April 22, 2018
Well everyone I am sorry it took a little bit longer to get this up. This week was more impacting mentally, physically, and emotionally than I had originally anticipated. Thank you for your patience. Here is what I have to say.
Two years ago I began this journey. I had been excited to go on a mission almost my whole life. I had studied and prepared, dreamed and schemed, and many other things that one does leading up to a mission. In terms of what one can do to prepare I had done a lot, but nothing really was going to prepare me to do what the next 24 months were about to bring. I thought I knew what hard was, but I had no clue. I thought I knew what hard work was, but I was kidding myself. I thought I was ready to serve a mission, but I wasn't. No one ever really is, because this is not an adventure where you go teach the gospel life is just peaches and cream. Missions are partly that, but they are also this. Missions are the chance for you to give up everything and let the Lord fill that time with whatever HE wants to be there. You give up school, sports, fun, work, really just life. He then fills it with trials, troubles, struggles, and afflictions. With successes, joy, new friends, new culture, and amazing learning opportunities. He fills it with everything you need to be ready for and to be successful in the rest of your life. Your purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ, but His purpose is to help you know how to do that. Not just on the mission, but for eternity. He does not only have these 18 months or 2 years in mind while you are out here, but rather eternity. I testify that what I experienced and went through on my mission, everything, both the great, and the terrible, was because my amazing Heavenly Father was thinking not only just about what I would experience on the mission, but everything I have to do and that He has in store for me for the rest of eternity. I learned lessons on how to be a genuine person and disciple of Jesus Christ that will benefit me forever. I learned about overcoming pride, about focusing on others, and about developing Christlike attributes not just because it would help me be a better missionary, but one day a better husband and father, church member, friend, classmate, coworker, and everything else you can think of! Missions are about you learning how to come unto Christ. Your purpose is to invite others to come unto Him, but you can't bring them any closer than you already are! While you are being someone else's missionary, the Savior is being yours.
I learned so many things. I learned how to adapt in unexpected circumstances. How to be comfortable and confident in new situations. How to "embrace it till you make it". I learned that I am often going to fail, and that's ok. I learned that as long as you are trying, everything will work out. You do what you know you are supposed to do and then trust that God will bring about what needs to happen. Then when whatever happens next does happen, you need to trust it is the Lord's will. Don't freak out if it isn't what you wanted or expected. Trust it is what is right. I learned how to love those who don't love me. I learned how to love someone who is hard to love. I learned how to love someone when I don't really like them. I learned how to be someone who is easier to love. I learned how to do all this not just in word, but in deed and thought. I learned how to have pure motivation; to be motivated by my love for the Savior rather than for anything to do with me. I learned how to better do hard things. I learned how to love what I am doing, no matter what that thing is. I learned how to recognize and understand the Spirit in a way I never have before. I learned more on how to qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost and to trust that when I am doing those things He is there even if I don't "feel" Him there. I can instead trust He is with me and guiding me in a way that works best for me. Oh I could go on but really what it all boils down to is I learned how to come unto Christ. Whilst inviting others to do so I learned for myself how I can do it. Before my mission I could say I knew of Him and kinda a little bit knew Him. I still have a long way to go in life but I can say by true experience that I now know my Savior. I know what He wants of me, for me, and that He will always help me become who He and my Heavenly Father want me to become.
I love them. They have helped me through these first few days of being home. It has been hard. Harder than I had anticipated. Just like going out on a mission I thought, "I got this", and in a sense I do, but not really. It's nothing I have ever done before, but I'm learning that I don't have to do this alone. I don't have to be alone. It will feel like I am sometimes, that's the unavoidable truth. There are times right now where I feel very alone. It is not for very long or very often, and I am blessed with an amazing family that loves me and great friends. It's in those times however that I try my best to remember my Savior. That's how I really get through it and everything else, and I testify that it is the only true and real way to get through anything and come out on top. Bad things happen to good people, and so do hard things. The purpose of them, and the purpose of life, is to bring us closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Nothing bad in this life lasts forever, no matter how much it feels like it. Everything that was hard on the mission did come to an end. Everything in your life that is hard will too. It is because of our Redeemer that this is a reality. I know He lives. I know He gives us things like the Book of Mormon, prophets, and families to help us overcome the bad and improve in where we are good. This works because all these things like prayer and church bring us to Him. It is through Christ and His Atonement that we go from bad to good, and good to better. We do this till one day after experiencing countless hardships and numerous joys, we stand before Him at judgement day to hear him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" and then be led to live with our Heavenly Father for eternity. All of us can make it, just come unto Christ. This is my testimony that I leave with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
April 16, 2018
Well everyone... the time has come! Who knew 2 years would eventually come around. There is much to say but not very much time to say it. On Friday or Saturday I will post a final message on my blog but till then this will be short. I love all of you. Thanks for coming along with me on this journey. It was nothing I expected but everything I needed. See ya soon!
