5-24-10 "There Goes the First Eleven..."

I can hardly believe it, but today marks eleven months since I parted with y'all at the Missionary Training Center. It doesn't really feel like it was all that long ago. And in the eternal scheme of things, it really wasn't. Thank goodness for time, which keeps everything from happening all at once.

We got a little bit of sad news this week. One of the members of the ward passed away. He was an older gentleman, basically homebound due to major illnesses and general deterioration of the body. We'd visited him mostly at the hospital as he made several trips in and out of there over the last six months or so. I like to hope we were a strength to him, because I know what a blessing he was to us. Just knowing he would be there to listen to our testimonies and discuss the gospel kept our spirits going through many hard days and gave me a sense of purpose. I know the Lord wanted our paths to cross. We were able to attend his funeral on Saturday morning. I'll always remember his slow Texas drawl, his gravelly voice, and his stubborn but optimistic personality. He always complimented my handshake, so apparently I do have a nice, firm one.

On a brighter note, we had a wonderful zone conference this week. President Hansen's remarks were exactly what I needed to hear. He made it clear that people and not numbers are the important things. I've been struggling with that a lot, having been in an area where numbers have been low for a while. I have this tendency to blame it all on myself, mistakenly thinking that if I blame it all on me, I can then fix it all by fixing myself. That's not how it works. Actually, his remarks focused mostly on charity and love. In the end, I hope that's what I've given this area. We were driving somewhere yesterday, and I started pointing out certain places I remember and people I remember talking to while tracting. Even those who didn't really want to hear the message of the restoration. Sister Mullins looked at me and said, "You really do know a lot about this area." And it was like a light went on in my mind. There are some people in Tomball that I only talked to once, but I still remember them and small details about their life. Because I love them, hopefully. And because I recognize that God does know and love them, intimately. He knows all the details. In striving to put myself out there every day, I have gained just a glimpse into that kind of love which God has for these people. Even when they reject the fulness of truth He offers them. Especially then, because I've caught only glimpses and I wish I could understand it more and better and then maybe I'd be able to help them connect to the gospel. Oh, my heart just aches that I haven't been able to see many people accept the fulness of the gospel while I've been here. But even as I write this, I can feel the Spirit whispering to me that at some future day I'll meet some of these people again, when both of our memories are more agile. And then we will rejoice together in God's perfect timing. I imagine the same thing will happen with Charles Marshall. I don't know if he remembers me, but I know that we will meet again in the celestial kingdom, and there we will remember one another and rejoice in the Savior who unites and reunites us all.

Sorry, I didn't mean to go off on a tangent like that. My feelings are just very near the surface lately. Things that I've been holding in I'm no longer holding in. Challenges that I felt like I should deal with alone are becoming challenges I'm willing to share with others, especially with God. I've been bouncing back and forth between faith and fear for a long time now. But I'm preparing myself to entirely turn my back on fear by trying to remember the things I just told you. Love. Love. Love for these people.

Okay, I love the picture of Eli jumping off the diving board. He is amazing. And full of courage. I'll use him as an inspiration, too. I remember when he used to be afraid of putting his face underwater. Now, apparently he can swim. What a man! Thanks, also for the picture of our soon to be missionary and his friends. He's sure to do amazing. I loved the story from Jason's talk. Sacrifice for someone you love really isn't a sacrifice at all.

Sorry to hear you had a wet weekend. Yesterday at our dinner appointment they were saying Idaho Falls had had snow. Not jealous. Yesterday it was about 94 degress all day. You're probably not jealous of that, either. Tell the sister missionaries in Mackay hello and stay dry. Of course, some of the best times I have had are tracting in the mud and rain, as long as you know where you can go to get dry. Thanks for giving them a ride. I'm sure they appreciated it more than they could express. I know members do so much for us. I don't know where we would be without them.

I did end up going to get a second opinion last week. Sister Tetreault thinks this doctor is much better. We'll stick with him as long as I'm here. Who knows how long that will be.

Love you all, miss you a little, but knowing the return is coming sooner than I think,

Sister Whitney Mikell Sorensen, the shining one

5-17-10 "Roger Federer, An Apostle, and Other People I Met This Week"

Before you go crazy, no, I didn't actually meet Roger Federer. Or an apostle. But I really wanted to have a catchy subject line. This is the best I could come up with. Last Monday, Sister Mullins

went to get a haircut. As I'm sitting there, avoiding the magazines, I see one with the prince of tennis himself on the cover. So tempting! I just wanted to open it up and read all about him, but that would not have been good. So I didn't. However, the same salon also had the radio playing in the background, and I'm pretty sure I heard both a new Train song and a new Lifehouse song. Torture! Because they were both good songs, and now I won't get to hear them again until...well, you know when. But while we're on the subject, be sure to keep me posted about the French OPen and Wimbledon when they occur. I really hope our champ is able to defend both titles. And that they had time to rebuild the graveyard of chamions. Come to think of it, I was in London during Wimbledon. That had never occured to me until now. What was I thinking, not going to watch?!? Oh, yeah, I wasn't yet the diehard tennis fan I am now.

