LEARNING MORE EACH DAY

OK, so last week I was a little hard on Norway because it costs money (10Nkr ~$1.50) to get a shopping cart at most stores. This week I learned that when you put your cart back in a cart area and plug it into the cart in front of it, your 10Nkr is ejected. The previous times I had just pushed it into the line of carts and did not bother to lock it to the cart in front. This is actually a good way to get people to return carts where they belong rather than spread all over the parking lot. Maybe I will start something new when we return.

As you are aware, we moved last weekend. The apartment is VERY nice and a major shift from where we were (the other one was clean and nice, just VERY small). I am attaching a picture comparison of the two living rooms.

Another interesting thing about shopping in Norway is that most bread is boutht in uncut loaves, similar to french bread at home. There are many types of bread, but not many are pre-sliced. So after you select your bread, you can place it in a bread slicing machine. Once the bread is in, you close the cover and the bread comes out the bottom sliced. You then pick it up (pushing each end toward the middle so you can move the whole loaf) and place it on a metal support, slip a bag over the end of the support, pull it up over the bread, slide the whole thing off, then twist the open end of the bag, place it in a little tape dispenser and the end is taped and the tape cut off. You then place this bag in the original bag, so the clerk at checkout will know what kind of bread you have. Photos attached.

Nancy is feeling much better this week. She had a followup visit to the doctor who treated her at the hospital and he said her blood count was much improved and he will send all of her records to our "fastlege" (family doctor)--which we were able to get assigned this week and she has an appointment with him on October 7. She has been feeling much better and has more energy, so we are all happy with the results.

We traveled south and west on Tuesday of this week to visit with 5 members of the branch who live in the town of Kristiansund-N (the N distinguishes it from Kristiansand-S on the southern coast). The trip is about 225 km (about 125 mi) but took about 4 hours. Some of that was due to the fact that I stopped often to take pictures of the beautiful scenery along the way--until the battery in both cameras went dead. The next time we take a trip I will remember to charge both batteries the night before. We went up over mountains, along, over and under fjords. As we got near Kristiansund, we went into a tunnel that is 5.1 km (~3 mi) that goes under the fjord, there were many other tunnels through the mountains, but this was our first for going under water. Not too long after the tunnel, we got on a ferry boat (much larger than the Gifford ferry that takes us to twin lakes). I did get a picture of mom on the ferry, just like on the trip to twin lakes.

Kristiansund is right on the coast of the north sea and it was very windy and rained very hard several times during the time we were there. We stayed in an older hotel in the center of town and had an enjoyable visit with the members we had made appointments with there. I learned something else new on this trip--about hotel reservations in Europe. We had planned on making this trip the week before, then mom ended up in the hospital on Sunday night. On Monday, I called all of the people we had appointments with to tell them we would not be coming. However, I forgot to call the hotel to cancel my reservation. When I remembered it on Wednesday I thought "no problem, I did not give my credit card number to guarantee the room." Imagine my surprise when I received a bill in the mail on Thursday for the cost of one night's lodging for a "no show". I called the hotel and spoke with the clerk, but he told me to call back later when the manager was in. I called back later and spoke to the manager (in English hoping he would have compassion on my ignorance of European methods) and explained the situation, but it did not get me very far. I told him we would probably be coming there the next week and he said he would give me a reduced rate. Now I know that any reservation is guaranteed, even though you do not give your credit card number. Your address will allow the bill to find you. Anyway when we arrived on Tuesday, the manager was very nice and not only gave me a reduced rate for the night we were staying, but also for the night we did not stay.

There is a lot more I could share, but will save some for another day. I am including some photos taken along the road between Trondheim and Kristiansund.

Love,

Elder and Sister Sorensen

MOVED

Today we moved to a different apartment. Our address is now:

 

Elder and Sister Sorensen

Romolslia 19 E

7029 Trondheim

Norway

 

This is an apartment in a 4 story building (we are on the 3rd floor)--without an elevator.  The apartment belongs to a couple in the branch who have gone to Sweden to work at the temple for 6 months. At the end of that time, they will go live in their "summer home" which is in the country about 2 hours from here.  They said we can use the apt for as long as we will be in Trondheim.  It is very nice!! Two bedrooms (one of which they have moved much of their personal stuff into that they did not want to take with them), a den with a day bed, large living room with nice furniture, dining room, kitchen, bath and shower rooms and a laundry room. The laundry not only has a washer, but also a dryer, which is not common in Norway, they generally hang things to dry.  The bedroom is MUCH bigger than the one we just left, so it will be nice to have some room to get in and out of bed other than crawling out the end.  The sliding glass door opens on to a small deck and overlooks a play area and a hillside. That is on the west side of the building.  The bedrooms are on the east.  We moved much of our stuff in on thursday, then finished today and will sleep here tonight. It is about the same distance from church and the city, just a different route.  Nancy is doing well after coming out of the hospital. We were quite impressed with the care she received from the doctors and nurses. They did a gastroscopy and I got to watch the process, it was interesting. They said it appears that the medicine she has been taking for arthritis was doing damage to her stomach and there were clearly ulsers there, so they recommended something else and also reduced some of the other meds she was taking. We will see how it works in the long run. 

 

She is talking in church tomorrow morning. Her subject is an old testament prophet, and since it rained almost all this week, as she has been preparing, she decided to talk about Noah.

 

Today has been a beautiful day and people have been out everywhere, cycling, walking, jogging, skiing (on short skis with rollers).  The people do love the outdoors.

 

Must go.

 

Love,

gerald and Nancy/mom and dad/Elder and Sister Sorensen

Homefront update:

Bracken and Camron head to EWU this week.

Brendan is surviving BYU-I. Lots of new friends, lots of reading and not so much sleep.

All other grandkids are in school and the littlest ones are bored to tears. :)

Here's Kristin's update she sent last week:

Greetings to all...

I've been thinking about what to write for the past couple of weeks - maybe our life is getting exciting so now I have something to write about.  Here's a little synopsis on each...