Elder Kynan Sorochan
April 9, 2018
Hey everyone this is really fast because there has been a lot of stuff to figure out and a lady just came and talked to us for forever offering to teach the missionaries Greek so we can learn the Greek new testament.
Quickly Monday was cool. I felt prompted to go stop by Brother Lardin which hasn't really happened before, but I had the thought and we went. Turned out to be the perfect night to see him.
Finished the restoration with Chloe and Andrew. They are so solid! They are really fun to teach too.
We did service for Isabella! The missionaries have been pushing for that for months and it has finally happened!
Did a lot of service this week and putting records into our phones. Has been really weird having a smart phone.
Not too much crazy else to report. Wish I could write more but, oh well!
Love yall!
Elder Sorochan
April 2, 2018
Well everyone I'm back! This week was weird and I'll tell ya why!
Monday was pretty normal. I almost twisted my ankle AGAIN but that shouldn't surprise anyone. I have a hard time being careful. It's ok though. It didn't because of the exercises I've been doing or at least that's what I'm sticking with! We also had lunch at Costa Vida and got 70% off!!!!!!!!!!! I love being a missionary. We also had a solid active member lesson with the Steimle's where we taught part of the restoration and help set goals of some things they could do to be a missionary to people they know. They all participated and are set to go!
Tuesday was our last day with a flip phone. I do not miss it I do not miss it I do not miss it. Don't get me wrong, I was super grateful to have a phone, but there was so much that was just tedious and slow with it that I will not miss it so far as the quality of phone goes.
Wednesday two things happened. We got our smart phones. I get a loaner one due to time but it is nice! We both have a phone but only one has a sim card. The other is just kind of a tablet. Our whole zone conference was on it so that was both fun and tiring. Lots of video's. I played the piano again and something cool happened. The closing hymn was 246 onward christian soldiers and while playing I felt inspired to stop playing for the last verse and have all of us just sing. I did it and President apparently when we got to it I found out later was going to lower his book and ask me to stop playing. Inspiration is cool! That night we also had a sweet new member lesson with Andrew and Chloe. They are so solid and we had an awesome discussion about prophets and the priesthood. One of the members we brought had never been out with missionaries before apparently and she killed it! She needs to go with us more.
Thursday we helped at Davis creek and was actually the day we met with Andrew and Chloe, not Wednesday! APRIL FOOLS
Friday we went to the hospital and visited a member that has been in there since December! Helped Mark which was fun.
Conference was amazing! I loved it so much! I felt great power during the solemn assembly. I already new President Nelson was a prophet, but that just gave it more power! I learned so much and gained some good direction as to where to go forward in my life of studying the gospel.
Love you all!
Elder Sorochan
March 26, 2018
Hey everyone! I hope yalls week has been as good as mine. Sit down, buckle up, and enjoy the show!
Monday was a good day. Elder Casablanca and I didn't have dinner because the member who was supposed to feed us became unavailable so they gave us some money. When this happens you naturally have to go to Red Robin. Naturally with money from someone else we get one of their fancy burgers and oh my goodness it was amazing. Best burger I have ever had from there. That night not too much happened. We just did some normal stuff.
Tuesday was such a good day. In district meeting we did this activity for teaching by the Spirit where we thought about our companions and shared something we felt prompted that they could need to hear. We had to focus on the charity we have for them. Elder Casablanca I know was inspired when he shared his bit with me and that he cares about me. He shared the scripture about where Christ talks about considering the lilies. He said I've been doing good at not worrying about things, but there are times where things bug me, and he helped me see how I could improve on this area of my life. I was really grateful for his worthiness to have the Spirit! That night we also had a super good talk with the Foothill ward mission leader Brother Castiblanco. He is so funny. His nickname for me is El Pollo Loco. My first dinner there the spanish elders were there too because the Castiblanco's are from Columbia. They were all speaking in spanish. I can pick out a word here and there I know and at one point I heard loco. I thought I would try and chip in so I said, no, pollo loco. Everyone laughed really hard at that so I was happy. Well turned out they had been talking about me so I then became Elder Pollo Loco. (down here there is a fast food chain called El Pollo Loco so that's where the name comes from)
Wednesday we had dinner with Andrew and Chloe. Andrew made it which is apparently risky since he has never made anything that tastes good but with some help from his brother Dakota who is a really good cook it worked out great! Chloe ordered pizza just in case though XD Then we watched the restoration video with them and it went really great. Then a member fixed Elder Casablanca's bike!
