Fun Pictures

Photos of Christmas Ward Christmas Party

Party Hard

Bennie's companion Elder Herring (Right) and Elder Parker, new roommate (Left). Bennie says they are basically the same person

This is his choir student teacher from last year.

Elder lussier-houle my district leader who went home this week

So when a missionary goes home, they "die". So their companion kills
them.  So we always take death pictures whenever someone in our
district dies.  This is elder lussier-houles death picture!

Roommate Prank

Looking like Dzadieck

#thepdaycrew

Breakfast before district meeting.  Super fun.  I helped make the pancakes.

Apartment On Saturday

The Ebb & Flow of a Singles' Ward

Week 27: The Ebb & Flow of a Singles’ Ward

So, this week was pretty good.  But, I'm low on time to write, because the APs decided we would be the ones helping at the Visitors’ Center tonight. I'll write a good amount though, I promise. 

So, nothing of note really happened during the first twodays of the week, but then-TRANSFER MEETING!!!  I knew neither me nor Elder Herring were leaving, but one of our roommates, Elder Bodda, was getting transferred and he was the district leader for College Park. Therefore we knew we needed a new district leader.  Within the mission we knew two other district leaders were going home, so we had no idea who they would choose as new district leaders.

As it turns out, the craziest thing EVER happened!! Elder Parker, who was an ASL missionary, got moved into the English program, and is now our roommate! WOOT!!!  It's so much fun in our apartment!  We love to do stuff together once were both home for the night. We rearranged the furniture and put a hockey goal up in the living room, and shoot around, and goalie and stuff.  It's super rad!

Then we had a couple good lessons this week, and it was another week of a pretty good amount of canceling too... Ugh. But, singles ward at Christmas time is rough.  Elder Herring hates how slow it's going right now. This area ebbs and flows, and it's just in an ebb right now. 

We had our Ward Christmas party which was fun!  We had good
food, and also played games, and listened to some good performances!
It was pretty fun!  There are pictures of Elder Herring and I playing Minute to Win It.  We had to unwind a streamer roll in a minute or less.

Then Sunday was the craziest thing ever!!!  We went to the Visitors Center as a ward mission.  We were helping with some stuff, and then going to the show.  Before the show started I saw COACH BRAMALL AND COACH NELSON from THS!  It was super cool! I got to talk to both of them!  Then I saw Hailey Harris, who is in the DC South mission!  Then I saw James Lawlor again! 

The show that night was Jenny Oaks Baker.  It was super awesome!  Her kids are super talented.  Then after the show I was walking up the stairs, and all of a sudden I hear someone yell "BENNIE!!"  And I look over, and Ms. Tanner my student teacher from choir who lives in Virginia was running towards me!!!!  She tried to hug me at first.  That was funny.  I was just kinda like “heeeeyyy I can't... “And she was like, “oh yeah!”  But we got to talk for a little bit and it was super awesome to see so many people I knew!!!!!  Best day ever!!!!!   I've gotta go now... Ugh!  Love you guys!!  Have a good week!

Elder Sorensen

Festival of Lights

We started the week off pretty good with district meeting, and also dinner with M- (recently baptized) and M- (his fiancée).  It was super fun!  We were able to talk a lot with M- about lots of his questions and all that was going on in his life.  It was awesome.  I really like working with M-.  He also brought lacrosse sticks for us to play with, but we got stuck in traffic, so we weren't able to get there before it was dark... 

Wednesday we had institute and a really good lesson with C-. I honestly just love the people we get to work with!!  It's so fun here! 

Then Thursday was the day of “every single person ever canceling appointments.” This forced us to do everything on the fly and be led by the spirit!  Yay! I hope we were still effective though.

Then Friday we worked on our assignments from the Bishop and President Cooke to check on less actives and those unassigned to home teachers.  We also went into DC to help with parking at the Visitors’ Center. The Festival of Lights started this week, which brings a good crowd every night. The missionaries are enlisted to help with parking and assisting the visitors each evening. So, we get to stand out in the cold and help people cross roads, and know where to park their cars and all that.  It was really exciting even though it is cold.  I actually saw someone from back home- Elder James Lawlor!  He was pretty good friends with a few of my friends, so we saw each other a couple times.  He went to Orem High, and plays the guitar really well.  We talked for a minute, and it was fun to catch up with someone from back home.  I'm not sure which mission he's in, but I'm pretty sure he's in the Baltimore mission.   That is interesting that they pull surrounding missions in also to help with festival and everything. 