 

Jonathan & the job...As you may know, Bob Blodgett passed away when we were in Nauvoo. He was the CFO of Vivid Learning in Pasco.  Dad called when we were in Nauvoo to let Jonathan know of a position that became vacant.  One has to ask if you really want the job of a guy who just had a heart attack who was only in his 60's.  Bob was also Jonathan's young men's leader when he was a youth.  Jonathan really felt like he could still learn a lot from Bob.  He applied for the job - they were obviously in a rush and we thought we'd hear back right away.  He had an interview in July and again the first of August.  There were 3 candidates.  Jonathan figured out what Bob had been making and it was less than what Jonathan was making, but he's been willing for awhile to take a pay cut for the right job.  We'd prayed about the job & felt very prompted and confident that this would be Jonathan's next job.  The company took a lot longer than they expected to come to a decision.  Last week, on Wednesday, I had Jonathan's iphone at home - trying it out to see if I wanted one.  Sure enough, the headhunter called and I answered - Dallin's music blaring in the back ground and other after school noise.  I tried to sound professional and said Jonathan would call her back.  I called Jonathan at work and told him to call the gal.  He got his pen & paper ready to record the job info. we were confident she could give him.  We were surprised when she indicated that although he was a close candidate, they were offering the position to someone else.  We were baffled, as we truly had felt this was what the Lord wanted for him.  I suggested that he send the CFO a note letting him know that if anything changed, to let Jonathan know.  He didn't want to sound desperate - I was thinking more that if the offer fell through for the other person, they wouldn't be afraid to come back to Jonathan.  He sent the email and received a nice reply.  Thursday came & went - we could accept not receiving the job, but it was confusing as to why we'd felt so positive about it.  Maybe it was the contacts he needed to make, be patient & wait was the thought that came to my mind.  I have a complete belief that the Lord can make anything happen.  Friday, noon, Jonathan heats up his lunch at work, plum pit in his mouth, the phone rings, he answers, spits the plum pit out - it's the CFO of Vivid asking him if he's had lunch yet - not really.  He invited Jonathan to lunch, where he let him know that the gal they'd offered the job to had planned to accept, but received an offer too good to refuse from her employer.  She declined the offer.  Jonathan says he thinks it was Avis's motto "We're #2, but we try harder".  The CFO thought that was great.  The offer didn't come Friday and we headed to BYU-I for the long weekend.  He received the offer on Tuesday and we were able to review it while we were driving - it wasn't as good as an offer as we were hoping for, but there's potential.  I really believe this was part of the Lord's plan - He wanted us to know how much we wanted the job when it was offered to someone else, so much that we would accept the offer, even if it wasn't quite what we wanted.  The Lord does know us and He has a plan and He can make it happen.  Jonathan starts on 10/1 and is looking forward to a new opportunity.  Elizabeth wanted to know if we had to move to Pasco.

 

Brendan & BYU-I...We took Brendan to school on Sunday after church.  We stayed with Neal & ReNae Cunningham, my cousin in Idaho Falls. It was a treat to spend  time with them.  Neal even cooked us a yummy breakfast in the a.m.  We also spent time driving around IF and the temple there.  Bright & early Monday a.m. we headed to BYU-I.  I only remember being there one time when we dropped Caryn off - we were there about an hour.  I don't even remember carrying her stuff to her apt.  I was very impressed with all BYU-I had planned for us.  We got a great start of standing in long lines - ID card, sign ups, textbooks (timed that one right at the bookstore).  BYU-I had a student/parent lunch for $1/person.  It wasn't fancy, but some guy complained that "this is it".  What did he expect for $1.  I thought it was great - fun to see people.  I ran into a gal I knew in my Miss T.E.E.N. days, Jonathan saw a guy from his mission, we saw several people from home, who I now have a bond with as we're "BYU parents" - it's been fun to run into them back home & feel that connection.  We got Brendan moved in - as one might guess, I had him well organized & enough food to last him for a long time.  His roommate is great - Spencer from IL - lucky for Brendan - I think they'll have a good semester together.  We did a little Walmart shopping for a few more supplies, heard a talk from BYU's president and went to a luau there for the parents & students.  I thought it was a wonderful day!  We stayed the night with Jenny & Steve Christenson (Twin Lakes - Jenny Beckmeyer/Young).  It was great to spend time with them.  Tuesday a.m. we took Brendan to breakfast and said our goodbyes.  I heard lots of parents talk about tears, but to me, it was such the "right" thing and so exciting that there were no tears.  He seems happy, has met others from his dorm, enjoys his classes, has plenty of homework and an appointment at a girl's apt. for dinner tomorrow - what more could he want!  Enjoy it all Brendan!

 

Dallin & the dreary days...Bishop has encouraged the youth to "quit hanging out" with the opposite gender - when they turn 16 - to date.  He's sure he's going to be stuck in the house for the next 7 months.  When it becomes "his" decision, it will be better.  He's been taking Brendan's place mowing lawns for the guy Brendan was mowing with, which leaves me in a tad of a bind.  The boys have had about 8 lawns they've mowed consistently this summer, with Aubrey helping them occasionally.  Well, if Dallin's mowing with someone else - who will mow these lawns.  Let's just say, I'm getting my exercise.  I pick Dallin up from school, take him to trim the lawns (I don't know how to do that) while I mow part of the lawn, go drop him off to mow with the other guy, pick up Aubrey from cross country and we finish mowing the lawns.  Even Calla & Elizabeth get in on the action & earning money.  I had to put Jonathan to work the other day too.  I'm thinking about opening my own mowing business.  Thank goodness for Calla, she has to teach me a few mowing tricks on occasion.  Do you know I think I mowed the lawn, or part of it, once when I was younger, because I wanted to see what it was like.  I have a feeling, I'm going to be making up for that now.

 

Aubrey - back to school...she's in 8th grade and back at the middle school - no more homeschooling.  What's a mother to do all day?  She's enjoying it and running cross country - first meet - this week.  She knows how to get all dressed up for the Bomber games - good school spirit.

 

Elizabeth - safety patrol girl - she's enjoying the school safety patrol & has stories daily of things parents & kids do. She's enjoying 5th grade - I hope her teacher will challenge her.  She's had a sub for awhile as her teacher had breast cancer this summer & is recovering.  The sub is a couponing friend of mine - so when Elizabeth is circling all the things she wants from the book order, the sub says, "no way girl, your momma's not gonna pay $10 for that!"  She calls Elizabeth "Emily Elizabeth" 

 

Calla doesn’t miss a beat. She's up early and goes hard all day.  She fixes her own hair, practices the piano, does the dishes, etc. and is ready for school - efficient little one.  She loves activity days at church, is playing soccer, teaches me about my iphone and is impressed when I know how to answer the phone on my own.

 

As for me, I'm watching a couple of kids before school a few days a week, trying to keep up with the paperwork around home and fix dinner in a timely manner.  Jonathan & I are taking a Hanford tour this next week - all day event.  I'm looking forward to seeing more of what is in our town & then I'll know where the "300" area is when people mention it.  All is well...all is well.  Love to each of you & let me know if you just want the reader's digest condensed version next time (if there is a next time).

 

Love,

Kristin & Co.

They need a maid service......