Thursday we had interviews. Presidents and mine was longer since it's my last. We talked about a lot of things. He helped me understand how to transition, to date, and we went over school stuff too. He committed me to all the things we commit people to do.
Friday we had dinner with a member family and non member and it went super well. We got to explain what the book of Mormon is. Saturday was exchanges with Elder Tolbert. We are becoming really good friends I love that Elder! We even got to attend a baptism and a less active just opened up a ton on the porch at one house.
That's it for now. Love yall!
Elder Sorochan
March 19, 2018
Hey everyone! Quick funny story before we get started. A couple weeks ago I got a package. Who from you may ask? Well it was from Grant. Who is that? The formerly Elder McKenna! We had a joke when we were together that whenever I was stressed or anything he would take a pixy stick, throw it at me and say "Elder Sorochan, EAT A PIXY STICK" and then I would have to eat it and it would make me feel better. Well, he sent me TWO POUNDS OF PIXY STICKS. I'm going to just give them away... :D Make me fat!
This week was fun. WE GOT OUR CAR BACK!!!!!!! Monday afternoon Elder Bellamy dropped it off it was great. We can really do things again! Tuesday we went up into the Virginia city highlands which was super fun. We have about an average of 60 miles a day we can use. We are doing ok at using it. Our dinner that day fell through but the last less active family we tried, the Dixons, let us in! They even invited us to dinner with them so we know why our dinner fell through that night it was awesome! Sister Dixon used to come every week but just stopped for a little bit she should be coming back to church soon! That's good.
Wednesday we did a lot of service as per usual but the weather was good so we were happy!
Thursday we had a lesson with Andrew at the Crossmans! Chloe was sick but we had planned to talk about family scripture study, family prayer, and FHE and they were already doing the first two things! A talk in this last sacrament meeting inspired them to do it so essentially half our lesson was done! They are so solid it was cool. They are also really excited to go to the temple to do baptisms. That should happen in the next couple of weeks we are hoping.
Then it snowed. And snowed and snowed and snowed. I haven't seen this much snow in 2 years! we got like a foot and a half of snow! Needless to say we shoved A TON. We did some planned shoveling and some anonymous shoveling. I like to do things like that. People then don't know who did it!
Saturday we had a Easter breakfast in Washoe and that was really fun. A non member friend of someone came. We've had dinner with her a couple times. Her name is Isabella. She is from Poland.
On Sunday I learned something neat. Repentance works best when you include someone else. If others know you are working to improve and change, they will be more understanding and better able to help you improve and change. When they don't know, they are more likely to judge you and be unsupportive. They may even put you down not knowing you are trying. We need to do better at creating a culture where it's ok to talk about the things you struggle with so that you don't feel like people are mocking you for your imperfections and are going to knock you down rather than build you up. The Savior I know will always help you change and repent, you just have to go to Him for Him to help you.
Love you all!
Elder Sorochan
March 12, 2018
Hello everyone! It's been a great week!
Elder Christiansen had to say goodbye! We had so much fun together I am sad to see him go! His replacement is great though, it's Elder Casablanca!!!!!!!!!! He is from Atlanta Georgia but has spent time all over Florida and in Texas! He is cool. Kinda nerdy, but in a good way. Also loves soccer. He is a hard working obedient fellow who is good at biking which has been useful this week!
With our car gone we have been biking a lot. One round trip to Davis Creek is around 15 miles so that was fun to bike. Wind wasn't bad to us though so that was nice. Chloe's baptism interview went great. She came out of it crying which is a good sign. Happy cry!
We did some service for a man named Dennis digging some holes. He had some good tools which made it easy to dig them which was GREAT!!!!!!! My ankle is doing way better but it's nice to not have to worry about hurting it doing something like that. The Lord has been blessing my ankle to finally heal I am so grateful for it.
