´t needed jackets or anything, so i am doing well. it is a gorgeous city situated n the mountains, very high up! it is actually a mission rule to wear your sunglasses in quito because you can have some serious eye damage. it is all very green and so colorful. most flowers from the us are imported from ecuador, so they sell gorgeous flowers for like 5 dollars a boquet. i think i will love quito! our apartment is small and cute. tile and wood floor of course, never carpet. our hot water doesn´t work, so right now we boil water on the stove and mix it with water from the shower that is sitting in a huge tub and we do bucket showers. they say that someone is going to be fixing it soom, but who really knows! there are two beds and since we are in a trio, i am on a mattress on the floor. no biggie, that is life in the mission. I just know it could be a lot worse! they were telling me about some of the other areas they served in and there is this place, Santa Domingo, and you basically sleep with cockroaches. they said i will almost definitely serve there because all of the gringas do! i am a little nervous about that, but i will be in solanda for awhile. i also want to go to this area called otavalo. there they speak quichua, which is nothing like spanish, but i hear it is beautiful and the people amazing. Elder Montgomery is there right now.
funny story about quichua, i was feeling pretty comfortable with spanish. i understood a lot of what people were saying to me and it was great. then i went to church and this guy starts talking to me and i don´t have a clue what he is saying. i was like, how do i not know what he is saying? i know spanish! hna thelin leaned over and was like, don´t worry, you are not supposed to understand, he´s speaking quichua. that was a relief! as far as the language is going, it´s pretty great! like i said, i understand a lot and when i don´t, i ask them to speak slower and then i almost always get it. i was on the bus sitting next to this woman and both of my comps were behind me. they kept telling me in english, get her! i was terrified to actually speak. i liked watching my comps do it. well, i couldn´t sit still and knew that after that, i had to talk. so i asked her if i could practice my spanish with her. we got into a great conversation and i ended up teaching her a little about the church. she said that she stopped going to her church about four years ago and was interested in finding religion again. she is not in my sector, but she is in hna merback´s real sector so she is going to teach her more when hna larson arrives. afterwards my comps were freaking out. they said that they had not done anything like that until like 5 or 6 changes into the mission, and one change is 6 weeks! that made me feel good because even though i don´t konw a lot, i am so blessed to have the knowledge of the language that i do. since then i´ve talked to others on teh bus and still have good talks. one man today already knew a lot about the church and kept asking me questions. it´s very fun.
let´s see... the work in solanda is kind of slow right now. hna thelin was here before, but they pulled out a lot of the missionaries in quito to be a part of this choir for christmas, so she was gone all the time and her sector got shot in the process. so these next few weeks will be full of contacting and knocking doors. that´s the other thing, no one has like street doors cause it´s always fenced in and locked in. so we just go up to a house, take our umbrellas, and bang on the fence and shout until someone comes out. haven´t had to do that too much yet, but am looking forward to it!
the food here is pretty good. thelin and merback think i am crazy for liking it, but i do. there is rice with almost every meal, and that has my name all over it! they also make great soups and the fruit is incredible. we have to do a lot as far as food safety goes. every fruit we have, we have to soak it in cloro water for 3 minutes. when we eat at other peoples houses you know they don´t do that, so you just pray taht it is safe. both of my comps have had parasites like 8 times each. they stress to me the importance of staying home if i don´t feel well because i will only get worse. don´t worry, i´m not sick yet, but from the sounds of it, i will be sometime in the near future. we are also not allowed to eat pork. both of my comps like to cook, so i am in the right place and just let them do their thing.
we did teach one lesson to an investigator of ours. she loves to study the gospel and has had two baptismal dates. her dad told her to take more time to study it out, so she is and cancelled the dates. she has two adorable children, one only two months, and the other is like 4. she is incredible and really doesnt feel like she is worthy enough or doesn´t know enough. so we are continuing to teach her and are going back tonight.
today was pday and we went iceskating. that is not my favorite thing to do, so i sat on the sidelines. there were two zones that went. i got to practice my spanish a lot with one elder who was also sitting on the sidelines, because he didn´t know any english. quito spanish is different from all other spanish. people say it is like a sing song spanish, and it so is! there pitch gets higher as they finish the sentence. i so want to demonstrate, but cant via computer! hna merback has such a quito accent, even when she speaks english. oh, and they both have been here too long because they can´t speak english anymore! they fumble words and things, like thelin always says, what hour is it instead of what time is it. they´re funny, and i hope i get that way soon. it´s like i want to forget english!
well, i hope everyone is well. know that i miss you and love you and think of you all often! email me because i do have printers available, and i want to hear from you! LOVE YOU!