Response to question about the blog and comment on previous post about shopping.

 

OK, I'll see if I can make that work. If you ever send anything, just use plastic grocery sacks as packing mateial.  Glad Lucas liked the tractor.  We are also glad that he prayed for our safety on the airplane.  We do feel safe because of all the prayers that we know are being offered. We are back at the hospital this morning for them to do more blood samples and a gastrointestinal procedure. This is  an "outpatient" procedure, although we came back to the same room we vacated yesterday. The doctor said "yes, just come back to this room, this is still your room, we are just letting you go home today because you do not have the bacteria we are concerned about."  Indeed, the room still looked like it did when we vacated it, dirty dishes still on the table, etc.

 

Love,

Dad

OUT of the Hospital

Mom/Nancy was released from the hospital today. They still will do some tests in the morning, but she was released and is doing well.  We appreciate all of the prayers on her behalf and do feel blessed.  The introduction to the Norwegian health care system has been interesting, now we need to see how well our insurance does.  The doctors and nurses were all very good, so she has had good care. Since Sunday night she was in an isolation room because they are concerned about the MRSA (MSR???) virus.  so anyone who has been hospitalised outside of Scandanavia in the past 6 months gets isolated until they can develop cultures to confirm they do not have the MRSA bacteria.  All of her tests came back negative, so they let her go home today.

Thanks for all your prayers and concern.

Love,

Gerald and Nancy/mom and dad/elder and Sister Sorensen


quick note: 9/12/09

Thanks Al for getting this set up. I will try to get our photos on next week. We are having a movie and popcorn night with YSA and investigators tonight--so far only an investigator from Ghana and the two sisters plus us.

 

love, dad

SHOPPING IN NORWAY

An interesting aspect of shopping in Norway is shopping carts--they are not free for use as in the US. All shopping carts have a small "box" on the handle and there is a "key" attached to a chain on the box. When the carts are stacked together, the key from one cart fits into the box on the next and can only be released by inserting 10 kroner (Nkr)--about $1.50 in a slot on the box. This releases the key and you can then take the cart. At the larger shopping centers, the carts are gathered from the parking lots and put on a trailer, hauled by a rather large tractor. Photos attached. You also pay for shopping bags to load your groceries in--no "paper or plastic?"--everything is plastic.

NORWAY TRAVELS

We have had an opportunity to do a small bit of traveling since arriving in Trondheim--mostly to smaller towns (Communes) outside of town about 25-60 miles. We made one trip to the airport to fly to Oslo for a zone conference and 3 trips a little beyond the airport to visit with investigators with Sisters Engebretsen and Johnson. On the way to the airport, we pass the town of Hell. Yes, it does exist and on the way there, you drive through three tunnels, the longest of which is just over 2 miles long (that is horizontal, not vertical). The scenery on all of the routes we have traveled so far is beautiful. It seems that no matter where we go, we are not far from water. There is a tower in Trondheim that is similar to the Space Needle (not quite as high, but it sits on a hill, so the view is as good). There is a restaurant on the top floor and the floor of the restaruant rotates, so in an hour you have seen all 360 degrees around the city. I am attaching pictures I took when we had lunch there a couple of weeks ago. The two young missionaries in the one picture are Sister Engebretsen (right) and Sister Johnson. It was Sister Johnson's 22nd birthday that day so we were celebrating with her. The little "island" that appears in a couple of photos was originally a prison, then a monestary (quite a change) and now is a tourist attraction.

Most highways in Norway are two lane roads, with an occasional passing lane and even less frequent, 4 lanes divided. The maximum speed limit we have seen is 100 km/hour. Seems good until you realize that is only 60 mph. Most highway sections are 80-90 km/hour, which gives good opportunity to enjoy the scenery. They don't have highway patrol cars out on the highway, just occasional cameras that take your picture and mail you a ticket. Generally there will be a sign posted several hundred meters before the camera warning drivers that there is a camera ahead so you can adjust your speed. Roundabouts are everywhere and they do keep traffic flowing quite well. Someone told us there are no stoplights in Norway, but that is not true. They are all over in the towns, but out on the highway there are roundabouts (many in town also).

Today we are sitting in Nancy's hospital room. Hopefully she will be discharged today, but no guarantee. She woke up Sunday morning with some inflamation on the left side of her face and after having experienced the same thing back in June, we decided she should be checked by a doctor. The ER doctor said he could give her some antibiotic pills, but would prefer that she be admitted to the hospital so they could administer more antibodies faster, so we have been here since Sunday night. It is now Tuesday morning. We had planned to drive to Kristiansund today to visit several members of the branch who live there and do not get to church very often (4 hour drive). However, we had to cancel those plans and will try again another week. Too bad, because today is a beautiful sunny day and would have been a nice day for a drive.

Love,

Dad and Mom/Gerald and Nancy/Elder and Sister Sorensen

Scenes by the wayside...

I bet you did not know that one of Norway's biggest cash crops is marshmallows.  Here are a couple of photos of some recently harvested. Also another city scene. Love, dad

 

update Sept 14

We have had another good, but wet week here in Trondheim. Someone said the other day "you should feel right at home with this weather, coming from Washington.'  Wrong!! We drove out about 60km (about an hour on Norwegian roads) on Tuesday to meet a young family. She was baptized about 5 years ago and shortly thereafter began living wiht her boyfriend.  They now have twin 2-1/2 year old darling little girls.  Both of the parents are about 19 years old, she is going to school to become a teacher, he works as a concrete worker doing building construction. We were not sure what kinnd of reception to expect, as we saw notes from previous missionaries indicating that she would make appointments, even invite them to dinner, then call the day of the appointment and cancel.  She did not cancel and when we arrived, he had prepared a great meal for us, we had pleasant table top conversations and afterward sat in the living room and talked about the gospel. He seemed interested and we have been invited back.  Our assignment is to work with the young single adults, and there is a lot to be done. There were only 3 active when we arrived a month ago and one of them just moved last week. We have called all of those on the branch roster and visited with a few, one of whom came to church the next Sunday but was not there yesterday.  In addition, we have been asked to visit all of the members who live some distance from Trondheim--The branch stretches about 4 hours in most directions (not too far mileage wise, but takes time on norwegian roads). 

 

We meet on Monday nights with the YSA for family home evening, then stay and play games for an hour or two.  There are generally more investigators present than members.  On Wednesday night we have a dinner at 6 for those attending institute, hold institute, then play games for a while (do you see a pattern here ?) On Friday mornings we have a district meeting by phone (the district leaders are about 8 hours drive away).  We have 2 sister missionaries in Trondheim-_Sister Johnson from Burley Idaho and Sister Engebretsen from Philadelphia (now Provo). Her great-grandfather was my mission president 50 years ago. They are energetic and outgoing with strong testimonies and are always bringing people to the church to teach them.  We love them dearly.  Sister Johnson loves to waterski, so we will stop in Burley some summer to ski the snake river with her family.