Saturday was the Baptism. I'll have pics next week. It was so fun a lot of people showed up. There was cookies after and the talks at it were on point! There is a nice peaceful feeling at baptisms. They are such happy times.
I didn't see Chloe and Andrew come into church so for the confirmation I thought they weren't there and I thought "this is really awkward, they aren't here for the confirmation." Then I saw they had somehow snuck in without me seeing and a wonderful blessing was said. I love seeing stuff like that!
All our dinners this week fell through it was so funny. Nothing worked out it was so random. As soon as Elder Casablanca showed up they all fell through each day. Today will be the first day it doesn't. It was so weird this has never really happened to me. Little random quirks.
Love yall!
Elder Sorochan
March 5, 2018
Well everyone this week was C R A Z Y . If you think missionaries don't have hard and crazy weeks, well I'm going to tell ya, they do. The week started with on Monday me getting some kind of flu bug and it lasting till Thursday. Wasn't even able to go to District Meeting this Tuesday haha. On Friday the car got damaged and we spent all day dealing with that. That day the weather was terrible and roads were bad. We didn't have a dinner that night though and we had before the incident asked a certain member if we could have dinner with them. Turned out they were able to help us a ton with the car and we were able to get the car towed into Reno for free through their AAA insurance and then they took us to A&W for dinner. Saturday and Sunday were whack because we couldn't go really anywhere because there was snow so no biking and we are so spread out walking is hard. Sunday too one of the church services got cancelled but the other didn't but no one told us about the status of the second one. We were late to church because of it. MISSIONARIES LATE TO CHURCH ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I was so embarrassed but it was fast Sunday and without breakfast my mind doesn't think as well. Plus just the week.
At some point in the week I was wallowing in my difficulty because I sometimes do that and an interesting inspired thought came into my head. The phrase "Be still and know that I am God." I also on Saturday or Sunday watched a video documentary from President Hinckley we have in the house and he talked about that same scripture for himself. It has all still been hard but it is working out. I know His hand is with me and that it is all going to work out.
We met with the Zone Leaders referral. Her name is Chloe and she is getting baptized this Saturday! She is so prepared and normal. That sounds bad but a normal person amongst all the crazy is a blessing and a half sometimes. Her husband Andrew grew up in Washoe Valley so they are going to fit in great!
Well love yall!
Elder Sorochan
February 26, 2018
Hello everyone! This week was yet another great one. The weather has been bad for Nevada standards but to me it's nothing. I have been acclimatizing so I'm feeling the cold at -7 to +5 so that's not great but oh well. I had an embarrassing moment on Sunday. We had ward conferences in both wards so we had church from 9 to 4 and had linger longers after both. In foothills I was talking to Sister Naylor who is feeding us on Wednesday about dinner. She asked what we would like. I said not chili because I don't like beans. Only after I said it did I realize that the family sitting at the same table as Sister Naylor was a family that this past week had fed us chili and heard me. It was so awkward. Oh well, they seemed cool with it. :D
Monday we had FHE with the Curtis's it was so sweet! We had each of the kids come up with a question or two about life/the gospel for Elder Christiansen and I to answer. It was such a good lesson they had great questions! I loved answering those questions with Elder Christiansen. It is so nice having a comp that is focused and works with me. It makes life that much more great!
Tuesday we had a meeting with Robert again. He is rather interesting. We found out he believes that Jesus is the human form of the Sun. Yeah so we are probably going to put him on the back burner for now.
Oh and we also had our zone activity last Monday! We had a volleyball tournament. With my ankle I couldn't play but I found the score board controls and with some help got the score board running. That is my favorite job when I can't play I was blessed to still be able to participate! Woohoo!
Tuesday we also had our interviews. I have built such an awesome relationship with President and Sister Chesnut. I feel so close with them. I also found out we will be getting phones before general conference. I will not have to buy one so I will just use one for a bit and learn the tricks of the church apps so I am a pro at them!
Our appointments fell through this week but it's ok! We got in some good service and found a new house in Foothill that is letting us come back this Tuesday! We also Saturday got a referral from YSA that someone in YSA got married to a member. She was already investigating and should be baptized in a couple weeks, but she lives in Washoe so Washoe ward will be doing the baptism! The ward will be so excited they need this! Also a member in Foothill was doing his home teaching and after helped out someone across the street with her recycling bin and ended up giving her a book of Mormon! We are going to stop by soon.
