todo esta bien

Hola! ¡Como estan ustedes? I hope you are all doing great and enjoying the cold. I am currently sweating to death haha I guess I could take off this hoodie..but still. Anyway, this week has been extremely hard, yet very spiritual for me. So do you want the good or the bad news first? Lets start with the bad, so we can end with the good..yeah? 

B U E N O.

So as all of you know, I have been pretty sick for a lot of my time here in Uruguay. The past two weeks of my mission have been spent in bed, or at the doctors office (and the temple once! :)) We have been through test after test, medication after medication trying to figure out what´s causing my stomach problems, and how we can fix it. Unfortunately we aren´t finding any answers...and the doctors honestly don´t have a clue. To give you an idea..the last doctor we visited was googling the name of the different tests to do..haha Ma´m? Anyway..President Smith called me last night with the devastating news that he feels it´s time for me to go home, and get the medical attention that I need. After coming up with every reason not to go, and every excuse to stay...(really every excuse..I told him I would sit in the offices for a change and index. haha INDEX.) After presenting every other option...he decided for me that I was to go home, recover, and return in the Lords time. He doesn´t trust the doctors here, and is worried about the permanent damage I could be doing to my stomach by waiting it out any longer..Entonces, I am boarding a flight tonight at 11PM. As hard as this is for me, I am trying my hardest to accept the Lords will for me...even if it doesn´t fit into the plans I have for myself...My heart is literally broken..but I am trying to stay happy and positive and trust in the Lord. I take comfort in His words ¨I will not fail thee or forsake thee.¨ I know that I will be okay, and that for whatever reason, the Lord needs me at home right now. I plan to return to my mission once everything is back to normal, and in the mean time, if any of you need anything please don´t hesitate to call! (once I get a phone again haha..until then, you all have my email) Thank you all so much for your love and prayers.

So I´m sure you´re all ready for some good news..right? Good. Me too. Well for one, I finished the Book of Mormon in two weeks!!!!! New record baby! And I have never learned so much..I had a temporary companion and I was reading and she was sitting there and I was like ¨I´m sorry I´m being so boring...BUT HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK!?¨ and she was like...¨yeah.¨ haha okay then! But really, it´s the best..i recommend it for all. I want to tell you all about an experience I had after one of those dreadful tests I had. So they put me under..and when I was waking up, I had an experience that I don´t even remember. Hermana Bingham was in the room and my eyes were closed and I started talking to her in complete Spanish (holla!..I don´t know what ¨holla¨ is in Spanish or i would´ve used that) After about five minutes of small talk..I stopped mid-sentence and said ¨Dios diho que todo esta bien¨ ¨Dios diho que El tiene un plan muy especial para mi¨and I just kept repeating it over and over again...Oh in English ¨God said that everything was going to be okay.¨ ¨God has a very special plan for me.¨ then she asked if He told me that while I was sleeping and I said ¨Si.¨ She told me that my facial expression was full of peace..Like I knew that everything was going to be okay. As I knew then, I know now that everything is going to be okay. I know that Lord has a plan for me and I am s l o w l y by surely learning to trust it. So whatever happens over the next few months, I know that it is all for a reason. Although I am devastated...and truly heart broken, I am trying to stay happy and grateful for the time that I have had to serve this beautiful country, these amazing people, and my Heavenly Father. My memories are priceless and the things that I have learned from my experience in the first four months of my mission, will truly bless my life and my family forever! FOR THAT...I am grateful. FOR THAT...I am happy. and FOR THAT...I will cheerfully accept the Lords will for me and my eternal progression. I will apply the knowledge that I´ve obtained and continue without any doubt that He lives and that He loves me, and is mindful of me. 

Other than all of that...not much has happened this week. We got to go to a baptism and I got to see Hermana Reed. I also got to talk on the phone with Hermana Paris and we cried like little babies haha we love each other. Hermana Chen and I said our goodbyes this morning, and that wasn´t fun..But we both have faith that I will get better and be back to Uruguay in no time! :) Carmelo has THREE baptisms this next week, and church attendance doubled this week!!!! VAMO ARRIBA NO MAS!!!! I am so grateful for the elders, and for them watching over Carmelo for Hermana Chen and I. They are working so hard to hasten the work...and I trust them to get things done during my time at home!!! I love being a missionary and I don´t plan on stopping when I get home. I love this work, and watching the gospel change peoples lives. There truly isn´t anything that can bring a person more joy..I really believe that! I am sad..but I am happy. I don´t know if that makes sense..But that´s how I feel. I will see you all real soon., (and I mean it this time!) Thank you all again for your love support and prayers...and if anyone wants to go to the temple with me over the next month or so...hit me up! Because I have a feeling I´ll be going a lot!!

