Driggs & Elder Johnson

Driggs is soooo awesome! It’s so beautiful here. We live in the Teton Valley, the Grand Tetons are in our back yard. We’re surrounded by mountains i love it! This place reminds me a lot of home. The people here are very "Natural" reminds me of the North Shore. The people love the out doors, hiking, biking, skiing, so i probably could fit right in. We get a truck too! It’s sweeet!

If Hawaii got blown up from the Volcano or a Tsunami destroyed it.... I’d live in Driggs for sure!

We’ve met some amazing families already! The members here are a minority, about 40% are members unlike Rigby where it was 80% members. So there is so much work to be done! The members are missionary minded and they are so willing to help us out! The culture of the church here is similar to home, they are very strong members, they have a firm faith. they are humble.

A member in one of our sacrament meetings told me he went to Hukilau Cafe not too long ago. He said "one of the workers there said he had a nephew in this mission" of course i got super excited and said it was me! That was pretty cool, super small world.

We met this family who we already love!  The Barnes family, Sister Barnes’ husband isn’t a member and she has 4 kids, and the missionaries have been teaching them for a while. They have a 3 year old girl with leukemia. Her name is Edie (eee-dee) she’s soooo cute. There is such a special spirit with this family. Sister Barnes is such a strong woman, she is such a great example. We had a fmaily home evening lesson with them and it was awesome. They are such a sweet family. I am excited to continue teaching them the Gospel.

We have a baptism coming up this Saturday. Her name is Olivia. She was never baptized when she was younger and with her friend’s help and influence she made the decision to be baptized. We're teaching her the last few lessons and she’s gonna be baptized! 

MY SON, Elder Johnson

Elder Johnson is from Missouri, he comes from a family of 10, 8 kids, he’s the second oldest. He comes from a military family. He is pretty awesome we get along pretty good! He is pretty out going and talks to everyone. He is engaged in the work and takes initiative with plans and going out! He’s awesome! He is so excited to be here. He’s very humble and caring for everyone. He is a good example. I am so excited to train him and show him the ropes of missionary work. I know he will be one of the best missionaries ever!

Training definitely brings out your weaknesses. But I am so excited to work hard and be the best I can be and my companion is a great blessing because ill probably finish my mission here. The Lord has set us up for success and I know it will be the best last 4 months. I’m soooo excited and so so grateful to be a missionary! i love this work and i Love the Lord. 

Stoked out of my Mind! 

Elder Soren

New Address:  as of now its 

140 N 3rd E 

Driggs, ID  

83422

-Louis,making me look good before transfers

-Transfer site with Elder Johnson

pics*

- Driggs (google pics just so you can see)

DRIGGS BOUND

This week has been bitter sweet. We got transfer calls and i'm going to Driggs, Idaho for the last 4 months. I will be a District Leader there....but the best part is.. i'm finally going to be training a new missionary! i have never had the opportunity to train and i am so excited! Missionaries have told me of how awesome it is to train. I'm stoked to help set the foundation of his mission. I don't know who im training yet we will know tomorrow night. I remember all the amazing things that Elder Duano, my trainer has taught me when i first came. We have been best friends ever since. I will always be grateful for what he taught me and for the love and care he had for me to have the best start to my mission. I am excited to now have that same opportunity for the Elder i will be training. That's the only thing that helped me leave Rigby.

9 months in Rigby… i'm pretty sure any longer and the Bishops would read in receiving my records as the new member of their ward. haha. I truly felt like i was apart of the wards here, even Grandpa Glenn started calling me Brother Soren haha. 

I don't know if i could share all that i've learned in Rigby in one email. I think the main lesson i've learned was that LOVE for those in your circle of influence changes lives. LOVE is a divine principal of God that if we posses it and share it, hearts are changed and healed. Love for God and those around you is the greatest motivation we could have. What motivated Christ to say "thy will be done" and continue with accomplishing the Atonement was His love for the Father and for us.

I am so grateful for all the lessons i've learned in Rigby. They are priceless and everlasting. All my companions, those i taught, missionaries i've served, members and experiences i've had changed my life. 

I am so thankful for Elder Jones and for all he has taught me this transfer. I definitely know God put him in my life to teach me how to be a great leader. I look up to him and am so grateful for his example. 

I'm going to miss Rigby so much. But as life progresses so must I. I know this opportunity to train will show me what God needs me to learn before i return. 

Always 

Stoked to Serve

Elder Soren

Alohaaaaaa

Just another short one sorry! It was good to see everyone yesterday! i can’t believe that was the last time i call home. There is still so much more to do! So many lessons to learn but God has blessed me so much these past 19 months that are priceless and special to me. i look forward to sharing them with you all. 

We had interviews with President this week and decided to give the Assistants a Hawaiian delicacy. We left it in their van. i don’t think they enjoyed it. Don’t worry about where i got it... 

haha

Love you all. Hope the Mothers out there had a special day yesterday!

Happy Mother's Day

Hawaiian delicacy ready to go...

What???

Mellow week

This week we have been finding and teaching a lot. We had an awesome Zone Training, Elder Jones and I led. Things have been good. Elder Jones and I have been working hard. We know a miracle is comin our way. I probably know everyone in RIgby now. We’ve been all over Rigby walking a lot more now that it’s warm. I got my tan back but only on my face and arms lol. We’re really excited to be out in our area doing everything we can to find and teach. Blessings come everyday. 

