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
Monday, February 25, 2008
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
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