Next, the apostle. We had a media referral this week for someone in one of our gated neighborhods. I am always cautious about approaching people in there because I don't want the church to get a bad name. Technically, you are supposed to go through the front gate where you tell a guard exactly who you are visiting, and they they either check your name off the list or call that person to make sure it's okay. But we have our ways of getting in. Anyway, we have a less-active member we visit in there, so after we visited him, we decided to contact the referral. I only a little bit apprehensively knocked on the door. When someone answered, we asked if the person was home. (We had no phone number for him; otherwise, we would have set up an appointment.) He was in, so we went in and sat down. He and his wife just came over from Africa, and his is an "apostle" in the apostolic religion or something. He wants to help us spread the gospel. We testified about the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the priesthood, but in the end he was mostly looking for "materials," since he had to leave most of his in Africa. We gave them a copy of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, along with some DVDs. We even gave him some pass-along cards for free copies of the Bible. I hope he used them. That would be neat: a non-member giving out pass along cards.

Yes, I did get the box. The shirts fit wonderfully, and I have been enjoying them a lot. They will be perfect when the heat of the summer comes, which it basically almost has, just not in full swing. You'll be jealous, Dad, when I tell you that people are already harvesting tomatoes. The growing season is super long here. I'm always stunned, no matter how many times people tell me that.

I saw Sister Tetreault this week. She loved your letter, Mom. She couldn't stop praising it, and how much it had lifted her spirits. She let me read it, and you yourself are quite the writer, too. Don't forget that. Especially in your new/ofrmer calling. You will be just the right woman for the task. I'm sure the Lord is putting you there for a reason. Aren't you glad now that you didn't sign on to be the producer of another fall musical? The Lord has ways of telling us to hold back on certain opportunities when more important ones are on the horizon. You have a way of inspiring women to understand their eternal potential, and the women of the stake will be blessed by your love and charity.

Hmmm, the ward talent show was not bad. Highlights for me were a 7-yaer-old girl singing "Deep in the Heart of Texas," a 3-year-old boy doing his own version of hip-hop dancing while his sister and her friend jumped rope, a girl with mad hula-hooping skills, and a 10-year-old boy with a great jazz voice singing "Basin Street Blues."

I wish I had more to say, but instead I'm including some pictures, each worth 1000 words. Hopefully that will be enough.

1: Me and Sister Mullins, just this morning
2: Me, Sister Hoskins, and Sister Christensen at the temple
3 and 4: Some members of one of my favorite families in Tomball

Love and joy come to you,
Sister Whitney Mikell Sorensen P.S. Before I even opened the card, Mom, I thought of the clown story. Freaky, the way our minds work the same. You might even say, "we're the same." :)

5-3-10 "America is my country, and Paris is my hometown"

First things first. Last week you asked for Sis. Tetreault's address, Mom. So here it is. Send my surrogate mother a little note to say thanks because she really does everything for us, along with so many others in the ward. But Sister Tetreault is special. She took us to dinner at Mel's Cafe this week, and in the midst of a lot of things gave us words of motherly comfort and advice. I love her. She and her husband went out of town for this week, but she called us on Friday to say she loves us. But she didn't really say good-bye to me, which I thought for a second was weird, because I surely should have been leaving Tomball. But no, she just said, "remember that it always turns out okay and I'll give you a ride to the doctor whenever you need." But, Sister Tetreault has the gift of discernment and prophecy. That very night when I was feeling absolutely sick over something, I remembered her words and instantly felt so much more comfort. And then the next night, when we got transfer calls, she was right then too, because I'm staying in Tomball for another six weeks. I'm very excited. I'm not ready to say good-bye to these people and this area yet. I know the Lord has something more in store for us here. My new companion will be Sister Mullins, who just served in College Station. In a way, it feels like I'm coming full circle, since that's where I came from. I don't want to get into the list of things that have been challenging for me in Tomball, but even with all those things, Tomball will always be my Texas hometown, and right now it feels like the longer I can stay here, the better. It reminds me of a line from Sabrina. She says that some famous guy says, "America is my country and Paris is my hometown." I would say, "Idaho is my country and Tomball is my hometown." I know, Idaho's not a country, but kind of, for the purposes of the parody. Sister Hoskins will be going up to College Station with her first companion, and she'll be on bikes again. She is very excited, and I'm excited for her.

Love the picture of Cody at the temple. Amazing. My heart is full. When I showed my companions, they both said, "Ooh! He's cute!" I agree. He looks very mature and happy. I love to see happy. And cute dress, Mom. You look amazing, too. It's crazy to think, but I really miss the Idaho Falls Temple. I wish I had been through it more than once, but there will be plenty of time for that soon enough. So, tell him that's my advice for him. Go to the temple often so he'll remember it when he gets into the mission field. I'm not sure how often missionaries in his mission get to go to the temple. I'm lucky, but most missions aren't like ours, going every six weeks.

Congratulations! We've made it to Mother's Day! I'll talk to you on Mother's day for an hour. I think that's another reason I'm excited about staying in Tomball. I really didn't want to call home from an area I didn't even know. This way I can spend all my time enjoying you. It'll probably be in the evening about 7 or 8 our time, so 6 or 7 your time. It depends on which hour I take and which hour Sister Mullins takes.

Okay. Funny story of the week. Yesterday at church, we were sitting in the foyer, waiting for a meeting to start. Bro. Hubnik from the ward walks out into the tiled entry way. I see a little gecko/lizard thing out there, just in time to see him step on it. The body separates from the tail, but both keep moving. The tail is wagging back and forth, and the rest of the body is slowly crawling away and then hesitating at different intervals. Strange. Wow.

I wish I had more to say. I'll watch for the mail. Thanks in advance. It sounds perfect. I'll talk to y'all soon.

Much love and shining,

Sister Whitney Mikell Sorensen