 

Yesterday I was asked to speak in church on temples in the old and new testament times and in our day.  I had prepared well and Nancy asked me Sunday morning "how long is your talk?'  I told her "as long as it needs to be". i had been asked to speak for 15 minutes, but was prepared for anything between 5 and 30 (two weeks ago the meeting ended 10 minutes early because the speakers finished).  Well, it ended up being closer to 5 than 30, as the first man who spoke took about 35 minutes to give his 10 minute talk.  I told the branch president that one thing I have learned is how to make my talk fit the available time.

 

Yesterday morning Nancy woke up with some inflamation on the left side of her face and a bit of swelling on that side, similar to what she had back in June and again when we were in the MTC.  After church she talked with the RS president (who turns out to be a Dr.) and she suggested she go to the emergency room in the hospital--right across the street from the church--.  She and her husband walked over with us to get us oriented.  You enter, take a number and then wait to be called to the receptionist to then wait to be called to see a dr.  We had been invited to dinner by a couple in the branch at 3:30, and when we got in to see the receptionist it was almost 3;30. She said it would be at least an hour wait before we could see the dr, so we told her we would come back, to just set Nancy's papers aside until we return. We went to dinner, then took the sisters to an appointment and returned to the emergency room at about 6 p.m., picked up another number and sat down to wait. Nancy no sooner sat down than they called her nme to see a dr. Apparently the paper work did not get set aside.  She saw the Dr. and he recommended she be admitted so they could administer intravenous anti-botics  We waited about 2 hours for them to find a room for her because she had been hspoitalized in the US in the past 6 months, they are concerned about MSR bacteria, so she is in an isolation room on a geriatic ward.  So far the service has been good.  I got home about 12:30 last night and she finally got some sleep here.

 

We have plans to visit members in Kristiansund (about 200km) tomorrow, but will have to see if Nancy will be released today.  There are several members in that area and most were excited when I called to visit.

 

We are enjoying the work here, challenging as it may be. We are meeting wonderful people--both in and out of the church.  we miss all of you but are excited to be involved in the Lord's work here.

Love,

Gerald and Nancy/mom and dad/'elder and sister Sorensen

September 12-2009

It is Saturday, September 12. We have had a good week even though it seems that it has rained every day--at least some part of the day. If it is not raining, wait an hour or so and it will. On Sunday after church one of the members asked me if we would like to move into their apartment while we are here. They plan to go to Sweden for about 6 months to be near the temple in Stockholm, then will stay at a country home they have in a place called Henden (that is also their family name--his great grandfather settled the area). We went to look at it on Monday afternoon (and she fed us a very delicious chicken dinner). The apartment has 2 bedrooms (although they will use the one we don't to store their personal things they are not taking with them), a den, bath, living room, dining room, kitchen and laundry room (complete with washer and a dryer--which not many homes here have). The only problem is it is on the 3rd floor of the apartment building and there is no elevator, so mom will get her exercise. The balcony on the east side looks out to a hill and on the west (bedroom side) the windows look out to the fjord, although there are so many trees that you can't see the water. They will leave it completely furnished, including internet and we will be paying approximately $250 a month less than we pay now for our one room cabin. Lets see--do we want to move??? We will be moving in this coming week.

On Tuesday we went to visit a young couple who live about 60km out of town, it took about an hour to drive and the drive was beautiful. We went through 5 tunnels on the way (norwegians would rather tunnel through a hill than cut it down. The longest tunnel on this trip was about 2700 meters (about 1-3/4 miles). The girl is a member of about 5 years and her boyfriend is not a member. They have darling 2-1/2 year old twin daughters. We had a great visit with them and will return in the next week or two to visit again and teach him more of the gospel. Last week we visited with a young phillipine man who has not been to church for about 7 years, we invited him to come on Sunday--and he did!! It was great to see him here and we hope we can keep him coming.

On Tuesday this coming week (the 15th) we will travel to Kristiansund--about 125 km south, but about a 4 hour drive. Roads in Norway do not have very high speed limits--the highest we have seen is 100km/hr (60 mph) and normally the limit is 70km/hr. This does allow time to enjoy the scenery. We are told that the drive to Kristiansund is very lovely. This is the southern end of the Trondheim branch. In another week or so, we will head to the northern end (hopefully before the snow falls).

We meet with the young single adults every Monday night at 7 for family home evening and then they usually stay around until about 10 to play games--table games or ping-pong. On Wednesday nights we are here (at what is called the 'Outreach Center' in the church building) at 6 p.m for a dinner with those who attend the institute class at 7. After institute, some will hang around to play games until 9:30 or 10. Can you tell that we don't keep the same hours as the young missionaries? There are only a few active young single adults in the branch. There was a group of about 10-12 last year, but most graduated and moved on to other areas to further their education or to go to work. One who was still here moved last week to Drammen (south) and she was the one who told me last week that she had bought water skis and wanted to learn how to ski. I need to get her back here! We are also assigned to home teach and visit teach less active members, many of whom live some distance from Trondheim, so we keep very busy and travel a lot. We are not limited in the miles we can put on our car like the young missionaries are (those few who have them). There are two young sister missionaries here, Sister Johnson from Burley, ID and Sister Engebretsen from Provo (grew up in Philidelphia). They are great workers and we enjoy our association with them. Sister Johnson is a water skier, so we have plans already to visit her family in Burley when we return home to ski on the Snake river with them. Her dad is a dentist and they have a nice ski boat.

We have been enjoying a day of sports (ping-pong) today at the church. There were only two men, the sisters and the two of us. It is raining too much to want to do anything outside.

We are loving it here and appreciate all of the family at home for your support and encouragement. Being here makes us appreciate all the more the family we have at home.

Love,
mom and dad/Eldste og Søster Sørensen

Meanwhile back on the homefront:

Grandkids are starting school, fall sports are beginning and so much more!
Steven and Rozann
*Brianna was baptized on her birthday Aug 29, 2009
Jeff and Rozann spoke
Tanner and Alison gave the prayers
Steven baptized and confirmed Brianna a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Hello there,

We’ve been home from our vacation/family reunions for a week now and have quickly gotten back into the swing of things.  (While on vacation we saw Steve’s parents off on their mission to Norway, so now I have better motivation for writing.)