Saturday morning I felt sicker than... a moderately sick person.  I felt really fluey.  Elder Herring and I hung out with our roommates and made a gingerbread house, and just stayed calm so I could feel better.  Then around 3 o’clock we had appointments, so we went to those.  We got to go back to The Festival of Lights with C- and G- and a few other ward members. We were able to watch this time and I really enjoyed it! 

We also received information about our transfer that night too. I'm not sure if I've ever talked about this part of transfers, so I'll describe it. The Saturday night before transfers the APs and President get everything finalized.  They then send a spreadsheet out to the Zone Leaders around 10:15. Next, the Zone Leaders leave a voicemail on our phones with details about who's leaving and who's staying.  We waited with our roommates, and found out that both Herring and me are staying, and then my roommate who's been in the apartment since I've been here is leaving, but the other one is staying.  I am happy to stay through Christmas and I’m also

happy that one of the guys from the other companionship is staying too because I like both of them really well. 

Sunday was Sunday: meetings all day, then Break the Fast, and also checking on a couple more unassigned list people, then also the First Presidency Christmas Broadcast.  It was a busy but pretty good day. 

Then today- We're on our way back from touring the Capitol building.  It made for a fun and different p-day for us.  We got to go with Elder Summit  (from my MTC District) and Elder Gold (from my home stake.)  It was interesting to be there and understand more about the building.  I'm sort of finding out more and more that I'm not so much of a “museum person.” But that's okay. I can appreciate the history there still. 

I had a missionary/parent moment this week.  It was Sunday, and we were teaching A- (first baptism.)  Well, he just got called as a ward missionary, so A- was teaching T-, one of our ward members.  T- had gotten A- a gift for Christmas.  T- gave him a tie, a journal, and a picture of Christ.  It brought me to tears. I was so happy to see someone taking care of the person who I cared a lot about; plus, I had been a bit worried about him, so it was super touching to see someone help him and show him kindness..  

Tonight we have to shuffle a little, Elder Herring is going over to his old apartment cause they're doing a White House tour tomorrow, and I will stay out with our roommates all day.  So I'm pretty happy I get to spend the day with Elder Bodda right before he leaves.  It was a good week, but hopefully this one is better, with appointments  holding and all that.  I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Elder Sorensen

Thanksgiving Week

Week 25 :  Thanksgiving Week

I learned my lesson from last week:  When I try to add pictures in the email from my iPad I lose most of the text.  That is why your letter was so short last week.  From now I'll just send pictures in a separate email. 

This week was pretty okay.  We had lots of meetings and stuff, plus Thanksgiving, so we didn't get too many appointments in even though we tried really hard!  We had the temple trip which was super rad!! 

I guess I haven't ever explained how having a temple in the mission works, so here goes.  We get to go once a transfer, and they schedule an Elders’ day and a Sisters’ day.  Sisters usually go at the beginning of the transfer, and Elders at the end. So, it was a bit early this transfer, but that's okay. We do an endowment session if we have time, if not we can do initiatory or sealing work.  This week we also did service at the Visitors Center putting up lights for the upcoming Festival of Lights!  It was super fun festive to help there.  

On Thanksgiving we went to our bishop’s house for dinner because most of the Young Single Adult ward left town. It was very nice!  We had good food, and got to see a video of bishop skydiving for his 60th birthday!  I felt pretty sick that day, so I didn't eat too much, but I'll send a picture of what I did eat. I was also surprised at how much I missed you all...I thought it would just be another day and it'd be fine, but I realized that was my first Thanksgiving away from home, and started feeling a bit too grown up too fast...  But, I'm doing better now that December has begun and Christmas is in view! 

The last couple of days this week were frustrating for both Elder Herring and I, because everyone was gone for the weekend.  So we got adventurous and drove all over the southern half of the mission checking on people I've never even heard whispers of the whole five months I've been in this area.  It was fun, but lots of driving. We left notes but didn't meet any of the people on our list.  It is frustrating that other missionaries send records of anyone in their ward who is Young Adult age and a less active.  We are expected to be able to know who they are with little to no background info and they usually live 1-2 hours away so we ended sacrificing a large portion of our day trying to find them.   

I don't think I'll be in this area much longer.  Transfers are on December 10th.  I'll either leave the area next week or the next.  It's gonna be really sad when I leave this ward...I love it here.  Today we went to the DC 3rd ward because Elder Herring was baptizing someone!  It was pretty fun.   It was so interesting to see another ward in the mission.  DC 3rd comprises four different bike areas plus a French group meets with them, so there are around ten missionaries in that ward. 

Elder Herring and I are doing awesome!  (The one piece of info we received last week was that there had been a mid-transfer switch in companions for Bennie.) We talk a lot and we get along pretty well so I'm not complaining! 

Love you guys!!

Elder Sorensen