Saturday we helped out with a ward service project. An older couple has a beat up trailer that they want to rent out. They need the income and the person moving in is also in the ward and needs it so it was a double whammy! We got to weed wack and lay some fake tile. I got to wear some incredibly attractive eye goggles for the weed whacking.
Friday I went on exchanges with Elder Hambrecht. He is becoming an awesome missionary! He has been out for almost 3 transfers and he killed it on our exchange. He planned super well and talked to people like a pro!
Pictures to come next week. Something I learned from church is whenever we go to do some kind of service or kind thing we should always think "Is there someone I could invite to come with me?" Love y'all! Don't forget to smile!
Elder Sorochan
February 19, 2018
Hey everyone! Hows it going? Well, you can't answer me right now because this is not a text but oh well. Let's get started!
Monday nothing special really happened but Tuesday was sweet! At district meeting we had an awesome training on how to use the scriptures. Everyone was focused and wanting to learn it was such a fun meeting! We also after dinner got to help the husband give a blessing to his grandson which is always a great thing to do! I love being able to do that!
On Thursday we had dinner with the Gills and they invited a non member over for dinner! She accepted a Book of Mormon, said she would read it, and is very interested in coming to church! WHAT THAT NEVER HAPPENS.
Friday was zone conference. It was so fun. I got to play the piano for the hymns and nailed it! I am getting better at playing in front of people. Then after I went to go get my ankle checked out. Turns out the bone is perfect so it is just a cartilage and/or soft tissue problem. I will be starting physical therapy soon. Fortunately no surgery is needed yet so no going home! WOOHOO!
On Sunday I played my In Humility Our Savior piece in foothill ward and it went awesome too! Other than that it was a chill week with resting the ankle! Love y'all!
Elder Sorochan
January 12, 2018
Hello everyone to another week! Something funny that happened is one day we stopped by Jared's and he was outside with someone else and there was this giant random lego man outside. IT WAS REALLY WEIRD. We also saw this car go past us or turn or something and we looked away for a second. Then it was just gone. IT WAS ALSO REALLY WEIRD. Anyway this week was just good. Here's some reasons why!
The beginning of the week was pretty uneventful, but on Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder McBride. We did a lot of service and got free chocolate milk! It was awesome! He is a really good Elder. Thursday we got a new gator (investigator) named Carla!!!!!!!! She is from Italy and works at Walmart. Her schedule is crazy but she is taking some time to meet with us. She said the closing prayer and was really touched by the experience of praying in the Savior's way. It was awesome!
Friday we met with Robert and he is a really smart man. He knows a ton about Christ's early church. We answered a lot of his questions and gave him some really interesting things to think about. He really liked what we had to say. He isn't investigating yet but definetely wants to meet again. Met with the Johnsons to read some more and they gave me SALT AND VINEGAR CHIPS! They are so awesome. We read 2 Nephi 3.
Sunday we gave talks. Elder Christiansen's was on the Book of Mormon initiative and he killed it! Mine was on stuff I wish I knew before my mission on a more gospel focus.
Love you all! So sorry it's short had a lot of messaging.
Elder Sorochan
February 5, 2018
Hello everyone hope your week has been better than a doughnut that someone just gave to you after you just tried to talk to them on the street! No lie that happened this week. This week was sweet let me tell you why!
We did some service for Mark again. Elder Christiansen is prepping a Book of Mormon for him. He does a lot with missionaries around so we are hoping to move him forward. He likes to drink but this week he says he hasn't drank for awhile. Hopefully that stays!
Dang I forgot my planner in the car and I'm short on time so I will wing it and add anything I forget next week y'all! It was a sweet week though! On Wednesday we FINALLY got our car back! Sing praises and hallelujahs we are so glad to have it back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE CAN GO PLACES!!!!! Our area is so big it is redonculous. We helped out at Davis Creek again and went to Bowers mansion. I have been so bad with sending pics I will do it next week I promise! Ranger Nick gave us a tour of Bowers mansion too which is closed for now but hey, VIP privileges you know :D Then we went to the Virginia City Highlands at night which probably wasn't the most thought out decision we have made. It was dark and in the middle of no where but we had a TON of banked up miles from not having the car for a week so we really wanted to go up there because we never do. It was fun!
Thursday Elder Christiansen finally got to the chiropractor and got all fixed up. He feels way better now. Love chiropractors.