Tanner started football practice from 6:00-8:30p Monday night.  He missed the first week of practice while we were gone, so the rest of the team was suited up in pads already.  He had to complete his time of conditioning before he could wear pads on Wednesday.  He is excited to be able to tackle at tomorrow’s practice.  Steve, of course, couldn’t handle just watching so he is now coaching.  He said he wasn’t just going to wait for them (the other coaches) to ask him to help.  Since Steve basically TOLD them he was coaching, he was a little unsure of his position and cautious about being too overbearing (especially after missing the first week).  However, he is already making a positive contribution.

Tuesday we attended the school open house so the kids could meet their teachers.  Tanner is in 4^th, and his teacher is Ms. Pickrell.  Brianna is in 3^rd grade.  She has the same teacher Tanner had last year—Ms. Zent.  Ashley is in 1^st grade with Mrs. Bub.  School started Wednesday.  Shay has been quite bored with all her playmates gone.  One morning the kids went to school before she woke up.  She walked around the house asking and looking for them.  She couldn’t understand where they all went.

This weekend we had Stake Conference.  Our stake of only 4½ years was being split.  They took one ward from our old-old stake and split us in two.  We are now in a new stake—Surprise Arizona North Stake.

The therapist we hired at the clinic started this week.  Work has been a little slow (which is normal for this time of year), but we hope that will change as snowbirds come back in town in a few months.

Later,

Rozann

PS:  Tanner is so excited to play football that yesterday he asked if he could go put on his shoulder pads and helmet and tackle the big green garbage can.  J  I can’t remember exactly what was going on but it didn’t happen.

8/18/09

This morning as I was getting my breakfast (after all the kids had gone to school), Shay started begging for some of my food.  Seeing as she had already eaten three times this morning, I told her she already ate her breakfast.  She evidently didn’t like that answer because next thing I know she’s sitting by the sliding glass door … enjoying her food.  (The cereal WAS in the cupboard.)

Note the utensil she selected.

Rozann

 

 Kristin's basement flooded from a broken sprinkler pipe that leaked into a window well to their basement - have been doing repairs and sending Brendan off to college at BYU-I on Monday 8/7/09.

Ryan has had his own set of challenges: 

Ok, so…last night we went to the fair, hadn’t seen but a few cows, horses and pigs, when

 

Paige calls me, “Dad you need to get here now, Meghan hurt her knee at practice, and she crying worse than I have ever seen her before.”

 

I said “who is this and why are you.. just kidding

 

Now I am running out of the fair, Cheri Bracken and Cam were still there, and Anita could take them.  On my way out, I called Kraig, thinking that he might be at home or near home, which is closer to Southridge. No, he is looking at the cows probably 100 yds from where I left.  Told him the news he came with me, went to the field and Paige is consoling Meghan , who is in tears ( Meghan NOT Paige, yet). 

 

Preliminary checks of the knee, she complains of pain down the outside of the lower leg as well, ok we’re headed for xrays. 

 

Get to hospital about 7 pm, and out by 10:45, not a bad way to spend an evening, Paige and I had dinner and drink (Kit Kat (stale), skittles, and a Mr.Pibb).  The food wasn’t the best and the atmosphere was less than desirable, but the company wasn’t bad.  We got Meghan to laugh a few times, as delirium started to set in.

 

Xrays were negative for a break of any type.

 

Kraig pulled some strings and got an appt this morning, with Dr. Perry, Initial is Possible tear MCL, ACL, and meniscus.  That would be the worst obviously, could just be a strain or sprain of the MCL, even though she has some pain on the back of the knee, he has ruled out the PCL….whew, at least she has passed 2 of the 4 (LCL and PCL for those medically challenged).

 

We have and MRI today at 2:30 pm……details to follow

 

 

If you would like the Reader’s Digest Version, it goes something like this.

 

Meghan injured her knee, not sure what is wrong yet, will tell you after an MRI

dad's response:

Sorry to hear of Meghan's injury. Hope the results are favorable. We will be praying for her.  We are at the church today to meet a group of young single adults. They gather on saturdays at noon to play soccer, ping pong or whatever else seems to be the thing of the day. The sun is shining this morning, so they will probably opt for soccer. I will try to not become another statistic like Meghan. We spent Wednesday in Oslo at a zone conference. Although the zone is this area in the north of the country, it is cheaper to have all of the missionaries in this zone (14) meet in Oslo, as there are no direct flights between the cities in the north. You fly to Oslo, then transfer to a flight from Oslo to whereever.  The flight was about an hour. It took us 9 hours to drive it the week before.

Give Meghan our love and let her know we care for her.

Love, mom and dad

the update:

Sorry Alison, in case it hasn’t been said, Meghan has a torn ACL on her left knee, MCL doesn’t appear to be torn, just strained, and minor tear on the back side for the meniscus.  Surgery is set for Sept. 30^th not sure of a time yet.  Pre op is set for Sept. 24^th, she is currently working on ROM completely straight to just beyond 90 degree.  Kraig has instructed her on the exercises, and she seems to be doing them religiously while watching practice.  Recovery will take as long as necessary without putting her back into action too soon.  Plan is 9 months for a full mental recovery, physically she might be better before then, but we will make sure.

 

Ryan

 

VERY EMOTIONAL FIRST GAME……THEY WON AND MEGHAN CRIED.  Paige scored the first goal of the season for the team, and yes, she did the same thing last year as well, the year before that, she had the first YELLOW card for the team.  Always got to be first…

Kraig and Stephanie had their own blessing on the way home from the family reunion on Sunday 8/2/09: sorry I don't have all the emails that went back and forth on this.

We are glad to hear that the Lord answered your prayers through Ryan and also very glad that you were not a little further down the road when it al occurred. How about the passengers in the SUV?  Were they OK?  We did worry with all of you being on the road today, knowing that many of you did not get much sleep over the past few days. We are just closing down for the night and will leave at 730 in the morning for Provo.  I assume that since you are sending email you are home safely.

Love, Dad

On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 9:08 PM, Kraig Sorensen <kraig_pt@yahoo.com> wrote:

I wanted to share an experience we had today.  We were on I-84 near mile post 26 outside of Tremonton when a SUV traveling in the southbound lanes swerved onto the shoulder, overcorrected and crossed into the median and then came up on our side of the freeway.  It continued across and rolled 2-3 times once it hit the shoulder.  This happened less than 1/2 mile in front of us.  If  we had been a few seconds ahead of where we were or if there had been a car in front of us and had been hit by the SUV I think our day would have been horrible at best and possibly tragic.  Kraig stopped the car and got out to see who was hurt while I called 911.  We waited about 20-25 minutes (although it seemed to be much longer) until the highway patrol and ambulances arrived.  After several more minutes at the scene the officer allowed us to leave.

