Sorensen added, “I’ve been learning a lot about humility. His love for everyone is so powerful. I meet so many different people, and He loves all of them.”
Sorensen has almost completed the slated year-and-a-half mission term, traveling to more than one Minnesota location. Along the way, she has met so many amazing people, and learned so many new things.
“I also served downtown St. Paul and so then I went out in the street with a ton of people,” Sorensen said. “Here, it’s not like that. We get so many different responses. People can be pretty funny.”
These two fit into the Midwestern area quite well, but Minnesota natives they are most definitely not. These two spread their wings and flew to a place completely unknown.
“It’s great to come from Norway and see that the church is exactly the same here, in that we have the same teachings,” Sorensen said. “No one ever asked me to do it. It’s just something I felt like I needed to do.”
An Idaho native, Darrington added, “I wasn’t planning on completing a year-and-a-half mission, but a couple months beforehand, I decided that’s what I was going to do. My grandma actually went on a mission 70 years ago, and she served in Minnesota too.”
Through prayer, they followed God’s push to step outside of their comfort zones.
“They assign you an area anywhere in the world,” Darrington said. Sorensen added, “There are 52,000 Mormon missionaries worldwide. My best friend is actually in Brazil right now.”
At some point, Darrington may be transferred to a different Mormon congregation and area, which doesn’t faze her in the least bit.
“You can get switched around every six weeks,” Sorensen said. “I was assigned to one congregation for nine months and another for three months. We pay our own way too, so we must save up before we go out on missions.”
Sometimes however, members of their host congregation sign up on a meal calendar to provide a dinner for Darrington and Sorensen. When they do, this pair is all smiles.
“Mormon missions are family oriented that way,” Sorensen said. “Most times full-time missionaries live with congregation members. But as of right now, we are living together in an apartment, and have become super close in a short amount of time.”
Mormonism in general has been a part of this duo’s lives since their youth. Both Darrington and Sorensen and their families have been immensely blessed by choosing this path.
“It’s helped me gain a greater understanding of who I am and what my purpose is in life,” Darrington said. “I’ve chosen to go on this mission to share that with other people and give them that same opportunity.”
Post mission, Darrington would love to become an elementary school teacher and raise a family. That’s a ways off, in December of 2012.
“I’m going to start school again this winter semester and finish up my psychology degree at the University of Hawaii,” Sorensen said. “I’ve already put in two and a half year’s worth, as that’s the reason I came to the United States in the first place.”
Sorensen would also like to raise a family someday, and travel the world. But, right now is the time where she can focus all her time and attention to sharing the gospel.
“Mormon beliefs might sound a little different right away,” Sorensen said. “The people we talk to have to make up their own mind and ask God for themselves.”
Whatever their choice may be, Darrington finds comfort in the fact that her father in heaven knows the big picture for everything.
“He knows me and knows how to help me become more than I ever could on my own so that I can help those around me in a greater, more meaningful way,” Darrington said.
Sorensen added, “I love my dad so much. He’s such a great dad. But, I also know as humans that we aren’t perfect, so it’s wonderful to have a father in heaven who is perfect. He can give me advice on anything and also teach me a lot of lessons that I can’t get from anyone else.”
Anyone interested in the Mormon path should visit mormon.org. Both Sorensen and Darrington encourage this, as it’s a great, simple way to see learn about their basic beliefs.
“John 3:16 teaches us that Christ is the way,” Sorensen said. “The fact that God gave his son is the biggest evidence of love you could ever find.”