Kaylee
aka Hna Sorensen
later that day i met my trainer, hna thelin. she is from california and is way cool. this is her first time training so she was pretty nervous, but calmed down when she saw that i was a gringa and that i already knew a lot of spanish. hna larson was a friend of mine in the mtc but got sick, so she didn´t come down with me, so her trainer is in a trio with us. so like in the mtc, i am in a trio. her name is hna merback and she finishes the mission in feb. her parents are coming down and everything so it reminded me of what will happen with me 16 months from now! anyway, they are both hilarious. they love to have fun and make the work fun, which i like. already we have these weird little games we play, like when someone burps, we all have to say a fruit and the last one gets hit. i taught them that! also, back in the mtc, hna thompson would always say instead of salud when someone sneezes, which means health, she would say death as a joke, so we do that too. so we definitley have fun together.
right now i am in solanda, which is on the outskirts of quito. quito is the richest part of the country, but it still seems very poor. my first night i kept waking up starting like at 5am bcause all i could hear was birds and dogs. so loud! quito is beautiful weather too. i think we are in the rainy season, but it hasn´t been too bad yet and i haven´t needed jackets or anything, so i am doing well. it is a gorgeous city situated n the mountains, very high up! it is actually a mission rule to wear your sunglasses in quito because you can have some serious eye damage. it is all very green and so colorful. most flowers from the us are imported from ecuador, so they sell gorgeous flowers for like 5 dollars a boquet. i think i will love quito! our apartment is small and cute. tile and wood floor of course, never carpet. our hot water doesn´t work, so right now we boil water on the stove and mix it with water from the shower that is sitting in a huge tub and we do bucket showers. they say that someone is going to be fixing it soom, but who really knows! there are two beds and since we are in a trio, i am on a mattress on the floor. no biggie, that is life in the mission. I just know it could be a lot worse! they were telling me about some of the other areas they served in and there is this place, Santa Domingo, and you basically sleep with cockroaches. they said i will almost definitely serve there because all of the gringas do! i am a little nervous about that, but i will be in solanda for awhile. i also want to go to this area called otavalo. there they speak quichua, which is nothing like spanish, but i hear it is beautiful and the people amazing. Elder Montgomery is there right now.
funny story about quichua, i was feeling pretty comfortable with spanish. i understood a lot of what people were saying to me and it was great. then i went to church and this guy starts talking to me and i don´t have a clue what he is saying. i was like, how do i not know what he is saying? i know spanish! hna thelin leaned over and was like, don´t worry, you are not supposed to understand, he´s speaking quichua. that was a relief! as far as the language is going, it´s pretty great! like i said, i understand a lot and when i don´t, i ask them to speak slower and then i almost always get it. i was on the bus sitting next to this woman and both of my comps were behind me. they kept telling me in english, get her! i was terrified to actually speak. i liked watching my comps do it. well, i couldn´t sit still and knew that after that, i had to talk. so i asked her if i could practice my spanish with her. we got into a great conversation and i ended up teaching her a little about the church. she said that she stopped going to her church about four years ago and was interested in finding religion again. she is not in my sector, but she is in hna merback´s real sector so she is going to teach her more when hna larson arrives. afterwards my comps were freaking out. they said that they had not done anything like that until like 5 or 6 changes into the mission, and one change is 6 weeks! that made me feel good because even though i don´t konw a lot, i am so blessed to have the knowledge of the language that i do. since then i´ve talked to others on teh bus and still have good talks. one man today already knew a lot about the church and kept asking me questions. it´s very fun.
let´s see... the work in solanda is kind of slow right now. hna thelin was here before, but they pulled out a lot of the missionaries in quito to be a part of this choir for christmas, so she was gone all the time and her sector got shot in the process. so these next few weeks will be full of contacting and knocking doors. that´s the other thing, no one has like street doors cause it´s always fenced in and locked in. so we just go up to a house, take our umbrellas, and bang on the fence and shout until someone comes out. haven´t had to do that too much yet, but am looking forward to it!