Saturday I went on a crazy good exchange with Elder Tolbert. I've sent a pic of him before but we had a blast biking around a couple different parts of our area and teaching Jared a bit about the plan of Salvation. He is so helpful and a great example of a Christlike leader!
Elder Christiansen is awesome! I love being his companion he is a great missionary!
Love yall! Till next time!
Elder Sorochan
January 29, 2018
Hello everyone! Welcome back! Turns out I'm still alive so that's good. It's questionable if in one piece but oh well. Hopefully I'll find my other arm one day ;) Well after that random and nonsensicle rambling let's begin!
Last Pday was really fun because we got to celebrate Elder Christiansen's Birthday! It was really on Thursday but due to details which I will not bore you with, we had his big birthday dinner planned for Monday night. The Curtis' who are an awesome family in the ward took us out to the Outback for some delicious food. One of my favorite parts is we got some appetizers! I love appetizers. Anyway that was super fun and Elder Christiansen is now 19. This is the fifth companion I have been with for their birthday and the second where we have been together for both our birthdays.
This week was a rather interesting week with many obstacles that were placed in our path so I will tell things in order from the less interesting to the more interesting. Firstly we have been without a car for most of the week. Our car has been having the problem of having the ignition switch not turn when you put the key in. Having the key not turn apparently makes the car not start very well, or really more not at all. Who knew? Any way after trying some tricks it would usually turn but Tuesday night it got to the point where it took us about 15 minutes atleast to get the darn thing to turn so that was when we decided it would be a good idea to call our handy dandy vehicle coordinator, Elder Bellamy! We called him the next morning and he came down to Washoe Valley to see if the other key would work at all. During the 20+ minutes of him driving to the our house from the mission office I proceeded to try to get the key to turn with no success. Fortunately when he got here he was able to get it to turn a couple of times and me once after he got there so we were able to get it to the dealership without towing it. We dropped it off and found out there was a recall on this problem which is nice, but they didn't have the part and so they had to order it. This means that we haven't had a car since Wednesday. The area in which I now live is bigger than a couple of my previous area's so walking takes FOREVER. Fortunately, I like walking. We can't really bike right now because this week Elder Christiansen's back has been giving him some bad problems randomly with an unknown cause so between these two things needless to say it hasn't been the most productive week, but some cool things still happened!
With the car being gone we have been getting a lot of rides to places we have been needing to go and we have seen a lot of miracles with that. We will literally get a ride from someone to one place and the next people will be willing to give us a ride, or someone will have come to that house to join us for what we are doing and they will give us a ride after, or we even were walking down the road to dinner and were late and someone we knew, Mark actually, picked us up and drove us to dinner! #Miracles
We got to help Mark out a bit with his renovations some more. It is been really cool to see the progress that it is making, kind of like the deck I helped make in Elko for Joe.
I had a neat experience of receiving some inspiration this week. Sitting on my desk has been a stack of old records that I have wanting to do something about for FOREVER but for some reason I never got around to it. This Thursday during weekly planning I had some time to go over them, so I did. As I first went through them I discovered that a bunch of them were just photocopies of ones already in our area book. It seemed like that was all that was in the pile so I picked the pile up and went over to the trash can. As I went to throw out the records I got this feeling that it wasn't right to throw them out but should still go through them. I did and it turns out that there were quite a few records that didn't belong in our area but in another area in my district so instead of them being lost they can go to where they need to be!
The last cool thing for the week is with the Johnsons. We had dinner with them on Tuesday and got to read the scriptures with them again! Their son who is 8 read and he read better than almost all my investigators ever have! He also gave me the hardest played game of checkers ever! He is a clever cookie. Sister Johnson the next day also asked to come give her niece a blessing.
Love y’all, till next time, don’t forget to smile. BYE,!!
Elder Sorochan
January 22, 2018
Well everyone this week was weird. Or at least some really weird stuff happened and we will get into a few of those. First though something really cool happened last week on PDAY while shopping. If any of you can remember back to the Dayton days there was a couple we were teaching named the Millers. Sister Miller was not baptized and couldn't be while I was there. Recently in our mission newsletter the "High Desert Disciple" I saw her name in the list of people who were baptized! I couldn't believe it I was so excited. Then by the tender mercies of the Lord and by divine design while we were shopping at Winco, this place a lot like Costco except you don't need a membership, I saw them in the meat section! I went and said hi and told her congratulations. It was so cool to see them. If we hadn't had a house inspection that morning, we wouldn't have been there at the right time either. It was really nice.