NOS VEMOS PRONTO FAMILIA Y AMIGOS. LES QUIERO MUCHISIMO.

-Hermana Sorenson

PS: So sorry that nothing funny happened this week to keep you laughing...it hurts me too. ¡Chau chau!

here come the men in black...

Hola family and friends!! How is everybody? How is Martin Luther King Day? Enjoying the day off? I have a day off today too! (only like my 8th day in a row now but still...) Only difference is I would much rather be working. Well my week hasn´t been full of baptisms or finding new people to teach..BUT I think we´re making some progress as far as my health situation goes and I am learning to love the Book of Mormon even more than I did before. So I am thinking that must count for something! ;) 

I am still locked up, and in a lot of pain, but we´ve been back and forth at the doctors this week for various tests! The doctors can´t seem to pinpoint what is causing all of this, but we have high hopes that the results from today's tests..will give us some answers! :) Thank you all for your emails and PRAYERS. I really can feel your love from here and I know I will make a quick recovery due to all of your faith and strength in me. So thank you! 

This week I have done a lot of reading, watching some church flicks (like the phone call) and wait for it....I GOT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE. One of the sisters, Hermana Gonzales finished her mission a couple of weeks early to start school so I got to be her companion for the day..and she wanted to go to the temple and of course I was feeling up to it. So I got ready for the first time in like a week, haha and we made our way to the temple. Despite all of my pain, the temple was such a blessing and I felt so much peace afterwards. Not to mention, my tummy didn´t even hurt the whole time. What a m i r a c l e. In the temple I kept receiving confirmation over and over again that everything would be okay and that The Lord has a specific plan for me, and that if I accept happily, that everything will work out the way it´s supposed to. So, I am staying positive and trying to remember that the Lords plan for me is ALWAYS better for me than my plan for me. So I am not worried, and I know that everything will work out exactly how it´s supposed to. :) 

In the Book of Alma this week I was reading about when Alma and Amulek were preaching the gospel and declaring repentance and half of the people accepted and the other half didn´t...So the unrighteous then burned the righteous alive along with their scriptures and made Alma and Amulek watch..HEARTWRENCHING. So then, the unrighteous put Alma and Amulek in jail..and for ten days they sat there suffering. The unrighteous came in and spat on them, mocked them, and provoked them..and what did Alma and Amulek do?! They just took it. WHAT STUDS! They didn´t say a word, they demonstrate meekness and humility without a single complaint. On the tenth day they prayed that they would be delivered from their enemies according to their faith and the Lord delivers them (duh.) The entire jail fell to the floor in smoke, every single person inside died..and they walked out of their without a scratch!!! Sing it with me! ¨Here come the men in black!!!!!¨ All the smoke and stuff behind them and they just walk out of there in their black suits!! Ya know...because they´re missionaries..ya with me? Anyway, I am sure that neither Alma nor Amulek looked anything like Will Smith, but I bet they felt equally cool walking out of the mess unharmed. My point haha..this whole thing reminds me of the Savior. When he suffered for my sins, and your sins..He was mocked, spit on, and provoked..and He, like Alma and Amulek...willingly took it because they knew that they were completing the will of their father! I love this story they are such great examples for all of us!!! If we submit cheerfully to the will of the Lord, he will a l w a y s do His part. If none of you understood my Men in Black reference...it´s okay haha because I think I am going a little crazy being locked up in here..so we´ll just blame it on that. HELLLP.

Puns that I thought of to keep me laughing throughout the week about my stomach problems...haha

...it´s really a ¨bum¨mer

I´m a little ¨butt¨hurt about it..

how do you feel? Like ´crap¨

We really need to get to the ¨bottom¨of this...

Ok I´m done hahaha.

Well it looks like I am about out of time. I love you all and am so grateful for each of you. Please continue to pray for me, because I am really anxious to get back to my people in Carmelo..They need me! But more importantly, I need them. I know I will make recovery this week!!!!!! I am bound too with all of your prayers and the prayers of the missionaries!!!! I will continue to pray for all of you at home. I miss and LOVE you all!! Have a beautiful week! ¡HOY ES EL DIA!

Food for thought: ¨Strength isn´t something you have, it´s something you find.¨ -Emma Smith

Hermana Gonzales and I at the Montevideo, Uruguay temple!!

It´s seriously so beautiful you guys!

I wish you could all see it. google it. 

Hola peeps!!!