We had a miracle this Sunday, one of our investigators Bryan, who just recently overcame alcoholism. He’s doing so awesome! I’ve been teaching him since i got here. Yesterday he told us that on Thursday night he finally prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true and he got a very specific answer. He said he knew it was true. We were soooo happy. The Lord truly blesses us with miracles, as we love those we teach. He also talked about baptism but wouldn’t tell us his answer about that he said we gotta wait. We are so excited to help him learn more and have more spiritual experiences like this. 

This morning we went mountain biking with Carlos our recent convert. It was sooo fun!

The weeks are flying by and there’s so many blessings that we are seeing. 

Stoked to serve 

Elder Soren

Elder Soren, Elder Jones & Carlos

Snow on the ground in May

Wow Buuurger!!!

Just a short one today.

Things have been great! Elder Jones and i continue to find people to teach!

We had a great Mission Leadership Council this week, there’s a lot of amazing things that will happen very soon. I’m excited!

We had some awesome finding experiences this week. We met this girl named Alora who had missionaries before and knows a lot about the Bible. She was excited when we invited her to hear our message. We hopefully have a lesson with her today at the park. It isn’t common these days to find young adults who have love for Christ and the Gospel. Those are they who the Lord is preparing to receive the fullness of it in their lives.

Elder Jones and I are doing great. He's teaching me so much and we’re working so hard. I’m grateful that the Lord gave us another opportunity to serve together again. 

Things are moving fast. The weeks are even faster. I love serving the Lord and Sharing the Gospel.

Things have been awesome in the town of Rigby. 

much love

Stoked to Serve

Elder Soren

Lovin Rigby

We’ve been working really hard this past week! It’s been awesome. Even though I’ve been here for a while there are still prepared people who are popping up. Heavenly Father has been blessing us with a lot of work. 

We’ve met some awesome people this week. One, her name is Rosie, she just barley moved to Rigby from California. She’s wanting to be more active in a church so she’s been trying some out. We talked to her about our church and the blessings we’ve seen from reading the Book of Mormon. She asked us if we have one and if she could have it! She was really curious to know more about what we had to say. She said she would read it after we left. There are a lot of doors that turn us down but I’ve realized that those are just small trials of our faith that the Lord uses to bless us with people like Rosie. 

We also met this girl named Alaynna, she said her friends would invite her to mutual and she really wanted to go but soccer got in the way. But she said this week she plans on going. She’s not a member but was interested in knowing more about what her friends have shared with her about the Church. Missionary work moves forward when Friends help Friends be more prepared to learn about the Gospel. 

I’m excited to stay in Rigby, this transfer has been a lot different then the past few and its a great different. Mostly because i have a different attitude, since I’ve changed my attitude about the area and how knowing Heavenly Father has a reason why I’m here, its given me HOPE. With this hope I’ve changed and repented and continue to do so as I turn to the Savior for strength. The strength that comes from the Atonement, once we learn how to use the Atonement and that we all need it, not just knowing what it is, that’s when it changes our character, attitude and all that we do.

I am so thankful for God’s love for us that He gave us His Only Begotten Son, to allow us to change and become better than we were yesterday. 

Hope you all have a great week! I invite you to do some missionary work!

Stoked to Serve 

Elder Soren

Elder Jones & Elder Soren at the Warner's Home

Dinner with the Warner's
their son is serving his mission in Detroit

These photo's were text to my mom who realized
when I had no pics this week that she did

Courtney's Baptism

This week was amazing! Elder Jones and I have been working hard and finding a lot of people. I’m super excited for this transfer and for the upcoming month. Some crazy things are about to happen in the mission. 

I’m excited to serve with Elder Jones again. He taught me so much when we were companions in Pocatello and we've already had so much success with re-contacting former investigators and finding new people to teach. Even though I’ve knocked on a lot of doors, there is still so many of our Heavenly Father’s children we have yet to find in Rigby. I’m excited to see what the Lord has in store for us!

Courtney Bailey was baptized on Saturday. It was a sweet baptism. She was so excited as you can see in the picture haha. Spencer her boy friend and Courtney are both goof balls. Courtney was just so happy the whole time. Her trial of faith and patience really paid off. She’s been waiting 3 years for this day, she couldn’t describe her feelings but her expressions told it all. After the baptism we went to congratulate her. She said in a very humble and meek way "Thank you for teaching me the Gospel." There was a sweet spirit that touched my heart. As a missionary sometimes we look for great gratification or praises when there are baptisms but her sweet thank you for simply teaching her the gospel was more rewarding than the praises of peers. That’s why we are here, to teach the Gospel and the Lord does the rest. I am grateful to be a servant of the Lord. 

We’ve seen a lot of blessings in our area as well. We had an experience with prayer. We completed all of our plans for an hour and needed to find someone to invite to be baptized. I prayed with Elder Jones and asked specifically for God to bring to a remembrance someone who I’ve taught before. We contacted some addresses and then I remembered a part member family to go visit. We couldn't find their home but we found a different part member family that let us right in. We got to know them and started teaching them. We had a great lesson with them yesterday with our Bishop and have a church tour with them on Wednesday. My testimony of specific prayer was strengthened and I know Heavenly Father will lead us to those who are ready and searching as we listen to the Promptings of the Spirit.

We were invited to a LUAUUUU this weekend. The Togiai’s 2 daughters were baptized and they had a huge luau. If there was anything on my mission that reminded me more of home it was this, the music, the people, that aloha spirit, it was sooooooo good. We had some ono food too! a whole pig, bbq chicken, curry, ohhh man. 

Stoked to Serve

Elder Soren

Companions again!  Elders Soren & Jones

The Togiai's baptism luau in Rigby