That night too we had Chicken Wings and fries at Sister Knox's house! She asked what we wanted and consented to chicken wings it was sweet!
Tuesday we got to watch the Special Broadcast with President Nelson it was sooooo cool! The Q&A that they did was awesome too. President Oaks was especially spot on in it. I know they have been called of God and President Nelson is our new Prophet and President. We also that day got to go to the temple which was really enjoyable. The more I go the more I like going.
We helped at Davis Creek again this week. It's for Justserve.org. We rake up pine needles. Woohoo!
Saturday is the more weird day that I will talk about. It started in the morning with us planning. In my prayer for it I asked for something spontaneous to happen. I don't ask for this all the time but sometimes I do and something usually happens. Well, this time was no different. On our way to the first person we were going to go try that morning, we met a man named Don. He is an older gentleman who was looking for his hearing aid that had fallen out of his ear while running. He really wanted to find it because they are $700 a piece. We offered to help him find it and at first he was hesitant to accept but we just kept talking with him and he finally accepted! We looked and weren't able to find it but he still drove us home. He is a devout catholic man who goes to Mass everyday. Apperently if you want to be a true devout catholic that's one of the things you do. Who knew? But he said he was very impressed with us and that we had really given him a high opinion of our church which is awesome!
Then we went to the Ballards. They are an old couple only the wife is a member. They are 90 years old! The husband isn't a member but is a 32nd degree Mason! They have a crazy house keeper too! She was not happy with us trying to get to know the Ballards before we tried to share a message or anything. She made us teach and then continued on after Elder Christiansen's closing prayer. The people you meet!
We also finally got to teach Jared most of the Restoration with Brother Huston our Ward Mission Leader in Washoe. It went really well. Jared is really progressing well. Love yall!
Elder Sorochan
January 15, 2018
Hello everyone! You know, to be honest, it wasn't the most eventful week. Some neat things happened, but not too much. We will start from Monday.
Monday was fun because we had a zone activity. We got to go bowling which was so awesome! Have been campaigning to go since I left Dayton. My first game was bad with an 85 but then I killed it in the second with a 153. Not too shabby. Then we went and had fun all together at the church building. Some people bleached the Nevada flag into some shirts but I didn't have a shirt I wanted to use but it's all good.
Tuesday we had a fun district meeting and then had interviews! They have been changed up a bit by President Chesnut. We used to have interviews with just him but last transfer we also have them with our Zone Leaders where they talk to us about how our area is going and train us on some skills we can use to in our area's.
Wednesday we helped at the food bank again and we actually helped a less active in our ward grocery shop at the dollar general near our house. He has an addiction to alcohol and when he stopped by he said he was going there to get some fool. We decided that we would walk with him and talk with him. There was something there Elder Christiansen wanted to get so we used that as an excuse to go with him. We went in with him and he didn't buy any alcohol! We considered that our good deed for that day. ;)
Thursday for part of our weekly planning we did a little bit of cleaning in our kitchen. Our dishes and what not had gotten a little bit much so we fixed that up.
I got to go on exchanges with Elder Hambrecht again. He was being trained by the zone leaders in sparks while I was there but is now in my district. It was the first time that he had taken over his area and he did a great job. He is a good teacher too we got to teach the restoration to a less active member who is returning. She and the member we brought were talkers so we only got through about 3 points but Elder Hambrecht did this expert redirect back to being on topic. Not bad for 11 weeks out.
Saturday was a day of service. We had planned our day then after someone called for our help in the morning so we went and helped dig a trench. Just a shallow one. Then we helped Mark who works at Habitat continue to build a room in his house which is just down the road from us in the afternoon. There was a lot of good service.
Sunday was a lot of church. With meetings we were there from 7am till 2pm but it was really fun. Felt like I was fasting by the end though lol. That night we read with Sister Johnson from the Book of Mormon and her non member husband joined us! He didn't really say much just listened mostly but he kept the Book of Mormon I gave him to read from! Sweet!
Love yall!