WOW! Can I just say thank you all so much for your sweet, sweet letters and emails this week!!! I have been so blessed with the greatest support system. If I don´t write you back personally, it´s because I don´t have any time. But know that I love you and appreciate the time you took to write me and let me know that you are praying for me..Seriously helps! This week as been crazy...we have the best slash funniest investigators in the world. I´M TELLIN YA, THESE PEOPLE ARE A RIOT...

So first I want to tell you all about Eduardo!! He was the one who was baptized last month..and his wife is a member...all that jazz. Well he got the priesthood yesterday! It was so beautiful, their entire family was beaming. I feel so blessed to have been able to witness that miracle in their lives. Oh and some background...he has been taught by the missionaries for the past 3 YEARS...and it wasn´t until two sister missionaries came in that sparked something in him.. just a huge shout out to all the sisters out there!!! WOOOOT! I love him and his family so much. I don´t ever want to leave Carmelo. The good news is, that next December when they go through the temple...we get to go with them! Best Christmas ever!

K I have to tell you guys real quick about Marta. She is a member, but not active and we had THE FUNNIEST visit with her this week. So my companion loves to sing...so naturally we start almost every lesson with a hymn. So when we started singing..Marta, bless her heart..put her hands in the praying position and got a huge smile on her face, started shaking her head from left to right..with her eyes closed..How is someone supposed to sing while she´s doing that!? I was shaking I was laughing so hard. haha THEN..she wouldn´t stop talking...like we couldn´t get a word in..really in total we probably said 13 words in the entire hour..so assuming that she would love nothing more but to talk some more..we asked her if she would say the prayer and she turned her voice all scratchy, grabbed her throat and said that she couldn´t because she didn´t have a voice..hahaha you guys. This is what I´m working with. But I love it. 

Since my mom and grandma are probably scanning through this bad boy looking for the update on my health...here it is. Things are not ideal but I know that I will make progress this week! So my mission president called and he said..¨The worst thing for me, would be to not have you here. To me, you are one of the brightest young missionaries I have ever seen. I want you to have this opportunity. So lets get you well.¨ WHAT A SWEETHEART. I seriously felt so much better after talking to him. I know that we will get this all worked out eventually...so I am not worried. On the phone he decided that I should stop taking all medicine, and only eat at the cleanest, nicest restaurant that we could find for the week and see if we could get my tum tum back to remembering how to digest..(can you say spoiled? I had salmon like..every day.) He said that if it didn´t fix itself, that I would come to Montevideo for tests next week, and that if I continued having bad pain..to get to Montevideo as fast as I could. WELL...despite my pain, I didn´t feel like we had time to go to the doctors this week or next because we have really really reallllllllllllllly important lessons and people to visit this week. But yesterday after lunch, I almost died. haha okay that was a bit dramatic, but seriously, I was in immense pain. Luckily we were with the branch president and his wife at the time (who are also missionaries) and they called President Smith and he said to come immediatly. E N T O N C E S....I got to the ER about 10 O´clock last night and did the worst test ever..use your imagination ladies and gents. Anyway..I am now at the mission home bed ridden until Thursday with three different types of medicine. One for nausea, one for pain, and one for my digestive system. I am on a very specific diet..I think in some places it´s called anorexia. Jk. Kind of..haha seriously can´t eat like anything..But it´s okay because my companion is loving Becky Smiths cooking...while I chow down on raisens. Coo.  Anyway, I am not loving being locked up, but I am getting a lot of studying and rest in. I am worried sick about our investigators, and feeling like I am wasting the Lords time. But I understand that I need to get better now, so that I can give 110% again later. I so greatly appreciate all of your prayers!! You are all so great, and I know that I will be okay!! Positivity is key, I´m telling ya..IT WORKS! :) Please pray for the wonderful people of Carmelo. I miss them haha. I miss you all too. 

AH! Real quick..funny story. So we had a combined lesson with the elders and Elder Makinlay who is brand new was trying to explain the lamb of God...and he kept saying ¨Corneta¨ de Dios..instead of ¨Cordero¨de Dios...So he was saying the ¨horn¨ of God...instead of lamb. I was dying but it was awkotaco to correct him in the middle of the lesson..so we just waited til after:..? Good thing it was with a less active instead of an investigator. Oh! Also!! BREAKING NEWS. I learned how to lead music for real this week and now I am always volunteering myself because I love it...Anyway...despite my health...Everything is great. I AM HAPPY. I love Carmelo and the mission. I am learning so much...besides all of the domestic wifey stuff...the spiritual lessons I am learning are things I wouldn´t trade for anything. ANYTHING.I love my companion, the elders, the people, and my Savior! 