We got in the car and offered a prayer of thanks for being spared from the accident.  Kraig and I were both very shaken by the ordeal but we continued on our way.  We were quiet for several miles.  During this time I had stopped crying, but inside I was not okay.  I could not seem to calm myself down and get a grip on what had happened.  I just kept thinking of how close we had come to something that could have changed our lives forever.  During this time I felt like if I could just call someone and tell them we were okay then maybe I would be able to process everything I had just witnessed and begin to calm down.  Everyone I could think of to call was at church and I thought I might be a little hysterical calling at that moment anyway.  So I began to silently pray for peace and calmness and I asked Heavenly Father to please let someone know that we needed a phone call to see how we were.  I remember looking at the clock and it was about 11:30 Utah time.  I prayed again at 11:50 asking again for someone to feel the need to call us.  I remember thinking that church would be over in about 10 minutes and maybe then someone would call just to "check in".  Just after noon the phone rang.  I answered it and it was Ryan.  He asked if we were on the road and everything was okay.  They had seen a van with WA plates and wondered if it was us.  I told him we were back on the road after helping at an accident.  He told me they had just driven past and seen the wrecked SUV and the troppers were just leaving the scene.  I told him that accident happend right in front of us.  He was shocked. 

Now, some may think Ryan's call was just coincidence, but I truly believe it was a whispering of the spirit telling him that we needed him.  When I ended the call a peaceful calm came over me.  I still get teary thinking about what could have been, but I also realize the blessings we received today.  I am so grateful for everyone who prayed for the safety of those of us traveling today.  Those prayers were answered many times over.

Heavenly Father is already blessing the family.  Do not worry about us.  We will take care of each other and the Lord will answer our prayers and watch over us.  I was reminded of that today.

Love,

Stephanie

My version of the emails back and forth:

Ryan had called them moments after passing the accident cleanup. They saw a similar van to Kraig and Stephanie's with WA plates that was involved in the accident. As they didn't know if was them, they called to see if they were okay because noone was on the scene except for emergency people.

 

Close of another week 9/5/09

We have come to the close of another week. On Saturday the young single adults come to the church at noon and play sports of one sort or another. It rained all day yesterday and most of the night, so even though it is not raining today, everyone thought it too damp out to play soccer, so we stayed at the church and played floor hockey.  There were only two YSA here, so we played 2 on 2--the one young man (Egil) and I against one of the sister missionaries and the young lady (Torunn) who showed up.  We used a whiffle ball about the size of a baseball and sticks made for the purpose. It was a "friendly" game, but got exciting at times. Last week they played soccer and I started playing, then was pleased to turn it over to someone younger who showed up.

On Thursday avening, we split with the two sister missionaries--Nancy with Sister Engebretsen and I with Sister Johnson and we went to contact people on the street (on the bridge which crosses the river in the middle of town). They took one side of the street and we took the other. We met some interesting people and one young man whom Nancy and Sis E met came to the church on Friday afternoon so they could teach him a lesson. He said he will come to church on Sunday and will meet with them again next week. We have been contacting all of the Young Single Adults on the branch list, trying to visit them and encourage them to become involved in the Church.  We are also contacting the less active members to do the same. We met on Thursday evening with a nice young man who has not been to church for about the past 7 years.  We will continue to visit him and hope we can encourage him to become active again.

Torunn (the young lady who played floor hockey today) told me she bought a pair of water skis and wants to learn how to ski. I asked if she had a boat and she said she has a friend who has one. I told her I would be more than happy to teach her to ski, just tell me when.  Hopefully it will happen.

We went to choir practice on Tuesday night (yes, I participated also) and afterward, as the choir director and husband were leaving, they called us to come to the front door. There had been a thunder storm earlier and now the sun was setting. I am attaching a picture of the sky at that time.

We are loving it here, meeting a lot of good people--in and our of the church and finding good things to keep us occupied. The man who lives in the house in front of ours was a silver medal winner in the last winter olympics in the nordic combined (ski-jump and cross country). He will be participating in a large event here in Trondheim in early decemer.

Sending our love to all of you.

 Elder and Sister Sorensen

sky after a storm

 sky over the river after the storm - same as the header picture

Response from Bud & Gaye:

How we love missionary reports.  Sounds like you are touching many lives already, and a great blessing to Norway  We were released from the Chicago temple Presidency the end of August.  What a wonderful send off.  Much food all week long, a wonderful framed picture of the temple, many hugs and well wishes, more toys and books than we can possibly take to Ghana, but we will find good places for them here  We were asked to bring toys for the Youth Center, and I am sure we have enough for several orphanages and schools.  We have never felt so loved and appreciated. 

We are busy now getting ready to go.  We are currently having several trees trimmed or taken out so we don't have to worry about them falling over while we are gone.  Also some work done on the roof, replacing screens the squirrels chewed through, etc. etc

We spent several day last week in Door County in Wisconsin with Alain and his family.  They spend a week up there every year.  It was so good to spend so much time with them.  Beautiful country and the best company possible. 

Last week Caryn and Jim came and did a session in the temple with us.  It was a thrill to have them with us.  Unfortunately they had to walk 3 and a half miles to the temple after getting off the metro.  They thought there would be a taxi to take them the rest of the way.  We did not know they did not have a car.  We took them back and now know where the metro lets you off closest to the temple. Good thing Jim had a GPS.  They come in handy when walking too. We very much enjoyed some one on one time with them.  We are most happy Chicago  is finally getting to be a popular visiting spot for family.  Wonderful.

We love you, we pray for your continued success, and anxiously look forward to our departure for Ghana. God bless all of us to make a difference in the world.  Love,  Bud & Gaye

8/23/09 - END OF SUNDAY

We had a nice meeting at the Trondheiim branch this morning (11-2), at the start of the meeting, the counselo who was conducting announced that there was a new missionary couple "the Sorensens" and welcomed us. Then after the sacrament, he asked that we come up and share our testimonies. I poked mom and said he wants you to go bear your testimony. She looked a little surprised and then headed to the front (not a long walk, since we were seated on the 2nd row) and I followed. When she got to the podium, the branch president asked if she wanted him to translate and she said, "no, I'll try it alone".  She did a good job. People were intently listening to her and smiled that she was willing to do this in norwegian after only a week in the country. 

 

We attended a sunday school class that was taught in English. There were two young single adults in the class, plus one of the siter missionaries, the branch president's wife and a young chinese man.  He and his family (wife and child) have been attending for about the  past 3 weeks and are being taught by the sisters. His wife was down in the nursery wiht their daughter. I asked him if he was a member of the church and he said, "not yet".  None the less, he gave the prayer to start the class and participated along with everyone else. 