Elder Sorochan
January 8, 2018
Hello Everyone! How's it going? This week was good. I have some good updates for you. First off I saw a turkey in Washoe Valley. Someone is keeping this very poofy turkey in Washoe Valley, another turkey, 3 dogs, and some chickens. When we were walking by the house 2 of the dogs started freaking out at us as dogs do. The other one just seemed so happy to see us but the 2 were barking a lot. We were just ignoring them when all of a sudden this turkey comes waddling over and it is BIG! It was so weird because you never imagine anyone owning a turkey. This turkey slowly came over to the dogs and then started making its turkey noise at the dogs. The dogs then ran away from the turkey! The turkey was in charge. The turkey then just seemed annoyed at the dogs and would occasionally walk towards them and gobble at them again and they would run away. It was awesome! There was also a dog walking down the street and this old Ford mustang pulled up to it, the dog got in, and then drove off sitting in the front seat like a human. #washoevalley
We had a super cool lesson with Jaclyn this week. It was at the Crossman's who are awesome! Brother Crossman is in the bishopric and they are both RM's. Jaclyn started by telling us this really awesome story about how she was led by the Spirit to be able to get the perfect apartment for her and her daughter! It is unfortunately in Carson but it was so divinely guided like so many things that have been happening with her that it's all good. She will be where she needs to be. She then after the prayer told us how she has been praying and thinking about being baptized. She then told us she wants to be baptized and how does one have that happen. We hadn't even asked her to do that! At the beginning of being taught she would not give up coffee, and she was very adamant about that but now she is fine doing it! She has set a date to quit smoking and is now listening to the Book of Mormon which is working way better for her in terms of comprehension. It is awesome!
I got to go on exchanges into the richest area of the mission, the Galena ward. It has the stake center in it which is, fun fact, the Edmonton building. There are some Canadian cities as street names and Edmonton is the one the Church building is on! It was a fun exchange with Elder McBride.
We also at church had a cool miracle. There is a lady who only in the more recent past has started coming back to church. She taught the lesson in Sunday school and asked about how to understand the Book of Mormon better. We offered, after talking about other things, to come over and read with her and whoever else in her family would like to sit in. She has a non member husband who might sit in! We met him at Christmas since they invited us over for dinner on Christmas. We are really excited about this!
Well, that's about all for this week. Love y'all! Love you Mom Dad and Anna!
Elder Sorochan
Elder Christiansen and I got a lot of potatoes from this food pantry we help out at and we decided to try deep frying and make fries. Worked pretty well. Except for when the smoke detectors... :D
January 1, 2018
Ok everyone I'm back! Happy New year! First off funny story. Ok, Washoe Valley has some interesting people. There is this one man named Garth. He is a sweet spirit. We love Garth. We were doing some service for Garth moving pieces of wood into his garage. Randomly throughout Garth would just tell us random stories about just something in his head. At one point we were moving wood into his truck and his tail gate was down. He had to move the truck and right before he told us to never drive with the tail gate down no matter how short a distance. Then without closing the tail gate he went into the truck and drove with the tail gate down. Garth!
Ok from 2 weeks ago I got to go on an exchange with Elder Miner into the Reno YSA ward. It was one of the most fun exchanges I have ever been on it was awesome! We just hit it off and were in our beds talking till midnight. I have not done that on an exchange in months. We talked just all day we just kept talking. We tried less actives during the day, went to Asian Garden for some solid chinese food, got to go to the hospital to give someone a blessing right before they died, and taught an investigator named Robert! We just had a really fun time and worked hard it was great!
Update on Jaclyn. We have had a couple of lessons but the first one a couple of weeks ago was powerful. For the first time that I knew it was happening while I was talking an investigator felt the Spirit really strongly. We were reading Alma 7 and I was explaining something about Christ's Atonement and after Jaclyn said while I was talking she felt this powerful feeling that everything is going to be ok. There is a lot going on in her life and it was a very important thing. Over the past 3 weeks she has come to church twice and stayed all 3 hours and loved it it is awesome!
The Christmas Party was so great! We had a mini Zone Conference before and President Chesnut said something that to me was incredibly powerful. He said "Don't let a solution to a problem become more important than a person who needs to be loved." That is so true!
Christmas eve and Christmas we spent a lot of time with the Curtis'. They are so fun! They are an awesome family who have helped us out a ton! We even got to play some games and decorate some cookies both days it was sweet! Skyping home was cool. Always good to see the fam jam.
Love yall! Bye!
Elder Sorochan
Chinese food on exchanges
My Christmas package was beat up by the postal service
President and Sister Chesnut
At the mission Christmas party
At the mission Christmas party
At the mission Christmas party
At the mission Christmas party
At the mission Christmas party