Food for thought: if you want some good insight..read ¨Prayer¨ in the Bible Dictionary. Such a good find! :)

HUGE SHOUT OUT TO MY TIMMY SNOYYYY FOR GETTING BAPTIZED. CONGRATS BABY GIRL, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND COULD NOT BE MORE HAPPY AND EXCITED FOR YOU.

Con amor,

Hermana Sorenson

   Okay..ignore the part where I´m not wearing makeup and that my hair is on top of my head (I´m sure my grandmas lovin it haha.) BUT this is my set up for the next four days..Still happy as a lark! Remember! We can always find something to smile about!!

SOS

Well my New Years kiss this year was AWES..non exsistant. But that´s okay because with great sacrifice....comes great blessings. ;) Just kidding..kind of. Anyway..I hope everybody had a safe and happy New Year and that they wrote down some goals to work towards!!! It´s a good thing I started out this year working on the Christlike attribute of patience..because this week has been one for the books...No really, I read a l o t of books. 

r e w i n d.

The first four weeks in Uruguay..my stomach couldn´t digest anything. OW. So I got put on some meds that seemed to do the trick. Well once the meds were gone, it was back to not being able to digest. SO I got prescribed other meds..and meanwhile got a parasite...so that destroyed my stomach. We we´re out talking to this old man and I just casually passed out. y i k e s. It was the weirdest. I got way hot, then way dizzy..then black. I woke up like 30 seconds later haha...seriously embarassing. I really think it was just a mix of the heat, the medicine, the parasite..I was just exhausted. So the elders got me back to the house and gave me the most beautiful priesthood blessing ever and I felt much better after. The next day, and the day after I was put on HOUSE ARREST. Kill me. Oh my gosh, I was dying in there you guys! It was one thing to be locked up, but another to feel like I was wasting the Lords precious time... THAT IS NOT A GOOD FEELING. But now, I am on my third prescription and feeling better..ish. I am getting an ultra-sound this week to get to the bottom of all of this! So please keep me in your prayers. I know that it´ll all work out how it´s supposed to. I´m not worried. (only a little) ;) Word here travels so fast...seriously the e n t i r e branch knows about my stomach issues. haha the details too...and testimony meeting was like ¨please keep Hermana Sorenson in your prayers...her stomach, her this, her that..¨I felt so stupid..but they really are so sweet..and so accommodating. The good news is the whole town knows I am on a special diet of only fruits and vegetables...and every one is bringing us all this healthy stuff. YOU´RE WELCOME HERMANA CHEN!! 

f a s t f o r w a r d.

Nothing too exciting happened this week..our investigators are progressing and nothing makes me more excited than that! Oh good news...we can teach Margarita as long as the elders are with us..So we´re going to continue with that! I am happy. We contacted this lady named Maria and found out that she was a member. We´re helping her quit smoking with a program that the church offers..We started with the elders giving her a blessing, throwing away her smoking supplies, and cleaning her house. That was hands down one of the grossest things I have ever had to do in my entire life. NOT BEING DRAMATIC. Her walls are cynderblock and she has ten years worth of cigarettes stuffed in the walls...it was that mixed with this thick gooey snot crap..I seriously was gagging you guys. SOS. BUT...I am happy to do what I can to help her quit smoking, and come back to church...as much as I NEVER want to have to do that again. Like ever.

We had a girl in our branch leave for her mission to Mexico today. Her name is Lorena and she has one of those ¨I hate the world¨ faces but she´s actually really nice. haha just not much of a jokester naah what I´m sayin? Anyway, Hermana Chen and I helped her pack this week and it gave me the worst flashbacks of me packing the night before I left at 4 AM..what of it. But all she is bringing is every color of turtle neck you can think of..haha I was like..Uh you know that Mexico is hot right...? She´s like yeah but I need to be modest..haha OKAY...don´t mind us sitting here in our scoop neck t-shirts. We sent her off, and her mom was so sad. I felt so bad! I hate goodbyes.

I wish I had more goods for you guys this week..but I really just don´t. I love you all so much and appreciate your letters, emails, and prayers! I can´t believe that on Thursday I will have been out 3 months. Oh heres something interesting..I retired my cheetah flats. The saddest. But don´t worry, I bought a cheetah headband to replace them!! I´m wearing it in the pic I attached with Garfield...since I know you all really care to see. I love you all so much, and I love being a missionary! Although the work is hard, this has been so rewarding. 