 

I left my scriptures home, as I thought I would be using the norwegian ones exclusively. It turns out that there is as much need for english as norwegian. 

 

We went to the branch president's house for dinner after church. He is 25 and his wife about the same. They have a 3 month old daughter with pretty blue eyes. The wife is a typical norwegian--blonde and blue eyes.  Dinner was salmon, with a pasta and lettuce salad.  Very delicious.

 

We talked with Kristin and Jonathan and family a few minutes ago on Skype. It worked fairly good, but we did drop the call once and there were times that the words were cut out.  Those of you who have not yet downloaded Skype on your computers need to do so (Caryn,Kraig, Ryan, Rustin) so we can talk with you also.  We called at 7 p;.m our time, which is10 a.m. your time on the west coast and noon in Florida. It is free and easy. If you have a webcam, we can even see you as we talk. Let us know what time works for you.  If earlier, we can probably hook up earlier. Church is over here at 2 p.m which would be 5 a.m. on the west coast and AZ.

 

Dad showed me an assignment for us to speak in church, so I didn' think they would call on us in church.  WRONG!  I said my name and where I was from and gave my testimony in norwegian just like i did at home.  Many can speak English or will try.

 

Thanks for all your comments and prayers.  We look forward each day to your emails.

 

Love to all

MOM and DAD

8/21/09 THE END OF THE FIRST WEEK

We now celebrate one week in Norway.  We have had some good experiences already and are looking forward to meeting the members on Sunday. We met with the branch president on Wednesday evening to see how we could best help him . He said the branch has about 260 members--about 75 of whom are active and on any given Sunday there are probably about 60 in attendance.  He said it would be helpful if we could visit with many of those who don't get to church,  The branch is large geographically, about 80 mils from north to south, so I expect we will get to see a lot more than just Trondheim. The branch president is young, about late 20's, married with their first child a few months old. He is a student, majoring in Business Management and his wife is also a student majoring in law. 

Last night I saw a woman in the back yard of the house that adjoins our back yard, so I thought I would go get acquainted. When I got out there, there was an older man with her and she was picking red currants from a couple of bushes in their yard. I introduced myself and he told me he was her father, she was visiting there for the evening. Soon her brother and husband came out to visit. By this time, I had gone back to our house and had mom come out to meet them .The father is a retired teacher--math and biology. the son lives in the upper part of the house with his family and the father in the lower floor. The daughter and her husband live in another part of town. We talked among other things, about how delicious currants are when served with a valilla sauce as they do here in Norway.  After a while, we excused ourselves and returned to our apt. In a few minutes, the father (Rolf) was at our door with the bowl of currants his daughter had been picking. I put some in a bowl and went to return the remainder to him and he insisted that we take them all--which I was happy to do. 

This evening when we got back to our apt for dinner, I went out and picked a large bowl of currants from bushes in our landlord's yard..Some I kept and some I gave to the landlady. She came to visit last night for a while and I asked if there was anything we could do for her--she said pick the berries.  They put a rather thick vanilla sauce on them and it is delicious!  I think we bought a couple of packages of the sauce mix when we were here 4 years ago. They are probably still somewhere in the kitchen if any of you want to try some.

Sorry to hear of your flood Kristin. But Aubrey has experience taking out wallboard, so put her to work.

Glad to hear that Bracken's problems are getting cleared up. He and Cam should be heading off to school soon. The water here looks pretty good for skiing, but I have not seen any boats out doing anything. Every harbor has lots of boats, but they seen to stay there.  I asked the mission presidents wife if t was OK for me to teach the young adults here to water ski and she said as long as it is not the missionaries. Now I just need to find someone with a boat!

There are two young sister missionaries here in Trondheim and they are very good. We have met with them a couple of times this week and sat in on a meeting they were having with a young college student to teach her about the Church. 

Next wednesday there is a conference with the mission president for the missionaries in the northern part of the country, so we will fly to Oslo for the day.

Love to all of you and your families.

Mom and dad

8/19/09 - Life in Norway

We spent most of yesterday (Tuesday) getting lost as a way of finding our way around Trondheim. We have a map of the city, but mom was always turned around. Today be bought a GPS.  We need to register with the police in Trondheim. We went to the office yesterday and found that the offic we need is only open Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  We got to the office this morning at 8:17 and took a number from an automatic machine. Our numbers are 718 and 719   A few minutes later a lady came in and taped a note over the button you push for the immigration office numbers. The note said the number line is closed, the last number issued today is 761. I talked to her to make sure we were in the right line and she said yes--and there are 117 people in front of you. We started with #600. If you want to take a walk around town, you have time. We never get to 700 before noon. So we went and bought the GPS and some sheets for our bed.   here are a couple of photos of where we live.  The house was once a one-car garage (for a small car).

We tried leaving a trail of bread crumbs so we could find our way home, but they have magpies in Norway also, hence the GPS.  We have a nice area in the church for the young single adults. We came here last night and one of the young ladies was here cleaning the church. We visited with her for a while, then gave her a ride home when we were ready to leave. She said she would walk, but I told her we needed to see more of Trondheim. We had not been lost enough for the day. It took us about 15 minutes to drive to her home, up a large hill and past the University. I think she would have been walking for an hour to get home. We did find our way back to the apt without getting lost again, so we are improving.

Tonight we hope to meet with the Branch President.

I was talking with the Branch Executive secretary yesterday when we came to the church and he remembered when we came here 4 years ago--because there was a large group of americans in priesthood meeting and then we had to leave early to get back to the boat.

We are having a good time and enjoying the city and the people.

love,

mom and dad/Gerald and Nancy/Elder and Sister Sorensen

Our house and car - a converted garage

The house in front of ours - notice the thatched roof.

Adjusting to a new kitchen setup.

In Trondheim 8/18/09

8/18/09

We drove to Trondheim yesterday arriving around 9 p.m.  The drive was amazing. We traveled through Gudbrands dalen (the valley of Gods fire) and it was beautiful scenery all the way. I would comment to mom to look at something and she was asleep. I told her we were traveling some of the most beautiful country in the world and she was sleeping through it. It began to rain around Lillehammer (1994 olympics site) and rained off and on the rest of the trip. The car was packed with our luggage but performed well.  We are trying to find our way around Trondheim today--be getting lost.  We found the chapel and are now in the YSA outreach center. Our apt does not have internet access, so we need to use this facility to keep in touch with the world.