the food here is pretty good. thelin and merback think i am crazy for liking it, but i do. there is rice with almost every meal, and that has my name all over it! they also make great soups and the fruit is incredible. we have to do a lot as far as food safety goes. every fruit we have, we have to soak it in cloro water for 3 minutes. when we eat at other peoples houses you know they don´t do that, so you just pray taht it is safe. both of my comps have had parasites like 8 times each. they stress to me the importance of staying home if i don´t feel well because i will only get worse. don´t worry, i´m not sick yet, but from the sounds of it, i will be sometime in the near future. we are also not allowed to eat pork. both of my comps like to cook, so i am in the right place and just let them do their thing.
we did teach one lesson to an investigator of ours. she loves to study the gospel and has had two baptismal dates. her dad told her to take more time to study it out, so she is and cancelled the dates. she has two adorable children, one only two months, and the other is like 4. she is incredible and really doesnt feel like she is worthy enough or doesn´t know enough. so we are continuing to teach her and are going back tonight.
today was pday and we went iceskating. that is not my favorite thing to do, so i sat on the sidelines. there were two zones that went. i got to practice my spanish a lot with one elder who was also sitting on the sidelines, because he didn´t know any english. quito spanish is different from all other spanish. people say it is like a sing song spanish, and it so is! there pitch gets higher as they finish the sentence. i so want to demonstrate, but cant via computer! hna merback has such a quito accent, even when she speaks english. oh, and they both have been here too long because they can´t speak english anymore! they fumble words and things, like thelin always says, what hour is it instead of what time is it. they´re funny, and i hope i get that way soon. it´s like i want to forget english!
well, i hope everyone is well. know that i miss you and love you and think of you all often! email me because i do have printers available, and i want to hear from you! LOVE YOU!
Kaylee
aka Hna Sorensen
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
I'm going to ECUADOR!
Hello everyone! Can you believe that this time has come?! I am leaving the MTC! It feels so crazy! Time has flown by! Before I get started, Happy New Year! And, if you want to receive letters from me, please, email me your address and if you have already sent letters or dearelders, let me know if your addresses have changed. For example: Taylor, I've sent you a couple letters but your dearelder address says belmont and I don't think that's right. Kendra, where are you now? jayci, are you in Alaska? Megan W. are you in Boston? So, cases such as these, let me know the changes! I want to keep in touch! Shoop, I never got your address! And Liz Turner, I'd love to send you a note!
So, I am done with my training and am finally leaving! It feels weird. I feel prepared, but at the same time, I am scared out of my mind! I mean, this is the next 16 months of my life! It is going to be an amazing adventure! This week has been a lot of lasts for me. Last time with my district in everything. Last time teaching here, last time at the RC, last time at my branch here with my pres, getting released from my calling... It's hard to leave! Sunday was very nice. Hna Cottle and Elder Montgomery were called to speak, so scary for them! They did great. And then a member from the branch presidency and his wife spoke, Brother and Sister Ohman. He shared a wonderful story about a young man who was disabled. He couldn't speak well and always got words mixed up and the order and everything, just hard to understand. A boy is his ward at church died, only 8 years old, and he went to the funeral. All throughout it, he wanted to think of something to say to the parents to show them how he felt. A poem just came to mind and after the service, he rattled it off perfectly, with no mistakes, as if it came from the boy himself. I thought the poem applied to my mission, so here it is:
I am yet alive.
There's no need
To mourn over me,
I am not far away at all
Just across a distant sea.
I am yet alive,
Just in a distant sphere,
Teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ
To all of those who'll hear.
I am yet alive,
There is no need to fear,
I am always with you,
My Spirit always near you.
I am yet alive,
And look forward to the day,
When we shall be together again,
There will be so much to say.
I am yet alive,
My family it is so,
I love you all so very much.
I just wanted you to know
I am yet alive.
That is how I feel, like I am yet alive! People may wonder how I am doing and if I am alright. It is important to know that I am so well! I am alive! This is a wonderful work that I am doing, one that makes me so happy and feel alive! I loved that poem that he shared!
Sunday afternoon we had our own Hasta Ver. I'm not sure if I've told you about Hasta Ver. Every Sunday we as a zone go up to the temple grounds and sing "God be with you till we meet again" and then those who are leaving that week bear their testimonies in Spanish. It was very beautiful and I loved to hear the testimonies of those that I have grown so close with. Besides that, it was the coldest I've ever been in my life! Let's just say that I am happy to leave this weather. When all you have is a rain coat and it is like, in the teens and 20s, I don't even know cause I have no way of checking, but you get cold! I'm done! Yay!