Food for thought: ¨It is through our extremeties that we become aquainted with God¨ I testify of that!! We can do hard things ladies and gents!! The Lord is only as far away as our knees are to the floor. ¨..I am Jesus Christ, and I am quick to come. Even so, amen.¨ He really is SO quick to come..He´s here for me, and he´s here for all of you! He loves us so much, and only wants to help. HE LIVESSSSS!! I KNOW IT!

Con amor,

Hermana ¨Chiste¨ (means joke...all the kids in the branch call me this because I´m always making jokes with them.) aka Hermana Sorenson.

haha I´m five!

¡FELICES FIESTAS!

¡FELICES FIESTAS! 

How are my love bugs back home holdin´ up!? I am doing great. We had another incredible week of work here in Carmelo!! How were the holidays for everybody? I had such an amazing Christmas...Celebrating the greatest life to ever live, in His service was such a blessing! Not to mention, I got to Skype with the people I love most!! :) I am so lucky. I have the best family and friends in the world..I really believe that!! Although Skype was awesome...I see why they don´t let us Skype every week..the day after is hard. Missions are hard. SO HARD. But the things I´m learning here are things that would´ve taken me a lifetime to learn. In the service of the Lord I am turning my weaknesses into strengths, challenges become opportunities, trials become triumphs, and adversity becomes an adventure!! I love this work, and I have never been so happy. I´m learning so much, and I am trying to just soak it all in and enjoy it..because compared to eternity, my time here is short!!

This week has been awesome..and it went by SO fast. We have been working our butts off, but it´s paying off! We are finding s.o.m.a.n.y.p.e.o.p.l.e. we need more missionaries in Carmelo..haha seriously though! Someone call Tommy up and let him know. When I first got here, we had 12 people show up to church..our number for last week? 52!!!! YOU GUYS! I love that! 

TURNS OUT..THE BIG GUY UPSTAIRS HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR....

Let me tell ya a bit about my week. hahaah seriously, all I can do is laugh,

It happened..stepped in dog poop. TWICE. Don´t mind my loafers with the sides cut out!! It got all over my foot...haha seriously, my companion and I couldn´t stop laughing...Next..remember that parasite I told  you about? Yeah...I´ll be just fine and then BAM, it hits me like a ton of bricks and I have to go to the bathroom..(I know, I just jumped from an 4 to a 10 on the attractive scale ) SO..we we´re teaching Floriana a lesson and just like that, I had to go...so I used her bathroom because I had no other choice...and guess what. n o t o i l e t p a p e r ..seriously. Luckily, previously I learned the hard way, and I had toilet paper in my backpack. #holla K so then...after I went to wash my hands...and not only did they not have soap..but no running water! a w e s o m e. So I used hand sanitizer and then insisted we go back to the house so I could wash my hands..hahaha nope it doesn´t end there..so thennn...we we visited the old folks home and I was chatting away with this old man who was at least 200 and his dentures fell out and landed on my shoes! a r e y o u k i d d i n g m e? I like wanted to pick them up for him but it was his dentures!! haha I was traumatized but I masked the pain with laughter. Seriously, what was I supposed to do..? Last but not least...we were having lunch with a member and we were having steak (finally, a nice break from carbs) and I was like..where are the forks and knives? Their response..? Üse your hands...k. haha so basically I´m coming home a caveman..sorry Drew!  Despite how gross and unlucky all of those things were..They make for some great stories..and some hard laughs!

We had a baptism on Saturday and it was awesome!! It´s the grandma I told you all about in one of my first emails..the crazy one that wiped her face with the bread..Ya with me? Anyway..we had to teach her through images because she has Alzheimers and can´t remember anything..I guess her interview was hilarious..They showed her a picture of Jesus and asked who it was and I guess at first she was like ¨Crazy old man¨  uhh..almost? But after being reminded, she got it right! :) She seriously is the sweetest..I am so happy for her. They don´t think she has much time left, so they´re trying to work something out where she can go through the temple sooner than a year...so pray for her please!! At her baptism she didn´t want to go in the water and she was calling everybody the N word hahaha..so that was entertaining..(Oh, the N word isn´t bad here..seriously everyone says it so casually..) Once it was over she felt good and bore her testimony to all of us. She loves us so much, and we love her back.