 

love,

mom and dad/Gerald and Nancy/Elder and Sister Sorensen

 

Reply from Bud & Gaye:

Welcome home!!!  We remember the fantastic scenery you drove through.  It is some of the most beautiful in the world.  We are glad you are there safely.  Did the other suitcase show up?  We hope so.  God bless you.  We know you will touch many lives there and be a blessing in all you do.  Love,  Gaye

A reply from Mom and Dad to Kristin - to be forwarded to the fam:

  They replied to a note I'd sent & asked that I forward this to everyone. Kristin

    Not really a reply--Did you see my hair cutting scissors, razor and comb any where.  I have been looking for them and can't find them.  We may need a few things.  The grocery stores are very interesting.  They are like enlarged mini marts.  Food is expensive.  Today we had to buy bedding--pillows, a dyna, and a duvue (sp)--no sheet yet.
   
    Our apartment is about the size of our kitchen.  The only thing in the bedroom is the bed and the ladder hanging on the wall to get to the attice--nothing else fits.  You climb in and out from the end of the bed.  From the bedroom, you go through the living room and kitchen and it looks like you are going outside--turn left and there is the bathroom--door to the right is outside.  Everything is VERY close.
    
    We were lost several times today.  We need a gps, but haven't found one yet.  We have a hard time finding our way home. How can we visit less actives???
    
    We are here at the church and are leaving to try and find our way home before it gets dark.
    
    Love to all,
    
    MOM and DAD
    
    you could pass this to the family Thanks
 

We have arrived!!

 

Elder and Sister Sorensen with President Johansen of the Norway Oslo mission

8/14/09

We arrived in Oslo on schedule today at 2:35 P.M. local time. We only lost one of the 6 bags that were shipped. We found when we arrived at the airport in SLC that extra bags cost 200.00 (can't find the dollar sign on this norwegian keyboard] We are currently at the YSA outreach center in Oslo (I will send pictures later, it is marvelous).  We cams straight here from the airport, so we are pretty tired, but it has been nice to meet the YSA here and the Senior couple.  We will probably stay in Oslo for a couple of days to see if the bag gets found (it is the one with most of my clothes in).'

Love,

mom and dad\Gerald and Nancy\Eldste and Søster Sørensen

8/15/09

We will be leaving Oslo tomorrow to drive to our new home in Trondheim. The address there is:

Elder and Sister Sorensen

Østtunvegn 16'

7023 Trondheim

Norway

We are excited to get underway.  It rained most of the day yesterday in Oslo, but today is sunny and clear.  We are hoping for the same tomorrow as we drive.  Our car is a VW Polo (a 4 cyl. 1.2 liter diesel, 5 speed manual trans) I hope it holds all of our luggage and can then navigate the hills we must cross to get to Trondheim.

I am using the computer in the mission home now, we will probably use the one in the Trondheim outreach center for a few days until I can get converters to hook up our compter to this 220 volt system.

Love,

Gerald and Nancy/mom and dad/Eldste and Søster Sørensen

Off to Norway!!!

8/12/09

Our visas arrived this afternoon and we are scheduled to depart the MTC at 0300 hours tomorrow to catch a 6:06 a.m United #6465 flight to LA, where we will catch Lufthansa #457 at 2:55 p.m. to Frankfurt, arriving 1040 a.m. on Friday, then Lufthansa #6230 to Oslo, arriving at 2:35 p.m.  So you will not hear from us for a few days until we get situated in Trondheim There is supposed to be internet in the apartment there, so we will be back in touch ASAP. We will probably take a couple of days to drive from Oslo to Trondheim. My guess is we will not leave Oslo until Saturday.

 

We love all of you and pray for your continued safety while we are away. Our stay here in the MTC has been wonderful and we have made some good friends in a short time. Some have already left for their mission fields and others are doing some additional training this week. The weeks before entering the MTC have left us with wonderful memories of what is most important in life--Family!! We are glad to be a part of such a wonderful family.

 

Love,

 

Gerald and Nancy/mom and dad/Elder and Sister Sorensen

 

Ryan's Reply to all:

We love you, and have a great time, you are already missed.  Camron just commented yesterday how you haven’t really left, but how weird it feels.

 

Love Ryan

 

A few emails - MTC

Sorensen Family Reunion 7/31/09                             

Mom & Dad leaving for the MTC (photo by Ryan)

8/7/09

We have finished our week in the MTC. It has been a marvelous experience and we have met some wonderful couples headed to all parts of the world. Unfortunately, our visas have not yet arrived, so we will not be traveling on Monday with the 8 young elders heading to Norway. We are being told that the person who needs to approve them in the Norwegian consulate has been on vacation and is due back on Monday. With any luck, maybe we will get them early in the week. Supposedly all of the work is done, just needs the approval.  Hopefully it will not be long. We are enjoying the time here. This afternoon we had a testimony meeting with all of the couples who are going to a foreigh speaking mission, all bore their testimonies in their language--samoan, italian, tagalog, fiji, russian, spanish, norwegian, greek.  They were short and halting, but very strong spirit that accompanied them. We have made good friends here and now we will be spread to the 4 winds. We have exchanged email addresses, so we hope to keep in touch.

We will let you know when we hear some good news.  My new drivers license arrive in Richland on Thursday and Caryn FedExed it to me and it was received here this morning. It is nice to have this means of communication.

We are grateful for each of you and send our love.

Gerald and Nancy/mom and Dad/Elder and Sister Sorensen

8/8/09

It is Saturday night and we are still in the MTC. We have had a great week, met lots of wonderful people and had great experiences. Unfortunately, we will not be flying to Norway on Monday as planned as visas have not arrived yet.  We are hopeful that they will be here early in the week. We thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be with all of you in the family reunion.  It was a great way to begin our misison.  We saw Kristin and girls last night, they came by to pick up some things we decided we needed to send back home to lighten our suitcases.  Aubrey, Elizabeth and Calla had baked some cookies for us--which were delicious.  We took a trip to Jamba Juice with them last night to enjoy some goodies before we give up those things.

Ryan sent us the girls' soccer schedule for the coming fall and it looks like we will be missing a lot of good soccer games.

Love,

Gerald and Nancy/Mom and dad/Grandma and Grandpa/Elder and Sister Sorensen

Velkommen! Sorensen Mission blog 2009-2010!

Come here to read all about Elder and Sister Sorensen's (mom/dad, grandma/grandpa, nana/granddad, aunt/uncle, brother/sister) adventures in Norway as they have been called to serve for the next 18 months! They are serving in Trondheim, Norway with the Single Adults. We look forward to reading their experiences and seeing LOTS of pictures! Come back often and leave comments!