So Sunday was good and happy, and then Monday had to happen, and that sucked! Basically my entire district of 9 left Monday. Only me, Elder Bratt, and Elder Montgomery remained. It was SO HARD to say goodbye! They have been my family for the past two months! Having my comps leave made me cry, not going to lie. It was weird to be the comp of two elders yesterday. Elder Bratt left for Phoenix today, so if you see him, say hi and be nice! So now it's the two ecuador missionaries left! I leave brightand early, and then the real work begins, talk about exciting!
Oh, and tell Sister Dawson that Elder Montgomery and his family knows her and Tammy Stevenson's family! They are related somehow! Small world!
So friends, the next you'll here from me, I will be in Ecuador. I will be teaching and finally working. I am so excited, nervous, but excited for what is to come! I love you all and my mom will give you more info on how to reach me in Ecuador. Feel free to email me! I'll have an hour time limit, so longer to read! Love you so much!
Kaylee
aka Hermana Sorensen
So, I am done with my training and am finally leaving! It feels weird. I feel prepared, but at the same time, I am scared out of my mind! I mean, this is the next 16 months of my life! It is going to be an amazing adventure! This week has been a lot of lasts for me. Last time with my district in everything. Last time teaching here, last time at the RC, last time at my branch here with my pres, getting released from my calling... It's hard to leave! Sunday was very nice. Hna Cottle and Elder Montgomery were called to speak, so scary for them! They did great. And then a member from the branch presidency and his wife spoke, Brother and Sister Ohman. He shared a wonderful story about a young man who was disabled. He couldn't speak well and always got words mixed up and the order and everything, just hard to understand. A boy is his ward at church died, only 8 years old, and he went to the funeral. All throughout it, he wanted to think of something to say to the parents to show them how he felt. A poem just came to mind and after the service, he rattled it off perfectly, with no mistakes, as if it came from the boy himself. I thought the poem applied to my mission, so here it is:
I am yet alive.
There's no need
To mourn over me,
I am not far away at all
Just across a distant sea.
I am yet alive,
Just in a distant sphere,
Teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ
To all of those who'll hear.
I am yet alive,
There is no need to fear,
I am always with you,
My Spirit always near you.
I am yet alive,
And look forward to the day,
When we shall be together again,
There will be so much to say.
I am yet alive,
My family it is so,
I love you all so very much.
I just wanted you to know
I am yet alive.
That is how I feel, like I am yet alive! People may wonder how I am doing and if I am alright. It is important to know that I am so well! I am alive! This is a wonderful work that I am doing, one that makes me so happy and feel alive! I loved that poem that he shared!
Sunday afternoon we had our own Hasta Ver. I'm not sure if I've told you about Hasta Ver. Every Sunday we as a zone go up to the temple grounds and sing "God be with you till we meet again" and then those who are leaving that week bear their testimonies in Spanish. It was very beautiful and I loved to hear the testimonies of those that I have grown so close with. Besides that, it was the coldest I've ever been in my life! Let's just say that I am happy to leave this weather. When all you have is a rain coat and it is like, in the teens and 20s, I don't even know cause I have no way of checking, but you get cold! I'm done! Yay!
So Sunday was good and happy, and then Monday had to happen, and that sucked! Basically my entire district of 9 left Monday. Only me, Elder Bratt, and Elder Montgomery remained. It was SO HARD to say goodbye! They have been my family for the past two months! Having my comps leave made me cry, not going to lie. It was weird to be the comp of two elders yesterday. Elder Bratt left for Phoenix today, so if you see him, say hi and be nice! So now it's the two ecuador missionaries left! I leave brightand early, and then the real work begins, talk about exciting!
Oh, and tell Sister Dawson that Elder Montgomery and his family knows her and Tammy Stevenson's family! They are related somehow! Small world!
So friends, the next you'll here from me, I will be in Ecuador. I will be teaching and finally working. I am so excited, nervous, but excited for what is to come! I love you all and my mom will give you more info on how to reach me in Ecuador. Feel free to email me! I'll have an hour time limit, so longer to read! Love you so much!
Kaylee
aka Hermana Sorensen
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