Okay...so the saddest thing! We can´t teach Mario Jose, Pedro, and their mom anymore...they moved out of our area. (since I know my mom and grandma are reading this) The real story? We found out that Mario Jose was in jail for murdering two police men! WHAT!? I seriously don´t think he would ever harm us...he loves us..But we got word that we can´t teach them anymore. Maybe one day, when some hefty elders come in, they can teach them! I just feel bad because these people NEED the gospel.. Seriously they deserve it. They´re such good people, but I guess right now just isn´t their time. Pray for them!! :) (jeeez I´m such a missionary, ¨pray for them¨ ¨pray for them¨ änd them...and them..¨ but really though, do it)

New Years!!! Are you guys all so pumped for tonight!? All my girls geting all dressed up and sparkly and what not!? JELLY! But not really, because I love every single day here...we get to stay up til 12..WHHHAAA! That´s like unheard of! But I hear the fireworks are awesome, so I´m excited for that. We´re going to a members house for a BBQ (the same members house that we were at for Christmas) they are so nice and always take care of us missionaries! The best part is that they´re less active so we get to teach while we´re there..They are starting to trust us, and they love us more every single day..I think they´ll be really strong members pretty quick here! Anyway, tis the season for Metas!!! GOALS!!! My resolution is to become more Christlike. So every month I am going to study an attribute and do all that I can to obtain it.  I´ve done some studying, and have found some scriptures to go with every attribute.. I´ll share them with you all the first of every month, and you can do it with me! (If you want!) I chose PATIENCE for January..Scriptures: 2 Nephi 10:17 Romans 8:25 Alma 17:11 Romans 15:1 Ether 12:27 and Alma 34: 40-41 I set some other goals too, and I am excited to work towards them! 2013 was hands down the best year of my life..finished my Junior year of school, got my patriarchal blessing, traveled, met my two baby cousins..the big 21...and now I´m on a mission! How did that happen!? So many things to be excited about!! It´s crazy to think that I will be in Uruguay for all of 2014..I´m the luckiest.

Well, I´m going to go now..Oh we had changes yesterday, so we got a new Elder..He´s from Arizona and is as white as they come. I´m no longer the newb!! Hearing him try to speak Spanish reminds me of my first week here..tragic haha. I just want to give him a hug (don´t worry, I wont.) It really puts it into perspective how much Spanish I have learned in six weeks. The gift of tongues is real!! Heavenly Father has blessed me tremendously. Speaking of the gift of tongues, I taught Sunday School in church on Sunday and taught about the gifts of the spirit..it was fun to get to share my testimony about that! I love all of you so much, don´t forget to write. urugoest@gmail.com Send me letters throughout the week to that email! :) 

Food for thought: ¨Doubt your doubts before your doubt your faith¨

Now Playing in the Ciber: ¨Walk Like an Egyptian¨ 

Con Amor,

Hermana Sorenson

I SAW HERMANA BACA AT A CONFERENCE. Oh, and we matched!! (It must be that cousin telepathy)

¡FELIZ FIESTAS!

So to start...Floriana shaved her eyebrows off this week. hahah I can´t even look at her without laughing. The good news, is that she laughs too and she´s like I don´t know what I was thinking...and I¨m like you obviously weren´t.. I thought you´d all get a kick out of that...eyebrows are essential people! Now for the more serious stuff..It has been such a crazy week of work here in Uruguay, and it DOES NOT feel like Christmas. Kind of sad, but it´s okay because I am super busy, so I don´t have much time to think about it!!!! Things are really good here, and we are finding more people to teach every single day! PREPARED people none the less!!! :) We have been doing a lot of service lately, we have a service project almost every day, and sometimes twice a day. We rake, weed, and clean for members, and people of other faiths. I really loved the weeding and raking..WHO AM I? But seriously, minus the sweat, I was loving it. We also did a lot of service in the church preparing for our Christmas Party. It was a lot of work..It made me feel so bad for not helping out more at my wards at home..If you have time...HELP. So much goes into every activity behind the scenes..and it is a lot of hard work. So if you can, make time to help out...not to mention, ya feel good doing it! :) 

Today was our Christmas P-day so we got to watch a movie and go to the beach (no we didn´t get in the water.) We watched Despicable Me 2 IN ENGLISH!! I was laughing so hard..I was reminded that I´m a 12 year old at heart. Anyway, I hope you´re all having a beautiful holdiday season, and always keeping Jesus Christ in your thoughts..Afterall, it is Him whom we are celebrating this time of year and always!! :) We biked to a family in the branch´s house for the movie and lunch...it´s only an hour and fifteen minute bike ride both ways...so I am currently dying of heat stroke as I type this. Pray for me. haha

We found...well I shouldn´t say that. This new investigator FOUND US this week. It was incredible. We were tired from a long day of not much success...walking home at 9:00 PM and this man started yelling at us from his yard saying words like ¨OFFER, RELIGION, CHURCH, TEACH ME!¨ haha ¨Uh...okay...we can do that!¨ His name is Carlitos, and he is so awesome, he has so many questions and is sooo curious. We taught him The Restoration and he said he would pray about it. Then two days later, he walked two miles to our Church looking for us because he wanted to learn more about Christ!! Are you kidding me!? HE IS CAPO (awesome) We have another lesson with him on Christmas. What a good Christmas present for both of us!! We´re so excited about him, and he is excited about us. He is so great. More good news..remember the family I told you about my first week here that we found that has the picture of Ricky Martin on their wall? THEY COMMITTED TO BAPTISM!!!!!! The whole family! So that is happening on January 4th. The two boys have a problem where they can´t read or write...so the mom reads to them every single night. It´s truly a miracle! Want more good news? We reactivated this family..and they have a little girl named Angiolina (who I adore) she is nine...and the parents said we could start giving her the discussions...and their baby is being blessed on the fifth of January! THE WORK IS HASTENING HERE IN CARMELO URUGUAY AND I AM SO BLESSED TO BE A PART OF IT! 

I got to teach dance on Saturday and it was a success...it started with all of the young women and then all the boys got bored of sports and came upstairs and attended dance class! haha I was loving it..To my surprise the elders were the most coordinated of them all. It was priceless..and I was truly having so much fun. It´s now a set activity for every single Saturday! Whooooot! 

Remember that time I said I wanted to sing in church? Yeah...me neither. But it happened...yesterday..and it was T R A G I C. The missionaries got asked to sing ¨Noche De Paz¨ aka ¨Silent Night¨ and so we arranged this melody with like English and Spanish mixed...and it was going to be awesome..right? Well at the last second the branch president said that he and his wife were going to join us because they´re missionaries too...hahahah you guys. It was so funny. they were WAILING...say it with me. TONE DEAF. I was trying to hard not to laugh..but it was nearly impossible..I just stopped singing because I had to only focus on not laughing. 

Sunday was a hard day for me...not sure why. I just was thinking a lot about home..and the holidays..and it was hard..I think that´s normal...ya know to have bad days. But during sunday school..the Holy Ghost prompted me to read Alma 17..and after ignoring it for twenty minutes because I was trying to pay attention to the teacher...it was SO LOUD...I needed to read Alma 17. It was about Ammon and his mission. His trials were far greater than mine..and he handled them like a boss! He didn´t cry about it! Instead he pressed forward with patience and faith! WHAT A STUD. I don´t have to heard sheep...and slay the arms of armies...I only have to learn a language...Miracles only occur when faith is present. My day turned around in a blink of an eye, and I was so grateful for my mission and all that I have been blessed with. When we are patient in long-suffering we receive so many blessings! I was comforted, and Jesus Christ, as always, was quick to come. 

Everything is great here, I love the people...my capacity to love grows every single day. Thank you all for all of your love and support. Keep writing, I love hearing from you all! Have the best Christmas ever and remember what this time of year is all about behind all of the hype..The birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so excited to spend this Christmas in dedicated service to Him..What better gift could I give him! I love you all, and I love my Savior!!!  MERRY CHRISTMAS LADIES AND GENTS.

PS...the food here is disgusting. I am way sick after almost every meal haha. We only eat once a day and it´s always rice, potatoes, or pasta...carb wit it. haha but my bod just isn´t taking it well. I may or may not have a parasite. Merry Christmas Saffy Taffy! hahaha it´s no big deal though, some of you were just asking about the food..so there´s your answer. 

Con Amor,

Hermana Sorenson

Our Christmas Party!!

we at the hotel....mooootel

How is it P-day already!? I don´t know, but Happy Monday!!! :) I hope you´re all having a good day, and getting ready for Christmas. WHOOOT! I have had the best week of my life here in Uruguay...seriously! It has been so crazy, but I`ve loved it. 

So I´m just gonna dive right in.

Picture cynderblocks coated in ice....that´s what I slept on last Tuesday..haha comfortable? But the next day we had a huge zone conference with two other zones in our mission in Montevideo....don´t worry...only a four hour drive both ways. We heard from Brother Gonzales who is an area seventy. It was an incredible meeting and I felt like the spirit taught all of us a lot. I also saw Hermana Baca and Elder Dietrich from my district at the empty sea!!!!!! It was the best reunion...and it was so great to hear about all of their experiences and speak to them in Spanish. H O L L A. So after the conference we didn´t get to Colonia (a city about an hour away from my area) until 10....and we were supposed to catch another bus to Carmelo...haha busses stopped coming at 8. So naturally the elders were instructed to sleep in the church with no blankets...and President Smith got us hermanas a suite in the nicest hotel in Uruguay. Sorry elders. It was such a riot, we got in our hotel room and there was like Oreos on each of our beds, and a ticket for breakfast in the morning! No complaints there! Our breakfast the next morning was the most beautiful sight I´ve ever seen..haha at least in four weeks anyway. It was fresh fruit, and at lest 46 different types of biscochos!!! The best part? While we were eating breakfast I overheard these three men speaking to each other in ENGLISH! So I yelled across the room and asked them where they were from.. One from Finland, one from Romania, and one that didn´t answer me. Coo? Anyway, I gave them each contact cards and bore my testimony in a language I know about the Restoration. It. was. awesome. I told them there were missionaries e v e r y w h e r e..In Romania! In Finland! I was like overly excited so I¨m hoping I didn´t freak them out hahaha (leave it to me to freak someone out with my enthusiasm.) We also left a Book of Mormon with our testimonies in our room for the cleaning lady to find. I´m positive that there is a reason that we ended up where we did last Wednesday night...and I don´t think it was to pay us back for the ¨beds¨we slept on Tuesday night either! The Lord works in mysterious ways peeps. :)

The last baptism I attended before my mission was my little brother Jake´s ...although it was a great day, I didn´t fully comprehend what he was doing that day. Thursday was the best day of my life...We had two baptisms. Niko and Eduardo. Niko was just glowing the entire time, and right before he came up and asked us to help him with his tithing...five pesos. Five. If that doesn´t tug on your heart strings, then I don´t know what will. You guys!!! He´s an angel!! He is teaching me so much, he loves the gospel with all of his heart! Eduardo is awesome. He is married to a member, Cynthia and they have two little kiddos. (They´re so darling.) Us missionaries sang ¨Families Can Be Together Forever¨ and it was so emotional because we were all picturing Eduardo and his family in the temple a year from now!!! That´s their goal..so I look forward to helping them get to that point! :) They´re an awesome family. I wish I recognized the significance of baptism before my mission...it really is the gateway to eternal happiness!!! How cool is that?

Saturday!!!! Our entire branch went to the temple!!! Best day ever!! (...again) But seriously, the temple was awesome. On the way down there one of the members got sick so we had an hour pit stop....ya know...just missed the session is all. It ended up being good though because some members went at 1:00 and the rest of us at 3:00...so when we arrived in Montevideo we had a good four hours to kill. Lucky for us missionaries, we got to hang out in the mission home until our session. Hermana Smith is the best host ever and made the boys this fixture of meat on a bun, and us girls BBQ Chicken salads. hastag, tendermercies. We then played Christmas bingo, catch the marshmallow in your mouth (which I´m pro at), finish the Christmas puzzle in five...or thirty minutes, and ping pong! It was so fun..Then it was time for the best part. m o n t e v i d e o t e m p l e. They were so accomodating...they put up English subtitles for yo girl so that I could understand what was going on. It was so peaceful, and I learned so much. I never realized how lucky we were to have temples literally everywhere in Utah...I regret not going more..like every single day! But I think that I needed to experience this to better appreciate it..I. love. the. temple. I could hardly sleep the night before because I was so excited to go, and I feel like that´s how it should always be. Ya know!? Like we should be so excited to go the temple! It really is such a great blessing that we have a place like that on earth. K I´ll stop being all preachy now. The bus ride home was tragic..hahaha I´m laughing out loud thinking about it. One of the kiddos was way way sick and throwing up..then we ran over a skunk, then I´m positive that one of the kids (or grandmas) pooped their pants...and then all the oldies were dousing themselves in perfume from the 70´s...so it smelt really good in there. -_-  So I decided to look exxxxxxtrrra Egyptian for most of the ride home and wrap my scarf around my face a time or two. haah sue me.

It was a beautiful week here in Carmelo. I am loving my mission. I am sad it´s going by so fast. I am so glad I came, I know I say this every week, but I am learning so much. The Book of Mormon has all of the answers to everything, and there is a l w a y s  more to learn. Fun fact? For language study this week I translated my patriarchal blessing to Spanish..That was cool, because words in Spanish are more specific...It was fun to analyze the differences and what not. I hope you all have a beautiful week, have a huge snow ball fight for me...don´t break any windows doing so Drewb. Oh...and for some reason, I can´t get any of my pictures to attach. :( I promise to send some next week for Christmas. 

PS....I GET TO TEACH DANCE TO THE YOUNG WOMEN EVERY SATURDAY! :) How fun is that!? We start this week, and I am so excited..the young women seem excited too. I miss dance so much, and the streching during language study just isn´t cuttin´ it! 

w r i t e m e

urugoest@gmail.com

use it.

I LOVE YOU ALL.

Con amor,

Hermana Sorenson